...continued...

I had to take a break from the other days blog....this one will be equally long. I did add a slide show of our Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Trust me...it is better that way. I had soo many great pictures to share..so I just put them all together.
I just finished watching the Inauguration of the new President. I know this is a very historical event and moment in our life...I enjoyed his speech and felt it was delievered well. I think we are in need of a positive change and I pray that this is the change that will make the difference. God Bless America!!!

Christmas was very nice this year. It was quiet..no trips to the emergency vet to have tha cats leg fixed (last year Austin broke the cats leg on Christmas eve and it required surgery) Mike and Carolynn (Dan's parents) were here and we went to Christmas Eve service at our Church. The kids sang Away in a Manger in the beginning. it was very cute. They brought out parts of the Navitity scene. I have added 3 videos One of the kids singing at Church and 2 others of the kids singing Happy Birthday to Jesus. Every year we do this and have a little cake. I added a tricky candle this year. :-) I am learning how to do the videos on my camera and adding them here..so sorry for the angle changes and blurriness.
The kids got some great toys and a Wii video game. We all enjoy it. We even had lots of playing time with grandma and grandpa Kobiske too. Grandma is VERY competitive and hated losing to Caitlin (who is also very competitive hehehe)in bowling.
Caitlin singing on the Wii.....we have a future Rock Star!!

The day after Christmas was an exciting one. Carolynn and I decided to run to the mall to exchange something and we took Caitlin with us. As we were driving away from out house Caitlin said, "Mommy the neighbors doggie house is on fire" I didn't quite hear her right..so I asked her what she said and she repeated it exactly. by this time I was drivign away from our street and look in my rearview mirror and saw flames shooting over my new neighbors roof. I turned the car around and parked in front of their house (they live behind us) and left Carolynn and Caitlin in the car. I didn't think they were home cause they usually have a car in the driveway. So I rang their doorbell about 10 times and took off running to my house to call 911. I told Carolynn if someone happens to answer the door tell them!! It was a time of just reacting and doign what needed to be done. I called 911 and then ran around to free their dogs from the backyard and they were already in the house. They were home!! So I then ran into my backyard and was hoping my hose would be long enough to help a little. I threw it over our fences and turned it on and another neighbor fed more hose over the fence to me. I made it all the way around their house and still had hose to spare. I was thanking God for that. At that time we had 3 hoses going on the fire. It was a shed that caught on fire from an ember from their smoker which was 20 feet away in the opposite direction of the 40mph winds. We were lucky that the roof didn't catch fire or any surrounding areas. I kept the hose going on the fire until the firetrucks arrived. I threw my hose back over my fence and the whole event still had not sunk in. I walked around to the front where Carolynn was standing with Caitlin and I gave Caitlin a hug and told ehr how proud I was of her for saying something and that she was a true hero. She was very embarrassed and shy about it. That will be a day that I will not forget anytime soon. I went over later that night and exchanged phone numbers with them. I told them that next time they decide to have a bonfire to just invite us. We would bring the marshmellows :-D They are truly nice neighbors...this weekend they brought over a thank you card and a gift card for Chick-fila as thanks. Also for the little hero they gave her a wooden cut out that says, GIRLS RULE. hahah She was once again acting shy. I am just truly thankful she saw it when she did...a few minutes later and we could have been trying to put out a house or even our own with the winds.
We eventually made it to the mall, but I could still smell the smoke in my hair from the fire.

On Sunday we met Carolynn's brother, Gene and his family for lunch. It is always wonderful getting to see them and visit. Their son, Nick and his wife, Tessa adopted a beautiful little girl this past summer. Olive really enjoyed Austin. After, we left I got a call from my good friend, Katy. I know her and her husband, Danny, from cub scouts(he is a cub scout leader), but we have hit it off outside of scouts too. What she told me left me with my jaw dropped wide open. She was at the Hospital with her husband who had just had a heart attack. All I could think was he is only 36!! It was crazy. I knew she couldn't be doing good...she has bipolar disorder and had just gotten out of the hospital herself to have her meds adjusted..so I was extremely concerned for her. She seemed to be holding it together very well until I asked her if she wanted me to come sit with her...she started to cry and said YES!! Of course, I was on my way. He was very lucky he caught it early. They put a stint in and all was as well as to be expected. Of course the 1st thing he said when he came out of surgery was he "needed to do payroll." haha Then he damned french fries as well. hahaha He is a Chick-fila owner. :-D He came home on New Year's eve..so a very good way for the family to start the new year..All back together at home. Another reason to be Thankful to God.

We did take Mike and Carolynn to see the King Tut exhibit in Dallas. That was part of their Christmas present from us. Austin loves Eygptian stuff...so it was a double bonus. :-) Here are a few pictures

In front of the Dallas Museum

The kids with King Tut in the gift shop

My little King Tut girl with a Bear! :-) She really wanted to the bear, but they were outrageously priced!! I think Dan said it was $50

They did not allow us to take pictures inside the Museum...so that is it until we walked around the backside of the building and found this!! Very cool wall painting.


Afterwards we decided to walk over to the JFK memorial, since it was just about a half mile away. It was a beautiful day for a walk.
We took a family picture in a mirrored building....I know silly, but that is us!

Austin giving Dan big hugs...in front of the red castle in downtown.

