Charlotte Grace aka Chuck!!

(Chuckers with her little sister Ella)

Today we had to say goodbye to a true sweetheart! In true Chuck fashion we all know she needs a post of her very own! She was a true angel on this earth! We are so blessed to have been able to get to know this little spirit! Charlotte was my friend Alex Enslin's niece, she has taught me so much in her short life I hope I can pay a small tribute to the lessons we have learned.

(What a good big sister)
Sweet Chuck (and yes I will take credit for her amazing nickname) was born with partial trimsomy 16 and partial monosomy 9. The doctors didn't think she would survive in utero, or would be born a stillborn. Her parents, who are truly remarkable, decided to still carry her to term. The doctors warned them if she did survive birth she would probably only live for a few weeks. Being the true fighter she was she surprised everyone, not only surviving birth but gracing us with her presence for several years!

Chuckers made such progress in her short life, learning to sit up, roll over and much more! She developed the sweetest personality, and had the greatest belly laugh.

She loved to be the center of attention, and everyone was so willing to be her biggest fan! Even when she would demand it so much that she had to be rushed to the hospital... Silly Chuck! I kept trying to tell her we would give her as much attention as she needed, she didn't need to be so dramatic! I am so happy that there are no more hospital stays for Chuck!

Sweet Chuckers was there when I first took Andrew to hang out with my friends. I was so excited that he got to meet this amazing little girl. Andrew recognized right away how important Charlotte was to everyone who knew her!

Charlotte truly taught me how insignificant a body is to a person. How it is not the body that makes up a person! How strong a little girls spirit can be! And how much a little laugh can make your day. If I could bottle up this little girls laugh and always have it with me, I am certain there would never be a bad day! How happy I am that I know that Charlotte is now with her Heavenly Father, in a perfect body! Being able to run, dance and play. How happy I am that I know she will be with her mom and dad again! Thank you little Chuck for helping me grow! Have fun with that pooch Molly!
We miss you!

NEW JOB!!!

Andrew got a new job!

Andrew was talking about concrete countertops and how amazing they were.  All I could picture was a countertop that looked like sidewalk and wasn't too excited about it.  So on one of my days off I was cruising through blogs (yes blog stalking... you all know you do it too! haha) and came across a blog that had concrete countertops!  Then I realized to make it even better I knew whose blog it was!  So I showed Drew the countertop (which is AMAZING!) and we clicked on the link to Tiekbuilthomes.blogspot.com...

I almost told Drew not to call because I was too embarrassed that I was just creeping around on their family blog... But then I was over it!  So Drew called and had an interview and was HIRED!!  He is loving his job and the work they do is awesome!  Just look!

This (above) is the before of the kitchen

The concrete countertop finished! I LOVE it!  Everything about this kitchen I love!  The tile backsplash, the beadboard on the cabinets! Amazing...

The Before and After of this house is remarkable!  I don't think I could have seen this house before and realized how incredible it could look!

The colors of this house are my favorite!

Click on the link on our page and go see what else they have done!  And if you or someone you know needs work done let us know!  You will LOVE it!

Too Funny!

Fun Center!

Well there isn't really much to report on Drew or myself... And I'm sure you have all heard enough about Caesar.  Even though you know I have an entire camera full of pictures of him.  (Yes you know I will be one of those moms!)

I have the best job in the whole world!  I watch darling children and I get to go do fun things that normally I wouldn't even know about!  There is always something fun going on!

On Monday we went to Classic Fun Center... 

It took me back to 6th grade when we used to go roller skating, and you couldn't wait for the "snowball skate".  Great times!  Well now they have it all set up for kids with a ton of blow toys and you can bring your scooters and trikes and cruise around on the skate rink!

The pictures are just from my camera phone so they are terrible, but it was so fun! This is cute Gracie wearing her monkey costume!  She was a hit as always!

Walter starting the obstacle course!

Just another picture of cute Gracie!

A terrible action show of Walter and Gracie!

I cannot tell you how cute this little girl is!

Walter, Caleb and Josh all helping Gracie climb to the top!  These are three of the sweetest brothers!

Josh showing the speed of the slide!  I'm trying to find out if their is an age limit here, if there is not you know where our next date night will be!

Happy Presidents Day!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Presidents Day as much as this house did!

(photo courtesy of Emily)