Meaghan's Birthday Pictures - taken by Grandma!

Happy Birthday Meaghan

We celebrated Meaghan's 9th birthday this past week. It is hard to believe that my little girl is 9! We are so blessed with wonderful, healthy kids! We could never tell the good Lord enough how thankful we are. For those who don't know, by all medical terms Meaghan should not have ever been born alive, let alone healthy. For three months I was very sick and was in and out of the hospital. Sometimes I would remain at Brookwood for months at a time. She was born 5 weeks premature, weighed 5 pounds and was 17 3/4 inches. She was so tiny. She stayed in NNICU for a few hours and then came up to the regular nursury. She had a few problems with intestional issues later, but has been healthy since she came into this world at 2:30A.M. on September 20th. (Missing Uncle Tommy's birthday by 2 1/2 hours).

Here are some of the pictures taken by Aunt Paula -

Special Olympics

This past week Stacy and I had the honor of volunteering for the 2007 Special Olympics in Trussville. We had the best time! We were given the privilege of awarding the athletes with their ribbons. We met a lot of new friends and received many hugs and smiles. Stacy and I want to thank Mandi for allowing us this opportunity to give back in a very small way. It means more than you will ever know that you trusted us with all of your special angels. This truly was a heart warming experience and I honestly can not wait to be there next year! Here are some of the pictures that Mandi and I took -

Justin's 2002 Camaro

Emerald Coast Cruizin

Kevin has decided to attend a car show in Panama City Beach. The Emerald Coast Cruizin is scheduled for November 8-11th. Kevin and I will drive down on that Wednesday and will come home Monday. In order to have a large enough space for all 12 of us I found a house right on the beach. In Stacy's blog she talks about Tony walking up and down the street looking at what the neighbor's have; it was the Surf Song house that I have rented! This car show is suppose to be huge and Kevin is so excited to take his car down there. According to the show schedule there will be at least 3 Elvis impersonators there, I will be in Heaven! Justin has always wanted to go to the beach in the winter, now he will get his wish, for 5 days!

Anyway I am sure there will be more to come later.

Meaghan's Cheer Camp - Auburn Cheerleaders

This past weekend was something new for Meaghan. She will be cheering for football this year and is very excited. We had Cheer Camp Saturday with the Auburn Cheerleader's. It was a lot of fun for all the girls and they learned many new things. All of us know how Meaghan is when she gets hot, well she did wonderful. We were there from 9-3 and she only asked once if we could go home! LOL

Since her Dad is an Alabama fan, he had her whisper in one of the girls ear "ROLL TIDE"! She just laughed, but Meaghan thought it was funny. Here are the pictures from Saturday and from her first real practice Tuesday night.

Since Uncle Tony, Uncle Bubba and Mandi are the only Auburn fans in our family, this post is dedicated to you!

Meaghan's Panama City Beach Photo's

Well almost everything has been put away and we are getting back in the swing of things. Kevin's phone started ringing before 7:00AM and did not stop until he turned it off at 5:00PM. Oh well, that's part of our reality.

This afternoon while I was working on my computer I realized that I had not even looked at Meaghan's camera to see what she took while we were in Florida. To my surprise she has got a lot of very good pictures. Some of them Kevin took for her but most where by her own hand/eye. I had to share them. My favorite is the one of me and her outside our room. Kevin took them, but I still think it is my favorite. Here is the link to her pictures.

Panama City Beach - Day 7

Well this is it for us. My family is ready to come home. Justin, Meaghan and Kevin did not leave the room today. I went to the beach for several hours all by myself and was able to finish the book that I was reading! Michael went swimming in the pool with Meaghan for a little bit, but that was it. I came in from the beach around 5:00 and got dressed. We went into downtown Panama City for a street festival. There were several old cars there, but nothing that was really impressive. There was one truck there that looked just like Blake's. Of course, Meaghan had to climb the rock wall. She was hungry so she only went once. We left there and had dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. Our truck was the only one in the lot that did not have a Florida tag. It was a good place to eat and we will go again. We came back to our room and Justin and Meaghan have already packed. Not sure what time we are leaving tomorrow; but the kids want to ride go-karts before we do, but we'll see. We have had a great time, but they are ready to come home. As for me, I could stay here forever! There is nothing like the ocean to make you realize exactly how small we really are. It is also very nice to leave our problems, cares and stresses of life at home while we spend a week in paradise. Oh well, reality will return Monday morning. :( Here are the photos from today.

