Only 1 week until Christmas!

Its been nonstop since Kaelyn started walking soon after her first birthday in September.  Time flies, and before you know it another year is gone!

Last Saturday we went to the mall to take pictures with Santa.  Unfortunately the line was so long I think we would have been waiting for hours.  (I don’t think Kaelyn would have been happy about being forced to sit on a strange man’s lap anyway).  So we decided to go home and set up our own photo shoot.

The pictures came out very good:

Kaelyn Dec 2008

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Kaelyn waving and saying "Hi" to inflatable Santa in our yard

We got her a kitchen for Christmas.  I’m so excited to see how she plays with it.  Right now while I’m in the kitchen cooking, I can give her a pot and a big wooden spoon, and she’ll plop down on the floor and stir to her little hearts content.  She thinks she’s helping.  It’s so cute!

This year is also gonna be special for another reason.  Mike’s daughter (from his 1st marriage) is coming to stay with us for Christmas.  Lexi is 14 and lives with her mother in Arizona.  We don’t get to see her very often, so we feel blessed to be able to spend this time with her. 

Lexi with Mike and Kaelyn June 2008

I’m so excited!  Only 4 more days of work til Christmas!

Little late for Halloween!

Jack

Here it is almost Christmas and I have yet to post any pictures from Halloween!

Dominic and Kaelyn

We had all the kids over to my house for Trick or Treating, and a great time was had by all.

Rhagen, Paisley, and Sadie

Mother

Mother is just the same as always.  Work, home, sleep.  She’s still got a full house, an although it can be annoying at times, I think she likes the noise.  It’s going to be a big adjustment when she finally gets that big house to herself. 

For her last birthday (July 3), all of her kids pitched in and bought her a new big screen tv (the picture was going out on hers, and she couldn’t afford to replace it.)  That really made us feel good to give something back to the woman who has given us all so much. 

She’s just going with the flow, and taking whatever life brings her way. 

At Sadie's B-day party

Tara

Tara is the youngest of the Courreges clan… she turned 21 last January.  Though she too is back living at home, I think she is looking at renting a house nearby.  She’s frustrated with having her privacy invaded by Ryan and his kids.

Tara and Kaelyn - April 2008

Ryan and family

Ryan and Amanda’s divorce was finalized in December 2007.  Since they split, Ryan moved himself and his kids in with mother.  He is their primary caregiver.  He works M-Th, and picks up overtime shifts when possible.  He spends most if his free time watching Nascar, or LSU sports. 

Ryan and Jack at Dad's funeral in January

His kids are getting big!

Paisley is turning 9 in August.  She is going into 4th grade this year!  I can’t believe how time flies.  She loves to ride her bike and to watch Hannah Montana.

She broke her arm (for the 2nd time) just before Easter.

Rhagen is 7 and will be going to 2nd grade.  She loves to do anything her big sis is doing.  She follows ehr around religiously.  Luckily, they are best friends.

Jack will be 3 in August, and is a little daredevil.  He loves to play hard.  He’s got bright blue eyes, just like Rhagen, but we don’t know where all the blonde hair came from.

Time to take a breather...

While the girls will pose for any photo you ask, Jack will avoid having his picture taken at all cost.  Therefore we have many photos of the back of his head.  Any shot of his face is most likely a surprise picture.

Doug

This is Mother and Doug August 2006

What can I say about Doug.  He will be 33 in November.  He is currently saving for a house, and therefore spends the majority of his time at work.  He has about 10 cats.  I joke with him that he’s gonna be the “creepy cat lady” if he keeps it up.

Lisa and Family

Lisa is currently living about 10 miles away from me with her 2 children, Sadie, 6, and Dominic, 20 months.

Summer is almost over for her, then it will be back to work as usual.  She teaches 4th grade, and although the pay is not great, she loves it.

Dominic is just starting to really get a personality.  He loves his cars, and will let you know, if you try to take one. Lol.  For the most part, he just runs around, doing his own thing.  He is so funny to watch.

Dominic with popsicle on Memorial Day

 Sadie is 6, and going into 1st grade.  She, like Paisley and Rhagen, loves Hannah Montana.  Lisa jokes that Sadie is her little drama queen.  She was so excited when I told her that she was going to learn how to read at school this year.  She told me she was going to try her best so she could come over and read stories to Kaelyn.  How sweet.

Sadie and Rhagen at Sadie's 6th bday party... Notice Sadie is about a foot taller than Rhagen, but a year younger!

 

At the park for Easter egg hunt

Tyson and family

Tyson just got back from Texas, where he went after getting married.

He and Hannah finally tied the knot (at a JOP) on July 8, 2008 after 2 1/2 years together.

Latest word is they won’t try for kids for at least another year.  For now they are saving to buy a house, and enjoying their time together. 

They also enjoy spending time with Chandler, Tyson’s 7 year old son from previous marriage.  Chandler says he’s ready for 10 little brothers (he doesn’t want any sisters.)

They stay busy with Chandler playing T-ball and basketball, and they joined an adult soccer league. 

This a picture of Chandler at a birthday party a couple of weeks ago:

Daredevil Chandler. That was a big inflatable slide thing, he kept doing belly busters off of the back of it.

 

Easter2008

(I told him if he didn’t stop for a picture he’d be disqualified from the hunt.)

Now this is terrible… I take thousands of photos, but they are only of the kids… I had to dig deep to find these:

October 2006

This is bad: Only one I could find with them all together was from July 2006, when we went to Utah… this is in the tree in Grandma’s back yard:

The wedding

Lucky we decided on an indoor wedding, because it stormed right up until it started.

Here are some pictures:

 

My two sisters, Lisa and Tara, and my sister-in-law, Amanda, were my bridesmaids.  The flower girls are my neices, Paisley and Rhagen.

From left to right: Judy, Lisa, Tara, Mike, Kim, Tyson, Ryan, Doug, Dad

Front row: Paisley, Sadie, Rhagen, Chandler Back row: Judy, Lisa, Chris and Dominic, Amanda, Tara, Mike, Kim, Tyson, Hannah, Jack and Ryan, Doug, Dad

The wedding was also the last time I ever saw my dad before he died. 

The father-daughter dance

This a picture of one of our actual wedding gifts:

The wedding pig

Yes, one of our great “friends” got us a pig.  My dad ended up taking it home with him to Oklahoma.  He said it was “delicious.” Lol.

We went to Florida for our honeymoon.  The week off was nice, but it was soon back to work as usual.

Kaelyn – thru the ages

Our September baby!

Wahhhh!

How cute!

Kaelyn- 1 week old

Kaelyn started smiling at about 6 weeks, I guess that’s pretty average.

I tried to get the smile....

She loves those blocks! I used them to entice her to get mobile!

By 5 months, she was scooting around, and by 7 months, she was crawling like a pro.

She loves books, just like her momma.

This is her favorite book of nursery rhymes.

 Bathtime is her favorite…(she loves her rubber ducky).  She loves her new toybox, and she loves rice and gravy (just like her daddy) (This child has refused to eat baby food since she was about 8 months old.)   She is able to chew (or “gum”) an amazing variety with only 5 teeth.

Her first bubble bath

She is currently 10 months old, and officially trying to walk.  I’m sure she’ll get the hang of it by August… She pulls up on everything, and walks around (while holding on).  She has started to let go of the couch and continued to stand while playing with a toy.  She has been healthy for about a month now, so I’m crossing my fingers that her immune system has finally caught up.