A Long Year

Today is the one year anniversary of Duane's passing. My sister and the kids have made it through all of the firsts. Not to say it would get any easier but at least all of the firsts are over with.

Duane was a good, kind, hard worker etc. whom was loved and respected by so many people. Becky and Duane had one of those rare marriages that they were always looking like that they were falling in love, they were newlyweds or still on their honeymoon.

Last week, while Ben was in the hospital, I took over the after-school/dinner duty with Becky's kids. I went up to Becky's room to help make the bed and tidy things a bit and she has displayed a LARGE picture of Becky, Duane and Molly as a baby; I showed Zack the picture. Zacky let out this loud squeal, which I thought was for his Aunt Becky, but the fact was he completely ignored Becky and the baby and went straight for his Uncle Duane. He smothered Duane's image with kisses; it was so sweet. I know that he recognized his Uncle Duane and he wanted to give him a kiss. Duane loved babies and I am sure the two of them would've had a great relationship. In fact, I know they have this great love between the two of them.

We were so blessed to be a part of Duane's earthly journey, he really loved everyone, especially his family and he made all of our lives better just knowing him. As for me, I am glad all the firsts are over as well. There are so many memories that I will treasure all of my mortal life about Duane. (Like giving me his jacket the day of my wedding, when I was so very cold.) I really miss my big brother today.

1st Halloween!!!

I love Halloween and to make it even more special it was Zack's first Halloween. I decided to have Zack be a monkey! (seriously, what else would I choose, a murloc? LOL) Not surprising, he was absolutely adorable in his costume!
Ben was the crocodile hunter who ventured to Africa to pick up a monkey. I was Storm from X-MEN. As Ben said it: he was the crocodile hunter who went to Africa to pick up a monkey and called up Storm to have clear weather for the entire trip.
We had our traditional Halloween dinner pizza and cheese bread from Nico's pizza and rootbeer to drink. The weather was on the warm side so we didn't build a fire in the fireplace but we did have some hot apple cider -- YUM YUM!!! My precious husband, Ben was so sweet and surprised me with a Halloween present. He got us two Halloween plates and mugs from Pfazltcraft and got our Zacky two Halloween cups.

Ben took Zack to a little bit of trick-or-treating -- he took him around our little cul-de-sac. When they got back home Zack did have a little bit of candy and he had a blast getting into his trick-or-treat bag. He inherited my old trick-or-treat bag that Duane made for me when I was only 9 years old.

Didn't Put the Pieces Together . . .

If my little monkey is pulling up on the furniture that he would do the same in his crib!

Time to lower that mattress!

Oh what little things can do!

The other day while I was starting dinner Zack was squealing with delight and laughing and I went over to see what it was and it was the connector toys. Just two of the links, he keep grabbing them and they kept rolling. He was having a blast.
Oh what little thing can entertain a baby.

Piano Buddies

One of the things I love about my dear husband is his love of music and his talents. He is very proficient on the piano and clarinet. Both Ben and I play the piano although Ben plays so much better then I do. Lately, Zack has shown a real interest in "playing the piano." He plays away and is quite proud and happy about it. (He does use enough strength to make them strike the strings on the piano.) What tickles me so much is that Zack even looks at the music when he "playing" the piano. Now lets hope he gets Ben's music ability rather then mine.

I'm In Love -- 'nuff Said!

The smile that wins my heart every single time. I am so blessed and grateful that Heavenly Father sent my Ben to Tulsa so that we could meet, fall in love and create this precious boy together. He is truly a happy, funny little guy.


Wearing my old Future Missionary tag. I hope and pray that we can instill in him a deep love of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a sincere desire to serve the Lord by serving a mission!


His first biter biscuit! Yummy! Surprisingly he didn't make the mess I was forewarned about. However, we were not so lucky his 2nd time around.



What can I say, for a fella who's vocabulary is limited to mama, dada, baba and ear piercing squeals of delight, and other babblings, he sure has an way of expressing himself.

Fever and a Runny Nose

My Poor Little Man

I've been so incredibly blessed with a healthy baby, even with all the various flues and colds flying around this area. But today, those teeth finally did him in. He has a runny nose, red eyes and an elevated temp of 101.5. I didn't know why my normally extremely happy boy was so cranky and so clingy but then realized he felt warm! The picture is right after I put him down for a nap. I decided to change him out of his blue jean overalls and put on some warm, comfy jammies. I put him down and he rolled from side to side and then was scooting to grab his favorite monkey "Eddie." I picked Eddie up, tucked him into the corner Zacky always sleeps in and he rolled over to his tummy, put his arm around Eddie and immediately fell asleep.