40 years

This past Sunday, my parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary! Can you believe it, 40 years! Yes, they were young when they got married, my mom 18 and my dad 21. We threw a surprise party for them this past Saturday. And it was great. We ran into a few obstacles...my dad showing up for the party 1 hour early (he came from the deer lease) and mom saying she was going to come over to Kristina's early to help get "dinner" ready. It was not the easiest keeping this from them. Kristina and I told many lies, we were starting to believe them ourselves! But it was all worth it to see the look on their faces when they walked in the door.

I'm so proud of my parents. Forty years is quite an accomplishment. It's not always been easy, the good times...the bad times...in sickness and in health...for richer and poorer. They sacrificed so much raising us girls and I'm so thankful to them.

Their love, their commitment to one another, their support to each other and their Christ centered marriage is an inspiration to me and so many others. Thank you Mom and Dad for the example you have shown and for the love you have for each other and for us! I love you!

Waiting for their arrival


The happy couple


Kristina and I gave a toast






Opening their gifts


We got them engraved wine glasses


Reading through their "blessing book"

Behind the scenes

Today we got to take a special trip to Alliance Airport and get a behind the scenes tour of the maintenance facilities for American Airlines. Our tour guide was Jim's dad who works for American and has for the past 17 years. He has had various jobs within the maintenance department, very cool jobs I might add! He currently rebuilds some piece of equipment that goes over the engine for protection. We thought this would be a fun activity since Jacob is so interested in airplanes right now. And I have to say it was very cool! Having worked for an airline myself for 7 years, I find airplanes and the whole airline industry very exciting. I think I was more excited about this tour than anyone else! :)

They had very tight security when we checked in and we all received a badge to wear along with safety goggles and ear plugs. Jacob left his goggles on the entire time. I think wearing them made him feel special! We got to see the area where they rebuild the engines which was very interesting and very complex.

We also got to see a Boeing 777 that was there for maintenance. We unfortunately weren't able to go inside of it because of the work they were doing on it. But we got to see it up close for sure. We weren't allowed to take our camera in but I did manage to take a few photos with my phone. Thank goodness for camera phones!

The boys with Papa Jim. Standing in front of an engine of a 777! Huge!


Standing in front of the landing gear of the 777.




wearing the goggles- Luke only left his on for a short time


Oh and on another note, I have to add a funny conversation that took place between Jacob and Luke on the way to the airport today...

Jacob: "Luke, say JACOB"
Luke: "Bubba"
Jacob: laughing, "NO, not bubba, say JACOB"
Luke: "Bubba"
Jacob: "what, not bubba, say JACOB"
Luke: "Bubba"

By this time we were all laughing which encouraged Luke to keep saying it over and over. It was too funny. We will not be having a "Bubba" in the family...but we might now if Luke keeps getting the reaction he wants! :)

Lil Sport

Jacob started his Lil Sluggers class yesterday and had a blast. They learn basic t-ball skills including running the bases, catching ground balls, throwing the ball, and of course hitting the ball or "whacking" the ball as Jacob says. It's also great exercise and good for his gross motor skills. Oh and the best part is there are only 2 kids in the class, including him. The other little boy is his best buddy, Kenneth! Let's just say, he was sweaty and worn out after his class. He came home and slept for almost 2 hours. Plus he had his karate class earlier in the day which he also left with red cheeks!

He was so excited to wear his new t-shirt


Getting some instruction from the coach






And of course Luke had a great time too. He played with Kenneth's twin sister, Kayla. They ran around almost the entire time.


The past 2 weeks in karate they have been practicing for the upcoming tournament, which we didn't participate in. Not quite ready for a tournament. Anyway, when they wear this gear, it is called "sparring". Jacob wasn't too sure about this and looked a little sad that he was getting punched. But once he got the hang of it, he won both rounds he participated in.

Tagged

I was tagged by one of my great friends Amanda who was tagged by her Mom.

Here's how the game works: answer the following 5 questions and then keep the game going by tagging 2 more people. Here goes...

1. What were you doing 10 years ago?

I was about a year into my first job at Southwest Airlines. I worked in the Marketing department and was learning so much about life in the "real world". I had a great boss and felt very fortunate for getting hired at this awesome company. I was also living in Dallas in The Village. Which was a huge apartment community where many young, working folks lived. I only had about a 30 minute commute to work. I was also dating the love of my life, Jim. He was still working and living in Denton at the time so we made the most of our weekends. We would also soon become engaged, planning the beginning of our lives together.

2. What are 5 things on your to-do list?

*Get our outfits coordinated for our upcoming family pictures.
*Get the boys clothes organized. Good-bye summer clothes, hello fall/winter clothes! I have to say this is one of my least favorite things to keep up with. I feel like every time I turn around, it's time to reorganize clothes, pack up Jacob's to save for Luke...pack up Luke's to give away or donate...pack up the "keepsake" outfits that I just can't part with. Never an easy task for me.
*Download music to the Ipod feature of my phone. Any good ideas for good music to exercise to??
*Print off recent pictures on Snapfish and put the last order I received in photo album.
*Pack up Halloween decorations and put out Thanksgiving/Fall things.

3. What are snacks you enjoy?

*Chocolate chip cookies, first and foremost!
*Ice cream- preferably light ice cream...not picky on the flavor as long as it includes some type of chocolate.

4. What are the places you have lived?

*Born in Tyler, TX
*Longview, TX
*Denton, TX
*Dallas, TX
*Lewisville, TX

5. What are 5 things you would do if you became a billionaire?

I would first thank my lucky stars because I don't see this in our cards! We would travel, travel, travel! I LOVE taking vacations and always have! Every time we go somewhere we always say how fun it would be to have a house there. I could see us buying houses all over so we could make the most of our travels! I don't think we would ever be at home! I would also donate LOTS of money to the Catholic Church, some for Autism research and some for Breast Cancer research. Those are the first 3 that come to mind but I'm sure there would be lots of other organizations that would join this list.

OK, well my game of tag is up! Kyla and Hedy, it's your turn.

Halloween

The boys had a great time trick-or-treating this year! Jacob couldn't get to the houses fast enough and Luke learned very quickly what to do! Jacob also enjoyed passing out the candy at the house. After the first set of kids came and left Jacob said, "Ok, I'll stand here at the door and wait for our next customers." Customers...if only we made a little money off of all the candy we passed out! :)

Spiderman


Mr. Giraffe or "my pet giraffe" as Jacob called him


Jacob- '06 in the same costume. Just to give you a comparison in size. Jacob was 12 months here and Luke is 21 months when wearing the same costume.


Luke's our little peanut. And yes, Luke is running from Jacob as Jacob has a hold of the tail! Boys!!!!


Their little friends


More neighborhood friends


Muscle Men


He's on a mission...don't get in the way of Jacob and his candy!


It took Luke going to a few houses to get the hang of this whole trick-or-treating thing. But let me tell ya, once he got the hang of it he wasn't shy at the least bit.




When he wasn't grabbing his own candy, Luke prefered the candy in his hand rather than in his basket.


Luke just didn't know what to think


I guess his basket was a little heavy


Getting a little support here from brother. Luke walked almost the entire time we were out!


Luke telling me he will be right back, by holding up his index finger


Momma and her boys


Momma and her boys- 2008


Look at all that candy. Luke thought it would be fun to walk through it all!


Carving our pumpkin. I had LOTS of help! It was cold and windy so we moved to the garage.


This was at Jacob's halloween party at school last Thursday. Luckily there was an empty chair b/c Luke wasn't gonna be left out of the festivities!