Jordon Memories

A few pics from our summer vacation

2011-08-19T16:18:00.010-05:00

Mica and Deric messing around in the pool at our Universal hotel

Deric, Aca and Micayla in front of "The Cars" sculpted out of flowers

Micayla on an awesome merri~go~round in Universal

Micayla and Aca in front of the guitar at the Rockin Roller Coaster ride

Me and Micayla at our hotel

Aca and Micayla on one of their favorite rides 'Storm" from the movie X-Men.. a super fast ride!

Mica and Micayla on one fish, two fish ..

Micayla posing as we wait for our boat outside our hotel to take us to the Universal parks

So I'm a little behind on posting

2011-08-18T19:51:00.002-05:00

A lot has gone on in the last few months.. Deric graduated from high school and is about to start college, Aca is in the 8th grade and Micayla is in the 2nd grade. We are still waiting for our little one from Africa:).
We took our regular summer vacation to Orlando and had a blast! We stayed at our favorite resort at Universal ~ Loews Royal Pacific and played in Universal as well as driving over and playing in Disney World. We stayed busy and I have to say this was the best vacation yet! Just the family time together was amazing!
I'll post a few pics from our vacation in my next post.
I am working again at Shiloh Christian School this year, and it is just as rewarding being my 3rd school year as it was when I first started. It really is a blessing to be there. Love seeing my kiddos, nephews, and all the kiddos in general and all of my friends that teach there. I couldn't ask for anything better! God is Good!!

Gladney Approved !!!

2011-05-22T19:38:00.002-05:00

We have officially been approved by Gladney. We still have a hold up on the dossier end because my fingerprints were not readable by the FBI because the ink was too light. So we're still waiting for my second set of prints to be read.
Won't be long now and we'll be on the wait list for our sweet baby boy or baby girl :).

Homestudy ~ done

2011-04-05T20:50:00.002-05:00

Our Homestudy started Monday and ended at 1 today. It went great! Andrea is a sweet person and so easy to talk to. The kids did great with her and really liked her a lot. We can't wait to see her again in a year. Wont be long now and we should hopefully be approved by Gladney and be that much closer to getting our little one. We may be looking at next April, but in reality, that isn't very long these days. So happy:)

HomeStudy

2011-04-03T16:55:00.002-05:00

Our Homestudy is tomorrow. Ms. Andrea will start with our kids tomorrow evening at 6 and finish with me and Mica Tuesday morning at 8:45. Nerves are flying in all kinds of crazy directions. Overall I am really calm about it, but at the same time I'm stressin' a little;). It will be fine and go well I'm sure, I think I just need to get it overwith and move on. Stay tuned..

A few more things

2011-03-29T22:31:00.002-05:00

First of all, I recieved my passport today.. YAY! I had to do some extra stuff for it because of my crazy name being what it is, and for what I am actually called on a daily basis. Anyway, it is here! Tomorrow Mica and I go to the Fayetteville Police Dept. to be fingerprinted (all part of the adoption process) calm down readers, :) Just kidding(on the calm down part). Just a little more paperwork to do. Monday and Tuesday will be our Homestudy. Can't wait. We are getting so much closer! I think I failed to post that Ethiopia has reopened all adoption opinions again, Praise the Lord for that!!! Nothing but a blessing from God there. Those children need to wait as little as possible to be adopted by families that will love and take care of them and show them Christ. We can't wait!

Back up a step

2011-03-25T09:42:00.002-05:00

More paperwork.. fingerprints, FBI etc....
They do not leave anything uncovered. You are well known after this process that's for sure!
It's truely a good thing!

Homestudy

2011-03-10T18:30:00.003-06:00

Our homestudy was scheduled today!!! Gladney will be coming to our home April 4th and 5th to do our homestudy.
I am super excited because once this is done, I believe we will be in "waiting" mode for our sweet baby.
I know, the press release came out about Ethiopia cutting adoptions, but I'm trusting God and just know that he will do what's best for those little ones over there.

Press Release

2011-03-07T07:49:00.002-06:00

Press release came out that Ethiopia was cutting 90 percent of their adoptions this week.
Hard news to take, but we just keep praying and believing that God will take care of it and in his time we will have our baby.
If you read this post, please pray along with us. It means a lot to us, and to everyone who is in the process of adopting.

Sent off..

2011-02-23T20:14:00.002-06:00

Last night, Tuesday the 22nd of February, I fed-ex'd off a ton of paperwork!!!!! So many steps closer. Such a relief to get that paperwork off to the workers that are helping us thru this process. Can't wait for our next steps!

Seeing some light at the end....

2011-02-21T21:03:00.002-06:00

We are seeing some light now, finally! We just may be done with our paperwork after tomorrow. Still waiting on our passports, but we are in good shape.
We are so excited that we are that much closer to getting our baby. Can't wait!!!

Paperwork cont..

2011-02-15T19:01:00.002-06:00

Finally recieved the application manual, thank you Lord! Another step closer :) We've jumped ahead on some other paperwork thanks to some good friends who are adopting as well, so we're getting there.

