David vs. Goliath

Round One: David vs. Goliath 

Do I even need to say who won?  Heard David screamed like a girl - Wussy boy!  Matthew said that all he could hear David say was, "Run, Forest, Run!"  :) Ha!

Moving ...

Well, it SNOWED again tonight - lots!  No pictures this time ... I mean, really, how many pictures can you take of snow before it starts to get old?? SERIOUSLY.  Try living in it!  Luckily, I have my in-laws' 20-year-old relic of a  John Deere, (hey it's better than nothing right?) but I still have to shovel quite a bit.  I told Gary that I'm moving to the Bahamas and we'll see him when he gets back!  Ha!  

Anyone game?

Get Frosted

When I was taking Olivia to school this morning, I couldn't help but notice that something looked different.  When I finally realized what I was looking at, I was amazed.  The trees (and everything else) were frosted over; it looked like it would after an ice storm.  Not like snow, but using Gary's word, it was uniform.  It was amazing to see because there was fog on the river and the trees were completely white.  I just had to break out the camera and take a couple shots.  Check it out!

80's Flashback!

Special Time with Daddy

We thought it would be nice for Olivia to spend some time doing something special with Daddy, so the day before he left, we made a trip to Build A Bear.  Daddy helped Olivia stuff, wash, and dress the bear, whom she named Sleeping Beauty Bear.  We had a good time and Olivia has a special memory!  

Melancholy Memory

My sister took these photos - today marks the one-year anniversary of my Aunt's passing.  She was too young and we miss her terribly.  She's buried not far from my Grandparents in a cemetery called Glen Abbey in San Diego.  Say a little prayer for her and my Grandma and Grandpa and most of all my mom and my uncle, whom I am sure feel their absence most of all.  We love you always Grandma, Grandpa and Sharon!

Christmas Day!!

Because of Gary's arrival, we didn't have our Christmas until December 31st, but it was definitely WORTH THE WAIT having him home!  Again, I haven't figured out how to resize the photos, so I have had to choose a select few.  Olivia had a blast opening gifts, Cole had no interest and actually ended up napping, and the rest of us just enjoyed each other's company. I still have Thank You cards to write and send, but we are grateful for all our gifts - especially having Gary home - it was the best gift I could have asked for!  Check out these pics!

 

 

 

 

Daddy and Olivia

We made a trip to LLBean while Gary was here and I thought this picture of he and Olivia turned out really cute! 

Enduring Love

 

For Christmas, Papa decided to get Mom a necklace symbolizing his enduring love for her.  Of course, Pop is not the gushy, wear-your-heart-on-your-sleeve type, and he asked me to find (or in my case write) a poem for Mom to go with her gift.  It's a little cheesy, yet I think Hallmark quality (ha!) and if someone gave this to me, I'd DEFINITELY cry!  It was truly touching, both Mom and Pop cried!  David - sorry dude - I think Pop beat us all this year!  I know when I'm old and gray (sorry Mom!), I have faith Gary and I will be just as in love as you are!  

My Enduring Love: Past, Present and Future

~By Amanda Raymond

You are my past.

Your bright smile caught my eye,

On that night at the bar.

I said, "Come see my truck."

"It's really not far."

Your beauty amazed me, 

Both inside and out.

Even with two baby girls,

There was never a doubt.

You were my one and only, 

That was easy to see.

Our future held happiness,

That's all we would need.

I spent many years at sea,

Much of the time we were apart.

But there was never a moment that

You were far from my heart.

No matter what happened,

Our love would see us through.

With your courage and strength,

I knew there was nothing you couldn't do.

We had a beautiful boy,

A Hawaiian babe was he.

But with T. I. Kujawa

We put an end to that tree.  

You are my present.

We moved many times 

And finally settled Downeast.

You made our house a home,

We had our family at least.

Faith has seen us through,

In good times and bad.

We've suffered our losses,

But cherished all we had.

Our kids are all grown now,

Living out on their own.

Because of you they return,

There's no place like home.

Three grandkids to us,

God has truly blessed.

To our future we look,

And the love we possess.

You are my future.

We hope we are wiser now,

Older and perhaps a little gray.

But don't count us out,

God has plans yet to play.

No matter our location,

In the snow or in the sun,

We've built us a life,

But the journey has just begun.

I'm stubborn and crusty

That may be true.

But no one knows my heart

Better than you.

On rocking chairs and porches,

By mountains or sea,

We'll sit and hold hands,

Letting God take the lead.

And as time still goes on,

And the years fade away,

Know my love with endure,

To the very last day.

Our Little Girl Is Growing Up!

Olivia pulled out a floor puzzle that I had gotten her some time ago and decided to put it together 

ALL BY HERSELF! 

 I was so surprised and proud!  She's growing up so fast and amazing me everyday!  

Love you 'Livia!

