his gift

an even bigger surprise than the party was, was his gift.... dave has been wanting a jeep his entire life and as his birthday drew closer, he kept declaring that he was going to have a mid-life crisis and buy a jeep. i of course thought this was ridiculous.... one, you can't declare you are going to have a mid-life crisis, it just kind of happens and two, a jeep would be the most impractical car for our family to own.

after i thought about it more and more, i started talking to dad about maybe trying to get one and surprise him with it. he works harder than anyone i know and loves to give people extravagant gifts, so i thought i was time to turn the tables on him and blow him away.

well.... only with Gods direction and timing, dad and i found a 1983 jeep c7... fully restored and in amazing condition. it was about an hour from our house. when dad and mom were here in november he went and checked it out and we got. the guy we bought it from was a christian and so nice. he gave us a great deal on it.

when it came time for me to give it to him, i wanted the kids to help me. so wrapped up some clues and handed them to him one by one. the first being a bottle of touch up paint and the last being a toy jeep with a key attached to it. he didn't know whether to get excited or not.

i told him it was for real and he needed to go outside and check it out.




it has a few kinks we are trying to work out but i think it is going to be an awesome treat for my MOST awesome hubby. i can't wait to go on date night with him in the jeep.

Happy Birthday to the best part of me. You complete me, truly. I wouldn't be who i am without you. We all love you so much.

the widmaiers

while Dave's brother and family were in town for thanks giving we snuck away for a quick photo shoot. check the rest of the photos out here.

Dave's 40th SURPRISE birthday party

part of the reason i was so behind on blogging is because i was getting ready for a big surprise party for dave's 40th birthday. we had a great time. people traveled from far and near and really surprised him. we had an 80's themed party for him in the dining hall out at the camp.

i hung pictures in all the windows, decorated with tables full of junk he has saved. he is a pack rat for sure! or maybe just sentimental.

i tired to find a dress that was similar to this prom dates dress. i found this beauty at a thrift store for 2.50. it was a light teal and i dyed it to try to match it to the color of his dates dress. it turned out pretty good and REALLY funny.
more photos over at the dessert table. we had warm, gooey brownie with every kind of mint topping you could think of.... Daves favorite.
centerpieces for the tables.
almost everyone came dressed up. it was a blast.


some great friends of ours from florida made the trip up and then hung out with us for the weekend. we had a really wonderful time with them. ryan and kristin, thanks SO much. we enjoyed every minute.

more about Daves big gift coming next :)

Christmas Parade 2011

the first sunday in December was the greeneville christmas parade. since garret is a scout he was a part of the parade for the last two years. Dave's truck and trailer are also part of the parade :)

this year the girls and i rode with dave in the truck. it was a fun day and again, amazing weather! last year it was FREEZING!!

who are we???? pack 93!!!!

thanksgiving 2011 with the wids

I'm having trouble making my pics big... maybe i forgot how to do it, it has been so long since i have blogged :) above is a pic of the whole crew at thanksgiving. i will try to name everyone for you...back row: debbies children, meghan,katie, hunter, sydney, george and kay, ryan (debbie's adopted son) debbie. middle row: bonnie with jori in lap, dave, brenna, raelyn, sam, steve katie with ruthie in lap, jessie (debbies foster boy) front row: garret and jake.

thats a big crew! i hope i will have 11+ grandchildren one day :) the weather in east tennessee was just amazing for thanksgiving this year. it was great because when the house got to crowded with all those people in it, we could just send the kids outside. they played on the basket ball court, we took a family horse back ride, built and launched rockets, and built ginger bread houses. oh and of course we ate a lovely meal. katie and i even got to sneak away for a little while and do some black friday shopping.

the boys playing in grand pops "man cave"

snuggles with grandpa






we had a great thanksgiving. lots to be thankful for!

going way back

i have quite a bit of catching up to do here. i figured i would start with one to make you laugh... this is us trying to get a family photo with the self timer and an 18 month old who really just wanted to explore....i just had to share this blooper. my own family was by far my hardest photo shoot yet :)i did get some cute ones in there though too.


more coming later.

thankful for:

this crazy bunch i'm so blessed to call my family

beautiful weather lately

healthy kids

a husband that is the most amazing gift i could ask for