I love Baby Showers!!

Tara (Tabi's BFF) flew in from Utah to visit, so her Mom (Julie) and Tabitha threw her an awesome baby shower. She's having a boy, so the family is ecstatic and she got lots of adorable boy stuff. There was way too many cute things to put pics of everything, but couldn't resist this adorable onesie from her little sister Ralyn. There were alot of fun games and lots of laughter, but my favorite part of the whole evening was seeing friends together, laughing and having a great time. Congratulations Tara & Ryan ! We can't wait to meet your sweet little one.
Tabitha Child, Tara Lobrot and Emily Layman

( Life long buds )

Happy 21st Anniversary !

Whew....... 21 years!! I'm barely 21 myself. I don't see how this could be. But it's true, Darin and I are celebrating our 21st Wedding Anniversary today. The picture below was taken in 1980 when I was 12 years old and Darin was 15. We were in the apartment of David and Robin Roberts. I lugged this snap shot around in my wallet folded in half so just Darin was showing for years. Mom found this picture and tried to have it restored and this is what we have now.

Priceless if I do say so myself :)

The following picture was our wedding

picture taken of course on August 15, 1987.

And this is Darin and I now. Still as in love

and as happy as we were as teeny boppers !

I cannot express how thankful I am and how blessed I am to have such a wonderful man in my life. After all these years he's still my very favorite person to be around, and my very best friend. He still makes me laugh and I still get butterflies in my stomach when I think of him. I do have a wonderful life and Darin and I are definitely perfect for each other. He's a perfect man, a perfect father, and a perfect husband. And well I'm just "PERFECT". And if you don't believe me just ask him ;) Thanks for 21 awesome years Darin, and Happy Anniversary !!

Update on "Lambchop"

Randy's leg is much better now. It was a pretty bad bite and required several trips to the Dr. Unfortunately he had an allergic reaction to one of the prescribed antibiotics and became covered in hives. Hopefully his last visit to the doctor was on Friday and he said one more week on the meds should take care of it. It turned into a big hole in his leg that turned black and then eventually started closing up. It's no longer red and swollen and seems to be healing nicely thanks to every one's thoughts and prayers.

"Nephew Time"

We were finally able to spend some time with Russell Jr. The fact that he lives in Washington State makes it a snippet difficult for a lot of bonding time. He's down for the summer with his father, so we got to steal him away for a couple days. It's pretty boring at our house so I thought we'd have some fun at the local water park. Wednesday evenings during the summer offer quite the bargain. Six dollars to get in after 5:00. So after work Darin and I ran to DeLand to pick him up and met Aunt Wendy and Uncle Chris along with a couple of their friends for an evening of fun. Sounds boring with a bunch of old people I know, but Jordan was away, and so were Nick and Josh. Bad timing...any way while Uncle Darin waited in line for tickets, Russell played some games while I snapped pictures and watched. He really was having fun even though his expression says different ;)

He won a bunch of tickets and ended up giving them to a little boy and his brother. Awwwwww !!! Other than that the evening was a bust. Not only are we feeling the crunch of this fallen economy, so were the other 2500 people in Daytona Beach looking for a "deal". After fighting the crowd for about three hours we headed across the street to the Cold Stone Creamery for some yummy, million dollar ice creams. It was my pleasure to provide the entertainment for the evening by having a bird crap on me as we walked. (Hey, I'll do anything to make Russell laugh, and laugh he did.)

After the water park we dropped him off to spend the night with Grandma and Grandpa Davis. The following day after work Darin and I returned to play some games and have dinner before returning him to DeLand. We had a good time with Grandma and Grandpa, took some pics then off to take him home.

I was sad as I wanted to spend longer with him, but plan to hang out again before he goes home for school. This guy really makes me laugh.
And he's amazing as well, just look at those eyes!!

