Been a while...

Emma turns 6 tomorrow!! We had a small party at Brookshire's Park with some school and church friends. We're taking her to Chuck E Cheese tomorrow with her best friend to play and celebrate. I still can't believe she's 6, but she said she'll still be my baby!! Awww:)

Alyssa has wrapped up football season. She'll start cheering for the boys' basketball games in January. Tomorrow night we're going to a midnight showing of NEW MOON! The girls are so excited. I just hope their teachers don't catch them sleeping in class Friday:P

We've got so much going on. I haven't been good at blogging. It's so much easier to upload pictures to shutterfly and just post captions. So check us out at http://tashiacookfamily.shutterfly.com/

I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Summer Fun

Last night we met the James' at Tyler State Park. They've been camping out there this week and invited us out for the evening. Emma caught her first fish! It was very small, but it still counts. There were tons of little fish right at the dock. We saw a little turtle swimming around the bottom of the lake. We heard lots of frogs, but never got to see them. The kids got to play on the nice, new playground while the guys did a little more fishing. It was a really nice relaxed evening.

Susie made Emma a quilt and matching sham for her bed. My grandmother made me one and I still cherish it. Nanny helped a little so she had to be in the picture too.

Danny and I celebrated 7 years of marriage on July 5th.

We went to Pleasant Hill again this year to watch the fireworks show. I think it was even better than last year. Little Jonah got to see fireworks for the first time. He was so good. He even fell asleep during the show. The Smith's were there too and we saw some friends from church. It was a great way to celebrate Independence Day.

Disney World

I took about 500 pictures so I tried to pick some of my favorites. We arrived in Disney on Sunday and went swimming at our resort, then off to Downtown Disney to shop and eat at Planet Hollywood. Monday we tackled Magic Kingdom. We got there when it opened and planned on spending the whole day there, but by 5pm we were worn out and decided to go back to the hotel and swim and relax a little before heading to dinner at Chef Mickey's. We got to see and get autographs from Mickey, Minnie, Goofey, Donald, and Pluto. It was really fun. Tuesday we went to breakfast and got to take pictures with Cinderella, Belle, Aurora, Ariel, and Snow White. Then we spent the whole day at Epcot and got to see the fireworks show there. Wednesday was Hollywood Studios where we ate at the Sci-Fi Dine in Theater which was neat. We sat in old cars and watched old drive in movies. We saw a fun parade there and some neat shows. Thursday we had 8am breakfast reservations which Alyssa and Danny were not thrilled about, but they got up and we made it. There we saw Pooh, Tigger, Mary Poppins, Mad Hatter and Alice in Wonderland. The autographs were just about full. Then off to Animal Kingdom. There were some animals there that we don't have here and the tree of life is really interesting. My favorite show was there, The Festival of the Lion King. On our way out it started raining so we had to ditch our plan of swimming at the hotel and go shopping instead. They have a big outlet mall there which was the highlight for Alyssa. Emma loved it all. She says we're going back when she's 8 which Danny actually agreed to so I guess that says he had a good time too. It was a great family vacation.

Emma's 1st dance recital

She got a 1st year ribbon and a carnation from her teachers!
The big performance

On our way to recital

Emma was a natural on the stage. She wasn't a bit nervous. Of course I think she was the best one up there:-) She had a great first year at Dance N Drill and she's looking forward to going back in September.

Getting back to my roots...

