HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADISON & WELCOME BABY MILA ANNISEN

This past weekend we celebrated Madison's 8th birthday. On Friday Corey and I hurried to put her new bunk bed together. I had ordered her new comforter sets earlier in the week and they weren't suppose to be delivered until the 10th but I still wanted to get her bed together to surprise her when she came home from school. We got the bed put together around 2PM and then there was a knock at our door...it was the UPS man with Madison's new comforters. How perfect was that! Although I wanted to wash the sheets before she slept in them, I went ahead and made her beds up to really surprise her. She normally gets off the bus anytime between 2:45 and 2:55PM depending on the traffic and I was able to get everything in order right in time! She was so excited to finally have her bunk bed and loved her new comforters too! Friday and Saturday night she slept on the top bunk and Sunday and Monday night she slept on the bottom...she said she's going to switch every other night from now on.

Saturday we had Madison's party at the Gymnest. She invited all her friends in her class and a few kids outside of school. She had a really good turn out and a lot of fun! They all enjoyed jumping, flipping, flying and throwing me in the foam pit (thanks Corey)! Adults and kids both seemed to really enjoy themselves and I know Madison had a great time! She enjoyed opening all her gifts and loved everything she received! Of course the cake time was yummy too!

Sunday March 8th was Madison's acutal birthday and she picked to eat at Cracker Barrell. Nana joined us and Madison was super excited about that! I can hardly believe my baby is eight years old! It seems like just yesterday she was a newborn and so tiny! She's growing up so quickly and her little girl years are starting to go away. I tell her everyday that she'll always be my "baby" no matter what! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADISON!!!!!!!!

Monday brought exciting news from my brother's family! My youngest niece was born at 5:29PM. Her name is Mila Annisen and she weighed 8lbs. 3oz. and was 20 inches long. This makes baby #4! The proud sisters and brother are Makenzie, Miller and Moria. Moria will be 2 tomorrow (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MORIA!), Miller will be 8 on March 23rd (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MILLER!) and Makenzie will be 13 in June.

SWEET SARAH BETH

Several of you reading this know my sweet friend Sarah or have heard me talk about her. Once again, she had brain surgery on Monday to remove a 4cm brain tumor. The doctors wanted to do the surgery on Saturday but Sarah told them she wasn't ready and she choose to have it done on Monday. One of the main reasons she choose to have it done later, was because it would give people longer to pray. Thank you to everyone that spoke her name to the Lord and lifted her up in your prayers! I've attached some updates that I've received from her sweet, sweet Aunt Leigh Ann.....


Monday, March 02, 2009 (from her Aunt Leigh Ann)

Sarah Beth is out of surgery and doing fine! God has been so gracious...the surgeon said that he was able to get a lot of the tissue out - some of it was necrosis, some tumor. she's able to open her eyes, wiggle her toes, lift her arms. she's breathing on her own. She'll be in recovery and ICU tonight. Scans tomorrow. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for all of your prayers for Sarah and for our family. We can't even express how much it means to us. We've been overwhelmed.

Tuesday, March 03, 2009 (from her Aunt Leigh Ann)

Just heard from Greg. Sarah Beth's CT scan was good. She's in pain but is sleeping..was able to eat a little bit..very quiet because talking and moving hurt her sweet head..she's being moved from ICU back to the oncology floor...God is AMAZING! i'm not surprised by His "amazingness"...just in awe of Him.



Now Sarah is out of ICU and back on the Oncology floor with no tubes or any thing else attached to her. She is eating, looking good, and moving around. She is in pain but she just had brain surgery, for the second time. She knows who she is, who everyone else is, where she is, what year it is...all in all doing so much better than when she had her last brain surgery! Prayer is an amazing thing and God has listened to us all! Please continue to keep both Sarah and her family in your prayers throughout her recovery and the start of her chemo.

The Flu Bug Strikes Again.....

