Little costumed creatures!!!

Well...it's been forever since I posted on here.  I had to prioritize for a while and cut back to keep my sanity.  Things are finally smoothing out a bit, so I'm taking a moment to post pictures of the girls in their Halloween costumes.
Some background on Miriam's costume...
She came home from school one day and announced she was going to be a witch.  Now we do Trick or Treating and the whole costume thing, but we use the God's Pumpkin story to help our kids think of God during the holiday.  Witches are a no go in our house, so I told Miriam no.  She got upset and started babbling about how she has to be a witch so she can scare her daddy.  To which I replied we will have to find something else to scare daddy with because we do not pretend to be witches in this house.  Later that night I relayed the story to Brad to which he replied, not scared of witches...only thing that would scare me is a spider.  Ever since Iraq and their nasty big, disgusting, freakish, abnormal, etc Camel Spiders (those are all Brad's words for them...and many others all uttered in complete abhorrence while shuttering) Brad cannot stand spiders, even little ones.  I am the spider slayer in this house!  Well of course Miriam just had to be...



A SPIDER!!!!!  I found the spider mask on-line and Miriam colored it in.  That mask gave Brad the heebie jeebies, so mission accomplished on scaring daddy!  However, she tired of the mask and at our Church's Trick-or-Trunk Halloween afternoon she had 6 more eyes painted on her face.  By the time I got the second picture above she had smeared three of them!  You can still kind of see them.


Now for our little Abigail...I spent so much time on figuring out how to make and making Miriam's costume that I got a little stumped on Abby.  Thankfully I had a friend come through and rescue me!  She offered me this cute little costume that Abby was THRILLED with.  She even kept telling people that she was a "Beah!"  As you can see she was one cute little bear!!! :)

So those are our Cute/Scary little costumed creatures.  This was Abby's first year of really trick-or-treating (meaning she actually understood and participated in what was going on) and let me tell you she LOVED it!  That night we pretty much only went to houses of people we knew and thus we would end up visiting a bit at each door.  Well, after about the third house this little gal would go to the door, grin oh so cute, mumble "tik-a-ee" and hightail it back to the wagon.  If we delayed too long at the door visiting she was back at our sides, tugging on our hands and saying "GO!" so she could move on to the next place and get more candy!!!!  And boy did our girls rake in the candy!  So, if any of you need a fix for your sweet tooth just let us know because at this rate we'll still be eating Halloween candy on the 4th of July! :)

Her new do!

As you might have noticed in Miriam's preschool graduation pics her hair is now quite short!  One of my friends cut it on Saturday.  It was just getting too long and knotting easily, which was causing mommy/daughter incidents when trying to even brush Miriam's hair, not to mention doing it up to keep it out of her face.  For those of you who haven't seen her in a while here are the before and after pics!

And now the school year is over...

I'm afraid life got the better of me this school year. I kept meeting myself coming and going all while trying to accomplish a to do list that just kept getting longer no matter how hard I worked to eliminate items on it!

Here we are now at the end of the school year. Miriam had her preschool graduation this past Sunday. Here are some pics of the grad, and if I can figure it out I will post the video of her getting her "diploma". :)

First Day of School!

Well it has been a while since I posted on here and for that I apologize. It seems like life has been running by me a mile a minute and I'm barely keep my breath! So, since I last posted we've had a few changes around here. The biggest one, Miriam started pre-school. So hard to believe she's that old already!!! I thought I'd share with you some of the pictures I took that morning. She is quite a ham when it comes to taking photos!

Pictures before school. She picked out the outfit herself! Well sorta, she just wanted to wear the jeans and tank top. I added the white undershirt because it was too cold for just a tank top!



I told you she was a ham!!!

Getting into the truck to head to school:


Getting out at school: (she's not excited at all...can you tell?!?!?! hehe)


Walking up to the school building: (It's a small private pre-school.)


Heading down the hall to the main classroom area:


Hanging up her new pink backpack that she picked out herself and TOTALLY loves!



Let me tell you she was SO excited to be going to school. A lot of the other parents were hanging around while their kids became acclimated and comfortable. I asked Miriam if she wanted me to stay for a bit or go. Without hesitation she said, "GO! See yah!" and ran off. Of course I made her come back and give me a hug and kiss goodbye...and then she was gone. She headed right for the toy closet she had seen at registration. It is almost the size of her bedroom (she has a small bedroom) and had floor to ceiling shelves full of toys! She couldn't wait to get back in there and play!!!!
It's been three weeks now, and she's still loving it and so am I. Don't get me wrong I love my little fire cracker, but it sure it nice to have a little quiet time three days a week where it's just Abby and me. If I'm lucky Abby will nap while Miriam is at school and I actually get some uninterrupted time. Which is what is happening right now and giving me a chance to post this entry! So, that is the one of the latest things that has been happening with us. Hopefully I'll get more chances to post on here now, but I wouldn't count on it as it took me three weeks to get this post up! Oh well....'til next time!

OK trip fun!

