Macey Turns 8!

So I can not believe that my baby is 8! As many of you know, Macey is mini-me. Besides the fact that she is a lefty & a blonde, she & I have alot of common traits. She has been in love with horses for a while & has been asking how much $$ does it cost ot buy a horse. Billy& I have tried to explain the depth of this concept but alas, it is not getting thru. Although we did not run out & buy her a horse for her birthday, we were able to make arrangements to ride for an hour last Saturday afternoon.

We headed to Uncle Brian & Aunt Staci's home for an afternoon cook-out of brats & hotdogs requested by the birthday girl & then an afternoon ride on horses, Jade & Moose. She really enjoyed riding the horses as did all the kiddos. Of course, she has been really interested in guitars as well so we got her a starter guitar to start learning on. ( I am sure that we will regret this later) She is very excited about learning to play an instrument & has already put on atleast a dozen show since last Saturday.

Daddy's Birthday

Daddy's birthday was Monday. With the weather being a bit chillier than we hoped for, we spent the evening in the family room with a fire blazing in the fireplace while we snuggled on the couch & watched movies. It was a great evening!

getting started...

Well, we are finally getting started on the new house. We have our first meeting next Tuesday with the builder to get started with customizing our home. We have picked out our colors already & we are so excited. When it is all said & done, each kiddo will have their own room, Billy will have his own study & I will get the additional bedroom that is downstairs for my office which has an extremely nice walk-in closet. Keep checking back to see updates.

Halloween 2007

Okay, so most know that we are in teh middle of a move so I am getting my way back to blogging. I know there are some in Albuquerque who are reading faithfully to keep tabs on our family so I will do my best to blog atleast once a week. :)

Here is the kids this year for Halloween. We had a Trunk or Treat at our church in ABQ. It was the last day we were in ABQ & so it sad, but we still had alot of fun. We got tons of candy that we will be eating on all year long.

Catching up.....

Since I have tons of "free time", I thought I would use it wisely & play catch up. I am sure many of you are wondering why we are moving when we just bought a house in February.



We decided last summer to separate from the AF. It was a tough decision but one we were excited about. We knew that we wanted to move back to Texas then but not really sure what kind of job we were looking for or where exactly we wanted to live. During the spring, we looked at many options in both San Antonio & Albuquerque.



In May, we decided to take the civilian position at the Safety Center where Billy was working while active duty. The active duty position was being dissolved & they wanted to bring him back on as a civilian with the same job description.



The week Billy started as a civilian, a boss of Billy's decided it was time to leave & was offered a job as a Vice President with Raytheon. Some of you know that we have alot of disappointments with the AF. Many times, we were led to believe or promised one thing, then after Billy delivered, the story changed. That was the main reason for us separating from the AF.



In July, we got a phone call from Billy's old boss (the one who went to Raytheon) asking Billy if he was interested in coming to work with Raytheon. He had worked with Billy for the past 3 years & knew what Billy was able to accomplish. After a few weeks of talking, we were offered a job we could not turn down.



Billy's dad had a stroke almost 2 years ago. His mom has had a few health issues as well & along with Cancer hitting my family last year. We decided that the first chance we got, we would get back to Texas to be with our family. That chance came in August.



Billy started working in September & we are officially moved. the kids started school in November & are loving it. I am working diligently to get the house up a running along with my business. I am hoping to have a great kick-off Christmas Open House on December 8th.

Question of the Day

"Mom, have you ever been to a thronery?" Macey asks.

" A what?"

" A thronery?" She says again.

"Honey, I am not sure what you are talking about? Can you give me any details?"

Leah exclaims," You know, where they wrap you in toilet paper & throw you in a box, & everyone bring you balloons & flowers."

"Oh, you mean a funeral?", I asked.

"Oh yeah! That is the word!" the girls say. I just smiled!

Kids are so much fun & such a blessing.

Moving Day

I knew this day was coming & at first, it could not come quick enough. I just wanted the move to be over with. (no, I do not enjoy moving 6 months) Billy left in September to start his job at Raytheon in Dallas so things have basically crazy around here. I have workshops & stamping events scheduled till the end of November so I will be coming back to ABQ for 3 different weekends. I will also be coming back for Scrapbook Happiness in December if all works well in the family schedule.