Paperwork in Session

2011-02-10T11:01:00.002-06:00

After 5 years of discussion and prayer we have decided to adopt! We've always wanted another child and know that now is the time to take our step forward and proceed.
We are in the middle of our paperwork, medical, passports etc. and couldn't be more excited!
Pray for patience as we go on this journey, because if it were up to us, we would be standing in Ethiopia right now holding our precious baby. We can't wait to add one more child to our family.
Hang on sweet little one, we will be there as soon as we can!

Mica trying to get home

2011-02-09T10:39:00.005-06:00

Mica's day started very early with him driving to the airport to catch an early flight to Providence RI... He called his airline several times to make sure his flight was still on and the response everytime was yes! So he drove to the airport only to find out that it was CLOSED!
He started back home and had to pull over several times on 540 due to 0 visibility and his wipers freezing up. By the grace of God he made it home! His car is still sitting in our road and he had to walk in his dress clothes and shoes up the road a ways to get into the house. Not a fun day, but he is home safe and sound. Thank you Lord!!

Dad/Daughter date night

2011-01-28T18:04:00.004-06:00

Tonight is Dad/Daughter date night at church. Micayla has been so pumped about her date with her daddy, and Mica has been even more excited:). The theme is Blizzard Beach Bash and they had to dress in swimwear with winter accessories. So funny and too cute! Micayla has had a virus all week, and has just started feeling better today, she's still a little tired but definately felt good enough to go on the date. She insisted! Here's hoping for the funnest date ever for my little girl and her daddy:)

Not feeling well....

2011-01-26T13:25:00.002-06:00

Micayla is not feeling good at all. Monday she didn't feel too bad but not too good either. Her arms were hurting then her stomach then her head and not a lot of energy. Then Tuesday, arms hurting a lot, no energy and nausia and not feeling too great... Today we are home. Went to the pediatrician and she has a virus that is basically flu like symptoms but not the flu. She had her flu vaccination thankfully because this is bad enough. Doc say's symptoms may get worse, and may not. My prayer is that she's good as new by Friday!!!
Winter time illnesses are no fun!!!

Another snow day!!

2011-01-20T18:55:00.008-06:00

This is Boo laying in the middle of Micayla and Aca's outwear that was drying on some towels in the floor, sound asleep!! He absolutely loved the snow today. He was flying across the deck in it as fast as he could, jumping on the chair and jumping back into the snow. He is one happy puppy.

Just a few pics from playing outside this evening! Fun times:)

Snow Day 2011

2011-01-11T11:08:00.002-06:00

It's official!! It's a snow day...

Snow...

2011-01-09T21:05:00.002-06:00

Let winter begin!!! The frigid temp's and snow.. My kiddos are happy. Hope they don't get their hopes up too high on school being cancelled. You never know how much we may, or may not end up with. This is Arkansas ;)

Prayer and Faith

2011-01-08T16:12:00.002-06:00

God show's himself to be so real in our lives when we pray have faith and patience, waiting on him to work real miracles in our lives. He truely is a healer of all things. He can mend anything, and I mean anything when it's all for His Glory!!!! And NOT one person can break that down with gossip, words of hate or anything that can be hurtful when God is in it!
So Thankful that my God takes care of his people!!

Lot's to do .......

2011-01-01T21:48:00.001-06:00

So much to do and change in this new year.. no better time to start than now!!!!

2010-12-28T14:03:00.001-06:00

!!!!!!!!HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!! BE SAFE EVERYONE..

2010-12-22T08:42:00.002-06:00

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!!!

MAY YOUR HOLIDAY BE FILLED WITH HAPPINESS, LOVE, JOY, PEACE AND REMEMBERANCE OF THE SEASON ~ JESUS

Mallory and Jordon

2010-12-17T09:36:00.004-06:00

The sweetest set of little twins, ever!!!! Love these babies. Heather and Jake finally have both of them at home together, what a blessing!!

Just a few pics from our California/Disneyland trip

2010-12-01T18:54:00.015-06:00

Here are just a few pictures I took on our trip to Disneyland..

Lunch at the Blue Bayou.. the restaurant in the Pirates of the Carribean ride.. awesome food!!

Mica, Micayla and Aca coming to an end on the matterhorn ride

Goofy wearing Aca's hat on his nose

Sweet Minnie

Huge Christmas tree in Downtown Disney

California Adventure in the background.. rides~California Screaming, Mickey's fun wheel and tons more

The entrance to our hotel

The Happiest place on earth :)

Exactly one week from today.....

2010-11-14T13:50:00.002-06:00

We will be in Disneyland/California.. We are counting down the days!!!

Countdown to Disneyland/California

2010-11-04T17:46:00.002-05:00

The 21st won't be here soon enough!!!! We have taken the kids to Cali since they were little and now it's time to go again. We've never done a big trip like this during a holiday break but why not start!! We will actually be back the night before Thanksgiving so we can still celebrate Thanksgiving here but Disneyland will get plenty of "us" while we are there :).
We love that place and can't wait to get there and play!!!

Micayla~ Black bat (not bat girl) :)

2010-10-28T19:37:00.008-05:00

Tonight was the Fall carnival at school. Micayla wanted to be a black bat for Halloween so Ms. Judi at school made her costume.. Micayla loves it.

