Happy Birthday Chris!

Yesterday was Chris's birthday and today he is getting his birthday present. He is getting lasik. He is so excited!! He is so tired of wearing glasses and dealing with the hassles of everyday life with glasses. He use to wear contacts but he can't anymore because his eyes will start to hurt the second that he puts them on. His eyes dry out and the contact would create a suction to his eye. Every time that he would wear them he would come home and his eyes would be dilated and extremely red. He has been counting down the days since he made the appointment. Happy Birthday Sweetheart! I Love You!

Learning how to skate!

We went to a skating birthday party for one of Alexis's school friends. Alexis had never been skating before. She has a pair of skates that she can slip over her tennis shoe and she plays with them on the sidewalk, but this is the first time in real skates. She did really good. At first she spent more time on her bottom, but she never gave up and by the time we left she was skating around the place without falling. I was very impressed that she picked it up that fast. Ashlyn got to try the skates too. She loved them. Daddy walked around with her the entire time and she wanted him to let her go so she could do it by herself, but Daddy didn't want to see her get hurt so he held on to her.

Cousin Cameron taking the girls on a ride!

Padoo

The past month has been extremely hard on everyone in our family as we have been coping with the loss of Chris's father and the girls Grandfather. On February 14th 2009 our beloved Padoo (aka Burt Robbins) passed away. Padoo was an amazing man and is going to be greatly missed. He had a wonderful smile and he was always smiling even though he was in a lot of pain. He wanted to serve you and make you comfortable and happy. He always had a nice thing to say about everyone and everything, very positive. He loved his wife, soul mate, Linda (Grammy) with all his heart and she always came first. She is lost without him.

Everyone is doing good and handling it as best as they can. The girls are dealing with it in their own ways. Ashlyn wants to talk about Padoo all the time. She says things like Padoo is in Heaven watching me play. Padoo is playing with Sassy. One day I will go to Heaven and see Padoo again. Too Cute! Alexis is dealing with it differently. She has not said a word about it. She cried hard several times. I have asked her if she has any questions and does she want to talk about it and she just says, "Mommy I understand everything that happened and I do not want to talk about it". I had a feeling that this was the case because Padoo was very sick and in the hospital she would never ask how he was or if was going to be OK, even though Chris left for the hospital very upset. I think she knew that it didn't look good and just didn't want to talk about it. I guess everyone deals with grief in their own ways but I worry about her bottling everything up inside. I think she would feel better if she were to talk about it. Chris is being very strong. I know that he is hurting inside and will for a long time. Only time will heal. Linda is doing good. Yes, we worry about her and think about her everyday. She has a lot to learn and to deal with but she has a huge support system. She has Stacie and so many friends and family close by that she can lean on. We love you Grammy please take care of yourself and try not to stress to much and please call me if you need anything at all!

Here is a poem I ran across that I thought was fitting!

Gone Away
© Diana Blokzyl

An Angel whispered
take my hand and
come with me
you're work here is done.

I went away to a place
where there's no tears, nor sorrow
only laughter and smiles,
there will always be a Tomorrow.

As I move amongst the clouds.
I'll look down and smile upon you,
while the angels
sing a heavenly song.

I am not alone
all who went before
are here
they awaited my return.

I know you'll grieve
and wish I was still here
I am here in the memories
you hold dear.

Remember how much
I love you
and know I took your
love with me.

I did not wish for
you to cry, nor feel sad.
My pain is gone
and I am Free!

Soon you'll come to me
until then
God will be with you
Just as He's with me.

We love you and miss you so much Padoo! You will never be forgotten!

The caringbridge page (below) is the website that Stacie has kept up with. It has a lot of information about Padoo along with some pictures. The mem.com is from the memorial service. It has some great pictures. They both have guest books to sign. Check them out! You will have to cut and paste the link.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/burtrobbins
http://www.mem.com/Story.aspx?ID=2869896

Yeah! Lexi!

Alexis had her 1st of the year awards ceremony. She got an award for straight A's and citizenship. She is so smart . We are so proud of her! Way to go Alexis!

Dancing

The girls are playing dance dance revolution on ps2. Alexis loves it and does a great job at it. Ashlyn wants to do it so bad but she doesn't understand how to make it work. Poor girl gets so frustrated. She just stomps her feet all over the mat. She does get some right and she does have fun doing it. It is so cute!

Christmas in Lubbock!

We had a huge party in Lubbock! It was great! We played guitar hero all day and night. Jeff got a guitar hero also so we battled against everyone and I mean everyone. Nanny, Mom, Crissy and Amy all played. It was fun! Even Presley had a blast. The girls had a blast with Abby. They played and played and had so many presents to open it was insane! I don't have a clue how Chris fit everything into my Camry but some how he did and we got everything home. Thank you all so much for all the nice gifts. You guys are way to generous! We love you!

Christmas in Houston

we went to Houston to have Christmas with Grammy and Pa-do and cousins. The girls had a wonderful time and of course cried when we left. We got to hang out with grandparents, great-grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, 3rd cousins and you get the picture. We got to see some cousins that we have not seen in a long time and the girls are still talking about them today. The girls were spoiled rotten and got so many nice things. Thank you everyone for spoiling them. It isn't necessary but means the world to me that you thought about and love my girls. I did not get any pictures of all the kids. So if anyone got pictures that night could you please email them to me?

Chris and his guitar hero!

We got Chris a guitar hero for Christmas. He loves it! Well, we all do! I never thought that playing guitar hero would be so much fun but it really is a blast. Even Lexi rocks! My wonderful husband got me an awesome new laptop. I love it!!! Thank You Sweetheart!

Christmas Morning

Create Your Own

Christmas was so much fun! It was so relaxing! It is nice because we don't have a schedule. Since we don't have family here, there is no where we have to be and we are not expecting anyone. We don't go anywhere Christmas because we want the girls to be home for Christmas and have Santa Claus at home. We do miss having family around Christmas day, but this is the way that is has to be right now. Anyways, we were awaken bright and early from both girls. Alexis woke up first and then went and woke Ashlyn up. They both came running into our room screaming it is Christmas you have to get up. Get Up! Get Up! Get Up! They were so excited. They waited so patiently at the top of the stairs while Chris and I got our camera's ready. I always take still camera shots while Chris runs the video camera. Santa had brought them both guitars and Hannah Montana stuff among other things. Both girls love Hannah Montana but especially Ashlyn. Ashlyn thinks that she is a rock star. She is so cute. They were so excited! Be sure and mute my music so you can hear them.

cookies for Santa play date

Isn't this picture so sweet! I see a glimpse of the future when they are teenagers in this picture. It is scary. They are babies and look way to young to look this grown-up.

We had our play group come over and make cookies for Santa. We had a blast and I think the kids did too. We had 18 kids!!!! It was a house full! We all gathered around the table and made a huge mess and some pretty awesome cookies too. I think a lot of the kids ate their cookies before they left but many of them took them home to give to Santa! Like I said we had a mess but it was cool. Monica even crawled around under the table trying to get all the cookie decorations cleaned up! I tried to get her picture but she was fast getting out from under the table when she saw me coming with the camera. She is so wonderful to make that effort. Thank You