I am excited about the move. New house, new schools (AMEN!!!), family closer than ever before..... I will dearly miss my friends here in ABQ, though. I have to try not to think about it or I will end up in tears.

We have enjoyed the time that we have lived here in New Mexico. Our family went thru many struggles here & without the friends that God placed here for us, we may have not made it. I want to thank you all for everything that you did. Good friends are hard to find & we are ever so thankful that we found you.

I have a team of ladies here so I will be back to visit often. We will miss you all! If you are ever in the Dallas, Texas area, look us up. We have plenty of sleep space....

ohhhh--so far behind!!!

I must apologize for the lack of communication...many of you many be thinking that I fell off the face of the earth. Thankfully that is not true. :)

Many of you know, we are in the middle of a move. Billy got a job in the Dallas,Texas area so we are heading home. He has been work there since September 17th & we have decided the family has been separated long enough. You must think I am a wimp since it has barely been a month but this will be the 2nd relocation this year. The first was in February of this year when we moved off base & bought a house here in NM. For family reasons, we have decided that we wanted to move back to our stompin' ground.

I will be sending an email next week with our new contact & mailing address info. If you do not get it, please shoot me an email. It has been a while since I have had the chance to update it! Please keep our family in your prayers as we move (hopefully our last for a while) to Texas. I hope to be back on track with blogging by Thanksgiving!

Look who is 4!

AJ had a birthday crown the wear while we were at C.E.C.
He was syked that he was getting special attention for the day.

Macey & Leah love playing air hockey & with the table just their size, it was great.

AJ taking Bob the Builder for a ride.

Avery had a date with Chuckie himself. They even had their picture taken together.

I am not sure what it is about boys & their video games but AJ was addicted to the race car game. He actually did very well.

AJ out for a drive with Stuart Little.

Mommy & her birthday boy!

The newest member of our family....

Just to clarify, we are NOT pregnant again. I am sure many of you jumped to that conclusion. We have added a new family member in the form of a 4 legged ball of fur. His name is TOBY. He is a Queensland Heeler mix almost 3 months old. Vanilla Bean needed a playmate & Toby is just what she wanted. Toby is potty training & doing quite well.

This is Toby sleeping in the truck after we got him.

He was worn out from the summer bash where we picked him up at.

He is checking out his new bed. I find him sleeping in it through out the day.

He is playful as a puppy should be but not destructive (yet, anyways!)

Leah turns 6!

We did an at-home birthday this year. As a new tradition, we started letting the kids pick where they want their birthday lunch/dinner. Leah chose Golden Corral. We had a nice meal & then went for Coldstone Creamery later that evening for dessert.

Leah has been wanting a Tamagotchi since Macey got one fore her birthday. She named it ABBY. For those who do know what it is, it is an electronic pet they have to keep charge of.

Date Day

It has been quite a while since our last date, so as soon as we had our babysitter home from Harding & a summer mission trip to Africa, we booked a WHOLE day of just the 2 of us time. We started the day by walking around old town & I actually got to go in to the shops that I normally have to avoid due to non-child friendly.

Then, we hit The Melting Pot....if you have never been to The Melting Pot, then you defiantly need to make plans. It is not an average night out...you might want to save it for a special occasion, though. It is a fondue place that is really great. It took us 3 hours to eat dinner with all the courses they give you. WOW! We waddled out way out the the restaurant. Just kiddin'....

Then we hit the putting greens...for those who know us, we have always loved to play golf. We used to play a couple of times a week till my belly got so big, I could not swing anymore. I realize that this is no the same, but we hope to start playing again soon. We were playing best of 3 & got rained out on the 18th hole of the 3rd game. Guess we will have to go for a rematch!

To finish our evening, we went to see Transformers, the movie. WOW! I remember my brother, Brian having transformers growing up. It was really neat to see Hollywood breathe life into them. It is a very good action movie.

Look who is 2!

Avery is 2! Who can believe it? I am still shocked that time has flown so quickly. She is talking non-stop like the rest of the crew & loves to do EVERYTHING that Big sisters & brother do. No leaving this big girl behind. She is going thru the terrible 2's a bit early so hopefully that means that she will come out of the terrible 2's early, right? Well, I can still hope! I just keep looking at the bright side. I can stop buying diapers after 7 1/2 years. YEAH!!