The kids being cute in front of the water gardens in front of the memorial square

Caitlin in front of the water garden...trying to stay dry or maybe not! :-)

In front of the JFK Memorial Square...Austin didn't really want to go for the walk until he found out it was to see where a President had died...he has seen several mock's of how the shots came on the discovery channel...so he was then all excited. We have a history buff in our family!



we had a wondeful day and then stopped by Dan's store, since we were so close. Looks like any other Michaels..just busier! :-)
Mike and Carolynn left early the next morning and the kids were very sad. Our house seemed empty. Maybe it was the 4 lab tops they brought with them. hehe We had a running joke on the number of laptops in our house. At one point I think we had 4 of them set up on the dining table. It was a site! The kids miss them a lot...we only see them about 2 times a year now. :-(

We brought the New Year in at home with just ourselves. We let the kids stay up until 11pm and they brought in the New Year on the New York time slot. I think they were in for the long haul, but Dan had to get up early and go to work the next morning..so I wanted him rested. It makes me so nervous when he drives at early hours on regular days, but on New Years it is worse. I worry about the drunk drivers on the roads. I never want to imagine something happening to him. And with all that has happened in the past month it has reminded me that life is very precious. We as a family have had way too many loved ones pass too early and it just confirms the love we should show our loved ones on a daily occasion. We "are only given today...cause tomorrow is a present" This is so true.
Well shortly after the New year was my birthday. Yes 33 years of Cherie being on this Earth. I am thankful and truly blessed for each year. I have sooo many fond memories to also be thankful for. My day started by me sleeping in until 8:30am...kind of...the kids were up before then. Austin made me ceral in bed (even though he knew we were going to Ihop for breakfast). He is so sweet. He even wrote a note with it. Of course I took a picture. :-)

After a late breakfast, Dan suggested I go get my hair done, since I rarely do. last time I had a cut was the end of Sept. and a highlight/lowlight was in July or Aug. So I said OK..made an appointment with a new place. Before I left I recived flowers from my parents They were beautiful. They were the breast awareness boquet. My mom knows me and my love to help the Breast Cancer org. here is a picture

I went an dhad my hair done. I had 2 low lights put in and basically a darker blonde then what my natural color was...so I guess it was more like 3 low lights. haha he color turned out nice..even though it was hard to see some of the different colors. BUt the lady cut my hair short...she took 4 inches off of my hair. I gave her 3 instructions...I do NOT want it short, I do not want it heavily layered (only one long layer) and i do not like the swing cut..short in back and long in front. So she did 2 of the 3 things I asked her not to do. She cut it short and gave me shunky layers in the bottom of my hair and then when my side that flips out looked funny she tried cutting the normal side to match it. I was beyond upset AND it was my birthday!! I let her know exactly how I felt. She said she had to cut it that short cause the front was shorter then the back and she was evening it out. I told her the front was shorter because I taper it around my face...grrrrr I know it will grow, but for what I paid..I was NOT a happy camper! Here are some pictures...color not so bad..yes there is read in it

Me forcing a smile over the very short cut that just accents my double chin and fat face! :-) gotta love it

We went out to dinner (cause that is Dan's form of cooking for me) and then i came home and got comfy in front of my computer and TV and watched the Supercross race Live on tv. It was great and a wondeful way for me to end my birthday. :-)

A few days later OU played in the BCS bowl championship and lost, but being true sooner fans we left up our Christmas lights in support for the game. In fact they are still up..Dan needs to get up there and taken them down heheehe

We had our cub scout pine wood derby. It was jsut me and the kids ...Dan had to work. We made new cars for the kids. They were both very slow, but we made up for in flash and style. haha Austin wanted a bullet bill car for Mario Brothers. It is a black bullet! It took a lot of sanding, but turned out cool. Dan and I both worked on it and I painted it.


Austin got to help with the opening prayer. It was very sweet.

The boys (wolf pack) watching the cars go down the track

Caitlin's was a pink car with purple stripes. And of course it had sparkles!!
Caitlin and her buddy from school Evan...his older brothers are scouts too. They are too funny!


Later that day, my girlfriend, Katie that I talked about above, took me to dinner and a movie for my birthday a week late. We had a great dinner and night out at the movies. We saw Bride Wars and loved it. But during dinner we got a bad message that one of our cub scout leaders (yes another one) had a massive coronary heart attack. Ray is only 49 and luckily his neighbor is a firemen and gave him CPR quickly. He was rushed to the hospital and had surgery to have a stint put in. They then put him in hypothermia state (lower his body temp to 93 degrees) for 24 hours to preserve the brain and reduce the chances of neurological effects. After the 24 hrs it took 24 hrs to warm him back up and I am happy to say after many days of prayers he is doing much better. He is still in the hospital and very week, but it looks like his neurological function is great. He can write, talk and remembers everyone. His daughter has been in Austin's class for the last 2 yrs. So I have helped with keeping the school and teacher informed. We truly have a wonderful scout family. Everyone has pitched in making meals for the family and people have been keeping the 3 kids while mom has been at the hospital. It has been a true test for them, but one that I know we are all very grateful to have turned out positive. It just remindds me again of my above statement. Life and our loved ones are truly precious. Just in case I haven't said it enough. I love each and everyone of you...my friends and family!