Well life has been crazy (never seems to get back to normal around here, only crazier!!!) and I haven't posted in forever again. So...I'm posting today about recent stuff...will catch you up later if I ever get around to it! hahaha

Fourth of July weekend we spent in Norman, OK as it is the hometown of my now sister-in-law Kelly Rose who married my brother Alexander July 5th. We all left the morning of the 3rd, Brad the girls and I in our car about an hour ahead of my dad, Jennifer, and Chris in their car. Our trip ended up being a bit longer then theirs due to us having to stop for the girls every couple hours and about a three hour planned detour to visit Patricia Davis, the wife of Brad's late Saddle School instructor Biff Davis. It wasn't a bad road trip there, just REALLY long! Abby had never been in the car for more then 3hrs straight, so she got quite grumpy about traveling after the first 5 hrs. We all survived it though. Had a wonderful visit with Patricia, once we finally found the house again....things had changed a bit and Brad didn't remember exactly how to get there. Unfortunately she lives out in the country so dial-up Internet is all she can get and was on the computer so we couldn't reach her to help us find the place. Brad did finally locate it and we got to visit for about an hour and a half before heading on to Norman. We pulled into our hotel in Norman around 2am on the 4th!
The next two days were a blur of catching up with relatives, airport runs to pick up relatives, wedding rehearsal stuff, a little pool time, and finally the wedding itself...which was nice. The wedding day was beautiful, following a night of rain on the 4th. Due to the rain the town of Norman postponed their fireworks, and so in the middle of my brother's wedding reception (which was both indoors and out) we got to see a beautiful fireworks display!
The next morning Brad and Jennifer left for IL as they both had to get back for work. My dad, Chris, myself and the girls stayed to take my brother Nate to the airport and then start a leisurely trip back to IL. We stretched the trip home into three days, taking a state a day. Monday the 6th we drove back across OK. Stayed the night in Joplin, MO in a hotel with a pool of course. Miriam and Abby both love to swim (I don't mind it myself either!) Tuesday we drove across most of MO, stopping just short of St. Louis for the night. Wednesday we went into downtown St.Louis and spent 6 hours running around The City Museum. It's an old shoe lace factory ten stories tall that they have turned into a menagerie of climbing structures (made out of scrap materials)/a museum/an aquarium/etc. We only explored three of the 10 floors inside, but pretty well covered all the outside climbing structures. The day pretty much consisted of climbing, sliding down slides, and then climbing again! It was a fun, yet tiring day! We finished our visit by climbing up to the tenth floor via various caverns and spiral staircases, and slid down the 7 story spiral slide!!!! We left there at 5pm (when the museum closed) and traveled back to our place for the night.
Abby was very glad to get home, and she wasn't the only one. I was happy to be home too. It was a good trip, but I think we are only just now finally recovered!
Here are a few pics from our adventure!


Daddy tossing Miriam into the pool!


Abby splashing with Mommy.


The happy couple.


Water baby Abby motoring around in her floatie.


Water Monkey Miriam "diving" into the pool.


Up in the crow's nest at the City Museum!


Part of the outside climbing structures, the crow's nest is off the upper left hand corner of this pic.


Miriam having a ton of fun on one of the many slides!


What happens to 4yr old girl after 6 hrs at The City Museum! This was only 5 minutes after we left the museum!!!


A VERY happy Abby, SO glad to be home!!!

Memorial Day

Growing up I loved both Memorial Day and Labor Day, for the same reason...it meant a three day weekend. I knew Memorial Day was a day meant to honor those who had sacrificed their lives for our freedom, but those people were just nameless faces that I really couldn't relate to. That all changed in the past three years. I now have way too many faces that aren't nameless and that leave my hear aching and heavy on Memorial Day. I'm gonna share these wonderful friends of mine with you this week of Memorial Day...

SGT Lester D. Baroncini
Born January 19, 1973
KIA October 16, 2006
Operation Iraq Freedom
He was our other cowboy. His family has a ranch in Southern CA. He only got to ride in the saddle Brad made for him two times. Ride on forever my dear friend....


1 LT Michael Cerrone
Born September 2, 1982
KIA November 12, 2006
Operation Iraq Freedom
Mikey, as he was affectionately called among us wives, was an amazing LT. He knew all his soldier's wives and kids names. I ran into him two days before the guys deployed...he promised me he would bring Brad home to me. You kept your promise Mikey. Thank you for all the wonderful memories, miss you!


Cpl. Michael J. Jaurigue
Born August 11, 1986
KIA May 26, 2007
Operation Iraq Freedom
Jaurigue, the quiet steady one. One of the first soldiers was in charge of training. Brad was proud of him. He never said much to me, but that one Thanksgiving I'll never forget his quiet smile of thanks for having him over and feeding him "too well".


Jonathon M. Cote
Born February 11, 1983
Died April 23, 2008
Operation Iraq Freedom
Cote I never did get to know very well personally, but I heard plenty of stories from Brad. He was in the company when Brad arrived, and helped Brad navigate the new world of an 82nd Airborne soldier. Cote left the Army before the 2006 deployment, but was in Iraq at the same time as Brad as contract security for military convoys. He was captured and killed by the insurgents.


