Halloween

Claire had a blast. We were a little nervous being in a new area so we decided to have Claire dress to pass out the candy. We ended up with 1, yes I said ONE trick or treator. She was a beautiful Snow White and Claire got a hug from her. It was so cute!

Claire made the CUTEST dragon ever!

Happy Birthday Mark!

Mark's birthday is October 24th but I am still playing catch up for October.

Mark's parents came for the weekend for good times, good food, and lots of memories for both of our birthdays. In all it was a great weekend. Not only did we get to celebrate our birthdays but further insured our pride and love for our oldest Mariah.

In my infinite wisdom I did not get any pictures of the weekend. We love you mom & dad! It was a great weekend!

Fishing in Washington

A few weeks ago we loaded up and went to meet Mom & Dad for some good times and fishing. We met at Claire's adopted grandparents "fishing shack". Not a shack at all! Let the good times begin. We got there at 11:30 at nite just to wake everyone in the house.

After a couple hours of sleep we got up early with the fishermen. Off they went and Claire & I stayed with Grandma and Grandma Doreen. Claire and grandma made rice crispy treats, yummy!

Then we got a call from the "guys" and Mark had caught a keeper. We had a wonderful weekend, good memories, good food, and great friends!

See you in our dreams Grams!

"Why are you crying Daddy?"



How do you explain to a two year old the loss of a loved one? The only thing that I could think to tell Claire was that she is so loved and so blessed that God decided she needed to have another gaurdian angel to take care and watch over her.



Grandma Lee was a wonderful person. She was true and honest and a true blessing to have in your life. I met her not to long after my Grandma was called home. Maybe that is why there was such a strong bond so quickly. I really think that it was just because she was such an amazing person and I loved and enjoyed every minute that I got to spend with her.



Thanks be to God that he changed our path to moving to Washington. This allowed the time for Claire to get to know Grandma Lee. What a pair!



The weekend before she passed away we were in OR to spend time with the family. Claire loves to play with the phone and had said she wanted to call Grams. After dinner clean up began and all but Claire were in the kitchen. Claire found the phone and called Grams... How in the world did she manage that? Who knows but how fitting. That was the best for Grams and we all got a kick out of it!



We love you Grams! I will not say goodbye but we will see you in our dreams!

Need to play catch up

I have been really bad about keeping up! There is so much that has been going on! I will try to post a little about everything.

I love and miss everyone in Texas & Missouri so much!! Can't wait to see you all!!!!

The "BIG" Move

What a move at that! Just a simple vacation in July, a little talk about thinking about moving to the North to be closer to Mark's family, one day. We get home and within the next two weeks we are packing our house to move to WASHINGTON! It is so crazy to go from day to day life in the town that you were born and raised in to a new part of the country that you have never seen before! Just a hair over a month to get the house "finished", packed, and cleaned to be put on the market to sell! What a stressful, crazy, emotional roller coaster! How I miss my family and friends!

The trip in itself was amazing! Mark's wonderful Dad came to help us with all of the fun! Thank God for the most wonderful in-laws EVER!!! So, it was Me, Mark, Claire, plus movies, pillows, snacks, Lobo the cat, and Spike the dog in our truck towing an airplane on a 18 foot trailer. Then Dad in a 26 foot Penske towing the silver bullet (Mark's car). What a site!


Into the sites we went! It was a beautiful drive through New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Oregon, and then Washington! For the most part it was straight driving but we did take a good part of a day to go to the Grand Canyon. If you have not ever been there you are truly missing out! There are no words that can do justice to the true works of God's hands! This is just the first scenic overlook taken with my phone. This is nothing compared to the actual Grand Canyon. My phone could not even begin to capture the indescribably awesome site!

Claire posing at the overlook.

There was a little stress with a 2 year old in the truck for days on end. The worst thing that happened on the entire trip was a dead battery in the chevy but we were blessed to be at a gas station where there was a very nice gentleman with jumper cables and good directions to the Auto Zone!

Get ready for the MaterCard commercial!

Truck rental from Georgetown, Tx to Richland, WA : $$$$

Gas for the chevy from Georgetown to Richland : $$$$

Diesel for the moving truck from Georgetown to Richland : $$$$

How many nights in hotels? : $$

The most priceless thing that I could think of...........

Claire Bear and Grampa in the "Big Truck"

I have alot more pictures but might get them on another post. I will get some pics of our "new house" as soon as we get it organized. I love and miss you all! Sending my love!

Getting Started

This is just the beginning!!

I will get all of the pictures and info together of our trip to "The Great Northwest". An adventure it was to say the least but the experience was well worth all of the frustration leading up to it.

First of all, Thanks be to God! Thank you to each one of my brothers and sisters for all of your love support and understanding! Mom and Dad Kemper there is not enough thanks for all of the help that you provided for "Our Bear"! Mom and Dad Harrison what can I even say?! To the best neighbors thank you for all of your help with the house! Jeff and Wes you guys are just so awesome!
Thank you, thank you, thank you to each of you!

I thank God for each and every single one of you each and everyday! I will be back to update as soon as I can.