Chester Choo Choo :)

Just a random (but adorable!) pic of our eldest son Chester!! I caught him sleeping tonight and just had to take this shot, even though it woke him up... :/

Gracie's First Birthday Party!!!

Although technically Gracie won't be O-N-E until Christmas Eve, we celebrated her big day yesterday!!! She was a hoot opening her gifts and eating her little cake (which she devoured entirely!). We had so much fun watching her throughout the party, playing with the other kids, opening her gifts and eating! Neither Austin nor myself can believe how big she is getting and how much she has grown over the past few months! We are so blessed to have two beautiful, healthy nieces who we love OH so much!

We love you Gracie Rae, and HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!!!

Aunt KK and Uncle Aukin...AGAIN!!

We get to be Aunt and Uncle again this coming August! Dan and Tracy are expecting their second baby, and right around my and my dad's birthdays! :) Congrats to you guys, and especially Gracie for becoming a big sister!!!

Isn't Gracie so darn cute as a pumpkin?!?!?

Brogan is 17!!

Wow...I am still in shock about this, but Brogan turned 17 last Saturday, December 8th!! He was just seven when Austin and I started dating. We cannot believe how fast he has grown, nor can we believe how fast time has flown by! We celebrated with him last Saturday with dinner and delicious cheesecake.

And in case you're wondering, Chester, or as "Uncle" Brogan calls him "Cheddar Bob", is in the pic with him on the bottom, and Austin, Jordan, Blake, myself, Brogan and Tessa (Brogan's girlfriend) are in the top pic.

Happy Birthday to you, Brogan Thomas Bibler! :)

HOONEY'S HOME!!!

He is very, very groggy at the moment, but he is happy to be home!! And Mom's happy to have him home too (Dad's on his way home now to see him!). Surgery went well, and he is now mouth-tumor free. The only problem they had was with the catheter (hence the blue bandage). He was even happy to see Chester, and visa versa (as you can clearly see!).

I'm so glad my Baby Bear is HOME!! :)

HAPPY...and sad...

Today, even though I still had to go into work at 7:00, our 2-hour delay turned into a cancellation!! WOO HOO! So I get the rest of the day off, but I am not really enjoying it because I feel awful that Hoonis is in a cage right now, scared to death, and is SOOOOO pissed at me for leaving him there. :( He gave me a "MOM?? Where are you going?????" look as I left. I hate that look.

Hoonis has his surgery this afternoon, and they know to call as soon as he is done! He will come home tonight, and we will not leave his side! I hope to give an "all clear" post later tonight.

Just had to vent my mixed emotions right now...:/

Poor Hooney Bear...

Poor Hooney...he had a bad day that started with a nasty seizure. Unfortunately, Austin and I were both at work when it happened, so he had to go into it and come out of it alone (well, w/ Chester and Gertie, but they usually run away from him during these episodes). :( I hate when that happens. But, after I got home on my break and got the couch cleaned up, he got mucho attention from me, and then from Austin when he got home. To add insult to injury, on Friday he has to go in for surgery to get tumors...yes, plural-tumorS...removed from the inside of his mouth. My poor Hooney Rooney Bear...:( Dr. Chudy says they are more often than not benign, though, so we have a small slice of possible good luck. :/

Even though there are far more important things going on in the world, Hoonis (and his mom and dad) could use some prayers (and appreciates them too!). I will give an update on Friday evening when he's home from the 'hospital' regarding his surgery.

Just Because...:)

On Friday, Austin brought me two dozen roses home when he got home from work "just because". :) They really started blooming today, and we put them right by the staircase, so every trip up or downstairs smells terrific!

Thank you, Austin. They're beautiful!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

We spent Thanksgiving at Austin's Grandma's house in Buchanan, MI (basically right on the Michigan/Indiana border). The whole day was great until the drive home, where we ran into a HUGE snow storm! When we got home we saw on the news they were under a Lake Effect Snow Warning. I couldn't even see a foot in front of me...it was horrible. Other than driving through a snow storm, Thanksgiving was great, being filled with family, fun, food (which was AWESOME!) and a giant snow ball fight to end the night. Not to mention all the dogs...:)

Happy Holidays to everyone!

