Baby Jackson Here We Come.....

....some of us are going to meet Baby Jackson

Sunday Morning we got the great news that my Baby Sister was having a Baby. I had originally planned to go later to help after Katy went back to work since I knew she had lots of family coming in for the arrival of their sweet boy. But the little guy came earlier than anticipated so I made a quick decision - within 20 minutes decided to go, packed my bags and jumped in the truck with Kristi and her kids to head to Austin.

As we pulled away -- those not going were very sad... which made mommy very sad too

After many hours of driving and the clock approaching 11:00pm we pulled into the parking Garage and were so excited to finally meet the newest member of the family
with great anticipation we jump on these purple elevators to take us to meet our mom (the proud Grammy who made it just in time to be apart of Jacksons birth) is waiting on us right outside the hospital..... it's a surprise that I'm coming which is adding to all this fun and excitement

after our elevator ride we wander around outside trying to find mom and decide to go in and ask at the information desk where the womens center is.......only to find out we were at the wrong hospital. We learned that this hospital has more than one facility and we had passed the right one by about 12 miles ago.... so it's back in the truck and we drive to our final destination, and do to the late hour we have to come in through the ER and wait for John to come find us.... This picture below of Isaiah captures our thoughts at this point of our journey! (truthfully he is just in awe of this glass elevator - much nicer than the purple one we rode earlier)

FINALLY we get to meet Jackson and Finally I get to suprise them that I came along. I wish I would have snapped a picture of their faces it was priceless. I lagged behind as Kristi and her kids went on into the room. To make a long story short - I was locked out of the OB Ward so they had been with Kristi about 20 minutes by the time I walked in!

Which made the Surprise all the more fun!

A happy aunt finally holding this precious bundle who was 9 lbs and 21 inches

Three generations -

mom is not holding her baby because she was feeling dizzy at the moment

How's it feel to be called MOM, Katy??

The proud parents

and less than 24 hours later it was time to say goodbye and jump on my airpline to head back home!

It was quick but so worth it.

Congrats John and Katy

He is precious!

A SALUTE TO GRANDPA

We Pause to Remember and Salute those who served in WWII and are known as

The Greatest Generation

Scroll to the bottom to shut the music off before listening to this video

Grandpa and his brother Tom had the privilege to be on one of the honor flights that escorted 100 WW11 Veterans to Washington DC to see the WW11 memorial

Uncle Tom and Grandpa ready to board the plane

Grandpa Served with the Navy in the Pacific Theatre and Uncle Tom served with the Army in the Atlantic Theatre

The WWII Memorial

...listening to Senator Bob Dole
Here they are with the statue honoring the rising of the flag at Iwo Jima ...at the Washington National Monument... at the Naval Museum

...at the Tomb of the Unknown SoldierArlington National Cemetary

Hundreds rallied in Grand Junction to Welcome the Veterans Home

Above is Grandpas own cheering Squad!

Today we also pause to remember Uncle Tom

He finished his service here on earth

October 22, 2009

Just two months after getting to be a part of this great trip

How thankful we are that Grandpa was able to share in this time with his brother.

Fun Photos

Aus10 Photography was at the Titus Task Race taking pictures for those who wanted to participate. These are some of the fun ones taken of Breck and Kacey

www.aus10.com

Titus Task Race

THE TITUS TASK

Pursuing a future for Orphans

We had the wonderful opportunity to be a part of this great event.

Our friends Noel and Lori have adopted a little girl Lily from China and were in the process of adopting two boys from Haiti, Titus and Silas. They went over to Haiti to visit their boys in July 2007 and certainly fell in love with these sweet boys. Unfortunately, before they were able to bring Titus home he died of malnutrition in the orphanage and was taken to his permanent home in Heaven. Last March Silas joined his family here in Arkansas and is such a happy little boy!

Below is a segment of their story

Titus’ death, most likely the result of malnutrition, is tragic though not in vain. As one dear friend told us shortly after his death, “Titus most definitely served a purpose in his short life, and his life will count for more than the number of his days he lived.” Her encouraging words, along with the tremendous love and support of our family and community, allowed The Titus Task to begin taking shape in our hearts and minds. We quickly saw that Titus’ life could impact the life of other orphans – perhaps many more could see a life that Titus never saw.

This past Saturday we got to see this vision come into fruition. There was such a great turn out for the 5k and family fun/run mile walk. Jeff ran the 5k and the kids and I did the family RUN! There was no walking to it - as I chased Breck through the streets. He proclaimed that he is the fastest runner in our family!!Here is Jeffrey at the starting line and finishing the race strong. He came in 6th over all!

Breck and Lily won first place in the family one mile run for their age bracket!

Cheering on the runners!
Breck and his friend Lucas who ran the race with him

The Family Fun Run/walkers pause for a picture

(Jeffrey graced us with his presence even though he was the REAL runner of the day)
Even The Chic Fil-A cow showed up for the days events. Along with breakfast for those of us who worked the race.

The day was great fun with face painting, inflatable jumpy's, door prizes and great food provided by Cafe on Broadway.

The greatest Treasure of all is that another family dear to us will recieve the funds raised from this race to complete the adoption of their daughter from China!

You can read more about the Titus Task at http://www.thetitustask.com/

Kacey's Birthday

Goodmorning Birthday Girl

Today you Turn 9

She woke up to her favorite muffins!

Then during the day she was off to KidsZone at JBU
A day full of fun that she looks forward to every year when it's homecoming weekend

That Night the Wright Family and Uncle Josh came over to celebrate with her. This hat goes with an adoraable outfit that my siblings bought her, unfortunately my battery was dying so I didn't get a picture of her in the whole outfit -- maybe Aunt Kristi can post it on her blog.. it is way too cute! Armed and ready to help her mommy cook!

Something she is loving to do these days

Alyssa made her this cute little card with LOTS of stickers!
A little fun with Uncle Josh and ipod games!
Happy Birthday my Princess

you make my heart sing!

Birthday Eve

My sweet friend Jenny made these adorable cupcakes for Kacey and her friends!

She knew exactly what she wanted for plates and napkins when she spotted these at Walmart!

This year she requested just a girls party with all things girly!
Posing for a photo!

The girls decorated these cute little pumpkins by hanging stickers on their branches and on the pumpkin - this is the before shot and I forgot the "after" shot!!Here they are in the process of creating their master pieces!Kacey got wii Sing for her birthday and they all had great fun taking their turns singing to their favorite disney songs
Instead of the traditional gift giving that goes on at parties we had a gift exchange and played one of Kacey's favorite games - Musical hats. When one of the girls got out they chose a gift from the pile! They all seemed to love it and walked away with a fun gift!

They are all admiring each others gifts that they got!
It was fun for all

Happy birthday

Eve Kacey Girl