The Burnt-Over Blog

My Happy Boy

2012-01-11T09:03:00.000-08:00

While getting ready for the eventual move to Japan, I was going through some old pictures of Lincoln. I have to say he was the happiest and silliest baby! Just thought I would share some of the cute pictures and the silly things he would do as a baby.

One of Lincolns favorite things to do when he was little was pull out all the pots and pans and then climb in the bottom drawer of the oven.

And not only would he pull out all my kitchen stuff but loved to sit in the George Foreman grill!

Lincoln would love to lay down with Teton and look outside with him.

He also loved and still loves to feed the dogs good food like fries and steak!

He loved to give hugs to everyone and luckily still keeps that up today.

Lincoln was always doing something funny with his clothes, whether that was putting pants on his head, Amma's clothes on, or daddy's ties around his neck.

He also loves playing with his cousins, or using them to lay on!

My boy is the happiest little guy there ever was!

You just can't beat his smiling face.

We love you Lincoln!

Christmas

2012-01-05T07:34:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Our congregation opted to include a Christmas Eve service and Seth helped put it together. It was of course incredible and never having attended a Christmas Eve service before, I would have to say it was great to really get in the right spirit of things.

Here we are getting ready to head to the service.

Amma's yearly pajamas for the kids.

A quick humorous story about Bekah on Christmas Eve. Seth had showed them on T.V. the Santa tracker. When Bekah saw that Santa was getting close to America he then told her that they had to go to bed or Santa wouldn't be able to come. That little girl shot into the bathroom brushed her teeth so quick and then threw down the toothbrush and running into her bedroom to go to sleep! I had to go in and tell her she still needed to go potty. She started to cry and said that she wouldn't have time because Santa was coming soon and she needed to hurry and go to sleep so he wouldn't miss her. So she did that quickly, rejected reading a book, and just closed her eyes and went to sleep! It was hilarious. If only Santa could be threatened to come every night for such an easy bedtime!

They found Melman and Marty peaking out of their stockings Christmas morning.

All the kids wanted was Toy Story toys for Christmas this year.

Due to Seth having to be gone for training as a Navy Chaplain we celebrated Lincoln and Bekah's birthday's early so Seth could be there.

2011 was a good year. Seth finished school at Vanderbilt, commissioned as a Chaplain in the Navy, and we will be headed to Japan in April for three years. Bekah has enjoyed pre-school and Lincoln got to go to a great camp for kids with disabilities over the summer. Amma and Aunt Annie got to stay with us for a little while and though the year was saddened by the loss of my mother, we did get to go and see all our family in Utah. So here is to a great 2011 and a hopeful 2012 full of changes and new adventures!

Merry Madagascar

2011-12-15T18:29:00.000-08:00

I thought I had lost my camera after we went to Ice Merry Madagascar. I was so sad and looked everywhere. Then today I was getting out of the car and found it between the seat and the door! I was so excited! So here are the pictures from Ice!

These are the big coats we had to wear and Bekah was not happy about how cold it was.

The Ice was amazing! All of these sculptures are made completely out of blocks of ice. Pretty cool.

Bekah was still really cold and wouldn't look up for the picture.

Lincoln loved it all!

Here are the awesome slides made out of......wait for it..... Ice! In the back there is Lincoln going down first.

We finally talked Bekah into going and she ended up loving it.

And of course the last scene is the manager. It is just so beautiful and so cold!

More Fall Fun!

2011-11-16T16:26:00.000-08:00

Here we have some pictures from October Fest 2011. It is, despite the beer associations, a great place for the kids to play. They always have free bouncy houses and pony rides. Yes, free! I guess they make all their money from the beer so they can do all the kid stuff for free. Either way its a win win for my kids.

They also got to see their hero SpongeBob SquarePants. Seems a little deflated though, somebody should probably get him some water.

Lincoln has four teeth out so he bought some ice cream with his Tooth Fairy money.

Amma Sue and Papa Dan sent the kids some fun clothes. Bekah likes to be camouflaged with her jacket.

And Lincoln loves his fishing vest that says "Fishing with Grandpa."

Our congregation did a trunk or treat for the first time this year and Seth decorated his Bronco like a spooky jungle. He even got dry ice to come out of it. Needless to say he won the trophy for best trunk!

