Halloween with Siena

Halloween is our favorite time of year!! We host an annual Halloween party for our friends, our church hosts a huge party for the community on Sunday afternoon, and we love trick-or-treating. This year we walked down the Main Street in Murfreesboro where you can find all the historic homes. The streets were canopyed by the changing leaves on the trees and Siena was joined by several other costumed children out on a beautiful evening. Here are just a few of the pictures of our special Halloween weekend together. The weather was gorgeous, the candy was yummy and we were together as a family; you can't ask for anything more in October.

Siena continues to be a bright ray of sunshine in a world so badly in need of a smile. She greets people with her cheerful "Mornin'" and loves on anyone who comes by for a visit. We hope your Halloween was as safe and enjoyable as ours.

Siena Turns Two

To say that this blog is long over due is an understatement, like so many of us, the busyness of life has kept us hopping from one activity to the next without being able to maintain the normal every day things in our lives. We did take time out of our busy fall to stop and celebrate the birth of our beautiful, vibrant, petite girl. Two years ago on September 24th, Siena came into our lives as calmly as one could wish for a child's entrance to be. But she hasn't remained a sleeping infant; Siena is a bouncy, galloping, bundle of energy looking to draw in the next person to her world of play. She explores everything with a infectious laugh that brightens anyone's day within ear shot. She is a true Southerner with her polite and friendly manners as she greets strangers at the store. Our lives are full of more joy than I ever thought possible. Siena has quadrupled that joy and every day with her is a bouquet of smiles.

Siena's birthday party was for family, who could attend and her little play group. No activities were held because when you are two, you don't need activities. All you need is your friends and a few new things to explore, which in Siena's case, were juice boxes. I wish I could tell you that she was a well-mannered toddler that day, but the fact is, she snagged all the other kid's juice boxes and finished them off. Gifts were not as important as playing in the backyard, so they were overlooked for the time being, until all her friends were gone. It was a memorable day; a fantastic day to celebrate a fantastic little girl. We thank God for her precious life and pray that He will grant us many more birthdays to share with her.

Summer in Tennessee

Siena has had an exciting summer with a trip home to visit her grandparents, swim lessons, her first visit to the zoo and spending countless afternoons outside in her baby pool. The daily highlight of swim lessons at MTSU was going down the big slide NUMEROUS times. That and the fact that she passed and will be ready for pre-school swim lessons next year. The zoo was an experiment with animals, but Siena's favorite were the fish and the turtles. The baby pool in our yard may provide relief for Siena, but Mom & Dad find shade under the umbrella with lemonade and even that doesn't always work.

We also had to say good-bye to cousin Sebastian who moved away this month. Siena adored her little 3 month old cousinand covered him with kisses constantly. She also stole his toys when he was using them. I know everyone in our household will miss him and his mommy.

Up next for us is a visit from cousin Kirsten and Kalli and hopefully a trip to the drive-in when it cools off.

10 Years = A Decade to Remember

Most of my blogs revolve around Siena because let's face it; she's cute, adorable, doing new things and that's why I started this blog. But Siena wouldn't be here without Kurt or myself. We dated for 5 years as high school sweethearts before walking down the aisle (Today that doesn't sound like much, but it really is, even in high school years). We had a plan that we prayed about and seemed practical for our lives; go to PA school in Wichita, move to Tennessee to go to recording industry program at MTSU, both get our careers on track, backpack across Europe, buy a house, have a family. We have been able to accomplish these with God's blessing over the years, but that doesn't mean we didn't have our little surprises along the way. What I think is more amazing than all of these is continuing to be content in the person God put in my life. I still depend on Kurt for everything; he is my emotional support, my encourager and my best friend. He loves all that I am and has stood beside me through all that I have fallen short of. I don't know what the next 10 years look like but I know that with such an amazing man by my side, I can face tomorrow with a smile.

HAPPY EASTER!!!!!!! He is Risen, He is Risen Indeed! We had a great Easter in Middle Tennessee. The flowers have been blooming for a month, and we had beautiful blue skies and sunshine for the weekend. World Outreach Church's special guest at our Easter Service was Michael W. Smith who performed 3 songs, including an extra one with our music team. Siena loved the bunnies at church, she got her picture with the Easter Bunny and she LOVED searching for hidden Easter Eggs with her friends Kinsleigh and Kaelyn. She even had an extra hug for her new 12 day old cousin, Sebastian. We are very blessed to have family and friends to celebrate such a beautiful holiday with. May each of you remember that our Father loves us so much that he allowed his only perfect Son to suffer so that we could have a chance at eternity with Him.