Mock Family Blog

Fall 2009 Pics

2009-11-06T08:23:00.000-08:00

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T08:22:00.000-08:00

2009-08-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday we had the privilege of attending Methodist Healthcare's 2009 Living Awards dinner/ceremony where they honored my 98 year old great-grandmother (aka "Bubba") for her 6000+ hours/ 30+ years of volunteer work at Methodist Hospital downtown. It was a very special night. We all dressed up, Dylan looked so handsome in his 3pc suit and Bubba looked beautiful in her evening gown. I was so proud to tell everyone I met who I was there to see (to be able to claim such an inspiring, amazing, wonderful person as my great grandmother leaves me feeling very blessed indeed). Before she was given her award, they played a video showcasing Bubba's work at the hospital. It was so well done and Chris and I were very touched to see a picture of Bubba holding Cedie at LeBonheur Hospital in the video. To know Cedie was part of the night as well made it even more special. Dylan got to help escort Bubba to the stage. He was so excited, especially when he got to hold her big award (he later tells me it was very heavy). All I had was my camera with me (not a video camera) but I did my best to record her acceptance speech. The audio part isn't great but it is very funny to watch Dylan as he inches closer and closer to Bubba and then to the edge of the stage while showing off the award during her speech.

Below is a link to the montage I made of the pictures we took and the video I tried to make.

Methodist Healthcare Living Awards

2009-05-08T08:21:00.001-07:00

imikimi - Customize Your World!

Meet Mr. Bo-Jangles, our new Chorkie!

2009-05-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

We got Bojangles on March 12th. He is a Chorkie- his dad is a Yorkie and his mom a Chihuahua. We named him Bojangles because it looks like he is dancing when he walks :-) He was only 2.8lbs at his 1st appt. At his last appt (4/23/09), he was up to 5.4lbs! They don't expect him to get much bigger :-) Dottie loves him and has took right to the roll as his new momma. He loves playing with Chris and Dylan but seems most attached to me!

Baseball

2009-04-18T08:58:00.000-07:00

Dylan is playing baseball for the Cardinals team this year! He has a great coach and his team looks strong! We have a long season ahead of us and we started it with a win! Go Dylan! Play Ball!

Grandma Linnie's Funeral

2009-03-07T19:39:00.000-08:00

Today we attended both Aunt Bonnie's and Grandma Linnie's funerals. All of Chris' family was there, even the ones from Florida and from Las Vegas. Dylan attended the funerals as well and he amazed me with how well behaved and "grown-up like" he was. I know his great-grandma Linnie was proud of him.

Grandma Linnie

2009-03-04T19:34:00.000-08:00

This afternoon we found out that Chris' great-aunt Bonnie (his mom's mom's sister) passed away. A couple hours later, we got the call that Grandma Linnie (his mom's mom) also passed away. Since both women were in Hot Springs, we will be going there this weekend to attend both funerals. Aunt Bonnie's will be at 10:30 on Saturday morning and Grandma's will be at 2:30 the same day.

Chris will leave 1st thing in the morning so that he can be with his mom and family. Dylan and I will leave Friday after school and after his AWANA practice (the competition is on the 14th).

Dylan's Birthday Ride

2009-02-15T14:50:00.000-08:00

Dylan's 8th Birthday!

2009-02-15T14:35:00.000-08:00

Dylan had a great 8th birthday celebration- which lasted 4 days! Thursday night we had dinner and cake at Memaw's house. Friday night we had 9 friends over for his party and 4 of the boys stayed the night. Dylan wanted a camp out but it was so cold outside that we had to improvise! Saturday, we had lunch with Granny and Grandpa at BurgerKing (birthday boy's choice ofcourse). After that we took Dylan to meet up with some more friends and go ride our 4 wheelers. Sunday afternoon we had yet another party at Nana's and G-daddy's house!

Basketball

2009-02-07T14:39:00.000-08:00

Well the 08-09 basketball season has come to an end. It wasn't a winning season but the kids didn't seem to care because they had a lot of fun (which is the point at this age). Dylan had his last game this morning and he made 2 baskets!

Before the trophy party, we had to make a quick stop to go sign up for baseball. Yep, its that time already! He has evaluations on 2/21 (weather premitting).

Its Snowing!

2009-01-20T07:37:00.001-08:00

We received quite the surprise this morning- SNOW! Dylan was so excited. He wanted to stay home and play but of course he had school. His face showed his wonder and happiness... it made my heart happy! When we pulled up to his school, several of the high school age children were standing outside and helping the little ones get in (just an excuse to linger in the snow, I am sure). I sure am glad that I am not a teacher today LOL! They are definitely going to have their hands full trying to keep their students attention.

Speaking of school, Dylan got his 2nd report card last Friday. He got all A's and 1 B+! His "Fruit of the Spirit" this period was "Peace." The teacher commented that he is doing great. He still loves his school and we see him growing more in knowledge and spirituality each day and we couldn't be more proud of him.

Two Years

2009-01-05T20:58:00.001-08:00

Today is the two year anniversary of our daughter's death. It hardly seems possible. We miss her every day. Thank you to all of our family and friends for your support.

Family Vacation- Las Vegas!

2009-01-04T20:46:00.000-08:00

We spent our family vacation this holiday season in Las Vegas. My parents (Nana & G-daddy) went with us. We flew out Saturday (12/27) and came back home yesterday (1/3).

We had a good flight on Saturday. Saturday night, Chris and G-daddy went to Sunset Station to watch the UFC fight while Dylan, Nana, and I went to the MGM and ate dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe.

Sunday we went to our cousins, the Ellis family, and watched football and ate lots of great food.

Monday, while Nana and G-daddy explored, Chris, Dylan and I met up with the cousins and took the kids to Adventure Dome at the CircusCircus hotel.

Tuesday, the five of us went to NYNY casino and resort, the Luxor, and the MGM. Tuesday night we went to Treasure Island and saw a Cirque De Soleil show called Mistere'. It was awesome! Dylan was absolutely enthralled.

Wednesday we took Dylan to a Magic/Comedy show. He loved it! He was showing us tricks all afternoon.

Thursday, Chris, Dylan, and I went back to the Ellis house for more football and food while Nana and G-daddy went to Paris, Mirage, and the Venetian.

Friday we all went with the Ellis family to Mount Charleston and had a blast in the snow (Dylan has never seen so much snow!). Friday night, Chris and I took Dylan to Margarittaville and then to Paris where we went to the top of the Eiffel Tower (very cool).

Christmas Pics!

2008-12-26T18:01:00.000-08:00

We spent a wonderful Christmas with our family and friends. First, we went to Grandpa and Granny's house for Christmas Eve lunch. Next we went by Nana's house in order to open our Christmas p.j.'s (an annual tradition since I was little). Christmas Eve dinner was spent at Memaw's and Pepaw's house with the Overstreet family. Christmas day was spent at our house and Christmas night at Nana's. Friday afternoon we at Christmas at the Summer's (Dylan's Godmother Rachel, her husband Tre, Grant, and Tatum). Friday night we had Christmas with the Grozier's (my mom's side of the fam). We loved spending time with everyone and Dylan got lots of wonderful gifts.

Thank you to everyone who sent Christmas cards! Unfortunately, we didn't get our pics done in time... maybe next year. Merry Christmas!

Christmas/Family Pics!

2008-12-23T11:02:00.000-08:00

Still here...Sorry

2008-12-22T10:52:00.000-08:00

Its been a busy (and sometimes rough) couple of months. November was full of soccer practices and games, RA activities, and work, work, work. We spent the Thanksgiving holiday in St. Louis. We had a wonderful time visiting with our family there and of course we went shopping all day on that Friday!