My sweet bat about to fly off to the carnival

Love this black bat

Micayla's last soccer game and Grandma

2010-10-16T21:09:00.008-05:00

Today was Micayla's last soccer game and grandma (Mica's mom) came to watch. We were very glad to have her there. She fly's out tomorrow to start her radiation on her tumor in her eye. Say a prayer for her if you happen to stop by here and read this.

So funny, we ended up there in the exact same shirt. It was a funny moment for us.

Mica and his mom

Micayla and Erin about to take the field.

Micayla dribbling all the way!!

Micayla in her goaly shirt showing me her certificate after the game. Great Job Micayla, You did great this season and we are so proud of you!

Deric's 18th Birthday

2010-10-13T18:40:00.005-05:00

Today is Deric's 18th Birthday!! It's crazy thinking about it, and I mean crazy! Time has flown by like a breeze.
Deric was born October 13th, 1992 at 3:47 p.m. What an awesome blessing from God!
It has been so fun, watching you grow up Deric. We love you so much. Happy Birthday.

Deric's "requested" ice cream cake.. so good!

Homecoming 2010~Deric's Senior Year

2010-10-10T15:34:00.015-05:00

Deric and a few friends decided to go to Homecoming as a group. They met at the clubhouse at Pinnacle for pictures and dinner, then went on to the dance and then to a bon fire. Their group grew large after a little bit.... you will see in the pics below. Deric had a great time!

Chatting with the guys

There were more guys than girls so we did pics 2 boys to a girl, and a puppy that showed up

Chase and sweet Brooke

Just a cute shot of Deric having a serious conversation

with the guys

Breakfast with Dad's at school

2010-10-09T09:18:00.007-05:00

Friday, dad's brought breakfast to their 1st graders and ate with them in class, then they headed outside to carve pumpkins, have a seed spitting contest and pumpkin rolling contest.

Look at that face, HA :)

My sweet girl scooping out the insides

Daddy lovin his little girl :)

One week from today....

2010-10-06T14:00:00.002-05:00

Next Wednesday Deric will turn 18. This is crazy hard to believe for me. It seems like just yesterday I was taking him to Kindergarten. He has grown up to be an awesome young man.
I am so proud of him and love him so much!!! His senior year is just flying by, and before we turn around he will be in college. It is so true when you hear people say to enjoy every second with them because time will fly by and they will be grown and gone. Deric will always be my baby no matter how old he gets, and that will never change. A mother's love will always be unconditional and true forever.

Shiloh Olympics

2010-09-29T20:42:00.004-05:00

Every year during Homecoming week the students get to dress different every day, and today was dress however their "family" group chose.. also, they have Olympics on the football field with different games set up all over the place and after a certain amount of time they switch around from one game (competition) to another and tally up their scores when done.
I love my boys :)!!! I took a bunch of pictures but I won't post them all. You can check them out on my facebook page though :)

HAPPY 7 MICAYLA

2010-09-26T21:00:00.003-05:00

Happy Birthday sweet girl!!! I love you. Thanks for 7 years of sweetness, stubborness, love, laughter, cuteness, and just being you. You'll always be my baby girl.

My sweet baby girl turn's 7 Sunday the 26th

2010-09-25T18:39:00.016-05:00

Today was Micayla's very first friend party and she had a Great time!!! Not all of her friends were able to come but it will still a fun time for her. Our sweet baby girl will be 7 tomorrow, so hard to believe! Micayla, we are so Blessed and Thankful to have you in our family. We love you so much!

Thanks to Bentley, Cole, Jessica, Regan and Riley and yes... Aca for helping make Micayla's party a huge, fun success!!!

Silly pics :)

Micayla wanted a silly picture of herself, so she started dancing...

Present time....

Nothing like a Build A Bear gift card

Lovin some Squinkies

Micayla got to spin the Birthday wheel for some free tickets

And.... the winning number was 300... yay..

Ozark Corn Maze

2010-09-18T15:40:00.011-05:00

Today I took Micayla to the Corn Maze. It was a fun time, but hot and humid so go when it cools down..

They have a petting zoo where you can feed the animals which Micayla did and loved!

Her new friend :)

Then it was on to the cow ride.. a tractor pulls all of these cows that you sit on a 10 minute tour. Let me just say it was the BuMpIeSt ride I have ever been on. The way it is built makes it go up and down kind of the way a cow does when it walks.. crazy ride, I couldn't wait to get off of it!!!

Then she did the Corn Cannon.. it was powerful and shot corn cobs out at a target

Then we headed into the corn maze.. that thing is huge... It's actually 635 ft from nose to tail.. Oh , did I mention it's in the shape of a Razorback.. so cool! 10,000 ft of foot path.

Here Micayla is on the trailor that is about to take us out to the pumpkin patch

Found one!!

The patch is really beautiful. It is so colorful in person.

Micayla and Shiloh Saints football players...

2010-09-17T14:44:00.009-05:00

Today, the Shiloh football team was outside before school autographing students shirts and getting pictures made with them.. So Fun !!!!!!

