Miss Kylee, Soon to be MRS...

My niece Kylee is getting married in just a few days.. These are some pictures from her bridal shower.. It was so fun...

This is a wedding "cake" we attempted to make. Not too bad for a few amateurs.. :)

The decor..

The water bottles..

The boys before they left..

Cousin Valoree, Nancy, Whitney and Courtnee...

Grandma Shirley..

Nancy & Tonya..

Kylee & Great Grandma Jacquie

Aunt Joaner, Bev and Grandma Jones..

Jentry's Family...

Aunt Colleen and Aunt Janet..

The Bride to be... :)

Love the look on Kylee and Courtnee's faces as she opens a RISQUE gift.. :)

What a great time, great gifts, great food and most of all with all the people we love!! Good luck Miss Kylee...

Week 11....

3/12/2012 - Fork.. Courtnee and Cole enjoying his birthday strawberries.. :)

3/13/2012 - A Sign... Fell in love with this sign...

3/14/2012 - Clouds... A few clouds amongst our beautiful mountains..

3/15/2012 - Car... Love that Cole still lines up his cars, and now little Ryker does the same thing..

3/16/2012 - Sunglasses... Notta today!!

3/17/2012 -  Green... Got the first Bunco prize.. :)

3/18/2012 - Corner of your home... Fishy tank..

Week 10...

3/5/2012 - Smile... He had been so dang sick, this is a smile just for me..

3/6/2012 - 5pm... I was attempting to update my blog.. :)

3/7/2012 - Something you wore... We took Troy's parents to dinner for Shirley's birthday.. Not a great picture, but someday I may appreciate it.. :)

3/8/2012 - Window... This one stumped me.. :)

3/9/2012 -  Red... The balloons we blew up for Mr. Cole.. :)

3/10/2012 - Loud... Bowling Alley... Need I say more.. :)

 3/11/2012 - Someone you talked to... Love the conversations I have with this kiddo, he cracks me up with his vivid imagination..

Birthday for Cole..

The day he had been counting down for since his last birthday was FINALLY here!! Poor kiddo didn't feel that great, but we still tried.. Here are just a few pics from his day..

His birthday balloons... The kids seem to love waking up to hundreds of balloons just for them. :)

More balloons and streamers...

Courtnee did this to his door.. :)

His strawberry bouquet..

Bowling time.. Up next Courtnee and Mack..

Cole and Stockton up next...

Mack, Cole & Stockton enjoying nachos..

My birthday boy!!

Shocking I know an actual picture of me and Cole..

Whitney, Courtnee and Grandma...

Grandma and her birthday boy..

My cute family.. Love them so much..

Stockton and Cole...

Casey and Troy..

Jade was so funny, he didn't really know how to bowl, but when he got the hang of it he loved it.. He would actually start at the score table and run as fast as he could and throw it. :)

He was so proud!!

Love you so much Colie Wolie.. Hope you had a great 9th birthday!!

Sick bugs...

It has been a hard few weeks for Cole.. He has woken up so sick the past two Sundays, (not this last one..) The first Sunday I took him to Instacare because I was certain he had Strep.. He did.. It took him four or five days to recover from that.. The following Saturday night (just a few days later) he was up all night, saying he had a headache.. I was thinking maybe still the strep.. Sunday he just laid on the couch, burning with fever, headache and oh so sad... By 5:00 pm he was so hot and just crying about how bad his head hurt.. So it was off to Instacare yet again.. They were concerned about Meningitis, but after some checking thought it probably wasn't that, but that he was dehydrated. They told us to watch him really close, and if he got worse to take him to the hospital... So I sat up all night with him (lost count as to how many times we did this) just to make sure he was going to be OK... Still sick Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.. Thursday felt better and went to school.. Thursday night he said he didn't feel well and had a cough... Up all night Thursday with fever and cough.. Never moved off the couch all day Friday... His birthday was Saturday and he was OK, but still not Cole.. I had bought him a strawberry bouquet, and he didn't even want any.. That's when you know he is not OK... He didn't want to open his gifts or anything.. He did muster up some energy to go bowling, that was it... :) Sunday was better, and hopefully we are back to the old Cole.. :) NO MORE SICK BUGS!!!! And through all of this with Cole, Jaden and Ryker managed to get Croup... Jade lost his voice (which was nice for a few days) and that was about it.. Ryker on the other hand was so so sick.. It was so sad... Poor baby.   We are ready for summer and healthy kiddos.. :)

Week 9...