December has been busy as well. Chris' grandmother in Hot Springs has been in and out of the hospital a lot. Chris went to see her earlier this month but Dylan and I had to stay behind (I was too sick and Dylan had his 1st b-ball game). I was sick with pneumonia one week but Chris and Dylan took good care of me. Dylan went straight from soccer season to basketball season. They lost their first two games but they had lots of fun. The 3 of us went to the Bartlett Christmas parade. We took Dottie and really enjoyed ourselves.

We plan to stick around town for Christmas and we have big plans for the New Year (we are doing our 2nd annual postChristmas/New Year/anniversary of Cedie's death- trip).

We're taking our Christmas pictures tonight. Our last attempt at family pictures did not go well (back in Oct) so we are hoping we can have better luck this time. Stay tuned!

Introducing Indiana Mock!

2008-10-24T07:17:00.000-07:00

Family Portrait

2008-10-11T09:59:00.000-07:00

We have an appointment this coming Tuesday to have our family portrait done at our church. It is for our church's new directory.

We have not done a family portrait since 6/2006. Cedie was there. Those pictures still hang all around my house.

Before the 2006 portrait, we had a professional family portrait done at least twice a year, usually around Dylan's birthday and around Nov or Dec. Each time we had a new one done, those pictures would go in the frames already on the walls, replacing the previous portraits. Normal, right?

One of the reasons we haven't done a family portrait since Cedie's passing is that we did not want to replace those family portraits on the walls, as it has always been our tradition to do so. How can we go back to a picture of just three of us when, in our hearts, we are still a family of four?

Over the last year and a half, it has seemed to me that to take the step of having the "family" portrait made without her is equal to shouting to the world that she is not here, that we are once again just a family of three. Is this normal??

Dylan was 5 in the last portrait- he is almost 8 now. Chris and I probably look different as well. I know later in life we will appreciate having a picture of ourselves in 2008.

Now to figure out what we will wear...

I got my hair done!

2008-10-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

Dylan Update/Soccer Game

2008-09-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

Dylan is feeling much better now. We still have to finish off the antibiotic but he will be good to go to school come Monday.

We had another soccer game this morning. Our team lost 2-1 by Dylan scored our goal for us. It was such a close game and both teams tried really hard. Dylan was exhausted after the game.

Tonight we took Dylan out to some land that a friend of ours owns so that he could ride his four wheeler. The three of us and a wonderful afternoon together. Once the sun set, our friends had a huge bonfire. There were about 8 other boys around Dylan's age that showed up and they had a blast! Dylan said, on the way home, "at least I got to do something fun on my fall break!"

Dylan's Sick

2008-09-23T20:50:00.000-07:00

Dylan ran a fever on Sunday (highest was 102 around 9am) and seemed kind of puny.

When I woke him up Monday morning, the fever was gone and he said he felt good. I let him go on to school. When I picked him up, he seemed puny again so I took his temp. It was only 99 but I went ahead and gave him some Tylenol because he said his head hurt. He actually asked to go lay down (totally rare for Dylan, especially when it is nice outside). I checked on him an hour later and his temp was 104! His body was radiating heat and he was just miserable. I couldn't give any more meds (it had only been 1 hr since the tylenol!). The fever stayed high all night, no matter what we did to break it. Unfortunately, this type of high fever is not abnormal for Dylan (otherwise I would have taken to the ER since his temp was so high). He threw up a couple times to.

When I woke him up Tuesday, his body wasn't has hot and the fever was down to 100. He was begging me to let him go to school. It was only a half day (fall break this week) and they were having a doughnut party. I told him to try getting up and taking a bath and then we'd see how he felt after that. Unfortunately, by the time he made it to the bathroom, the vomiting started again. Needless to say- there was no way I was sending him to school. Instead, I made him a doctors appointment.

So, it turns out Dylan has a sinus infection and a stomach virus. Dr. gave him an antibiotic and some another med for the nausea. Looks like Dylan will be spending his Fall break recooperating :-(

Camp Good Grief Reunion

2008-09-20T20:15:00.000-07:00

Baptist Hospice sponsored a Camp Good Grief Reunion at the zoo today. This was the week long camp that Dylan attended last summer (2007). (It was the 2nd camp he went to). At that camp, Dylan had met a boy his age who had just lost his infant brother to SIDS. The two boys got along so well. AT the end of camp I had a long talk with the boy's mom and got their phone number so that the boys could keep up with each other. Unfortunately, I lost the number.

Anyway, Dylan was hoping he would run into his friend at the reunion, and he did! Michael and his mom found us right away, although there were probably 150-200 other people there. The boys picked right back up where they left off. They served hamburgers etc at the reunion but we 4 (the boys and us two mothers) could hardly eat, there was so much catching up to do. I had forgoten how conforting it is to talk to someone who has been through the same thing and can totally understand the wide range of emotions that go through my head daily, still. After the reunion, we four walked around the zoo until closing time. The boys had so much fun and they even discussed their losses a little bit (without being prompted). We exchanged numbers again and hope to get the boys together more often. It is great therapy for all of us.

We were so busy talking that I forgot I had the camera until it was time to leave. I did manage to get in a few shots though.

Taylor's Party

2008-09-20T14:11:00.000-07:00

I just had to share :-)

Dylan was excited about going to Taylor's birthday party today, in part, because her mom was renting a moon bounce. When we arrived at the party, Dylan immediately noticed the purple and pink, Disney princess-covered, girly castle of a moon bounce. His mouth dropped and he said "you've got to be kidding me!" I laughed so hard that I choked on the gatoraide I was drinking! He is such a boy!!

Exciting Soccer Game!

2008-09-20T09:53:00.000-07:00

Dylan scored the only goal in today's game! We were all so excited (and very proud!). Watching him play a sport that he loves is so much fun (even at 8am on a Saturday morning!)

Here some pics:

We have a busy day ahead of us! At 1, we go to Taylor (our ex-neighbor & Dylan's life-long on/off girlfriend)'s birthday party. After that, at 3, we head to the Memphis Zoo for a Camp Good Grief Reunion.

A Mom & Son Day

2008-09-07T21:13:00.001-07:00

Today Dylan and I went to see High School Musical on Ice! We have had these tickets for over a month now and Dylan couldn't wait for this day to come (Chris passed on seeing the show). The show was really neat and the two of us really had a good time. We had awesome seats (just three rows up from the floor!). It was nice to spend time with my son, I know the day will come when going to an event with mom won't be so cool :-)

A Lovely Afternoon

2008-09-06T21:05:00.000-07:00

The weather today was amazing! It felt so nice outside this afternoon. We three spent the afternoon playing in Dylan's tree. It was such a relaxing, fun time. Dylan gave us his impressions of Indianna Jones and a monkey! Too funny!

1st Soccer Game of the Season

2008-09-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

This morning I had to drag both Dylan and his friend out of bed at 7am in order to get them fed and to the soccer field by 8am (not an easy task!). We get to the field on time, only to find out the other team forfeited the game! However, the morning wasn't totally wasted. Our team got to have some good practice time (and we get our first "W" for the season). The kids had a good time and I got some new pics!

Dylan's fun Friday Night

2008-09-05T20:47:00.000-07:00

Dylan had one of his new friends from his new school spend the night tonight. He was so excited to show Tre around his house and his neighborhood. At 7, I took both boys to our church for the annual Children's Church kickoff party. They hung out at the church gym, then went for pizza at CiCi's Pizza, and then to Bartlett Lanes for some cosmic bowling. The party wasn't over until midnight, however, since Dylan has his 1st soccer game of the season at 8am tomorrow, I went and picked them up around 10:30. The boys had so much fun and it didn't take long for them to crash.

Labor Day Weekend 2008

2008-09-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful holiday weekend. As soon as we picked up Dylan from school Friday afternoon, we headed out. Saturday we floated down the river in our new canoe. Dylan found a new friend, Mr. Turtle (yet to be named) and had a wonderful time on his 2nd canoe trip. Saturday night we did s'mores at a bonfire and Dylan was passed out by 8:30! Sunday we went down the river once again. Monday morning we packed up and headed home. We all had a wonderful time!

