Our little family

Who would have thought that I would meet the man of my dreams at a country bar called Rooster's?? Not me, but here we are now a little over a year later and planning a wedding. We met on February 21st, 2008, and began dating shortly after that. It was a little of an adjustment for the both of us, and it wasn't always easy. Coming into a relationship with both of us having been married before and having kids, we weren't sure how our lives would fit together! Andee was going through the infamous "terrible two's" when we started dating and definitly made for some "we'll-look-back-at-this-and-laugh" moments, or at least at the time thats what I was hoping for! She wouldn't fall sleep til 2 o'clock in the morning, spilled water all over Steve's "important" work papers, threw her food, colored on Steve's television, and took all of Samantha's clothes out of her dresser and scattered them all over her room(to name a few haha). It's funny now, but at the time I was sure Steve was gunna run for the hills. He went from being a single part time dad with a clean, quite house to dating a "not so clean and quiet" girl with a messy 2 year old, and a stinky snoring bulldog. But he stuck around and helped me to be a better mom, and has been incredible with Andee. I couldn't ask for more! As for Samantha and Andee, they were instant best friends. Samantha is such a good big sister and has adjusted so well to sharing all her toys and having a constant shadow! Andee just adores everything about her, and wants to be just like her. We really lucked out with those 2! As if our house isn't crazy enough... we also have 2 dogs! A chocolate lab named Vader, and my "stinky" bulldog Rocky! We like them most of the time! Vader is the "ultimate" puppy! He chews up everything, barks non-stop, and can't be left alone with out something getting ruined. If you've seen Marley & Me, that pretty much sums him up! Rocky pretty much just snores, farts, and lays around most of the time. It is definitly never quiet around here, that's for sure (but I think Steve secretely likes the chaos, haha)! When we're not playing house and Steve's not out saving the world... we love to travel! Our favorite quick get-a-way is Rocky Point! We try to go every couple of months! We have also been to New York for a mini reunion with some of Steve's friends, Minnesota to visit Steve's family, Disneyland and Sea World in California (Steve and Samantha's first time), Hawaii a couple times, and we went to Florida for the Super Bowl! For Spring Break Samantha and Kayte are coming to stay with us! Andee and I are so excited to finally get to meet her! We plan on going camping and hopefully making a trip down to Rocky Point! We are also going to spend these next 2 weeks planning our wedding! So we'll keep you posted!!

As for now... Steve is a detective for DPS and works with the U.S. Marshalls as a fugitive finder. So he basically tracks down and arrests the really bad guys! So thanks to him we are all a little bit safer! He is such a hard worker! Some weeks working 60+ hours! He is so fortunate to be so good at what he does and also enjoy it!

As for me I finished my prerequisties for nursing school, and have been busy applying at several different programs all over the valley!! I find out in the beginning of April which program I get accepted into, and a start date! I'm so anxious to get started and move closer to graduating and working as a Registered Nurse! My ultimate goal is to specialize in Trauma/Emergency care!

Samantha is still living in Hawaii with her mom, and is in 1st grade! She is also taking golf lessons and seems to really like it! She is going to be 7 on May 23rd, and shortly after come stay with us for the summer! We are planning on signing her up for gymnastics/cheer class as well!

Andee turned 3 in January!! She is getting sooo big! We are still working on the potty training thing, and she is finally making some progress and showing interest! So we hope to have her completely out of pull ups by the end of spring break!! She is also in a combo class at the little gym where she does 20 minutes of tap, ballet, and gymnastics! She loves it!! She is also in swimming lessons to get her ready for the summer!!

We love our hectic little life, and are so lucky to have eachother!!
A year down forever to go!