Daddy's Little Girl

So I have this little girl who is obsessed with getting married. She wants to marry everyone including her daddy, mommy and brother.

My question is...does every little girl have this stage?

I ask because I don't remember going through that. As most of you know my parents divorces when I was 7, but I do know that when I was little I did love him. However, I don't remember things like that. Maybe I have blocked that out of my memory, but did I ever want to marry my dad. I don't have many good feelings or memories of him. I hope that when Ryann grows up she will still cherish her Daddy and still look up to him as her king. She is such a daddy's girl, she would prefer to do things with him over me any day.

I have also been having this problem about remembering much about my dad. Not that I don't remember anything, the memories are all just... well not great things to remember. How do I get past that and move on. I thought I had, but having a little girl who worships her daddy kinda makes me sad. Don't get me wrong I love that feeling I get when he gets home. She screams...DADDY, YOU'RE HOME I MISSED YOU! It truly makes my heart swell...but did I ever have that. I guess it doesn't matter now, but it does make me wonder what that kind of love for your dad feels like. Well...enough of my sob story.

Today is Erins' birthday. We have wrapped presents, and Ry made him a card...cute! We ordered him an ice cream cake from Coldstone Creamery...yum, but Ry reminded me that we have to get candles for the cake. So it's off to the store we go.

I hope you have a great week, and remember to love all you can when you have the chance.

Long time no blog!

Ok, so I haven't blogged in a long time. Well I think I have busy. Think being the operative word...

Tristan has been growing up so fast. I can't believe I missed all of this with Ryann. He is now crawling, and walking furniture. He weighs 24 lbs, and is in the 75% in his age group. I can't believe the difference between him and Ry at that age. T will be a year old pretty soon and I am looking forward to this.

Ryann is doing well. I enjoy being at home with her...even though most days I pull my hair out. She should be starting school this fall. She misses being with friends, and loved school in Idaho, so I think she is looking forward to this. Her new love is Star Wars...she is fascinated with the movies. Erin has to take C3PO to work with him everyday, and R2D2 gets to stay home with us. There has been several times I have forgotten R2 in the house when we go out, but Ry always has my back and has him with her. Thank goodness.

Life as I knew it had definitely changed. We have now been in Texas for 4 months. We are doing well, but I miss being around friends and family. However, we have done much more sight seeing here than we ever did in Idaho.

This last weekend we ventured to Dallas. We had fun visiting the Dallas Aquarium...not that I would have planned to spend that much money ($60.00 for 2 adults and 1 child) in one place (other than Disneyworld), but it was fun and beautiful. However I would not recommend that for an Aquarium...it was more of a zoo with small exotic fish tanks. Not totally impresses. We also visited the Dallas Science & Nature Museum. That was fun. Ry is such a hands on little girl. These places are perfect for her. Everything there was child oriented and clean. After our little trip to the city we stopped in Arlington to have dinner with friends Lesley & Justin. Ryann enjoyed meeting new friends, and loved their cat Yoda.

I started scrapping again and remember why I love it so much. If only I had unlimited time to do this.

My mom is talking about coming to visit in March for T's birthday. Hopefully that will happen. I am also planning on visiting Wray this summer...again. I now miss home more than ever before. Hopefully we will be able to visit Idaho soon also.

Erins' parents visited us just after Christmas. It was so nice to see them again. We visited Austin when they were here...not that we saw anything, just Cabellas, and Sportsmans Wearhouse. That was kinda a trip from hell. Poor Paula got sick, and the kids were extremely bored. I don't necessarily enjoy those stores, because I have been to them before, and it was nothing new.

Well.................I think that is all I have to update on for now. I hope to do better at blogging, and keeping in touch with you all through my little ramblings.

Christmas Letter to All

December 2008
We hope this letter finds you happy & healthy. What a wonderful year we have had. Many changes have occured in our lives this year.

Tristan Allen was born March 20th. He is now a 9-month happy and healthy baby boy. He now has 6 teeth and is sitting by himself. He will soon be crawling on hands and knees; it's time for the baby gates!

Ryann is now 4 1/2 and growing up fast...where did the time go? Last year she attended pre-school for 3 year olds and loved school. She misses the interaction with the other kids, but she enjoys staying home with mom and her little brother. She is always trying to get Tristan to laugh, and usually does a pretty good job of it. She is such a helper around the house. :)

Erin is still with Delta Structural Steel Services. His promotion with the company transferred us to Waco, Texas in September. This had been a great opportunity for him professionally.

Jess now stays home with the kids. She and the kids go to spend several weeks in Wray this year. They all enjoyed spending time with family & friends.

This year we celebrated our 5th year anniversary. My question to you is...does time really fly? I do believe so sometimes, it sure had for us these last couple of years.

We hope you have had and equally exciting year. May you all be blessed with a wonderful 2009!