Sledding

This just happens to be the absolutely ONLY time I have not had my camera in my purse (BUMMER!) and it happens to be when Gary, Olivia, Cole and I went sledding after school this past week.  It was Monday, pretty decent temps considering it was freezing that morning, and we went to the elementary school where they set up "lanes" to sled, complete with hay bales so we wouldn't kill ourselves running into the building.  Well, for the adults in the group (Gary & I) it was a bit of a let-down since with our weight plus the kids, we really didn't "slide" that well, but coupled with a little bit of Mommy or Daddy POWER behind and we had a great time!  The best parts?? 

1) Family time!

2) It wore the kids out!! (Yay, SLEEP!)

3) Cole was super funny! - we weren't sure if he enjoyed it, but literally EVERY time we stopped, he'd CRY!  And then when we would take him off so we could go back up the hill, he'd walk over, climb back on the sled and he'd lay on the sled while we pulled him up the hill.  It was awesome!  

I so wish I'd had my camera!

Mellanie's Quilt

I decided I wanted to make one of our rag quilts for Mellanie for Christmas, so mom and I put a cute pink one together for her!  It's fun and girlie!  I hope she likes it!

Visit with Gary's Parents

Saturday, January 10th, I decided to share our family time with Gary with my inlaws.  Gary's parents, sister, Nancy, brother, Steve, and our niece, Mellanie, came to visit with the little dog, Toto ... uh, I mean, Meme (pronounced MiMi) - she's part terrier, part pom - cute as hell, but a dog with ATTITUDE!  Anyway, we had a nice visit - Olivia and Mellanie opened their Christmas gifts and Cole opted to run amuck!  He had no interest in opening presents, so Gary did the honors and Cole played with the box!  Merry Christmas!

Cole in his box!

Memere and Olivia (after playing with makeup!)

Colvin's New Haircut

BEFORE 

.... our little curly-haired boy ...

On Friday, January 2nd, we took both Olivia and Cole to get their hair cut.  Cole did not like it at all - CRIED the ENTIRE time!  Poor little guy!  I have a ton of photos to put into a slideshow, but with my new computer (more on that later...), I can't figure out how to resize the photos and make them smaller (and thus making them easier to upload on our crappy DSL connection), so until I do, I'm very limited on how many photos I can post because it takes FOREVER!!  Anyway, here's the BEFORE and AFTER pics of Colvin (Olivia's haircut can be seen in the side bar on the left).  Cole looks BEEFY without all that hair to balance him out!  But he's soooo cute!  :) 

And the MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION??  Did he keep his curls?? The answer is ... YES! 

His hair is so short and his winter hat flattens it out, but he definitely kept his curly hair!

AFTER 

... Cole still kept his curly hair ... just SHORTER and

 HE LOOKS LIKE A BOY!

Sweethearts, Soul Mates

Gary is on his way back to desertland now and I've been packing a couple of boxes with items that he needed, which gives me a lot of time to reflect on him and me and our relationship and this experience has really opened my eyes to how much this man means to me.  I always knew that he and I were destined to be together, that he is my soul mate in every way and that every thing about him compliments everything about me.  And we've been separated before, in fact, much of our almost 8-year marriage has been spent apart, but the past 8 months have been extremely LONG, the longest duration we have ever spent apart and it has made me realize how important he is to my life.  He is the BEST part of my life, completing me in every way.  He makes me a better person and his presence is a crucial element to my happiness.  I have two beautiful children because of him and I learn something from him every day - from geeky computer how-to-do-whatever to finding fulfillment in hearing his laugh and seeing our childrens' smiles in his smile, to finding out how much he loves me in a single kiss - I hope everyday for the rest of my life that he is there to share all that life has to offer us.  All of our struggles and all of our challenges, I know I can face and conquer because I have him - having him by my side makes it all worth it.  I love him more than I could ever describe in words and I hope that he knows everything I do, and the mother and wife I have become, is because of him.  My life is complete with him in it.  I will love him forever.  

Daddy's Gone Again

It was a sad day today (Jan. 15th) ... we took Daddy to the airport today - his flight left at 6 a.m.!!  Way too early for my tastes, but we made it with time to spare.  It was deja vu all over again - saying goodbye is always hard, but this just felt all too familiar.  Olivia asks me, "You know what's in my thinking bubble?"  Her response?  "I am really going to miss Daddy.  I don't want him to go back to work."  My response?  "That's what's in my thinking bubble, too."  :(  Breaks my heart.  Out of everything, I think that will be the hardest.  To have to tell her over and over again where Daddy is, what he is doing, why he can't be at home and that he still loves her very much.  

So, today we spent the day just chilling in our pjs.  It's now about 8p.m. and the kids are in bed, which is where mommy is headed.  I'm exhausted, mentally and physically.  We'll get back into our normal routine soon, but today I tried not to think about it and give my brain a break.  Tomorrow, I'll have a pity party, probably cry a lot and then I will pick myself up by my bootstraps and jump back on the bandwagon.  But we had a great time with Daddy - many posts to follow about our time together - and pictures too - but it was all totally worth it!  Literally the highlight of my year!  Our time together meant more to me than I can possibly describe.  I love him and miss him so much, it's hard to envision life without him.  So until, he gets home and completes our family again, we'll hold down the fort.  :)