EiGhT yEaRs!

Court took this after our date night to Grotto and Borders books

Today we celebrated 8 years. I can't believe it's already been that long! We've been together since June of 1997 which sounds even worse. Ha! It's so amazing how each year we grow closer and add so many fun and new experiences to "our story". We can't believe that in about 3 months we will add another baby to our family! We had so much fun tonight talking about how things are changing so rapidly right now, and how hard the last couple of years have been. We've only become closer and grown to love eachother deeper thru it all, but it's still weird when we think about it all. In 3 years we've lost my Daddy Joe, had Jake, moved to one income, I've had thyroid surgery, brain surgery, and am now thankfully 6.5 months pregnant again. That's a lot to take in!

It's amazing how God works. Not only with our miracle babies but we now are enjoying Jeremy's new position with his company- he has tons of flexibility and many more challenges. It's rewarding to see him get this chance after waiting so long and to know that he will succeed and to see him be so disciplined and already seeing little successes. Jake and I are so enjoying our extra time with him.

We are looking forward to a little getaway before Seth arrives, which will be our first nights away on a trip together since he was born. We've spent several nights apart from him, but only for him to go overnight to the grandparents or for us to be in the hospital, which I think has been a total of 7 nights since he was born.

All of these changes are so exciting and we are getting so excited about meeting our little guy!! So excited to see what this next year holds for our family!

6 Years...(well actually 12)!!!

one of our first pics together...1997- Mission Trip to the Bahamas

1999 -Dating 2 years, Jeremy was at A&M, I was in HS!

My Sr Prom- I loved that pink dress! :) 2000

A&M football game!

In front of Kyle Field w/our first child, Sadie!

Ring Dance!

Our Wedding Day-July 12, 2003 -Perfect!

Honeymoon!

First Christmas as a married couple!

Port Aransas '05

Kemah Boardwalk '06

Cozumel '07

Thanksgiving '07!

January '08

So blessed to have known my sweet husband for almost half of my life! He is my best friend and I wouldn't choose any other to spend this life with. Can't believe it's been a year exactly since we were in Hawaii celebrating five years. Time has especially flown this past year! Now we have Jakey and we have never been happier! Happy Anniversary, Jeremy. I love you with all my heart!

"We ARE going back."

Mama turtle roped off so that she can lay on her eggs :) Huge and beautiful!

Magnificent sunset...we loved the sunsets there!

late evening in Kauai...

HUGE waves. We are actually up on a wall above them.

At the Luau (well the show afterwards)

before the Luau (about to get the pig outta the ground)

Just landed after our helicopter ride around the island

Our helicopter and 26 year-old pilot

Our hotel room at the Marriott Kauai

Wailua Falls (huge!)

View from the Kiluea Lighthouse

Dinner on our anniversary- worst food and service and view the entire week. Go figure!

But....it was our 5 year anniversary so we just went with it.... :)

Hawaii was FABULOUS. We had a BLAST. We WILL go back. We made that promise to eachother as I was getting teary-eyed the last night knowing that we would have to leave the next day. The natives are so nice, the scenery is the best ever, and I went with my best friend. There is nothing better than that...especially after 5 years of marriage with a baby on the way. More pictures to come...sorry these were so random but I just wanted to let y'all know that I am still alive... :)

Oh, and THANK YOU for your prayers and concern for my Daddy Joe. He made it thru surgery and is still in the hospital recovering. He has 54 staples between his head and chest and has had a tough time recovering so far. (these pics were taken with our old camera-hence the bad quality)

He is not out of the woods yet, but I am so thankful to have friends who are thoughtful enough to keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Aloha Kauai!!!!!!!!

This is our hotel

Well, after about a week of considering our options, thanks in part to y'alls comments, we have looked near and far for a good 5th anniversary vacation. We found it!! (But y'all have got our wheels turning for future trips to Maine, Boston, New York, Destin, and Vermont...) :)

My friend Leah had just planned her honeymoon and referred us to a travel agent. He was awesome, spending days trying to find us deals and pricing different destinations. We told him Hawaii as our 'dream' choice, not really expecting it to work out (as we had given him alternative destinations). But, after searching all his vendors and several days, he found us the Kauai Marriott with a 5th night free, rental car at no additional cost, free breakfast at one of their 5 in house restaurants daily, and cheaper airfare than before. We told him, YES!! He has been fabulous, not pushy at all and so accomodating and thorough.

This is the famous golf course @ our hotel!!!

After visiting Kauai when I was 13 with my grandparents (Gran and Daddy Joe) and my aunt Lissa and having the time of my life (with 3 of my favorite people in the whole world )...I came home saying I would take my future husband there. Well, 2 years later Jeremy and I started dating and now 13 years later we are realizing that dream...and I am going back (with my other half and favorite person in the whole world)! We can't wait!!!!! Bring on the summer!

Anniversary Trip Ideas...Anyone???

Well, this is a topic that's been on my mind just since the new year. Now that the holidays are over, it will give me something to look forward to!!

Jeremy and I are hoping to get a good trip in this year. In the past year or two we've made trips to Dallas (business), San Antonio, Colorado, Port Aransas, South Padre, Canton, San Diego (business) and on a cruise with some of our friends to Cozumel. So we've had some small and short trips, but this year we're looking for a good 5-7 day vacation alone for our 5th (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT???) anniversary in July.

We're going to be squeezing in a trip to Tyler with friends in Feb or March and a trip to Oregon to visit my good friend Danette and her family probably in February. So preferably no ideas on the west coast since we've been and are still planning on making a trip up there in the next little bit.

Other than that, we would greatly appreciate any ideas or referrals of places, cities, travel agents, websites, or anything else that would be helpful in finding a fun place to spend some time together.

Thanks in advance!