Mr. & Mrs. Russell

My baby brother got married!!! I still can't believe it. I am so happy for him and my new sister in law Pari. She is such a beautiful person inside and out. They wedding was on April 27th at Little Gardens in Lilburn GA. It was a gorgeous site for a wedding! Pari looked absolutely stunning and Matthew was as handsome as ever. All four of us were blessed enough to apart of the wedding party! Mason was to stinking cute and Emily was beautiful. Brent cleaned up pretty nice too ;) It was a beautiful day and it was so nice spending time with family.

Happy Birthday Mason

How can my sweet little boy be 5 already. I am so proud of the little boy that he is turning into! He has overcome so much in the last few years. Mason is so smart, funny, caring, sweet, loving and brave. I am excited to watch him grow over the next year. I really do thank God everyday that he chose me to be Mason's mom! Mason turned 5 on March 1st! We celebrated his special day with his best buddies at Great Wolf Lodge. The boys played in the water park for a few hours and then played and ate pizza and cupcakes up in the room. He got some great gifts and had a blast! I am so thankful for his sweet little friends. Even though Mason has disabilities, his friends just treat him like Mason and I am so thankful for that! On Sunday we had a family party. It was so nice for all of the cousins to get together and play :) Everyone had a great time and it was really nice catching up with everyone!

Wheel of Fortune!

A lot of you know Brent and I were on Monday nights episode of Wheel of Fortune! We flew out to Los Angeles on December 11 and taped the show on the 12th. A lot of people have asked "how and the heck did you get on the show?" In the fall I received an email from Wheel of Fortune saying they were looking for "the face of wheel." I am apart of the wheel watchers club (dork I know) and get emails sometimes. So I said what the heck I will make a video and send it in. I just talked about the kids, Brent and I and our lifes. After about a few months I received an email inviting us to come to try out Cincinatti which is about a 4 hour drive. Brent and I really didn't know what to expect. There were about 75 people at the audition. There were 3 rounds that consisted of simulated play, a test and a sort of interview. After each round they eliminated people. At the end of the day they said if they want you to be in the show you will receive a letter with in 2 weeks. Well about 2 1/2 weeks passed I checked the mail like a crazy person lol. I figured that we didn't get picked. A few days after thanksgiving the phone rang and it said "SONY STUDIOS" and I knew exactly who it was!!! I was SO estatic but tried to stay calm. Brent and I were picked for "Making Memories Disney Family Week." We had to be in LA in 2 weeks to tape! We flew out on December 11th and taped on the 12th. We had to be at Sony Studios at 6:00 sharp! When we arrived we got a tour of the Wheel of Fortune studios along with 33 other contestants. After the tour we had to fill out a lot of paperwork and listen to all the rules and regulations of being a contestant. Eveyone at the studio was very nice :) After that we grabbed some breakfast and coffee. Then it was time to see what show we would be on and where we would stand. I did not want to go first but of course Brent chose show number 1 lol. After we all figured out what show we would be on they took us out to the stage to practice with the wheel and get a feel of what it would be like to be on the show. Did you know the wheel is over 1,000 lbs? Well it is and that is why we decided Brent was going to spin. We were about 2 hours away from show time so it was time for hair and makeup (my favorite part). After hair and make up they fed us lunch gave us a potty break and it was time to tape the show! The taping of the show went by SO fast! The couple to ou left really had the luck of the wheel. They never landed on loose a turn or bankrupt. They ended up winning but did not solve the final puzzle. We took 2nd place and won $9,500!!!! Not to bad for 30 minutes. We had a great time and met a lot of nice people and we won a lot of money!!!

Fun in the Snow!

Over Christmas break we got an awesome snow!!! We got about 14 inches and the kids were in heaven! I really think Remmie had more fun the kids did. She loved for Mason to throw snowballs to her and play fetch. When Brent got up (he is on 3rd shift) he went out and built a snowman with the kids. They had a blast!

2013

So one of my New Years resolutions is going to be to blog more! I am mad at myself I did not do it more. We had some awesome things happen in 2012 and I didn't record it. We also had some not so awesome things happen but looking back I know they happened for a reason. We had a great Christmas this year! Brent had Christmas Eve off for the first time since we have been married. Guess that is the life of police officer's family.Christmas Eve we took the kids to 6:00 mass and it was beautiful! It was mass geared towards kids. Emily & Mason really liked it. The kids slept until 8:30 on Christmas morning! I was awake before they were. We do not over due Christmas gifts at our house. Brent and I agree that we don't want to the kids to think that that is all Christmas is about. Don't get me wrong they are not neglected but we just don't think getting them 100 gifts is important. After we opened gifts and ate breakfast Brent's parents came over and spent the afternoon with us. It was so nice having Christmas in our new house :)

The kids before church