Catching Up etc.

It has been a while since we posted anything so here are some of the highlights:

Tyler' artwork was selected to be displayed at the Stafford Fine Arts Festival.

(see top of photo)

We visited Scott's parents in Louisville KY for Easter-Julia's first long distance road trip. She learned to wave "hi" and "bye" right before we left. And celebrated the boys birthday early with them; they will be 6 next weekend!

Visited with our good friends "Uncle" Pete and "Aunt" Marcy while we were there and won a foldable "Cars" Huffy tricycle for Julia at Incredible Dave's.

Pete, Marcy, Scott and the kids

I donated 8 inches of my hair to the Pantene Beautiful Lengths for wigs for women with cancer. If anyone has hair to donate it's a great cause!!

On a side note: My Mom is doing well and finished her radiation treaments before Easter. She will continue her chemo treatments until September and then should be through with the worst part. Please keep her in your thoughts and well as our friend Pete who just started his chemo program also finishing up in September.

We also walked with the kids at the March of Dimes March for Babies last Saturday and had a great time!

Julia is getting her first tooth in and started clapping 2 days ago! She is getting so big (20 lbs!) at almost 10 months!

Looking forward to my Mothers of Multiples conference this weekend that we are hosting here in Fredericksburg with my awesome FAMOMC mommy friends and seeing my cousin Kristy who will be one of the workshop speakers!!

Have a super fantastic day!

Winter travels and snow!

I am finally getting around to posting some recent pictures including our trip to Massanuten VA, the big snow storm we had here on Monday etc. We had so much fun at Mass. and it was great to hang out with the Broughton family. We got to sled down a snow tubing hill and then hit the water park where the boys rode on a surfing simulator for the first time as well as Scott- with a little mishap which is captured on film for a select few to see ;) I am still amazed how big the kids have gotten and how quickly time flies. T and C will be 6 in 2 mths and Julia just turned 8 mths! The boys just adore her and vice versa and boy, can they make her laugh! Someone else I know is smitten by her and even commented that she is such a good baby we should have another. However, NO we are not and our family is complete, but it was neat to hear the sentiment :)

T & C and the Mass. snow tubing hill.

T and C in the igloo that Scott made in the front yard!Tyler heading down the hill near our house!Chase's turn! Scott and the boys after making the igloo.


What a big hill!!


Julia just hangin' at home.

Fun at the waterpark in Mass.

Finally some snow!

It was great to finally get outside today with the kids since the boys were sick with the stomach bug from Thursday night until yesterday! (And yes Scott was out of town for the whole thing-good timing!) They only went to school on Wed. last week since they were off Mon.and Tue. and they will only be in school Thu. and Fri. this week because of the snow and teacher work day. They are ready to go back and I am ready for a break :) I also hope to find a job soon! Here are some fun photos from today.

What a Day!

Well it all started last night with Tyler being up with an earache. We did not get much sleep since we kept him in our bed-he is a mover in his sleep! Then this morning both he and Chase were complaining of a tummy aches and not feeling well (they looked a little green). So I let them stay home and was heading out to see the doctor and the car would not start! And of course we were already running late! FYI- Do not leave bottle warmers plugged in to the car, they devour car batteries. So luckily my neighbor was home and she helped me jump start the car, although at first we sort of confused the fuse box cables with the battery ones, we are still accessing the damage, but that is another story...Anyway we get it started and then got to the doctor's about 25 min. late, they still saw us thank goodness! So Tyler has an ear infection and Chase has strep, which means Tyler will probably will get it, but the meds should knock it out. So far Julia is in the clear and boy is she growing fast! She is 18.5 lbs and does not seem to be slowing down. She may outweigh her brothers if this keeps up! Here is a picture of her after Uncle Tom's Change of Command Ceremony in his new super "sweet" office!

I am staying positive that tomorrow will be a better day, although Scott leaves at 4:45 am (yikes) to fly to OshKosh WI for a leadership conference. So I will be solo with the kiddos but I'll be heading up to NOVA and staying with my Mom and Dad for the weekend, so that should be fun! Oh and here is a shout out to our friends the Bulmers in Raleigh who had a beautiful baby girl yesterday, Amelia Rose! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Christmas 2008

A funny tribute to Moms!

This is absolutely hilarious! Enjoy!

Happy New Year - Xin nian kuai le!

Scott here ... let me be the first to wish you a Happy New Year, or Xin nian kuai le if you speak mandarin! Yes, it's true, this is my first ever post to the Huff Family blog. I promised Jen that I would actively participate in our blog this year and I'm starting RIGHT NOW!

I think it's safe to say that many of us are anxious to get 2008 behind us. It has been a tumultuous year mainly due to the biggest recession in our generation, a deflated housing market, and a job market that continues to keep most Americans concerned about the future. If you follow Chinese philosophy, 2008 was the year of the Rat ... certainly not the cute little rat, Remy, from the Disney movie Ratatouille. 2009 is the year of the Ox, which is the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. There is certainly a lot of hard work ahead for the Obama administration and let's hope prosperity returns for so many families that have lost their jobs, homes, or even worse, loved ones who have been fighting for our freedoms.

If you know me at all, you know I'm an optimistic person. There are many things that happened in 2008 that I am VERY thankful for. Julia was born on July 3rd and has been such a blessing. My love for Jen, Tyler, Chase, and Julia deepens with each day. This is going to sound strange, but I'm thankful that the aviation business I was attempting to launch at the Stafford airport didn't materialize in 2008 ... in the face of a weakening economy that would have made it extremely difficult to weather through. A negative turned positive ... you bet! The aerial photography business I started in 2006 continued to generate enough revenue to cover the costs of owning our airplane. Given the cost of fuel during the summer of 2008, I seriously considered selling her. Making lemonade from lemons ... you bet!

Our family was faced with many challenges in 2008, but I believe it's the love of friends and family that helped us through it all. For example, Jen and I celebrated our 8th anniversary on December 1st ... that very morning Jen got laid off from EDS, after 7 years of exemplary service. While Jen was being shown the door, I was going through new hire orientation with InfoReliance Corporation. Knowing layoffs were eminent, I decided to leave EDS after 10 years of dedicated service. It was an emotional roller coaster that day and for the first time we directly felt the affects of this recession. True to form, we have kept our heads up and continue to search for the "bronze lining" that we always seem to find. I'm convinced Jen will find a better opportunity ... for now she is enjoying quality time with Julia comforted by a generous severance package. As for me, I couldn't be happier with InfoReliance ... this job is truly a blessing.

Friends and family often goof on me for being a big dreamer. While many of my ideas & dreams are aviation related, some are off on a tangent of some sort. Yes, I dream big, with a humble conviction that if you want something bad enough, you can make it happen. I have many big ideas for 2009 ... some will come to fruition, some will get shelved because the timing isn't right. I'll share some of those with you in future posts, knowing full well that I'm opening myself up to public ridicule.

Regardless of what happens this year, I look towards my friends and family for strength, support, and motivation. I wish all of you the very best this year and thank you for being there when I needed you. Please know that I am always here for you.

Scott

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