Long Overdue Visit....

This past Saturday, the Haynes' family finally had a get together. Ever since my grandparents passed away, it's been really hard for our family to get together (they were the glue that kept us all together). With every one's busy schedules and everyday life, there's always something. We finally just planned something. Thanks to my Aunt Pam and cousins, the gathering was a huge success! We got to see new babies in the family and relatives some of us haven't seen in quite some time. My aunt and uncle live on a farm and it was really nice to finally get back out there. In fact, I haven't been there in 8 years! So, with Chris' first visit to the farm, I was anxious to show him around. I had so many great childhood memories there and loved sharing those stories with him.
We all had a great afternoon reconnecting, playing games, and eating! The out-of- towners sure were missed and due to illness, Jennifer, Kevin and Isabella were unable to make it. Hopefully next time we can all be there and get this glue to stick again! :-)

Visiting....

Cousin's Brittany and Jessica enjoying the food!

Me and Kailyn (my cousin's new baby girl)

Playing with Kailyn!

Chris, Uncle Bill, and dad enjoying some grub!

You can't go to the farm and not go to the barn...

Chris petting one of the cows!

Now it's my turn!

Chris mooing at the bull (he can sound just like them)!

I'm feeding Annie, the mini horse! This experience was too funny and the whole afternoon everyone laughed at me. I swear that horse was trying to bite me. I'm such a city slicker! :-)

*Rach, I hope my post was what you expected!! ;-) *wink, wink*

Chris' New Toy!

When Chris and I bought our house all of the appliances were included. They weren't new or the greatest, but they worked. We decided that we'd use them until they broke. Well, the dishwasher didn't last long. In fact, I don't even think we used it. Thanks to my parents, that was our 2ND Anniversary gift when we moved into our house.
A couple of weeks ago we noticed that the oven was on the fritz. Instead of taking our chances, we decided to start looking for a new one. As most of you know, cooking is not my thing. But Chris LOVES it! In fact, the kitchen is his 'room'. We decided on a new oven and it got delivered this past Friday afternoon. It's always nice to get something new, that you pick out and you can call your own. The new oven/stove works wonderful, we definitely can tell the difference in the cooking.

Old Oven

New Oven

I want to thank my parents for waiting 3 1/2 hours for the delivery. With the window of time being in the middle of the day, Chris and I were at work and couldn't be there. Aren't parents the best?! Thanks mom and dad, we appreciate it! :-)

Easter Day!

Last Sunday was a pretty relaxing day. We went over to mom and dad's early in the afternoon to hang out with them and wait for Jennifer, Kevin, and Isabella to arrive. Once everyone was there, we of course had to shower Miss Bella with baskets of goodies. After all the fun we sat down and got our belly's full. It was another great afternoon spent with the family! We hope everyone enjoyed their day as much as we did.
Here are some cute pictures of none other then, Miss Bella...

Bella and her mommy

What a big basket! Where do I start?!

Aren't I such a Princess?!

My new Mr. Bunny Potato Head

I finally got my mermaid puzzle together (with great help from Grandma of course)!

Birthday Bash

Last Saturday night, Chris and I and a group of our friends went out to celebrate Krissy's 26th Birthday. Since Chris and I really don't go to the bars that often anymore, it was a lot of fun to catch up with friends we haven't seen in quite awhile. It was a fun night with great friends. Hopefully it won't be too long till we can all get together again!

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Hoppy Easter! :-)

From our family to yours, we wish everyone a great Easter holiday! To all of our family and friends, we love you!

Happy Birthday Krissy!!

I wanted to wish my best friend, Krissy a wonderful 26th Birthday! As most you know, Krissy and her husband moved to North Carolina at the end of last summer. It's defiantly been hard without her here, but I know in my heart that distance only makes a friendship stronger. A lot of things have changed for both us since their move and without her here to cry or celebrate with sometimes get hard, but I know she's only a phone call or an email away.
Krissy and I have been friends since Kindergarden. Through the years, there were times that we've gone our own ways, but we knew that we were always friends. Krissy is that one person I can tell anything to, no matter how big or small. She always listens and gives her advise. I can't say I always agree or take it, but I always listen and take it to heart. Now that she's not here, it's always nice to see her when they come to town. It's always nice to know that no matter how long or short thier visit, I'm always the one she calls and hangs out with. It's like we pick up exactly where we left off like nothing has changed.
Here is a montage in dedication to my best friend, Krissy! Happy Birthday honey, I love you! :-)

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Since Krissy and Blake are in town this weekend, we will be celebrating her birthday tonight. Keep a look out for more great shots! :-)

Another Promotion!!!!

