wish come true

All I wanted for my birthday was to be with my family. So last weekend I borrowed a company pickup (since the weather was supposed to be bad up there) and headed for Mom and Dad's. The roads were fine driving up there, but they got about 6 or 7 inches of snow while I was there...on top of the snow they already had on the ground. They canceled church, so we had our own church service and stayed home all day. It was nice being snowed in! :) I got more time with my family and got to wear my pajamas all day. It was also a good thing, because I was still not fully recovered from my sickness, so I was only running about 50%. I couldn't have done anything if I wanted to; it was pretty pathetic actually. Despite all that, I had a good birthday - I think it was just because I got to be with my family again. The weekend went by fast, and I was back on the road before I wanted to be. Now I will just look forward to next time I get to see them.

Here's a little trivia: I have lived in a different house each year for the last five birthdays. Wonder where I will be next year?? And for some reason, 23 seems sooo much more older than 22. I'm not sure why that is, but I just feel so old...

p.s. I had to change my layout from the Christmas one I had on here, but I'm not sure I like the snowflakes. Too cold...it might not stay on here long! ;)

Christmas

While I was at Mom and Dad's for the homecoming, we also had Dad's birthday party, Dad gave me early birthday presents, we had our Christmas, and we went to my brother's wrestling tournament. It was so good to be with my family again. Mom made me pancakes for breakfast one morning, and my little sister made me scrambled eggs (Julia is getting to be quite the little cook!) We had our big Christmas dinner which is my favorite meal of the whole entire year! Traditional turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, cranberry salad, green salad, and homemade hot rolls, but to top it all off, Mom makes each of us pies. Whatever kind we want. This year we had cherry, blueberry, peach, two chocolates, and pumpkin (mine!). Mom is pretty much amazing.

Here are pictures of our celebrations:

Poor Dad was so tired, he couldn't keep his eyes open

Kaley got Sam Bradford's Rams jersey from Chris. We are big fans; he was our Sooner boy before he went to the Rams!

We were also fans of Adrian Peterson before he went to the Vikings. I got this one; we have always wanted their NFL jerseys!! Thanks, bro! ;)

Mom with her youngest :)

I gave Chris a display case for the his autographed football

that I gave him last year.

I got this shirt for Kaley from the Mark Schultz/Warren Barfield concert

what a night

I stayed home from work today because I am sick. I went to work yesterday, but I wasn't feeling well, and got worse as the day wore on so I finally gave up and went home early. Last night was absolutely miserable; I really wished my mom was there to take care of me! I was so sick and in so much pain that I couldn't even get out of bed to get some medicine. It was such a helpless feeling. After a few hours, I finally rallied myself and got up for pain killer because I knew it would be a long, miserable night. I finally got some relief, but got a feverish night of "sleep" and tossed and turned all night long. I feel much better today (PTL!!), but am so worn out that I can only get up for a few minutes before I have to go back to bed. I am hoping for good rest tonight so I can be back to work tomorrow.


I thought I would post some pictures that were taken when I was home and got to hang out with some friends for an evening. We played a game and then took some ballet pictures...just because :)

Just had to post this picture! So awesome! This was done by a farmer in Bellevue, Nebraska near an Air Force Base, and my dad

has actually seen it while flying.

Home from War, Part 2

Here are the pictures I took of the arrival and welcoming party. It was bitterly cold, the wind was blowing, and the sun was shining (which wasn't great for taking pictures!). Oh yeah, he made it home the day after his birthday; what a great present! We are so grateful to have him back safe and sound. Enjoy!

Here they come!

Touchdown on American soil!!

The cockpit was so crowded and full of waving hands that I couldn't see dad...but it still makes a great pic!

Yup, we were that close!

...and here he is, the man himself!

precious hugs

Welcome home, Dad

Home from War, Part 1

I woke up early in the morning after my late night travels excited about dad coming home, but still not wanting to get out of bed. On a sudden whim, we decided to wear Santa hats to the homecoming event since my dad's crew was affectionately called the "Christmas crew" (sparked by their oh-so-popular card that circulated around the globe and launched them into Rockstar status...actually they were already Rockstars over there, but the Christmas card was wildly sought after by their ever-growing fan base!). So off we went to our local Walmart and purchased the hats. Here is the result:

I know you are tired of seeing those stupid hats, but I was a little camera-happy and what else do you do when you are sitting around for an hour waiting for a plane to fly in?? :) good times