Happy Anniversary...to US!!

R and me with the group...fun! Now we can stop being jealous of you Becky!! : )

Brandon Heath...beautiful voice, great songs...wonderful live! Check him out!!

See how close we were?? Mac Powell kept goofing off in the background of our pics!

I reluctantly posed for the "see how close we were" picture!!

R and I were married 12 years ago on March 22nd. To celebrate, we took off on an overnight trip to see Third Day and Brandon Heath. It was great to get away alone together, and it was a great concert! We were in the front row, at the very center of the stage...as close as we could possibly get! Before the show we got to go through an autograph line and because R just returned from Iraq AND it was our anniversary, they stopped the line and let us get a pic with the band! We had a great time, and if you listen to Christian music (and even if you don't) I highly recommend Brandon Heath...he is relatively new to the scene, but he has landed near the top of my list of favorite Christian artists! It was a great getaway, and we came home to the kids feeling refreshed and ready for the next 12 years!

Dinner on the Road

R, T and A with his parents after dinner...seems R has "outgrown" his Dad!!

Me, T and A with R's parents

"Camping out" on airbeds in our empty OK house!

I know it's been a while since I've posted anything, but we have been going nonstop since R came home! We are trying to fit as much "stuff" as possible into these few short weeks we have with R before he reports to work in OK. We made a quick trip to OK to show R our new house, and along the way we met up with his parents who were on their way to Florida for a vacation. We got to enjoy dinner and a short visit with them, which was great! Then on to Edmond we went to "camp out" for a night in our empty house there! The next day R's brothers came to see the house and we got to spend a few hours visiting with them and parts of their families, which was also great! (I don't have any pics of their visit...as usual I took the camera, but never got it out and used it!)

Giggles

Untitled from Shannon Willis on Vimeo.

This is an older video, but I came across it the other day, and I just couldn't help but share it. I know that R has never gotten to hear baby R giggle, so I thought at least he could enjoy it this way! There's nothing like a giggling baby to put a smile on your face, no matter what kind of mood you are in (and I am quite partial to this giggling baby!) Thanks T for your wonderful skills in making your baby brother giggle!

Mercy Me

Mercy Me has been one of our favorite bands for years. We have seen them in concert a couple of times, and they put on a great show! We love them not only for their music, but also for the people that they are. We ran into them after a show at Ft. Hood several years ago and visited with them for quite a while, and they were REMARKABLE people...very humble! R sent me this video and it reaffirmed just how normal (or abnormal) they really are. The video is Bart Millard (the lead singer) at home with his kids. He reminds me A LOT of R...not appearances, but behavior! I have seen R perform some of these very same moves! Anyway, the video is well worth watching...it had me laughing out loud!! Watch it until the end...it is well worth it!

This is us with Mercy Me in 2004 at Ft. Hood

Valentine's Day Treats

T with her Valentine's balloon & roses

A with her Valentine's balloon & roses

R is still looking a little guilty, wondering if Mommy is going to take it away from him!

How can you be mad at that face???

He was so cute, and A was so proud of him for eating it so well, and so sweet to share it with him, that I couldn't get mad at either one of them!

The girls had their Valentine's Day parties at school today, so they came home with lots of goodies. I had to finish up their Valentine's present from me inside, so when they got home from school, I asked them to play outside with R for just a few minutes while I got their gifts ready. I was inside for about 5 minutes, and when I came out T was pulling R around the yard in the wagon...great right? Well, upon closer inspection I discovered that A had decided to be generous and share a lovely piece of chocolate candy with R...a whole piece...and boy was he loving it! It was one of those chocolate covered chocolatey caramels...oooey, gooey goodness! Now if you are around me very much, you know that it is a constant struggle for me to try to keep junk food away from R...between the girls and my parents, someone is always trying to give him "treats". I just want to keep him away from the junk for as long as possible...I was thinking until maybe he was 2 or 3. Well, that dream ended today!!! R devoured the entire piece, loving every last morsel of it. I have to admit it was actually kind of cute, but I know now that he realizes how yummy it is, he will be quite persistent when he sees it again!

