A rocker in the family?

Rob thinks that Porter looks like Sting when he smiles like this...funny, and a little creepy!

Revisited Amanda's visit

Here's some more pictures from when Rob's sister came to visit.

Blast from the past!!!

Here is our family if we went back a couple of decades! This was so much fun to do! Hilarious!!!!

Porter's medicine tastes horrible!!!!

Count your many blessings..,.

This week has been a little busy, and I found myself complaining this morning so I figured it was time to "count my blessings"...
1. My Husband, My Husband, My Husband: Where do I begin? He is so amazing, and I don't think I tell him enough how much he blesses my life. I couldn't have dreamed up a better man. He is so patient and loving. He makes me feel so appreciated and good about myself. I've been fighting a cold this week and have been dragging and he has been so thoughtful. He is so wonderful with our children, always trying to build a great relationship with them and teach them. He supports all of my many interests, and makes my dreams reality. Thanks baby!
2. My awesome pediatrician: Porter caught a little cold while we were in Branson, and as soon as we got home it turned into croup. Then with the cool air and rain he was really having troubles with the croup. I was able to get right into our PED and she knew exactly what to do and put our mind at ease. We started his breathing treatments and she gave him a three day steroid, and he's doing better already.
3. My crockpot: When days are busy, I can throw everything in my slowcooker and its all ready by dinnertime!
4. Branson,MO: I'm glad my parents are living in Branson right now. I'm not sure how long we'll be in Oklahoma, but its nice to have them just a couple hours away. There's also TONS of things to do in Branson. Every time we're there its like a vacation. This last time we got to go out on the lake, race go karts(which Savannah LOVED), bumper boats, and see a show. They have some amazing shopping there and we always get great deals on kids clothes.
5. Savannah's school: Savannah is loving school, and learning so much. Her teacher is so clever and patient.
6. Planes: This may seem a little general, but it makes it easy to see family. Amanda came to visit and it was so nice to see her even if it was just for a weekend. It would be hard for Rob to do his job without them.
7. Netflix: I Love Netflix, all we have to do is go online and pick out the movies we want to see and they just arrive in the mail. Me and Rob can put the kids down and watch a good movie together. Then we just have to drop it in the mailbox.
8. My phone: Yes, I said it Rob. I was getting a phone upgrade and Rob and my brother talked me into getting a palm centro, and let's be honest, I'm a huge "tech-tard" (as Merrill says). I took one look at this phone and it didn't look fun. lol But now I'm really starting to love it. Rob set it up and began to show me little by little how to use it. Rob even downloaded all of my Scriptures to it, so I can read them whenever or wherever i wish. He also helped me set up the agenda to help me remember my test and assignment due dates . It has a great camera and camcorder.
9. My washer and dryer: Yes I actually love doing laundry. I love the way it smells when it comes out of the dryer. I love Snuggle Blue Sparkle fabric softener, and I don't want to think about how long it would take me to do my laundry without my awesome washer and dryer. I guess my friend Lauren could tell me.
10. My Children's hands: I'll start with Porter, He's learning to walk and he loves to hold your hand and walk along side of you and its the sweetest. I love when i'm holding him and he's starting to fall asleep and he puts his hands on my face, its the best. Savannah loves to hold hands when she's watching tv or we're taking walks. I always go into her room before i go to bed and check on her and i hold her little hand and watch her sleep. She is so sweet. I am a very blessed woman.

Politics

Its funny because i remember the first time I was on my way to meet Rob's family(whom i love as my own now) warned me to never bring up religion or politics. Isn't it funny how passionate people become about beliefs, whether it be politics, religion, lifestyles, whatever... I love that about the mixing pot of a family that i am in. I love how different each member of our family is and how much i learn from all of them. My dear husband is a devout conservative, and when the Republican Party is properly represented he is a true republican. I wouldn't say i am only a republican or democrat, but judge on what a politician's goals or objectives are. Rob's cousin Meg sent me this message, and I couldn't agree more.
I, like most Conservatives, have been HUGELY disgusted & disappointed by the lack of action by Republicans. The Republican party has been hijacked by a bunch of pansies trying to hopelessly pander to a media & liberals that do not & will not ever share conservative values. Rather than actually getting off their lazy political butts & putting into practice what they probably promised their constituents, they continued with status quo & did what they could to "get by", make their 10 sec. sound bites at all of these USELESS congressional inquiries & "investigations" (OH PLEASE!) & to hopefully get reelected to this sick country club, rather than being true representatives of the people. The democrats on the flip side are also showing themselves to be a colossal failure running the senate & house of reps. They have increased all of these STUPID "investigations" & both sides are a bunch of "windbags". I really am quite sick of all of Washington, Sarah Palin is someone that I have been pushing for, for the last several months. She is a breath of fresh air because she has strong convictions & is an actual Conservative, not a Republican. Now don't get me wrong, I am proud to be a Republican, but I do not feel that the Republican party politicians have properly represented what we are & want to be. I DISPISE corruption & LOVE that she was willing to take it on, REGARDLESS of what party it is. John McCain in the same light, while I don't always see eye to eye with him on all policies, I KNOW that he will always & has ALWAYS done what he believes to be right for the country, regardless of what is popular. That is a leader I can follow. The Change I refer to is the OPERATION of Washington & I believe that the two of them will work tirelessly to get Washington working FOR the people.

I am not completely sold on McCain. Am I grateful for the trials he went through for this country..you bet. But Palin seems like a breath of fresh air for the republican party. I know I will probably hear it for posting this, but sometimes its easier to think while writing. So thank you Jamie and Meg for giving me some serious food for thought.

Perkins-palooza

We drove down to Branson on Friday after Savannah got out of school. We are having a grea time with my family, on Friday we went out to dinner to celebrate my mom's birthday. We went to this little restaurant with live music, it was great. Then yesterday we went to Silver Dollar City with my parents and brother. There was a children's area with rides for the little ones, so Savannah was in heaven. Then my brother's girlfriend rounded up some jet skis and asked if we wanted to do a double date on Table Rock Lake. We were SO excited. When we got into the water it was 6:45 p.m. Keep in mind it gets dark around 8:00 p.m. It took us about 15 minutes just to figure out how to start the engines (after falling off the jet skis a few times and swallowing a gallon of lake water). Once we actually got going, we had a pretty good time. I drove first, with Rob holding on, as we followed Briahna and Merrill. Little did we know, they were leading us to Arkansas (from Branson, MO). Around 7:45, I began to get nervous as I realized that all the boats we passed or who passed us had lights on. We had no such thing. Finally we had to turn around and try to go back home. Rob drove the rest of the way home. By the time we got back (8:15), we were exhausted. So we back up Briahna's parents van with nearly a 1/4 tank of gas. After we got the jet skis onto the trailer and the trailer onto the mini-van, we started off back home, except we weren't going anywhere considering that the van dug itself a hole into the soft rock next to the shore. We tried to get it out, backing it up farther and farther back to the point where was almost in the water. Oh, and by the way the van's gas light had come on by this point. Finally, we had to detach the trailer from the van and bounce on the bumper to get the van out of it's rut. We then took the jet skis off the trailer and Rob and Merrill picked up the trailer and scooted it over and put the jet skis back on and backed up the van again. By this time it was about 9:15 and pitch black. Finally after everything was said and done, Briahna gunned it, while the rest of us bounced on the bumper and the van peeled out and drug the jet skis out all the water up a 1/8 mile hill made of gravel, rock, and sand. We then walked up the hill, got in the van and barely made it to the gas station (the second station considering the first gas station was all out of gas). It was an interesting experience which we now look back on and laugh.