A Celebration for Mom

Through her first and this 2nd round of cancer and treatments, my mom has been so lucky to have so many people that love her and support her. Her first time with breast cancer, she luckily had lots of sick time saved up through her job with the state, but used it all up with her treatments and surgeries. So when it came back a few months ago, that is all gone and she is having to miss lots of work for her surgery and now doctors visits and treatments.

When the word got out, the town came together and had a celebration for my mom this past weekend to help her get through this tough time. It was called Spa-getty for Teddy...since my mom's name is Teddy. We knew how loved my mom was, but didn't really see it until we came in to the party. It is indescribable how amazing it was too see so much of my hometown there to support her. She is very blessed and I'm so glad she has so many wonderful friends there for her when me and my sisters can't be. Thank you to Alto and all of these great people from the bottom of our hearts!

Christmas at Grandma Teddy's

Christmas afternoon, we went to my mom's house. Andrew was so exhausted from the morning activities, that he fell asleep on the way there. He made it the first 10 minutes, but the last 5 from Rusk, he was out! So we just brought him in and layed him on the bed to finish up a nap.

Lillian would not wait to open presents though, so we went ahead and let him open his up when he woke up. Lillian loved her new princess flip-out couch from Grandma and her new Leapster games from Katy and Clay. She sat immediately and played them on the new couch. She would have loved to open her new Fashion Fairytale Barbie palace from Tory, but we knew it would be too hard to pack up and haul home if we opened it, so she surprisingly let us put it aside!

Andrew woke up and got his new guitar from Katy and Clay, movies from Tory, and Toy Story couch from Grandma. He was very excited!

Then they both dragged their new couches out to mom's big extra room to watch tv. They looked so cute laying in there watching.

We had some more yummy food too that evening and Brandon had to leave around 5 to drive home, but the kids and I stayed through the next day before driving home on Sunday afternoon. Although very rushed this year, we had a fun holiday trip to Alto and always enjoy spending time with my family!

An October Weekend Fun

We had a great weekend! I drove the kids down to Alto on Thursday afternoon/evening when they got out of preschool and we got to spend the evening visiting with Grandma Teddy. The beautiful fall weather has arrived and we enjoyed spending time outside hanging out together. Then Friday afternoon, Tory came in as well and Mom grilled, so we had more togetherness. My friend, Adria also came by for a while to catch up.

The kids always love getting all the attention from their aunts and from Grandma Teddy. I think Mom and Tory both read them the same books over and over again quite a few times.

Then Saturday morning, we drove over to Huntsville to the Fair on the Square. Lillian had been excited about this all week. As we were walking around, she would loudly say, "Mom! I LOVE the fair!" Besides the yummy not so good for you food, I got them some crafty necklaces with their names on them and Grandma bought Lillian a dress and Andrew a Toy Story blanket. They were very excited about both. Andrew has been sleeping with that blanket since then and Lillian wants to wear her new Halloween dress everyday! If you live somewhere close to Huntsville, you need to check out this fair next year! It is really big with all kinds of crafts and things to buy!

After driving home from the fair, we went up to Rusk to visit Grandpa JD and Jamie. Dad grilled sausage, burgers, and hotdogs and also made french fries and Jamie had made queso dip, so we were all very stuffed by the time we left. The kids wore themselves out running around outside there. Both loved all the food and hanging out eating outside with us.

It was an awesome fall weekend for all activities and I'm glad we got to enjoy it with family. We get to see everyone again in several weeks after Lillian's birthday and we are looking forward to it!

Alto Visit

We hadn't made it to Alto since Christmas, so we were due for a visit. Brandon was working all weekend, so it was a good time to take the kids for a visit since we would have just been home by ourselves otherwise.

The kids had a blast at my Mom's. She bought them a little octopus sprinkler from the dollar store and it was great. They ran in and out of that water and played and played. They are definitely ready for the summer water fun.

Then we drove over to Grapeland to the Animal Safari drive-thru and they enjoyed seeing all the animals. They weren't as scared as they were at the one in New Braunfels and there were a few different kinds of animals than we saw at the other place. It was a fun outing and not a long drive.

Then on Sunday, we drove up to Dad and Jamie's to visit and the kids would have loved to just run around and explore the yard and the barn, but we finally convinced them to come in and we went up to Jacksonville and ate at Chilis. They both ate well and then took some decent naps on the way home.

Thanks Mom, Dad, and Jamie for the fun this weekend.

AHS Class of 1999!

Most of you know that I just had my 10 year class reunion. I started back in June tracking down addresses and phone numbers of my classmates and then it seems that I blinked and it was time for the reunion. I'm very appreciative of the friends that helped me out with money, stamps, or by bringing items to the party. Brandon Barron, especially deserves a big thank you for hosting it at his house and preparing the delicious food.

It was so nice to see everyone and I think we all had a good time. We didn't let the rain hold us back! In some ways, it seemed like we had all still been together all these years. Some people, like Justin "Duck" Gates, surprised me with his very hyper activity. He was totally different! But I think most of us were mostly the same. I think we had about half of our class of 42 people show up. I took lots of pictures and a couple of videos. So enjoy: