Our wedding week in sunny Florida!!!

The start of our WONDERFUL wedding week begins!!
October 5th, Joey, Jackson and I took a 6 am flight to Florida! We arrived around lunch time, rented a car, and drove from Tampa to the Siesta Keys. Ahhhhh, relaxation began from here. First we checked into our BEAUTIFUL condo that walked out onto the beach! We were literally steps from the white powdery sand. We quickly unpacked, got our swim suits on and ran to the beach! At first, Jack wasn't too sure what to think about the feeling of the sand on his feet. He warmed up quickly though!  This was the very first time that we had seen the ocean with each other. We spend the rest of the afternoon building sandcastles, collecting seashells, and walking along the shore line. This routine would be part of our next 7 days! That night we had a wonderful dinner of shrimp and veggies. It was a beautiful view to watch while eating our first meal in Florida!

The next day we started our morning with a great fruit and yogurt breakfast then off to the beach we went! We quickly became used to this!

While exploring one afternoon, we found a great ice cream shop called "The orange octopus", I had pumpkin ice cream, Joey had chocolate and Jackson had strawberry! It was sooo good!

It was so nice just spending time with one another. We explored Venice beach which had black sand, and was having a bad case of red tide. Come to find out through the newspaper, it had not been this bad since 2002. The smell of red tide and what happens to all the fish is enough to remember it be!

Before we knew it, it was Wednesday morning! Joey's brothers and their families had arrived!!! It was finally time to spend some time with one another! Then Nana, Papa, Zack and Suzy made it! Gram, Grandpa McGinnis and Grandma Becky also finally joined the party :)

This day turned into another beach day except now Jack had his cousins to play with!

Slowly but surely the ENTIRE family arrived! Have I mentioned how blessed we are to have such a loving caring family to celebrate with! We wouldn't have had it any other way!


Over the next few days, we spent it...at the BEACH! Best (and first) family vaca ever!

 

Guess who's 2!

Happy birthday little big guy!

Well, it finally happened. Our little boy is officially a big boy! It has been amazing watching him grow. On August 31st we celebrated his actual birthday with the family. We ignored the pouring down rain and had a great dinner complimented with gifts and cupcakes at Smokehouse bbq (Papa and Nana's favorite!). It was a great time! 

1 week later, we had Jackson's birthday party at penguin park! His favorite park I might add! It was a great turn out! Not to mention a BEAUTIFUL day!

We had a great time munching on muffins and donuts, juice and coffee! It was an easy low key special day! We are so grateful to all of our family and friends that made it out!

You blew out the candles even before we had finished singing!! What a big boy! Happy birthday to you Jackson! To many more memories to come!

SOLD!

Well we finally did it...we sold our first home!! It only took us 107 days, hours or cleaning and a lot of lost money BUT this is amazing for our family! 

It's kinda bittersweet actually, we have made so many memories in this home (tear). 5 years ago, I bought this home...I was 23. Just a couple of years out of nursing school. It needed a lot of work, but I was ready for a challenge (I'm kicking myself now lol).

Joey moved in 1 year later, and shortly followed the most important memory...Jackson. His first cries, his first bath, steps words EVERYTHING happened in this home. By 15 months Jackson recognized where we were driving home. From the stoplight off n. oak he'd start pointing and saying "home". Joey and I's relationship grew tremendously while we were living in this home. We became engaged in this house too! The list goes on and on. 

What I am most looking forward to is all the new memories to be made. Jackson will be 2 in a little over a week. We are actually closing on our new home on his 2nd birthday...poor planning mama! But it'll be great! We'll be buying Jack a lifetime of memeroies to come, on his 2nd birthday!

We'll miss you 305 N.E. Northcrest Drive 

Next chapter of our lives

 N. Tracy Avenue!

We're ENGAGED!

So, as most of you know, Joey and I got engaged over the holiday season!!! YAY to us! We've dated for a very long time, so this extra step in our relationship is amazing! He proposed on NewYear's Eve after a wonderful dinner of sushi under the beautifully bright trees at Crown Center in downtown Kansas City. It was just the two of us (with our entire family aware of the plans except for me) when he got down on one knee, and asked the question that every girl waits their entire life to hear! "Will you marry me?" umm..??? "YES!!!" I was such a special special moment, and I'll cherish it as long as I live :)

Now it's on to planning our wedding!!!

Handymen!

Well, we've really cracked down on getting our home ready for the spring! Thankfully we have had lots of help in getting things ready. We are in the final phases of painting our house (we chose the color night safari) and hope to complete this before it gets too cold out! Jack was really excited to be able to help dada out with all the fun stuff :)

Jackson is more amazing everyday! Some of his favorite words right now are moon, zipper, broom, boo, and pumpkin. Of course, his pronunciation isn't exact, but we can understand it really well. He also is using sign language more and more. Last night he signed "all done" perfectly! Hopefully our hard work with teaching him this will pay off when the terrible 2's hit :)

 He is also walking! He started taking steps almost a month ago, and I followed him around with a camcorder for days! He then decided to wait almost a month more and now, he is off! He's funny because when he walks he keeps his left arm out in front of him for balance, but he's doing great!

Well, it's stating to get colder and colder, and in only 10 days, our favorite holiday will arrive...Thanksgiving. Not only are we excited to eat lots of great yummy food, but hanging with family is our favorite part! Joey's brother Michael and his wife Sarah and the kids will be joining us for Thanksgiving! Next will be Christmas and Joey's brother Casey and his family will be joining us for Newark, DE....Can't wait!

Halloween 2011

Well, this is my first time blogging or online journaling! Looking forward to having something new to share with our family and friends! This time of year is my absolute favorite time! The beautiful leaves, the way the sun shines through them, sweatshirts, and the cool crisp smell of fall!
Jackson is officially 14 months old, and boy has the time flown by! He is the absolute joy of our lives! His favorite thing to do is to be outside! Crunchy leaves, pointing up in the sky and saying moooon! puckering his lips in a perfect "O" and hooting like an owl.  He warms our hearts and makes us smile :)

Yesterday was Halloween and we went trick-or-treating for the first time. Papa, Nana and Aunt Suzy where at our house while we got ready for our first trick or treat. We started our adventure at Grandpa and Grandma McGinnis's and ended at GiGi's house (but Jack was sound asleep). He had a great time and even made his own three syllable sound ta-ta-ta when we asked him to "say trick-or-treat!"

We had a great night and made many new memories as we took our little man out on Halloween for the first time!