Plumber

We had to get a new dishwasher. Luckily, we have a great plumber who likes to let Balen jump in and help!!

Sweet 16

Words really aren't necessary for this picture, but it was my 16th birthday. Jared would have been a senior in high school, and we had already been dating for almost 6 months. Can't believe how little we look!!

Paige's Wedding

Paige's wedding pics are up HERE!!!!!!

It was SOO much fun!! The weather couldn't have cooperated any better. A few minutes before the wedding, a storm decided to roll in. It really cooled things off and provided cloud cover. I am so happy for Paige and Austin and glad everything went so smoothly!

Since the happy couple is off in Hawaii and Mark and Terrie have been in OKC for chemo, B Man and I have been in charge of the farm!! We've been checking cows about four times a day to make sure new babies are all in the shade. A few babies have been born this week, and I'm proud to say none have died! I just don't want to lose one while I am the one "in charge." It would just make me look bad! Everything has gone well. Balen always wants to know where Paigy is, and we always go over the same thing. She went bye-bye on an airplane, to Hawaii, with Austin. We repeat this over and over until he understands. Then he always adds, "I unna goooo. Pease go airpane Paigy. Paigy help Balen airpane, pease!!!" Then about two hours later we go through the same exact story all over again!!! Kind of ready for her to be home!

Go enjoy a few of the pictures that have been posted!! Kayla did an awesome job!

Oh, and I may be a little partial, but I REALLY like the one of the cute little boy, sitting on the floor in his handsome little suit!!!

Happy Birthday Weekend!

We are having all kinds of birthdays around here! It seems like July, is by far, the most popular birthday month for people I know. There are so many! We are having Little Man's a week early because of some ole' wedding we all have to attend next weekend!! :) Aunt Paigy's wedding has arrived and we are so excited! After the wedding they are off to Hawaii, so we just couldn't have the birthday party without them! This weekend worked well because on Monday, Jared turns 30!!! Here are the fun invitations I made. Thanks Ashley for teaching me! They were two sided so people can keep them on the fridge if they want! Big shocker...we are having a tractor party! I'm sure there will be fun pictures to come!

I got a call yesterday afternoon. Jared's coworkers wanted funny baby pics to plaster all over at the bank. He can thank his mother for the great pics she picked out! I called him this afternoon to ask him how his day was going. Any other person would have said something about their office being trashed and baby pictures on the walls. If you know Jared, you know he didn't have much to say. I had to pry and ask if he had any surprises, and he just said "yeah." Thats it. End of discussion. I guess I get overly-excited-about-stupid-stuff enough for the both of us!! Woo-hoo..Happy Birthday weekend!!! It will be fun!

Here are the cute pics they used to decorate!

Family pics

Terrie called the other day wanting to take last minute family pics! It was hot and windy, but we wanted to get a few before Mark starts his nasty chemo again. We all got around and used the ole' self timer on the camera. For as windy as it was, I thought they turned out pretty decent. I'm sure I will have some more to come, but here are the first two, with the least amount of blowing hair!!

Cousins

Check out Ashley's post Balen and Macie, to see what we have been up to the past few days! We had a lot of fun taking pics. She has obviously had time to sit down and work on her edits, and you will see mine below.

Oh, wait, haven't sat down yet!!! My edits coming soon!

Paige and Austin

Balen's Aunt Paigy is gettin' hitched, on hopefully, the coldest day in July!! There has been a lot of wedding planning going on. It's been so much fun! She is going to have a beautiful outdoor wedding at Marland Mansion. They already got their engagement pics taken, but these are a few we took for fun.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day! I had a perfect day. This morning, at church, we finally had Balen's baby dedication. Then, both sets of grandparents came out to our house for lunch to celebrate sweet Mommies and a sweet boy! After naps, I got to spend a relaxing evening outdoors, with my two favorite boys. I LOVE being a mother. It is such a special blessing. I fought back happy tears all morning at church, realizing what a gift I have!

I didn't take my camera to church this morning??? And this afternoon I just wanted to enjoy my boys. These are all Daddy's pictures. He does so good. Love love love the first one!

Balen, meet tiny caterpillar! He got a little rough with it so Daddy had to end the playdate!

The evening ended with my boys laying on the porch looking at the sky! As you can see, Balen lost some clothes, and gained some mud. He was way dirtier than he appears in this pic. He had to be hosed off before he was allowed to take a bath. This is becoming a common practice around here.

Thank you, Jesus for giving me these two boys. I love how much we love each other, and the laughter and joy we share together!

Bloggy Jared

Things my husband puts WAY too much effort into:

• memorizing cow/bull "stats" (takes too long to explain) from animals that were popular years and years ago up to current day.
• doing the same for sports "stats." Mostly just OSU. Although I will say, this has really slacked off in the last few years.
• winning/cheating at board games
• charts and graphs (for anything)
• being funny
• BLOG POSTS

But, these are many of the reasons I fell in love with him! He was so proud they hacked my blog while I went to town. He prides himself in being a "better" and "more creative" writer than me. And...I have to agree. I told him he should quit his job and write on my blog. These two boys are so much fun. Hope you all enjoyed his post. I am certain it will get more views than anything I write!

