Our Christmas in 100 words or less....

Headed to McAlester on the 23rd to see the grandparents

Left on the 24th headed home….ended up in the Great Blizzard of ‘09

Roads closed! Spent Christmas Eve at a Motel 6 in Shawnee

Christmas Eve Dinner at Denny’s with Mimi & Poppy

Santa was smart enough to toss gifts in the truck “just in case” we didn’t make it home

Santa’s elf called us and said he knew we were stranded…

Christmas breakfast with Scrooge

Got home at 2:00 on Christmas day

Played

Opened

Celebrated

...gave thanks for a safe trip home and a Christmas we will NEVER forget!

If these don't make you smile, nothing will!!

She wanted more pictures of the flower girl...lucky for me! Hair, lip stick, nails, dress-up, photo shoot...know wonder she loves that lady.

Every bride needs a bridesmaid!

3 things...

1. I need to post a picture so my sweet Nana will keep reading my blog.

This is DJ and the girls with Grandpa Johnson, aka "Silly Grandpa." We had a great visit with him while he was here and we wish he was closer, or we were closer to him...and the BEACH!

2. Yesterday we had to attend late service due to Lily having a 8:00 AM soccer game. First tournament for Lily and they rocked it! They only played one team their age (beat them), then the other 3 teams they played were older (7 & 8 year old girls)!! We were so proud of them. Won one, lost one, tied 2!!! GO Pink Panthers!

So back to the church service. I like my early morning crack-of-dawn service better! BUT, I did get to see many people I don't usually see, since we attend mega-church. One friends son, not naming names, had taken markers and stacked them on top of each other making a wand/sword that he was waving around with pride. She had stopped him several times, so it was entertaining . Anyway, her son almost clocked a man in the head once and she grabbed that Crayola Washable wand just in time to stop him from making contact. DANG IT! That would have been one fabulous blog post to read. YES I wanted the sweet little man to get hit just so I could read a blog post about it. (Silence.) Wow, this is an all time low. I guess the first step is admitting I have a problem.

3. I signed up to host BK (Brother's Keepers group at church. It's a group of people that get together monthly to eat and visit) back in January. Not knowing at the time that it would be the same weekend I had 5 soccer games to attend. Needless to say our bedroom door was locked!!! YIKES!

Our BK leader found out last minute that the people that were signed up to bring drinks weren't coming, so she grabbed some cherry limeade Crystal Light packets and some pitchers and brought those over. Thank goodness we had something! Our group was there and all the men were in the living room watching football, while us ladies were in the kitchen. Being a fab hostess, I went in to ask the guys what they wanted to drink (one of the guys was our class elder, Max Dobson). I started listing off all the drink options...."We've got water, lemonade, some Pepsi and some cherry...you know...mixed drink.... OH no....not mixed drink, mixed drink.....(laughing and turning bright red)...I mean you know....oh the...red powder stuff..." I'm not sure how long I went on, Max said "uh-hu, let me get out my tape recorder and document this." Great. I just jump from one eldership prayer list to another!

BOOtylicious

What happened to little stuffed duck costumes? Really, I ask you, where has the time gone?

My 6 year wanted to be a rock star. (Insert crocodile tear drops.) Despite my tears they were cute! My little rock star and my monarch butterfly!





Here's the sugary sweet candy-filled smiles from BFF'S Addy & Cailey.

Here my sweet girls are with two of the adorable Crawford sisters....Reagan & Delanie

Oh and here's another sister Jillian. (I didn't get one with the baby Kenley. Wow, 4 girls! Can you imagine? I can NOT!)

This picture makes my stomach hurt. Not just hurt. More like, lay in my bed in the fetal position and bawl my eyes out kinda hurt. Yeah that describes it.

Yet another gut wrenching shot. They look old...TOO old! Gothic/cheerleader pre-teen looking old. I think I need a drink.

Speaking of gut wrenching. This shot of DJ and Dan "The Man" Proctor makes me rethink everything I believed in from 1981-1989. SCARY!!!!

And last, but not least, the Nerdalicious trio....Kate, Re & Me!

We're bringing a trendy, chic look to nerds everywhere. (Please note if you knew me during my true NERD years, you know the red rimmed glasses wearing, permed hair scrunching, french horn playing, peg-legged jean wearing days.... please don't comment. Really, please don't. Trust me, I was humiliated enough by just typing that sentence!)