Lincoln was Dash this year and Bekah was a Jedi Knight though she made this mask at school and wanted to wear it with her costume so I don't know what that makes her now.

Another friend dressed up like Darth Vader so she fought lightsabers with him and his dad. She loved it.

Poor Lincoln is still recovering at this point from his tonsils getting cut out.

Slimy pumpkin carving!

Seth put up a nice cobweb for Halloween.

The kids got to met Alex the Lion at the Gaylord Hotel. They also got a nice picture taken with Po from Kung Fu Panda.

Here is Po's palace.

And here is Shrek and Fiona's home at the Gaylord.

We went last weekend to a Christmas festival in some little town. The kids got these reindeer hats and got to walk in a little parade with Santa.

The first of many pictures with Santa I'm sure. Christmas is coming!

And lastly I found this picture on my camera. Somebody got to it and took a cute picture of their toes. Perhaps to tease Amma Sue with her piggies! Come and get them Amma!

Fall Festivals

2011-09-17T16:17:00.001-07:00

Its been a little bit but school as now started and fall festivals are beginning to pop up over Nashville. We hit two of them today. One had a parade with it and the other was at an old log cabin complete with an Abraham Lincoln. But first I have a few more summer pictures. Seth found a cool splash pool for little kids just a couple minutes away.

The first festival had a parade. I find it humorous that they will have a parade for some random fall festival but they don't have one for the Fourth of July.

The kids are plugging their ears from the noisy police and fire trucks coming up.

We did not come prepared for candy but luckily Daddy was wearing his hat and thought to use that as a bowl.

A fall festival wouldn't be complete without the bouncy house.

The next festival was smaller and at a old log cabin. Lincoln is washing some clothes the old fashioned way.

Some confederate soldiers shot off some guns.

And the kids got to ride a train.

Daddy squeezed into that thing pretty well.

This was one real looking Abraham Lincoln. He said he is actually three inches taller than the President. Lincoln had fun seeing him.
A fun start to the fall festivals!

Murfreesboro to Memphis

2011-08-16T08:08:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that summer is over, well summer in the sense of kids being out of school. Both my little ones have started school again. But we had a great summer! The first of the pictures are from our trips down to Murfreesboro where Lincoln had summer camp everyday for a whole week. The last day we took Bekah around to see the fun things to do down there before we went to Lincolns graduation.

Our first stop was Stones River battlefield. It was a huge battle site during the Civil War. And now it is a nice field to take pictures of butterflies and cannons together.

You can find wild turkeys everywhere here in Tennessee.

We then headed to the Discovery Center for kids.

Daddy is already showing Bekah how to change a tire.

Here is Lincoln at his Campy Enrgy graduation. He loved it! They got to do rock climbing, yoga, kayaking, swimming, dance, and his favorite, karate. Here he is giving a hug to Sara Grace whom he informed us early on he was going to marry.

Here he is with Kelsey one of his counselors.

And Van another awesome counselor.

Seth had an interview with a Chaplain down in Memphis so we decided to spend the night and play around down there.

We went to Peabody Hotel where they have been parading ducks down a red carpet and into their main fountain for decades.

Then we hopped over to Mud Island. Located along the great Mississippi river, it is a little island where they have a smaller scale version of the river the kids can follow.

Bekah wanted to take a picture.

And then Lincoln wanted to take one too.
A cool fountain to play in. Lincoln got completely soaked!
Bekah wouldn't go in with pants on so Seth did some creative cutting and then she had some shorts!

The next day we went to the Memphis Zoo. It was a really awesome zoo.

The Teton Trek was probably the coolest part. But I could be biased as having come from the West.

They had some white wolves.

And some bears that were just having some fun wrestling when we saw them.
Another fountain to play in. Memphis seems to like its fountains.

It started to rain while we were there and we came across this little guy who wanted to be out in the rain but decided to cover up with a rain coat first!

What a great summer and we look forward to new adventures in the fall!

4th

2011-07-14T08:51:00.001-07:00

We had some good fun this past 4th of July! I took the kids and we bought a slip n slide, a bag of fireworks and some crazy sprinklers. Here are the pictures.

