THE BIG ONE!

Yes, I can't believe it! Our little guy is 1! (as of a few days ago actually, I have been meaning to post!) WOW! This year have gone by so quickly! It sometimes seems like yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital. I think I can safely say that when you have kids, time FLYS!

We celebrated with mainly family. The festivities were wonderful! From watching our son literally inhale a way-too-frosted cupcake to watching him ride on his new train that Uncle Clint gave him, we had a blast. I totally believe that the first couple birthdays are not for the kids, but rather the parent's enjoyment!

Here are a few pics from the BIG DAY!

Fun this Fall!

A suggestion was made as to what Josh should be for Halloween, so we ran with it. I always enjoyed when my mom made our costumes and wanted to carry on this tradition, so I got busy at the last minute (of course) to do this. So here I present Charlie Brown, Lucy and "The Great Pumpkin"! Enjoy.

Here are a few other pics from this fall that I wanted to share.

4 Years and Counting!

Four years ago today, J and I made a lifetime commitment to one another. My, how fast these years have gone by! As we celebrate, I remember many happy and joyous moments that have made this adventure memorable to say the least. It is also amazing to look back and see how, through the hard times, we have grown closer to each other and closer to our Heavenly Father. All these moments have made this incredible journey worth the ride!  J, my love grows for you each day! Happy Anniversary my love!

So Long TV!

Well many of you know that both J and I made a commitment to try to sell our car and TV to help pay down some debt. Last Friday, we were pleased to see the TV go out the door. It is somewhat funny, because even though we made the commitment, for about a minute I was torn to keep it. I even called and talked to a friend that was in our home while the transaction was taking place (I was on my way home from a flight) to make sure that the couple buing it seemed nice, and our TV would be well cared for. How materialistic we can be! We had canceled our Dish about 3 months earlier and other than when football season started, we didn't really miss it. It was enjoyable to spend more time together as a family and eat a meal while having a conversation instead of being entranced by a show. Now that our plasma is out the door, it has been replaced by a smaller, older TV that we still had in storage and is there to watch a movie every now and then. Overall, I am glad to see the TV go and see our progress continue toward our commitment. So long TV!

Mr. Mom's Funny Story

This story may come at no surprise to some parents out there, but it was a definite first for our family. Enjoy and maybe you will get a laugh or two out of it.

Friday, I was blessed again with the privledge to contract fly for the bank. J had the day off and was thrilled to be Mr. Mom for the day and spend some time with his son! I was off to work by 5:00am that morning and little man slept in till about 6:45am. Getting up, J did the morning ritual of changing and dressing little J. However, it did not dawn on him when he couldn't find any diaper (other than one in the diaper bag) that we were completely out of diapers in the house! I knew this little, but important piece of information, however, I failed to mention it to J before leaving. Oops! So, about 3 hours later, when little J needed a clean diaper, low and behold the realization hit. (This by the way, was after J had removed and thrown away the diaper that our son had on.)

J, knowing that a diaper run was needed, decided to reclothe our son (with only sweat pants on his bottom) and proceed to the store for a package of these necessities.

Upon arriving at the store, it suddenly dawns on J that if our son decides to revieve himself, not only would his clothes get wet, but also the car seat that he is currently sitting in would succumb to this wetness. To his relief, he finds a swaddling blanket in the car and decides to assemble a makeshift loincloth for our son to put on under his pants. Now, I asked for pictures of this contraption, but I was disapointed to find that none were taken of the final product. Sorry everyone! I do know that it was quit the sight!

Now, after possession of the diapers, J proceeded home where he finally disassembled his makeshift cloth-diaper from our son and securely fastened a new dry diaper to his bottom. Not two minutes later, J was informed by a wonderful smell that our son had filled this new diaper and that not only was it filled, but filled to the brim. All I can say is that our son really loves his daddy!!! This event will be a fun memory for many years to come.

Long Time - No Post!

Oh my goodness! Where has the time disappeared too? I guess an update into our lives is in order! Let's see, since I last posted, Jackson has gained another tooth (front bottom) and another is very near showing itself. Our little guy just turned 10 months old. He is growing up so quickly and getting into everything as he is now mobile and wanting to explore!

A few things that he has discovered:

1. What toilet paper all over the bathroom floor looks like (as well as what mom's face looks like when she stumbles upon this sight!)

2. How easy it is to get into the bottom drawer in the kitchen where the paper plates are kept and how easy they are to spread out onthe kitchen floor.

3. Leaves and twigs outside in our yard.

4. What fun it is to ride facing forward in a grown-up's lap on a 4-wheeler, golf cart and boat!

5. Our cat, Hobbes, is not as sensitive as mom and dad thought and will tolerate numerous tugs of the tail or pulling of hair!

6. Things always look better on the floor (stuffed animals in crib, food, sippy cups, etc.) and I love to see mom or dad pick them up!