My Life Documented in Pictures

Life has been busy. YES, too busy to blog! Here are some pictures from the last month.....



Addy is a photographer. You can call her Ms. Re! Here's a pic she took of daddy....



Addy started sonshine school. She loves it! This was how happy she was walking in...

And then not so happy inside!

We started soccer! Lily's #3 and she plays real soccer! No coaches on the field. No picking up players and moving them where you want. No picking flowers out of the grass. It's real soccer, and her team rocks.

My granddad came to visit us and he watched soccer!

Addy's playing soccer too. Not so sure how much "playing" she's doing, but she is worn out when she's done! Coach Lesley does a great job with the team...she's a brave, brave woman!

Soccer actually wears out the entire family!!!! This is how I found the 3 of them after soccer one Saturday afternoon....

Haley and Marcus got married so we went to celebrate with them.

It was a beautiful wedding...and we got all dressed up!

and...we had a great night with friends!

She played!

She didn't get a goal. She didn't run faster than everyone else. She didn't lay in the middle of the field and kick and scream. She played!

She shed a few tears, but thanks to Coach Lesley she was able to stay out there and run with her team. She did GREAT!

My dad always says it's like watching field mice run around out there...maybe field mice with pig tails and hair bows. Is there such a thing?

This picture sums up the emotions of this team! They are so darn cute though, how can you not want to cheer for them? (Although my child doesn't like me to cheer for her, it causes her to burst into tears! It's a wonderful feeling really.)

You haven't seen the end of these Sassy Sisters....2009 State Champs here we come!

(Editors note: I stole these pictures from facebook, ie: Tara & Nicole's pages. Why? Because my camera cord is gone, buying a new one today!)

One year later...

Well it seems like forever ago since I posted this....and in some ways it feels like just yesterday.

It was one year ago today that I got a call from my mom telling me that a neurologist found tumors on my dads spine and he was "having surgery tomorrow!" I was numb. Tumors? What kind of tumors? Does that mean cancer? What does that mean?

I left work immediately and headed for Mercy Hospital, it was a 20 minute drive that felt like days. The next 24 hours were a whirlwind. We were all in a fog. He was in surgery almost 24 hours after they found the tumors, and he was in surgery for like 10 hours or something ridiculous.

I can't remember how many people were there over those first few days. People brought food, gifts, cookies, tissues, water, cards, balloons, flowers....it was an outpouring of love and support. I know that Katie and Lisa sat with mom, Damon, and me until 11:30 PM when the surgeon walked out. It was a long day, but he was out of surgery. We got to see him about 1 AM, and he was groggy, of course, but we asked him if he could move his legs and we saw his toes wiggle. What a blessing! With surgery of the spine the fear of paralysis is there. And the doctors don't lie they tell you what risks there are....scary risks. Risks that you can't fathom.

The tumors were cancerous, and the treatment began, and still continues today.

We've heard that God allows you to experience trials so others can be a light to you. So they can step up and bless others. I don't know if I fully "got that" until our family went through this. Mom and dad are known for being a blessing to others, they always have been, this time people blessed them. God blessed them.

Dad still has good days, and bad days. This year has been challenging to say the least. But God is good. He's been there. He's loved and cared for them. He's blessed them with people to nurture them, and support them. He is good, all the time! God is good.

Ode to the Portable DVD Player

Dear Portable DVD Player,

Where do I begin? When you joined our home 6 years ago I wasn't sure how you'd fit in. But after about a year I knew you would become a permanent fixture in our lives. I apologize to you that in your final days, I have had to find a stock image of you online, I couldn't humiliate you by snapping a shot of you at your worst. You've seen us through good times and bad times. Hospital visits, hospital stays, trips to McAlester, Tulsa and Dallas, soccer practice, doctors visits, numerous flights to San Diego, and yes sometimes even trips from west Edmond to east Edmond.

You were always there and never complained about sticky fingers or little hands grabbing your head and slamming it down repeatedly. You've been left in a hot car for weeks, and had graham crackers & gummy bears inserted into your dvd compartment (I'm really sorry about that part, that must have been painful.)

I hope you know how much you have meant to me. You can not be replaced...unless, however, Best Buy has a sale soon. And I know you will soon be tossed into a box labeled "junk"....but you're not junk in my book. I love you and thank you for your dedication.

Sincerely,

Karyn