Bekah didn't want to slide so she started out crawling under the water!

Then she finally did some sliding on her knees.

Lincoln knew what to do!

Apparently you are never to old to slip n' slide! Though you may just end up with a lot of bruises after.

Annie made a great splash!

Stomping on the snappers.

Annie was the designated firework lighter as Seth was out of town. Despite these faces the kids loved them!

Another great 4th of July, though I have discovered that Tennessee doesn't do parades on the 4th. Coming from Utah where we have two parades in July it seems rather odd but I guess if you have never had one, you don't know what you are missing. They do have a Christmas parade here though. That would never work in Utah unless the floats were pulled by dogsleds. Actually that would be an awesome parade!

Adventure Science Center

2011-07-03T09:06:00.000-07:00

I took the kids to the Adventure Science Center last weekend. Here are some pictures. Aren't they just the cutest little kids!

Bekah is pulling a car up by herself!

This was a cool earthquake model.

In the train.

Linc in the ambulance.

That was our fun day. The following pictures are from Linc and Bekah's cameras they got for Christmas. After cycling through 900 (no joke) pictures, here are some of the best.

Spring and Beyond

2011-06-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

I couldn't figure out how to publish this under my name, so despite what it says at the bottom, Seth is not writing this but I am.

It has been a long time since I have updated the blog. One reason being that my mom passed away in March and I just haven't known what to say about it. She was ready to go and wanted to find relief from all her pain and illness. I'm glad she was able to reach that end after all those years of suffering. We will all miss her and love her dearly and so I continue this blog in her honor as she was one of our biggest followers!

A lot has happened since then so try to keep up!

I thought this was cute of the kids sitting on their balls and looking out the window.

Bekah has discovered the bike this spring and loves to go riding with her daddy.

We got to see all the cousins when we were out for my mothers funeral. Here they are playing with cute Creighton.
Such a ham.

They are all gathered around something interesting.

Finally snagged a picture of my wonderful sisters.

Back in Tennessee we took a little hike around a lake that I don't remember the name of. And of course Bekah has found a nice walking stick.

And Lincoln is trying to make a fire with his sticks.

The nameless lake.

Then came Easter and the East Egg Hunt for the Down Syndrome Foundation.

Despite the mad face, Bekah was the one that wanted to wait in line for a picture with the Easter Bunny.

They made out with more candy than at Halloween!

So we found that a cat was popping in the kids' sandbox so Seth set out to make a cover. And this is what he created. I am always amazed at his skill and ingenuity.

Not only does it fold down as a cover, but it folds up into a bench for the kids to sit on! How cool!

That is all I got for now, but I'm sure more pictures and good summer times are just around the next blog.

Winter Happenings

2011-02-04T16:41:00.000-08:00

January was a cold and snowy month for us here in Tennessee. The kids got to miss out on a whole weeks worth of school although, ironically, the snow did not last that long! Our sweet Ella Bekah also had her 4th birthday last week and of course it was celebrated by going to the kids' favorite Chuck-e-Cheese.

Lincoln's favorite thing to do in the snow is throw snowballs at everyone.

We actually had enough snow to make a snowman this year!

Lincoln and Bekah's favorite toy for the month was this box. They would just spend hours playing together in there.

Never did you see better friends. They got into Lincolns bed and watched each other play their leapfrog while eating popcorn.

Our little sweetheart turned 4 this year! Hard to believe she has gotten so big.

All she wanted was a white cake with lots and lots of sprinkles on top!

She loves her purse from Grandma Joyce. She even hangs it up with my purse!

And or course thank you to cousins Lexi and Brynn for picking out the Littlest Pet Shop toy for Ella. You know she loves her animals. Thanks guys!

And I didn't get a good shot of Alphie the robot but thanks to Amma and Papa and Auntie Annie for that. It has provided lots of fun entertainment.

Happy Birthday sweet little Beks! Never was there such a girl as you. Daddy, Mommy and Lincoln all love you so much.

Happy Holidays

2011-01-05T12:57:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas and New Years Eve! I believe it was the first New Years Eve where Seth and I actually stayed up until midnight in 6 years! Lincoln even made it until 11pm that night. Bekah fell asleep around 8pm but woke up at 11 and stayed up past the New Year.

