Thanksgiving - Edited (in orange)

I love Thanksgiving. I love spending a day filled with family. I always hear people say that this is a day you should think about and remember what you are thankful for. I think this is a great time to do that, but I try to do that everyday.

I am so thankful for my wonderful family. I love the time we spend with each other.

Ryan was reading this and I asked him what he thought. He said I was thankful for everyone but him!!! I cannot believe I left him out. I AM SO THANKFUL for you. Ryan, you truly bring out the best in me and I love you so much. You make my life complete and I am so blessed to have you in my life. I love you so much. (FYI - Ryan made me change the title and put this in orange so it would all stand out and everyone would know I left him out. Thanks Ryan.)

I am thankful for my mother, she really is my hero. She continues to amaze me each and every day. If I tried to list everything I admired and loved about her it would take me days to write. Mom, I appreciate everything you have done for me and I truly want to be just like you.

I am thankful for all the love and support my Dad has given me. I love him very much and feel blessed to have him as my father.

I am thankful for how close I am to my brothers. I cherish each and every one of them. Angie and Ashley are truly a blessing to our family and I love you very much.

I am thankful for the relationship I have with my grandparents. I am so lucky to have them so involved in my life. I am thankful for all the love and support they give me.

I am thankful for Ryan's amazing family. I have felt a part of their family even before I officially was (even if they wouldn't let me golf in the Masters lol). They are always there for us and I am so thankful to be a part of their family.

Lisa (Second Mother in Charge) - Wow, I don't know if thankful is a big enough word. Lisa has been there through it all and I love her like a mother. Thank you for everything you have done for me.

This does not even touch all that I am thankful for, but I will spare you all the details and get to our Thanksgiving day activities.

Ryan and I had a great day. We are fortunate enough to have both of our families living close by, and spent part of the day with each of them.


Below: Ryan and I were helping Mom get the snack trays ready and she thought Tad should have a snack bowl too. His bowl is at the bottom right of this picture and is filled with puffs, crackers and yogurt bites.Below: Grandpa Jack and Bryan were discussing... well who knows...
Below: Bryan and Ben might be eating the snacks as fast as Mom can put them out there. Just kidding guys!
Below: Grandma Lou and Angie were trying to talk, but Tad took a liking to Gigi's earings.
Below: Ben was the official ham carver this Thanksgiving. I have to say he did a mighty fine job!
Below: The Thanksgiving food was starting to arrive and Tad and I were discussing what he would be eating for dinner. He had a little bit of everything I think.
Below: Ryan and Jacob were ignoring me. I WAS sitting at their table until they kicked me out. No joke... they kicked me out.
Below: Everyone is stuffed from dinner!!
Below: Tad is giving Grandpa Dale kisses.
Below: Bryan and Ben were spinning their rings. Tad would crawl and pick one up, drop it on the ground (repeat) trying to get it to spin. It was so cute. Uncle Ben stepped in and helped him.
Below: I don't know how long Bryan spent building this tower just so we could watch Tad knock it over. It was fun though!
Below: Next we went to the Ward Thanksgiving. The cooking had already started when we showed up. Erica, Kelly and Marianne were discussing the vanilla. Not sure what was going on but it looks like a serious discussion.
Below: I don't know if you can tell, but Alyssa has a milk mustache. She should totally be the next milk ad person!!
Below: Grayson and I were observing all the cooking going on.
Below: It is a pyramid!! Kirk refused to look at the camera. Alyssa and Grayson aren't camera shy!!
Below: Greg is reading Alyssa a story. They look pretty serious but then again the story is called I lost my tooth!
Below: Ryan was the official turkey carver.
Below: Marianne was teaching Alyssa how to play a song. Alyssa loves to sing and play the piano.
Below: Grayson is sitting up!! He is the cutest little guy.
Below: He wants to crawl so bad. He will have it figured out sooner than later!
Below: Bryan was driving to Laverne Friday night (Ashley and Tad went earlier in the day) to spend Thanksgiving with her family on Saturday. He hit a deer going about 70mph on 412. He is okay, however Jacob had to go load his pickup on a trailer and bring it back to Garber.

I am so thankful he is okay. Bryan has not had the best luck with vehicles. 3 vehicles have been totaled (white Honda, red Ford and the little pickup I had an accident in - not my fault by the way) They haven't taken it in yet to see what kind of repairs it will need.

Happy Anniversary!

One year ago on this very day (November 22, 2008) Ryan and I were married!! It is crazy to think that it has already been one year. It has been a great year. We were engaged on August 13, 2008, and planned our wedding in 3 months. It was the smartest thing we ever did. You see, I am not really into this wedding planning stuff and as long as Ryan and I both showed up that day we were going to get married. This made it rather difficult for our good friend Bev Grimes who agreed to help Mom and I with the wedding. Thank goodness for her because we didn't have a clue!! It all beautifully came together... and let me tell you it was all because of Bev. It was so funny, she had lists of things we were to go through and say yes or no to and give back to her. Most of the things I did not even know were involved in a wedding. She needed some sort of ideas of what we wanted... but we didn't have a clue! Anyways, it all worked out wonderfully and Ryan and I had a stress free happy day. ( The "look" he gave my mother during the middle of the ceremony was priceless... and will be something I will never forget and laugh about for years to come.)

I feel like I am really the luckiest girl in the world. I have married my best friend and we are so happy. Below are some pictures from our special day one year ago.