Call me the Dog Whisperer

These three beautiful little pups are my charge for the week. Karl and his family are spending the week over at Disney so Sam (multi colored),Venus (white) and Milo (black) are hanging out with Mercedes. Aside from the middle of the night bark fests, we are getting along just fine. Mercedes does not bark so when they hear a leaf fall in a backyard across town the frantic barking does give me quite a jolt. After I catch my breath, the dizziness, chest pains, and throbbing headache subside I can usually doze off for five or ten minutes, before the newspaper lands in the driveway of a house also across town, and so on and so forth. Anyway, they really are sweet dogs. Sam's visit so far has consisted of long naps and long nights of slumber interrupted by the twice daily feed and walking in the yard. His snore is very comical, however I can't seem to catch it on video as of yet. Venus has assumed her normal position on the back of the couch staring out the window anticipating the return of her humans. She hasn't eaten and is barely drinking, but will accept treats when offered. This was Milo's first ever visit at our house and he is learning that Darin belongs to Mercedes, and as long as he doesn't try any funny stuff he can hang around. He's tried to fit in best he can, but sadly has spent most of his time entertaining himself and wondering why no one will play. I know they are anxiously awaiting the return of their family, and even though they may not think so we really do love them ;)

Lambchop has a boo-boo :(

Randy, my wittle lambchop has a boo-boo. Yea....okay that's disgusting I know. You're supposed to talk sugary sweet about little babies and little grandbabies, but I have to work with what I've got here. Randy is my little lambchop, and always will be so he doomed to be embarrassed for life by me. He loves his Momma more than anything and not embarrassed about that so I can get away it, almost always. So Randy comes home on Saturday evening and says to Darin and I "I guess I got bit by something" while showing us a little black dot with surrounding redness about the size of a quarter on his right calf. My response to this is the usual bite remedy I think all Mom's use "Keep it clean, don't scratch it and take a benedryl". Sunday afternoon he informs us that it is worse. Getting redder, larger, more painful, and swollen. So I kick it up a notch with the standard "keep it clean, don't scratch it, maybe soak in some hot water, add some tylenol or motrin to the benedryl". Well Sunday night/Monday morning at 1:00 am I was awoke by Randy letting me know the pain is so bad he needs to go to the ER. Now it's the size of my fist. He cut it with a pocket knife to try and release the pressure himself however only made it bleed and hurt more, so I pick him up, threw him over my shoulder...........okay not really, he hobbled himself to the car and off we went. Now I love my guy to pieces, but I'm a little irritated. Apparently his girlfriend was telling him all evening he needed to go have it looked at. His Dad told him the same, but he thought the best thing would be to wait until the middle of the night and wake me up so I can be stared at like the mother of emo kid that cuts himself.
Anyway the doctor laughed at him cutting it himself. Actually he told us girls just come in crying, boys always come in after they try to cut it themselves. Still have no idea what bit him, he said this is Florida, your guess is as good as mine, but something got him. He was put on some antibiotics and we were sent on our way. Today is day #4. Looks a little better but still hurts terribly, so I think back to the doctor we go. (Too bad my "Sister Nurse" went home) :(

A time for laughs ?

With Momma being so sick we were able to see alot

of friends and family as they came to visit.
This is a picture of Karl's wife Pat, Sisters Anita

and Wendy, and Michael Kelly (a family friend).

Pamela "The Baby"Pat and Anita
Brother Bruce, wife Teresa, and their girls, Emily and Laura.
Anyone who knows my brother Mike will find this picture of

him some what normal. Now you know why we laugh so much,

even at inappropriate times.

Uncle Mike and Sheila

My friends and boss, Kevin and Julie Taylor. I see them all the time, but LOVE this picture of them so I thought I'd include it.
Mark & Kathy with their daughter Tiffany and granddaughter Stella.

Wendy, Me, Momma and Anita. Anita flew in from Utah to help out out with Mom and had to go home on Sunday. I was seriously scared for her to leave and considered calling for the other "Nurse Sister" Kim, but Mom is doing well enough that Kim can be spared the expense of the trip for now. I'm selfish and want to see her sooooo bad but pretty sure I can't make her come to help with Mom, without her actually checking to see if it's neccesary. My wheels are turning though so maybe I'll come up with something good.

These are my nephews Davis and Russell. Russell came to visit but somehow manage to slip off without me taking a picture with him. I loved hanging with him (he makes me laugh).
There were alot more visiters during this time but like Russell, managed to slip out without pictures and like I said, even though times were a little on the tense side it was awesome to see all the people we love. We're so happy Mom is feeling better and can't help but wonder if laughter really isn't the best medicine. Even if she wasn't the one laughing!