Every Saturday before Easter my dad's family gets together in Garrison, TX for the "Easter Davis Family Reunion". This has been going on since way before I was even thought of. My sister and I spent every Spring Break there as kids and we loved it. I realized today how many wonderful memories I have of being there. It's literally in the sticks so there's no cable, no shopping, just dirt roads and mother nature. The old homeplace, as they call it, where my grandmother and her nine brothers and sisters grew up, is still there. It's atleast 75 years old and it survived the raising of 10 kids, numerous grandkids, greats, and now great greats. Amazingly it's still standing, although one of my aunts refuses to step foot in it for fear of the ceiling caving in or the floor rotting underneath her. It did seem so much smaller than I remember, but I guess I'm a little bigger too. Sadly they did finally tear down the old outhouse. I wanted Alyssa to experience that;)
My grandmother, MeMaw, passed away in 1996, two months before Alyssa was born. I went to one reunion the year after her death, but it wasn't the same without her there so I never went back. Well, one of my cousins started a blog and all the family gets on, even the older ones, and my aunts kept asking us to come. So today, Alyssa, Lori, and I loaded up and first went to White Rock Cemetery, where my dad and MeMaw are buried and placed some flowers on their gravesides. Most of the people buried in that cemetery are our relatives so that was neat to show Alyssa. My great grandparents are buried there, as well as some uncles and cousins who have passed over the years. After that, with the help of my GPS, we ended up on a five mile long red dirt road, with absolutely no cell phone signal, on our way to the homeplace. We were chased by dogs, saw a dead cow in a pond, and almost ran smack into a calf standing in the middle of the road. I so wish I had a picture of that. After those few near death experiences and a lot of laughs we finally made it there. To be honest I dreaded going. I thought Alyssa would be bored and I thought it would make me sad to go back, but it was just the opposite. I think Alyssa must have liked it, b/c she's going back with my sister tomorrow for the reunion. She says she wants a cow. LOL!! I'm so glad I went back to my roots and shared some of them with my daughter. I'm looking forward to bringing the whole family back next year.

I'm a cheer mom...

This past Friday was a very stressful, but proud day for me and Alyssa. She has been cheering since she was 7 years old and tumbling since age 5. She has tried just about every sport...t-ball, soccer, karate, dance, and gymnastics, but cheer was always her passion. All her hard work paid off. She made 8th grade cheerleader. 34 girls worked really hard that week and tried out, but only 12 were chosen. I am so proud of her. It was an emotional roller coaster for her, because her very best friend did not make it. Alyssa was excited for herself, but devastated for Mallory. I'm sure all this means I'll be sacrificing more time and money, but it's worth it to see her doing what she loves.

Emma talk

The day after the presidential election....
Emma: Mommy do you know who our president is?
Me: who?
Emma: The Rock Obama

Today...
Me: Let's get your clothes on for school. (pink shirt)
Emma: is it not Aunt Patrick's day anymore?

I love this age when they just say what they hear (or think they hear). It was so cute that I couldn't bare to correct her. I think she's growing up so fast, but when she says things like this it makes me want to scoop her up and rock her like my baby she'll always be.

Fire Mountain

Friday night we went out with our friends to eat Mexican food and then went to Fire Mountain Amusement. We started our day in capris and short sleeves and ended up running home to get jackets before heading to fire mountain. You gotta love East Texas weather! We did the bumper boats first. Emma started off wanting to ride by herself because Dylan was, but when it came her turn she decided to let Daddy drive. I think this was her least favorite thing because she got a little wet. Then we were off to the little go karts. She had no fear when it came to these. She was a pro. I was a little nervous b/c she has never done anything like this by herself, but she just got in there and took off. Well of course the big guys (Danny and David)weren't gonna let the little ones have all the fun so they had to ride the big karts. They did let the little ones come along for the ride though. After a few games it was time to call it a night. Emma was pooped!!

Hopefully she will be this brave at Disney World. I got to make our dinner reservations yesterday and the girls' hair and nails appointment at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo. My "Disney Plan" is coming along more and more each day. Danny thinks all the planning is crazy, but he will appreciate all my organization when we get there...I hope. Only 86 days:-)

Tyler Zoo

Last Saturday we went to Caldwell Zoo. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. Danny hasn't been to the zoo since Emma was a year old so it was about time. Emma was bummed because the snow cone shop was closed, but I think she had a good time anyway.

Meeting Jonah...

