Happy 4th Birthday Jackson!

It is hard to believe my last baby is turning 4 years old. Jackson has gotten so big so fast. Jackson has been very entertaining and a wonderful part of our lives since arriving on Nov 12th, 2004 weighing in at a whopping 10 lbs 1 ounce! (here is a photo of Jackson as a newborn!)

It has been very interesting to have a boy after having two girls. Boys and girls are very different from each other! I really understand this now. Jackson loves all things that most little boys love - cars, trucks, dinosaurs, sports, playing in dirt, watching TV (which is NOT a good thing!), trains, bugs, etc.

Jackson really looks up to Kevin. He just follows his daddy everywhere it seems. He loves to "help" Kevin whenever he can - whether it be helping him shovel and spread out mulch, ride on the riding lawnmower and "help" Kevin mow, clean out the pool, and other tasks Jackson can find.

Jackson's personality has become more pronounced as he gets older. We are truly seeing what kind of little boy he is. He is fearless in situations where he is comfortable and more timid when he is in an unfamiliar environment. He has an amazing imagination. He truly believes he can grow up someday and be Superman or Spiderman. Just last week he ran full blast at the side of a soda machine and jumped at it, like Spiderman would leap at a wall to start climbing up the side of it and he bloodied his nose! He was disappointed he couldn't do what Spiderman could do. (Thankfully, this was not our first bloody nose with Jackson and likely won't be his last so I was quite calm.)

Jackson has Kevin's destructive streak in him. I won't even try to list the things he's broken or destroyed. It really isn't a lack of respect. He is just curious and I know there is a gene for destructiveness in him that he inherited from his father! Jackson is silly and goofy like Brittany. This is in stark constrast to Katelyn who is a very serious child. However, like Katelyn, Jackson is our deep thinker and very inquisitive.

I remind myself that Jackson is a wonderful blessing from God and that God only gives this child to us for a short time. And in that time we are privileged to raise him to become a good man, a follower of Christ. That is the ultimate goal - and I'll pray on Jackson's 4th birthday that Kevin and I never lose site of that.

Happy Halloween!

Camping Photos

The girls at our campsite.

Rudy, relaxing in the sun.

Jackson, all warm and cozy and sleeping!

Climbing around on the rocks at Robbers Cave.

After a long day, both Brittany and Katelyn are asleep around the fire. Jackson was still awake though!

Jackson helps carry firewood.

We Survived Our First Camping Trip!

We decided it was time to take the kids on their first camping trip. Although Kevin and I had camped before, we wanted to wait until the kids were older to go camping. After acquiring all the necessary equipment, choosing the site and packing up - we headed out to take the kids tent camping!

With so many state parks in the state of Oklahoma, we finally decided to head to Arrowhead State Park on Lake Eufaula. On the first day, we set up camp, let the kids run around for a while, had dinner and then sat around the campfire and roasted marshmallows. It was a fairly typical camping experience for that first day!

The hardest part about camping was sleeping in the tent. Although it was nice during the day and in the 70s, it got down into the mid 40s the first night! We dressed the kids in layers and put them in their sleeping bags with an extra blanket. Jackson slept great - but the girls were bothered more by the cold.

On our second day camping, we drove to another state park called Robbers Cave State Park for the annual fall festival there and to climb the rocks at Robbers Cave. The kids enjoyed the carnival games and the cotton candy and snow cones at the festival.

But if you were to ask them, they would all agree that visiting Robbers Cave was the most fun. My kids love to climb rocks and go hiking on trails!

For our second night at the campsite, we had some visitors! A very determined raccoon spent the evening seeing how close he could get to our campsite. In fact, he got within a few feet of the girls sitting around the campfire! Our fierce little dog Rudy let us know the raccoon was out there and kept growling at him. The raccoon finally gave up. Later, as Kevin and I were walking over to the bathrooms we saw a skunk! We quickly turned around and decided to head towards the other bathrooms. I wasn't going to chance an encounter with a skunk!

We had a good time camping. It was a fun experience for the kids. I can see us camping again next spring and summer!

Pool construction

Jackson's favorite part of the pool construction has been digging in the dirt!

After it was all dug out and before the concrete was poured.

This is the pool with the concrete poured, the coping and the tile work done.

The new concrete decking around the pool - plenty of spots for sunbathing!

A close up look at the tile and coping.

Pool construction has gone quickly here at the Hill homestead. They started digging mid September and have completed 80% of the work by mid October. All that is left now is getting the pool components hooked up to electricity, the plastering and a little more decorative tile work. We are looking at having the entire project done by Halloween! Of course, the kids might want us to kick on the heater and get it warmed up just enough so they can jump in before winter comes!

If anyone wants to know where we'll be next summer, you'll probably find us by the pool. No big vacations for us probably anytime soon! We'll be vacationing in the backyard. So of course, we welcome anyone who will want to come to Oklahoma and take a swim with us!

Kevin, with his mom - Ah, what a cute little guy!


Kevin and his mom in 2007

Connie Hill; 1936-2008

Connie and Katelyn (3 1/2) Dec. 2003

Connie, Katelyn (4) and Brittany (2) Dec 2004

Connie and Jackson (2) February 2007

Kevin's mother, Connie Hill, passed away on September 26, 2008.

Connie Hill was born Constance Laing in Fettercairn, Scotland,April 1936, to Alexander and Mary Laing. Her father, Alexander, worked at the local whiskey distillary. Connie grew up in Edzell, Scotland, where she later worked at the US Military Base there. She met Kevin's father at the base,where he was stationed, and they married in the late 1960s. They moved to the states shortly afterwards.

Connie had two children, Pamela and Kevin. (Pamela is 5 years older than Kevin). After Paul retired from the military; the family moved first to Indiana, then to Iowa and finally settled in Blue Springs, Missouri in 1987.

I first met Kevin's mother in 1994, when Kevin and I started dating. She had recently suffered from a stroke and was stil rehabilitating from it. Kevin always told me that I should have known his mother before the stroke, because of course, a stroke can change a person. The one thing Connie's stroke could not change was her love and admiration for her son. It was apparent right away that Kevin's mother thought Kevin hung the moon! She took pride in everything Kevin did, especially his success in school and his success on the baseball field.

A few years later, Kevin and I got married and Connie became my mother-in-law. After Kevin's dad (Paul) retired from his job at the Lake City Armory (located near Blue Springs), Paul and Connie moved around quite a bit. They lived near us twice, the first time when we lived in Houston and the second time here in Edmond. I know it was enjoyable for Connie to be close to Kevin and her grandchildren. By the time they moved to Edmond in November of 2004, we were aware of Connie's diagnosis with Alzheimer's.

I am thankful Connie was able to be near us, even if it was a short time. I know she loved seeing Kevin and her eyes always lit up whenever Kevin came over. In the fall of 2006, Connie had to be moved to a nursing home. She lived in the Lutheran Home in Cape Girardeau for about 2 years. Kevin's sister Pamela, who resides in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, visited her daily and cared for her at the nursing home those last 2 years.

Even with Connie's passing, she will always live on. Kevin looks so much like his mother. And Katelyn has Connie's eyes. We are saddened now that she is gone but also relieved that her suffering is over. As we grieve for Connie, we are reminded that she is in heaven with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And that helps make this process a little easier.