Congrats to Mr. and Mrs. Daugherty!

I can't post too many pics of the wedding b/c Jen hasn't seen them yet (Marrisa and I shot the wedding), but I wanted to simply give them a big congrats! Jen and Dan got married this past Saturday, November 17th.

Fun Times w/ Gracie Rae!

Last night I got to spend the evening with my niece Gracie! We played a lot of games, we went bye-bye to my house for a hot minute, and then Gracie got to meet Hoonis and Chester! I was a bit worried about Hoonis meeting her (everytime I say "Look at the Baby!", he thinks I'm talking about him b/c he's ALWAYS the baby!). Anyway, Hoonis did very well with her and gave her tons of kisses on her feet and hands (followed by screeching laughs by Gracie!)! Chester, on the other hand, got up close and personal with her! That's him in the bottom picture. And before we left, Gracie climbed all by herself into the car seat and waited patiently (well, she got bored and took of her socks, but whatever!). Then when we got back home, Uncle Austin came to visit ad helped with dinner and bathtime. In fact, he got to be the "good guy" and gave her her bottle while rocking her to sleep! Thanks for the great night, Gracie! Can't wait to do it again!

Just Too Cute...

I had to post these! You may have seen these already, but they make me smile a very BIG smile! I hope I can put a smile on your face too!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Tonight we had a Snellink dinner to celebrate my grandma's 79th birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRANDMA!! Here's to many more...:) We love you so, so much!

Fall's Almost Gone Already...

...but that means CHRISTMAS is that much closer! Yes, that's right, I said that C-word! I personally love this time of year, and even have my Christmas ringtone on my phone already! Austin on the other hand still talks about that move to Florida that we should have done years ago. I think we still need to appreciate what's left of fall! Here's a pic of Maddie from a couple weeks ago playing outside in the leaves!

Still seems like yesterday...

...that I was chatting with my giggly, beautiful Grandma Hosford. There have been so many times over the past year when I wanted her and only her to talk to about certain things because no matter what, she always understood when others didn't. I can't do that anymore. I miss her more and more every single day. I cannot believe it has been one year today that she has been gone. I truly hate days like this...

I love you so much Grandma...always have, always will. I miss you more than words can say.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Well, we didn't get the boys too shnazzied up this year...we thought we'd give 'em a break! Here they are anyway in their "costumes"! Hoonis had an axe on his head, and Chester had an arrow (in case you can't see very well!) Happy Halloween to all, and we can't wait to see our beautiful nieces tonight all dressed up!! More pics to come...:)

Snuggle Buddies

Aren't they adorable?

Halloween Party '07

I'll let the pictures do the talking here...

BROGAN'S BIG PLAY!!!

On Friday night, during Rockford's first playoff game against Traverse City West, Brogan intercepted the at the 2 yard line and ran 98 YARDS for a touchdown!!!! WOOP WOOP! We are so very proud of him, and rewarded him (and his best friend Jordan) with a GVSU vs. Ferris State game (GVSU killed them, by the way!). Way to go Brogan! Next week they play Holt at Holt...details to follow, of course!

P.S. Here's Brogan's big moment!!!

GO RAMS!

Wow...I think this is the longest time spent NOT blogging! Out laptop crashed and burned shortly after our last posting, and we have been using a "loaner" (thanks, Mom Bibler!) until we get a new one. Unfortunately, we have no pics of the incredible game last night between Rockford and Muskegon, but, to the entire state's surprise...Rockford won 28-21, and Brogan did AWESOME!! We are now onto the playoffs...many pics and info to come soon on that!

Here's a link from Wood TV8 of Brogan recovering a critical fumble (it's hard to see Brogan, but I promise...it was him!!!) It's also on the Rockford Football website as "Fumble recovered by Bibler"! In case you can see him, Brogan is #2.

http://www.rockfordfootball.com/images_multi/09_fumrec_02.mov

and here's another link to watch: http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_article.aspx?storybid=82491