Posts Tagged ‘stephanie

28
Oct
08

*my birthday*

I have had requests for photos of my birthday, so here they are!  I had a great day – it was pretty laid back.  Mom and Dad were in town for the day – it was great to see them!  Mom made Chicken & Dumplins for dinner.  {yummy!}  David and Andy & Emily came over to celebrate as well.  (We missed you, Ang & Alli!) 

As Chris posted before, I got some great gifts!  The biggest of which was a WiiFit.  Chris and the boys got that for me.  When I asked for it a while ago he said, “No way, that will get me in trouble!!”  But I told him that I WANTED it, it wasn’t just a random “hey-you-need-to-get-in-shape-gift!”  I was very excited to get it.  We all took turns on it last night, which was quite funny.  Those balance games aren’t as easy as they look!  :)  

Here are some photos of our evening…

   

My *WONDERFUL* husband!!!                                                           My Baby Girl!

                       My Sweet Boys!!                                     Of course we had to make silly faces!

 

                    My Mom and Dad                                   My beautiful Mom!

 

                 A Special card from Caleb!                      Alec helped with gifts!

 

Here, Alec came out and was an announcer, “LADIES & GENTLEMEN, BOYS & GIRLS – HERE IS MAMA’S GIFT!!!”

Yay! 

 

Thank you for all the birthday wishes, cards and calls!  It was a fun day!

27
Oct
08

Happy Birthday baby-girl!

Steph turned 31 today – quick recap:

  • Mike and Cindy in town
  • Cindy’s Chicken-n-dumplins
  • New sewing box
  • Gift Cards
  • WiiFit – this caused a lot of laughs
  • Strawberry IceCream cake…

-Cj

02
Oct
08

Fall is here!

I LOVE fall.  There is just something about the fall that makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.  I am sure some of it has to do with the fact that my birthday is in fall (end of October), but it also means that Christmas isn’t too far away.  It means that Caroling Company rehearsals start up (yep I start listening to Christmas music in September – sometimes earlier!)  :-)   It also means that the fall festival is coming and that we can decorate with pumpkins and colorful leaves.  Then there are fall crafts and getting ready for Thanksgiving!  Ahhh…I love the fall.

One of my favorite movies to watch during this time of year is You’ve Got Mail.  I haven’t watched it yet this year, but I can’t wait to do so.  This is one of my favorite quotes:

Kathleen Kelly: [seriously] Don’t you just love New York in the fall?
Joe Fox: Don’t you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address.

Ha!  I love it.  Oh, and fall makes me want to go back to New York (that is the only time of year I have been there.  I want to visit my friend Ceci.  (I miss you tons, Ceci!)

Since we really DON’T have a fall season here, I have to recreate it in my house with decorations and photos of us in other states where fall DOES exist!  Ha!  That is okay, though.  It is fun to think about cool weather and beautiful leaves gently gliding to the ground.  (Wow, have you noticed I am in a bit of a strange, yet reminiscent mood today?  Probably has to do with lack of sleep!)

When I was a little girl, we used to go to the Fall Festival in Evansville, IN.  If I am not mistaken, it is the country’s second largest fall festival.  I remember the rides and games, oh and then there was the food!  Corn dogs, funnel cakes…yummy!  My Grandma told me last night that they are getting ready to open it again next week.  I would love to go back for that some day and take my kids.

Caleb is a boy after his Mama’s heart!  He, too, gets so excited about fall.  He couldn’t wait to decorate and he wants to plan a fall party…we’ll see about that!  :)

Well, I will stop rambling and post a few of my favorite fall photos! 

Thank You, Lord, for the beauty of Your creation – especially during fall.  You are the most magnificent Artist!  Help us to enjoy Your creativity in Your creation and not take it for granted!

The Boys at Mamaw & Papaw’s old house in Kentucky. 2005

Playing in the leaves…

Caleb & Grandpa fishing in Indiana – 2005

Piermont, NY 2006

Central Park, NYC

My dear friend, Ceci!

So beautiful!

29
Sep
08

Looking back

Well, I wanted to do this the week leading up to our anniversary, but it just didn’t happen.  Here are some old photos of our courtship, engagement, wedding and honeymoon. 

(These were from scans that I did for a book for Chris (an anniversary gift).  I cropped most of them when I actually made the book, so these are a little rough, but you will get the idea!)

28
Sep
08

Anniversary Details *long post!*

Wow…these details are a long time coming.  I just haven’t found a few minutes to be able to sit down and post.  The week has been quite busy…Alec had croup that later turned into bronchitis.  Ella cut her first tooth…so as you can imagine, sleep has been hard to come by, which makes my days all the more hectic!   (Caleb wants me to add that he LOST another tooth this week!  :)   )

So…let me fill you in on what my wonderful husband planned for our 10th Anniversary.