Panama City Beach - Day 6

This morning was a lazy one for Justin and Meaghan. They both did not get up till 10:00! Kevin and Michael got up and went to eat while Kevin worked. When he came back they went to the beach while I worked. Once I finished, I went to the beach and we stayed until around 5:00. We all got dressed and I took the dreaded photos on the beach. This time I let Meaghan wear her casual clothes, instead of her pretty dress. I brought it just in cause I change my mind and make her redo the pictures! The boys wanted pizza so we went to Pizza Hut for dinner, did some more shopping and then came to our room. That is the jest of our day. Tomorrow is our last full day here and then we head home. Meaghan says that she is homesick and that she can't wait to see Gracie. Hopefully Kevin will have another restful day tomorrow. So far, he has done rather well. Here is the link to today's pictures.

Panama City Beach - Day 5 (4th of July)

I am posting this today because we got in so late last night that I just could not even turn on the computer. Our day started out like the others, however, Kevin did not have to work. We spent the day by the pool and just resting in the room. Kevin grilled and we had a nice bbq. Panama City Beach was hosting a fireworks display at Dan Russell Pier, so we packed up and drove to it around 5:30. The kids played in the water and Meaghan made a new friend. In one of the photos you can see them shaking hands - it was too cute! While we were there the waves were rather large and the current was strong. As Kevin and I were watching our kids I noticed a rather small boy get deeper in the water. As an over precautious Mom, I watched him to see if he was going to make it back in. I think Justin and Michael both noticed him too. Suddenly his head started bobbing up and down and he was yelling, "HELP"! Kevin and I jumped up and ran to the shore, I called to the boys Mother and then my two hero's came to the rescue. Justin and Michael were able to get to the little fellow and brought him to the shore - a little scared, but safe. I am so proud of the two of them. Kevin had talked to them about what to do if they were ever caught in the under tow. They actually listened! We had a nice time and the fireworks were great. I took some pictures and also took some video. I will post the video later. Here are the photo's from today.

Panama City Beach - Day 4

The days are flying by! It is hard to believe it is already Tuesday. This morning Kevin left at 6:30 again and went to have breakfast. He loves to get up early and go eat. He does that so he will not wake the entire house. After returning and working for a while, we decided to take a ride down the coast. I packed us a cooler and sandwiches for lunch and we headed out. Our intent was to go to Mexico Beach. But when we arrived Kevin kept going. I had told him about a lighthouse that I would like to see. So we went to Cape San Blas. We ended up driving 60 miles. We went through several small towns that reminded me of a small, sleepy fishing village. We drove through Port St. Joe and saw a naval base and an air force base. We arrived in Cape San Blas and could see the lighthouse from the road. We took pictures and took a stroll down the coast. There were only a few people there. They all looked like locals just fishing. But basically there was no one there! The sea shells were everywhere. Justin, Meaghan and Michael had a great time looking for them. We also saw several Sea Turtle Nests and something in the water. We are not really sure what it was. We could see fins and it sort of moving in the water. Kevin said it was probably a fish of some sort that was either chasing something or being chased. This is defiantly somewhere we will visit again. As we began to walk back to the truck the clouds started rolling in. It began to rain as we left and it has just stopped – 6:30! The kids have all gone to the pool for a nightly swim before settling in for the night. Here is the link to today’s pictures.

Edited @ 8:30P.M.

I thought we were in for the night earlier, but the boys wanted to go to the beach and fish for a while. The five of us went down and Kevin helped Justin get started. He was doing very well for a while and then he yelled for his Dad. We thought he had caught a fish, no - he caught a BIRD! The bird landed on top of his line and got tangled in it. Of course, we did not have the cutters with us, so Kevin had to try to get her untangled. He was trying to free her without hurting her and without her hurting him. Luckily, he was successful! Afterwards we all laughed at Justin! Even Meaghan had to make a comment, "Now that was down right funny"! Where she got that I will never know. I was able to get some of the encounter on film, so I had to edit and update my flickr. Now, I am going to take my pm's and head to bed to read. Good night to all!!!

Panama City Beach - Day 3

Today was a lazy day. Kevin got up about 6:30 and went to eat breakfast. His phone started ringing as soon as he turned it on. Meaghan and I were up around 8:00 and the boys; 9:30. Meaghan told us that she wanted to stay inside today, well Kevin jumped all over that. The boys and I went to the beach for several hours and then they ended up in the pool. Afterwards we went to Sharky's to eat and then to play miniature golf. Here is the link to today's pictures.

BTW - Kevin shot one over par, then Justin, Michael then Meaghan!

