The Few, The Proud--The Aunt!

Last week I was blessed with the opportunity to pack my bags & head to Cali with my mom, sis, BIL & niece to watch my nephew graduate from Marine Boot camp. I never thought I could be more proud of that boy, but that changed when he decided to join the Marine Corps. His selfless act made me more proud than a big bag of Peanut M&M's (which I love so much & I don't like to share!), more proud to be his Aunt. :)

There have been countless hours of time spent in prayer for him & the rest of Hotel Company. I have prayed on my knees, holding a toddler, driving in the car, crying in Walmart--I have PRAYED! 13 long weeks slowly creeped by and on November 20th, 2014 we ran to find Christian and in the midst of the chaos, that boy grabbed all 5 of us & gave us a bear hug...one hug that I will always remember. The one hug that we all longed for!! That day was the 3rd best day of my life (first marrying my best friend, my love! Second being when my sweet little chunkers was born!)!!!! For about 10 of those 13 weeks Christian had asked us to write to his friend, so we did. What was really cool is that we included him into our family on Family Day & Graduation. There was no need for him to spend time alone. He is apart of our family now. He's also a good kid, keep praying for him too! Too much excitement for 1 blog post, so here are some pictures!

Proud mom!

I just love this picture!! Their faces say it all!

Proud sis & grandma!

Best Friends for life: Salinas & Rodriguez

Private Christian Salinas

Private Gustavo Rodriguez

Airport Selfie

Team Spirit! Sported our red on family day!!

The Countdown Begins

Good morning!!

November will be quite a busy month for us & it starts on Saturday! I'm excited to tackle these adventures, especially with the loving support of my Husband!!

Saturday beings Christmas shopping. I'm starting later than I usually do...because I'm married now. lol Brady is taking Jayden while I enjoy brunch with one of my favorite friends ever & then while I go around doing a little Christmas shopping!! Hopefully more than a little, and hoping to tackle most or all of it!

In 9 days I turn 30. In 9 days I have a girls day celebrating turning 30. In 9 days Brady will be a groomsmen in a wedding, Mia will be keeping Jayden and Brady & I get to enjoy a date night on my Birthday!!

In 18 days my dad will be celebrating his 2nd birthday in Heaven. Gosh how my heart misses him. Every day I miss him. I've noticed that if I don't put much thought into the day, or if my day has already been planned, I don't cry (except for today, my day has already been planned, BUT I'm writing my blog & I'm up before anyone else). But for the days that I'm not busy or I'm writing on my blog, those are the days that I don't hesitate to cry. My daddy was proud of his girls & I know that if either my sister or I updated our blogs, my dad was sure to know because of my mom....no matter the subject, he was still proud.

In 19 days I have a Jamberry House Parry--my second since August! This should be fun because it's right before I leave to Cali!

In 20 days I leave for Cali. A trip I have been thinking about since this summer. Something I never thought I would get to do because of finances. But I promise you, when you're not looking, God opens a door and blesses you more than you can imagine!! Happy 30th Birthday to me! Why is this so special? Because I get to see this little boy who has miraculously turned into a man in just 3 months. The same little boy who I rocked to sleep on his first Valentine's Day, the same little boy who would come to Grandma & Grandpa's house asking "Are youuuuuu talkin' 'bout me?" The same little boy who gave a confused look on his face on picture day & his Grandpa loved that picture! The same little boy who stole my heart the day he was born and proudly calls me "Aunt". Excuse me while I go cry in a corner! The proudness I have in my heart is so hard to describe! In 3 weeks we will have another Marine on our hands! I have always supported the military, but when it's family, especially ones that you've grown up with, it's a bit of a tear jerker & prideful moment!

Don't expect me to take pictures of that special reunion, I might be a big 'ol mess...I'm not sure who we'll appoint to that position, because I think my mom, niece, sis & bro-in-love will be in the same boat!!



Love & Blessings as we near this Holiday Season!


Oh & Oorah! ;)

Letter writing soothes the soul

This is the second day in a row to write a letter to my nephew and his friend. This big for me. I usually only mail one a week, but Jayden insisted on painting pictures last night, so I had to share the beautiful artwork from a 2 year old's perspective... Life is messy, but we gotta keep living.

I have always found that writing letters soothes my soul, makes me feel better about myself after I've written the things that were on my heart. I just hope my letters bring a sense of calming and a smile to my nephews face.

 

{Please don't judge the mess around the letter. I do my crafting & Jamberry on the same table. LOL}

My nephew's friend will also be getting a letter & a painting. I hope it brings a smile to him as well, and I hope that he understands how he has been adopted into our family! 

