Thought this was cute even though she didn't say what I wanted her to say.

This is a video of anna and jazz playing. I thought it was too cute and I finally caught them on video. I've been trying for a while.

Anna loves playing with Jazz and her rope. Anna has even gotten it away from jazz a few times. I also just noticed that my house looks like a reck in the pics but I happened to be doing laundry that day. It doesn't always look like that. :)

On Tuesday anna and I went to McD's for lunch and she played in that Playland for the first time. We were supposed to go with her friend anya and her mom but anya was sick so I din't think anna would do much but she played with the other little girls there. She wouldn't go up to the top until I went with her. When we get back I put her to work on the dishes as you can se in the photo. Unfortunatly she washes dishes like her dad and her grandma Robin. Water everywhere. Her shirt was soaked. She loves her new night gown and her sugar and spice cookie. The Tricycle, also a Becky gift and also a hit with anna.

Sunday after church we had a "birthday party" for anna. We had ice cream cake and Becky gave anna her gift which you can see in the photos. Some toys are as easy to fold down as they are to open up. This was not one of them. :) Oh well, anna loves it and sometimes she hides in there when she is supposed to be taking her nap. I don't know how Becky does it but she always gets something that anna loves. Thanks Becky.

Yes, I decorated after Christmas. I bought a tree (3 times with trial and error) after christmas. I had fun and it's going to stay up until eric comes home because our family christmas will be in March, not december. I am looking forward to it very much.

Well, anna is sadly no longer a baby. she is now in her "big girl" bed and loving it. She is much better at staying in bed than I anticipated which helps a lot. : ) When we returned home after Christmas we got a package from eric and it was full of beanie babies and a pink gorilla with a t-shirt that had the name of the camp he is at. There was also a dvd eric made of himself. He read three books to anna which anna really liked.

The sunday after Christmas the girl cousins wore their matching dresses that grandma gave them for Christmas. Anna and Noelle matched and Maleah and Reagan were supposed to match but Maleah didn't wear hers. They were all adorable. I just wish we had gotten better pictures of them.

I thought this was adorable. Anna is really starting to get into pretending. She loves to pretend that she is cooking and taking care of her baby (for the most part anyway, sometimes she's pretty abusive.) :)

Anna and I were having some fun with the camera and she started saying "Hi daddy" all by herself. I thought it was adorable and I am hoping eric can see it from where he is.

These Pics are very random. The game (for those of you who have not been converted) is called Settlers and is the newest favorite family game. Jeremy was being funny (or so he thought) and took a picture of himself with my camera. The puppy is named abby and she belongs to Jeremy and Jo.

These are some random pics, most from thanksgiving day. Anna and I visited my parents this weekend since Jeremy, Jo and Ryan were up from Ohio. As you can see anna and Ryan were having a blast with the bin.

This is a random video I made to see if I could actually get the computer to cooperate for me. I think the video I was trying to upload earlier is too big or something because it would not upload. Anyway, anna loves to pretend that she is going shopping or going somewhere.

These are obviously pictures from holloween. I almost had to carry her costume with us because she didn't want to put it on. We went to the burnsville mall and she got a lot more candy than I thought she would. after that we went up to robin's and went around to her neighbors. We had a lot of fun that night.

POEM By Autumn Parker


I GOT YOUR BACK

I am a small and precious child, my dad’s been sent to fight… The only place I’ll see his face, is in my dreams at night. He will be gone too many days for my young mind to keep track. I may be sad, but I am proud. My daddy’s got your back.

I am a caring mother; my son has gone to war… My mind is filled with worries that I have never known before. Everyday I try to keep my thoughts from turning black. I may be scared, but I am proud. My son has got your back.

I am a strong and loving wife, with a husband soon to go. There are times I’m terrified, in a way most never know. I bite my lip, and force a smile, as I watch my husband pack… My heart may break, but I am proud. My husband’s got your back…

I am a soldier… Serving proudly, standing tall. I fight for freedom, yours and mine, by answering this call. I do my job while knowing, the thanks it sometimes lacks. Say a prayer that I’ll come home. It’s me who’s got your back.

Anna and I went to our local airport to see the "field of Honor" they put up every year on Sep. 11. It was very cool to see all those flags. I actually arrived just before they were about to begin the ceremony. Governor Tim Pawlenty was there to give a speech and they had a bunch of the local police officers and Army Reserve members there to place a flag for each fallen soldier who was from Minnesota. some friends of ours actually had a flag put up in honor of Eric. It took me a while to find it but I did eventually. I think they said there were 800 flags that people had put up either in honor or in memory or someone. It was very cool to see. I also made the mistake of wearing my army sweatshirt so the local news crew caught me and asked me if my husband is a soldier and they proceeded to interview me on camera.

These are just some random pictures that I took with my new camera. I was having some fun and I am testing it out for thirty days to see if I like it.

This is the best place at the fair. All the milk you can drink for $1. How cool is that? If I hadn't eaten anything else I probably would have had about 10 cups.