Happy, Happy Birthday to the best big sister a girl could have!!! Hope you have a wonderful day, Jess!!! Love ya!!! =)

Here's a few photos of what we've been up to in AZ....

Playing outside in the dirt....



My Mother's Day Bouquet.... Danny did a pretty good job, they're even purple!!! =)

I took some pictures of all 3 bouquets (Mine, Nana's and Joanna's).... Lincoln was so cute in the background, had to get one of him!!! =D
Here's a picture of Nana filling up the mop bucket so she could mop the floors.... this was taken moments before BOTH kids ended up IN the bucket.... they were then given baths. =)

We took Lincoln to his first ever baseball game.... Mathias is one of the pitchers for his team. Lincy loved the game....
He was also a BIG FAN of his first ever Dum-Dum sucker..... YUMMY!!!!
Getting filthy AGAIN in the backyard... so much fun!!!!


Nana had her hands full giving the kids rides in the stroller.....
And Lincoln found the baking soda..... he later found the Crisco (and ate a handful before I could stop him!! Yuck!!!) It was butter flavored.... like mother, like son, I guess! ;)
This was this morning, Lincoln was pushing Eliya in the little baby stroller.... they did that for a few minutes. I kept trying to get a shot from the front, and they both kept smiling at me for it, but my batteries keep dying and it wouldn't take. =/

Help me out coming up with a name for the girl scout type group I am starting this summer! I need several ideas that the leaders can vote on at our meeting next month!! Thanks for your help!!! =)

We're baaaaack!!!!!! It was a very interesting flight, to say the least!!! =) We're about to board!!!
Bye-bye Ohio!!! See you next month!!!!!
Not too sure about this whole flying thing.....

About halfway though he stopped being so scared..... then he made a huge mess in his diaper and all over his clothes..... he spent the rest of the flight in just his diaper and a blanket!!! Whoops!!! Mommy should have packed another outfit instead of all those toys!! lol I'll know better next time!! It's been a while since I've needed to pack another outfit for him.....

After his incident he fell asleep and slept for the rest of the flight!!!! He woke up after we landed!!
Naked baby in Phoenix Airport!!! It's not QUITE the impression I wanted him to make for the first time meeting Auntie Joanna, but that's the way it goes sometimes!! =)
Oh yeah, and as soon as we got the first bag from baggage claim, I found him a shirt and put it on, somehow about 3 seconds later that one was soaked through and I had to dig in another bag to find him a pair of shorts. That's what he actually ended up wearing home to Danny and Joanna's house. Crazy day!!! I'll be posting again soon, I'm sure!!! =)

We are very excited to announce that Lincoln's gonna be a big brother around Thanksgiving this year!!!!! Baby Ramirez #2 is due on Nov. 28th, 2010 and we saw him/her on ultrasound today, Doctor Scott says everything looks great!!!! =)

Happy Birthday to my favorite decade old neice!!!!!!! I hope you have a wonderful 10th birthday, Janessa!! I'll see you tomorrow!!! Love ya! =)

okay, so in the past like 2-3 days, Lincoln has gotten teeth #10-15 in. (That's 6 teeth at once!!) Poor little sweetie!! He's been really good about it, but that's gotta hurt!! I had my wisdom teeth coming in a couple years ago and it's PAINFUL!!!!! 6 at once, yowzers!!
(By the way, for those of you who don't care, I mainly post on here so that I have a reference for my scrapbooking! lol)

Zion and I have both kicked of our weight loss plans as of this morning!! Zion has his very own personal trainer (who actually used to be a personal trainer at the Y.... awesome!) and I have Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD!! My goal is to shred my final 10-15 pounds in March with the DVD and cutting back on some calories. Zion is looking at a more long term solution and starting a sensible workout regime and I'm going to be filling him up on greens (hopefully) so he has less room for all the bad stuff!!! We'll see how it all goes.... but I know that Zion want's to lose over 100 pounds and is hoping to have it gone by Lincoln's 2nd birthday!!!

Yesterday I spent the day with my Mom and she gave me some dieting tips (what she's been feeding my Dad the past couple months.... he's lost 40 pounds since Christmas!!!!) so I'm gonna give it a go with Zion's diet!! I also did laundry while I was there (actually that was the main reason for the visit!) so I really need to get off the computer and get it all folded!!!!

Lincoln is doing great.... he's becoming quite the handful, (can terrible twos start at 13 months?? lol) but he's also being more and more fun as his personality starts to emerge!!!

Hopefully I'll be posting again soon with good news about our weight loss!!! Until then, thanks for reading!!!

Zion was just looking at some of my old posts and he stopped on this one so I re-read it and had to post it again! In case anyone missed it the first time, here it is again in all its glory!!!

Enjoy!!

Ode to the Hovel

By: Jeshanah Ramirez

Edited by: Sharla Holsapple and Becca Holsapple

Ode to the hovel,

What a humble abode;

You used to be the color,

Of an ugly, green toad.

Where once you were green,

Now you are brown;

You match all the rest,

Of the shantys around.

You're still really ugly,

Of that, have no fear;

That's why this has been,

The world's longest year.

Our feet are always filthy,

Because of your floor;

All the sand in this state,

Comes in under your door.

There's trash everywhere,

Not that it matters;

With your curb appeal,

The trash almost flatters.

Cockroaches and ants,

Bugs galore;

You've grossed us out once,

And then some more.

Outside there are people,

Who like to get high;

Sweet smoke fills the air,

And also my eyes.

If the smoke could stay out,
Instead of coming in;
I could think better thoughts,
My head wouldn't swim.

I'm told it's the same,

In the best neighborhoods;

If I could leave you closed up,

Believe me, I would.

If it's really so safe,

Then please tell me why;

Do we have to have a fence,

That is 6 feet high?

And even with the fence,

The occasional stranger;

Will stop to peek in,

(But I'm sure there's no danger!)

I never had heard,

Of a swamp cooler before;

But I soon learned,

That it's only a metaphor.

The guys have to go up,

On the roof night and day;

Because the cooler is worthless,

What else can I say?

You're an ugly old house,

And a match I would strike;

But you've made me quite famous,

And that part I like!

Some people may think,

I'm just being vicious;

And that you are only,

Being "hovelicious".

(But you broke one of my brand new dishes!!!)

Some friends of mine joke,

That once I move out;

I won't have anything left,

To go on and on about.

My complaints will be fewer,

No doubt in my mind;

But I'll think of something,

I've just gotta whine!

I can hardly believe,

I've lived here all year long;

Now that I'm leaving,

I could burst into song!

Count your many blessings,

Name them one by one;

My time in the hovel,

Is finally done!


This was written right around the time I moved out of "the hovel" and into "the Haven" (the first and 2nd place we lived in while in AZ.... there were 4 all together in the almost 3 years we were out there!!)

Here's a few pictures of Lincoln's 1st birthday party...

More pictures to come later....

Here are some pictures of
Justin and Elisabeth Holsapple's Wedding!!
They are in reverse order,
so please start at the bottom and work your way up!!
Enjoy!!

Some of the guests enjoying the reception

Our stylish little man... ready to join a barbershop quartet any day now...

He was having a blast running all around the reception hall

Our little family with the newest Holsapple's

I missed the kiss (it was short) and she pushed him away!! lol

Brandon really enjoyed watching Uncle Justin get married..... ;)

Signing the Marriage License

Candles

Oopsie! He dropped the pillow!! (I also have a pic of him yawning!!! tee hee)

The wedding party

Justin, Jariah and Paul-Michael