Happy Birthday Grandpa!

2008-08-28T20:39:00.000-07:00

Tonight we celebrated Grandpa (Chris' dad)'s birthday. We surprised him by flying in "Aunt Becky" from Chicago. He was so shocked when he came to our house for his steak dinner and saw her here. We all had a great dinner and a great time visiting.

After everyone left we had to get ready for our big Labor Day Weekend trip to Spring River. We leave tomorrow!

Dylan's Fall Scedule

2008-08-28T20:03:00.001-07:00

Dylan began his soccer season practice a couple weeks ago and his first game will be Sept. 6th. He is playing for our church again and is really excited about this season. (I took pictures at practice the other night but they all came at blurry...)

Dylan started RA's (Royal Ambassadors) at church last Wednesday. This is his 2nd year in this program and he loves it. Last year his neighborhood buddy (also named Dylan) was not old enough to go with him (you have to be 1st grade or older) but this year he is so I get to take both "the Dylans" and they love it. Last week they made tool boxes and this week they got to talk with a woman who has done missionary work in Africa.

Dylan wanted to start guitar lessons this fall but we decided to wait until January. With all the stuff he has going on now and with starting the new school, we thought it might be better to wait. He still plays his guitar on his own at home, as well as his drums, and keyboard (and anything else he can make music with).

We haven't heard anything on the cub scouts yet so we don't know if that will be added to his schedule this fall...

Happy Birthday Nana!

2008-08-24T20:02:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Nana!! We all love you and we hope you enjoy the glassware set we got you!

Dylan's 1st Week

2008-08-23T19:55:00.000-07:00

Dylan really loves his new school and we couldn't be more excited for him. He made new friends and he loves his new teacher. He had music class Monday, gym on Tuesday, Chapel on Wednesday, and art on Thursday. Friday afternoon when I picked him up he asked could he go back to school on Saturday! He wanted to meet his new friend there so that they could plan the end of the year party! Dylan said "since my talent lies in making art stuff, my job is going to be making a sculpture of Pastor Mo (the headmaster)" He also tells me that he has already made a "blueprint" (drawing on a blue piece of paper-LOL) of the sculpture. He is too funny!

Dylan's First Day!

2008-08-18T07:34:00.000-07:00

Dylan had his first day of school today at his new school! He is officially a 2nd grader! I was so proud of him this morning when he marched right up to the front door and greeted the headmaster with a "Good Morning Pastor Mo." That boy really does not have a shy bone in his body! And I was worried about him not knowing anyone!!

When I picked him up after school, I asked how his day was. He said AWESOME!!! He loved it. He made new "best friends" but he couldn't remember their names. He got to go to music and said his music teacher was really nice. He loved his teacher too. His favorite part of the day: recess! (shocker there, huh?)

Our 9th Wedding Anniversary

2008-08-14T19:25:00.000-07:00

Today Chris and I celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary! Time sure flies by, some days we still feel like we are newly weds. I feel so lucky to have found my soul mate and could not imagine my life without him.

Chris had flowers delivered to my office today and they were so beautiful! Tonight (after Dylan's 1st soccer practice of the season) Chris and I went to P.F. Changs (one of my most fav restaurants!). We had a great dinner but we were sure stuffed when we got through! We then went to see the new Will Smith movie Hancock. We were a little early for the movie so we played in the arcade. We had the place to ourselves so we had tons of fun being silly and playing the games. The movie was awesome. It was such a fun night!

Introducing the "Crabbier" side of the Mock Family!

2008-08-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

We would like to introduce you to our newest family members: Danny, Sandy, and Manny! They are our hermit crabs (we never knew what great pets they could make for a 7 yr old boy!)

Danny is our oldest and biggest hermit crab. We got him while on vacation in Florida in June. He is the least shy and he loves to climb!

We bought Sandy from a local pet store the week after our July 4th trip. He came in a shell painted as a football but he changed "houses" with one of our Florida shells on his 1st night with us!

And finally we got Manny a couple weeks after Sandy. Manny is our smallest and most shy hermit crab. He came to us in a orange painted shell but like Sandy, he changed his shell the very 1st night. He picked another of our Florida shells-one with spikes! (a little guy needs protection, right?!) Manny loves to "hang out" on the mesh ceiling of their cage!

We have to give the hermit crabs a bath atleast once a week...

Here is their home. We arrange their climbing sticks each night but they always have them rearranged by morning!

Our End of the Summer Trip

2008-08-12T09:10:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Chris, Dylan, and I went on our end-of-the-summer-trip. Saturday morning we drove up to McMinnville, TN to the Cumberland Caverns! We arrived at 3:30 and check in wasn't until 5:30 so we walked some trails. It was beautiful. We also visited the gift shop where Dylan bought a whip (like Indiana Jones has). He played with out by some trees while we waited. When it was finally 5:30 we began the .5 mile hike to the cave entrance. Dylan was so excited! He's never been in a cave before and he'd been looking forward to this trip for weeks now. After we unloaded our packs, we went on a commercial tour. This tour was in the "lit" part of the cave. We got to see some really neat stuff and we experienced a cool light show. After that tour we got ready for the "wild" tour. For this tour we all had to get helmets and flashlights. We also had to squeeze through a little box to prove that we could fit through the smallest parts of the cave. The wild tour lasted a few hours and boy did it wear us out! We were done by 11:00. We then sat in the "ballroom" and drank hot chocolate (it was very cold in the cave) and had a little snack. I thought Dylan would be too wired to go to sleep but he was out in minutes. Chris and I had a harder time and learned a valuable lesson---always bring an air mattress to a cave sleepover! Anyway, we made it through the night and were treated to breakfast the next morning.

On Sunday, we decided to detour to Lynchburg, TN in order to tour the Jack Daniels Brewery. The tour was really neat and alot of fun! Dylan didn't care for the smell but he liked the tour anyway :-)

Enjoy the pics!

Dylan gets Another Trophey

2008-07-13T14:42:00.000-07:00

Dylan's baseball team was finally able to get together this past Saturday so that they could get their trophies! We all met at Put-Put Golf and Games for a pizza party! They kids ate pizza and ice cream and ten played in the arcade. It was 100 degrees outside so no one was up to a game of miniature golf but they did go for the bumper boat ride! The kids had a great season and it was fun getting to see everyone again. Now baseball is over until next spring.... time for soccer! (Sign ups are in a couple weeks!)

Hot Springs Trip 7/2008

2008-07-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

We went to Hot Springs last Wednesday for a Family Reunion/Grandma Linnie's birthday party/Fourth of July/meet baby Johnny/canoe trip extravaganza!

On Wednesday we got to meet our cousin Eric's (from Vegas/formally from Hot Springs) new baby- Johnny Dale! He was only a couple months old but he was so precious! We also got to meet his sweet mom, Debbie (we really liked her!!). We spent the afternoon exploring downtown Hot Springs with them, Ben, Becky, and Jim. It was fun to catch up with everyone. O, and Dylan lost a tooth (thanks to cousin Ben!). This was tooth #5!

Thursday was spent out on Lake Ouachita. Uncle Jim used his boat to ferry us all out to our own private island. We sat up lunch (thanks to Aunt Becky!) and spent the day swimming, playing in the sun, tubing/skiing behind the boat, and having a ton of fun! Chris' family from Fl were also there! Its been a long time since we got to hang with both the AR and the FL cousins! So much fun! Thursday night all of us cousins went out for a night on the town. What a blast!

Friday was Grandma Linnie's and Great Aunt Winnie's (they're twins) birthday celebration. Chris and Jim worked all day to cook some amazing ribs! All the family came over to Jim and Becky's. There must have been 60 people in all! That night we all watched the kids (by kids I mean Chris and his cousins LOL) shoot off fireworks! It was a fun day for sure.