Daddy's Celebration of Life Service

I'm currently listening to my daddy's funeral. I remember being there, but all in all, it was a complete blur & in GriefShare we have been talking about listening to the funeral...I finally got enough courage to listen... {I am writing after each thing that I hear}

I want to personally thank Bro. Mickey Moriarty for being such a wonderful pastor to our family & especially to my daddy. You have no idea how much he loved you as a fellow brother in Christ and as a friend.

To Lud, you have such a tender & kind heart. My daddy loved your music. He loved you & Kellee. Thank you for your support during this past year. We love you dearly. Thank you for your willing heart to want to serve in the music ministry at CBC.

John Brooks, your part of the sermon was so sweet. I love having you as my family. Thank you for your sincere words and scriptures.

Kathy--your voice is so beautiful. Thank you for singing my daddy's favorite song. You captured the beauty of the service with that song & with your voice.

Deanna--all I have to say is thank you for your special & kind words. Our family will always love you. Tears are falling as I listen to the things you say. :)

Rickey-- my daddy loved you so & I will always know why. You have such a giving heart. Both you & Phyllis are tremendous blessings in my life, my daddy's life and my family's life. Just listening to you talk about my daddy, makes me miss him so much. The words you used to describe my daddy were spot on!!!

Mama C--First of all, I just miss you..period. Second of all, my daddy LOVED you. Loved you!!! He was so thankful for the friendship y'all had.

To everyone that came and showed your love for my daddy & for my family, thank you. 

To Mickey, Deanna & Rickey...we never knew that he had talked to y'all. NEVER knew it until y'all got up to the podium to speak. God knew what he was doing bringing each of you into our lives.


As tears fill up in my eyes, listening to this has not only made my heart smile, but it has made me really miss him. I enjoyed listening to these stories all over again.

God Bless

Transportation Party

Well today is the day I have been planning for a little over 6 months now!!! We're having a transportation party!!! Anything having to do with planes, cars, boats & trains! Jayden has been loving all of the decorations I have been putting up. He keeps telling me what everything is!!! Love it!!
Below are just some of the decorations! I'll add more later! 

I found this banner for FREE on: http://www.creativekristi.com/transportation-party-banner/

Soon the canister will be filled with green juice!! Green Hawaiian punch & Ginger Ale, to be exact!

No big deal, our son is just growing up!

I love going with a theme and then picking a few colors to work with as the main part. It makes it nicer on the budget. :) This year I went with Red, Yellow & Green--the colors on a stop light! I think when you don't over do it with themed decorations (Superman, Spiderman, etc) your finished product ends up looking way better! Best part about this is, I got to use his toys as decorations!!

The swing set

Yesterday afternoon Brady & I put together Jayden's new swing set from Mia & Papa. My mom agreed to watch Jayden, which made the building process easier, plus the look on Jayden's face when he saw it for the first time was priceless and definitely worth the heat, sunburn and ant bites we got yesterday. I have a feeling that today when he wakes up the first thing he'll say is "swing" or "outside". 

I decided to take progression pictures yesterday and send them to my mom & the in-loves. :)

I know he will enjoy this swing for years to come!! Thank y'all so much!!! 

MOPs & Daddy go hand in hand...

Well, it's that time of year again, when school starts and the rushing out the door begins. When people become too busy to take a break. When people become consumed in after school activities.

This isn't you? Oh you stay home with your children? Oh, so you homeschool? Well then maybe just getting a break is what YOU need as a MOM!

DFC MOPs is starting back up for us! We will be starting back on September 12th at 9:30. You're welcome to come earlier to drop your kids off (earliest drop off time is 9:15am)! We have lots of great things in store for this new year & we're so excited to share it with you!!


Most of you know how much I talk about my daddy and how much I miss him, but what you don't know is just how happy he was that I had found something that both Jayden & I can enjoy. He was even more thrilled when I became part of the "Steering Team". He always said that he knew I was meant to do this. This year will be my first year without my daddy's words of encouragement. Last year I made it through the morning just praying for his healing, praying that if God wanted him to go, then to take him because we didn't want to see him suffer (which he didn't).

This past May I struggled with the fact that I didn't think I could do MOPs this year...then I prayed about it, dreamed about it & my daddy came to me and said that he wanted me to continue MOPs, because I needed to show others the love of feeling loved.

So with that being said, this year, I give it all to God and I'm doing MOPs in memory of my daddy!


God Bless y'all!