No more extra nice...

I was trying to be nice to the dogs and make them as comfortable as possible when they have to be outside. Mark and I washed out their new houses, bleached them to kill any left over dogie germs, and got them placed. Then I found our old blankets to put in them so they would have something soft to lay on. I even wrapped Chloe's blanket around an old pillow so it would be fluffy. I did all this yesterday. This is what I woke up to this morning.....
She decided it was funner to tear it all part than to lay on it! So now after cleaning all day, back hurting, and just plain ol tired, I have this to clean up. Maybe tomorrow...

Out with the old..In with the new: Set 4?

I love my husbands creativity! A few days before we left for our trip to Cal someone decided to run off the road and right over our mail box. We didn't have any time to take care of it, so the post master didn't deliver any of our mail while we gone. I called the next morning to see where our mail was and Mrs. Postmaster told us we MUST put up a new box to get our mail delivery back. So take a look at what my husband put together! All for under $20! He is awesome...

This is what we saw! Someone totally ran into it....HARD! This is a solid metal post that has been pushed over. Mark had to hook the chain to it and pull it straight with the truck.

Hanging on for dear life.

All better now. Straight up and down with two nice mail boxes on it!

Like the Kawasaki Green Flames?? We do... I hope our uppity neighbors do too. :-)

Mark did such a great job!

Out with the old...in with the new: Set 5 to come in 5 more days!!

My legacy

"character is what you do when nobody is looking, and I now think that friendship is what you do when nobody asks you. True friends just know, they just understand. Friends don’t have to be told, they sense it. They fill you up when you are empty, and they pick you up when you have fallen."

I read this over at this blog today and starting thinking, this is what I want people to think of when they think of/remember me. I love to love my friends, help them when I can, be there for them when I can. I always wonder to myself, have a done enough for this person? Have I met their needs? Have I been a good friend to them? I am sure the answer has been No, many times, but my desire is for the answer to always be YES, I have been the best friend I can be, doing all I can do.

Reading Michell's Blog for the last 5 months has really changed my outlook on life. I am reminded that tomorrow is never promised, to live as if this is your last day. I am reminded to spend more time with my boys, doing the things they want to do. So many times they ask me to play and I am preoccupied with this or that, really nothing important and I am loosing out on precious time with them.

I am reminded to share in Mark's hobbies because it brings him joy. So many times I just think I will be so bored, but I am learning how to find things we can share in because it means more time I get to spend with him. I am always being reminded that I am a piece of molding clay, being shaped, formed, reshaped, reformed, often, sometimes daily, with the goal of turning into the master piece I know He has planned for me. 1 day I will get there, while trying, I am learning to be the best friend I can be and hope to gain many friends like this along the way.

My Sister

One of the things I miss the most from California is my sister, Natalie. Over the last three years we really built a strong friendship. I longed for that my whole childhood. I was so happy to see her and we spent a lot of time together while at my brother Shane's house in AZ.

I would love to be able to fly her out here for a visit. This is one of my goals for the first half of the year. During our Christmas visit I was reminded how much I miss my family but I know we are here in TX for many reasons. I love you Nat!!

Christmas with Mark's Fam!

We stayed with Mark's mom, Ozell, while we were in California. This is Christmas morning when we opened presents there. This is also 4 hours after Mark and Michael brought their mom home from the ER! Needless to say we were so happy to just be together as a family and enjoy the time we had together before we left for AZ.

Uncle Mike and Marcus playing Chinese Checkers

All four of the "boys" are putting together the new Bionicle type transformers Uncle Mike got Zachery and Marcus for Christmas. Mike got his/Zachery's put together first! It was nice to see Mark and his brother spending time together. We hope he can make a visit out here soon. :-)

Guitar Hero....the new adiction

Christmas at Shane and Frank's house. Yes that is an arcade game in the backround that has over 300 games on it.
This was the scene the whole time we were at Shane's house. All the kids playing games...non-stop!
When we got home, Marcus and Zachery knew exactly what they were going to do with their Christmas money. Off we went to buy Guitar Hero games and accessories for the Wii. At first I was like, " you are not playing this 24 hours a day!" But now I am realizing that they are occupied, have not gotten into any fights, and I can read while they are playing!! I LOVE Guitar Hero!

In-N-Out!!

One of the first things we did when we got back to the west coast, was make a trip to In-N-Out!!

He cant believe he is really enjoying some in n out food!

Like father like son part 1

Like father like son part 2.

We stopped to eat here on our way in to California and on our way out!! It was so yummy!