Happy Birthday Chase!!

Today we celebrate Chase!

We still can not believe our baby girl is 15 years old!

Chase, Daddy and I want you to know how much you mean to us! From the day we found out that we were expecting you, we have loved you with all our hearts!! You are such a joy to us and you make us proud everyday! We are so thankful for a daughter who loves the Lord, who loves and respects her parents, and loves her family and friends with her whole heart! You inherited alot of your daddy's traits....You have the biggest heart, you amaze me how you open your heart to people, you are so kind and compassionate! and Your sense of humor is a gift, you are a funny kid, and you make me laugh, sometimes when no one else can!  As hard as it is to believe you are already 15 years old (time flies when you are having fun!) We have LOVED every new stage you have come through. I loved holding you and bonding with you as an infant! We blinked and you were a toddler, what fun we had, as you explored everything!! Then the preschool age brought more explorations and explanations, you asked questions all the time...and we gladly answered because we knew, you just wanted to learn!! I have to be honest, it was hard to send you off to school, but what pride we feel when teachers tell us what a kind, compassionate, smart girl you are, so willing to help others without being asked! We thought middle school was going to be a hard transition (for daddy and me that is), but when you got out of my car in August of 2010 to start your first day of high school, that was hard!! Now all I can say is WOW! You are amazing Chase! You have really gotten involved at school, from Color guard with the Marching Band, to being fully involved in Chorus and the Senior play, as well as staying involved at church in the youth and singing solos, and making your daddy look good when you sing with him, God has definitely given you a gift in music and among all this you still manage to maintain straight A's with most of your classes being Advanced! We are so proud of you!! The teenage years have brought us more joy, most people believe teenage girls are full of drama and heartache, but I want you to know that daddy and I are loving this time of life with you, I love our girly times, and daddy loves your date nights, and just those times of hanging out together, whether we play Wii or watch our "show" together (haha!) or you and daddy stay up late to watch a movie!!! Now we start a new phase...Driving...YIKES!! Seriously, as much as we wish we could keep you here with us forever, Daddy and I love watching you grow and mature into the wonderful young woman you are, and I am excited to get out on the speedway, I mean the road with you!! We are looking forward to celebrating you, at your party tonight!! We hope you have a great day!!!  (I will post pictures next week)

Thank you Chase for giving us 15 years of love, and laughter, and more joy than we could have ever imagined!!

WE LOVE YOU WITH ALL OUR HEARTS! ~ MOM & DADDY

Our "New To Us" 2004 Chevrolet Tahoe

Tommy and I are so excited about the purchase of our "new to us" 2004 Tahoe! We have been wanting to upgrade for sometime now, but just didn't feel like it was ever the right vehicle or the right time! So last week when Tommy was talking with a friend of ours he was telling him about all the car repairs we have had lately, and so he told Tommy that we should buy his Tahoe...We were really planning on looking for a small SUV, but knowing this one had been taken care of so well, one owner, fully loaded, leather seats, sunroof, any and all the bells and whistles they had in 2004 and only 45,000 miles...we just had to take a look at it!! To make a long story short, we fell in love with it! So Tommy headed out to the credit union Monday morning and we went and picked up our new Tahoe that afternoon!

My Dad's Deacon Ordination

This post is long overdue...I have several things that I should post about just because this blog has become such a keepsake for us, that I like to blog about everything, but with all that has been happening with us over the last few months, and my slow computer, it has made it impossible to "catch up". However, I did want to go back so to speak and blog about my Dad's ordination as a deacon! I am so proud of him! My dad has worn many hats through out my life and I am so thankful for the example he has been to me! He was a loving husband to my mom and cared for her until she passed away in 1976, he showed me how a husband should love his wife, he then became both father and mother, providing for his family, protecting us, and nurturing us! Things weren't always easy, but I know my dad did the best he could to provide us with a loving, safe, home environment! When my grandmother faced Alzheimer's disease, my dad didn't want to put her in a nursing home, so even though he worked full time, he managed to care for her, cooking her meals, making sure she was taking care of herself physically, and taking care of her home.  He even brought her younger sister out to live with her to avoid the nursing home, unfortunately he and my aunt evidently had to make the hard decision to place her in a nursing home, but my dad continued to visit her every single day until she passed away in 1997! My dad's sister has now been diagnosed with Alzheimer's as well, and he feels that same desire to care for her, she lives in FL, but he makes monthly trips down to visit her, and talks to her daily, he is even considering moving to FL to help her husband care for her! This is the kind of man my dad is...I hope and pray I have learned every lesson!

When my dad was approached by his pastor about being ordained as a deacon, he was honored, but didn't feel worthy, but he accepted willingly and I believe he is making one fine deacon! I am proud of the heritage my dad has passed on to me! He served his country in the military for 23 years, He still serves his family everyday, and He serves his Lord and his church! Thank you dad for being the man you are! I am so proud to call you my dad!

 My dad with my step-sister, Ashley and her daughter Macy

 Chase and Poppa

My sister in law, Nancy got some pictures of me and my dad, some with my niece as well, so I will add those when I get them from her!

Our Cruise - Winter Break 2011 (Part 10)

I do apologize for dragging our cruise posts out so far, I never dreamed when I started that I would end up with 10 parts, but out of 7 days and over 400 pictures, I just had so much to share, I hope that you have enjoyed seeing our cruise pictures and hearing about our adventures and I really hope that I haven't bored you too much! This is the last post, just a few random pictures of us around the ship that I thought would be fun to share!

Random Pictures:

This is Chris, our Cruise Director. He did an Awesome job!

Tommy and I enjoying an afternoon show!

These two of Tommy and Chase were made in the Atruim as we enjoyed music one night before going to dinner!

This was my favorite picture we had made on board the ship, it reminds me of how Chase always says

"Hey, I'm part of this relationship too!"

Chase dancing along with YMCA, she had just finished in the conga line, fun night on the Lido deck that night! :)

Chase could not pass the ice cream dispensers without getting a cone! She was in Heaven!

Here is some more Chase "sillyness", she loved doing this little backwards dance down the hallway to our cabin!!

Now for some of Tommy's sillyness: The first pic, he is pretending to be caught at a slot machine, and the second pic, he is pretending to be passed out!! LOL! Gotta love a pastor with a sense of humor! :)

Chase loved that the soda cans in Mexico had spanish writing, so she had to have pictures!

We were able to enjoy several beautiful sunsets on our cruise!

A couple of pics right outside our cabin

There were a couple of really good comedians on board -Here we are at The Punchline enjoying Cowboy Bill, he was our favorite comedian! :)

I will end this post with a few more random pics of us out and about around the ship

Thanks so much for visiting our blog, and sharing some of our cruise experience with us, I hope that we haven't bored you too much, we just had such a good family time, we wanted to share it!! :)

Our Cruise - Winter Break 2011 (Part 9)

This post is about what became Chase's obsession, she could not wait to get back to the cabin at night to find, not the chocolate on the pillow, but the

Towel Pets

Day 1 - We think this is a seal, but not sure?? Any thoughts??

Day 2- was a Swan, this was one of Chase's favorites! :)

Day 3 - was an Elephant!

Day 4 - We have no idea?? Janessa and Heather's guess was an armadillo??
 What do you think??

Day 5- was this cute bunny rabbit!

Day 6 - was a monkey, as you can see this was our favorite!

Even Tommy had to have his picture made with the monkey!! :)

Day 7- last, but not least was a stingray!

These are in order from the first night we came on board, until the last night, there are only two of them that we aren't sure what they are...if you know please feel free to comment and tell us what you think??