Micayla and Travis Bodenstein

Micayla and Keihl Frazier

Micayla and "Spike" Sam Harville

Mica's B-day and Shiloh Sr. luncheon

2010-09-16T20:01:00.010-05:00

Today is Mica's Birthday.. He has always made jokes about snuggies when he would see them on tv, and Micayla who had to buy him a present that would be from her ended up being just that. She had to get it.. We laughed a lot about that one :).. He also got super hero taffy..
(He said he would use the Snuggie at cold football games, so I can't wait to see if he does).

Today was the first Sr. luncheon at school for our seniors... we will have one every month. It was fun and sad at the same time. So hard to believe that this is Deric's last year in High school.. I will miss seeing him around school, but am so proud of him and what he will accomplish once he graduates and moves on to college.

A fun thing we did was pick out a baby picture and submit it to one of the parents who made a slide show out of all of them and it ran as the kids were eating and they had to guess who was who... this was Deric's picture that I submitted... Love My Baby Boy, Young Man :)

The Breakers

2010-09-11T13:11:00.007-05:00

Micayla is playing soccer thru Fayetteville this season.
Way to control the ball sissy !

Water break, thank goodness... they play four-10 minute rounds..

#10 Rocks !!!

Beating for a Bike

2010-09-08T14:06:00.006-05:00

Mica told Micayla a week ago that if she practiced and learned how to ride a bike on her old bike which was way too little for her, that he would buy her a new one. Well she practiced and practiced and practiced...... wrecked a lot, and I mean a lot.. you know, the sharp turns where you immediately fall over. She has so many bruises on her legs it's not even funny! It looks like we beat the child to death, but she was determined to learn without training wheels and get a new bike, and she did ! Took her a little over a day I think. Micayla, we are very proud of your hard work and determination. It really payed off :)

I did it :)

Heading to Texas

2010-09-06T19:55:00.007-05:00

My guy's and Jack loading up and heading out Sunday morning for Dallas, for the Shiloh Christian football game which was played in the Dallas Cowboy Stadium !!!

Love On Them Always !!

2010-09-04T20:44:00.002-05:00

Last night a life was taken in a car accident. Micayla Patterson, a Sr. from Harber High was in a car accident and died. She was an only child so her parents and family and friends need our prayers. I can't imagine being in her parents shoes so I know I have to be on my knees praying for comfort for this family. Deric knew her well because she use to go to Shiloh, and was still friends with her even after she left to go to Harber.

God always knows best about things that we could never understand so we just have to trust him and recieve peace from him.

Love on your family while they are here, because you just never know when something could happen to take them away from us.

Trusting Him!!

7 Days !!!

2010-08-28T08:55:00.001-05:00

7 day's til the first Razorback football game and it will be date night for Me and Mica !!! Can't wait. Go Hogs Go !!!!!

Bronchitis, Croup, Strep, Asthma anyone....

2010-08-26T10:48:00.002-05:00

Yeah, Micayla has all the above except strep.. as of right now.. they did a 24 hr. culture for strep and we'll know tomorrow on that one.. She seems to get this way every year. I hate it because nothing really seems to help it. Her inhaler does the best so they have raised her puffs on that from 2 to 4 for now.. and, she is not happy about missing school today at all....
She is cleared by the doctor to go to school tomorrow if there is no fever tonight. She sounds really cruddy when she coughs, but she has her whole life, and sometimes it sounds way worse than it is. It is extremely loud, like a barking seal kind of except maybe more painful.. hard to explain but it just flat out stinks overall.
Well, that's my blog for today and if you happen to stop by here and read it just say a prayer for her to clear up quickly. Thanks :)

Rock Climbing

2010-08-25T17:03:00.005-05:00

Micayla loves climbing this rock wall at Lewis & Clark.. Here she is getting hooked up and ready to go.

She got pretty high, but not as high as her daddy wanted her to go.. I couldn't get that far bare foot.

She's done and hanging in mid air :) Good job sissy.

Micayla's first day in the 1st grade

2010-08-16T14:12:00.007-05:00

Hard to believe this little girl is already in the 1st grade. It seems like yesterday she was going into k-4. My sweet baby girl is growing up.

My cutie bug in her braids that she Had to have today.

Playing with her braid while talking to her friend.

GlitterBox ~children's nail salon & boutique

2010-08-14T14:01:00.009-05:00

Today I took Micayla to GlitterBox's grand opening to get her very first pedi and manicure. She loved every second of being pampered. She also picked out several of their adorable hair clippie flowers with rhinestones for her hair. She and I decided that we will be doing this about once a month. I got my pedi at fancy nails which is part of this salon. A great girl's day out.

She is looking extremely relaxed here

Finished product with the toes..cute heart on her big toes

Now on to the mani...

Drying her nails.... this salon is soo cute, all of you with girls have got to go check it out

Finished product.. notice the little heart on her finger next to the pinky..

First day of school for the boys

2010-08-13T14:45:00.008-05:00

Deric's Last~ first day of school.. My senior, awe!!

My sweet Aca heading off to the 7th grade.. growing up too fast!

Hard to believe..

