Five & Fabulous!

Our little girl is growing up!!! I remember the day I had her. My chubby little princess was born December 15, 2004 and here we are celebrating her 5th birthday. Time has flown by way too fast but I have enjoyed every minute of it. She is such a joyous little lady. She has such a unique personality and a lot of spunk! She can light up any room and most definitely knows how to work her girlish charm!! She truly is a handful. From her diva attitude to her constant on the go energy! She has us wrapped around her little finger and she knows it. I love watching her go through the changes and I love seeing her enjoy everything life has to offer! She has such a huge heart and is a very happy little girl.

Arlington National Cemetery

While in Arlington for the Marine Corps ball Jason and I decided to take some time and go view the National Cemetery and The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It was so wonderful to finally be able to see these places...I've been wanting to for so long! Being stationed over here, so close to D.C. has been amazing! I've seen so many places I've always wanted to see!! One of the perks that comes along with being a military family!! I'm glad Jason and I were able to go see this without the kids. I love taking our kids places but this was one place I wanted to see first without the kids. We were able to see the changing of the guard up at the Tomb. The kids definitely would not have sat through that, ha ha!!

USMC Birthday Ball

Jason and I attended our 7th ball together this year! We took the opportunity to make a whole weekend out of it thanks to Grandma Don flying in to watch the kids! This ball was in Arlington, VA at the Sheraton Hotel. It was a beautiful hotel and we had an amazing weekend! We were not overly impressed with the ball itself but we made the best of our time! This ball was completely about me and Jason. We weren't worried about anyone but ourselves and it was nice. We enjoyed the entire night together, just the two of us!

Gimme Some Sugar

We shared a tradition that began with our best friends in 29 Palms with our great friends here in Virginia. I invited Jeannie and the girls over for a day of cookie decorating. It turned out to be the perfect day...it was snowing! It completely set the mood for the days event. After making cookies the kids played outside in the snow then came back in and had some hot chocolate! The kids really enjoyed themselves and they made a ton of cookies!!!

Cory's cookies...

Caiti's cookies...

Stafford Cavaliers

Cory is now in his 4th year of basketball. He just finished playing football and was ready to move right on to basketball. He really enjoyed playing football but basketball is his passion. He is very good at it. Been a little rusty since he started this season with the Cavaliers but he's getting back into the swing of things! His coach is actually one of the dads from his football team. His friend, Nick that he became pretty close with is also playing on that team so his mom and dad asked us if we'd like Cory to be on their team. Cory was really excited and Matt is such a great coach! These are pictures from two of Cory's games. He missed two and played two. The last game he played he scored 6 points and that was all they scored! He felt great to score all the points for his team!!!

Winter Wonderland

I honestly did not think we'd see snow this early in the season but we did and we loved it!!! We had plans this day to make Christmas cookies with our friends and the weather was just perfect! It made it feel very festive!! (Those pictures are to come later). I sat by the window all morning watching the rain come down then I saw it slowly turn into snow and then I became a child again, ha ha ha!! I scurried through the house, telling the kids that it was snowing!!! Got them all bundled up and let them go have some fun in it! It was great! Jay actually enjoyed the snow yesterday as well!! We didn't get much but it was enough to enjoy and be thankful for!! However, we did realize how we don't have what we need for weather like this! Guess we'll have to prepare ourselves for the snow that may come over the next few months!