Busy Bee

We've been so busy lately I haven't even had a chance to post a quick "hello". Austin and I have been hard at work on our house--we've recently decided to spruce up our kitchen..we've been painting it & bought a new table. We only have a few finishing touches to complete and I will post pictures.

I hope everyone is having a great summer!! Stay tuned for more updates. =)

Claire's Baby Shower

I went down to Louisiana this weekend to go to Claire's baby shower. Claire is my best friend from high school--we've been friends for so long that I almost feel like little Bella will be like a niece to me!

It was great to see her and Drew--they are so happy and I am very happy for them. I did a guest book for the shower much like the guest book from my wedding. I took pictures of the guests and had them write little messages to Bella or to Claire & Drew. This is a very neat idea, I think, because it will be something Bella can have for years to come to see who was there to support her mommy and daddy just before she arrived.

Congratulations, Claire and Drew!
I can't wait to meet little Bella Grace!!!

Weekend at the Lake

We went to the lake this weekend to visit with old friends. It was a nice time, even though the sun was a little shy on Saturday. Mandy is cute as ever with her cute little belly! She will be having her second son in late June. Hagan (soon-to-be big brother) is such a handsome, happy boy! He loved going on the boat ride and playing in his pool!

Shannon brought her 5-month old black lab puppy named Maximus. It was his first time to swim and I think he loved it! He had a blast running after all of the little pups there and jumping in the water, although, I don't think he ever got the concept of retreiving items from the water. Practice makes perfect, though! I'm sure he'll get it next time! =)

Visit to Alabama

Austin and I visited my family while we were in Alabama this weekend. Our niece and nephew are going up so quickly and are cute as ever! We went over to my grandmother's house where she gave them a tricycle to take home. They loved "riding" the tricycle around the living room--it will be fun when they actually get it down! =) Here are a couple of cute pictures from the trip.


Kolton pushing forward on the tricycle..hard to push on carpet!

Big Sister Alonna showing how it's done!

It was a little strange to be in Winfield and not see my Dad--he is still over in Afghanistan serving our Country. Be safe, Dad, we are thinking of you and miss you!

Katie Beth Graduates!

Austin and I went to Alabama today to go to a BBQ feast in honor of Katlyn gradauting high school. The theme of the party was "Bama Bound"--she'll be starting at the University of Alabama in the fall (ROLL TIDE!). She is so smart and has such a bright future ahead of her--I can't wait to watch her go through this journey! Congratulations, Grad! We love you!!!


Bailey had a blast at the picnic--he was definitely dressed for it! He had on his collar that's houndstooth print and trimmed in crimson. He got lots of yummy things "dropped" for him. Needless to say, he slept really well on the way back to Winfield.

Puppy Love!

Austin and I had a visitor this past week--My little cousin Emily just got a new puppy and needed someone to watch him while they went to Washington D.C. with her class. Her puppy's name is Bear Bryant. Bear was a cute puppy and Bailey started to warm up to him by the end of the week...I think we have discovered that Bailey may not mind having another puppy in our family. We'll see--maybe we can get a new addition to our family soon!


To see more pics, click here.

Brooke & Richard's Baby Shower

Our friends, who now live back in Alabama, are having a baby in a few months. They had a baby shower this past weekend. It was great to see them and Brooke looks so cute with her little round belly!


They got a ton of stuff. I am sure little Addison will be set on clothes for the first few years, it seems! They even got 4 (yep, four!) Diaper Genies! They can have one upstairs, one downstairs, and one at each grandparent's house (or probably will just return them..hmm...maybe for diapers to put in all of the Genies?? hehe)


It was a lot of fun and great to see our friends. I wish we could've stayed longer, but there just wasn't enough time. Brooke, Richard, and Jordan (Big Sis-to-be) looked really happy and I think Jordan is especially excited for the new little addition to their family. Congratulations to you guys! We are really happy for you!

Sunny Spring Day

Spring is in full swing here in Atlanta. We had huge storms here the other night complete with hail--don't worry, we didn't have any damage (other than the fact that our mulch was scattered all over our yard). We went out today to do some clean up in the yard and Bailey came out thre with us. It was a pretty hot day--our thermometer showed 92, I think. Bailey found a nice spot in the shade under our tree in the front yard. It was too cute I just had to snap a picture! Happy Spring, everyone! =)

Casey & Mike's Wedding

We went to Greenville, South Carolina this past weekend to go to one of my co-worker's weddings. It was a beautiful wedding set in a replica of a historical home. The cutest thing was that her pup Chloe was the "flower girl" and her pup Charlie was the "ring bearer"..Absolutely adorable! Casey and Mike are a beautiful couple and Austin and I wish them the very best!! Congratulations and Best Wishes!!!

Opening Week for the Braves

We went to the Braves game last night--Atlanta Braves VS the Florida Marlins. It was very chilly during the game, but we still had tons of fun. It was my grandmother's first time to go to a pro baseball game and she had a great time!

Around the 7th inning, the usher asked us if we wanted to move down the the front row! It was amazing to see it so close--definitely worth the cold, that's for sure! The braves ended up losing the game at the very end, it seemed...they kept it tied up until about the 8th or 9th inning--but, as I said, it was still loads of fun and great memories! =)

To see more pictures of our night at the Braves game, click here.

Christmas in April

Well, we were finally able to make it to Salt Lake City to visit our family for Christmas! Too bad it took us until April to make it out there! Maybe we will be better next time. =) It was nice to see everyone for Easter, however (yay, we got that one on-time!) hehe

We went out on Friday night..or should I say Saturday Morning. The weather was terrible here in Atlanta, so we didn't actually leave the airport until 3:30 in the morning on Saturday. We got to Salt Lake at about 5:30 AM--enough time to check into our hotel and take a little rest before attending Austin's Uncle's funeral. His Uncle Eddie passed away last week. It was really sad--he was a good man from what I knew of him.

