IN LOVING MEMORY

July 13, 1916-August 16, 2007
Grandpa, we love you and miss you. We are so grateful for all the love you poured out on us. We will always remember your twinkling eyes, soft smile, and happy heart. Give Grandma a big hug for us! All our love throughout all eternity.

THE FORGOTTEN MEMBER

So I guess there is one more "member" of the family that I choose to forget we have. Hobbs is our 5 year old cat. I'm not much of a cat person. In fact, most of the time I hope that if I forget to feed him, he'll just go adopt another family. I haven't had much luck there. Party on Hobbsy.

THE DOGS

Our family wouldn't be complete without our little Boston Terriers.

Bandit is about 5 years old or so and is pretty nifty with his one blue eye. We love nicknames in our family so of course the dogs have them too. Bandit is lovingly called "Our little Sausage" since he is starting to become rather obese. He is pretty mellow and lazy, but watch out when it's play time. He sounds like he's going to bite your arm off, but his growl is only for show!

Timothy--no we did not name him--is our sweet new addition and is about 1 1/2. He is our little circus dog that goes wild when you pull out the broom. We can get him to jump a good 4 feet in the air. Considering he is a runt and the size of a Miniature Pinscher, that's pretty dog gone good! His latest thing is jumping up in the window like a cat so he can look out and dream of his next great escape. The boys now have learned to sing "How Much is that Doggy in the Window" due to this cat-like phenomenon. Oh yeah, we can't come up with a very good name for him, so we just call him Timmy or Little 'T'.

OUR DELICATE BALLERINA

Fun Facts about Moo:

1. Has finally decided there are more sounds in her vocabulary than "dadada"


2. Sleeps through the night like a dream.


3. Eats as much if not more than her brothers.


4. Finds delight in the great outdoors.


5. Loves her whistling monkey toy.


6. Is trying somewhat cautiously to walk.


7. Is the perfect cheerleader at her brothers soccer game.


8. Has the cutest little "tatoo" birthmark over her rumpus.


9. Can make your day brighter with one little squeeze and pat on the back.


10. Weighs more than her 2 year old cousin.

CHUNKABEAR

Fun Facts about Chunkabear:

1. Loves to tell me he loves me.


2. Freaks out if Daddy goes to work without a hug and kiss.


3. Favorite color is blue.


4. Is an extreme dancer...watch out river dance guy!


5. Wants a Lightning McQueen fishing pole for his birthday...and lets me know everyday.


6. Has a bruise/indent on his cheek since December.


7. Loves to run and play sports.


8. A bit like a crow...he likes to find things in the house and hoard them in his drawers, including bologna.


9. Favorite movie is Sky High. You gotta love those super heroes!


10. Needs a bandaid on a daily basis.

PAL

Fun Facts about Pal:

1. Just started soccer and is loving every minute of it!


2. Is excited to start 1st grade in a couple of weeks and is a great reader.


3. Like Garfield, he loves lasagna.


4. Is an excellent helper when bribed with fun activities.


5. Wants his room decorated with WW2 airplanes and camouflage colors.


6. Rode his bike for the first time without training wheels at the age of 3...on the first try!


7. Can recite any commercial or weather forecast he has ever seen.


8. Loves to listen to music on his CD player and begs every day for an MP3 player.


9. Favorite website: PBSkidsgo.org


10. Says awesome prayers at church...5 minutes long is his personal best in primary.

The Way it All Began

Well, we've finally done it! We have landed ourselves in the great abyss of the cyber world. I don't know quite how I got here or what to do next, but I thought I would start by sharing a bit about how the Courtney family began.

Aces and I met in 1999 at Grandma's house in Idaho. He was on his way to go out with a girl in Boise and stopped by to visit with his good friends who happened to be my cousins. I was there with Bubba for a Mary Kay function that I decided I was just plain to ugly to be attending. (Unfortunately, I was experiencing a pity party that day.) When Aces showed up, I thought I could just bury my head in the sand! He was so cute and, well, as I stated, I thought I was so ugly! The first thing I did was look at his hand to see if he was married, and sure enough the hand was bare. But of course I was too self-absorbed to say much to this handsome stranger in my pitiful state of mind. I observed him from a distant chair as he played with my cousin's daughters and thought how wonderful it was to see a grown man having such a great time laughing and entertaining little ones and well....being a big kid himself!

Well, the time came for him to head down the road so we said our goodbyes (which was about the majority of what I said to him the whole time he was there) and I thought that was that. Little did I know that shortly after he arrived in Boise to spend the weekend with this girl, he turned around to seek out my cousin to beg for my email address. But that is a story he will have to tell as I was not there.

Gratefully, I gave him my email address, and we corresponded that way for about a months time until I found whatever excuse I could find to make my way back up to Idaho to see if this guy was for real. A week and half after our first date, Aces came down to my house in Utah and asked me to marry him. I was thrilled, delighted, and terrified! I hardly knew this man, but I knew that I couldn't let him slip away. On April 25, 2000, 11 months later (yes, I am cruel and made him wait what seemed a lifetime) we were married.

It has been an exciting ride with some bumps and bruises but mostly joy and laughter. I am so grateful to share my life with Aces and am so grateful that he has blessed me with three wonderful children.