A Look Back at 2007

2007 was probably one of the most eventful years of our lives.

We began the year celebrating Jacob's 4th birthday at McDonalds. Grandma Patton won a drawing for a birthday party there and Jacob wouldn't think of having his party anywhere else. Thomas the Train was the theme of the party and Grandma Kay Kay made the cake.

At the beginning of February, Jill & I took our first trip to Las Vegas together. We spent 4 days seeing all of the sights and donating some of our money to the state of Nevada. Later that same month, Larry, Jill's dad, found out he had colon cancer. He fought through months of chemo treatments and beat it. In fact, he found out last Friday he is completely clean!

In March, Jacob began his 3rd soccer season with the Tigers. He has thoroughly enjoyed playing with this team and made several friends including Ethan, Zoe, & Natalie.

Joshua celebrated his 2nd birthday in April by inviting all of the family over to our house. Grandma Kay Kay made a Lightning McQueen cake and there were enough "cars" around the house for everyone to play with.

At the beginning of May, Jacob graduated from his Awannas church class and received his Bear Award in the cubbies group. This month also marked the first of several trips to the Dallas zoo. We had purchased a membership in October 2006 and this was the first time in 2007 we were able to visit and the weather was fantastic.

The water spray ground that was built a year earlier finally opened up in June now that all water restrictions were lifted in the city. We received a ridiculous amount of rain the first half of the year and all of the lakes that were 10 to 25 feet below normal were actually overflowing. The water park took the place of the normal playground as the kids favorite place to go outdoors for the summer.

The end of June & first of July marked the first time we traveled to another country as a family of 4. With new laws in place, we were all required to get passports to travel to Cancun, Mexico. We had a party of 18 other family members join us including Jill's Grandpa Denton, the Cramers of Ohio, Michigan, & Indiana and the Dentons of Texas.


In August, we headed over to Shreveport, Louisiana to visit John, Beverly & family. The boys had a blast going to the Sci-Port Discovery Center and stood with 20 feet of a passing train.

Once we came back to Frisco, we officially found out we were going to be moving to Houston. I received a promotion and began training the last week of August in Dallas.

The third week of September I began commuting to Houston on Tuesdays and returning to Dallas on Fridays. We put our house up for sale on September 24th and it has been viewed by potential buyers 50 times through the remainder of the year. We have had 2 offers on the house but neither was willing to accept any counter offering. We seem to be in the top 2 or 3 of everyone's house hunting list, but it looks like we will be selling the house in 2008.

Our October vacation took us to Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio to visit at least 25 relatives over the course of 1 week. The boys dressed as Power Rangers for Halloween and Jacob completed his 4th and final season with the Tigers.

November & December continued my commute to Houston as Jill & the boys made several trips to visit. They even surprised me by showing up on my birthday along with my parents & sister. Wow, what a great surprise! The holidays are nearly over and we were able to spend time with both Grandparents & siblings.

What a year! Here's hoping 2008 is a little less hectic. Happy New Year to all!

A picture is worth.....

This picture was taken by Jill on 03-01-03 and soon after became a framed picture in our house. This house is located just outside of Birmingham, Alabama.

Jacob loves cars

Here is Jacob in Grandma Patton's car.

04-10-05 Jacob 2 years old

Our kids at their best

Here are probably two of the funniest photos we have of our boys. These were taken earlier this year for their passport pictures. I'm sure we will enjoy them for years to come. I personally think they look like they are getting booked into jail.

Jacob & Great Grandpa

Jacob (10 months old) & Great Grandpa Denton

11-27-03

Our Favorite Burger Joint

When we move, the fast food I will miss the most will be Scotty P's. It's a local burger joint that is delicious. I always eat the #2, Preston Trail Burger with chili and cheese and an order of cardiac fries. Man am I hungry.

Jake's old sayings

While packing, I came across a notebook that had some of Jacob's funny things he said when he was younger.

One of his first phrases came from Dora the Explorer:

"Ahhh maaaan"

"MomDad" one word said as fast as he can, we thought we were 1 person

He said this for a month every morning:
"It's a great day MomDad, the sun is out"

"I'm going bishin" He thought he was going fishing

We told him, you're kidding me, so often he finally started saying this to us:
"I'm kidding you"

"I tooted right out of my butt" I think he explained this one pretty clearly

Josh

08-25-05 - Josh 4 months old

Brothers

08-08-05 - Josh 4 months old, Jacob 2.5 years old

Fireman Josh

This was a birthday party the boys attended last year at a Frisco firehouse. They were given a tour of the entire facility including the fire engines. The engines were the boys favorite but the firemen were a very close second.

09-30-06 - Josh 17 months old

Big Brother

Jacob has always looked out for his brother and even though they may fight every day, he backs him up if anyone else tries to mess with him.
08-25-05 - Jacob 2.5 years old and Joshua 4 months old

Water Baby

Joshua is floating on a chair at Grandpa & Grandma Patton's pool.

07-18-06 - Joshua 15 months old

Carnival

These pictures were taken at Aunt Missy's school carnival. Jacob was able to go into this animal area to pet them. He was very interested in all of the animals.

04-24-04 - Jacob 15 months old

His first pony ride was successful although he was a little nervous about getting on.

Play Time

Josh playing with a few toys when we still had curtains. As Josh grew older, he decided trying to swing from these curtains would be a good idea. Needless to say, we do not have any curtains on this window for now.