My mom came at the end of Aug. and visited for about a week. It was really good to have her here and see her spend time with her grandson! I'm so happy for the ease of travel that we now have to and from our cities! While my mom was here we celebrated my brother's birthday. He is now 25! We boated to Big Cedar and enjoyed a wonderful meal and a sunset on the way back home. Little J loved the wind in his face and enjoyed "driving" the boat!






Both J and I have really bugan to see finances in a new light as God is teaching us daily how to manage them. We have been involved in a financial study in our small group and have been so blessed to see God's hand at work in our provision. We have listed our car and TV to meet personal convictions about our financial situation. Praying that they sell and we are able to use this money as God sees fit.

Another of God's blessing has been my ability to contract fly with J's company. This ability has not only been a financial blessing, but an emotional one as well. God truely knows the desires of our hearts and has blessed me in such a way that I can't help but praise His name! GOD you are AMAZING!!!!

The teeth have begun!

Well after seemingly months of drool, tender gums and night-time fussing, little J has 2 top front teeth! The pearly whites finally showed themselves a few days ago. After 3 nights of getting up and trying everything to sooth the poor little guy, I was definitely glad to see them. In a little while, our son's cute little grin will slowly start turning into that cheesy toothed smile - I LOVE IT! So with the new teeth, we have also noticed that he is not so interested in pureed baby food and now prefers little tastes of whatever mom or dad is having. Also, items on end tables, couches and chairs are no longer out of his reach, in fact they are an adventure awaiting (according to our son)! It is amazing to see his personality begin to come out and watch as he grows and learns. At least he is back to sleeping through the night again (which also means mom and dad get more sleep as well)! Yay!

First Pro Pics!

So we were blessed to be able to take little J's very first Pro pics. He did awesome; a natural in front of the camera! He was chasing the photographer trying to get his camera. Enjoy!

The Search Begins

So...I have been toying with the thought of picking up a part-time job to bring in some extra income and to get me out of the house a little more. There are not many aviation opportunities in the area right now, thus my search for something outside of aviation begins. Where to start? What to look for? Another hurdle to consider is childcare for little J. As J's work schedule is realitivly unpredictable work, his help at home will be sporatic. Logically, the best situation would be for me to find something that I can do out of the house and on my own schedule, or after our little one goes to bed in the evenings. Then childcare is not needed. Well, we will see where my seach leads me. Until then, if anyone has any good ideas, please let me know.

Our First Tomatoes This Summer!

Yes!!! We finally have picked our first home-grown tomatoes from our garden this week! As anyone who loves home-grown tomatoes knows, this is a savored time of year. After a very wet spring, we finally were able to plant our garden late in May. We not only planted tomatoes, but also beets, cucumbers, and yellow squash. The squash died all of the sudden about a month ago(this having nothing to do with my lack of a green thumb!), but the cucumbers and tomatoes went crazy. Needless to say I have been making pickles and tomato/cucumber salad alot. So, now that the tomatoes are coming in strong, we will be eating, canning, and freezing many more. If anyone is interested in some, let me know.

Farewell to a Friend!

This past weekend I was able to spend the evening with a great group of girls from pur church. The evening was celebrating a dear friend's last week as Children's Minister at our church. Jessica is following God's call and moving to St. Joseph, MO to accept a ministry position there. Fortunately, before leaving, we were able to spend some much needed girl time out on the town. Jessica, we will deeply miss you!

Wonderful Blessings!!!

"When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return." Leonardo da Vinci




This is one of my favorite quotes, simply because, to the passionate aviator (and you know who you are) it speaks so much truth. If you have ever been bitten by the flying bug, it doesn't matter where you are or what is going on, but if you hear an airplane above, there is something inside that makes you look up to see if you can spot it before it moves on. Many of you know that my flight career has been put on hold to be able to stay at home as a full-time mom. This was a choice that both J and I were eager to make, having both known the enjoyment of stay-at-home moms growing up. This decision, though wonderful, has left me personally longing at times for the thrill of flight that was once part of my daily life. This week, I was wonderfully blessed to be able to accompany my husband and his colleague to IL to have some routine maintenance performed on the aircraft that they fly. Being the generous people that they are, I was able to sit up front and man the controls for both legs of the flight. From the rush of the takeoff, to the entrancing cloud formations, to the seemingly walk-on-the-clouds feeling as we descended, and finally to the touchdown, I literally had my head in the clouds. During our trip, I was able to perform one takeoff, two landings, part of an ILS approach and numerous cockpit tasks. My husband was willing to tend to little J during the flights (who actually slept the entire trips). I'm sure some of you are thinking, what's the big deal, but for me, not having been in the cockpit for 10 months, it was 2 days of bliss!!!

G.I.M.P.

Well, a friend of mine has introduced me to a new design and photo editing tool called G.I.M.P (GNU Image Manipulation Program). It is a free download from http://www.gimp.org/. I have been learning this new tool and really like all of the things that it allows with photo editing. I have never really played with Photoshop, so please forgive my ignorance if I am wrong, but this program allows me to do many things that I know that you can do with Photoshop. I'm sure that it is limited in many respects (thus the much smaller price tag!) Anyway, as I play around with this new tool, I hope to share some renderings of my newly learned skills in the future. At least that is my hope, that I can get back to blogging more. Thanks for being patient!

