Happy Birthday to Tony, Yep you got it another Birthday in the Fuller House!

Today our oldest turns 18. It's so hard for me to believe that the little 10 year old boy that I meet 8 years ago is now 18. Time sure goes by fast. Even though today is his actual birthday we celebrated his special day last Sunday with his Grandparents, girlfriend, siblings, Dad & I.
John and I are so blessed to be given the opportunity to watch him grow into the man that he is now. Tony had to grow up way to fast and had many responsibilities placed on his shoulder when his parents divorced and even though it was hard it was a rare thing to see him complain about it. He is a wonderful kid and I'm so glad to be able to call him one of my sons. Pastor Dave talked about a tradition that his family does in one of his sermons recently and I thought it was a cool idea so John and I decided to do the same thing for Tony's special day. Their tradition is that when someone is having a birthday or special occasion the whole family goes around a circle and says what their favorite thing is about that person. It was so cool to listen to what everyone had to say about Tony. Some even got him and others a little teary eyed.

Seriously how could you not love this kid?!! He truly is just a sweet kid.

Happy Birthday Day Tony!

We Love You.

Love, Dad and Jammi

And So It Continues

Our Church family is always making fun of us because they say that they have never met anyone who has as many parties as we do! I LOVE to plan parties and with 5 kids and a husband I get to do just what I love to do. This past Monday however, was my birthday so it was someone else turn to "plan". My favorite thing to do on my Birthday is go to Homer, MI and have pizza! If you've never been to Cascarelli's Pizzas in Homer, You my friend are missing out. Since my birthday was on a Monday and Cascarelli's is so far from home. We made the Birthday dinner trip on Saturday Night. This year was no different from many past years and we did make the long (almost an hour) drive down so that I could get my birthday pizza! Thanks Mom and Dad! Doesn't it just look like the best thing EVER! Mmmmmm.....Mmmmmm.Mmmmmm!This year was nice to have just Mom, Dad, John, Gabe & I. We all enjoyed our time very much and had lots of fun. This was my birthday cake that my Mom made for me. The best part about my birthday is having Mom make me a cake. She always comes up with something that I just love! She is without a doubt The Best. Love you Mama! After pizza we went back to my parents house to eat cake and play cards. What a great way to spend my Birthday time.

This is me with my two favorite boys on my actual birthday. Our wonderful friends Kelly & Dave made an awesome birthday dinner for me and Kelly and Gabe made me this great cake. Two cakes for one birthday oh yeah...How sweet! Thanks to all that made my day great I truly am blessed.

Ice Festival 2010

Last weekend our little town of Vicksburg had their annual Ice Festival and Chili Cook off. Gabe and I LOVE to go and watch the Ice Sculptures being made. We got up early Saturday morning, ate breakfast and then put our Snow pants, Coats, Hats, Boots & Gloves on and were ready for a fun morning downtown. We walked out the door, I locked the door as I always do only to remember just as the door shuts....I have NO keys on my person to get back into our house. John was at work and the "hide a key" had been removed, used and not put back. So here we were LOCKED OUT! So I looked at Gabe and said let's go check out those Ice Sculptures and we will worry about getting back into the house later. Gabe's most favorite person Kelly met us there which TOTALLY made his day complete. He loves the view from the top which he can in no way shape or form get from his short little Mama!

This is one of the guys working on a Flying Pig!

This was a neat sailboat that our Church sponsored to have made. The talent that goes into each of these is amazing!

This one was my favorite from the weekend. I love the detail that went into this one. It was a great Ice Fest 2010 and we can't wait until next year. We didn't try the Chili but did hear that it they all were very good. Maybe next year we will give it a try.

P.S. We did get back into the house. Kelly let me barrow her car so that I could go and get John's from him at work. Alls well that ends well and Gabe and I had a terrific day together.

Jordon's 17th Birthday

Once again we've had another fun birthday. The day started off with decorating Jordon's cake. This was my first attempt at decorating a cake all by myself. Even though this is something that I don't enjoy it felt good to accomplish the task all on my own. John was being a smarty pants all morning long while I was trying to finish my task but in the end I won!!!! Never mess with a women and frosting!

Jordon was 9 years old when John and I met it's hard to believe that he is now 17 years old. We've had lots of fun doing different parties for him. He continues to LOVE acting and so the past two years we've done cake to reflect this part of his personality.

