Random Stuff from this Winter....

Scott doesn't like to talk about the holidays or any of the stuff he missed, but I have some random pics that I wanted to post about. We went home on Christmas Eve to spend the holiday with my family. It was the first time since I was in college that Mom had both me and brother there on Christmas morning. She was a little thrilled, to say the least! :)

 Christmas Eve (above, with Britt and Austin) and Christmas morning MADNESS with Mom, Dad, the girls, Tim, Marsha and Timmie. We had so much fun.

 Having breakfast and singing Happy Birthday to Jesus. We always make him a cake and sing.

 I LOVE this one. Liv was shooting marshmellows into Uncle Ronnie's mouth with the marshmellow gun! haha! So gross but SO Live and Uncle Ronnie!

 Uncle with his girls! :) They sure do love Uncle. When my Mom is here, Abby always takes her phone and sends text messages to Uncle, and he is the ONLY person she will text or send pictures, too. He would be SO done if he had a girl...he's a TOTAL push over! haha!

 Melissa and her family were also in town and they came by to see us one night! It was my first time meeting Miss Harper! :) We decided we still look JUST like we did in high school so just go with it, okay!! ha!

 With our kiddos. Thanks for cooperating, Liv! UGH! She was so tired, then she got her fingers smashed in the door as soon as they got there. She's 0 for 2 with our visits with them. (She was a total stinker when we saw them at the beach last week, too!)

 Sweet kiddos. Cade is such a ladies man and he always fancies right up to Abby! ha!

 One weekend in Jan. Britt and her cheer squad came to St. Louis for a competition. It was so awesome to have her and Deana here and to watch her perform (and they kicked ass and swept the whole competition so that is always fun, too! ha!). We took the girls to the Arch for the first time. They were SO excited.

 Mom, Britt and the girls went up in the Arch....Deana and I happily stayed down and waited...and people watched! ha! (I've been up before, but since Mom and Britt wanted to go, I was more than happy to NOT go this time!)

 Also in Jan (or maybe it was Feb, who knows at this point! ha!), I decided to take the girls on a Staycation. We went to the Science Center and the IMAX and we stayed in a hotel in St. Louis.

 It was great. We had the whole place to ourselves pretty much, we ate at a great restaurant that was attached to the hotel, we swam and just played and realaxed and did whatever we wanted!

 At the end of January, the undefeated Murray State Racers played in Edwardsville (which is only about 40min. away from here) so Mom and Dad came to town and we all went to the game. It was SO MUCH FUN! I saw so many old friends and familiar faces and the girls got to cheer on the Racers and they WON! My future Racers! ;)

 Fred Bird was there, too! AWESOME!

 My girls...they sure do look good in blue and gold! :)

WELCOME HOME!

Ahhhh..the big homecoming! :) Not sure if you all remember the news from back then, but about 2 weeks before Scott was to come home, someone walked into an office building and shot 2 military personnel in their office...on a secure location. Well, that was in Kabul, where Scott was. That was when I really started to panic. I got the news early one morning and then couldn't get a hold of him. It was awful, we were afraid they would suspend air traffic and not let anyone come or go, thus delaying his return. It was like we sailed through 3 1/2 months and then it was going to come to this and all hell was breaking lose. He was supposed to be home on Wed. March 14th (his birthday), but on that Sunday he called and said, 'what do you think about me coming home TOMORROW!' Oh. My. Word! I went into full panic mode! ha! I thought I had until Wed! ha! Thankfully, my Mom was here that weekend so I was able to spend all day getting ready for his homecoming.

We made our signs, I signed Abby out of school and we were on our way!!! :)

 Of course...his plane from Chicago was delayed...and delayed...and delayed! We found plenty to keep us occupied, but man that is a tough wait. Knowing he is in CHICAGO!! I was about to tell him to just cancel the flight and we would drive the 4hrs north to get him! ha!