On Monday night, Madison began her new gymnastics class. I was concerned because she wasn't being her perky self. I thought it might have been because she was in a new class and didn't really know the girls yet. She's usually so excited at gymnastics and loves every second of it! Well, I got the reason around 5:00 AM the next morning.....the flu bug! Poor little thing was sick as a dog! You name it, she had it...high temp and all! She laid on the couch all day long, in between trips to the bathroom! Anyone that knows Madison, knows she doesn't lay on the couch! She's usually bouncing off the walls!

On Wednesday, she was feeling a little better but I kept her home because the night before she was still running a fever. She had more energy and had somewhat of an appetite. We were able to get her school Valentines finished and she was excited about that! It was so cute watching her pick out a special one for each of her friends! She filled them out and I taped the candy and pencil to the back. She told me we worked like a team! :)

Thursday she returned to school and was all excited to be back in school with her friends. I kept Mackenzie, Caleb, and Colton for the day and guess what.....the flu bug came back to visit me once again. Mackenzie had the poopies and Colton threw up. Boy was that a fun day! The babies just can't get rid of this flu bug. This is about the fifth time they have had it. I think the dear Lord is trying to tell me I need to be a nurse! Mackenzie was not a happy camper at all! She's normally all smiles and cracking everyone up and she didn't want to have anything to do with ANYONE! I think the picture sums it up!

After we took the babies home, Madison and I worked on spelling words and homework and I promised her I would take her to get some Valentine gifts. Madison was so excited to go out and buy special Valentine gifts. She bought her Daddy a fluffy teddy bear picture frame, Corey a bag of smarties, and Mrs. Baisden a glass rose. She loves giving gifts to everyone and I'm glad she enjoys the giving part! Today when she gets home from school, she's going to have a special Valentine gift too. She's with her Daddy this weekend so I thought I would surprise her a day early.

So today, I'm again going to clean and de-germ EVERYTHING! I'm hoping this horrible flu bug goes away and never comes back again! I'm also looking forward to spending the weekend with Corey in Summersville! It's our weekend without the kiddies and time for another adventure! Have a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

Beautiful Weather

Wow...what beautiful weather we've been having the past few days. It's been so nice to get outside and enjoy the warmth of the suns rays! Yesterday after church, while the babies took their naps, Madison and I enjoyed playing outside in the sunshine! We enjoyed it so much that I forgot to take any pictures. She rode her bike, scooter, and skateboard; then we played hop scotch. We also enjoyed a nice one on one game of basketball and after that we shared kool-aid and a push-up on our steps. It's always so nice to have a change in weather! Especially lately with all the snow we've had. We better enjoy it now, I heard by Thursday we may be seeing the white stuff again.

Tonight I'm extremely excited for Madison because she begins her new gymnastics class. Last week she got promoted from the developmental class to the intermediate class and she's very happy about that. It will be exciting to see what all she gets to do tonight in class. Her teacher Miss Hollie said from this point on everything will be fast paced....watch out Mary Lou...here comes Miss Madison Boyd!

SNOW, SNOW AND MORE SNOW!

Last week was quite a week! For Madison, it was great! For me on the other hand...I was in need of a little break! We were all very excited to finally get some deep snow! We had between 8 to 12 inches all together, some areas more than others. School was out all week long due to the snow and ice storms we had. We played UNO a million times, sang on the karaoke machine, colored pictures, played in the snow, played baby dolls, watched movies, played the WII, played Spy Gear, played cars, played dress-up, but most of all...drove Momma crazy being stuck in the house all week! Many of you know, I'm not one that enjoys just sitting at home. I like to get out and about! Don't get me wrong...I greatly enjoyed Maddie being home all week with me and I also had Caleb, Colton and Mackenzie from Wednesday to Friday but I must say...I was ready to get out of the house! When we woke up Friday morning...more snow and no school. I called Corey at work and told him that I didn't care it if was a blizzard when he got home, we were going to do something. We did end up getting about 4 inches and we were only suppose to get a dusting on Friday, but we managed to get out of the house. We met our good friends, Mitzi, Darwin and Josh for dinner at Chilli's. It was so nice getting out of the house and having "adult" conversations!

