Tornado

As many of you already know my in-laws home was destroyed in a tornado. Last month and F5 tornado ripped through their neighborhood leaving a path of devastation. Wayne and Nancy lost everything. There were 9 of them huddled in their tiny storm shelter and the tornado came and Thank God they were all safe. Later Garrett and I were talking and he said to me, " I almost lost my whole family." His Mom, Dad, Grandma, sister, brother, sister in law and baby nephew (entire immediate family). The house is gone, their cars are gone, but our family is here. We are so thankful that they were in the shelter and no one was hurt. We were finally able to make it up to Oklahoma a few days after the tornado. They had been sending us pictures and updates, but nothing compares to seeing it in real life. The only word I can think of to describe it is haunting. As we turned down their street all we could see was piles of wood, mangled cars, what was left of the trees, stripped of their bark from the force of the wind, and people rummaging through the rubble trying to salvage what they could of their homes. Needless to say it has been an emotional month for our family. We have made a few trips back and forth to Oklahoma to help out in any way we can. This week they moved into a trailer on their property and are preparing to start rebuilding soon. Along the way they have had many generous people to help and support them and they themselves have been amazing witnesses standing firm in their faith in God, knowing he has a plan for them. (Jer. 29:11) Here are just a few pictures of what was left.

What was left of their house

Neighborhood

The red car on the right is what's left of my brother and sister in laws red SUV. It was found on the neighbors roof.

Grammy, Paw Paw, and Delaney

Grammy and her babies

Happy Birthday Delaney Rae!

FINALLY!...I know I'm about a month and a half behind:) Here are a few pictures from Delaney's 2nd Birthday party! I can't believe she is already 2! She is obsessed with Cinderella right now so we planned a Cinderella party for her. (Her original request was for a Cinderella kitty party) While she was taking her nap we decorated the house and put her little castle together so that we could surprise her when she woke up. It worked perfectly! She was so surprised. She said "Ohhhh Wow" Priceless. Then we changed her into her own Cinderella dress from gamma and pop pop and let the festivities begin!

She just put on her dress and came out to show everyone:)

She blew out her candle all by herself and clapped

Mmmm nummy cupcake. She made Mommy feed her so she wouldn't get her "hannys dirty"

Opening presents with grammy. She is helping her put on her Cinderella slippers.

Our little family. Happy Birthday Delaney!

Crazy May!

Sorry I have been absent from the blogger world for a while! I haven't forgotten you. It's just that May has been crazy... it usually is but this May has been extra crazy. Birthdays, a baby shower, doctors appointments for Laney, and now throw in a tornado! I will update with pictures of all these events soon, but for now we are trying to get up to Oklahoma to be with our family and help them sort through what is left of their home...

Inspiration!

Last week my friend Stephanie posted pictures and instructions for a really cute Jute wreath that one of her friends had made...it was soooo cute I just had to give it a try! Of course I'm a lazy crafter so I bought my flowers (Stephanie made her flowers from material and burned the edges to make them curl) and the nest and eggs and then just put everything together. Here's the result!! I love it! I love it so much I am going to hang it inside so I can enjoy it more! This is a great easy project that can easily be personalized either by season or just your own personal style. Thanks for the inspiration Steph!
Supplies: Foam circle wreath, jute, glue, and either material to make flowers or flowers you can cut off stems, and whatever else you want to add!

For Bethany

This one is for my cousin Bethany...love ya!:)

Happy St. Patrick's Day

What a difference a year makes!

An afternoon at the park

Laney ready to hit the walking trails with her shades on

Laney and Daddy walking the trail

Laney and Daddy taking a rest

Mommy and Laney watching the ducks

The Anderson Family

Gotta love that smile...she puts so much effort into it!

Saturday craft project

My latest project...

One stick from a nearby tree and $4.00 later...

a place to hang my jewelry!

Hi y'all

If you listen carefully you will hear Laney's new Texas greeting:)

A Glimpse of February

We found Laney's old swing in a box in the garage...so we put it up in the doorway of her room for a day:)

Snow!! And lots of it!

A visit from Grammie and paw paw.

Auntie jen jen and grandma also came for a visit! I got a cute video of Laney talking to aunite jen jen's belly and giving it kisses:)

And last but not least Laney is on her SECOND cold of the month:( Lot's of whining and lots of "boogees" (as Laney calls them)

Giveaways and Babies!

My friend Stephanie is having a blog giveaway!!! I never win anything but I thought it would be fun to at least try:) So, I am posting on my blog about it in order to enter. A couple months ago Stephanie and Ben (her hubby) had a baby! She is so precious and cuddly and adorable. Even Laney thinks so:) When we got their birth announcement Laney was so excited to see the baby. She pointed out her eyes, her "band" and "ahh shoo". Translation= head band and that she was sleeping. haha I didn't catch her initial reaction, but this is her talking about it again. If you listen closely you can even hear her say "Ella"...which is pretty close to Ellie:)

Me & My Pal

Today I got to spend the whole day with my sweet Laney! I haven't had a day with just me and my sweet girl since before Christmas!! We were so used to our little routine so now we are trying to get used to our new normal... two full time working parents. With my new job I have had a lot of orientation and of course its peak basketball season so Garrett has had games and tournaments.
Yesterday Garrett stayed home with Laney while I worked. He was brave enough to take her to story time at the library. I tried to prepare him as much as possible, but Laney is starting a new age group called "Toddler Time". I had to laugh out loud yesterday at work when I got a text from him saying he was "ill prepared" haha I can just imagine him sitting on the carpet (I'm sure the only dad) trying to sing along with the songs (participation in strongly encouraged).
Laney and I are now watching baby signing time after eating our grilled cheese and taking a bath... I've missed these "normal" everyday things with my crazy Laney! Back to work tomorrow... but I have next Wednesday to look forward to! Another regular day hanging out with my silly girl. Speaking of silly she is now dancing... doing the "diaper dance" She has some interesting moves.

This is what happens when she spends time with Daddy at the library

SNOW!

Our first Texas snow!! Yay. Laney loved to look at the snow, but didn't really like to be in it. She kept saying "brrrr"

Singin' in the Tub

Laney has moved on from dancing to Beyonce to singin' the Black Eyed Peas....she sings this song all the time and if we start to sing it she cracks up.