Salvaged Photos

Here are a few of the pics that we got before my camera went dead. Will

Well Baby

Katelee had her 12 month well-baby check today and the biggest news is that she is back on the growth chart! She went from 16 lbs to 17lbs 12 oz in just one month! She is doing great and is even ahead of schedule in some areas, like speech. Apparently, we have another verbal girl on our hands. Is anyone surprised? That girl would talk herself to sleep at 2 months old. Some of her words include mama, daddy, doggy, stuck, cow, moo, quack, that and uh-oh. In this photo she is snuggling her doggy daddy got her for her birhtday-it is her favorite. She flops herself down on him and just snuggles in. Too funny!

Birthday Box

Here are some pics of the girls opening a package sent from Grandma Donner for Katelee's birthday. She had an outfit and several cool toys for the Birthday Girl and somehow managed to find a Little Red Riding Hood doll for Olivia that sings "Grandma is waiting for me in the woods." Couldn't be more appropriate!

Unfortunately, my camera died so all the pictures of the party for Will and Katelee are on a friend's camera. Sorry, you all have to just wait! It was a lot of fun for everyone and the new patio makes a nice area to hang out. It is, however, really rough, so not good for bare feet or knees. I guess they made it rough so that it will not be slippery when wet. Makes sense. There is a lot of exposed red dirt for lots of mud and fun! Hopefully, they will come fill some of that in before it is declared officially finished.

Bummer!

So, the cool hand and foot prints we made will only be documented by the photo I last posted. Workers came and wiped them out when they did the finishing work on the patio. Bummer. By the time they were done and gone, the cement had set. It was too late. Oh well, at least we have the picture!
I included some pictures from while Daddy was home. Today was Katelee's First Birthday and to celebrate I took the girls for ice cream with a friend, but I forgot my camera. However, don't be too bummed, because tomorrow we are have a party with her friend, Will, who turned one on Sunday. I should get some great photo ops there. Stay tuned...

Finished Product

The hard part is finished-now it just needs time to dry and then clean up. The girls each left handprints and footprints for posterity's sake. It seemed appropriate being Katelee's 1st Birthday!

Olivia's are on top, Katelee's are on bottom

Men At Work

Yesterday, work began in our back yard to add a patio. Liv and Katelee have both been fascinated watching the men working to tear up the yard and fill the space with concrete. Liv perches on the cabinet to watch.

Hangin' Out

Smilin' Eyes

Ring Around the Rosie

Katelee snugglin' Do-ggy (taken by Olivia)

Kisses for Daddy

Yesterday was a Monday, through and through. One bittersweet moment I tried to catch on camera. After I got Katelee up from her nap she spied the picture of Mark and Liv on the wall in the hallway. From that moment on all I heard was "Da-dy, Da-dy, Da-dy". So, taking the photo from the wall, I handed it to her.

Giving Kisses

She clung to it, patting Daddy's face, hugging the photo to her, giving kisses and just snuggling. I guess when you can't have the real thing, you just have to make do. All I could do was smile through my tears.

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

This afternoon, the girls played and explored while I cleaned up the yard and the porch in preparation for a new patio they are going to add on to our backyard. It was a perfect afternoon to be outside. Liv jumped in the pool with all her clothes on. Katelee got brave with the swing. Enjoy the pictures!

Halloween II

Thanks to my friend, Shelby, we have one pic of the girls trick or treating.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween, everybody! We started off the evening with good friends and good food-I am blessed with a good friend here who is always so thoughtful and so creative! She forsaw that this could be a difficult holiday with Mark away and she was right-it just wasn't the same without him. It was, in fact, utter chaos despite my attempts to cover all my bases. But, in the end, Liv has a mound of candy, the girls ( I am sure) would be voted best duo, and all had a good time. Thanks, Grandma for the stellar costumes. Everyone marveled at them! My only touch was a cloud for the angels to light ride upon. I will have to get a pic of them on it-I ended up covering their stroller with a down comforter. It worked well!

Face of an Angel

Dancing Girl

Angel's Wings

Food with Spooky Character

Painting Pumpkins

At our weekly playgroup in the backyard we celebrated the season with a little creativity-and a little mess! The kiddos all painted pumpkins! All had a ball-Katelee even took a few strokes.

Fort Fun

Beautiful Smiles

Peek A Boo!

My Man

It is my turn to brag on Mark-and to share our news! Several months ago-April, I think, Mark put in a package (applied) for a fellowship in the world of operational and aviation psychology.

We learned today that he has been selected! (Congratulations, Babe, I never had a doubt!) If my understanding is correct, this fellowship will allow him to move out of the clinic and into more of the line-side operations of the military. Apparently, there is quite a difference between Med Group and the rest of the AF. He will focus more on prevention than on damage control.


We don't know many of the particulars, but one thing we do know is...watch out Florida! Here we come! The fellowship will take us to the panhandle sometime this summer/fall. It should make for an awesome opportunity for Mark, a good transition locale for us since we will still get our fill of sand and sun and be a great vacation spot for visitors-without them having to fly around the world!

In case you can't guess, I am super excited and super proud of my husband. Sometimes it seems he leads a charmed life, but get to know him a bit, and anyone would learn luck has nothing to do with it. He is hard working, responsible, generous, an amazing father and husband...I believe God blesses Mark because Mark blesses God. Does that make sense? It does to me.

Mark, you are my best friend, my greatest hero.

With All My Admiration...Court

Steppin' Out

On Sunday, October 26th, 2008, Katelee Sarah braved her first steps. She took one early in the day . Then, later in the evening, she took four steps right into my arms. I tried to get her on video, but that was a challenge. If any of them turned out, I will try to share. Liv and I were both hooping and hollering and Katelee was grinning from ear to ear!



For now, you will have to make do with one of the girls reading a Halloween book together.

Silly Girls

Yesterday, Saturday, was a fun day of hangin out all morning in our jammies and acting silly.

Then we had a yummy dessert of strawberries in whipped cream. Katelee found Liv's plate...