Kristi's New-DO

Okay...so it is summer time & MAN! is it hot! For those of you who do not know this, I have really thick hair & alot of it. I decided to donate my hair to Locks of Love. A good friend of mine did it in Ohio & I thought it would be a great idea.

It was fun going thru the process of trying to figure what I was going to do with my hair short. I have a computer program that simulates hair-cuts & I chosse a few & we all voted. AJ was totally against me cutting my hair at all. (I think Billy paid him off) The girls were excited about the whole thing. Avery did not have much of an opinion at the time & now she just keeps looking at me. :)

They cut off 10 inches as you can see in the picture, I still had quite a bit. I am sporting a new do for the summer & lovin' it.

Happy July 4th America!

As I sit here writing this, I can hear fireworks going off just outside. (Yes, apparently it is LEGAL in ABQ for certain fireworks to be set off within the city limits.) I have no idea exactly what the laws are here but I am sure there are some.

We had a wonderful block BBQ last night & got to meet a lot of our neighbors. We ended up unintentionally blocking a street but the kids had a blast meeting other kiddos their age & Billy & I were also excited about meeting our neighbors. We set fireworks off in the street & of course, the cops showed up. We have at least 2 firefighters in the neighborhood, (one is our next door neighbor, Martin) so the cops basically said HI & left. Funny how that works!

I can not believe that summer is almost half way over. Where has the time gone??? I spent about 3-4 weeks in Texas hanging out with family & helping my folks get settled in so there went one month.

Since I have returned home, SU! has released a new catalog so I have jumped started my new business year & planned my classes & events till December 2007 so I am excited about that. If you want more info on classes & events, check out my SU! website link.

I will try in the next few weeks to post from our trip to Texas but with my convention coming up at the end of July, I am making no promises. I did sneak a picture of AJ & my mom (a.k.a. Gammy) SORRY MOM! this is way too cute!

I hope everyone has had a wonderful July 4th!

Deep in the Heart of Texas!!!

It has been a while since I have had a chance to blog. Things have been crazy as usual & I find myself asking when will it slow down...not for a while is the answer I get.

Leah graduated Kindergarten at the end of May & we loaded up & trekked all the way down to Brady to see my little bro graduate HS. I was unable to see Jek's HS graduation due to my pregnancy with Avery so I was grateful that I was able to make Nick's.

Next we headed to the Waco area for my family reunion. It was great seeing all the family but unfortunately we were unable to have our annual family reunion softball game due to rain.

The kids & I are staying with my brother, Brian & his family & having a grand ol' time. Brian & Staci have 2 kiddos, Ashlyn (5) & Garrett(3). Staci & I are definitely getting our share of scrapbookin done. She told me that she has done more pages since I have been here than she did in the last year. Yikes, she must be further behind than me then. :)

I have taken lots of pictures but did not bring the cord to pull them from camera to my laptop so you will have to wait till I return home for pictures of the kiddos.

Tent Rocks rock!

We took our first family hike since we have been in NM. We absolutely LOVED it! the kids had a blast & were totally exhausted when we got home. (Mom & Dad were pretty tired as well)

The hike was roughly 3 miles long & the kids were having a blast. Not only did Billy have Re-Re on his back, he also had the H2O in there. He was glad when we made it to the top.

Some of the hike was a tight squeeze!








Daddy & the kiddos on the way down from the top! We had to pull aside since the path was SO narrow & we moved a bit slower that the average hiker. The kids were really troopers.

This is a view as we were heading UP. We paused only to check out the view & then on to the top to see it all!

The girls were always facinated by all the rocks that were "balancing". We also found rocks in the shape of a dinosaur head & soccerballs.

The photo of mom & kiddos is taken on top of Tent Rocks. We have taken a family vote & decided we have to go hiking ATLEAST once a month. We are in search of kid-friendly trails so if you know of any in our area, shoot me an email! :)

Officially OUT!

Billy went on terminal leave on April 27th. We were lucky enough to have 2 weeks off to get somethings done around the house. Ceiling fans, lights, bookcases, the list goes on.....

