so FINALLY!!!

so i've been getting A LOT of grief from my friends about how my blog is SOOOO out of date. :-) so i've decided to FINALLY update my blog. don't take me off your blogs Sumar and Kim! LOL


what has been going on for the past 4 months?!?! it's too much to fill you in on what has happened so i decided to just post a lot of pictures and tell you what is happening in our family now.

Joshua is almost done with Kindergarten!!! it's so challenging to realize that my little boy is growing up! the school he goes to has a graduation ceremony and that'll be next thursday. so needless to say i'll be recording it for future humiliation and for carson to see. he has excelled in school and is now spelling the words he knows instead of saying them. carson and i are very proud of the young boy he is growing up to be. for his graduation ceremony the students are to say their first and last name and what they want to be when they grow up. joshua has been practicing with me at home. he has decided that he wants to be an archaeologist and paleontologist. he LOVES dinosaurs. i bet you that he knows more about dinosaurs and how to pronounce their names than any of you reading this do! let me know when you want to go up against him. LOL

Caryn is so sweet. she's now 4 years old and ready to be 16. she loves picking out her clothes. sometimes she gets it right on and other times she shows off her creative nature. the other day she wore a blue printed shirt that was too small for her so it barely covered her belly, black velvet flared pants, one pink flip flop, and one pink sock with a black ballet flat. the ocd part of me wanted to go and tell her to change but i let her be creative. she looked adorable! and all day everyone that saw her told her how cute she was and how big she was to dress herself. most people can tell the days a kid dresses themselves! LOL and her response to all of those people who said that she looked adorable . . . "i know." gotta love it. and we sure do love her!!

Cristopher is now 3 years old!!! my baby is no longer a baby. he is still as dramatic as ever about life and definitely tells me when he dislikes something. "NO" is still a favorite of his but thank goodness that he is expanding his word vocabulary. now instead of going to bed he comes out with his blanket and says, "Mommy, i wanna cuddle." how can i say no to that?? he hasn't picked out a favorite yet. when joshua's home he plays dinosaurs and when it's just caryn and him they play barbies and tea party. so i'm anxiously waiting for him to declare his identity. he keeps me on my toes and i love having his firey personality with our family.

Carson is still in Iraq. he won't be home til mid/late summer. we are anxiously waiting his homecoming. and he's obviously waiting to come home as well. thankfully technology as it is allows us to email daily, use the webcam, and talk on the phone whenever he can call (so long as the phones are up). deployment has brought us some challenges but there are far more blessings. it's been wonderful to be in a position to communicate and be emotionally involved with eachother this far apart. it's assisted us in being closer. we are thankful for that blessing.

i am doing great. i've been working at Cracker Barrel part-time on the weekends. i love being able to get away and make some extra cash as well. i actually love serving. it's a fun job and i can honestly say i do it well considering how great of tips i get. and just a little over a week ago i purchased a new van. no worries, carson knew about it and gave me his blessing! but i felt so accomplished that i went and haggled with the dealer on my own and got a great trade on our older van and got a good deal on the newer one. so i'm living life and enjoying the wonderful blessings that i have.

ok, enough reading. take a look at all the pics!!! LOVE YOU GUYS!!!