Fall Means Busy Times for the Sturdivants!!!

We are full force in our football season.  Our first game was yesterday, Sept. 11th.  We had a win over Morrilton!!  Ben had 3 great tackles.  We are so proud of him. He is #71.  Jeff is an awesome coach!!  Those boys love him and he loves them!!!  We had our Jamboree two weeks ago.  The pictures I posted are from the Jamboree.  We LOVE football!!!  Check out my football blog for the team!!  http://www.viloniafootballred.blogspot.com/. 

Sweet, Sweet, Baby!!

As you all know I LOVE to take pictures.  Especially of sweet babies.  This is Isabella Grace.  She belongs to my friend Amy.  She arrived Friday, July 16th.  All I had was my iPhone camera.  I just took a quick shot to text to friends.  With just a little editing on my phone, this has turned out to be one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken.  Welcome baby Isabella!!!

ZOO Time!!!

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My Favorite People and Me!!!

FUNNY!!

We saw this sign as we were leaving Sea World!!  Too funny!!

My Seesters!!!!

This picture was taken at the reception.  It was located right one the beach.  Can you see the ocean view in the background?  It was a gorgeous home that belonged to a friend of my sister.  She looked gorgeous!!!  The three of us spend her special day all day together.  We had laughs, tears, and fun!!  I was honored to be a part of her big day.  I will never forget it.  Just in case you were wondering...I am the one on the right.

San Diego Trip

We just returned from our San Diego trip. Of course, the big event was the wedding. We had a fabulous time. It was so sweet and beautiful. We are thrilled for Renee and Richard and can't wait for them to return from their honeymoon in Australia so we can hear all about their trip.

We kept the boys busy between theme parks and the wedding. Our first full day found us at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park. The next day was fabulous as we splashed and played at Sea World. Sunday was saved for San Diego Zoo and our last and final day in California was spent in Disneyland. Disneyland was by far our favorite.

I will post pictures when I can. I have a few projects (graduate course) that must be completed before I can allow myself the pleasure of editing the pictures. The few I will post on here were all taken from my phone.

Check back soon for trip pictures. Love to all!

Vacation Pictures!!

Make a scrapbook design

Wow! Maybe with texting abilities I won't stop blogging!!

10 DAYS AND COUNTING!!!

1O more days until my sister, Renee, gets married!!! She is marrying Richard Smith. Jeff is thrilled with her choice. Those of you who know how much Jeff loves football will understand when you know that he is an NFL coach. He is the linebacker coach for the Carolina Panthers!! GO PANTHERS!!! You can see how much these two really love each other and we are all so excited about this special day. We will be leaving for San Diego in 7 days and have a family vacation along with the big event!! Congratulations Renee and Richard!! We love you.

Missing my Dad!!

Five and half weeks ago I lost my father to Pancreatic Cancer. That is a horrible cancer than sees a VERY low survival rate. He was a good man. He loved working and the people he worked with. The only comfort I get when I am missing him is knowing he has gone to heaven to be with God and his parents. I know he is waiting for me there!!! I miss him EVERYDAY!!

Here We Are!

Where Has The Time Gone?

Wow!! Life sure gets busy with three boys! I have not posted on here in ages. I have a lot of catching up to do. My friend Leslie is so faithful to keep everyone updated through her blog. She is an inspiration. So here I go again trying to be faithful to mine. Here is an update on everyone:

JEFF
He is still working at Acxiom. The newest role in his life is head football coach for Ben's team. He LOVES it and he was made for it. Those boys love him and football because of him. I am not surprised by this. He is such an awesome dad it was inevitable. I am so proud of Coach Jeff!!!

YVONNE
I am still teaching at Vilonia and UCA. The newest thing in my life since starting this blog is my photography business. I started it a little over a year ago. It will never be my full time job. I love taking photos of my friends and family. You can check out my websites at www.yvonnesturdivantphotography.com.

BEN
Ben will be starting fourth grade in August!! I just can't believe it. He is such an awesome kid. He is in GT class and has a natural musical ability that I am astounded by. He plays the drums amazingly and has never had a lesson. He loves playing football for his dad. He is such a big help with Jack. Jack adores him!!! Many times Jack would rather have Ben and no one else. He is a good looking kid with a bright future ahead of him.

SAM
My sweet, funny Sam!!! You just have to be around him to appreciate him the way we all do. What a ladies man!!! He loves the girls and the girls love him. He just finished his first year of "big school" and will start first grade in August. He took piano lessons this last year and his teacher was impressed with his abilities. He is such a great kid that makes us laugh and smile all the time. He is just like his dad!!! I am proud of how well he did in school this year and know he will do well every year.

JACK
Jack is such a sweet baby!! He is a mix of Ben and Sam. He looks just like Ben did when he was this age. But he has Sam's body type/frame. It is so cool to see how he is a pretty even mix of them both but still his own individual. He jabbers a lot and will have full conversation with you, hand gestures and all. But you don't have a clue what he's telling you all about!! But of course, we carry on the conversation. He is a very determined child and knows exactly what he wants. He understands EVERYTHING that is said to him. We have been so blessed by his addition to our family. I can't imagine life without him!!

SO...there you have it!!! A little update on us until I can get some posts going. Love to all my family and friends.