Our Oklahoma Home

As most of you know, when R returns from Iraq, he has orders to go to Edmond, OK to work in the ROTC department at UCO. A couple of weeks ago, the girls and I made a weekend trip to Edmond and spent an entire Saturday looking at rental homes. We found two that we liked, and with much prayer and deliberation, we chose a house. It is huge compared to anywhere we have lived so far, so the kids will have room to roam inside. It is in a great school district, and T is excited because the middle school that she will be attending has a Mustang as its' mascot! Also, all of the street names of the neighborhood are "horse" related, which we didn't even know until we drove through it. We will be living on Harness Court! We are excited to have found a home, and we are definitely looking forward to being back together as a family again!

The evolution of a smile...

We were thrilled when he started giving us his first smiles...

Once he started smiling, he never seemed to stop!


The teeth only made the smile that much cuter!!

R's still smiling, and so are we!

It still amazes me how happy little R is most of the time! Unless he is tired or hungry, he is usually in a good mood! We receive several of his "million dollar smiles" each day, and you can't help but smile when he does. His whole face lights up when he smiles, and he gets that "sparkle" in his deep dark eyes...I know there will be a day when he is a grown man with the weight of the world on his shoulders and that smile may come less frequently...but for now I am going to enjoy the happy little boy that R is right now!

A few more pics of the last month...

Baby R sharing some "boy" time with Uncle Toby

One of the many reasons a little boy needs his Daddy around! Uncle Toby filled in just fine as a temporary substitute for some rowdy "boy" time, and little R LOVED it!

All the cousins together in Oklahoma on New Year's Eve

Baby R really enjoyed himself at Splash Country in Branson! The girls did too...they just didn't stay still long enough for me to get any good pics of them!

Christmas Craziness!!

A was very excited about her gift from Daddy!

A's 7th birthday cake

Our "Happy Birthday Jesus" cake! Not the most glamorous one we've made, but it was 11:00 on Christmas Eve when I found the time to decorate it!

T made this Santa out of clay up in her room one day...I was very impressed!

After years of perfectly posed little girls on our Christmas cards, this is what our "photo shoot" turned into this year! Obviously baby R was not impressed with sitting still and smiling pretty for the camera...he felt everyone should see his tricks on our Christmas cards this year!

It has been a good while since I have posted, but things have been SO busy!! We celebrated Christmas here at home and enjoyed Christmas dinner and some crazy fun bingo with my entire extended family...it was great to see everyone again! Then we celebrated A's 7th birthday two days after Christmas, and then the next day the kids, me, and MiMi & PaPa headed off for a two-night trip to Branson! We got to sleep at home for one night and then the kids and I headed off to Oklahoma to celebrate "Christmas on New Year's Eve" with R's family. It was great to see everyone there again, and it was nice to ring in the new year with R's family since we couldn't be with him! We got home on New Year's day (also Sable's 10th birthday) and I spent the next full day unpacking. Then today was busy taking down the Christmas lights and tree and putting all that stuff away! WHEW...now we are caught up!! And now that we have made it to 2009...only 2 more months until R comes home from Iraq!!! Yeah! So anyway, here are some pictures that tell the story of the last month of our lives...

Christmas Programs

T was a very sad Christmas tree...she lost her lights to "shine for Jesus"!

T is all ready for her handbell performance!

R got VERY serious when Santa appeared onstage at A's program...he wasn't sure what he thought of him!

One of the MANY penguins who saved Christmas! This is A with her two BFFs! These 3 little girls are pretty much inseparable! And yes, they are the same age as A!

We have been very busy lately with both girls rehearsing for Christmas programs at church and school! A had "How the Penguins Saved Christmas" at school, and A & T were both in "It's a Wonder-full Life" at church. They both did a great job, and it almost makes me cry each time I see one of my kids on stage! T even had a solo in the church program, and she did great singing all by herself in front of a packed sanctuary! T's handbell choir also played during service on Sunday, and again she did a great job! As you can tell, I am just a little proud of the girls! And to brag a little on baby R...he was a very good little boy at all of their programs!! What more could a mommy ask for?