Thanksgiving Celebrations

Holidays have been hard for the past year, but this was one of the least stressful, easiest holidays I've had since my dad died.  As mopey as I was to not get to be with my family, I think it made it less sad for me because we were somewhere totally different.  We stayed in our pjs all morning and ate homemade cinnamon rolls and we watched the parade.  That afternoone our sweet friends, Aubrey and Jen McGowan, graciously opened their home to us and other friends who don't have family nearby.  We ordered our turkeys so no one would get stuck with that massive job and we each brought a few sides and it was great!  Not a lot of work, but a LOT of FUN! :-)  We had a Cajun Fried Turkey and a Smoked turkey and I was so glad we ordered two b/c their were plenty of leftovers and everybody got the taste they preferred!

                                   My three little turkeys!

                        Gigi (Jen's mom) and Dan carving our delicious birds!

                

          Anne and I....love this girl!  We have loved getting to live in the same city as them...FINALLY!

We ate and ate, we looked thru the ads and planned our Black Friday shopping strategies, played games and ate more!  It was such a fun time!

                          Can't believe how grown up these girls are?!?!

           The kids table eating dessert!

We are so thankful for so much in our lives!  Not only did God carry us through some very difficult "storms" in the past year or two, but He provided for all of our needs in such amazing ways!  We are thankful everyday for our salvation, our health, our children, our home, our family and friends and most of all each other!  On November 29th, Dan and I celebrated 8 years of marriage! While no marriage is perfect, I love that we are still so in love with each other!  I love that we have grown together and not apart during the hard times!  I love that he is my best friend and that after 8 years and 3 kids we still laugh together and have fun being together!  Looking forward to many, many more years.....living God's dream for our lives.....together!   I love you, Dan!

Bella's Birthday Party and a visit from Aunt Erika!

It's a pajama kind of day today....again!  I seem to be having a lot of these lately. :-)  So I thought it would be a good day to FINALLY catch up on my blog! :-)

Dan's sister, Erika, got to come visit us on Bella's birthday weekend and we had so much fun having her here!
We took her to the library...

and she got to have lunch with Bella at her school!

And she got to be here for the boys last soccer game and their end of the season party!

They loved playing soccer!

They loved having Daddy as their coach!  

 

But, most of all, they LOVED their trophies they got!

 I just have to say that my husband is amazing!  I always knew he was a patient man....I mean he would have to be to deal with me, right?!?! :-)  But, coaching 8 four year old boys is NOT easy....in fact it's extremely difficult, especially when they've never played soccer before.  But he NEVER lost his temper...he was calm and made learning soccer fun for them!  We had a really great group of parents and kids on our team too and they honored Dan by making this great photo collage of the team and giving us two gift certificates to go out to eat with!  So sweet!  We're looking forward to Spring season already!

It felt like we celebrated Bella's birthday for many, many days!  We had her actual birthday party at Strikz which is a bowling alley on Sunday.  My kids have been obsessed with Wii bowling for awhile so when they heard there was a place we could go bowling they were so excited.  We tried to explain it was different than Wii bowling but they wouldn't hear it...thankfully they enjoyed the real thing just as much! Bella invited a few of her friends from school and church and we hit the bowling lanes!

                                         My three posers!!

                                            Bella and Melia

 Karson helping Melia bowl......aren't those ramps great!  What a perfect idea for little kids so they don't hurt their wrists!

                                         The girls doing the cha-cha slide!

                                                        Bella and Kenzie

                                            Daddy helping Will

 After we bowled, we went to the party room and had pizza....

 ....and cupcakes and opened presents!   Bella has such sweet friends!  We are so grateful that even at an early age she is learning to choose her friends wisely!

Then Monday was her real birthday, so this was the day we went to lunch with Bella!

Then, we went to dinnner at Chick-Fil-A and then came home and had cake and opened more presents!!

Then on Tuesday she celebrated her birthday at school and took cookies for her class!  We also had to say goodbye to Aunt Erika on Tuesday morning!  :(   

Thanks for coming, Erika!  We love you and had so much fun!!!

Our Precious Gift

    Okay, so I'm a couple days late, but I wanted to make sure I got a chance to celebrate my baby girl and since I'm 6 years behind on her baby book - this will have to do! :-)
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 On November 15th, 2004 God blessed us with an amazing, beautiful little girl!  I had wanted a baby for so long and after losing our first pregnancy at 7 weeks the year before this, we were BEYOND grateful to have an easy pregnancy and a "somewhat" uncomplicated delivery!  Our families were so excited because our little girl was going to be the 1st grandchild on both sides...talk about being spoiled! :-)  We went to Hawaii when I was 5 months pregnant and while flying I felt her move for the very first time...it was amazing!  I loved all of the wiggles and hiccups she would have.....except when she kept me from sleeping ...which she did quite a bit in the last 2 months! :-)  My OB, Dr. Garner, had decided it would be best to go ahead and induce on the 15th so we showed up at Plano Presby Hospital around 7am.....by 8am Dr. Garner came in to break my water. 
        Okay, let me just say NO ONE told me this (having the dr. break your water) would be painful...all you Super Hero Moms that said  "Oh that! I hardly felt it!"  You are big, fat liars....anytime you get what looks like a 2 ft long crochet hook stuck between your legs....it's going to involve pain!   Granted I do have a pain tolerance of a -10...but still it hurt!  Okay, I digress....  :-)
      Happiness came though around 9:30 am when I got my best friend...Mr. Epidural...ahhh!!!  It even came with a button I could push for extra...until the nurse took it away because I had pushed it 23 times in a span of an hour and a half.   My mom and dad got there by lunchtime and we all just sat and waited.     I was dilated to a 3 when we began, but by 4pm I was only dilated to a 3 1/2 ..almost 4....we realized we may need to go another route.  So, we headed to the OR shortly after that and at 5:08pm, Isabella Joy Linz came into this world!

                  Beautiful baby girl!  7 lbs, 1 oz, 191/2 inches long

                         Pop Pop loved his Bella!

                    Pop Pop, Lolli and Bella

                      You and your 2 grandmas!  You are blessed!

                       Nana and Papaw holding Bella                     

                                 Your baby dedication!

                                You and Kiki!

                                    Aunt Erika and you

                                       Jessies making you laugh

                                          Zia and Uncle Adam

                                      Daddy, Uncle Charles and you!

                                      Your first Easter!

            Mommy loved dressing you up...you weren't always such a big fan! :-)

She has blessed our home with laughter, songs, and such JOY!  She has an imagination that blows our mind, a heart so full of compassion, a completely contagious laugh, and she loves Jesus so much!  My heart feels like it's going to explode sometimes hearing her belt out "Savior, He can move the mountains..."  at the top of her lungs.  I'm so proud, yet I know I can't take the credit...she is her Father's daughter.  Dan and I are so thankful He chose us to be her parents!

                                         Your 1st birthday!

         You make up songs all the time and are constantly performing!

    You always wanted to be in the middle of whatever your brothers were doing....literally!!

                       You always put a smile on your Pop Pop's face!

                          You LOVE your Uncle Joe!!

                       You and "Blakey" had a special bond from Day 1!

                                      You are such a loving sister!

     So, Happy 6th birthday, Isabella!  You are an amazing little lady.  I pray that you will always follow God's dreams for your life...I pray that when life doesn't work out the way you hoped, that you will still trust God and KNOW that He is always good.... I pray that you will always stand up for what you believe in -regardless of what other's opinions are.... and I pray that you will love deeply, unconditionally, and selflessly!  You are going to change the world! We love you, Bella-Boo!