Adam on the beach

Alden on the beach

Washing off their feet after walking on the beach

This portable high chair is the most amazing product ever. It folds down for easy transport and can be taken anywhere. We took it to all of our friends' houses and used it at the condo. Perfect for traveling! I highly recommend this product if you have kids that still need a high chair. Much better than those plastic ones.

Having some quiet time working on a new puzzle in the condo

Adalee swimming with Grandma Jean

Alden swimming

Alden floating in the pool

Thursday, June 12

Today Adalee and I drove to Nashville for her test at Vanderbilt. I posted the details about the testing on the day it happened, so I won't go into details again. I will just say, it went about as good as it could have gone. We hope to get the results in the next couple of days. After her testing we went to the Greenhills Mall and ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. We had a great dinner and Adalee managed to charm several of the Tennessee Titan football players. My little flirt!


Adalee in her waiting room waiting for her turn.

The nurse strapping Adalee in

Laying patiently watching Mickey Mouse

A view of the room. It was decorated so nicely. On the opposite wall that you can't see is a huge fishtank. I was so impressed with the facilites at Vandy. If you have to go, it's nice that they take the effort and energy to make it so pleasant for the kids and parents.

During the last half of her testing she fell asleep

Friday, June 13

Today Adalee and I got up early and drove back to Huntsville. She was perfect on the drive home. She actually slept almost the whole way which is pretty good for her. After lunch Tracey and I took the boys to a new outdoor mall. It has lots of fun things for the kids to do. We let them play in the water fountains. My favorite comment of the trip was on this outting. Alden had been playing in the water for a bit and decided he needed to go potty. Here was our exchange:

Alden: "Mommy I need to go peepee."
Mommy: "Okay Alden, let me see if I can find a bathroom."
Alden: "That's okay Mommy, I can just pee on these bushes here"
Okay so letting him pee out in the yard may not be such a good idea!

After the bathroom stop, we rode the carousel and then headed to Brusters to get "dirt sundaes". By the time we got home that afternoon, Uncle Richard and his daughters had arrived from Texas. We spent the rest of the evening visiting with them.


Waiting to see if they wanted to get wet

Getting their feet wet

Alden having fun

The boys loved trying to skip over the water before they sprayed on them

Trying to avoid the water

Adam on the carousel

Alden on the carousel

Saturday, June 14

First of all Happy 14 month birthday to Adalee. She turned 14 months today. How did my baby turn 14 months already. She has been a pill recently because she is cutting a molar already. She doesn't have the rest of her front teeth, but she has already cut 1 molar through.

On Saturday Tracey and I spent the day running around. We made a few stops and picked up Aunt Winnie and took her to lunch. Alyssa and Kelsey came along as well. We had a nice visit. That night Dad cooked a yummy dinner and then I went to Tracey's to watch a movie. It was my last night without the kids for quite sometime.


Adalee with Alyssa

At lunch with Aunt Winnie, Tracey, Kelsey and Alyssa

Sunday, June 15

Today we got up and went to church with Mom and Dad. Afterwards we met Richard and the girls at Red Lobster for lunch. We then we back to my parents' house and packed up the car. We headed back to Clarksville. Once we arrived the kids were so excited. They played with all of their toys at one time. They built things with their legos, played with their trains and kitchen and even dragged out all of their stuffed animals.


All 3 kids before church

Alden, Adam, Olivia, Adalee and Gabby

Me, the kiddos and my brother with his girls

Days 149 and 150

We made it back home from our trip. The boys were very excited to play with all of their toys. They have just about destroyed my very clean house! Oh well, I am happy that they are glad to be home. I will post all the pictures from our trip tomorrow. For now I need to clean up and head to bed.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day Abrahm. We love and miss you more than you could ever imagine. Stay safe and come home soon! We can't wait to see you in a couple of months!

Happy Father's Day Daddy

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Day 148

We are back in Huntsville. Adalee and I were up and going pretty early this morning. We left Nashville by 9:00. We got home around 11:00. We ate lunch and then took the boys to the mall and let them play in the fountains and ride the carousel. Then we headed to Bruster's for dirt sundaes. When we got back my brother, Richard, was here with his daughters. We had a nice visit this evening and are ready for a busy day tomorrow.

Day 147 (Update 2)

We are back at the hotel now. Adalee is asleep. She was great for the testing today. All of the nurses were so surprised that she did so well because of her age. She watched TV for the first half and slept through the second half. They were testing for reflux, to see how fast her stomach empties, and to see if she was aspirating. The test took over 2 hours.

After the test we headed to the mall to eat at The Cheesecake Factory. She inhaled her dinner. She was starving after not eating all day.

We are now back at the hotel and Adalee is sleeping soundly. We will head back to Huntsville tomorrow. Once again thanks so much for your prayers for our Adalee.

Day 147 (update 1)

Adalee is about an hour into testing and doing beautifully. She drank her "chocolate milk" like a champ and is peacefully sleeping. She has been watching Mickey Mouse for the past hour and has just now fallen asleep. Hopefully she will sleep for the next hour. Thank you so much for all of your prayers. I will update this evening from the hotel.

