See you later 2012!

Well 2012 is drawing is a close and I must say I am glad that this year is done with!  Don't get me wrong for all it's trials and hardships, it was certainly outweighed by blessings, great times and most of all miracles.

I have been contemplating what my New Year's Resolution should be eventhough they usually fail miserably within the first week just like everyone else's resolutions do...I'm talking to you fat girls hogging up the treadmills at the gym for most of January.

But I do in fact have a resolution and that's to update the blog more often, not to toot my own horn eventhough I am truly awesome as a daddy blogger, father, lawyer, explorer, mountain climber, and silk weaver, but many people have told me that they love reading the blog and I should do it more often....so your wish is my command...maybe..hopefully....probably....maybe.

Okay back to the kids.....

Thanksgiving and Christmas were great times, and sandwiched in between was our annual trip to Vegas...and yes the girls went to Vegas with us...why wouldn't they?  I mean Vegas casino's scream kid friendly...so after Piper, Maizy and I went and hit the craps table, went shot for shot on whiskey, and fought a bouncer at a club, we found time to hit the PRCA National Finals Rodeo.  Actually, Maizy and I stayed in the room because she was getting a bit tired that night, so Piper, Mommy, Papa and RaRa hit up the rodeo at the Thomas and Mack Center.  Piper loved it to say the least.  She loved the buckin' bulls and all the horses too.

The trip to Vegas was a great time, I got to drink my "hard to find" microbrews while Papa Dave looked at me wondering how I could drink that weird sh*t....his words not mine.

Christmas fast approached after we returned, and we had a wonderful time celebrating Christmas (even if it was terribly exhausting) but it was even more special by the fact it was Maizy's first Christmas!  It was certainly hard not thinking how close we may have came to never being able to do such a thing with her...makes me even more thankful for all the wonderful blessings that our family has been given. 

We went to Topeka on the Saturday and Sunday before Christmas to do the holidays with my family, we hit up Aunt Tanzy and Uncle Allen's on Saturday, and my Grandmothers with my brother, his fiance Stephanie, and my mom Sunday.  My sister Heather was unable to make it this year as she just recently took a new job in a new location and was not able to make it...no worries though we will do Christmas whenever she can get back for it!  It doesn't matter what day you do it on as long as you are together.

Piper's big present from Santa Claus as a giant Disney Princess Castle that sings, dances and generally irritates the living sh*t out of me...but the look on her face when she opened it was fantastic.  When she realized what it was her face lit up and she said "it's a dream come true!"  Never a dull moment with these girls!!

Well in closing I just want to say thank you to all of you and your kind words, thoughts, prayers, comments, etc that you have provided our family this year.  It was certainly a difficult journey but it was our journey and we made it through.  Just this last friday we celebrated the 6 month anniversary of Maizy's heart surgery.  She's certainly come a long way from that skinny little girl with a broken heart to a lively, beautiful little girl that hollers, rolls both ways, tries to stand, and loves to bounce around in her exer-saucer.  She also loves watching the chaos that ensues whenever her big sister is awake...I am sure she thinks she was born to a pack of crazy people.  But in all seriousness thank you to you all, too often we get caught up on the tough times and how we don't have all the "stuff" we think we need...none of that matters as long as you have a loving family and friends...and food....and shelter....and socks....probably some booze too.....

Thank you all, Happy New Year, We love you, Best of Wishes for a New Year, and LIFE IS GOOD!

Love,
Justin, Traci, Piper and Maizy

So much to be thankful for!!

Well Thanksgiving has come and gone and of course we on Team Ferrell have much to be thankful for this year!

Recently Maizy had a cardio check up at Children's Mercy in KC, we did it in KC this time around so that if Maizy got agitated like she did last time when we were in Junction City they could give her a mild sedative so they could get a good complete Echo.  Maizy was a champ, didn't fuss even once and she even held the cord when the nurse did the Echo.

The doctor came in and told us that Maizy's heart looked great, that eventually she will likely have to have another angioplasty but that was not anything to deal with or worry about right now.  Then he said the dreaded words "That's the good news"...our hearts droppped.  "What now?" is all I could think.  The doctor spoke with us a bit more about how happy he was about how strong Maizy's heart was and then he said okay..."that's it."  So Traci looks at him and says "but you just said that's the good news...so what is the other news?"  The doctor looks at her for a second and says..."that's all....there is no bad news....I guess I should have phrased that differently!"  OH YOU THINK SO?!?!

So all in all...Maizy is doing great, and it was all good news.  She is doing well enough at this time that her 2 month check ups are now 4 month check ups!  Wohooo!  Maizy is a champ!

Piper is doing great as well she got to stay at Grandma RaRa's while we went to KC for Maizy's appointment.  She kept Grandma entertained and busy and she got to go play at Great Grandma Dodo's house the next day, where I can only imagine Piper convinced Dodo to let her eat her weight in licorice.

We recently returned from Santa Rosa Beach, Florida where Traci's cousin Bailey got married.  Piper was flower girl and Traci was a bridesmaid.  Piper kept everyone entertained from the beginning.  When we arrived in Pensacola, as we were waiting to get off the plane Piper informed the people in front of us that she was going to go to the beach!  Everyone thought it was just adorable...then Piper took it to the next level and says "I am going to the beach and I am going to drink Whiskey!"  HOLY SH*T really kid?  That makes me look like the drunken father of the year.  Traci attempted to diffuse the situation by saying "Why don't we drink orange juice."  So Piper looks at the group of people on the plane and says..."Maybe I will mix it with a little whiskey then!"  Oh okay...that makes it better.

So after I escaped that situation looking like the upstanding stable parent in the group we headed to Santa Rosa beach.  A couple days later we were introduced to Bailey's soon-to-be husband Derrick's family.  One of his aunts was a lawyer and she thought Piper was an adorable little girl (which she was correct about!) so she struck up a conversation with us, I told Piper that this nice lady was a lawyer.  So Piper says "I will see you in court"  Derrick's aunt burst out laughing, she said "duly noted" so Piper responded with "I will preserve it for appeal!"  So needless to say it's pretty obvious that Piper's parents are both attorneys!

Piper loved the beach and kept wanting to go out further in the ocean and play in the waves, she certainly had a blast.  Maizy wasn't as sure of it when we put her feet in the ocean...I guess we will have to wait before we start her on scuba diving lessons.

Traci was able to spend alot of time with her cousins as she was helping Bailey get ready and set up for the wedding, and since she was doing that, the girls got lots of one-on-one time with dad.  I love my girls more than anything and I would do anything for them...but those two kicked my ass!  Dad's are just built differently, mom's can handle anything, dad's we just want to give you whatever you want so you don't cry anymore...and we usually start drinking at 10AM.  But all in all it was a great trip, I did get some great time just with the girls and most importantly no one had any injuries and the property damage was held to a minimum!

Well that's about all for now, I hope all is well with all of you.  Have a wonderful holiday season.  Life is good.