I just wanted to say Congratulations to my wonderful husband! Chris got promoted at work and it became official this week. Chris works in a union shop where everything is done by seniority. He bid on a position and HE GOT IT! :-) Right now Chris is a Lab Tech and loves his job, he has a day shift (which is a hot commodity) and can pretty much come and go as long as his work gets done. But why do most people take a promotion? The money of course! :-) Chris will become a member of the packing department at Zircoa. His schedule will change a little, he will work 12 hour shifts having every 2 days off. This actually was a big decision for us, considering the hours, this will be an adjustment and we'll have to figure out schedules to see each other, but the extra money will be nice.
CONGRATS Bay, I'm so proud of you and you'll do great in your new position! :-)
I love you!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Normally, Chris and I love to celebrate Patty's Day. However, with it being on a Monday this year, we just weren't feeling it. Instead we went out on Saturday and celebrated. Most bars and restaurants were already getting ready for the festivities, so we just joined in. Early in the evening we went with my parents to our favorite local bar and grill and had an early dinner and some green beer! Later in the evening I went out with my girlfriends (Chris was getting up at 3am to go to work so he didn't venture out with me).
Here are a couple pictures from the evening.....

Me, Stephanie, Laura, and Erin

You always run into people you know. Friends, Kevin and Tammy!

Here are some pictures from last year....

Chris, Me, Krissy and Blake





So to all the Lads and Lassies, drink a green one for me! Have a safe and enjoyable Patty's Day! ;-)

Gutter Disaster!

As you all know, Northeast Ohio got slammed last weekend with a record setting snow storm. As a result to that storm, we couldn't have had nothing go wrong....what were we thinking?! Come Monday afternoon, Chris got home from work and noticed our gutter above our deck in the backyard was not exactly where it should have been....


Due to heavy snow and ice, the gutter and fascia board could not take the weight any longer. It actually was a blessing in disguise, considering the wood under the gutter was completely rotten. So, we had my parents come over for a little direction from my dad. With him just having surgery, he couldn't do anything, but he was a great foreman! We went to Home Depot and bought some new wood and got to work!







Even though we couldn't feel are hands, face, or legs(more me), we got the job done and it's as good as new! Why couldn't this have happened when it was warmer out? But with only having to spend a whopping $8.00 and a couple hours of time...not bad for a days work! Thanks dad for all your great direction, we couldn't have done it without you (well, we probably could have, but it would have taken us a lot longer and probably many arguments)!

Storm of the Season!

Mother Nature must really not like Northeast Ohio! This week we've heard nothing but bad news for the weekend. The weather people call it the Storm of the Season and that's exactly what it is.
It started Friday morning and they say it's not suppose to end until 4am on Sunday morning. The amount of snow keeps changing, it started off with getting 8-12" and now we're told we can get up to 20", after this is all said and done! Yes, that's more then a foot and a half of the white stuff! :-(
The way home from work yesterday afternoon was nothing but a headache and a test of the bladder! All highways and roads were parking lots. On a good day I get home in a half and hour, yesterday it took me 1 hour and 35 minutes. NOT FUN! :-( Last night we finally got a break and it stopped for a little bit, but when I woke up this morning at 8:30, this is what I saw............

Walkway to our back door

Front porch...there are steps under there (notice to the right, that's a "Zoe" statue that you barely can see).

Our backyard (notice our chimney and Zoe)

Zoe and Daddy playing in the snow

Zoe LOVES the snow!

LOL, it's funny to watch her jump around the drift piles!