Happy Holidays!
Erin, Jess, Ryann, & Tristan

Grandma Lillie

Grandma Lillie
Here we are again. My Great Grandma Lillie passed away Monday November 10, 2008. It is always hard to say goodbye to someone you love, however it was such a blessing for her to pass. She was 98...yeah I know crazy. She lived such a full life, can you believe all someone that age goes through in a lifetime. She was born in 1910, I believe she has probably seen everything that will be in the history books forever. On that note I would like to thank all of you for your thoughts and prayers. We know she is in a better place and is very happy and healthy now.
We have had several deaths in the past 4 years.
Grandma Lauretta McGinnis
Grandpa Darrell Cox
Uncle Herbert Oman
Aunt Lucie Oman
Grandpa Dean McGinnis
Great (great..Ry & T) Grandma Lillie McGinnis
However, there was so much life brought with all the passings. My mom now has 3 grandchildren. I know we all have different emotions in times like this. After everything was finished with the funeral yesterday my mom and aunts cousins came up to the house for a few (LOT) drinks and a game of Partini....I haven't had so much fun in such a long time. It was so good to see everyone and to celebrate life with the passing of a loved one. I hope this finds everyone happy and healthy.
Love,
Jess

What do you want to be when you grow up?

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Ryann has been on a...when I grow I want to be...kick. Therefore I have been thinking about what I want to be when I grow up. I have thought about this a lot and have realized I am what I wanted to be when I grew up. If, and when, I ever grow up.

First, when I was 5 or so I told my mom that I wanted to be a doctor. I have success. LOL No I don't have a degree and have never went back to school, but I am the most important doctor there is. I fix skinned knees, hold my little girl when she face dives off the swing, and stay up all night with a sick baby. I even can handle Erin when he does get sick. Most of you know that dads and men are the worst patients.

When I was looking at colleges (a long time ago) I had decided that I really wanted to go to FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising). Yes...as seen on the Hills! Well I have successfully succeeded that design degree as well. I can move into a place and have everything decorated and organized in a matter of weeks. I am a master of making Ryann look beautiful! She gets to pick out her shorts and I have to find something else to match her lovely choice. Not an easy task some days.

Recently, I have looked into being a dental assistant. Yes...success. I brush Ryann's teeth every night.

One thing I never thought I would be, however, was a mom. I thought that maybe someday I would be a mom, but that was never at the top of my list. This one thing, well two, had made all my dreams a success. I love my children dearly and wouldn't change my decisions for anything. In my recent soul searching I have decided that I have accomplished everything I wanted to...to date. Not that I won't and shouldn't add more tasks and dreams to this list, but I am happy where I am today, and that's all I can ask for now.

I hope you all follow your dreams and reach for them no matter what, because if I can make this funny list of success you can also.
Love, Jess

We are here!

I learned several things on the drive to Texas.
1. Kansas is a pro life state....
2. Oklahoma has so many casinos, and XXX adult shops, right on the interstate...funny.
3. I hate driving.
Well, for the most part we are settled in. The guys from Erin's work made the move in so nice. They had the uhaul unpacked in 2 hours. So far we have almost everything unpacked. There are still a couple of boxes we need to go through, but things are looking good. It's amazing how many things we moved here just to go through it again....and throw it away. The first night we stayed here was a Friday night, and the downstairs neighbors had a rip-roaring party until 3 in the morning...this will be hard for us to get used to. first because we can't just go down and join in the fun, and second...because I am so used to living in a house where we didn't hear anyone else. Oh well. They got Tristan crying at 6 and 8 so I think that's karma. We are having our couched delivered on Saturday...I wish it was sooner, but that's as soon as we could get anything. This place is huge compared to what we have had in the past. It is 3 bedrooms and 2 1/2 bath. Crazy...but the master bed and bath is soooo nice to have. I think that's all my ramblings for now. I hope this finds all of you well.
Love,
Jess

Sept 9...Is that me on the radio mom?

Is that me on the radio? Current mood: anxious Category: Life
Mom, is that me on the radio?
No Ryann her name is Taylor Swift.
Well, when can I be on the radio? Am I next? Is my name Ryann?
Yes your name is Ryann, but you are not on the radio.
Why?
Um...(how do I answer this) because you don't sing.
Yes I do, I sing and I play the piano (alligator piano) and the guitar (Hannah Montana guitar) and I play grandmas 'monica (harmonica). So Why can I not be on the radio? You and daddy said I was a good singer and player.
Yes Ryann you are.

Well...life comes at you fast. It's hard to believe that I just had a conversation with my 4 year old as to why she wasn't on the radio. Poor child...if she is anything like me she will most likley be kicked out of chior for screwing around. LOL Ok, so we weren't kicked out, just ignored :) I just thought I would share this little convo. It sure made my day, she can always make me laugh. I love the honesty of children. If only we could bottle that up and save it for a later day...like when they are 16.