All-in-all, under the circumstances, it was a good visit. It was good to see Austin's nephews Alex and Zac. Alex is as busy as ever playing a lot. We got him a t-shirt from the New Orleans Fire Department and he put it on almost the moment we gave it to him! Zac is growing bigger and bigger and is as cute as ever! He is pulling up on furniture a bit--he even stood for a bit while not holding onto anything! He will be walking in no time!




Everyone had to go to work on Monday so Austin and I went on an adventure around Salt Lake. We got to do some touristy stuff that Austin had never even done before. We went to Antelope Island and saw buffalo and an old ranch and then went to the Bingham Copper Mines. We also went on a drive after and it seriously felt like we were the only ones left on the planet! Not like it is here in the south--with people everywhere you turn. It was nice.

I have posted pictures from our trip on our Picasa page--You can see them all by clicking here. I hope you enjoy them!

I will miss you, Granddaddy

My Granddaddy has been fighting lung cancer for quite some time now. A year and a half ago, he had a stroke. During that stay in the hospital is when the doctors discovered he had a mass in his lung. A few months later, after he got his strength back from the stroke, they did a biopsy of the mass and determined it was cancer. There are 2 types of lung cancer, a small cell, fast growing kind and a large cell, slow growing kind. He had the latter of the two. He entered chemo and radiation treatments to beat the cancer. He was doing really well--always talking about when he was going to get better--his plans on being around for years to come. He, along with my dad, walked me down the aisle at our wedding in August. It was a good day.

At Thanksgiving, he wasn't feeling well at all. He was hardly eating and complaining that it was hard to breathe. He and my Grandmother joined my Aunt, her two girls, and my mom at our house for Thanksgiving dinner. The week after he entered the hospital due to his lungs being full of fluid. Apparently, the radiation created a hole in the outer lining of his lung and was collecting fluid. The doctors started to drain the lung daily and he was feeling much better. He stayed in the hospital for 49 days, finally being released from the hospital on January 21. He was feeling really good and so happy to be home!

On Sunday, February 1, my Granddaddy asked to go the Emergency Room because his stomach was hurting. They did a CT Scan and determined that his abdomen was filled with fluid. They sent him home that night and the next day he went back to get a cathadetar--turns out his kidneys were producing but his bladder wasn't releasing. As a family, he and my Grandmother decided it was time for him to enter Hospice care. He started oxygen on Tuesday. I drove to Alabama on Wednesday to visit him for a while. The rest of the family were to get there on Thursday and I wanted to spend time with him alone before everyone else got there. Also on Wednesday, a lawyer came over to the house and my Granddaddy made sure his will was correct, he signed a living will, and gave power of attorney to my Grandmother and my mom. He also gave my Grandmother a checklist of how many death certificates to order, who to contact for insurances, and things of that nature. A hospital bed was also delivered on Wednesday to make him more comfortable.

He woke up early on Thursday morning and asked for me, so I got up and sat by his bed talking to him. He was in a fair amount of pain, but the pain medicine was doing it's job for the most part. He was still able to sit up and talk to us. At about noon on Thursday, the pain was overwhelming for him. He was asked to go to the Emergency room again--but that would have done no good since he signed a DNR the day before. We called Hospice over to the house to come and help us. He rolled over on his side and I kept "burping" him like a baby. He said that that made him feel better--he was trying to get the pressure out of his body. His lungs were filling up with fluid so quickly. After about an hour of this intense pain and us trying to do anything we could to help him feel better, he slowly released and he peacefully passed away.

He told us the day before that he was ready for God and God was ready for him so I know he is Heaven watching over us. We will miss him terribly, but I am so happy that he is no longer in pain.

Utes Win the Sugar Bowl

So, many of you know that I am a total Alabama fan and Austin is a total Utah fan. Since both of our teams were playing in the Sugar Bowl, we decided to go to the big game--at least one of us would leave extremely happy. Well, unfortunately for me, the Alabama football team decided not to attend the Sugar Bowl, it seems. Utah came out with something to prove and boy did they prove it! They scored an amazing 21 points in the first quarter leaving Alabama confused as to what this powerhouse from the West was about. Austin went crazy in the stands, cheering and jumping and yelling in support of his team. We sat around a lot of Alabama fans with a few Utah fans sprinkled here and there. All of the Alabama fans were very nice--high-fiveing Austin and telling him how good Utah was. It was a lot of fun..I actually found myself cheering for Utah during the game just because I have been so used to cheering for them so far this season. By the end of the night, Alabama just couldn't come back. The final score was 31-17. We stayed after the game for the Trophy ceremony. All of the Utah fans came together and were probably as loud as the entire Super Dome was during the game! I just took lots of pictures to let Austin enjoy his moment. =)

We had a lot of fun in Louisiana for the New Year Celebration. We had crawfish, ate Po-Boys, and basically just relaxed. Nothing is ever rushed down there in Cajun Country. Austin still has a hard time with understanding the way people talk down there, but I am always good for a quick translation.

We spent Christmas in Alabama. My granddaddy is in the hospital there so we spent Christmas day visiting him there--It was a good day. We had Chinese take-out as our Christmas Dinner. We went to my dad's house on Christmas night and spent time with him, his wife Jessica, Robbie, Retha, Lee Ann, Rodney, Mary and my niece Alonna and my nephew Kolton. I'm sure most of you remember Alonna, the cute flower girl from our wedding? She's absolutely adorable! She has a little southern accent and says "Aunt Jenn" in about 8 syllables. Kolton is walking around and is also as cute as ever! =)

I think that pretty much brings everyone up to speed on what has been going on with us. I hope you all have a very Happy New Year!!!