Saturday morning Corey and I once again had our "free weekend" with no kids and we decided to go see Babcock State Park. We first went to the boyscout pancake breakfast at our church and had a nice time eating with the Napier's. We enjoyed sharing whitewater stories and "outdoorsy" stuff. Then it was off to Babcock. We were shocked to see that the closer we got to Charleston, the less snow there was. Past Charleston, there wasn't any snow on the ground at all. We were a little disappointed because that's one of the reasons we decided to take another one of our adventures to see Babcock in the snow. Luckily for us, there was a little bit of snow for us to see the higher we went. We got some beautiful pictures of waterfalls, Kanawha Falls, huge ice cycles, Babcock, and Summersville Lake completely froze over. Thank goodness nothing really happened on this trip other than our normal laughs and spending time together. It was so nice being out of the house and seeing so many beautiful sites in our wonderful state of West Virginia!

ADVENTURES WITH COREY

When I woke up Saturday morning, Corey asked me what I wanted to do, since Madison was with her Daddy and his kids were with their Mom. We decided to go on one of "Corey's Adventures". Now let me explain "Corey's Adventures". When you leave on an adventure with Corey, you seem to have a somewhat plan of where you're heading but usually something or someone may change the route. His adventures are always quite interesting, comical, dangerous, fun, different, always full of excitement, but most important, time well spent together! We've both always been adventurous and love the outdoors so it's always fun and we usually have several great laughs!

We decided we wanted to see snow...not a dusting but the beautiful deep snow, like we use to have when we were children. We figured we'd head towards Spruce Knob and have an awesome view of the beautiful West Virginia mountains. Notice I said we would "head towards Spruce Knob". While I was getting ready, Corey made a couple phone calls and one was to his Mamaw Wanda. She mentioned it might be pretty to see Blackwater Falls in the snow. We pondered on the idea and decided we'd still head towards Spruce Knob and see it first and then we'd go from there. The closer we got to Elkins, WV, we started seeing signs for Blackwater Falls so we decided to change our route. I typed it into the GPS and off we were to Blackwater Falls. The more we drove, the heavier the snow. It was absolutely beautiful!


We arrived at Blackwater Falls and we were like little kids. As you know from my previous blogs, we both love the snow! The hike down was gorgeous! There was probably 10-12 inches of snow on the ground. You could already here the rumble of the falls half way down and then we finally saw it. We were both amazed and could not believe how beautiful it was! The water was roaring on both sides of the falls but in the middle it was completely frozen. It was breath taking to see! Here are a few shots of the falls:







After our beautiful adventure to the falls, we decided to ask in the gift shop, how close we were to either Seneca Rocks or Spruce Knob. The woman inside told us we'd never make it before dark. Let me back up...this was around 2:30 PM. We didn't think we were that far away after looking at our map so we decided to type it into our GPS and both places were only about 30 miles away from Blackwater Falls. Its sad that the woman in the gift shop didn't realize how close she was to some of the prettiest country side and landmarks in WV.


So soon after we had left Blackwater Falls, we made it to Seneca Rocks. It was surprising to see that there was hardly any snow on the ground. Seneca Rocks amazed me because it looks like it is paper thin. Corey has seen people climbing it in the summer time and watched people walk along the top of it. I don't think I could be that brave because it looks as if it could crumble at any time.