Saturday was the big canoe trip! We had been looking forward to this all spring! There was 22 of us (11 canoes!). We went down the Caddo River. The river was slow so there was a lot of work involved but we all had tons of fun.

Sunday it was time to load up and say or goodbyes. Eric, Debbie, Benm and Johnny were heading back to Las Vegas. Dan, Linda, Forrest, April, Teresa, Kevin, and Emily were headed back to Florida. It was so nice to have this time amongst family we don't get to see as much as we wished. But before we left...Dylan lost tooth #6 (with Ben's help once again!!). Two teeth in one week-the Tooth Fairy will be broke real soon at this rate!

Campout/Birthday Party in Savannah

2008-06-25T13:11:00.000-07:00

We came home from Florida Friday afternoon, unpacked those clothes and packed our camping gear. We switched cars, loaded up the four wheelers and were ready to set out for Savannah (TN) first thing Saturday morning. Our closest friends Tre, Rachel, Grant, and Tatum are moving out there and were having Grant's birthday party/four wheel ride/camp out.

We spent the day with our friends, all having a blast. Dylan loved getting to ride his four wheeler again and the other kids had their own too! The land was beautiful! That night we cooked out, did s'mores, and sat around a campfire. The boys spent the night in tents and us girls, including Tatum, slept in the house.

Pics from our Florida Vacation

2008-06-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

Our Florida Vacation

2008-06-23T07:53:00.000-07:00

We left for Florida on Saturday, 6/14. Once we checked into the hotel, we drove over to Ft. Walton and met cousin Forrest and his fiance April for dinner on the beach. They had a playground so as we sat talking Dylan played in the sand and on the playground until it was almost 10!

On Sunday, we went to see cousin Jimmy's new house and then we went to Uncle Dan's for a day on the farm! Dylan loved seeing the donkeys, cows, quail, pigeons, and baby bunnies. We took the four wheeler and went to Dan's creek. That night we cooked out and enjoyed visiting with everyone.

On Monday, Cedie's birthday, we spent the day with just us three at the beach. We bought Cedie a balloon and let it go at the beach. We ate lunch at a restaurant on the beach. The night as we were walking back to the hotel after dinner, we saw a rainbow! Dylan said it was from Cedie.

On Tuesday we went to Big Kahunas Water Park in Destin. Dylan said it was the most awesome day of his life. Although this was his 1st time at a water park, he was ready to try everything. We all three had a blast. That night we ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant near our hotel.

On Wednesday we went to Ft. Walton Beach. Jimmy's wife Jessica met us there with their two little girls, Emily and Katie. We all had fun. We bought Dylan a hermit crab, which he named "Danny" that morning. Danny went to the beach with us. At lunch time the 3 of us + Danny went to "The Crab Shack" on the beach for lunch. Dylan kept telling the waitress that they could NOT have Danny! LOL! After lunch we walked along the Ft. Walton Pier. We saw two adult dolphins and a baby dolphin. I tried taking pics but with the camera delay, I missed every time! That night we met all of Chris' family for dinner at a nice seafood place.

On Thursday, Chris and Dylan went with Uncle Dan to look at some hunting land and run some farm errands. I went with Aunt Linda to a little city just inside Alabama to do some Antique shopping. I found a couple angel pieces for Cedie's garden. Late that afternoon we went by cousin Kevin's house to see his new race car (he is a race car driver). Then we went to dinner near the hotel.

We drove back to Memphis on Friday. We had to go home, change cars, load the four wheelers and re-pack our suitcases with clean clothes because we were leaving first thing Saturday morning for Savannah, TN for Grant's birthday camp-out.

Happy Birthday Sweet Angel Cedie Lynn

2008-06-16T00:02:00.000-07:00

Mourning

2008-06-12T03:39:00.000-07:00

It started in the middle of May last year.
This year it was more like June 1st.
Does this mean it is getting easier?
It sure doesn't feel like it to us.

The range of emotions are still there and still strong for all three of us. We miss her just as much and as her birthday approaches, the pain seams more real, more consuming.

A few mornings ago, Dylan asks me if I still dream of his sister Cedie. Out loud, I gave a simple yes. I did not want to start the day off crying. To myself, I thought yes, the dreams are still there: The bittersweet dreams of things that could have been, what our lives would have been if she weren't so sick and how things would be like if she hadn't died; the nightmare re-plays of watching my daughter leave this world. A few minutes after my short answer and the ensuing silence, Dylan asks "are they good dreams or bad dreams?" He amazes me with his intuitiveness. I admitted that I have both. He gave a melancholy "me too." More silence... Then, probably to lighten the mood, he says "I had a good one last night." It was obvious that he needed to talk about her that morning so I did my best to encourage it, although my heart was breaking. He said that in his dream he and Cedie were climbing trees. She was really good, like him. She was all better and they were laughing a lot. When they were done, I made them some mac-n-cheese and we all ate together, all 4 of us, while we talked and laughed. I told him it was a beautiful dream.

Chris mentioned the other day that he still wants to do balloons and sing happy birthday to her. Dylan and I agreed. The unfairness of planning how to honor our daughter's birthday at the cemetary instead of planning a 3rd birthday bash with family and friends AND HER simultaneously breaks my heart and makes me angry.

I feel so broken sometimes. Cedie took a piece of my heart with her last breath. I know Chris and Dylan feel this way too which hurts even more because I can't ease that pain for them.

Cedie's Birthday

2008-06-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

I wanted to say thank you to all of you, our friends and family, for your support during this time. Your text, emails, and kind words are truly appreciated. We try to keep ourselves distracted with our daily lives, but it is our support of each other and the support from you guys that helps make it bearable.

We will be out of town on her birthday, June 16th. I don't like to announce over the internet the exact plans, but I will definitely have a picture slide show and details when we get back.

Dylan's Grand Slam!!

2008-06-05T09:16:00.000-07:00

Dylan had another baseball game last night (we had 3 last week!). I the "dug out mom" so I didn't get any pictures but the most exciting thing happened! Dylan hit a grand slam HOME RUN! He hit the ball so hard and it traveled so far out field that he could have ran the bases around twice! Not only did he score, but his hit allowed two others to run to home plate too! His team cheered for him, his coaches gave him high-5s and I was the most proud mom out there!

He has his last "regular-season" game on Saturday. The tournament should start next week! GO PIRATES!!

Cedie's June/Birthday Flowers

2008-06-01T09:13:00.000-07:00

Dylan and I went to the flower shop and then to the cemetary to take Cedie's June/Birthday flowers. Right after we got everything out of the car,we saw lightening, the wind picked up and the threat of rain was definitely upon us. We were a little more rushed than usual but I think they still turned out pretty.

Happy Birthday to our Angel! We miss you terribly and hope these flowers bring a smile to your face as you look down on us.

Cedie's Garden 2008

2008-05-30T23:53:00.000-07:00

We have added a multi-colored Rose garden to Cedie's memory garden this year. The roses are already starting to bloom!

Dylan and I bought her garden a butterfly as an early birthday present.

My Wonderful Son

2008-05-30T16:12:00.000-07:00

On their way home this afternoon, Dylan informed Chris that he did not want a job when he grows up. He wants to do his art and build a house. This led to the following conversation about art:

Dylan: did you know that when someone tells me to draw something, I don't have to draw exactly what they say?
Chris: Explain.
Dylan: If someone tells me to draw a star, I can draw Cedie.
Chris: What if they tell you to draw a rose
Dylan: I can draw mom.
Chris: A tree?
Dylan: Grandpa
Chris: A flower?
Dylan: Cedie

Is he not the most thoughtful, sweet, seven year old ever???

We're still here... Sort of

2008-05-29T12:31:00.000-07:00

We still do not have a computer at home (due to the lightening strike that hit our house graduation weekend)so I haven't been able to upload my pictures or keep up with the blogs much.