Here are some pictures from the holidays.

As always, Bass Pro Shops does there fun holiday things for the kids.

Including a picture with Santa.

Bekah and Linc as cowboys.

The annual Down Syndrome Christmas party.

Making pine cone snowflakes.

Another Santa was there for the fun.

They even got to jump onto bean bags!

Christmas morning was great.

Here Lincoln discovers that his version of wobble goggles don't light up like Scott's. So sad, but at least it makes everything turn red!

Bekah got her telephone after all.

After all the fun, Linc got to unwrap more presents a week later for his 7th birthday!! Can't believe our little guy is seven! Here is a cool nerf gun from his cousins. Thanks guys!

He loved his hat and tape measure from Grandma Joyce and Papa John.

And here he is telling Daddy he now has a laptop just like him thanks to Amma and Papa and Annie.

To the best little 7 year old ever! We love you Lincoln and Happy Birthday!

Thanksgiving in Utah

2010-12-02T15:06:00.000-08:00

It was wonderful to be able to spend Thanksgiving in Utah this year. Seth and I haven't had Thanksgiving at home in about 4 years or so. We had so much fun and the kids loved playing with all their aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents. I apologize in advance for not getting any pictures of the Bryant side. But rest assured we had a wonderful time with them! Lots of pictures will be taken next time we are out! And yes that is a promise!

First off, we got to go to Lexi's baptism and birthday! The kids got to play together that day.

Cute Abbie Joy Joy!

All the boys downstairs playing MarioKart.

Lexi was such a good sport in letting Bekah pull her all around!

It was nice of Utah to send us some snow while we were there.

The Three Stooges.

It snowed again one more time!

Linc just likes to throw snowballs at people.

Linc and Maggie.

Thanksgiving at Papa and Amma's house.

Lincoln and Brynn.

There are those crazy Three Stooges again!

And of course we had to get a picture of the new babies. Here is Creighton.

And here is Kynnlie. Cutest little babies!

Thanksgiving at Grandma Joyce's house.

It was a great time and the kids didn't want to leave Utah. But we shall visit again and make more good memories!

In the meantime, in Tennessee, we had Seth's 30th, yes people, 30th birthday!!

He was able to blow out all the candles despite his old age!!

We love you Seth/Daddy, you are the best of them all, Happy Birthday!

Fall Fever

2010-10-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

My favorite time of the year in Nashville is definitely the fall. The colors of the leaves are incredible! And the weather is just perfect. Here is what we have been up to this fall so far.

The kids colored their pumpkins in anticipation of the day we will cut them.

Bekah is a purple dragon for Halloween and Linc is Spider-man! They like to swing in their swings and pretend they are flying through the air with wings or spider webs.

I raked the leaves in front of their slide so they could fall in them.

Seth and I built and all-naturale (except for the tarp of course) doghouse for Maggie. Even when she is getting soaking wet from the rain, she still won't go in there! Oh well.

Last Friday we took the kids on a hike at Percy Werner Park. Perfect day for it. Notice Lincoln putting his hands out, he does this most of the time while hiking because he is the leader and he doesn't want Bekah or I to pass him!!

Beautiful!

Bekah's walking stick. Always has to have one hiking. Kind of reminds me of you Papa John!

Lincoln's Log!

Bekah took this picture!

The next day we went to the Buddy Walk for Nashville's Down Syndrome Association. They both got medals for finishing it!

Oktober Fest

2010-10-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was Oktober Fest in Nashville's own Germantown Historic District. Didn't even know there was one until now! It was a lot of fun especially as it was all free! They had a lot of fun stuff for the kids, like this huge blow up slide.

It was quite the climb.

Once Linc made it to the top, he was too scared to slide down. Finally some girls coaxed him down.

He wanted to go again but this time with Daddy.

They even had pony rides there, and for free! Sure beats paying, like at the fair!

Then they got to color their own puzzles.

Lincoln is getting better at taking pictures.

This is Bekah's attempt at taking a picture.

A beautiful Catholic church there in Germantown.

They had a ton of these blow-up things for the kids.

I can't remember the last time Bekah took a nap! We must really have worn her out to have her fall asleep so quickly and in such an awkward position!