Meet Jack Walker Sturdivant

Jack arrived at 8:00 am on Wednesday, November 5, 2008. He was 19 1/2 inches long and weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. Yes, you heard me right. 7 lbs. 11 oz. I call him the runt of the litter. We were expecting a 9 pounder. I told them to weigh him again because there was no way I had a 7 lb. baby!!! But I did and he is absolutely perfect! He reminded me of Ben right away. You can barely see his eyebrows and eyelashes. He raises his forehead just like Ben used to do. He has more hair than Ben but less than Sam. It is darker than Ben's but lighter than Sam's. He looks at us like Sam used to do-with one eye open and one eye closed. Some of you might remember our little one-eye Samurai!! We think he will probably be his own person with a little bit of both brothers in him. He is already developing a personality-how quickly they do that!!! He zerberts me a lot!! He is so precious. We can't wait for you all to meet him in person.

He's Finally Here!!!

Can you tell how happy we are?! Our family is complete. We are so blessed and fulfilled by this wonderful addition God chose for our family. Ben is very helpful with Jack. He feels a little awkward talking to him. But does anything he needs-especially giving him his paci on van rides. Sam, on the otherhand, talks to him all the time! We had told him one of his jobs as a big brother was to teach his little brother about everything like his big brother Ben did for him. He and Ben both are taking their roles as Big Brother very seriously. We are so proud of them and the way they have adjusted to Jack being a part of our FIVE family.

Happy Halloween!!!

Ghosts, goblins, and ghouls, OH MY!!! Well, not in the Sturdivant household!! It's more like Spiderman, Ninjas, and nerds. Just in case you are wondering who the masked men are, let me help you...Spiderman is Sam, the ninja is Ben, and the nerd is our Soaring Wings Foster child. They had so much fun together. We made a quick stop for treats at Meme's then headed out to Nathan's costume birthday party at Oma's. Just a night of fun with family-not too many tricks for us.

Look Out Farve!! There's a New Quarterback in Town!

Ben played his first season of flag football!! He was the Giants starting quarterback. He was awesome!!!!! Dad helped coached his team. It was a great time for them to be together and bond. Dad was very pleased with how well he did! Although the Giants didn't have a winning season (1-7) they all had fun and learned a lot. We are proud of Ben for giving it a try. He is already looking forward to next season.

Happy Birthday Ben!!!

Can you believe my baby is already 8?!? It seems like he was just toddeling around the house asking for "cluck, cluck and cha chas". For those of you who do not remember Benji talk that is chicken nuggets and french fries!!! Ben (we are much too old for Benji!) is such a great kid. He is smart, funny, and just great all around. We are so proud of him. We hope that his 8th year of life is his best yet!!!! (September 27-I'm a little behind on posting!)

San Fran Trip

This summer I visited San Francisco and Napa Valley with my mom, Pat, and my 3 sisters: Renee, Vet, and Laura. We had a great time together and made wonderful memories. Here are some pictures of the main things we did while there. Of course, there was a lot of shopping but no photos of that. Vet, Laura, and myself had facials at a spa in Calistoga where we stayed for our Napa Valley portion of the trip. I hope you enjoy the pictures. I must say that they do not do justice for the true beauty you see there. Oh yeah, and while you all were suffering 100+ degree weather here in Arkansas, we were enjoying weather in the 60s!! It was awesome.

We visited Pier 39 and watched the sea lions play. That is definitely something to see. It was very entertaining and hard to leave. You can also see Alacatraz from this location.

This is the California coastline.

This was the entrance to the CIA in Napa Valley. We had a fabulous lunch here. I would love to have had more time here. Not only was the food great but the building and grounds were gorgeous. They have a great little gift shop. I would have really enjoyed watching a cooking demonstration but we didn't have time because we had a pampering session to attend!! So much to do, so little time.

This is one of the several wineries that we visited. They were all absolutely gorgeous and lush. This particular winery was the Frances Ford Copella winery. I think this particular winery had the most beautiful grounds of all.

Here I am with my 3 sisters at the Golden Gate Bridge. We crossed the bridge on our way to Muir Woods and to the second half of our trip to Calistoga/Napa Valley. From the left: Laura, Vet, Me, and Renee.

We were going to take a trolley ride but the lines were too long. We had so much we wanted to do so we didn't want to wait. Everytime I see one I want to sing the old Rice A Roni commerical--"Rice a Roni, the San Francisco Treat-ding, ding"

This is the entrance to Muir Woods. This is one of the most beautiful and amazing places I have ever seen. You sure can't deny God after being in this place!! We stood within 3 feet of a fawn and watched for at least 10 minutes. I couldn't believe he wasn't scared off. This is definitely a place to visit if you ever get the chance. I would definitely try to go during the week so it is not so crowded that way you can enjoy God's beauty in the true serenity of this place.

This is just one of the many pics I took of the Golden Gate Bridge.

This is Alacatraz from the Pier. We didn't get the chance to take a tour. It was kind of eery. I can't imagine being locked up in this place. They say that the prisoners could hear people at night in San Fran. Could you imagine that? It sure would add to my insanity were I contained there.

Here we all are. This is across the bay from San Fran. The Golden Gate Bridge is located to the right of us. From left: Laura-who lives in Delaware, Vet, Me, Mom, and Na-who lives in Houston.

I hope you enjoy the pictures from my trip. It is definitely a trip worth taking. I know we didn't even get to a fourth of all there is to do there.

Cave Photos