Spc. Gregory Millard
Born April 29, 1985
KIA May 26, 2007
Operation Iraq Freedom
Millard...the class clown. He knew how to make everyone laugh even when they didn't want to. Yet behind that goofy grin was a hard core steady soldier. If given the choice again I know he would choose lay down his life for any of the guys.


SPC Harry Winkler
Born March 12, 1974
KIA November 12, 2006
Operation Iraq Freedom
Winky, the seasoned veteran. This guy had more crazy combat stories then anyone else. He'd served with the 101st before getting out and then coming back in and serving along side Brad. He knew what he was going into and was ready to serve and willing to give his all. I wish he didn't end up giving his all, cause I never got to know him in person. I'll always regret that. Winky left behind a wonderful wife and the cutest little man, as you can see below.


And finally...

SGT Clayton Dunn
Born November 2, 1984
KIA May 26, 2007
Operation Iraq Freedom
Clay (well I actually knew him as Dunn mainly)became Brad's best friend during the deployment. I only spent one afternoon with him before they left, wish we could have had more. From that one afternoon I could tell he was a man of amazing integrity who had an undying love for his beautiful wife, Haidy. He also had this little sparkle in his eye that let you know he had a great sense of humor as well. We lost a friend and a brother when God called him home. Clay left behind not only his wife, but his 6 week old daughter (pictured below a little bit older)whom he did get to meet briefly when home on R&R. Tragically he was killed on his first mission back after returning. You are missed daily Clay, can't wait to see you again in Heaven!


There were others we lost, but I didn't know them personaly. These are the faces I see every Memorial day, and many days in between. I now understand all too well that freedom is not free. These brave men (many younger then I am) gave their lives so that I could live in this beautiful country. I will forever be grateful and forever remember each and everyone...

life flies by...

Wow...I've been so bad about posting on here. It's been months since I really posted. My background was even still set for St. Patrick's Day!!!!
These past two months have been crazy months for us...
In April the girl's and I spent a week up at my dad's. My brother Nate was mobilized to Ft. Dix to prepare for a deployment to come sometime soon. Therefore we went up and spend his last week in IL just hanging around. We were also there to see him off, and for all the FRG send off activities. (FRG stands for Family Readiness Group, for all you non-military people. Basically it's a group that facilitates getting information to the soldier's families and does some social activities.) It was a little strange to be back in a military setting. Our really big even in April though was Miriam turning 4 years old! How to believe she's that old already. We had a small family party on her actual birthday, and then a big party with all the extended family and friends the next day (Saturday). I'll do another post with all the Birthday shindig details and pics. Needless to say we didn't have a free weekend all month! Two weekends Brad worked (one at NG drill, the other at Mediacom), another he had a guy's skeet shoot event, and the other one was filled with Miriam's Birthday.
In May things haven't been much calmer, in fact I would dare to say it's been even crazier! The church softball league started mid-month, so we had a practice the first Saturday of May. I get to play this year!!! I couldn't play last year because of being pregnant with Abby. I must say after that practice I was pretty down....I played like a girl!!!! For those of you who knew me in my sports heyday years you will understand just how distressing this was for me. Thankfully I was able to snap out of it and put in a performance at our first game that I could be proud of. I'll post about that later too. Then came a horribly emotional week for me. May 7th would have been my mom's 60th birthday, and the following Sunday was Mother's day. Needless to say every year the beginning of May is not so much fun for me... makes me REALLY miss my mom. The Saturday after Mother's day the girls and I again headed up to my dad's for a week. This time for a going away party for my Uncle Buz (dad's older brother) who is moving to Alaska in the beginning of June. That was on Sunday afternoon. We stayed the rest of the week so I could go to an Andre Reiu concert with my sister on Thursday. Our awesome brother Chris gave her two tickets for Christmas! We had a blast, thanks to our WONDERFUL papa who watched my girls for me!!!! Poor guy got run through the wringer too. First thing he said to me when we walked in the door after the concert was, "Becs I'm nominating you for Sainthood!" I'll post more about the concert, and why he considers me a saint candidate later. We rushed home on Friday to be back in time for Valley High school's graduation ceremony. One of the young men in our youth group was graduating. We're so proud of Joe and all his accomplishments! (he got a full ride theatre scholarship to the local community college!)
Then came Memorial Day weekend. Brad had to work for Mediacom on Saturday, we had a graduation party on Sunday for a family friend who's basically family, and then memorial day itself. I will be posting about Memorial Day next...not something I can just put in with everything else.
Well...that's pretty much the last two months of our lives in a nutshell. We'll finish this month by celebrating Brad's grandparent Davis' 60th wedding anniversary!!! Their actual anniversary isn't until June 5th (if I remember correctly), but this weekend is the only time everyone was free to come celebrate. The family is all coming in from their corners of the US. Well actually the Davis family is rather small, so most of us are local...just a son and grandson (to the guests of honor) living out of state (NY and VA respectively). Not going to be a huge gathering, but still all the family will be there which will be a special treat.
Okay...this post has become long enough, but I wanted to update everyone on our lives. We hope you all have had a wonderful spring, hard to believe it's summer already!!!! My how time flies....