You & I

Dearest Jarrett,

8 years of wedded bliss. 2 gorgeous daughters. And a lifetime of happiness ahead of us. Happy 8th Anniversary to my Jare Bear. We have seen so much together since we said our I do's. And to quote Brad Paisley, "I thought I loved you then." I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you.

All my love always & forever,

Happy Birthday Little Lady

My sweet Miss Rachel Claire,

I cannot believe you are already 3 years old! Where has the time gone? This past year you have changed so much. We saw you change from our little shy & quiet girl into the spunky, talkative, 3 year old you now are. I love to hear your stories about your days. I love when you color me pictures. I love your crazy hair. I love that cheesey little smile. I love you more & more every single day!

Happy Birthday baby girl!

All my love,

Mama

{all because 2 people fell in love}

Like I teased you with last week, we had our family pictures taken last weekend by my bestest bestie. {at least that's how she is titled in my IM contact listing - I ♥ you Laura!}

Family pictures, meaning - MY ENTIRE IMMEDIATE FAMILY

Laura, you were quite a sport about it! We all LOVE the pictures, and I am sure that we will be putting your services to work for years & years to come!


These 2 people, well, there is awful lot I could say about them. Namely, these are the 2 people who started it all. (well, not ALL, but all of this - for sure.) They are my parents. I love them with my whole heart. They have made me the person I am today, I am incredibly thankful for that. I think I turned out ok, all things considered. HA!



Here is what they started...

Sturgeon Kids {quite a good lookin group}
Sarah, Tim, & me




Sarah & Brad being the oldest - got the ball rolling...



Miss Sassy Cassie {always the model}


Nathan {aka - the funniest kid I know}


Andrew {look close you can see the mischief in those eyes}


Chelsea Belle {beautiful brown-eyed girl}


all the Browns


Sisters Identical Sisters


Brothers {Double Trouble}


{my turn, my turn}

Me & The Jar




Olivia Grace {my Liva Lou}




Rachel Claire {my Rachey Girl}




Our Family Picture


Sisters, Sisters there were never such devoted sisters (ha)






Tim & Hilary


{no babies for them yet, they just got married in July. I did tell them both I was ready to be an Auntie again, you know whenever they want}

Brad, Hilary, & Jarrett

{aka - the Out Laws}



{Grandkids}








Here is the whole FAM-DAMILY



There you have it, all because 2 people fell in love.

After 32 years of marriage, 2 daughters, 1 son, 2 son-in-laws, 1 daughter-in-law, 4 granddaughters, & 2 grandsons later...the family now equals 14 & going strong.

sneak peek

my BFF took our family pictures saturday...here is a sneak peek

the fort

can you find olivia in this picture?

probably not unless you have x-ray vision...she was camped out in this fort for a few hours the other day.

it was pretty roomy & took up about half of the living room. she had her lunch in there. and she relaxed for quiet time in there too.

she was pretty proud of herself & this little fort.

the best part (according to olivia) was the secret windo where she could watch tv.

rachel & the heat wave

this little girl enjoyed the recent heat-wave by playing with a package of 500 water balloons...

as you can see, she dumped the package in the yard & i didn't even try to pick them up...

she's lucky she's so darn cute...

i guess now mother nature has snapped back to reality because today is supposed to be much much cooler than the near 90 degrees of saturday & sunday. i'm so ready for it. i love me so fall weather, you know jeans & hoodie weather. that's the best. highs right around 70, lows in the 50s - absolutely the best.

******************************

since this post has pictures of my lovely little 2 year old, i thought i would write a little bit about her too. here is what rachel has been up to lately:

• saying "ok, ok" after everything. example: "mama, i am going to get my blankie. ok ok" and it's not just any ok ok. jarrett says she sounds like joe pesci. haha! and she really really does.
  
  
• she talks non-stop now. we were at the laundry-mat over the weekend, there was an older gentleman there too. rachel kept walking up to him saying "hi, man" or just yelling "maaaaaan, i rachel". she will talk to anyone. makes me smile, but also scares me a little because she is not scared of anyone.
  
  
• if you ask her "what is coming up soon?" she will very proudly say "my birsday!"
  
  
• if i call her "honey" or "sweetie" anything like that she corrects me "i not honey, i rachel" which sounds more like "ray-sell"
  

i can't believe she is going to be 3 later this month. where has the time gone, no really, where did it go? she was just a little baby.

guess what...

can you hear that??

it's the sound of olivia proving me wrong again...

like any girl, she has the right to change her mind as many times as she wants to.

so, what did we do sunday 10-10-10? everyone on facebook was all "10-10-10 > do something memorable". and Olivia did...

any guesses???

here is a hint: they are little, blue, and are very sparkly

its just about "go time" - very excited

still excited...

nerves are setting in...a little less excited

done - yowza - it hurts a little

after her first look in the mirror

mama told me i am beautiful with sparkling sapphire earrings!

one happy customer!!!!

no tears, no yelling, she didn't even squeeze my hand

she is one tough cookie with pierced ears!