Thursday, September 2, 2010

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What a difference a year makes...


My baby isn't a baby anymore...it is so sad. We went to MDO Open House this morning. Ellie has two really sweet teachers. Mrs. Kathy and Mrs. Patty will take good care of her! Just wanted to share how much we have grown in a year!
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Friday, August 6, 2010

Just playing dress up...


I found this costume today while digging through some old things of Ellie's. I tried it on Will to see if I could get him to smile big like Ellie did. I think you can tell that they are brother and sister. Big man will not be wearing this costume for Halloween...it was almost too small now. Thought these were cute.
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Sunday, June 27, 2010

Gatlinburg

Hello everyone. Sorry for the long delay in posts but we have been busy. Ellie and I are stuck inside this morning because she is sick. So, I decided it was time to update the blog.

Two weekends ago, we went on a quick weekend get-away to Gatlinburg, Tennessee. I will choose not to comment on Gatlinburg. The Great Smokey Mountains National Park, however, was great. We arrived in Gatlinburg around 4pm EDT on Friday. We took it easy, ate some dinner and then utilized one of the greatest inventions in modern hotel history - the indoor pool! Ellie loved it! Being the disciplinarians that we are, all of us (Will included) swam until about 10:00 EDT.



We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn, which was brand new. ALL 4 of us stayed in one room with two queen beds (and a pack and play). This was a very large risk...Ellie and Will in the same room. Luckily, everyone slept well. Will usually starts to wake up around 6:00 am CDT. When he started stirring, I took him downstairs to watch the World Cup, drink coffee and feed him while the girls slept.












We had no real plans for the trip (which I believe is a direct result of the EXTREMELY planned vacations we always took when I was growing up). Being my mother's child, however, I started researching placed to visit in the National Park. So, once the girls woke-up, we decided to hike to a waterfall that was labeled as a "moderate" 1.5 mile hike. I figured we could make it with Ellie and Will! We made it without too much trouble. CB carried Will all the way to the waterfall in the Baby Bjorn and Ellie walked the ENITRE way! We were so proud of her considering that the elevation gain over to the waterfall was "moderate" for an adult but "significant" for a 3 year old.
Here are some pictures from the waterfall...






After the waterfall, we found a local swimming hole in the National Park where three streams converge. So, we got in! Ellie loved it. Daddy and Mommy thought it was cold,very cold. We hung out for a couple of hours.




After the swimming hole, we returned to the hotel and decided to go to Ober Gatlinburg, a place in the mountians with ski runs in the winter. To get there, you take a sky tram for about 10 minutes. We took some pictures from the sky tram.



Ober Gatlinburg was unexciting, excpet for the alpine slide! Now, if you know Ellie, you know she can be slightly skiddish and, if she decides she does not want to do something, it is very, very difficult to talk her into trying it. Knowing this, I thought it would be a great idea to take a ski lift further up the mountain and try the alpine slide. Without too much convincing, she decided to try it and LOVED IT. She loved it so much, she went for round 2 with Mommy.





After Ober Gatlinburg, we ate dinner and, again, swam. The swimming was Ellie's favorite part of the trip! We had a great time. I highly recommend this area for a quick get-away. My recommendation - rent someplace up the mountains outside of Gatlinburg.

Thursday, May 27, 2010



We took these after church the other day. Ellie is a bit of a "Bull in a China Shop" with Will. She loves to hold him, but she wants him to look at the camera and say cheese, too! She does love him bunches, though. We are very blessed with our two sweet children.
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Will at 5 weeks




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Sunday, May 2, 2010

2010 Flood!

The amount of water in middle Tennessee is indescribable. I took some pictures of our yard and crawl space but, believe me, we are very lucky compared to many residents of middle Tennessee.

For those familiar with our house, you will probably remember the creek behind our house. Charley usually lays in it during the hot summer days. The pictures below, however, tell a much different story. The creek has flirted with entering our backyard for a few hours now. For a frame of reference, those familiar will remember the trampoline in "our" side yard. The creek is within a few feet of the trampoline. Unbelievable!





Also, I have posted some pictures of our street entrance and our neighbor's house.




Finally, here are some pictures of the crawl space under our house. I would estimate 4 inches of water in the crawl space. The bottom of the hot water heater is submerged so, needless to say, there is no hot water. As a side note, I noticed a nice plastic sled floating in the crawl space. I wish I had known about that a few months ago. It would have come in quite handy for Ellie and me.




As I said, we are very lucky considering the sheer volume of water here. The news indicates that some people have much larger problems than we do.

Brian





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Thursday, April 15, 2010

Ellie and Will Video...

More Baby Will Pictures and Updates...

We had a good night and everyone is great. Carrie Beth is walking around and Baby Will is eating, sleeping and everything else! Ellie sure does love Baby Will, so far.





















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