Boys

Christmas Joy 2010

Call me a proud parent, call me silly, call me what you want..I love this kid! After looking through our Christmas pictures, I can't help but notice the joy on this kid's face. I wish I could freeze the twinkle in his eye and the absolute amazement he expresses when he discovers something new. It seems like as we grow older, life just gets in the way. Somehow we lose that twinkle. I discovered it again this year. I can only imagine what next Christmas will be like. Thank you God for sending your son, I can't imagine the feelings you felt when He came into this world! Hope everyone had a Very Merry Christmas!

Here are a few fun pictures from Christmas. He had a blast! Josh, Holly, and the kids stayed with us Wednesday and Thursday night. On Christmas Eve we went to Grandad and Granny's for fun and presents. That night Dad and I played, and I sang, at Christmas Eve service. After church, we all ventured over to Grandma Marky's in Ponca. Christmas morning we opened a FEW (3) small presents (everything else had already been played with or worn), then headed over to G and GiGi's house for the day. We ate lunch and opened lots of fun toys! Next year I am really going to have to work on actually wrapping the presents as they come, instead of just giving them to him. My excuse was, "he doesn't know the difference!"

This first picture just might be the winner for "most successfully portraying my son's personality!" He can be so weird! Hmmm...wonder where he gets that??

Forget presents, steal Great Grandad's cane!

Opening presents with Daddy on Christmas morning.

Sooo exciting! Love it!

Balloons were a hit at Granny's

Silly little monkey. He was jumping up and down. I took a million pics and they are all equally bad. Guess it was too much to ask them to all smile and look normal at once!

All Dressed Up

Behind the Scenes

Here are a few more fun Christmas pics! Enjoy!

Merry Christmas from the Fam

Here we are! There are many things I hoped to do different about this photo. I had planned it and planned it, but when we decided to actually take it, we threw it together in about 5 minutes. I wanted a photo that truly showed "us." I wanted to pick specific clothes for Jared that he wears all the time and remind me of him, and I wanted him to do the same for me. I DID know Balen's hat, shirt, and sweeper HAD to be in the pic. Other key items were the cows, cow magazines that are found in pretty much every room of our house, and my laptop (I wish it showed up more.) Balen's kitties were running in and out of pictures. We loved them, but didn't happen to capture one in this pic.

Enough blabbing!! Merry Christmas to each and every one of you! I hope and pray that everyone stops and remembers the true meaning of Christmas. What a crazy place this would be if baby Jesus never came! Don't take friends and family for granted. Tell them how much you love them, laugh together, cry together, play together, and give together. Jesus came so we could have Peace in this not so peaceful world. May you bring that Peace into your hearts and homes this Christmas. We love you! -The Grell's (and the swiffer sweeper!)

Gingerbread House

I am so excited to finally get to decorate my first gingerbread house. I bought a kit that already has the gingerbread made, and comes with candy and a pack of frosting. All we had to do was put it together and decorate. I know Laine would love putting on all of the candy. It was a bit of a struggle to convince her that we couldn't eat all the candy. We both had a good time and were proud of our cute little creation. Maybe some day I will be brave enough to make one from scratch!

Here is our pretty little house!

This guy was not allowed to partake in the decorating. We locked him in his chair with crayons and oreo cookies. I figured that disaster would be much easier to handle than a gingerbread disaster with a messy boy and an upset 4 year old!

Turns out he enjoys decorating as well!!

Show Hotel

Last week marked the beginning of my babysitting adventure with Laine. She has been such a little sweetie. Yesterday was her first day of pre school. She LOVED every bit of it! Today, when I picked her up, she wanted to know more about "show hotel." Every body keeps talking about show and tell, and she thinks we are saying show hotel! She wanted to know if every body was going to bring bears, what room she was staying in at the hotel, and if she got to stay with her friends! I have tried to explain it in detail, but I'm not sure she will understand until she sees what happens tomorrow at school. I love these priceless little moments and can't wait to hear what B Man will come up with someday!

Red, White, and Bling

Jared asked if I decided to quit blogging! No, I just can't seem to find the time these last few weeks. We have been so busy and had so much fun. Last Thursday morning, Mom, Balen, and I stuffed my car full and headed down to Hawkins, TX. We were so excited to get the family reunion started and wanted to be the first ones there! That first night was pretty rough due to the "attack of the millipedes" but the rest of the weekend turned out perfect. Over 60 relatives rolled in, including Dad and Jared at 3a.m. Their drive down was quite the adventure in itself! We ate, sang, danced, swam, had blow up water slides, rode 4-wheelers, and experienced quite the fireworks extravaganza! The big boys definitely outdid themselves with the 4,800 saturn missiles wired together as part of the official GRAND FINALE!! It was so great to see everyone, including Tucker, who we hadn't seen in 10 years! We are all so glad he is home and pray the best for him. The whole weekend couldn't have turned out better. Mike and Vicki did a great job planning and getting us all together.

Yee-Haw Cowboy!

How about a blog post that has very little to do with Balen!!? Harvest is dragging on, and on, and on. Jared had to stick around the house because he thought (on, and on, and on) they would be cutting wheat. So Balen and I ventured to the big rodeo to watch Uncle Justin and Cousin Karlie ride. We had a lot of fun! The darker it got, the worse my pictures are! I was too far away. Karlie rode barrels and Justin was also in the calf roping. Talon just rode around on his horse looking like a stud!