Oktober Fest was awesome and definitely a keeper for next year!

Floating Mills

2010-09-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

Over Labor Day we took a camping trip to Center Hill Lake, Floating Mills campground. Seth and I had stayed here one night about a month after we were married traveling on our way to Fort Eustis Virginia. We thought it was so beautiful and hoped we could come back someday. Ironic how we now only live an hour away from that campground 7 years later.

It was a lot of fun to camp there and the kids loved it of course. They had the lake, hiking, and a very nice beach to go swimming in. What more could any kid want?

Bekah even caught her very own fish! I didn't have the camera with me of course so I missed the good shot.

The next day Lincoln caught his own fish!

Bekah really liked fishing, guess that means daddy finally has a fishing buddy now.

One morning the fog rolled in and made the lake eerily beautiful.

Lincoln searching for something.

Oh, its a nice wet log!

Linc is excited about something, can't remember what though.

Our little hike.

Lincoln wanted to attempt taking a picture all by himself and this is the result. Not bad.

Then Bekah had to have her turn taking a picture.

That was our great camping trip. A couple weeks later we took the kids to the State Fair. Here Ella is showing the finger where the chicken bit her!

We ran into some fun clowns that made the kids balloon hats.

They had a fun petting zoo.

September turned out to be a fun month and we look forward to the nice cool weather of fall!

Playground Fun

2010-09-02T17:03:00.000-07:00

We finally did it! Seth found a playground on Craigslist for really cheap and we bought it! It is the best buy we have made. The kids come home from school and instead of wanting to watch T.V., they go straight outside and play. The seem to like the swings the best. Anyone out there thinking of getting a playground, definitely get one from Craigslist!

The nice climbing wall.

Isn't that so cute!

Even cuter.

Teaching Maggie to sit before getting a treat.

Then praise for doing what she asked. Such a good dog trainer.

This is what they do for hours at a time.

They occasionally go down the slide too.

It is so great to have this for the kids. When Seth took them to look at it the first time, they played on it and then Seth asked Linc if he wanted to bring it home, he got so excited he peed his pants! Oh the simple joys of youth!

Last days of Summer

2010-08-18T07:43:00.000-07:00

We found a cool little park that had some fountains to play in a couple of saturdays ago. The kids had lots of fun running through the water and then we did some fishing by the river. A good way to spend the last weekend before school started.

It took Bekah a little while to warm up to running through the water but she did it and loved it.

Lincoln taking a breather.

Walking to the river for some fishing.

The pylons on this bridge were built during the Civil War era. There were actually quite a few battles that happened in Nashville.

Our little Ella on her first day of pre-school! She picked out her own clothes, had her Dora backpack, her Tinkerbell lunchbox and was ready to go!

And here is Lincoln on his first day of First Grade! Our kids are getting so big!

It was a fantastic summer but the kids are happy to be in school again. Lincoln just loves it and Bekah is getting used to it. Seth starts next week and then I start the week after. Should be a busy year but lots of fun!

Day at the Lake

2010-08-04T10:10:00.000-07:00

We went to Montgomery Bell State Park last weekend. We rented a boat, went fishing and swam in the lake. Such a fun place to go for the summer. I only took pictures on the boat however so enjoy.

Daddy getting his pole ready. He got two beautiful blue-gill fish!

The kids favorite thing to do is play with sticks in the water.

The kids start school next week and that will be the end of a great summer this year! It has been a trip!

Ag Days

2010-07-20T08:21:00.000-07:00

The past two Saturdays we have gone down to the Tennessee Agriculture museum for fun activities they have had. The first Saturday they had the mounted police come and talk and the kids got to see the horses.

I didn't realize the kids got the lens dirty, hence the spots you see.

Bekah wore her cowboy hat and boots. How appropriate!

Last Saturday they had goats there.

Lincoln actually got to milk the goat. Bekah wouldn't.

Such a pro!

A Star is Born

2010-07-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July was a lot of fun. Daddy was finally back from Nauvoo and Amma and Annie were with us. We went to the Zoo that day and I forgot the camera so no pictures there. Then we ate dinner and lit some fireworks.

We got some really good duds that instead of dying, would blow up!

Fun with the sparklers.