We Have a Rocker in Our Midst!

Baby J grows hair out to disguise as a rocker!

Ok, so J and I were having some fun going through and listening to some old blues and rock CD's that we have. I guess the music gave us some inspiration for a picture of little J. I am actually holding him on my lap and my hair is thrown over his head. We couldn't help ourselves and after we saw the pic, we couldn't stop giggling. It truely is a piece of work!

Yay! New Floors!

Many of you know that over the past year we have been slowly renovating our 70's era house. Well, today we finished a new floor in the laundry/bathroom and kitchen. Surprisingly the floor went down easily and until you get a really close look, it appears to be the more costly ceramic tile. It is actually the peel and stick vinyl tile. At first, I was a skeptic about it, but after seeing it used in my brother-in-law's home, I thought that it didn't look that bad. (Actual it looked down right good!) So after bring home multiple samples from Lowes and Home Depot, we finally settled on this brownish/gray tile. It looks spectacular in person and I can't wait to have the trim up. (It is off-white.) After this we will decide on new laminate counter-tops. We were kinda thinking a dark, almost black look, but if anyone has any better suggestions I am definitely open to them. The cabinets are the off-white trim color and the walls are a neutral brown.

We have finished most of the home, so I'll periodically add some pics of the remods as they continue. Needless to say, I am grateful for the experiences that I had growing up, helping my parents (mainly Dad) with renovation to our homes. It has certainly helped me to be more than eager to start and finish big construction projects such as these. I am grateful to be able to navigate my way around tools!

4 Months and Growing!

Well, so much for keeping up with this blog this month. Time seems to fly by these days. Our little guy just turned 4 months old. He is rolling over from his tummy to his back already and has begun to giggle. You can really set him off by a tickle! It is one of the most sweetest sounds in the world! I have video of the rolling over and the giggling, however I have failed to convert and edit them to post, but I they should be on here soon. Little J is over 17 pounds and growing fast. Last night he slept for 8 hours straight and the another 3 1/2 hours! Thank goodness for the extra sleep for me! I actually woke up and was surprised to see that he was still sleeping. I had to check on him to make sure nothing was wrong. Hopefully this is the beginning of a more regimented sleep schedule.

In the past 2 weeks, we as a couple have been able to spend an evening away as grandpa babysat. For me, it was a much needed experience and I hope to have more in the near future. Babysitter anyone? Here are a few pics of his growth this past month. Enjoy!

With Grandpa - Thanks for babysitting!

3 Months

Well, time has flown by, as it seems to do so often now that we have a little one. Our little man is now 3 months old and growing day the day it seems! When he is awake, which is most of the day now, he loves to see people's reactions to his coos and smiles. He is also interested in the other baby that he gets to play with in the mirror, although at times he seems a little bashful! He is about 16lbs and last time I measured about 26in. in length. Yes, he is still totally breastfed!!! Last week we had a little scare with a cold that little J had and we ended up with a visit to the ER over the weekend. Fortunately, we got it under control and he is now back to his old healthy self. Thankfully, the stress of having a sick infant is over for the time being. I'm sure there will be more wonderful moments of caring for sicknesses in the future - though I do hope they hold off awhile. Nothing pains you more that to not be able to fix a sick child. You wish that you could bear their pains instead.

4 Generations

With the grandparents and great-grandparents visiting for a weekend, we had the opportunity to capture the moments with a few 4-generation photos as well as some family photos. Here are a few. Hope you enjoy!

Something to wake up to!

We were awakened last night to the sound of fire engine sirens and flashing lights. We looked out our bedroom window only to see this radiant orange glow against the darkness of the night. I, being the inquisitive person, immediately threw on a sweatshirt and shoes and dashed out the door to see what the commotion was about. After I rounded our neighbors house I saw that there was a house down the street that was fully engulfed in a raging fire. This home was two-stories and the roof and second story were completely gone. Thank goodness that this home had never been lived in and as far as I knew, no one would be inside. It took about another hour before the fire crews completely extinguished the flames and the house was then down to the foundation. We don't know what started the fire but we are thankful that no one was hurt during the event. I can't help but think about quickly this house went up in flames and it forced me to think about how easily we ourselves can allow situations around us to end up in flames as well if we fail to rely on God's ever-enduring provision for his children. This allowed me to focus on the fact that no matter what, God will be there and lead us if we are willing to follow.

My Attempt at Blogging!

This is my first blog, so bear with me! Hopefully, this blog will help keep those friends and family that want to know more about what is going on in our lives to stay connected with us. Either that, or I will be posting blindly in cyberspace! Staying connected is something that I am working on myself so this is my stab at it. Here is a family photo of us at Christmas!