Here's some updates though:

Dylan has finished 1st grade! He made the honor roll all year and his reading/writing/spelling/math skills have all developed quite well. We are confident that he is ready to tackle 2nd grade at his new school in the fall. He is officially enrolled in a small (very very small) Christian Academy for the 2008-2009 school year and we are all three very excited about embarking on this new adventure come August.

Baseball season has kept us very busy this month. Unfortunately, quite a few games have been rained-delayed but the games we have played have all been intense and so much fun to watch! We had 4 games scheduled for this week. Tuesdays game was cancelled due to rain but they played last night and should play tonight and Saturday. After Saturday, they have one more game on 6/7 (G-daddy's birthday!) and then it will be tournament time! Dylan has had a blast playing this season and Chris has enjoyed coaching.

Chris helped out a BBQ Fest again this year. Dylan and I went down there to eat and hang out with him on Wednesday and Thursday. We all had a lot of fun. One year Chris hopes to have his own team. That would really be a blast!

Memorial Day weekend Dylan went on his first vacation without us (it was alot harder on me than it was on him). He went to Savannah, TN with his Godmother Rachel, his "Uncle" Tre, and their children Grant and Tatum. They had a blast all weekend riding their four wheelers, playing in the water, and making s'mores at a bon fire. Chris and I spent the weekend at Spring River on canoes. It was fun but we sure missed our boy. We couldn't wait to get him back Monday.

We have a busy summer planned. The 3 of us are going to spend a week in Florida in June. In July we are going to Hot Springs for a few days and we're having a big family reunion with all of Chris' side of the family. When we are at home, Dylan is going to the same "camp" (he doesn't like it to be called a "sitter") that he went to last summer and they have lots of fun activities planned.

Hopefully we will be able to get a new computer soon so I can download pics for you!

Dylan's Field Day Pictures

2008-05-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

Mother's Day 2008

2008-05-11T07:46:00.001-07:00

I hope all my Mother friends had a Teriffic Mother's Day! Dylan made mine very special!

Early Mother's Day Present

2008-05-07T06:51:00.000-07:00

Eva's mom, Crystal, sent this to me today. It was so special, I just had to share.

(if you double-click on the image, it will get bigger and easier to read)
Thank you so much!

Some Graduation Pics

2008-05-05T21:00:00.001-07:00

Final Grades

2008-05-05T07:59:00.000-07:00

I got ll my grades for the Spring semester in today. All As! What a great way to end my college career!

Course Title Grade
ENGL 3401 Childrens Literature A
ENGL 4243 Studies/British Fiction A
ENGL 4322 Am Lit/Mjr Wrt Snc 1860 A
ENGL 3327 American Lit To 1890 A
ENGL 4900 Independent Study A
PHYS 1002 Astronomy Laboratory A
SOC 3700 Sociology Of Childhood A
SPAN 2020 Intermediate Spanish II A

I will post graduation day pictures later this afternoon. Friday night we had some bad weather hit. Lightning stuck our house and fried our modems and computer. Chris is working on all this calls this morning to get us back up and running.

I'M DONE!!

2008-05-02T09:46:00.000-07:00

After 9 semesters, which spanned over 10 years, after 45 classes, 130 credits: I have finally finished my bachelor's degree (with honors, I might add)! I took my last exam yesterday and my graduation is tomorrow.

So many ask: "What are you going to do now?"

I plan to write a book, actually two. I want to write a book on Cedie's life. Using the blog entries from her blog, I hope to put into words her life's story(complete with tons of pictures, of course, because she was so beautiful!). I hope it will be as inspirational as she was.

I also plan to write my own "creative non-fiction narrative" on my experience of motherhood. I began research for this project this past semester for an independent study. My main goal is to get this story published so that other mothers who find themselves facing such difficult obstacles can find some comfort in knowing they are not alone and they can make it through things with the help of God, family, and friends.

Besides writing books, I also plan to keep my job as Office Manager for Delta Surveillance and spend more time with my wonderful son and husband, who have been so amazingly supportive as I put myself through school.

We also plan to get more serious in our adoption search, now that I will have more time. We are praying on one possibility right now and we should know more about that towards the middle of this month and can proceed from there.

The graduation ceremony is tomorrow and Chris has said he will take picture, so look for that post Sunday or so.

Thank you all for your support.

Update

2008-04-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

This is my last week of classes as an undergrad! Exam week is next week and one week from Saturday is my graduation!

Dylan's baseball game got rained out this past Saturday, so no new updates there.

Pirates Start the Season with a W!

2008-04-12T08:46:00.000-07:00

Dylan's baseball team, the Pirates, had their opening game this morning and they won!

Pictures coming sonn!

Pictures from Mommy's Birthday

2008-04-09T08:26:00.000-07:00

I had a nice birthday this year. Sunday night we ate at my parents house and they gave me some new clothes and a new camera! Today, After work, and then school, I went and got a pedicure. Later, Dylan and Chris took me to Bonefish! Chris gave me a satelite radio and Dylan gave me a jewelery box that he picked out. It is one of those boxes that has a ballerina inside that dances when you open it. So very cute!I have to spend the remainder of the night doing homework. Enjoy the pics!

Tigers are going to the Championship Game!

2008-04-05T20:24:00.000-07:00

Tonight, Dylan, Chris, and I watched the Tigers win their Final Four match up against UCLA. The Tigers beat them by 15 points! After that game, North Carolina lost to Kansas so it looks like it will be Memphis against Kansas Monday night for the NCAA tournament!

Here's what MSN said about our Tigers:

Rose, Memphis race past UCLA in Final Four
As hard as it is to imagine, Memphis keeps getting better just when it matters the most. The Tigers claimed their piece of history Saturday, beating UCLA 78-63 in the NCAA men's semifinals to become at 38-1 the winningest team ever in a single season. Now they have a chance to do what the other 37-win teams - Duke, Illinois and UNLV - couldn't do: cap it off with a national championship. With Derrick Rose and Chris Douglas-Roberts taking turns at basketball acrobatics, it's certainly imaginable.

Busy Week

2008-04-05T20:17:00.000-07:00

It was another busy week. I was very busy with school and Chris and Dylan were busy with baseball. We were supposed to have our opening game this morning but it has rained too much in the last couple days and the field was too wet to play for the games to be played.

I have 3 more weeks of classes left and then exam week. Four weeks until I am a college graduate! I can hardly believe it!

In case I don't get to blog for a little while, here's what's on our plate for next week (so far):

Tomorrow, we will be going to Nana's for my birthday dinner. Wednesday, Chris and Dylan are taking me out for my actual birthday.

Dylan has baseball practice on Tuesday and Thursday and hopefully we will get to see his opening game next Saturday.

Go Tigers!

2008-03-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

Tiger's won their Elite 8 game and are headed to the Final Four next Saturday! Go Tigers Go!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Becky (M)

2008-03-29T20:05:00.000-07:00

Happy 21st Birthday to Aunt Becky (Mock)

Dylan has 3 "Aunt Becky"'s:
Chris' sister, my dad's sister, and Chris's mom's sister-in-law

Last night, we went to Grandpa and Granny's house to celebrate Granny's birthday (3/1) Becky's birthday (today) and my birthday (4/9). We had to get all 3 in because Becky will be headed back to her school in Chicago tomorrow morning (she has been in town on her spring break). We had a great visit.

After we got home we watched the UofM Tigers win their Sweet 16 game! Go Tigers! Dylan was so excited about watching the game - he came home from school with a blue and silver pompom talking about the game - but he fell asleep during the first half. It was so cute listening to him try to get as involved in the game as his daddy! And Dylan was so impressed that the Tigers are from mommy's school (he never noticed before, I guess).

Pictures from Easter Weekend

2008-03-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

I forgot my camera, so these were the only pictures I have from our St. Louis Easter trip and they were taken with my cell phone.