2010-08-12T10:00:00.002-05:00

This summer has flown by as everyone I have spoken to has said as well.
It is just very hard for me to believe that school already starts back tomorrow for Deric and Aca, my 12th grader and 7th grader.
I get a few more days at home with my first grader Micayla and then it's off to school for her Monday and off to work for me.
I am very blessed to have a job at their school and to be home when they are home. I love having my kids home but am very greatful to get to be with them when they are in school.
I should have pictures tomorrow of the boys heading off..

Micayla and I ~ Grape Festival 2010

2010-08-10T20:10:00.004-05:00

Micayla and I at the Tontitown Grape Festival....

An extra partner in Sorry....

2010-08-06T22:31:00.008-05:00

Micayla and Aca start a quick game of Sorry.... follow below

They glance up at the tv to see something on one of their cartoons....

Ah-Ha.. Chelsy's chance to jump up and join the game....

Chelsy sniffing the board to see what move would be best.....

Nah- Chelsy decides to lay this one out... play on guys, oh and excuse my tail that's blocking part of the board..

So Excited!!!

2010-08-05T08:52:00.001-05:00

We get to go view Deric's senior pictures today at Branch!!! Cant wait.

Senior Pictures Today

2010-08-03T17:44:00.004-05:00

It is so hard for me to believe that it is already time for Deric's Senior pictures. We went today to have these done and it was such a bittersweet moment! (No this pic is not one of his senior pics)

He has really grown to be a responsible very gentlman like christian. I love this young man in every way and am so proud of all he is and all he does.

Great Sunday

2010-08-01T17:56:00.001-05:00

Today was a great day at church!! God is Good.

Best Night Ever

2010-07-27T08:14:00.002-05:00

Mica and I had the BEST date ever last night for our anniversary/my birthday.. Great dinner, Great shopping and just a Great time with each other with no interruptions of any kind.
We laughed a lot and were so relaxed!! Just could not have been any better.
Can't wait til our next date :)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY

2010-07-26T08:48:00.002-05:00

To my wonderful, amazing, handsome, fun, goofy, kid at heart, loving, hard headed, giving, willing to try anything, huge~from working out constantly husband..... I love you with all my heart and I thank God he sent you my way over 13 years ago. You fell in love with me and you fell in love with Deric and then you gave me Aca and Micayla. What a perfect family! I love you so much! Happy 13 years. I can't wait til our date tonight !

Boo and Chelsy

2010-07-25T16:44:00.004-05:00

Boo taking a nap with elephant

Chelsy waiting for Boo to wake up

The new addition to our family

2010-07-24T10:16:00.004-05:00

This is Boo Boo, Boo for short.. our new toy poodle. He is 6 weeks old and so tiny and just the sweetest little thing. He is officially Micayla's dog. She mother's him and loves him in every way possible. Chelsy still isn't use to him yet (our 7 yr. old toy poodle) but she's doing really good with him so far.

Dentist

2010-07-23T15:19:00.006-05:00

Yesterday, Micayla and Aca had their cleaning appt. and check up at the dentist. Micayla absolutely loves going to the dentist!! She get's so pumped about it days before .. Aca isn't that crazy about it, but he will smile and show me his teeth.. No cavities!! That's what momma likes to hear :)

Cocoa Mousse Pie

2010-07-21T09:44:00.002-05:00

One of our favorite pies.. it's so quick and simple and extremely yummy!!

You'll need:
1 pkg. (3 oz.) cream cheese, softened
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup baking cocoa
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 (8oz.) carton frozen whipped topping, thawed
1 (9 in.) graham cracker crust

In a mixing bowl beat cream cheese, sugar and cocoa. Beat in milk and vanilla til smooth. Fold in whipped topping and spoon into crust. Cover and freeze for 20 minutes or refrigerate til chilled well. Garnish with additional whipped topping and cocoa if you wish.
ENJOY :)

Happy Friday

2010-07-16T10:53:00.002-05:00

Micayla is fever free!! She's on antibiotics to help clear her tonsills and she is eating.
Mica comes home from Atlanta this evening. Everyone is healthy and happy so it's a good, happy Friday.
So, Happy Friday to everyone :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ACA

2010-07-14T10:03:00.006-05:00

Today is Aca's 12th birthday!!!! We had a bowling party for him this past Saturday at Fast Lanes which was a blast. He is growing up so fast. Happy Birthday Babe, we love you very much!!

Below, he's looking up at the screen to see all the scores.

90.4 - 102.6

2010-07-13T17:59:00.003-05:00

Her fever has been bouncing back and forth from 90.4 up to 102.6 What is up with this.. We have been to the doctor once and she had puss on her tonsills so they immediately swabed her throat but it was negative.. said it's probably a virus and to come back Wednesday if she is still running fever and not better.. we'll be going back.. she just lays around sleeping, and hasn't eaten since Friday. She did take a bite of something Saturday and a bite of something last night and that was it. We are doing Motrin every six hrs. on the dot and it only brings it down a little and for a short time. Is there something going around I don't know about? If anyone knows let me know please.

Picture of the day

2010-07-11T10:33:00.002-05:00

One of my morning rituals is to look out my bay window in the front just because I know I will be amazed in one way or another by God's creation. This morning it was this woodpecker, so pretty! I never know what kind of creature it might be because we have deer, fox, you name it and it's probably out there. God is so amazing !!!