They may be gone, but they are always with us.

My Grandma Hazel passed away just a few weeks before our wedding. Although we were very sad to lose her, my good friend and second Mom Lisa said that now she can really be here and enjoy our special day. I like to think that Grandma Hazel and Grandpa Menno were sitting in the front row with my parents and grandparents sharing our special day with us.

I know Ryan feels the same way with his grandparents. I never met Kirk's parents. They passed away before I ever met Ryan. I met his Granpda Al, and I know he was sitting there with Marilee and Ryan's other grandparents who have passed, Kenneth and Agnus, sharing our special day with us. Although we miss them dearly, they are always with us.


Another interesting tid bit of information. My Grandparents were the first people to ever be married in our church. They have now been married 59 years and are such an inspiration. I am so blessed to have them in my life.

What Will Tad Be When He Grows Up??

As many parents wonder, and I'm sure Bryan and Ashley do... what will my kids be when they grow up.

I went through various stages. In Kindergarten I wanted to dig up dinosaur bones. I can say what that is called and it starts with a "P" but I am not even going to try to spell it. Through most of my K-12 years of school I did not think about it much. When I graduated high school I still did not really know what I wanted to do. I had been in physical therapy because of my first knee surgery so I guess I decided I would become a physical therapist. The first week of school I changed my major to Agriculture Communications. It was a much better fit... for about 1.5 years. I then decided that was not what I wanted to do so I thought...hmmm...nursing might be fun!! Well after about 12 weeks I was enjoying the book work better than the clinicals which was a problem. So, I got out of the nursing program. I then decided that I was going to major in Business Administration with a minor in Human Resources (I had always talked about being in HR) and was going to finish that and get my degree. If I knew what I wanted to do after that and it wasn't in business I would continue my education.

I graduated in December of 2007 so during the summer of 2007 I was looking for internships. After many follow-up calls with nothing available I contacted Ditch Witch following up on the resume I sent them. They happened to have a full time HR Assistant position available and the HR Director told me I should apply for it. 3 interviews later I had landed a full time job!!

Isn't it funny how you try to plan your life, but God is always looking out for you. I like the phrase "When you make plans God laughs." So as Tad grows older and is trying to figure out just what he is supposed to be doing with his life, I hope he puts his trust in God because he will lead him to just what he is supposed to be doing.

However... I think Tad has already began his search:

Below: Tad is very interested in watches. Maybe he will become a jeweler!!
Below: Tad is always involved in our Greedy games. This could be a sign he is headed for the Casino industry.
Below: Tad had to try on Uncle Jake's welding hat. He might follow his uncle's footsteps and become a mechanical genius!
Below: Maybe Tad will become a sprinter in the Olympics!! That might change as he gets older... however his Daddy did run cross country! Right now he is getting in some good practice. Every time Gigi and Poppa come in the door he sprints over there to see them. So sweet.
Below: Tad grabbed my check. Maybe he is thinking about working in the banking industry.
Below: I think Tad may be destined to be a 911 operator. HAHA I have to tell you this story. Uncle Jake was teaching Tad how to dial 911, and I guess Uncle Jake thought he had hung up the phone... but didn't. Mom (Grandma Brenda) immediately received a call from the Sheriff's department about a 911 hang up call and asked her if everything was okay. Of course everything was fine but because of protocol they have to send an officer out to check everything out.
Below: Tad loves digging through my very unorganized purse and pulling everything out. Maybe he will become a professional organizer?!?!
Below: A financial adviser might be in his future. By the looks of it, he is already planning his retirement.
Below: This is a tricky one. Chef or drummer?? That night he was definitely leaning towards drummer.
Below: Professional cake decorator?
Below: One day we might walk into a bar and see Tad as a table dancer!!!
Below: He enjoyed chewing on my lip gloss. A sign of a professional make-up artist in his future??
Whatever Tad grows up to be, I hope that he finds something that he loves to do. With his supportive parents and loving family he will go far.

Tad's First Halloween

Tad's first Halloween!! I gave you all a sneak peak of his costume awhile back, and he was so darn cute that day!! Tad had a very busy day on Halloween. I kidnapped Tad and took him to surprise his Grandma Brenda at a Halloween Carnival at the nursing home she is working at. If you all don't know, my Mom works for the Enid Public School system as a Pre-K teacher. The Enid school system received a grant that puts Pre-K classrooms in nursing homes. She has residents come in daily and volunteer in her classroom. She has a morning class and an afternoon class. She also takes a few kids at a time everyday to go visit residents in their room. She absolutely loves it there and the residents do too! They had a carnival at the nursing home and my Mom volunteered to help.
Above: Tad and I surprised Grandma by showing up unannounced at the carnival. They gave him a goodie bag and tickets to play games. It was so cute.
Above: Mom was in charge of the ring toss game. Tad wanted to play too.
Above: Tad thought the residents walker was pretty neat.
Above: This is Grandpa Billy. Mom and him have become buddies.
Above: Getting ready to go Trick-or-Treating!! Tad was a lion this year (ROAR)!!
Above: The troops getting ready to head out. Tad visited HH, Gigi and Poppa, Ben and Angie, me and Grandma Brenda.
Above: Instead of candy, I got him a musical book!
Above: Meet my cat Beauty. She went to the groomer a week or so after Halloween and came home like this!! This isn't the cut she normally gets but was necessary this time. Beauty and Tad could have been twinkies on Halloween!!