Snow day

Nutcracker 2010

Katie did great in her dance.

Krista's Story

Krista's surgery

Krista will be having major surgery this Wed. Jason's parents have already left to be with her, Joe and Mackenzie. Jason really wanted to be there but he won't get off work until Thanksgiving morning and then he starts working on Sundays this week. She is having 5 procedures done. They are going to remove her spleen because this is the last resort they can do to get her platelets up. They are also going to remove her gall bladder because she found out that it's dumping toxins into her body.
Please pray for her. The surgery is going to take 7 hours and its compilicated by the fact that she already has had a stroke.
Her church did a video of her story( which is not the entire journey)!

We love you Krista and the girls love their Aunt Kika

Thanksgiving

For the first time in 14 years (since I got married and moved here) we will be having Thanksgiving with just the girls. My family wasn't able to make it and Jason's family will be in SC because Krista is having major surgery on Wed, Nov 24. I ordered a Thanksgiving meal from Kroger because I hate to cook and it would be hard to cook a turkey for just Jason and I (the girls don't like alot of meat). It will be very low key this year.
I'm hoping I can talk Jason into going shopping on Friday since I won't have my regular shoppers this year-we'll see!

Karissa

This past Friday Jason's mom kept Katie and Kendall while I took Karissa Christmas shopping. It was so much fun once we got past the fact that she hates shopping, but I made it all about her. I've always made sure that Jason gets alone time with her, because she is growing up so fast but I can't seem to be alone with her. For the first 6 years of her life she was my little shadow, just her and I, then 2 other girls later and she is now sharing Jason and I. It's been hard on her for the past couple of years and then on top of that her behavior at home with ADHD hasn't been the best. I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel, don't get me wrong we still have our moments.

Friday she got to talk without little voices interrupting her and it was great, she felt free to talk to me about whatever. I told Jason about our conversation and he just laughed, if you know her sometimes her questions are embarrassing for us, but innocent for her.

I know that people say that middle school is a tough time for their kids but so far it's been a great year and a half of growing. I am sad that she is in 7th grade and her middle school experience is half over and then we start high school. Time is going so fast.

We love you Riss and are soooo proud of you.

After the game Josh asked them if the wanted to eat at Malone's! While walking outside Josh noticed that Karissa didn't have her coat so he gave her his to wear!!! She had a great night oh and so did Jason!!






Jason and a group of Josh's friends called the Wildcat over




Josh during practice. Jason said that while he was practicing he wave to Karissa!


Heading to the game

Surprise visit

Last Thursday Karissa came home and told me that Josh Harrellson had come to her school that morning to see her! I was so shocked. She also thinks he brought Jon Hood too. She talked to him for a little while and then she had to go to class. Then today Josh had text Lisa (his girlfriend's mom) and told her that he had 2 tickets to give away and that he wanted Karissa to be one of them. So Jason and Karissa are headed to the game as soon as piano is over. She also gets to stay after the game and talk to him and see the other players. She is taking her small basketball!! I can't wait to hear about her night when she gets home!!

Happy Halloween

Katie;'s big award

Katie won the Principal's award at Warner on Friday Oct 29th. We are so proud of her. Her teacher said that she is a joy to teach and brings a ray of sunshine to our class each day. She enters with a smile and is eager to listen and learn. She does not good, not better, but her best!

Pumpkin Patch and other happenings

Mary and Dennis chaperoned Katie's field trip and me, Kami and Kendall came and spent the afternoon with them. All of the girls had a great time.

Karissa had another dental appointment and they adjusted her braces and she got pink and green rubber bands! She was so excited and she did great-no anxiety fits!!! They said that by her next appointment in December the gap in her front teeth should be closed or at least close to it and then she will get 2 fake teeth put in where she is missing teeth. I can't wait and I know she's ready for straight teeth!!

Jason's still working 60 hours a week and I'm still babysitting. I can't wait for my family to come visit for Thanksgiving!! I haven't even started Christmas shopping nor do I want too. I usually have most of it done by now because I have to have my family's done by Thanksgiving so they can take the gifts back to Virgina. I have no idea what to get everyone including my children.

Karissa's Horse

Karissa's teacher had the class design their own horses and after seeing some on the ones downtown she could have actually designed one!

It's hard to see some of the details but on the Kingston side she has a steel drum, bag juice, and jerk chicken, a coconut, and bananas.

Running with the Horses

Labor Day weekend 2010

We were suppose to go to South Carolina to see Joe and Krista and meet Baby Mackenzie, but Katie got up 30 mins before our alarm clock and was throwing up so we didn't want to bring it to Krista.
By Sunday afternoon she was feeling better and Karissa was bored so we decided that we would drive to Fort Boonesboro and go sightseeing. Then we headed back to Lexington and went downtown to check out the horses.
The next morning we had decided that we would head to the Creation Museum. It was amazing. Jason and his parents have a family friend that is head of the Art department there and him and his wife did a lot of the models. We walked by one of the dinosaurs and Jason goes Doug did that one. I asked him how he knew and he goes I know his style-He was right! We were hoping to see them but they had the day off but he gave us his discount!!

