Camp Out!

For labor day we went to my parents lake house or I should say land. They just started the building process. Aiden loves it out there. He is a typical boy when it comes to being outside all day. The weather was great! We had a relaxing day with the family. Can't wait until we have the house built and a BOAT.

A Trip of a Lifetime!

This was truly a trip of a lifetime for Aaron and me. It gave us much needed time together even through I missed Aiden terribly. Once we got to Rome (which is a whole another story) it was amazing. (My pictures are in reverse.) We were in Rome first for several days and got to visit lots of places. The Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Roman Forum, The Vatican, and my favorite- The Colosseum. I think the Colosseum was my favorite because there wasn't that many people there. We were able to explore the place ourselves and have fun.


We had delicious Italian food almost every night but its not the Italian food you would think. We (Americans) think Italian food is Lasagna, Chicken Marsala but they didn't have any chicken and not much paste either. They ate mostly pork, lamb, and beef.
It was all good! We never had a bad meal. Tuscany is more beautiful in person than in the movies. Vineyards everywhere! Aaron took me to a beautiful town called Montepulciano
(where they filmed Twilight) for a romantic dinner for my birthday. It wasthe best birthday I have ever had (except for my 27th birthday which was the day I found out I was pregnant). We had more wine during this trip than we have had in our lifetimes. (which isn't alot- we aren't big drinkers) While we were in Tuscany we drove to different cities. The drive itself was gorgeous but once we got to the city we shopped, had lunch, relaxed and explored. I had a blast! I can't wait to book our next trip back.

Aiden in BlueBonnets!

A couple of weeks ago I took Aiden down to Ennis to get some pictures of him in the bluebonnets. My mom has several pictures of my brother and I in bluebonnets so I wanted to get some with Aiden. Of course, he wouldn't stand still for two seconds. These pictures are my attempt at getting some. He wouldn't sit in them or stand in them. All he wanted to do is run after my aunt's dog. I must have taken 50 pictures and they all pretty much looked like this. There are a couple of good ones with his hands in the air. :)

Cheers To 30 Years!

Aaron turned 30 this month! We celebrated with family on Thursday night. I made his favorite dinner. Now I know why I only make it once a year. It took several hours and there was a huge clean up. It was worth it to me. I wasn't able to do it last year because I was in the hospital. When we sang happy birthday to Aaron, Aiden lit up, he thought we were singing to him. He loved helping his dad blow out the candles on the cake. On Friday we celebrated with friends at PFChangs. It was going to be a surprise for Aaron but I think he already knew. I can never seem to keep a secret from him.

Relay For Life 2010! Manda Strong

Relay for Life this year was incredible. The weather was perfect and we had a huge turnout. Team Manda Strong raised over 2000 dollars for America Cancer Society. Yea! I felt so honored to have so many people out there cheering me on. Thank you to everyone that supported our team in some way. This event will be a passion of mine for the rest on my life.

I was asked to speak at one of the relay for life events this month and was approached afterwords by a mom who's daughter was just diagnosed with the same cancer I had when I was five. I was able to meet this young lady at Relay for Life. She was an amazing girl with a great attitude and spirit. I am happy to say that we hit it off and I will be taking her lunch at the hospital sometime this week. Praise God for his direction in my life.

Bitter Sweet Memories!

When I looked at my blog tonight for the first time since........ Jan. 09 I immediately began to cry. I'm still teary eyed right now typing this post. As I went through all the pictures and relived all those special times Aaron and I had together I realized that in that very moment I had no idea what was about to happen to me. My life was going to change forever! It was bitter sweet! My life changed forever in a great way, my son and not so good way, cancer.
Instead of reliving through that hard time and catching everyone up to speed I'm going to start from this point on. Fresh! And what better way to start than with Relay For Life!!!

I DO!!!!!!