Easter Morning 2008

Saturday Night at Harrah's Casino

Dylan playing with his toys from the Easter Bunny while Dottie sniffs out the Easter candy.

Dylan Easter Morning

Easter Weekend 2008

2008-03-23T19:32:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter Weekend in St. Louis this year! We left Friday morning. We took Dottie with us this time and she helped keep Dylan entertained on the way there. We stopped in Cape Girardeau to meet up with my parents and grab some lunch at Cracker Barrel. We got into St. Louis just in time for Kori, Dominic, and Aunt Becky to meet us at Great-Grandmommie's house for dinner (and to watch UofM Tigers basketball game!).

Saturday we all went to the Mills Outlet Mall (my favorite mall to date) for some pre-Easter shopping. Dylan got a new dress shirt (the one we brought was a short sleeve-we didn't expect it to be so cold there!). I got a new outfit as well. It was a fun day and I loved being with my two aunts, my grandmother, my parents, my cousin, and her precious little boy Dominic. Dylan had fun trying to keep up with his two younger cousins Zackary(2) and Dominic(1).

Saturday night, my parents, my aunt Becky, my cousins Kori and Matt, Chris and I all went out for dinner and some fun at the Harrahs Casino. Fun times!

We could not believe our eyes when we awoke Sunday morning to SNOW! Friday, we were in t-shirts, Saturday in light jackets, and Sunday we needed heavy coats... and I thought Memphis' weather was crazy!! Despite the snow, we all went to my Grandmother's church. During the 1st part of the service, the pastor asked all the children to come up to the front. Dylan took his little cousin Zack(2 yrs old) by the hand and walked him up to the front. It was so sweet! (I forgot my camera on this trip so the few pics I got were taken with my cell phone, which I did not carry into the church) Anyway, the two of them sat up on the steps of the stage and listened to the pastor tell his story. During the closing prayer, Dylan bowed his head, giving Zack free reign to run circles around him! Too funny. When the prayer was over, Dylan grabbed Zack's hand and helped him get the gift the preacher was handing out to all the children and then he escorted him back to us. He is so good with little ones! Next, the children were dismissed to Sunday school where Dylan got to have an indoor egg hunt (remember it was snowing outside) and he got to make a baby chick which he was super proud of.

After church we all went back to my grandmother's house for a huge, delicious lunch! After lunch, while Chris and I gathered our things and loaded the truck, Dylan had a little egg hunt with Zack. It had stopped snowing but it was still really cold outside.

So, now we are back home. Dylan had spring break last week and he will return to school in the morning. I have lots of homework to do (only 5 more weeks until graduation!)

Annual Easter Egg Hunt 2008

2008-03-16T07:29:00.000-07:00

We're Pirates Again!

2008-03-14T08:11:00.001-07:00

Basketball season is over, it is too soon for soccer season, so it must be

BASEBALL SEASON!

Dylan, Chris, and I are all excited about this coming baseball season. We are on a new fields this year and no more hitting off a "t". We found out this week that Dylan has been placed on the Pirates team again. Even better, he will have the same head coach as last year and there are atleast two other players on the team that were also Pirates with Dylan last year! Chris has signed up to be assistant coach again this year, which Dylan loves and Chris enjoys. I will be their cheerleader and biggest supporter. Practices start next week and games start in April!

PLAY BALL!

Cedie's Garden

2008-03-13T08:10:00.000-07:00

I bought some new things for Cedie's Garden today. I got her a pretty Easter bow for her tree that her CHARGE family gave us. I got a pretty purple flower stake that has a sign that says "Bless this Garden." My favorite new thing is the new angel statue! It reminds me of our angel and it fits beautifully in her garden.

Cedie's Easter Flowers

2008-03-13T08:02:00.000-07:00

These flowers reminded me of Easter Eggs. I hope Cedie enjoys looking at them from her seat in the clouds.

Snow Storm 2008

2008-03-09T21:16:00.000-07:00

We had the craziest thing happen Friday night. Earlier in the week we had temp highs near 70. Then Friday afternoon around 3 it started to snow. It didn't stop until sometime earlier Saturday morning! It was beautiful! We got probably 4-6 inches. Then Saturday the temp rose to the 40s. The streets were clear. By Sunday morning, little was left of our snow and the temp reached close to 60! Crazy Memphis weather!

Basketball Banquet Pics

2008-03-09T21:04:00.001-07:00

Dylan's Birthday Pics

2008-03-09T20:54:00.001-07:00

We are doing fine

2008-03-06T13:52:00.001-08:00

I am so sorry that my posts have been so delayed. I am so overwhelmed with school, work, Dylan's social calendar, etc. I have pics from Dylan's birthday party as well as his basketball banquet. I had planned on getting them up on this blog early this week but it hasn't worked out that way thus far. Hopefully by Saturday I will be able to catch back up..

For now, here's what we have been up to(minus the pics):

Dylan had a great birthday! He got a huge heart shaped balloon and a couple posters for his room before he went to school. Chris and I brought him McDonalds and ate lunch with him at school. After lunch we went back to his classroom and we had cupcakes for all his classmates. I didn't check him out (they still had their math and science lessons to do) but I did greet him after school with 7 balloons! He was so surprised. When we got home he got to open his present from us (and Cedie). Then we went to his last basketball practice of the season. They sang "happy birthday" to him and when practice was over we passed out cookies to all of his team mates. THEN we went to CiCi's pizza (his choice) for dinner. Granny and Grandpa met us there and he opened his present from them. On Saturday, after his last basketball game of the season (they won) we went to the skating center for his birthday party. Many of his friends came and they all had a great time.

He had his first basketball tournament game the following Thursday (2/21) and they played Grant's team. It was a very close game and we won by one basket!

Saturday, 2/23, he played in Round two. It was another close game but we didn't pull the win off this time. However, the kids had a great time and a great season.

I had my mid term exams the following week (2/25-2/29). That Monday night I also had to give a 15 minute presentation and turn in a big paper. The presentation was kind of fun and Dylan helped me prepare for it the weekend before.

Last Saturday was another packed day. Dylan had his friend Dylan spend Friday night with us. After he left Saturday morning, we 3 went to Nana's for lunch. Some of my family from Texas and from Knoxville were there and we had a great visit. Then, at 1pm, we headed to the baseball fields for Dylan's "evaluation". This is our first year doing these (he has graduated to coach pitch this year after 3 yrs of t-ball). It was neat. First he did a timed run, then he had to catch flyballs, then ground balls at first base, and lastly batting. They evaluate the kids on these 4 things so that they can attempt to make the teams even (mix the better preforming kids with the ones who aren't as good.) They were supposed to do a "draft" on Monday so we should be finding out any day now which team he will be on this year. He is hoping to be "Pirate" again or atleast be on a team with other "Pirates" from last years team. After the baseball evaluations, we headed to Dylan's potluck basketball banquet. Dylan got another trophy to add to his collection!

Last Sunday I spent some quality time with my husband (I am so busy with school and Dylan that this is a somewhat rare treat). We went on a 4-wheeler ride and had a blast. Dylan had a fun day too, spending the day with Nana and G-daddy.

Great News!!!

2008-02-12T14:21:00.000-08:00

Great news!!! I have been able to up my graduation date to May 2008! Almost there!

Let the birthday celebrations begin

2008-02-10T14:22:00.000-08:00

Dylan's birthday celebrations began tonight at Nana and G-daddy's house. We had a Mexican feast! Dylan got 4 new Pokemon toys, which he went crazy over! Just 4 more days and our baby boy will be 7!

Valentine's for our Angel Cedie

2008-02-08T16:29:00.001-08:00

We bought Cedie some flowers for February last Sunday. Dylan and I agreed on roses but couldn't decided on red, pink, or white. So, we bought some of each! Dylan also picked out a pink heart decoration that says "I Love You" for her Valentine's Day present. There are more pictures on her blog.