He will begin is civilian career on Monday, May 14th. While it has been great having him home for two weeks, I am ready to get back to life. Anytime he has been off that long, we have been traveling so having him home was a bit unusual & confusing as I still had work to do but really just wanted to spend time with him.

We are excited to embark on this new direction in life that God has led us to. It has been an interesting life in the AF & we are excited about our new life as "normal" people. (just kidding) One of the most exciting things is that we can build equity in a home. (Are we nuts or what?)

Spring Break 2007

Spring Break was crazy but well worth it.... I was leaving town the day my husband was coming home from his month TDY. I know that you must be thinking, "that was dumb kristi".... I agree!

His ETA was up in the air most of the mon th of March so I got tired of waiting on the AF to decide & I made plans to head to TEXAS (where else?) to visits moms for the week.

As I am leaving the house, I get a text from hubby that says he has landed. UGH!!! I can not drive by the airport & not see my husband. So we pick him up & take him with us! :) He had to fly back to work for a few days but then rejoined us for the rest of the week. It is so nice having him back home.

We got to visit with grandparents & all the cousins. We went to Amberly's (Uncle Nick's girlfriend) softball game & cheered her on. We (I mean all of us) played on the big playground in San Angelo & had a great time. The kids had a blast except for the fact that it rained everyday except 2.

Nick was running in the San Angelo HS track meet but ended up with the stomach flu the day of pre-lims. Fortunately, the weather was so bad they canceled pre-lims & ran finals on Saturday. He placed 5th in the 110 hurdles even after having the stomach flu the day before. He is running pretty well this year & I hope to be able to see him run again. :)

Tons of laundry to do & lost of emails to return...will try to post more next week!

Back into our routine....

Well, what can I say.....

We are getting settled in our new home & with life on its way back to normal, things are going a lot smoother than last month.

March was difficult as the move in process was all up to me since Billy was needed at Scott AFB for the month. Needless to say, not one installation was done on one trip...Every one had atleast 2 trips due to not right equipment, not the right tool, etc. In addition the driving the girls to school every day back on base, I regret to say that it has been way too long since I have had a chance to blog.

I have slacked on my business as of late as well but hope to have things back into full swing shortly. I have a few workshops that I needed to reschedule so hopefully I can get the ball rolling soon. I am on target for the cruise so hopefully I can still earn it. It would be in April 2008 which happens to be out 10th anniversay so that would be a great way to spend it. :)

Thanks to the many husbands of friends that helped out with the guy jobs around the house while my husband was away. From hanging a garage door opener to moving the wood playground set from the front porch to the back yard (that is another whole story on it own), I thank you tons!!!!

More New Home Pictures

According to my mother & mother-in-law, there is a need for more than just the outside of the new home. Here are a few pctures of the first level that I took while having a walk thru last week. Enjoy! :)

Friends Welcome Anytime, Family By Appointment!

We bought a house yesterday! It has the space we have been dreamin' about. When you have 4 kids, you want as much living space as you can get. It is a 4 bedroom with a study (kristi's stampin haven) & 2 living areas, not to mention a mountain view out the back yard. We have a spare room now, & I do not mean a blow-up matress in the middle of the kitchen. An actual spare room so if & when you pass thru, you are more than welcome to stay at our place.

BTW, the title is a joke..please give a holler when you are in the area. :)

160 Days left.......YEE HAW!!!

Our official separation date is 31May07. We are excited to embark on the next saga in life.

The military has brought new & interesting things into our lives. We are grateful for the true friends that have come into our lives through the AF.

We are leaning strongly at staying in Albuquerque, NM. Billy is looking at jobs on base as a GS worker. We have a church that we love & wonderful friends to go with it. The house market is a bit steep out here but we have faith that God will provide adequate living arrangements. (boy does that sound military or what, get me out of here!)

We do realize this means giving up or Texas residency. Whatever you do, please do not refer to us as New Mexicans! We will always be Texans even if we are misplaced!

You can take the girl outta TEXAS, but you can't take the TEXAN outta the girl! :)

Gingerbread Houses...from school

Leah's gingerbread house is on the bottom & Macey's gingerbread house is on top. Both of these fabulous houses were made at school last week. I guess I will get the girls to help us pick out our next home.

31 years....YOUNG!

