Merry Christmas Everyone!!!

Wow! It has really been a while since I last posted on here. We have been crazy busy with just about everything. Here is a pic of the girls in front of our Christmas tree this year. Hope everyone is doing well, and I will be sure to post some more updated events of ours. We feel very blessed this year and thankful to HIM for everything he has provided for us.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Little kid walking...

Jayla is starting to take some of her first steps, luckly I caught this one on my phone of her walking to her big sister! Just about the cutiest thing I've seen in a while! Soon these two will be running all over our house in no time. Sorry it's so short.

A new love in my life

My iPhone 3G S

Yes it is true and I will admit, I really don't know how I survived with out this little device for so long and can't imagine my life without it!

I just love it and Kate will tell you the same, just ask her?

I've had it for a few weeks now and its just amazing what this little sucker will do. Its got an app for everything and anything you can think of, I'm sure you've seen the commercials, its all true. You have a phone/camera/video recorder/ipod/Internet/email/etc.etc...

Amazing how far we have come since Atari. Ha! oldest thing I could think of that I liked back in the day.

Jesus Loves Me!

Probably the cutest thing ever!

Braily was in the car singing in her boots before we got into church last Sunday.

A Blinkumentary

Going to be EPIC!

Braily's 2nd Birthday Bash

Braily had her 2nd Birthday party last Saturday, amazing how the time flies by! Seems like yesterday she was keeping us up all night. Thanks to all our family and friends that came, it was great to see you and Braily says thank you for all her little gifts, and her big gift from Grandma Collard.

Kate did a great job organizing and setting everything up for the party, it really looked fun! Kate decided that since it was going to be so hot, that we would have a pool party for all the kids, so we had 3 pools set up that all the kids loved. We set up Braily's b-day swing in the very back of the yard in our huge tree, that Braily now loves to swing in, you can see it in the last few pictures. We had a little corn hole tournament for the gentleman and ladies, and a great bonfire at the end of the night with some of our closest friends.

Katie also made a homemade Elmo cake that she designed herself using cupcakes and a round cake/ she is quite amazing in the kitchen!

Here are some shots of the birthday girl and the party!

This little rascal snuck into the party, put on a party hat to fit in, jumped in the pools, ate some cake, and we never saw him again?

Braily update

Braily will be 2 years old in August! Wow has the time flew by. Not to brag but this is seriously the smartest/cutest little girl I have ever seen. As you can see by the pictures below, I already have her swinging the golf clubs. We have been in potty training for the past 2 weeks, and Braily is already going to the potty all by herself! Thanks Braily for being such a good little girl.

What a cutie! with her Princess Leia hair do. Look at all the flower stamps Katie puts on her every time she goes potty.

YEAH!

P.S. I love saying potty 1000 times a day!

Jayla Update

Here are some recent pictures of Jayla for ya. She is now just over 8months old, and coudn't be a happier baby. She loves her big sister and loves to jump in her johnny jummper (i'll have to upload that video on here also). As you can see she looks completely different from Braily, everyone says shes a daddy's clone. Funny that these two girls are so close in age and look so different from one another.

Wedding Bells

So out of the last 3 weekends we have attended two of our friends weddings. Congrats again to Josh and Lisa Moss, and Erika and Jack Irvin! Your weddings were awesome, you all looked great and we hope you have a great time on those honeymoons! Boom Chick A Waah Wahh! Seriously though, you all have been great friends to us and we wish you guys and gals nothing but the best.

Here are some shots of the brides and grooms and when we were in Detroit for Erika and Jacks wedding during Kate's Birthday.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner for the birthday girl!

New Underwear is the Best!

Doesn't everyone love new underwear! Here is a little video of Braily dancing in her new underwear. Not sure where she is learning these moves (probably her mom) but its pretty funny. She gets so excited to wear them and dance around the house all day, and I'm not kidding! She is jumping bean that doesn't stop. Potty training is just a few days away, any advise?

Wish us luck.

BLINK 182 IS BACK BABY!!!

Really excited to see Blink 182 back together and touring this summer with Weezer and Taking Back Sunday! I'll for sure have tickets to this show when the come to Blossom Sept 2nd.

The Spanish Kid

So, as everyone knows Kate speaks amazing Spanish. None of that "Yeah I speak Spanish too", and then can't even hold a conversation with someone that really speaks it. She speaks it like she was born in Puerto Rico, growing up in the cafes and hanging at the topless beaches all day! Not sure if all that was necessary to say, but I'm just gonna keep on rollin. She has been working with Braily to learn the language, and Kate shot a little video with my phone in the car one afternoon of her progress. Not only does she look like her Mamma, but now shes gonna talk like her too! Amazing how this little girl absorbs all that into her little head.
I love these girls!

Do you have an iPhone?

Thought this was pretty cool. Go check this guy out if you have a second, he's awesome!

Fire Pit

So, last year I tore out a tree in our backyard that was planted too close to our garage. Since I already had this huge hole from ripping it out, I decided to build a fire pit in that same hole. I got some fire bricks from Katie's grandfather, and bought some decorative retaining wall bricks to finish it off. Its about 41/2' in diameter. Really only took a day to build it! Now we are ready to cook up some Hot Dogs and Smores for those chilly spring nights! Her is a pic from my phone.

Starvation Diet

So, today starts another try at dieting. This is crap! I know it always seems to get pushed aside, but not this time! Its too easy to get side tracked and then one thing leads to another and I'm eating mint chocolate chip ice cream out of the container! Umm... that sounds really good right now.

So somethings gotta be different than the last try at this dieting thing, or I'll fail again.

So here are a few goals I'm striving for

-Drinking more water, "i never drink water"

-Eat 4-5 small portions of food a day "no more late night 4th meal"

-Start hitting the treadmill. "or running on it"

-Use my iron gym "to get muscles like Arnold"

-Sign up and commit myself to run in a few local races this spring.