Panama City Beach - Day 2

This morning began bright and early. At 8:30 this morning Kevin and Meaghan were already in the pool! They swam for about 30 minutes and Meaghan woke the boys up; she was ready to go to the beach. We were on the beach by 9:00! The weather today was absolutely beautiful! The seaweed is not like it was last year, there is some, but nothing compared to last time. Kevin stayed on the beach longer today than he has in years. He took Meaghan in the water and she was so funny. She would not walk in; the boys had to carry her on their backs to her Dad! At one point she was standing on the shoreline yelling, “Come get me”! We ate lunch and Kevin and Meaghan had a nap. That was my alone time in the beach. I read several chapters and just about dozed off. This evening we ate in the room again (Roast, potatoes, carrots; crock-pot meal) and at almost sundown we went back to the beach and Kevin and Justin fished. They did not catch anything, so they got back in the ocean and once again Kevin had to hold Meaghan. We are having a great time and so far Kevin is relaxing. Tomorrow will be the test for him, Monday!

Once again our day is over. It is 7:30, Meaghan is asleep and Justin has already fixed his bed and lying down. My children the party animals!!! Here are the pictures from today.

Panama City Beach - Day 1

Panama City Beach – Day 1


Well we are here! We got up this morning around 4:30A.M. and headed out at 5:00!!! The kids slept for a while and we stopped for breakfast and for Kevin to get his winning lottery ticket. (I wish!) We arrived at 10:30 – 11:00 and housekeeping was still cleaning from the mess that was left! So we went looking around and had lunch. After we unpacked and the kids swam in the pool, we got groceries and Meaghan swam some more while Kevin, Justin and Michael napped. Dinner was in house tonight and planned that way for a few more nights. I told Kevin we are here to relax, not to stand in line forever to wait on dinner. He needs to relax and that is what I plan for him to do! Anywho - after dinner we went to the beach and Michael busted his backside – it was so funny! As the clouds began to roll in, we went to the pool for about 20 minutes then it was baths and settle down time. It was 7:30 and we are exhausted! Here is the link to today’s photos. Tomorrow – all day at the beach!!!

Drew, Brandy & Jacob's Birthday Party Fun

Noccalula Falls

We had a very busy weekend. I cooked dinner for George, Mandi, Stone & Sadie Friday night. Needless to say, Stone & Sadie did not want to eat. For some reason they thought as soon as they finished they would have to leave. We had a very good visit and I am very glad we were finally able to get our schedules together. One of the first things that Sadie did when she came in was take her shoes off. Well everybody know how I am about shoes! I love that she felt at home enought to take them off. It was great fun and I can't wait to do it again. Sorry no pictures...

Then Saturday we headed to Noccalula Falls for a car show with Kevin's Uncle Marvin, Aunt Shirley, Tammy, Don, Aunt Lena and Uncle Howard. We had a wonderful day and a great time visiting with them. Shirley is a animal lover and again this year brought her giant dog, Anna. Anna is a Newfoundland, however, she looks like a bear. Meaghan fell in love with her last year and could not get enough of her this year. Anna loves to ride in their huge motorhome and if anyone gets on the golf cart she expects a ride. For some reason, I never even got my camara out so the pictures that I have were taken by my Mom.

Funny Happy Birthday

My birthday was Thursday of last week. Thanks to my wonderful husband I did not have to cook dinner that night, nor did I have to do much of anything else. He even brought home a cake. I guess he could not find the birthday candles that I keep and ended up placing one of my tapered candles in the middle of the cake! It was hilarious! Meaghan, Summer and Natalie thought that was the best thing in the world. We had enough cake to share with the neighbors. So the whole cul-de-sac joined in the fun. Here are some pictures of Kevin's masterpiece...

Wearing Daddy's Hat

Last week Meaghan went to VBS with Brandy. Every morning she would meet Brandy at Gran's house and they would ride in the church van with Mr. James. The girls also got to go swimming at Gran's and even went to see MawMaw and her baby goats. On Tuesday it was "wear a hat day", and Kevin let her wear his leather hat. After she got dressed she insisted that I take her picture.

Kevin's Preacher Choice Award

Last weekend we went to a car show at Sharon Heights Baptist Church. There were about 100 cars there and we had a great day. Kevin won Top 25 and $100 from the money tree. He also won the “Preacher’s Choice”. Kevin was very excited that the main person there picked his car over 100 other cars. The following are a few photos from that day.

Mother’s Day at Graves Gap

On Mother’s Day Kevin and I took Justin and Meaghan to the cemetery in Hayden to his grandparent’s grave. We have been several times and this time Roger and Betty went with us. For some reason, this visit left a very strong impression on Meaghan. Last week she came to the office and was playing with her chalk outside. Take a look at her representation of “Graves Gap”. The drawing is of the Graves Gap Church, the circle around the cemetery and at the bottom, the graves. I thought it was so sweet!