Friday, August 29, 2008

Where would we be without friends?

Every girl needs a friend like Heather......
You brightened my day yesterday with these beautiful flowers!
Thank you(and Paul too!)




Thursday, August 28, 2008

We went out to dinner tonight with my family to Cracker Barrel.....my mom was the queen of "comfort food" whether cooking it or eating it. We thought that was the perfect place to honor mom.....sit and rock while waiting on a table.....drink sweet tea and eat some yummy veggies. We all love you mom!




Me and Care Bear sitting and rockin'


Then she wanted to rock all by herself!


Caroline and her "Brit-Brit" (Brittany)


Yes, that's butter she's eating...after all we were at Cracker Barrel!


Mitch(my brother-in-law)Thressa(sister) Brittany(my niece)
Andrew(nephew) Carolne, me, and Stephen

Missing Mom

I can't believe it's been 2 years since I said goodbye to my Mom. That was THE hardest thing I've ever done. A few of the many things I miss about my mom......

1. Watching Tiger basketball with her. She absolutely loved Tiger basketball more than anyone I know. They made you proud Mom...Final Four....so close to being National Champions.

2. Having fresh pecans. She would go around the city(she knew where all the best pecan trees were in Memphis) and pick up pecans that had fallen from trees. She would then sit and shell them. (while watching a lifetime movie no doubt) Then she would distribute the pecans to all of her loved ones. You knew my Mom loved you if you were lucky enough to receive a gallon size baggie of fresh shelled pecans. I would put mine in the freezer and pull them out whenever I needed them for a recipe.

3. Being able to call her when I have a cooking question(which is like everyday) or when Caroline does something cute(which is like every minute) or ask if she's read anything good lately so I can borrow her book.

4. Her lasagna!! Oh how I would love to have a big helping of that yummy lasagna right now....because mine never turns out as good as Mom's!

5. Her generosity. My mom was always giving something to someone-even though she had very little to give! She used to collect change. There wasn't a time that I was with her that she wasn't bending over in the parking lot or a restaurant or wherever we were and picking up a penny, nickel, dime, etc. Every few months or so she would roll all of her collected change and give it to her grandchildren. While Stephen was in med school, she would often send us a little of that money she collected and tell us to go out to a nice dinner.

miss you so much Mom........

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

More pics from camp.....


Our friends Todd, Eileen, and baby Cecilia who was adopted
last November!


Family photo! (our only one from the whole trip because
we have such a busy body on our hands!)


Caroline showing Justin(her birthfather) how much she
likes limes!


Caroline and Bethany(her birthmom)

Camp Pictures!

We're home from camp and exhausted! Nothing like chasing around a 16 month old all weekend while outdoors and no fences or doors to close to keep her somewhat in your eyesight. Just out in the wide open to run free...she had a blast! We on the other hand had a good time but found it hard to really sit and visit with others but oh well...there's always next time. Caroline did really well on the plane ride....we took along lots of things to keep her still. We got to meet lots of other families who have adopted through Abrazo, see friends we already knew, and visit with her birthfamily. Overall, it was a great trip and we're glad we went even though it wore us out!




Momma and Caroline on the playground!

Daddy helping Caroline on the stairs!


Checking out the teepee.


Clapping along to songs from the guest musician!


Opening a present from her birth grandmom!

Friday, August 15, 2008

Camp Abrazo Here We Come!

I hope that our experience last night is not an omen of things to come this weekend. We drove to Little Rock last night which is where we fly out of this morning to San Antonio. We are headed to Camp Abrazo....a camp that our adoption agency does every summer for all of the families who have adopted with Abrazo.

We get to the hotel last night, unload the car, get Caroline to sleep, and settle into bed ourselves....when we hear some sort of alarm sound and it was extremely LOUD!! This sound went off and on for about 2 hours and none of us got any sleep during this time. It finally stopped and then we all fell asleep but our little angel decided to wake up bright and early at 6:00 am!! So needless to say that we are all exhausted and we are about to board a plane with a tired and cranky baby......we could use your prayers!!

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

One of those days....

Yesterday was.....shall we say an eventful day! It all started when the crew arrived bright and early to clean our carpets. Stephen headed off to a morning training session and Caroline and I went shopping for a wedding gift. Not just any wedding present....a wedding present for her birthmom so we wanted it to be special. Well it took all morning and we finally came up with something. We met Stephen for lunch and then rushed home because the Direct TV guy was coming to install our DVR box(Yes, I know what you are thinking....how could ya'll have gone this long without Tivo? And the answer is.....I DON'T KNOW! I already love it and it hasn't even been a full day.) I put Caroline down for her nap and started working on a couple of pies. We were going to my sister's house for dinner for my brother-in-law's birthday and he loves pies....I of course being the perfect sister-in-law said I would make him some pies. I thought it would be okay because Stephen was home so I could work on the pies while he let the Direct TV guy in and handled that. However, we just purchased a wireless router for his laptop(I know, I know...we are behind the times. But hey, we're catching up....now we have Tivo and wireless!) and he decided to install that. Well, that took all afternoon and several phone calls so he was locked up in the office all afternoon. Meanwhile, I'm making a pie and I'm at the part where you are supposed to be constantly stirring the ingredients on the stove while it comes to a boil and of course who shows up right at that moment....the Direct TV guy! I let him in and try to juggle answering his questions while stirring the pie filling on the stove. He then tells me he needs in the attic so I thought ok he'll handle that. But then I look outside in the garage and he is just standing there.....I assume he is waiting on me to pull open the attic stairs so I proceed to quickly take care of this because I remember I'm still in the middle of pie making. Something was in the way of the stairs so I shove it out of the way and then the stairs come crashing down....ON MY HEAD! I am bending over holding my head and then Stephen appears and says...."What's going on?" I yelled at him to handle that situation so I could tend to my pie and I think I said something sarcastic about him being a huge help.

So anyway, now that I've rambled on....we now have really clean carpets, a wedding present, Tivo and wireless internet. Oh, and the pies turned out alright if I do say so myself!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Feeling Better

My ankle is feeling better.....after lots of meds that is. I am doing well getting around on it but I still can't exercise so hopefully the ortho doc will shed some new light on the situation next week!

She makes me smile everyday!