I'll keep you updated on how things are progressing. Right now it just feels like I'm starving myself. Haha

Any tips you can think of for me? post a comment below!

Where The Wild Things Are...!

Does everyone remember how great this book was?

Well check out the trailer to the movie!

Do you Twitter?

"If we can't twitter, we don't exist!!!"

Hilarious video!

New Header Pic

Our friend Susie Linquist is the cream of the crop out in San Diego, CA. She did a little work on my Header picture at the top of the blog. Did you notice??

Thanks Susie it looks great!

Susie makes frequent trips back up to Ohio for photo sessions if you are ever interested. She does amazing work! She actually got the chance to do a photo shoot of Jason Mraz, so go check this girl out @ http://www.susielinquist.blogspot.com/

More Babies!

Yes, it seems everyone we know has had, or is having a baby. Must be that time in our lives, man that kind of makes me feel old! Well here is a quick story of two brothers I've known since kindergarten! No joke. Ryan and Josh are only a few years apart in age, their Mom used to babysit my brother and I all the time after school. Ryan, Josh and I have been in the same school together all the way into college at Mount Union. We have had some hilarious episodes growing up together " I'll save these for another post". About a little under a year ago, Ryan, Josh and their wives went on a little vacation get away together. As competitive brothers would be, they made a bet on which couple could get pregnant and have a baby first! Ha! Now, I would of loved to have been there when this conversation was going on, I'm sure over a couple of beverages! So they both agreed to start trying after the vacation

SO THE RACE WAS ON!

The day they get back from vacation Missy and Tara (the lucky ladies) are PREGO!

They both cheated and started early! Ha!

This is a joke right? Nope, and the docs say they are only a few days apart on their due dates. Missy the 12th and Tara the 13th

This is really going to be a close race!

9 months later?

Ryan and Missy had theirs first, a baby girl Natalia

and

Josh and Tara had a baby boy Gabe

So CONGRATS! to the parents and new babies, all are doing great. What a great story, can't wait until the look on Natalia's and Gabe's face when they tell them how this all went down. Here is a picture of the two below.

Natalia and Gabe

Meet Inbetween Us

Here is a great tool that was passed along to me, when you want to meet up with someone but don't want to drive all the way over there! Go check it out and use it!

Click the link below!

Meet Inbetween Us

New Addition

ATTENTION: We have a new addition to the Collard family.

Kate and I decided to sponsored a boy in Ecuador through Compassion International. Our church did a special a few Sundays back and we really felt moved to reach out and help.

His name is Kevin Ivan Farinango! He is 5 years old and loves soccer.

Typical houses in Kevin's area are constructed of dirt floors, brick walls and tile roofs. The most commonly spoken language is Spanish. The regional diet consists of maize, beans, rice and potatoes. Common health problems in this area include malnutrition, parasites, diarrhea and respiratory diseases. Most adults work as day laborers and earn the equivalent of $100 per month. This community needs vocational training, educational resources and permanent jobs. Our sponsorship allows the staff of Carita Feliz Student Center to provide Kevin with Bible teaching, medical exams, health instruction, nutritious meals, recreational activities, vocational courses and academic support. In addition, non-schooled children are provided with preschool classes. The center staff will also provide parent's school, evangelism and medication for the parents of Kevin.

I would encourage everyone to sponsor a child and give them hope!

Welcome Kevin!

I'm back!!

Sorry to all of you checking this blog and not getting any updates! I have really fallen behind on this site, and am now dedicating myself to getting back on track! We have had so much going on the past few months, I don't even know where to start. Katie got a new job, I was in Atlanta and St. Louis, I had a awesome birthday, our friends have had a baby, our other friends are about to have a baby, we've been to a bunch of kids birthday parties, Braily was sick, I was sick, Braily goes on the potty, my brother and sister in law in Atlanta are preggo, Katie looks delicious, we did our taxes, you get the idea! So I'm starting with a few pictures of the girls, so you can see how much they have changed since the last time you saw them. Jayla is just about 5 months now, which puts Braily at 19 months, crazy how these girls are so close in age and look nothing like one another.

I'll be back!

For some reason this looks like a mug shot! Look at all those freaking ponytails!

Swim Class

So for a Christmas present, Braily got swim lessons from her Uncle Nate and Aunt Kristy. Let me tell you this girl loves to be in the water! Shes fearless, jumping off the side of the pool, going under water, no big deal. This past week they made them wear life jackets and I thought she looked really cute so I want to post some pictures on here. This weekend is her final class and I believe they are teaching the butterfly stroke. Ha!

Keep Shooting...

"I have missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot . . . and missed. And I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why . . . I succeed.”

-Michael Jordan

I read this today and thought it was a very inspiring quote. So keep shooting!

Down below part deux

So here it is, the finish product! except for the ceiling which we have yet to do. I didn't really get anytime to put it up yet. As soon as we got this far Kate wanted to put everything in it, so as you can see the girls little play area is done and immediately got filled with their junk. Sorry, I haven't been keeping up to date with you guys, I'm trying!

Oh Christmas Tree I forgot

I forgot to post these pictures. Sorry we have been crazy busy and I have been letting my blog posting slip.

All before Christmas, we randomly bought our Christmas tree one day and didn't have any twine or rope to attach to the top of our SUV. So I said lets have Christmas in the CAR! Kate and I jammed this thing in the car right between all the seats so we could get it home. The tree was sticking out the back hatch, and people were giving us strange looks as we drove away. We thought it was so hilarious I took some pictures of what it looked like inside the car. Hope you get a laugh out of these!

Here is a picture of Braily not amused by 9 foot tree she has to ride home next to.

My view of Kate

Kates view of me!