A Paramedic and new friend

So, since my last post Jeff has officially passed all of his required test and is a full fledged PARAMEDIC now. We are so proud of him, he's worked very hard. Now he's busy filling out apps and hoping to get on somewhere to put his new learning into practice. CONGRATS HONEY!!

And speaking of new friends, this is Leslie and Trystan. They are from Moore, OK where my good friend Emily lives. Emily asked us to befriend them while they were here and it was such a blessing to do so. Trystan and her Mom spent about 6 weeks here in St. Louis and Shriners Hospital. Trystan had surgery to correct her spine, she has juvenille scoliosis. This was taken the day before she went back home. She was a trooper. She wore a metal halo around her head for several weeks with 20 pounds of weight to keep her back straight. Now she has a pink cast around her torso to help with healing. They are an awesome family! She is back home and doing well. Hopefully we'll get to visit her when she comes back for her check ups. Plus every 6 months I believe she has to come back for surgery to lenghten the rods in her back. Keep her in your prayers.

High School!

So far, so good!! He seems to be adjusting ok. Finally got homework assigned today but it is not due til Monday. This week is a short week, off on Friday. He hasn't gotten lost at all and it's a pretty big school! He doesn't let me take his picture anymore on the 1st day of school so it's just a boring, short update. So far, so good!

I have a High Schooler!!

He can't be old enough for High School, but he is!! I have such mixed emotions about this! We went up to school today for registration/schedule pick up. It was strange to be there w/ him as a student. He seems to be happy w/ his schedule and is now a little excited about the new school year and new opportunities!! I know these next 4 years will fly by!! I hope and pray he loves them and really enjoys school!!

Random Pictures from Family Weekend

Celebrating Bethany's birthday. All the kids "helping" blow out the candles.

Family Weekend

oops I picked the picture with Luke blocking Brielle. Hard to get the little guys to sit still. This is all my parents great grandkids.

All the grandkids with their spouses

3 daughters with their spouses

The WHOLE family!! We had an awesome weekend. Did lots of eating and spending time together. Went to Grants Farm on Friday after eating at Pappy's BBQ. Just amazing to all be together. Wish it happened more often. When we live so spread apart its too difficult. Love you all!!

Ready for it to begin ?

So, Shayne has 2 more days left of school and then he'll officially be a HIGH SCHOOLER!! Something about that just doesn't sit right with me. It's emotionally killing me. My only child, my baby is almost a grown up and THINKS he is already!! So, as much as I'm looking forward to spending time with him this summer I almost don't want this school year to end. Keep him young for a little longer....he just started kindergarten only a short while ago, right! Why do they have to grow up!! But, I'm going to take the time to enjoy it and make it a great summer! We're headed off to Camp and then the Lake of the Ozarks at the beginning of the summer. I'm sure many camping trips will follow! Family coming into town that we haven't seen for awhile, so excited about that!! So, yes I am definately ready for the summer to BEGIN, just hope it doesn't go too quickly. August 15 will get here soon enough, YIKES!

Tornado April 2011

Words cannot describe the utter devastation that we see driving through Bridgeton and Maryland Heights. So thankful that no one was killed or terribly injured. So many families in our Pattonville community have lost everything. Prayers and my heart go out to them. This is something I have never been through.

This is Jeff's parents house. The neighbors tree fell into their yard and hit the back of the house. Thankfully all inside were fine and in the basement. Just watching the news today and seeing the devastation in AL and GA and all the flooding going on I still have no words. The loss of life is horrible. God, please wrap your arms around those communities and families. I can say that I feel blessed, there was no damage or issue to our home.

Easter Beg Hunt

Took advantage of the beautiful weather today. 1st we took star to an easter egg hunt and she got a stuffed bunny. Then we headed to a conservation area and let her swim and play fetch. She loved swimming out into the water to retrieve the stick and then shake off as close to one of us as possible.

Waiting for the hunt to start with our friend Pam and Cypress. Star just kept barking because all she wanted was the treats we got before the hunt started.

And here she is w/ her bunny. She loves it because it has a squeaker in it. By tomorrow she will have the squeaker chewed out of the pour bunny and stuffing all over the place. I'll let ya know.

Spring Break at the ZOO

We've been on Spring Break this week. Went to the zoo on Monday. The rest of it we spent doing nothing. I spent a day in bed sick. Feeling better now. Thought I'd share a few pictures of our trip to the zoo. Enjoy!

February 16, 1951

My parents are celebrating 60 years of marriage. I feel so blessed that they are my parents and very proud of the fact that they make marriage work. On Sunday, Jimmy, our minister talked about their marriage and how they "Tell their story together". They have such an amazing love for each other and their ENTIRE family which consists of 3 daughters, 3 son in laws, 5 grandchildren, 3 grandchildren in laws and 7 great grandchildren! Such an awesome legacy all because 2 people fell in love.
Love you Mom and Dad!
We'll be celebrating Wednesday evening with them. I'll post pictures of all the fun we have.

SLEDDIN'

Decided to head out this afternoon and go sledding. We had a great time. Great double hill adventure. Getting down the hill was the easy part! Good cardio workout coming back up! Jeff and Shayne were going to go down together but then decided to just go side by side. They were laughing so hard by the time they got to the bottom of the hill.

Shayne and I going down the hill. It was a lot of fun and not too cold so we were really able to enjoy ourselves. More snow is apparently in the forecast. Right now it feels like Shayne will never finish the school year. But, he absolutely LOVES having snow days. At least right now he does, I'm sure he'll be complaining come June!

Nothing much to say.

Really not a whole lot to report of things going on in the Horton household. We've been busy, but not too busy. Been lazy when we want to. But we did joing the YMCA and have been working out as a family. I have been loving that. Seeing Shayne work out and really enjoy it has been great. I've been proud of him. I'm taking an Aqua Kickboxing class 2x's a week. That is a lot of fun and an awesome workout for me.
Today is another snow day. I must say that I think the snow is beautiful but I am so done with it now!! And we have more coming Sunday/Monday. Significant snowfall I think!! How many more snow days will we have? Going to school into June will not be good. At least we have several days built into the schedule,but those are almost used up!! I did take pictures of the snowfall but I think Jeff took the camera to work w/ him so this is a boring post w/ no pictures.
I may just head back to my nice warm bed for awhile!! Enjoy your day!!