As Saturday draws nearer, I am getting teased as to getting older. I have come to the conclusion you are only as old as you feel. So therefore, I am 25 with 4 kiddos. Please do not try to do the math as some of you might bring on a heachache. (just kidding)

I think the matter of the fact is that I am happily married (yes, really!) with 4 beautiful children, with family & friends that love us. Life doesn't get much better than this.

Being happy, well that keeps you young. Sounds good to me!

Drunken Snowman....

I have to say we are quite sadden to fing that our snowman has had WAY TOO MUCH EGGNOG...

As you can see the snow only lasted a few days but those days were filled with snowball fights, red noses, snow angels, hot cocoa, & movies while snuggled under blankets. We had a wonderful family time!

SNOW DAY!!!

Just wanted you to meet the newest family member. His name is Jack & unfortunately he will not be staying with us very long but we definately have loved the time that he will be with us!

We want to wish everyone a very MERRY CHRISTMAS as we take this time & everyday to remember the birth of our Jesus & thank God for our blessings.

love the Shipman6

Better Late than Never!

Billy took me to Phantom of the Opera for our anniversary in November. It was absolutely wonderful. It was the first time I had ever been to an opera so I was thinking I would be asleep in no time. BOY was I ever wrong. The music was awesome! We had a wonderful 8th anniversary!

New Do's

The girls got new haircuts this past Saturday.

They absolutely LOVE them. I was a bit unsure at first but that is probably just the mom in me.

Leah is 5 & Macey will be 7 in January. My babies are growing up!

The Drowner?

Did you know that according to Leah that the drain at the bottom of the bathtub is really called a "DROWNER"? Boy, I guess you learn something new every day!

Halloween 2006

LADYBUG a.k.a. Avery Grace

STICH a.k.a AJ

TIGGER a.k.a. Leah

PURPLE WITCH a.k.a. Macey

Halloween was quite fun this year.

Since it was cooler this year, we decided to dress in warmer costumes!

the Bloody Water

Leah was reading a book to AJ the other day & I over heard her talking about the bloody water. Curious to see which Bible story she was telling her little brother, I stopped & listened. The next thing I heard was, "And Moses parted the bloody water......"

An AJ Prayer

Dear God, Thank you for my Macey & for my Leah.

Dear God, Thank you for my Soren & my Keely. (friends)

Dear God, Thank you for ME! AMEN!!

(this is AJ & his friend, Keely)

Fallin' into Daily Routine....

Well, It has been almost a month since I have written.It amazes me how time can fly nowadays. The girls are in full-day school. While that is nice most of the time, It definately wears them out by the end of the week. I know that Leah would sleep every afternoon if I let her.

AJ has a Pre-school that he attends 3 days a week for 3 hours in the morning. He usually takes a nap on those days. I guess playing & learning is HARD work.

Over Fall Break, we missed Balloon Fiesta yet again to travel to Texas for some much needed family time. We stopped in San Angelo for a couple of days & were lucky enough to visit with some good friends as well as spend time with Grandma, Papa, & my nephew, Robert. The picture above is of Grandma feeding our Avery-puppy. She was so cute just poised like a sitting puppy.

On Sunday, we headed to Brady where the kids & I hung out with Mom & the boys while Billy went fishing with the KWAST men. Apparently, I do not have what it takes to go on this fishing trip, so my husband took my place. :)

He claims that he "had a blast". He did comment that there was not a whole lot of fishing but he was glad for the much needed break. I have heard a few fish stories but with no pictures or fish to show, I am not so sure about them.

It is amazing how long it takes me to get back to the grind of daily life when we were out of pocket for only a few days. I think the fact that I am tired when I get home from a trip has to do with it somewhat.

As far as our job situation, it has changed again somewhat. The early separation packet that we applied for was disapproved. Apparently, the AF thought they could let people out in Billy' s career field, but then after almost 6 weeks into the program, changed their mind. Leave it to the government to be indecisive.

That changes our family plans for now. We are still looking to separate from the AF, most likely by June 2007. We are looking for a job in 2 primary locations, HERE & DALLAS, TX. There are a few other options but these are our concetrated places for now.

I will try to update this page more often with the status of our family job sitation. Pleas keep our family in your prayers as we have some exciting & scary choices to make in the next few months!