First day of school

Our beautiful 7th grader






Our cute 1st grader

New happenings

Kendall started walking while we were in Jamaica!! I was so ready for her to walk



Karissa got braces and contacts all in the same day and she's doing great with both so far!
It's hard to believe that she starts 7th grade tomorrow and Katie starts 1st grade.

Jamaica

Karissa and Jason on the jet ski that pawpaw rented for them! In this picture Karissa looks alot like Jason




Karissa and Krissy eating breakfast. All the kids loved her and they called her Clarissa. It was too cute to go to church and all the children were yelling her name. She had a great time and didn't want to come home. Thank you to everyone who contributed to her mission trip.

She's here!

My friend Tara and her husband brought Kami home from Ethiopia on Father's Day. We got to meet her at the airport! She is so full of personality. She is a doll and I get the honor of watching her while her mother goes back to work when school starts. I'm so excited and Kendall will have a playmate.

Karissa's masterpiece

Karissa and Jillian took an oil painting class this summer at Trinity and they had a great time and I got a great painting out of it!! She did a really good job and she's wanting to take it again next summer.

Karissa in Jamaica

She is loving Jamaica and she's been able to call several times. Mawmaw says that she races to the phone so she can tell me what new thing she has done. The first Sunday there the Minister (who grew up with Jason and Krista) introduced her to the congregation as Krista, he said he knew it was wrong as soon as it came out of his mouth but looking out in the crowd he said he was looking at Krista!

In church and pretty much anywhere in public Karissa is very reserved, but that's not the case in Jamaica. Mary said that she is doing things she's never seen her do before such as getting on stage singing and dancing. VBS was a hit with the kids and Karissa had a great time with them. She and pawpaw painted together which her asking him meant alot to him.

She has made friends with Jerry's daughter (the minister) Caden, who doesn't take to anyone. The story is that her grandmother was there for 2 weeks and she wouldn't even go to her but she has attached herself to Karissa.

She got to climb Dunn's river Falls with the team and got to go shopping with them. She told me she bought a painting for her room. She called me today to tell me that they just got back from taking the team to the airport. She is staying in Mary and Dennis' apartment and tonight Mel is coming over to visit. Mel is 6 months older than Karissa. She stayed in the US with her parents for a month with Jason's parents back when they both were 2 so now they are rekindling their friendship!! LOVE IT!

Jamaica Bound

Saying goodbye was hard and she said I was making her cry, but the best words from her father was that he was so proud of her and he loved her heart for people. I know Jason was really wanting to go with her too!

She was so excited this morning that she could hardly stand it. She's only a year older than her dad when he moved there in 87 and I'm excited for her because she gets to experience a little bit of where her dad lived. Karissa will be working on getting the church ready for dedication and the really neat part was that the last time she was there (she was 20 months old) we stood on the property when it was just a vision and now she is helping with the ending!

After the team leaves Karissa will stay with Dennis and Mary for the week and then Jason and I with the rest of the family will head there for 2 weeks. A grand total of a month in Jamaica for Karissa. Thank you to everyone that prayed and gave financially for her middle school trip-we are so grateful!

A week and a half to go

In a week and a half we will be saying goodbye to Karissa as she heads out for Jamaica. She is excited and I'm nervous! She will be there for 2 weeks without us and then we will go for a 2 week vacation so in total she will be there a month. She is going on a mission trip with the middle school group from Southland and then the group will leave after a week and she will stay and get alot of one on one time with Mamaw and Papaw.
I choke up from time to time just thinking about it.

Kendall turns 1

You know when it's your third child and you've had about all the birthdays you can handle. All 3 of my girls are 2 weeks apart which means we are celebrating someones birth every 2 weeks. We kept Kendall's low key, just us and Jason's parents. I went back and forth on whether or not to have a big party but she was fine with this and she got some cool toys!

She is now standing by herself and just crusing around. I'm praying that she walks before we leave for Jamaica!! I'm trying hard to get her to love her sippy cup because I'm done with bottles! She loves to throw her arms up in the air and have you scream YAY! She is a busy little lady. She loves her sisters and Karissa and her have a special bond which I love. She gets upset when you take her away from her. Katie still acts like she is a doll baby and can make her laugh with all of her goofy faces. She is daddy's girl and gets upset if I take her away from him. Her little face lights up when she sees him!

We love you Kendall

Mulitcultural night

Katie's ballet recital