2/27/2012 - Something you ate.. These little eggs are so evil.. You can never just eat one!!!

2/28/2012 - Money.. Or in this case, lack there of.. :)


2/29/2012 - Something your listening to... One of my new faves.. :) Love the Tobster!!

3/1/2012 - Up... I love this baby!!

3/2/2012 - Fruit.. This did have fruit in it, so that counts right... Lemon and Strawberries.. YUMMY..

3/3/2012 - Your neighborhood.. Well this is my favorite view of the neighborhood. :)

 3/4/2012 - Bedside... Eh...

A new journey...

A year ago today, my sister made a decision that would forever change her life, and ours... FOR THE BEST!! She entered rehab...  I watched for years as she unraveled and spiraled down a dark and horrifying path.. She went from being my sister, the one I loved, trusted, adored, laughed with... To this lifeless, lying, stealing, cold and dark stranger... Oh but I didn't stop loving her, NO WAY!! There were so many times we saw her at deaths door, and begged God to give her one more chance... He did... The last year has been anything but easy for Whitney... I cannot even begin to imagine the loss, the hardships, the loneliness she must have felt.. But never, not once did we leave her side.. We got through the first year, but most importantly SHE got through the first year...

Today for her "Birthday," we attended an AA meeting with her.. She was going to be getting her one year chip.. My mom and other sister had been to one before, I had not. This was my first.. It was very humbling and very touching... Men and women, just like me and you... Just like the ones you see at Target, just like the ones you see at church, just like the ones you see at the grocery store... For some reason I had always pictured "addicts" to have a certain "look.." They don't... My heart ached for those men and women, for their stories of what they had been through.. And admired them them for being there and willing to share their stories... There was not one person in the room who was not in awe at the support that Whitney had sitting next to her.. That made my heart hurt.. I kept thinking how on earth could they do it alone? How could somebody not love them enough to be there for them.. There was another woman there, getting her one year chip, not one person there for her.... That made my heart hurt... Some of them had been going there for many many years, for some it was their first meeting.. I was beyond proud when Whitney went up to get her chip... My heart was full, was happy, was humbled.. She has had an incredible journey, and in doing so is the Whitney I had longed for to come back. The Whitney I had missed for so long.. Today SHE'S BACK!! She is doing amazing.. I could not be more proud of her... However this is a battle she will fight daily, she takes life day by day. Thanks Whit for another 24!!

Nothing beats dinner at the Cheesecake Factory... This was mine and my moms dessert..

Nancy & Whitney's Red Velvet Cheesecake...

That brings us to the tattoo parlor.... We had always said that "when" she reached her one year we would all get a tattoo in honor of it... Well she showed us all... A good friend of ours is a tattoo artist, he said he would be honored to do it.. The saying is Latin and it means "she flies with her own wings.." Kinda fitting for the occasion... What a fun night... Lots of laughs... A night to remember that's for sure... Here are a few pics of my mom and sisters getting inked.. As to the question did I get a tattoo?? We decided that what happened at the tattoo shop will forever stay at the tattoo shop... ;) Thanks Mom, Nancy and esp Whit for letting us celebrate your continuing journey... Love you all!!

Miss Whitney went first..

Time for Madre... :)

Then Nancy... I was worried that she was going to pass out, she was as pale as a ghost.. :)

The finished work.. Whit's. Nancy's. Mom's..