Tornados!

2008-02-08T13:27:00.000-08:00

Super Tuesday took on a whole new meaning for Memphis this week. We had a reported 9 tornados pass through our city over an 8 hour period. The National Weather Service called the super cell that hit Tuesday, a significant and rare event. Although our part of town was mostly unhurt (a miracle considering the sky/clouds/rain we saw from our door) other parts were not so lucky. They are still determining the death toll but last I heard it was 9. A mall was hit hard, taking the majority of Sears out. Pieces of Sears were found in Bartlett (where we are - approx. 30 min away) and in Arlington (approx. 45 min. away). Many lost their homes and thousands lost electricity. The TN governor and Pres. Bush will have both come to survey the devastation.

Luckily, our guardian angel Cedie watched over us and kept all of our family and friends safe. Chris' nephew is a student at Union University which was almost completely destroyed but he remained unharmed as well.

Its been a busy month!

2008-01-31T21:22:00.000-08:00

I was finally able to take some time to update our blog with some pictures and news of what we have been up to this month (see the below 1/10 to 1/30 entries). We've had 3 birthday parties, 5 birthdays, 4 basketball games, Pine wood Derby, cub scout meetings, basketball practice and pictures, RAs and choir practice, started a school fundraiser, and had a family fun day with Nana and G-daddy! Also, I've started my last full semester of college (with tons of homework and studying already), Dylan got another great report card, and Chris has gone on a couple 4-wheeler trips.

With February comes Dylan's birthday, his party, his last 3 basketball games, his basketball banquet, Valentines Day, and more school! Hopefully I will be able to keep our blog fans updated more regularly! Stayed tuned!

And thank you for continuing to check on our family through this blog, even when I am behind on the posts! Your continued support means alot to us!

Happy Birthday Chris!

2008-01-30T21:20:00.000-08:00

Today is Chris' birthday!!!
Happy Birthday to the best daddy & husband in the world!!!

Dylan vs Grant

2008-01-26T21:08:00.000-08:00

Today's basketball game was great! Dylan played against Grant's (his so called "God-brother) team. We really weren't sure how these two would do playing for opposite teams but it went great. It was a really close game but Dylan's team won by 2 points (14-12). Once the game was over, they were still best buddies- Dylan even gave Grant the snack that one of his teammates passed out to their team after the game.

Grant is the green #1, Dylan is the red #4

<--Wrong team Dylan!
I'm not sure why Dylan has such a goofy expression!

Pine Wood Derby

2008-01-25T20:51:00.000-08:00

Dylan had his 1st cub scout Pine Wood Derby race tonight! Chris and Dylan have been working on the car for a while now and we were excited to put it to the test. They did a great job and his car was one of the best looking out there! Dylan won 2 of the 4 races he was in! The winners were based on averaged time though so he came in 11th place (out of 37 cars). This was our first year and we learned some of the tricks tonight so they better watch out next year!

"Incredible" Sunday

2008-01-20T20:40:00.000-08:00

Dylan got his report card this past week and he did great! We are so proud of him. His Nana and I decided to treat him to an afternoon at "Incredible Pizza." (a new fun place that just opened in Cordova- it is like Chuck E. Cheese, but more stuff for older kids to do like min. golf, 3D ride, indoor go-cart race track, bumper cars, etc) So, G-daddy, Nana, Aunt Mel-Mel, Chris, Dylan and I spent much of today there. We had lunch (pizza buffet) and then we hit the games. We all tried out the arcade games. Dylan and Chris really liked the motorcycle race game. I liked the 3D ride and skeetball. G-daddy and Dylan did a go-cart race together and then Melanie, Chris, and I raced! Chris won by a long shot (he watches ALOT of NASCAR), Mel came in 2nd, and I came in 3rd. There were 5 other cars behind us. We all had tons of fun!

Basketball

2008-01-17T20:15:00.000-08:00

Dylan is having alot of fun with his 1st basketball season! We've won some and lost more but the kids have a great time playing. Tonight they took some team pictures so I brought out my camera to try to get some shots of my own... (the gym lights don't agree well with my camera)

Skating Party

2008-01-12T20:08:00.000-08:00

Well it was a busy day for birthdays! Today was Meemaw's birthday. Late this afternoon was Tatum's birthday party. Before we went to her party, we went to a birthday party of one of Dylan's classmates, which was held at the skating rink. I went with him and even got on skates myself, which I haven't done in over a ten years! there are no pics of me-just Dylan ;-)

Tatum's 1st Birthday

2008-01-12T19:54:00.000-08:00

Dylan and Cedie's Godmother's daughter Tatum turned 1 on Jan. 4th. The age difference between Cedie and Tatum is the same as between her son Grant and our Dylan. Dylan and Grant call each other "God-brothers." I guess Tatum and Cedie would be "God-sisters." I digress....

Tatum's birthday party was today. We were out of town the weekend after her birthday and it was the anniversary of Cedie's passing so Tatum's mom held the party this weekend instead. The party was at their house and there were lots of people. Tatum was adorable as always! She had a princess crown that was just like the one I bought Cedie on her 1st birthday. The party was bitter sweet for me but I'm glad we went.

Happy Birthday Meemaw!

2008-01-12T08:07:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Meemaw (Chris' mom)!

Dylan's Birthday Party Booked!

2008-01-10T20:55:00.000-08:00

SAVE THE DATE

Dylan and I booked his 7th birthday party today! It will be on Saturday, Feb. 16th, at 2:15pm. For those of you who are local- be on the look out for the invitations (which won't be mailed until closer to the date).

Spring Semester=Last Semester

2008-01-09T20:44:00.000-08:00

Chris and I went to buy my books today (my back was hurting so Chris came to carry all those heavy books for me). One of my professors had 13!!! books on the list to buy!

I am taking 20 hours (19 credits for 6 3hr/wk classes and 1 2hr/wk lab). Before you ask if I have gone insane, once I finish with the Spring semester, I will only have one summer class to take. I am so ready to just get this over with and I didn't want to tie up the whole summer with classes (or pay 2x the tuition for the summer classes).

I am taking Sociology of Childhood, Children's Literature, Studies in British Fiction, American Literature to 1860,. American Literature/Major Writers since 1860, Spanish 4, and Astronomy Lab (a freshman level class I have put off...).

Luckily, I managed to work my school schedule and work schedule so that I only have to be out one night a week. This is great for my home life as a mom and wife :-)

We're home!

2008-01-06T20:40:00.000-08:00

Talk about hit the ground running! The great thing was we were able to stay those extra days in Fort Myers Beach- the badd thing was once we got home Sunday afternoon, we had to jump right into life. Dylan starts back to school, cub scouts, and basketball this week. I have one week to get my books and supplies for my school which starts back the 14th. There was unpacking, tons of laundry, grocery shopping, and cleaning house to do! And posting pictures! Oh, well :-) Such is life :-)

January 5th- A Sad Anniversary

2008-01-05T20:34:00.000-08:00

On Saturday morning it was time to pack up our stuff and start our two days of driving. Saturday not only marked the end of our get-away, it also marked the 1 year anniversary of the death of our angel Cedie Lynn. Before we left Fort Myers, we went on the beach one last time to take a moment for our angel. We sent a balloon up to Cedie with a note telling her we love her and miss her. It was actually Dylan's idea (he's the sweetest, most thoughtful brother ever). He had gotten the balloon from a restaurant we had eaten at on Jan. 2nd. He was so excited about the balloon- right away he thought it would be a great way to send his sister a note.

So, we three stood on the beach and let the balloon go. We watched it soar high into the sky, each of us silently saying our own things to our angel.

We then got into the truck and headed back to DeFuniak. This time we stayed with cousin Jimmy. We were exausted after our trip and being in the car all day so we ordered in pizza that night and watched movies.

Key West Day!