Here he is with the finished product and he new Michael Jackson jacket that Grandma and Grandpa Fuller got for him. He was so happy to get this jacket.

Tony's girlfriend Abby came and where there is cake their is a cake fight if those two are together. Tonight however Tony didn't plan on girl power coming into play. Here he thinks that he has her right where he wants her. He did get her pretty good but what he wasn't planning on the fact that his Grandmother, Aunt and Step-Mom would grab him so that Abby could get her revenge!!!

OH YEAH GIRLS ROCK!!!!!

Happy birthday Jordon. We love you.

New Year's Eve

What a New Year's Eve we had. Daddy had just gotten home from his Snowmobiling trip the day before. He had to work on New Year's Eve and also had to go to work for a little while the next day but that didn't stop us from having FUN!!!We started off our evening bowling in Battle Creek with Aunt Maribeth and Uncle John's family. This has become a tradition and we love it! Just in case you can't tell by Gabe's face above.Family photo of our fun night out. Tony, Jordon, Dustin and Shenira were with their mom this year. After bowling we headed to Tekonsha to my sisters house. Where we were able to shoot a little bit of pool and play cards. At around 10:00 we received a phone call that told his Gabe's girlfriend had made a surprise visit from Ohio to Michigan and wanted to know if we could stop by. So we were off back to Vicksburg to ring in the New Year with the Down's. This is ALWAYS so much FUN. Kelly gets out her pots and pans for the kids and a little Sparkling Grape Juice for us big kids as watch the ball drop. Those kids really whoop it up and bring in the New Year right! The best part of ringing in the New Year is being with the Man you Love.

Weekend at Nana and Papa's House

The Saturday after Christmas Gabe and I left to go spend the night at Nana and Papa's house while John took our older kids on a snowmobile trip. Going to Nana and Papa's is always fun and this trip was going to be extra special. We were off to the MOVIES!! Gabriel LOVES Alvin and the Chipmunks and almost as much as Nana! We decided to make a trip out of it and Gabe's Cousins Hayden, Harrison, Elizabeth, Evan, & Ethan joined us along with Aunt Jen and Aunt Brandy. We had a very good time and the movie was GREAT!After the move Ethan came back to spend the night at Nana and Papa's house with Gabe. This was the boys first sleepover together and they did pretty good. The picture below is one of my favorites. This is my dad aka "Papa" sitting in the back seat between the two boys car seats as we drove to my FAVORITE pizza place in Homer, MI. The boys were being silly and picking on Papa so Papa decided that he would show them!!!!

Christmas Morning 2009

Just like when I was a kids, I still as an adult can't sleep on Christmas Eve. John and I were both up at 5:30am on Christmas morning. While our children were all still sleeping soundly. At 8:00 am we couldn't stand it anymore and had to wake them all up! This brought joy to our two youngest however our teenage boys were not as thrilled about being awake at 8:00am on a non-school day! Below is our tree just waiting for little kids to come and enjoy.This may not be the best picture ever but, getting one of Gabe and I together is very rare and I cherish each one that I get. Ladies this one is mine and you will have to go and get your own super cool model for Christmas! I love how my husband makes everything that he gets fun. Even if he already knew about half of what he was getting. Down fall of having to shop together.
Santa didn't let Gabe down. Gabe no joking asked Santa for Shampoo for Christmas. He got 3 bottles. He also asked Santa for Tootsie Rolls and a cool Dinosaur House which he also got.

Dustin did Corn de-tasseling this summer and with some of his earnings he purchased a new to him but used snowmobile. So we thought it would be fitting to get him his helmet, snow paints and gloves that he would also need. John and I the kids minus Gabe enjoyed 5 days together snowmobiling in the U.P. the day after Christmas. Gabe and I enjoyed some one on one time together while they were gone.

Shenira with a movie that she asked for. She also got new earrings that she picked out.

This is Tony and Jordon opening the Family gift. The Wii Fit. I have to admit that this was a little bit of a selfish gift as I wanted it very badly :) But I'm sure that we will all enjoy the benefits from it! Tony and Jordon both got Class Rings this year for their gifts and The Rock Band for PlayStation 2.

All of our stockings after Santa filled them.

In our house Christmas is always a treasured day. Not just for what we get on that day but for what was given to us on that day many many years ago. We are so thankful that we have such a loving Father that provides for us EVERYTHING that we need. I hope your Christmas was filled with as much joy and happiness as our was.