RIP Cuz

October 24th marks the one year anniversary that our family was struck by tragedy when my beloved cousin Josh Baker went to heaven. Though are hearts are filled with sadness we can only look back on all the great memories that he left with us and all the lives that he touched. Sitting back and reflecting on Josh's life, many memories come to mind. One funny memory in particular stands out the most, which occurred at our family hunting camp.

It occurred around 10 PM one winter night. It was a dark gloomy night, the moon wasn't out at all. Josh, myself, and Joey (his older brother) went riding on one of the Four-Wheelers we have at the camp. Prior to going riding we had all three been talking about the popular scary movie at the time, The Blair Witch Project. The movie kind of freaked me and Josh out a bit.

While out riding we would stop and listen to the trees howl in the wind. We would listen to creatures moving all around us in the woods. Those of you who know Josh will be able to vouch to the fact that he was easily spooked, and he would jump out of his skin every time we would hear an armadillo. However, we all acted tough in our own way like nothing scared us and Josh would act the toughest.

Joey got the most ingenious idea; one he didn't share with me. While we were out driving at least a mile or two from the camp, just the three of us in the pitch black woods, the four wheeler suddenly stalls. At first we were like what is going on? Joey is just as serious as he can be. Josh being tough is like what is going on? Everything is cool until we start to hear things moving in the woods. Josh begins to freak out. I have to admit I was a little uneasy to, it was a long walk back to the camp.

After a minute or so of trying to restart the four-wheeler we looked down at the fuel switch and saw that it had been turned off. Then Joey busted out laughing. He had shut the switch off to scare the mess out of Josh and boy did it work. Needless to say Josh wasn't happy, but we all got some good laughs out of it later.

Many years later I look back on the many times that the whole family would get together and all of us cousins would have a blast. Josh always was the center of attention and was always fun to be around. Christmas in particular will never be the same. However, we can all always share the fondest of memories that we had with Josh and cherish them in our hearts. We love you Josh and know that you are well taken care of by our Father. Thank you for all the childhood memories.

Two and a Half Foot Dinosaur

Wow! So it has been a little while since our last post, only 5 months. A lot has happened since then: Caden learned to walk, had his first birthday, learned what No means, learned to say No, He knows what he wants and knows how to get it,  and continues to be a blessing everyday.

Today was a day full of adventure. At 1:30PM we met with one of Amanda's friends Kim, who is a photographer, to take family pictures out in Plant City. I have to say that it was quite entertaining. The pictures were fall themed, expectedly there were several pumpkins that Caden decided would be good to throw at his parents and Kim. To complete our photo shoot we decided to dress Caden in his Halloween costume, which is a little dinosaur. I have to say that he wasn't to excited about this at first considering the fact that it was almost 90 degrees outside. However, after Amanda and myself acting like complete idiots we gave Kim the time needed to get some really awesome pictures of Caden. We also decided that photographers need assitants who can take pictures of the parents who try overly hard to get their children to smile. It was really hilarious to see a two and a half foot little dinosaur walking through the woods, wasn't real scary though (will post more photos once they are finished).

After our photo shoot it was off to find Isabelle, our friend's daughter, a birthday present. I have to say that boys get the short end of the stick when it comes to clothes in retail stores; there is sooooo much stuff for girls.

From there it was off to Grandma's house (Amanda's mother's house) we went. While I gave Corolla (our family vehicle) a bath, Caden's Grandma gave him singing lessons. This was absolutely hilarious. He held the microphone to his mouth and jabbered away thinking he was singing. Unfortunately I don't have the video, though Amanda has it posted on Facebook (will post later).

Last but not least we attended a Sweet Sixteen birthday party at Caden's other Grandma's house (my mom a.k.a JuJu). I just can't wait until Caden is 16 ;). While there Caden and I saw the craziest snake headed catepillar looking thing that was demolishing my mom's garden. Oh yeah, and we checked out JuJu's pepper farm. And Caden chased around my mom's toy poodle and tried to extract her hair.

Pretty good day I have to say. Looking forward to tomorrow; teaching Children's Church and then to Isabelle's party.