01-11-06 - Joshua 9 months old

The Boys

This picture was taken at the pumpkin patch in Celina, TX.

10-14-05 -Jacob almost 3 yrs and Joshua 6 months

1995 All Star Game

Since the Baseball All Star Game is tonight I thought I would look back at a previous game.

I was fortunate enough to attend the 1995 All Star Game in Arlington, TX with my Dad. Mom & Dad framed this poster and ticket from the game for me Christmas of '95. The other ticket was the first regular season game at The Ballpark in Arlington. The first game at The Ballpark was 4-11-94 and the All-Star game was 7-11-95. In case anyone was wondering, the Rangers lost 4-3 to the Brewers and the National League beat the American League 3-2.

Officer Joshua

Josh was at a birthday party and found a ride that he liked.
02-19-06 - Joshua 10 months old

Rain Lamp

This rain lamp hangs in our formal living room and was a topic of discussion last week in Mexico. It came from Jill's Grandma & Grandpa Denton. Here is some historical background information regarding rain lamps.

Swing Batter

Jacob attended a birthday party at the fire station and this was his swing at the pinata. Even though he doesn't seem to have much interest in baseball, he has a great left handed swing.

09-30-06 - Jacob 3.5 years old

Header Picture

I wanted to include this picture to give a little context to the picture in the blog header. We just entered the Dallas Zoo and they spotted these foot massage barrels and the climbing began. Believe it or not, this was their reaction when I asked them to smile for a picture.

05-19-07 - Ages 2 & 4

Family Vacation

07-25-03 - Jacob 6 months old

This was also while we were in the Dominican Republic. We wore matching outfits one night to dinner.

Dominican Republic

This was taken during our trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.

07-25-03 - Jacob 6 months old

MIchigan tour

Here is Jacob visiting with Great Aunt Marie in Monroe, Michigan. Jacob had a great time driving his cars around her room.

10-13-04 - Jacob 21 months old

Bad Luck

While visiting family in Ohio we got to attend an Ohio State football game. We must be bad luck because the Buckeyes had an 18 game home winning streak snapped that dated back to 2001. Ohio State 13, Wisconsin 24.
We did make up for it later that year when we went to the Alamo Bowl and OSU stomped Oklahoma State. We drove there & back the same day, 9 hours roundtrip, and we had a blast.

10-09-04

Jacob's first goal

This was Jacob's first soccer game and he also scored his first goal. It must have been an incredible break away as you can see there is no other player in view.

03-04-06 - Jacob 3 years old

Way Back

My mom sent this picture out and I thought it fit right in with this blog about the past. From left to right is Missy, Michelle, Michael, Conor, & Damian. Great memories & Great Carpet! Thanks Mom!

1979

Our House Today

This is our house today.

06-12-07

Our House Then

This is a picture of our house in 2001.

07-06-01

Jacob's first Christmas

Grandma & Jacob are playing with some new toys & books.

12-25-03 - Jacob 11 months old

Mad Man

Joshua is upset over Jacob playing with a toy before he got to it.

01-27-06 - Joshua 9 months old

Tractors

Jacob has loved riding tractors ever since his Uncle Ron took him on a ride when he was 10 months old. This is a kid tractor at the pumpkin farm in Celina, TX

10-14-05 - Jacob almost 3 years old

Smile

Josh likes making a mess of his bed and rolling around it.

10-18-05 - Joshua 6 months old

Halloween 2005

This is Jacob & his friend Kenny at the Stonebriar Church Carnival.

10-28-05 - Jacob almost 3 years old

Josh in the Pumpkins

Josh had a blast picking out a pumpkin when we went to the petting zoo farm and pumpkin patch.

10-14-05 - Joshua 6 months old

Texas Rangers

This was Jacob's first Major League Baseball game. Unfortunately, the Texas Rangers lost to the New York Yankees this night. Some things never seem to change.

08-11-04 - Jacob 17 months old

Big Smile

Josh always seems to have a big smile to anyone that looks his direction.
08-17-05 - Josh 4 months old

Follow the Light

Jacob looks mesmerized by all the candles(55 in theory). The name of the birthday person will be withheld to protect the elderly....I mean innocent.

09-23-05 - Jacob 32 months old

Josh in the bushes

Josh thinks it is hilarious when he runs into the bushes. I think he is going to be an outdoorsman.

08-25-06 - Joshua 16 months old

Helping Hand

Jacob was helping Dad build the Christmas Tree.

11-30-05 - Jacob almost 3 years old

Two of a Kind

You'll notice this was during Jacob's bruised forehead stage. It seemed like he hit his head constantly for a good 9 months on the sidewalk, fireplace, and table. We thought that bruise would be permanant.

09-12-05

The Boys

Jacob & Joshua playing around in the chair

05-11-06

Looking Sharp

01-13-06 - Joshua 9 months old

Columbus Zoo

We went to the Columbus Zoo while visiting relatives in Ohio & Michigan. Jacob had a blast riding the pony and seeing the elephants. Mom, Dad, Jacob, & Great Grandpa Denton bundled up that morning for the cold weather, but later in the day it warmed up to 65 degrees and was a great day for the zoo.

10-11-04 - Jacob 22 months old

Airplane

This was Joshua's first trip on a plane. We were on our way to Myrtle Beach, SC.

07-16-05 - Joshua 3 months old

Fuelman

This was at a gas station off of I-20 in Mississippi and we couldn't resist. I'm sure we had just changed his diaper.

03-02-03 - Jacob 7 weeks old