2008-01-04T23:23:00.000-08:00

Friday morning we were at the Key West Express dock at 7:30am! The 3 story catamaran took us on the 3.5 hour trip to the Key West Island. We rode on the 2nd story where we were lucky enough to get a table with 3 comfortable chairs on each side right by the window. On the ride there we got to watch a couple movies (UnderDog and Fantastic 4) and we played card games. They had a food bar and a drink bar. I got a little sea sick...

Once we arrived in Key West, we had about 4.5 hours to explore! First we took a 1.5 hour tour of the historic part of the island. The different types of architecture were fascinating. The island has such a diverse history. After the tour, we walked down famous Duval Street and had lunch at Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville! We all had a margarita (Dylan's was non-alcoholic of course!). After lunch we walked some more and then visited the Pirate Museum. Dylan loved this! Next we walked down the harbor until it was time to board the boat again.

We were warned that the ride back would be rougher so I took motion sickness medicine. We stayed on the 1st floor this time and were able to get a half moon shaped booth with a table by the window. We saw a gorgeous sunset as we left port. I slept some of the trip back (that's the reason I didn't take the medicine on the trip there) while Chris and Dylan watched the new Harry Potter movie.

We got back to FMB around 9:30pm. Boy were we tired!

Island Hopping Thursday

2008-01-03T23:02:00.000-08:00

The skies were beautiful again today but it was still a little chilly (much better than yesterday though. We decided it would be a good day for island hopping. After an early lunch at The Beached Whale on Fort Myers Island, we headed over to Captiva Island (this was one of my most favorite parts of the trip). This beach was amazing! Not a good place to walk barefooted- but you want find a better beach to collect seashells! In the pics below you can see what I mean. There were thousands of shells and tons of people out searching through them. We collected a sackful. It actually warmed up a little while we were there so Chris and Dylan took off their shoes so they could reach the shells at the shore line (you can't keep Dylan out of the water for long!) I didn't intend to get my feet wet so I kept on my shoes...until I got underestimated the tide trying to reach a shell that caught my eye!

After Captiva Island, we headed to Sanibel Island and saw their lighthouse! It was beautiful. (can you tell how in love I am with this part of Florida????). From the shore of this island, you can see Fort Myers across the water- I really had to test my zoom feature though.

Next we headed back to our island, Fort Myers Beach, and took a quick stroll on the beach in front of our hotel.

We ate at a fun place for dinner- Parrot Key Caribbean Grill. We went to bed early because early tomorrow morning we are headed on a boat trip to Key West!

A Chilly Wednesday

2008-01-02T22:19:00.000-08:00

We woke up to sunnier skies but it was quite chilly! They had record lows and the wind was very cold. However, we weren't gonna let that stop us so we bundled up and headed out. First we did a 2.5 mile walk around Lover's Key Park in Bonita Springs, FL. I can not even begin to describe how beautiful it was there!

After the park, we went to the "Everglades Wonder Garden." This was like a zoo for FL wildlife. They are also a animal rehab center. They have the oldest alligator in captivity- he was huge! The guide was worried about him surviving these record cold temps. They had a pond with 12-15 other alligators and we got to watch them eat! Kind of scary but very cool. They also had pink flamingos, Fl. panthers, vultures, black bears, snakes, and other wildlife. It was a definite "must see" if you are in the area.

We ate a late lunch and then headed back to Fort Myers Beach. Since the weather was so cold and our legs were so tired, we decided to catch a movie at the Beach Theater. Very cool place!

New Year's Day

2008-01-01T21:48:00.000-08:00

A cold front was making its way over our sunny vacation on New Years Day. It was drizzling a lot and the temp had dropped. We decided to sleep in for a little while. We ate lunch at a sports bar where Chris got to watch some football and Dylan got to play a bunch of arcade games. After lunch we went to a children's museum in Fort Myers (main land) called Imaginarium. It was pretty neat. Dylan got to touch some stingrays, an iguana, and a giant turtle! He got to dig for dinosaur fossils and act like a weatherman. We got to see a "rain forest" and some giant fish. It was a lot of fun for us all.

After the museum we decided to tour the Thomas Edison/Henry Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers. It was really beautiful. I loved looking at the houses, the antique furniture and all the Christmas decorations. We all loved the landscape with the banyan trees, the royal palms, and an awesome view of the bay. Chris loved all the displays of Edison's inventions and Ford's cars. Dylan was fascinated with Edison's laboratory and the "self guide" listening set. Unfortunately, we had to rush it towards the end because it started raining harder on us!

We had dinner at a restaurant called The Bridge. It is located right on the docks where all the sailboats and fishing boats are. It is under the bridge that connects Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach. After dinner, Dylan and I walked over the bridge~boy did I underestimate that walk! I tried to take pictures but it was too dark. We ended the day's adventures with some souvenir shopping!

New Year's Eve 2007

2007-12-31T22:33:00.000-08:00

After our day in the sun (yes, all 3 of us managed to get a little sun burned), we decided to take the trolley to the "downtown" FMB square. Dylan thought the trolley was fun. We walked around the square and did some "people watching." The square was decorated nice for the holidays with lights on all the palm trees. A balloon lady made Dylan a parrot and me two kissing doves in a heart. There was one of those street performers paint in gold who would shock people by acting like a statue and then suddenly moving. Dylan wouldn't get to close to him :-) We did a little shopping, ate some dinner, and had clowned around. Before we got back on the trolley we stopped for some ice cream. It was a fun night.

Dylan was exhausted by the time we got back to our room and was asleep by 10 or so. Chris and I barely made till midnight :-)

The beach!

2007-12-31T21:21:00.000-08:00

8.5 hours later... we made it! Our hotel was right on the beach on an island called Fort Myers Beach! Our hotel room was on the ground floor, right across from the pool and the bar.

The sun was setting when we got all checked in and unpacked (they are 1 hour ahead of us). We threw on shorts and decided to go check out the beach before it got too dark. You should have seen Dylan's face! He was so excited! He started doing cartwheels! He insisted upon getting his feet wet as well. We got a few pics in before it got dark! We ate dinner at the restaraunt located at the hotel (we were tired of being in the truck).

We spent the day Monday at the beach and the pool! Dylan was loving it (as were we). The original plan was to head to Tampa and see Busch Gardens on Thursday and head back to Dan and Linda's on Friday. However, we were so in love with the beach we all decided we'd extend our stay here until Saturday morning. (Dylan actually chose the beach instead of an amusement park!)

Weekend of 12/28-12/30

2007-12-30T21:12:00.000-08:00

We left Friday afternoon. Traffic wasn't too bad. Dylan entertained himself with his DVDs, LeapFrog, travel games Kori bought us, and his journal. He drew us pictures of what he thought we'd be doing over the next 10 days. We arrived at Aunt Linda and Uncle Dan's (Chris' side of the fam)around 8:00. Cousin Jimmy's step daughter (3 yr old Kaitlin) and his 1 yr old daughter Emily were there. Emily was asleep but Kaitlin waited up. Dylan and her stayed up watching cartoons together for quite a while.

Saturday we got to visit with Dan, Linda, Jimmy and his girls, Kevin, Teresa, Forrest, and April. It was great catching up with everyone!

Sunday morning we three were so excited to get to the hotel (and the beach) so we left around 7am.

Our Winter Vacation

2007-12-28T21:07:00.000-08:00

A few months ago we started planning a winter trip for after Christmas. We decided after going through our first holiday season with out Cedie and facing the first anniversary of her death, that we would head south to warmer weather and brighter skies.

We decided to go to Fort Myers, FL. Its about 16 hours away so we decided to drop in on Aunt Linda and Uncle Dan (approx. 1/2 way) to break up the drive. We drove to DeFuniak Springs, FL on Friday, 12/28.

Mock Christmas 2007

2007-12-26T12:49:00.000-08:00

Thank you to all of our Family and Friends who supported us and helped us get through this Christmas. We are truely blessed.