For those of you this weather effects, I hope you all have a warm and safe weekend. A special thanks to my wonderful husband for spending ALL morning shoveling our driveway. I'm sure we'll be out there later doing it all over! Hopefully everyone can dig their way out.
For those of you in warm, sunshine weather....don't rub it in! :-)

In Memory of.....Roxi :-(

As most of you knew Roxi had been struggling with a very severe infection. This afternoon, I'm sorry to say that Roxi passed away! :-(
When I got up this morning I just knew something was different. She was worse, breathing harder, and just not as alert as she was. I still went about my day and went to work. After talking to my mom and then the vet later in the morning, I decided it was best for me to go home and check on her. I called the vet and let him know that something wasn't right and I needed to bring her in this afternoon. Our appointment was set for 2pm. By 12:45 I decided to get on the computer and try and do some work from home, I brought Roxi upstairs with me so I could keep an eye on her. By 1:30pm she was gasping for her last breath....literally. I got down on the ground with her, held her in my arms and that's when she looked up at me (as if she was saying thank you for all that you did and that she knew I loved her), she gasped for one more breath and then she was gone. I immediately called my family. I called Chris and told him he needed to come home, I called Jen and she was over here in a minute, and I called my mom, who also shared the tears with me! Jen and I were off to the vet and I said my final farewells.

In such a short amount of time, you stole my heart. I love you Roxi and you will missed!

Some people may think 10 days is a short amount of time to grow so attached to something. But Roxi and I had a bond from the moment we saw each other in the store. It's like she knew she was sick and thought I seemed like a good person to take care of her. That's exactly what I did. I was up every morning with her, 4:30 to be exact. I would hand feed her (or at least try to get her to eat), I spent countless hours coddling her, took time to take her back and forth to the vet numerous times, and gave her medicine twice everyday. She grew dependent on me and I was determined to make her better. So, yes, I believe that if you truly have the love for anything you don't need time, you need the heart!

Our Weekend

Not too much went on this weekend. It was, for the most part, a normal weekend. Friday, a girlfriend of mine came down our way (she lives about 45 minutes away) and Chris, Cassi, and myself went out to dinner and then grabbed a few drinks. It was really nice to be able to get together.
Saturday was a busy day for me. I was pooped! Early morning Jennifer dropped Isabella off for me to watch her for most of the day while she helped Kevin. Saturday was Kevin's big Shoe Show (I'm sure she will be posting about it on her blog soon. Go to Jennifer's Blog on the right side of my page). Anyway, Bella and I hung out for awhile and watched her favorite cartoon, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Later in the morning I had to take Roxi back to the vet. It was not a good appointment. The doctor is growing VERY concerned because she simply won't eat anything. She's still very sick, coughing and sleeping A LOT! The vet kept her for the day to give her fluids and run blood work. Isabella was not happy about this. All she kept saying was Roxi wants to come home and Roxi's sick! :-( After that Bella and I were off to the store. For those of you that don't have kids, it's not easy totting a 2 1/2 around and groceries! But I'm sure you learn to adapt. By 2:30 we were on our way to Cleveland to Kevin's shoe show. I was very impressed and thought Kevin did a terrific job! I've never seen so many sneakers before (not even at a store)! Later that evening Chris and I went to enjoy and nice dinner, just the two of us. After dinner we went to see my parents. Since my dad's surgery we had not seen him. He's doing okay considering....just VERY tired! By 11pm, Chris and I crashed. WHOA, what a long and busy day!







To update you more on Roxi, like I said she stayed at the vet's all day on Saturday. He took blood to check her white blood count. He explained to us that a normal dog should be around 16,000. Roxi is at a whopping 66,000! From that we grew very concerned (not that we weren't before). I asked the ultimate question, "could she die from this"? The doctor said yes! :-( He also is very concerned that if she does pull through this, more then likely she will have permanent damage to her lungs and possible problems the rest of her life. Chris and I have tried everything to get her to eat, but she continues to loose weight everyday. The doctor has given her 3 shots of antibiotics and 2 or 3 things of IV fluids. He also changed the antibiotics for us to administer to her. Please keep Roxi and us in your prayers and pray that our new baby pulls through this!