Jonah Sunil Rhodes was born January 30, 2009. This was the day I got my teeth pulled so I didn't get to see him, and the following week everyone was sick at my house. So Tuesday, I finally got to meet the sweet baby boy that I have prayed for since the day I found out he was in his mommy's tummy. Beaula, his mommy, is my dear friend that I went to nursing school with and we now work together at ETMC. I cannot think of two more deserving parents then Beaula and Demetrius. They have two little angels in Heaven that they never got to meet, but they will be watching over them and Jonah. They have been through so much together and they never stopped trusting in the Lord's will for their life. I cannot wait to see them with Jonah as he grows and just completely takes over their life...as if that hasn't happened already. Congratulations!

Week of Yuck...

That's the best way to describe this past week...Yuck!! My dentist has been telling me nicely for the past ten years "you really should get your wisdom teeth removed". So they started hurting and I had no choice but to get them out. I was really nervous about being put to sleep as I've never been sedated before. That, however, was the best part...actually the only good part. Fast forward a few days...I'm still only able to eat soup, spagetti O's, yogurt, etc. Yeah, you get the picture. While all this is going down, Alyssa came home Friday from school with fever, a cough, and just feeling cruddy. Luckily she's twelve and able to pretty much take care of herself since I was absolutely no help. She was still sick Monday so she missed her first day of school this year. Monday morning Emma started with the fever, coughing, and headache. By this time I also was feeling achy and coughing. What the heck???? Danny managed to escape the sickness, but was left running all the errands...picking up prescriptions, going to the store countless times to pick up whatever was being requested at the time...sherbet, sprite, juice, etc. He was very sweet during the whole ordeal. Alyssa, Emma, and I are so lucky to have him!!
I went back to work Tuesday night because I thought I was feeling better. Wrong. My gums started hurting. I tried to eat and got so nauseated from the horrible ETMC cafeteria food that is offered to us at night. I managed to make it through the night with the help of some ES Tylenol, but got home and could not sleep at all. I went to work Wednesday night on literally one hour of sleep. The sad thing is I still can't drink sodas b/c of my teeth extraction, and too much coffee makes me have severe heartburn so I was miserably tired the whole night. I was supossed to work Thursday night, but I knew there was no way I would make it so I canceled myself. I came home Thursday morning, took Alkaseltzer night time pills and slept like a baby til time to pick up Alyssa from school. I still don't know how I managed to pick her up and make it home. I was so tired. I ended up sleeping the whole day and night, getting up only once to eat and take more Alkaseltzer. So, I know I rambled, but to sum it all up...This whole week has pretty much been a blur and I am so glad it's over. Whatever this sickness is that's going around infecting pretty much everyone I know...except for the men which I find very strange, I hope that it's on its way to somewhere far, far away from here.

Future Flyers

Saturday, Jan. 17th, Dance-N-Drill Senior Flyers hosted a Future Flyers Clinic. Alyssa and her fellow cheerleaders taught these little girls a cheer in 4 hours and they all performed together at the UT Patriots basketball game later that day. Emma and I went to watch them perform. The performance wasn't until half time so we were forced to sit through the first half of the basketball game. I wasn't thrilled at first, but I actually got into the game and enjoyed watching. Unfortunately UT lost:( but the flyers did an awesome job and I was impressed by the way the older girls were so sweet to the little ones. If only I could get Alyssa to be so nice to her sister. Hmmm....yeah, not gonna happen.

Welcome to my blog!!

These are a few of the first pictures I took with my new camera. Alyssa and Cinnamon weren't cooperating that day, but Emma, as always, was a perfect model. These were taken at Faulkner Park in Tyler.

I have a few friends and family members with blogs, and I liked them so much that I just had to get one of my own. We are looking forward to 2009 being an exciting year. Here are a few things that we have coming up...Danny just got a promotion at work, yeah!! Alyssa has two more cheer competitions coming up with Dance-N-Drill then she will try out for 8th grade cheerleader. I can't believe Alyssa and 8th grade are in the same sentence. Emma is finishing her last year at Oak Tree then she will start Kindergarden in the fall. She will have her first dance recital this April. We have a big vacation planned for August that I cannot wait for...Disney World!! Emma and I are most excited about this trip. So stay tuned!!