Welcome Jaxson Avery Criswell!!

   On Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 9:42pm, my grandson Jaxson Avery Criswell was born to his AMAZING mother Kirstee and AWESOME father Evan! Jaxson was 8lbs and 20 1/2in long.
    Kirstee did an amazing job carrying and delivering Jaxson. Evan is deployed in the Persian Gulf serving in the Navy. With the perfect timing he has, he called as she was in hard labor and was delivering. So, in the only way he could, Evan still got to participate in the birth of his son.
    This is one of the many ways that our military sacrifices themselves for our freedom. Jaxson was the 8th baby born on this deployment. With a few months left to go, he is probably not the last. He was the only baby born on Leap Year!! We are very proud of our son and his new family for the sacrifices they make to protect our freedoms! Thank you so much Evan & Kirstee!
   Jaxson is cuter than cute. He looks just like his daddy (just chubbier). He is very alert and already "talking" away.
 

We are all so excited about Jaxson coming into our family. He is such a blessing already. We can not wait to meet him. It will not be long till Evan comes home and we make the long awaited trip to San Diego. It will be a vacation of many 1st's. This is when we will be able to meet Jaxson for the first time. We will also be able to meet Kirstee's parents for the first time, and my kids will be able to go to Sea World for the 1st time!! The new journey of being a grandma is exciting and I can not wait. I saw a saying, "Grandma's are mommies with frosting." I thought it was cute. Well, I am sure there will be many more posts on Jaxson. I can't wait to share in his life. I praise God for him, Evan, & Kirstee!

HomeSchooling all 3

So, after years of not agreeing with how the public school system runs things, we have decided to homeschool our children. Caitlin has already been attending an online homeschool program for about a year, and so this is what we chose to do with the other kids. They are all attending a school called Connections Academy. This is internet based, but kept more inside a private system than other online schools. Caitlin had attended one where she had to view things on YouTube. I did not like this. There are so many OTHER things that kids can find on YouTube than just school. The other school also had her attend "live" classes that took up much of her day. Connections Academy has become a great fit for our family! The kids are really enjoying the way they are learning, and that they are done with school by 11 just about every morning. They all still have "live" classes, but only if they want to attend.

  I am so glad that we made this change. I am in control of what my kids are learning, and what they are not. I can make their schedule to fit what we have planned for that day. It took a couple weeks for everyone get used to the new schedule and being together all the time, but it has been SO worth it. No more 7 hours of school and then another 2 hours of homework. YAHOO!!

My AMAZING Son!

     A couple months back they held the Carrier Classic basketball game on my son's ship the U.S.S. Carl Vinson. Evan works security on the ship and was chosen to work closely with the Secret Service to guard The President of the United States. He was assigned to make sure the President was safe. We are very honored that our son was chosen to wear a gun on his hip and guard his Commander and Chief.      
     As a result of all of his hard work and the hours he put in, he received a commendation for all of it. We are so proud of him and the man he has become. He thinks of it all as just a job, but the sacrifice he has made is huge. He has been gone in the Persian Gulf now longer than he has been home in the past two years. He is going to miss the birth of his first son in March. He was serving on board the Vinson while they helped immediately after the earthquake in Haiti. He was there when they went to Japan after the tsunami. He was on board when they dumped Bin Laden in the ocean.. a job?? No, so much more! We are proud of you son. We love you and miss you more than you know. God bless you and keep you safe!

Welcome to the lives & craziness of the 5 Marsh-ins!

Well, here we go once again. My attempt of doing a blog that will keep family and friends posted with our crazy lives.  Hopefully I can do it his time. With the help of Bri hopefully I can..