Finally......

2010-07-09T12:55:00.003-05:00

Deric finally got his braces off this morning!!! Yay... It has been a long road but he made it:)
Dr. Roblee's office got Deric a cake to celebrate with.. I have to say, Deric you look very handsome and a bit older now.

4th of July weekend

2010-07-05T10:02:00.007-05:00

Our weekend started Friday in Branson. We went straight to Bransons Landing and had lunch at Joe's Crab Shack, then shopped around a little. Then we drove up the strip and stopped at our favorite indoor mini golf spot and played a round of golf, then it was on to Tanger outlet mall to do a little more shopping, then dinner then on to our favorite hotel, Chateau on the Lake. Below is an awesome sunset from out hotel. So beautiful there!

Here , our kiddos are enjoying some ice cream outside our hotel from the ice cream parlor inside.

This view is inside the hotel

Silver Dollar City now does character breakfast with different characters each month, and Micayla chose the Power Puff Girls from Cartoon network.

Below, Micayla on Powder Keg in SDC.. she has waited so long to be tall enough to ride any "big" roller coaster ride at any theme park we take her to and she finally got to. I don't think she expected it to be so fast, but she still loved it and can't wait to do it again.

Here, Mica, Micayla, Deric and Aca are competing to get to the top on this thing? I don't know what it's called but they had fun.

Finally, Sunday we had lunch at my parent's with all of my family.. great food, a little whiffle ball competion and just family fun. Then we headed to Mica's dad's for some outdoor fun, good food and fireworks! It was definately a great weekend all together.

Have a Great 4th everyone!!

2010-07-02T07:25:00.002-05:00

My Girly Tom Boy

2010-07-01T08:17:00.003-05:00

I have to admit this child has been super wild this summer, I am talking rough wild. I'm not sure what's going on but let's just say her brothers and cousins (boys) are maybe a little scared of her at times :) Please lord let Aunt Heather have at least one girl out of those twins in her belly :):):) Anyway, my point with this picture is that there is still a girly side to her too. She and I were at the mall a few days ago and we went in Icing, and she was playing with this and prissing around trying all the stuff on.. So maybe it's just a summer boredom thing when she turns wild ....

Teeth, who needs them anyway...

2010-06-28T15:38:00.002-05:00

Early Sunday morning Micayla lost another tooth!! I think that's six now.. not really for sure, I'm losing count. All I know is she has a lot of empty spaces in her mouth. I can't wait to see what she looks like with teeth again.

Swim Ranch ~ moving up

2010-06-19T21:16:00.006-05:00

Micayla recieved her certificate at the end of her last swim lesson Friday and she recieved 17 out of 17 red flags and 20 out of 20 blue flags which means she accomplished everything for lane 2 and she has moved up to lane 3 for next summer!! Yay Micayla, we are so proud of you! Just lane 3 and 4 and you get your fish.. can't wait to watch all you learn next summer.
Below is Micayla with her teacher for lane 2 Ms. Nicole

and here is Micayla with her other teacher Mr. Adam, who she was very fond of :)

Here she is having play time at the end of her swim session, and she made up a game where she and the other kids in her lane were sharks, Micayla being the "mother" shark and they chased Adam around the pool for a solid 15 minutes.. sorry Adam (he was a great sport)

Micayla and her new friend Carter at playtime

Fun times

2010-06-16T16:41:00.008-05:00

Today at our clubhouse Spongebob and Dora came to poolside at lunch time to see all of the kids. It was a sweet treat for the little ones! No offense to the Dora fans out there, but my child does not like her so there is no pic with her ;~>

Hey, I guess Dora drives in style

Quick dip in the pool before we had to leave for swim lessons

Swim Lessons

2010-06-14T17:42:00.008-05:00

Today was the first day of swim lessons at Swim Ranch in the second lane. Micayla was so pumped!!! She has been thinking about it everyday since lessons last year. She loves being in the water swimming and loves learning new things, so here we go.

Below, Micayla is listening to what they have to do next in the 10' end

Orlando Vacation

2010-06-07T09:04:00.014-05:00

I will spare my viewers all zillion of my pics I took on our vacation, so here are just a few pics to show a little of what we did.. We started out at the Nickelodeon Hotel for 3 nights and let Micayla enjoy Spongebob and the 2 awesome pools they have. Micayla and Aca also had a private sliming which I videod so there won't be a picture posted of that but it was great! For you who aren't familiar with the slime of Nick, it has been going on a long time and kids love it :)

Here, Micayla is admiring the pool view from outside our room

This castle is in Universal Studios which was our next destination.. This is inside the new Harry Potter park. We were able to go in an hour early everyday to ride the rides and go into the shops. This does not open to the public until 6-18th.

Micayla on her favorite roller coaster in the Harry Potter area. It's called the Hippogriffe and it is super fast and crazy! This child wanted to ride the Hulk, and Dr. Doom and all the big rides with dad, Aca and Deric but she still isn't quite tall enough.. next year it will happen and she will be loving it! She fears Nothing.

