Wednesday, November 26, 2008

5 Things I Am Thankful For...

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I thought I would post my top five things I am thankful for. I am, of course, thankful for so much more. However, these things top my list.







5. Days off work to spend at home with the girls!




4. Epi-Pens, Asthma Meds, and Peanut-Free Preschools!
Because of all these things, we can send Emmalee out to different places without having to fear for her safety. To all of you who take her allergies and asthma as seriously as we do and provide safe environments for her, we thank you for helping to make her life as normal as possible!





3. Answered Prayers
We have spent a lot of time praying this year, and we have had many of those prayers answered. Among those answered are the fact that Conner, Landon, and Brendan will all be celebrating their first Thanksgivings at home this year-what a blessing!


2. Family and Friends I am so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends. I am thankful for you year round!


1. Duane, Emmalee, and Tori
Though no explanation is really needed here, I will give one. This is what I am blessed to come home to every night. Our evenings are not always filled with smiles and laughter, but they are certainly filled with love. At the end of the day, that is all that matters!

I hope all of you have a happy holiday!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Party Time

This past weekend was full of parties. The girls had a great time, and we want to send a big thank you to Alyssa and Lucas for including us. We were all exhausted at the end of the day, which made for a full night's sleep for mommy. HURRAY! Here are a few pics of the girls in action...

Emmalee on the huge slide!

Tori is our gymnast in training.


Emmalee is a very enthusiastic bowler!
I don't have any pictures of Tori bowling because I was afraid it might be too dangerous to give her a bowling ball. She did, however, enjoy herself immensely! Thanks again for including us!
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On a different note, GO HORNETS!!! Though most of you know little about Chillicothe, the one thing some of you do know is it is a football town. Our team leaves today for Cassville, MO to play in the semi-final game before next week's state playoffs in St. Louis. Many of the boys on the team are my former students, and this season they are undefeated. Chillicothe is brimming with excitement at a potential state title!

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Mommy, tell me a story...

After months of following the journey of a friend's premature baby via his blog, I have decided to venture out into the blogging world myself. As I have kept up with his battles and successes, I have realized what a gift his parents have given not only to all of us who care about him, but to Brendan himself. Some day he will be able to look back at all the entries and comments, and he will be able to see in print his life story. That is the driving force that has led me to this day. I want to be able to do the same thing for my girls, so when they have kids of their own who ask them, "Mommy, will you tell me a story about when you were little?" as Emmalee so often does, they won't have to struggle to remember different stories. The stories will be here for them. I invite you to join our journey through the days, weeks, months, and years ahead in Emmalee and Tori's lives. I won't promise to post daily or even weekly, but I will do my best. I hope, in time, my girls will see this as a gift as well.