 Look closely at the corner...she woke up that morning with her first loose tooth, so she added to the sign...'I have a lose tooth!' It was so sweet! I bet 100 people commented on her sign! :)

 FINALLY...we saw him coming!!!

 What a wonderful feeling to have him back on safe soil!...and, sporting a new mustache! ha! (FUNNY side note...so after he made it home, we were sent many sweet messages, texts, emails, calls, etc. and then my BFF and roommate from college sends me a message that said, 'what the hell is up with Scott's 'stache and I know you will make him get rid of it soon!' hahaha! She knows us all too well! :)...and for the record he is STILL sporting the 'stache! He says the old ladies at work love it! haha! :)

 The girls were SO happy to have their Daddy home!

The transition was a little rough. Getting back into the grove of being home, the girls contantly demanding time and attention, etc was a little hard for him. We really didn't get any time to just 'be' after wards. We, unfortunately, lost a family member the week after he returned so we were traveling and the girls were busy and Scott just had to jump right back into what was going on because things didn't stop here, so that was less than easy. I think he had been home for over a month before we had a chance to have dinner, just the 2 of us. But, the transition was smooth and passed quickly. We are very grateful for that, and mostly grateful that he is home...safe and sound! :)

Our Days While Scott Was Away!

I am going to just start right were I left off, but post abridged verstions of everything until I am updated! :) Valentine's Day...another holiday we spent without Scott! :( We made the most of it, though. The girls dressed up, we made yummy cupcakes, I bought myself a fabulous new watch! ha!

 It's funny to think back to when Scott was gone because at the time I was just on auto pilot and never really allowed myself to over think it. I just made sure we ended every day fed, happy and clean! :) If we did...SUCCESS! Things were a little crazy at times...at one point in time there was a ball pit, full sized tent and a trampoline in our living room, the girls ate a few meals on the living room floor watching a show, I'm sure we missed a bed time or 2...but all in all, I have to give myself and the girls 2 thumbs up for a job well done at 4 month of going it alone! :)

 We anxiously awaited packages from Scott. And, if you deliver something to our door, be prepared to see Liv in no pants. It's just the way it is around here! haha!

 These silly girls are always so much fun. They think it is HILARIOUS for Abby to hold Liv. Never mind that Liv almost weighs as much as Abby!

 We did A LOT of this while Scott was gone...getting out the maps and seeing where Daddy was, talking about all the places we have been, where we want to go, how long it takes to travel from one place to another. LOVE these maps! In our new house, we are doing a travel themed room for Abby and framing some large maps like this for her walls. I can't wait to share the whole thing once it's done! :)

I. AM. BACK!!! :)

Howdy, everyone....I. AM. BACK!!! Yay! haha! It's only been what?!...4 months or more! ha! Opps! I have LOTS to update. We've had a few 'little' things going on around here. You know...my husband returning from Afghanistan, buying land and prepping to sell and build, Abby wrapping up her first year of school, family vacation, etc. :)

I have made the blog public again so that it would alert followers that I am posting again. So, if you are a reader and you didn't get put on the list the first go 'round, shoot me a message so I can get you added, if I make it private again!

I have been reading along with all the other blogs, though. The cycle would go like this...Oh, I need to update the blog, log on, see all the new blogs, read them, realize I just spent 30min reading other blogs and I no longer have time to update mine, feel bad that I haven't updated in forever, vow to do it SOON, repeat back to the begining of the cycle! haha!

I even tried to spurce up the layout. And, yes...this is as good as it gets for spruced up. I have a black thumb when it comes to all things technology. I would love a ticker or those other cute things, but I am not even sure if the picture I tried to attach to this post will be on here or not! ha!

Hope all is well with everyone. Happy to report that we are all doing well. No complaints here! :) I promise a few 'get updated' posts in the next day or so. I have been so lucky to arrange my schedule so that I am only working on Mondays and Thursdays this summer so I have more time that I had this fall/winter/spring. (and, I have some exciting work news, too! :) Anyways...this is me, saying I am BACK!! ha! :)