Originally we had talked about taking a cruise to celebrate, but since I can’t leave Ella right now, that was out of the picture.  (We are planning to do that sometime next year – once she is weaned!)  So Chris was creative and planned a VERY special day for us.  I only got details when he wanted to tell me!  It was fun!  And…for those of you that know me and know that I have a tendency to figure out my surprises…I worked VERY hard to NOT figure anything out!  He really did surprise me with his plans…it was great!

So, this is what the celebration looked like…

Thursday, September 18, 2008…our acutal anniversary.  We had a “normal” day, Chris worked, I had a meeting and errands.  But we were home that night.  I fixed a really nice dinner that we all enjoyed.  Then we sat down and watched our wedding video!  I couldn’t tell you the last time Chris sat down and watched it with me!  The boys were hilarious as they commented on everything from people looking younger to “you’re going to pray AGAIN?” and “that guy is going to sing AGAIN?!”  It was so funny!  But it was a great way to celebrate our special day.

Oh, and I must say that my husband has grown in being sentimental…the whole week leading up to our anniversary, he was recounting things that we did during our “wedding week!”  I am normally the one doing that, but he initiated the conversations!  :)   (Thanks, babe!)

Okay, so here are a few pics from our Anniversary night at home…

I decorated our mantle with wedding items!

Caleb took this one for us!  Chris had these flowers delivered to me!

spinach and cheese stuffed steak, cheese risotto, asparagus and bread.  Yummy!  We had cake for dessert.

So…the next morning, we packed everyone up and met Andy, Emily (& Andrew) for breakfast at Mr. Quick – a family favorite!  After breakfast, they took the kids home with them and we were on our way to the Ritz Carlton Spa for the day! 

It couldn’t have been a more beautiful day!  The highs were in the mid-80’s, barely a cloud in the bright blue sky!  Normally it rains on our anniversary week – just like it rained and rained on our wedding!  So this was a great change!  We spent a couple of hours in the pool and jacuzzi – we had it to ourselves almost the whole time.  We spent lots of time talking about the past and the future.  Here are a few photos of our time there:

After leaving the spa, we met our families for dinner at Carrabba’s for dinner.  We were able to celebrate our anniversary & Angela’s 19th birthday!  So much fun!  I will post pics from that when Ang sends them to me (hint, hint!)  :-)

At dinner, Chris gave me a card with 2 tickets for la Nouba – for THAT night!  We saw the 9pm show.  What an experience!  We had a great time.  Afterwards we got ice cream at Ghirardelli’s at Disney’s Marketplace. 

Whew…what a day!  We slept well that night!  No kiddos (or Ella) at home!  She did a great job spending the night with Gremmie & Dodo.  She even took formula!  Yay!

Thank you, Honey, for all the time and thought you put into making our day together SO special!  I love you more today than ever before and I would say YES all over again!  What a ride the first 10 years have been!  I know that the Lord will continue to be faithful to us in the decades ahead!  I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!

20
Sep
08

quick 10th recap

  1. Breakfast at Mr Quick – handed off the kids
  2. Spa at Ritz Carlton – Sj Massage and Facial / Cj Workout
  3. Carabba’s with Family – yummy chicken parm
  4. La Nouba – need to see it again to take it all in… did notice a lot of tech stuff…
  5. Ghirardelli’s Ice Cream – Sj Chocolate with Dark Chocolate sauce, Cj Mint Choco Chip

I am sure that some photos and a more robust recap will soon follow…

-Cj

18
Sep
08

10 year anniversary

Today Stephanie and I celebrate 10 years of marriage.  I can’t believe she has put up with me this long!

I have been blessed by God with a wonderful wife and best friend – He more than answered my prayer with the wonderful gift that you are to me.  To this day I am amazed at God’s kindness to me in my bride.

Baby-girl, I am not ashamed to say it – I LOVE YOU even more today than that day 10 years ago when we publicly acknowledged what God had already done in our hearts and can’t wait to celebrate with you tomorrow… but I can’t say more about that right now because it is a surprise to her!

~topher :-)

11
May
08

I have taken over – with good reason this time…

 

Baby Girl

 

 

 

Just for a moment since I don’t normally post on the blog.  It’s Chris – I wanted to take a moment to honor my wife for mother’s day.  She is not only a beautiful woman who has somehow managed to put up with me, the biggest of her children, for almost 10 years now – she is also a faithful mother who loves and cares for our boys with excellence day in and day out.  Stephanie is a treasure to our family and a gift to me and my kids.  The boys often will remind me that they love mommy more than me – even though this is an instant way to start a wrestling match in our house I can certainly understand why.

As a mother Stephanie proves everyday that she is a woman worthy of honor and today is a great opportunity to say to her – Thank you & I love you so much…