So Thankful

A proud papa and his baby!!! Feb 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!!! There are so many things in life right now to be so thankful for. I know it's been a tough year for a lot of people with the economy, but there is so much happiness that comes from the people around us. I am fortunate enough to have two of the best families around! Of course my immediate family is awesome and we have such a great time together! I am so excited to go back home for Christmas, I just can't wait!!! My other family (my husband's family) is so much more than I could have imagined, as well. I'm not sure how I've gotten so lucky, but I do treasure each and every one of my family members!!! And a girl couldn't ask for a better set of friends! I hope everyone else has a blessed and grateful Thanksgiving!!! Here are some pictures to show what a great family I have!!!

This is from Thanksgiving 2002 in Texas!!! Dad and his 4 girls!!! I can't help but smile everytime I see this picture!

This picture was taken in July 2006 with my immediate family including Grandma and Pa, Mom and Dad, sisters, brothers, brother-in-laws, and nieces and nephews. Michael and Steve weren't able to make it so their not pictured. Another cool thing about this picture, I found out I was pregnant with Zach the day this was taken!!!

Here's Grandma and Granddad teaching Zach about feeding the giraffes! They do soooooo much for us it's amazing! Zach is so lucky to have them as grandparents, and I'm so fortunate and grateful to have them as my in-laws!!!

And last, but certainly not least, I'm so grateful for my bestest friend, Kimmie!!! We've been best friends since high school and even though we live 2 time zones away, she has helped me through some really tough times and she's ALWAYS there for me! I love ya, Kimmie!!!

Fall Fun

Last weekend I decided to take some pics of Zach while there were still a few leaves on the trees. He had such a great time on his slide! These pictures just show the pure joy of a 21 month old and how much fun it is to be a kid! These pictues really make me smile. I hope they make you smile, too! Enjoy!

Looks like he's ready to get into something here, doesn't it?!?

Whee!

If only there weren't trash bags in the background! Hope everyone has a great week! I'm excited because I get to spend some extra time with Zach this week instead of working everyday!!!

Memories of NYC

For our4th wedding anniversary, Michael (or Jeff) and I went to New York City for a few days. It was my first visit and I was soooo excited. I think we stuffed as many touristy and authentic New York moments into the few days as possible. Highlights of our trip were seeing Bobby Flay at Mesa Grill our first night in the city, seeing Young Frankenstein on Broadway, eating at Two Times Square for our anniversary dinner, and just taking in all of the wonderful sites. It was pretty cold (in the 40's and 50's) so most of our pictures show only our coats. So much for my cute clothes that I had to buy just for New York! Anyway, here's a picture of the two of us on our last night in the Big Apple. We went down to Central Park (about 3 blocks from our hotel) and took a carriage ride around the park. It was beautiful. We had such a great time and I can't wait until we can go back again! Just one more thing that makes me SMILE!!!

October 24, 2008. NYC

A quick smile

Zach's first Trick-or-Treating Halloween!

I think this is the cutest rear view of a costume! It's so funny since he looks so short and stocky instead as a usually tall and skinny giraffe!

Enjoying his Halloween loot - we hit 4 houses in approximately 25 minutes - they were all within our cul-de-sac! His first sucker!!! I think he likes it!!!