Micayla and Aca got to get their pics taken with Shrek, Donkey and Feona while we were waiting for dad and Deric to get off of Rip Rocket roller coaster.. Donkey talked the whole time and he was hilarious!!

Tea Party

2010-05-25T16:53:00.011-05:00

Today the Kindergarten class had a Tea Party for the moms. They sang a beautiful song and then served us peach tea and fruit with fruit dip and a sugar cookie. It was wonderful!

Below is Micayla and her best bo~ James

Upward Soccer

2010-05-22T17:29:00.004-05:00

Micayla's soccer season is once again coming to a close. We sort of had a mid-season party after the game today at the new and improved Fun City. We still have two games left, one Tuesday and then the last will be Saturday which we will miss because we are flying out Thursday to go on vacation in Orlando.
Anyway, Mica surprised the team with a little trophie that said Whitecaps 2010, the only two girls on our team got "girl trophies" , too cute. This was the sweetest team we have ever been on, and Micayla has been on quite a few soccer teams. Not only the kids, but the parents too are so precious. Thanks to everyone for one of the best soccer seasons ever!

Fun Times :)

Shiloh Basketball Camp

2010-05-21T18:56:00.004-05:00

This week was basketball camp for K-5th grade.. Micayla attended everyday, (Mon.-Thurs.) did her best, never complained at all, but when it was all over and we got in the car to go home Thursday she said very nicely, " I hate basketball"... OK ?!? wow.. no biggy.. I guess it's soccer and swimming all the way. I have to say that it was a lot of fun to watch :)

Micayla and her certificate for attending camp

3-D Shark slip n' slide

2010-05-14T16:12:00.005-05:00

Micayla waited a year for this slip n' slide and she finally got it, but she has had to wait for a sunny, warm day to play on it too... finally this past Wednesday it was in the 80's and sunny, not exactly warm enough to be playing in water in the Spring but she just couldn't wait any longer. So I set it up and she played. She was freezing the first couple of times but after that she was "great".. This little fish would swim and play in water all year 'round if we'd let her.
So here she is super happy and dancing!

Aca had to get in on the action too, and he was loving it as well.. the 3-d goggles are crazy funny

Silly girl :)

Spring Concert

2010-05-12T18:58:00.004-05:00

Last night was the Spring concert at Shiloh. Aca's choir did a great job singing!
We're very proud of you Ace!!
Below, Aca is waiting patiently to sing

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T19:57:00.004-05:00

My sweet babies made me breakfast and brought it to me in bed. I have never had breakfast in bed before and it was so touching. I had tears and couldn't quit loving on them! They gave me a very cute, funny card that I absolutely love and then they took me to a late lunch at P.F. Changs, and then to get ice cream at my favorite place Dairy Queen.. Thanks for making my day so special and making me feel so loved. I love you guys!!

Me and my sweet babies... not so little anymore :( :) but they'll always be my babies :)

Another tooth another dollar

2010-05-06T16:33:00.007-05:00

The other top front tooth came out just a few minutes ago.. Micayla was super excited :)
In her words "YAY"

Angela S. we're catching up .. how long does it take for them to grow in anyway??

Toothless

2010-04-28T14:09:00.005-05:00

Last night Micayla lost her front tooth and the one right beside it is very loose too. She is going to have one big hole in the front :) I love it!

Aca's new hobby

2010-04-26T19:11:00.007-05:00

Aca has taken over Deric's airsoft gun until he earns enough money to get his own. He loves shooting at targets and this diet dr pepper can is his victim this evening.

Serious concentration

Gotta love the goggles

Spring Soccer

2010-04-17T18:46:00.006-05:00

This season Micayla is playing soccer thru Upward at our church. Today was the first game. It was raining and cold but her little team did great! She has an awesome coach and sweet teammates. She plays against some sweet kids too because most of them go to school with her :)

Taking a breather..

Flowers

2010-04-11T16:51:00.004-05:00

This weekend Micayla and I planted flowers. That is one of my favorite things to do in the Spring and now Micayla loves doing it too. We can't wait to watch them grow and spread..the colors are beautiful!

Happy Spring

HAPPY EASTER

2010-04-04T13:47:00.005-05:00

My Easter Blessings !!

Wishing everyone a blessed and happy Easter

Spring Break~Atlanta

2010-03-29T16:11:00.014-05:00

Ok, I am going to try to keep my pics to a minimum with each thing we did on this trip.. so here we go.. first of all , this man pictured with my kids is Dominique Wilkins for you basketball fans back in the 80's and 90's. He happened to be outside the Lennox mall where we were shopping and Deric spotted him. He was so kind and manerly and was happy to have his picture taken.

Below, we are waiting to get inside the arena to watch the Atlanta Hawks/Orlando Magic play some B-ball.. it was a great game!!

Inside the arena

Go Hawks.. and Deric would be saying, go Magic!!

On to the Coca-Cola museum.. it was awesome! The best part was sampling all the different cokes from around the world

The couch the kiddos are sitting on was used on American Idol in 2005.. pretty cool

Now the Aquarium.... have you ever seen a crab this big?? this picture does NOT even do it justice..

This was the happiest shark I have ever seen.. very photogenic if I do say so myself..

Hanging out in the aquarium

On to the CNN building.. we got to tour the inside and actually watch the news being done live.. I wasn't aloud to take pictures but I promise it was amazing! There was security on every floor and when I say every floor......... we took a free standing escalator 8 stories up and walked our way back down.. we got to see where Nancy Grace, Anderson Cooper and others work. It was very neat!

My one picture inside the CNN building.. It's huge inside and so worth going to

Spring Break in Atlanta

2010-03-28T17:10:00.001-05:00

pictures and a blog coming soon....

Happy Birthday !!

2010-03-12T08:25:00.005-06:00

Yesterday, March 11th my mom turned 62 ! We all surprised her with a cake and ice cream and gifts. She just thought my dad was taking her out to dinner and that the rest of us had forgotten about it because noone called her. I know, mean.. but it was worth it to see her face of "surprise" when we got there. :) Yes, a very Happy Face!! Happy Birthday mom, we love you very much!

Nanna's never too old to blow out candles :)

Praise !!

2010-03-05T15:58:00.002-06:00

Aca had his C. T. scan today because of the migraines he is having and the scan came back normal. Huge praise!!!! He will now be put on a daily preventative to hopefully prevent the migraines from coming on.

Praising Him !!

Migraines

2010-03-03T17:12:00.003-06:00

Aca has been having migraines, and I'm talking on a scale from 1-10.. ranging from a 10 down to a 6. Today I got a call from the nurses office and he was having one "8".. I had to get him home and get his meds in him.. I have never had one but I was told by his doctor they are very painful, and when it's a 10 Aca is in tears. If you happen to stop by my blog and read this , please send up a prayer for him. The headaches are miserable and we have to keep a journal on them because he can really only have so many a month before they go further in testing him. He is on prescription medicines and they are knocking the pain out, but they are also knocking Aca out. He's a tough boy, but even a boy can only take so much! Thanks for your prayers~ in advance

Micayla's Baptism

2010-02-28T20:11:00.007-06:00

My baby girl has been so ready to be baptised for a few weeks now. She can't seem to get enough Bible stories read to her out of the Bible these days. She asked Jesus into her heart and said she wanted to be baptised and it happened today!! You can't even know how much it blessed our hearts. We are so proud of you Micayla and can't wait to see what the lord will do in your life. You are one precious little girl.

Below she is dressed and ready to get in the water :)

Here she is wading around in the warm water waiting for the big moment.

Below she is checking everyone out in church

and here she has come back up out of the water..

Flowers from my little man and big man

2010-02-16T18:45:00.004-06:00

Friday at school Deric's junior class put together carnations, candy grams and singing grams to be bought and sent to anyone you wish.. well my little man Aca surprised me with it all.. I was sung to (" God must have spent a little more time on you") tears.. and given carnations and candy by a group of great singing junior boys.. Thank you Aca, I love you! and Deric I love you! and Micayla I love you :)

OK, so then Saturday Mica came home and surprised me with the roses (tear).. Thank you babe, I love you !!! My family is everything to me, flowers or not.. They are about the best crew a momma could have.

Sunday morning....

2010-02-15T16:57:00.004-06:00

Sunday morning before church I went to my bay window to look outside, like I do on a regular basis and this is what was in our front yard. Very friendly and photogentic :)

One year anniversary

2010-02-09T10:05:00.004-06:00

Today marks the one year anniversary that our precious baby nephew Carter (Mica's sister's baby) went to live with Jesus in Heaven. What a perfect little baby . You can't even imagine how tiny, yet perfect he was. Heaven definately gained a sweet , beautiful angel. We miss you little Carter, but we also know that you are in a perfect place and cradled in God's hands.

Pillowcase Dress

2010-02-06T10:05:00.003-06:00

My very good friend Sarah is making pillowcase dresses to sell for $25.00. She will either let you choose from the fabric she has or you can pick out your own for her to use. Micayla picked this fabric out from what Sarah has and it turned out adorable! We will be ordering another one very soon! To check out her things go to Laurengraceboutique.blogspot.com or you can email Sarah at sarahmichelleward@yahoo.com Thanks Sarah, we love you!

My little cowgirl

2010-02-04T20:38:00.004-06:00

A few nights ago we had beans and cornbread for dinner and Micayla wanted to eat her beans like a cowgirl on her horse cause she said that's what they do .. hmmm, wonder if her pappa Ronnie had anything at all to do with this big imagination of hers ? :)

Dance

2010-01-21T18:05:00.005-06:00

Micayla has decided after doing gymnastics for about 4 years that she was ready to do something different, and it is dance! Her first class was this evening and she loved it. It is a beginner combo class of ballet, jazz and hip hop. Her teacher was very proud of her and wanted to know if she had danced before because she caught on so quick, Yay :).. Her first recital will be in June and we can't wait.

Good job sissy!

Snow Day at the Jordon's

2010-01-04T13:15:00.012-06:00

LOT'S of snow pictures!! We had a good time sledding down our hilly yard. After I took lot's of pics, I joined in on the sledding and it was a blast!! Can't wait for the next snow that's coming Wednesday night :) ENJOY..

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

2009-12-31T20:37:00.000-06:00

Many blessing to everyone in the new year..