Days 144, 145, and 146

We have been having so much fun. We got back home from the beach today. We are at my parents' house for a few more days. My brother, Richard, and his daughters are coming up for a visit so we are waiting here to see him.

The kids had a blast at the beach. I can't wait to share the pictures. The condo we stayed in was perfect. It has an indoor waterpark for little kids. Just perfect for the boys. Adalee enjoyed it too. We also swam a lot. They had several pools for the kids to swim in. They had a lazy river too! The boys enjoyed the beach too, but the waves were so strong and there was way too much seaweed. Their favorite was scavengering for shells. We brought home some beutiful ones.

Tomorrow Adalee and I are heading to Nashville for more testing at Vanderbilt. Please pray she is patient. She has to lay still for 2 hours while they do continual scans. It is going to be a long day I am afraid. We will be spending the night in Nashville while mom and dad keep the boys in Huntsville. Pray they don't drive my parents too crazy.

I will post tomorrow when I get the chance.

Days 141, 142, and 143

Wow! The past few days have been like a whirlwind. We got to Enterprise on Friday at lunchtime and met up with some of my parents' friends. We had a nice lunch and visit and then headed to Ozark to the people's house where we were staying. Then we headed back into Enterprise to meet my friend Kelly and her family for dinner. We had a wonderful visit and the kids had a blast playing together.

On Saturday morning we got up and drove to my friend Denise's parents' house. We hung out with her mom and children. They fed us a yummy lunch and the kids enjoyed playing with one another. It was fun hanging out at the Nichols' house like I did when we were little. After that stop I put the kids and had them take a nap while I drove around Enterprise looking at the places I grew up. Then we went to my friend Melissa's house. We had fun catching up. We lived in Alaska together. Her boys are the same ages as mine. The kids had fun playing and Nolen even introduced Adam and Alden to their first Wii game. We also ate a vey delicious dinner that Melissa and Ed made me. Oh, and a couple of glasses of wonderful red wine. All in all, not a bad day!

Today we got up, packed up the car and headed to church. The children enjoyed Sunday School and I enjoyed catching up with old friends. Then we went to lunch and the Commissary and headed to Florida. We got here and ordered pizza dinner and then we headed to the indoor water park. The kids had a blast! They were really enjoying themselves. They are very excited about tomorrow.

News from Afghanistan as well. Abrahm was Laura Bush's personal pilot during her stop in Afghanistan today. He will send pictures as soon as he gets them. He is doing very well and is getting excited to come home for a visit in the next couple of months.

Day 140

We had a busy day today. We got up this morning and headed to the botanical gardens. The kids had a blast. They got to see the dinosaur displays and play in the water. They splashed in the fountains and explored the butterfly gardens. There were so many butterflies. They were very beautiful. Adam loved the butterflies and Alden loved the bees. All in all we had a great time there.

After that we went out to lunch and ran a few errands. We came home and mom kept the kids so I could go out with Tracey for a bit.

Tonight I got the car packed up and we are ready to head out tomorrow. Next stop, Enterprise.

Days 136, 137, 138 and 139

We have had a lot of very busy days. A couple of stressful ones as well. Our vacation could not have come at a better time. This morning we packed up the car and headed to my parents' house in Huntsville. We are here for a couple of days before heading even further south.

My parents kept the kids tonight and I got to go out with my cousin and her friends. We went to a movie and dinner. It was nice to have a little break.

Since we're on a trip I won't be able to post pictures. I will try to at least give an update everyday. Wish us luck!

Day 135

Busy describes today perfectly. With our countdown to the beach coming to a close, I've got so much to do. I have lots of errands, organization and cleaning to do! I am also trying to finish up some projects around the house. Let's see, today we got up early and headed out. We went to Lowes to pick up a new sprinkler and some garden spikes to put my fence trellis up with. Then we headed to the Dollar Store to pick up some beach toys and other little treats for the beach. I just love that everything is $1.00. Very exciting for me. I know I need to get a life :) Then we headed to Walmart. One of the things we needed to pick up at Walmart was a new sippy cup for Adalee. It seems as though I forgot hers and about halfway through the first stop she started crying for her "dink". She pretty much threw a nice fit all the way through the Dollar Store and Walmart until I got her one. Wow! What a temper that little girl has. Not to mention a one track mind.

After that we came home and put everyone down for naps. I then was able to get some work done outside. I put up the trellis for the peas. Then I cleaned out our storage shed. I had just crammed stuff inside after that yard sale I had a couple of weeks ago. After that I needed to reorganize the van for our trip. I had to put back in the 8th seat and rearrange the car seats. I think we should have enough room now to put all of our junk plus my parents and their junk. Then I did some more work around the house. Lots of laundry and cleaning. I managed to pack a couple of bins for the trip as well.

So now that I have worked hard, I am ready for bed. I hope tomorrow is just as productive.