After Seneca Rocks, we headed to Spruce Knob which is the highest point in WV. Once again, the more we drove the deeper the snow. Let me remind you again...Corey's adventures are ALWAYS surprising and the "hold on to your seat kind of adventure". Well this one beat everything we've done! At the bottom of the mountain we see a sign that read "No Snow Removal Beyond This Point". We both agree to continue up the mountain although it is completely snow covered and Corey's truck did not have 4 wheel drive. We slipped and slid a few times but nothing major. The ride up we both talked about how silly we were to be doing this but it was fun and a beautiful view to see! We get almost 100 feet away from the very top of the mountain and we see a small car stuck in the snow. We of course stop because we can't get around him and Corey gets out of the truck to see if he can be of help. The guy in the car had hit a snow drift and it was too deep for his car to get through. After a couple of attempts, he was able to back down the mountain enough to let us continue up the mountain. I guess I should say...TRY to continue up the mountain. We get back in the truck and start back up the mountain. Remember, we're only 100 feet from reaching the top so we are extremely high at this point. Well, we hit the ruts that the guy had made and we start sliding towards the edge of the mountain. Corey tries everything he can do to get us unstuck but yet we keep getting closer and closer to the edge of the mountain. I'm screaming my head off and he's yelling at me to be quiet. I finally jump out of the truck and run behind to see how close we were to falling off the mountain...at this point I yelled STOP!!!!!!!! He was only about one or two feet from going over the mountain.
I'm shaking at this point and he's wanting me to get back in the truck. I just knew we were going over! I have never been so scared in all of my life. For those of you that know the story, about me getting caught under an undercut rock kayaking...this was much worse! I plead with him that if we're able to back down the mountain, I'd much rather do that, than try to go any further because each time we tried to go forward, we only slid backwards. He was able to get us backed up and not as close to the edge of the mountain as we were. We start backing up and hoping we'll find a place to be able to turn around and then in the rear view mirror Corey sees the silly little car that was stuck earlier, coming right back up the mountain. It reminded me of the book, The Little Red Caboose.
Let me just tell you, the guy in the car was an idiot for trying to attempt this again. I would never in a million years try to reach the top of Spruce Knob in the snow! We finally found a turn around spot and were headed back in the right direction. An hour later, we made it safely down to the bottom. Corey won't admit it but I know he was just as scared as I was! I just knew we'd see on the news the next day where a man in a silver car slid off the top of Spruce Knob or maybe even froze to death. I'd love to know if he made it to the top. We weren't sticking around to find out though!

After that crazy adventure, we decided we had just enough day light time to make it to Green Bank, WV to see the astronomy satellites...Big Ears. It was a really cool sight. The largest one is the width and height of the length of a football field. I was hoping we'd make it there in time to go in the museum but it was closing right as we got there.


All in all we had a great adventure day. We drove over 500 miles, were in and out of the car for a total of 11 hours and the high that day was 19 degrees. Many of you might say we're crazy for even leaving the house on such a cold day but look at all the places we were able to see and all the memories we made! Honestly, I'm glad to be able to tell you that I made it off of Spruce Knob in one piece! (HaHaHa) I love our adventures together because it's usually just the two of us and we talk about everything...nature, the view and scenery, wild life, and we always share funny stories. Plus, it gives me something to blog about! I always tell Corey, that one day I'm going to write a book and call it "Corey's Adventures" . I'm sure I could win a prize or two. For now, I'll just blog them and give everyone a good laugh.
Until our next adventure....

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY CALEB AND COLTON!!!

Yesterday we had Caleb and Colton's 3rd birthday party and it was so much fun! We originally were going to have their party at Pump Up The Fun but there were sixteen parties booked for the same day so we decided to have the good ole' fashion kind at home. I think the kind at home are the best ones anyways! The boys had a blast and were so excited to have a party! It made my day to see how excited they were and their precious faces!

We played:

"Pin the tail on the donkey"















"Hot Present"









"Biggest Bubble Blowing Contest"





There were many laughs and it turned out to be a great day for everyone! It's hard to believe how fast they are growing up! They loved all the present they got! I was excited for the new potty chair from Grandma Marcia and the boys love using it because it really flushes and it plays music too. They also like the "big boy" undies that Daddy got for them! Hopefully we're on our way to getting potty training behind us! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CALEB AND COLTON!!!