WOW I AM SO BEHIND....

We have been very busy so little time for blogging! Dalton and Byne have started baseball season...so we are on the road all the time trying to watch them play ball! The Stars of Elmore County was held on Feb. 21st...I was nominated for Princiapl of the year. That was fun..didn't win, but a very deserving lady won. Mrs. Mary Lucy Crapps is the Principal of Holtville Elementary and has been there for a very long time. She is retiring this year so it was very fitting that she be honored :) I was thrilled that I was nominated by one of my teachers...I will always treasure the sweet letter that she wrote about me! Lakyn is getting ready for tryouts in April and still working on her back hand spring...hope she gets it before tryouts. I will be blogging a limited amount since I am traveling all over Alabama to watch my boys play ball. Hope you are all doing well...I am thinking of you often! Much love :)

Baseball and the ball!

We went to the Ball this weekend and had a great time! We look forward to the "Prom" every year and always have a great time with our friends. Then on Sunday Byne had a game in Tuscaloosa. We were able to go see Kyle and watch Byne play ball all at the same time! A great weekend :)

Emilie's Housewarming Party

Emilie's Housewarming Party was last night! We had a great time and she got lots of nice things for her house! Pictures on Flickr!

Christmas 2008

I have not blogged in forever! I have been super busy getting ready for Christmas. I have cleaned every square inch of my house - literally with a toothbrush! lol It is nice to have it so clean - lets just hope it stays that way.

We have so much to be excited about!
1. Emilie is having a baby girl! YEAH :) I love babies and am looking forward to being the best Aunt Susanne that our little Emma Catherine could ever hope for. I have big plans to spoil her rotten!
2. Baseball season will start very soon. Dalton's tryouts are January 10th and Byne's season will probably get started at the beginning of Feb. Both of them should get lots of playing time this year - so you know MOMMA will have to try and make EVERY game :) It is hard with them in two different directions, but we will do the best we can.
3. Lakyn is practicing her gymnastics getting ready for Cheerleading tryouts in March. She needs a back handspring and is already making great progress.
4. We are lookng forward to our annual New Years Eve bash - lots of good friends coming over to ring in the New Year.

Christmas was great this year. Isn't it amazing that we spend a month preparing - buying, wrapping and it is all done in about an hour? We had to have our Christmas on Christmas Eve since Mark is on day shift. He has to be at work on Christmas Day at 5:15 AM :( Everybody was a little dissapointed in changing our "normal" traditions, but it is nice that our children will get to spend Christmas morning with their other parent this year. Dalton and Lakyn haven't been with their Dad on Christmas morning in a very long time. I am hoping this year that will be special for them. So......Mark will be at work, all the children will be with their "other" parent. Guess where Susanne will be......snoozing in my bed. I may get up and put my bathrobe on and watch a movie in my quiet house! Jan is making Christmas lunch for her family - so maybe I will stroll over there in my pajamas and have some lunch.:) Mark will get home from work around 2 and the boys will get home around then, so we will take Byne and Kyle to a movie Christmas afternoon. We always go on Christmas day and take turns picking the movie. Bad news....this year it is Mark's turn. That usually means a war movie! :( All in all it was a special Christmas spending time with family and friends. I hope you all are having a very Merry Christmas!

We had Thanksgiving at Maw Maws house today. Time for the annual family photo for the Christmas card. Good news.....it only took a few minutes. The boys behaved this year and Aunt Kay only had to take two or three and we were done!! They usually act really silly and it takes us forever to get one where we all look normal. We are headed to the beach for my side of the families Thanksgiving on Wednesday! I am looking forward to the trip! Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for :)

I believe everything happens for a reason

Dalton's friend married this weekend. He was the best man and it was a very sweet service. The couple is very young and has a baby on the way. It reminded me so much of how our family started. When I saw that bride round the corner looking so young and full of hope, it reminded me so much of how I probably looked at seventeen getting married. I was so young and so in love....nothing else mattered. When we are young we don't think about anything but the moment. Then as we "grow up" we realize how we change and begin to ask what have I missed. I prayed for her right that minute as I cried my eyes out. I cried because I can so identify with her feelings that day.....a little sad, very happy, very naive, looking forward but not having a clue what is about to hit her. Please pray for her!! Please pray for him!! I truly believe that everything happens for a reason.....God brought us our sweet Dalton. He was truly a gift from God that came very early in my life. I just realize now how fast we had to grow up and that I was growing up with him! I know that God has a plan for this young couple too!

Tennis at the Beach ~ does it get any better?

Our tennis team, Sweet Heat, made it to the State Tournament in Orange Beach. We were all so excited, but I was super nervous! I just started playing tennis about 6 or 7 months ago, and I only play once or twice a week. I wanted to do well at the tournament, but I have never had a lesson and still have so much to learn. I am grateful that I play on a team that is more concerned about having fun than obsessed with winning. My partner, Flavia, is also SUPER patient with me :)! We had the greatest time! All of the teams that we played were really nice, and our group of girls are GREAT! Emilie, Byne, Lakyn, and Cayla came down to support me ~ which was really cool! I learned so much this weekend and had a fantastic time ~ can't wait until the next time we make it to state (there will be a next time)! I just wish I could walk - every bone in my body aches! You know my body is not used to this much physical activity lol. Check out the pictures on our flickr site ~ Byne got really picture happy at the last match :)

Halloween 2008

We always have the most fun at Halloween! Lakyn and Byne seem to enjoy it the most and the costume parade at school is so much fun! All of the teachers dress up and some of them are so creative. The purple pod teachers dressed like the administration this year. They each made a mask of our faces. It was so funny! I thought Mrs. Judy was dressed as Obama when I first saw her and then discovered it was Mr. Jackson.

We had a little Halloween gathering last night and the kds had a great time. We were glad to get to see Mrs. Beth and John David. All of the children were here, which doesn't happen that often with two of them away at college. We were glad to see Kyle. It was a great night! We have so much to be thankful for!

CES Fall Ball

The CES Fall Ball was last night. My sweet children came and dressed up in the spirit of the event! We had a huge crowd and all the children has a great time!

Party like its 1999!

We had a weekend of celebrations. Lakyn turned 14 and Byne turned 21! We had a party for Lakyn on Friday night. She had several little girls come to a spend the night party at the lake. We played hide and go seek, decorated our own cakes, limboed, and busted a pinata. They had the greatest time! The decorating of the cakes was a big hit! I was impressed with some of their creativity! Byne's party was scheduled for Saturday night. He had a pinata too - transformers lol! It was a great time with family and friends. My favorite part was when Lakyn had to blow out the candles on all the individual cakes - I took a video. Check it out on our link to the family photos. It is too cute! I am so blessed with these sweet children! God is good! :)