What is it too noisy?

Amma's last day here we finally took her downtown and went to the original Grand Ole Opry. Her and Bekah got to actually sing onstage! They sang the whole song of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star!! She now has some pretty good bragging rights!

Just want to thank Amma and Annie for coming out and spending the whole month with us! We had so much fun and you guys were such a big help!

Nauvoo

2010-06-29T08:12:00.000-07:00

We took a trip over the weekend to see Seth in Nauvoo. It was a lot of fun. Bekah loved all the bunnies, birds and raccoons she saw. Linc thought he could catch a bird and bring it home. Here are some pics from our fun time.

Riding some sheep. She even has the boots for it.

Cowboy Lincoln.

Seth and Amma trying out the stilts.

Linc had fun with the baby doll, rocking her to sleep.

Bekah liked being the waitress.

The beautiful Mississippi.

Summer Fun

2010-06-11T08:17:00.000-07:00

The kids are out of school. Amma and Annie have come to visit and the summer fun is just beginning!

We went to Bryant Grove to play at the little beach they have and swim. It is nice not having to worry about alligators!!

Linc and Ella just loved swimming in the water.

The next day we went to the annual Down Syndrome picnic.

Lincolns first sack race!! He loved it, as you can see by his face.

Bekah took one hop and was done.
Linc won in his age group for kicking a soccer ball the farthest and Bekah won for throwing a frisbee the farthest. They both picked bubbles for prizes.

Amma and Annie got them a little swimming pool to play in at home and they have a great time in our hot humid Tennessee weather!

Have a great summer! And if Anne and Janet are reading this, it is now your turn to put up Disneyland pictures!!

Cousins and more Cousins!

2010-06-01T12:47:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures from our trip to Utah. Well they are just pics of the cousins really but they are way cute! They got along so well.

Is that Abbie sitting in a game box?!

Looking at Grandma's snow globes.

Lexi getting hugs from Abbie. And is that the elusive Nate (aka "Dude") in the background? Gotcha ya!
Now it's Brynn's turn.
They even all played Uno together. Pretty amazing.

Thanks for a great time Cousins!! Linc and Bekah say hi and ask when you are going to come visit them in Tennessee!! We'll be waiting!

Nashville Flood of 2010

2010-05-18T19:26:00.000-07:00

Saturday the 1rst of May, Seth, Linc, Bekah and I went to the airport early in the morning on our way to Utah to celebrate Grandma Nowie's eightieth birthday. It was raining when we left and our plane was even delayed half an hour due to the lightning. Little did we know that it wouldn't stop raining until late Sunday evening and that our home would be flooded along with most of Nashville in what they are calling the flood of the Century!!

Our vacation to Utah therefore was wonderful but full of anxiety come Sunday night when our neighbor called to say that the homes in our neighborhood were all evacuated. Then Monday they called again to say that they thought our homes were completely covered in water! Seth changed his ticket to Tuesday and flew out that morning. Luckily for us the waters did not reach the inside of our home. Unfortunately they did reach those only a couple of houses down from us. Only our crawl space and garage were flooded. The kids and I flew back Wednesday and stayed at our Pastor's house for a couple of days until the power was back on. We could not have done it without all of the help from our congregation! They were just incredible in helping us clear everything out and putting some of it back together.

It was also amazing to see all the churches and local organizations that came out everyday to bring us all lunches, supplies and even dinners! I guess that is what living in the bible belt means. All those churches around really made such a difference in everyone's lives that were affected by the flood. My work was also flooded but will hopefully be up and running in a month. Fingers are crossed anyways!

Here are some pics of the disaster and the clean-up! Enjoy.

Here is our backyard after a couple of days worth of receding. The water is still above our new fence, we didn't even know if it was there or not! (Sigh of relief, it survived!)

Here you can see the discoloration in the steps from how high the water went. Only one step away from the top!

Here is a before picture, and then the after picture.

Here you can also see how high it came and how close we were to losing everything inside.

Our poor garage. The car was totaled as the water came up so high it filled the cup holders in the center console. Our insurance alone said they had 600 claims on cars that were flooded in Nashville!
This is just down from us. It used to be a big huge drainage area that was quite deep but it filled all in with water and spilled onto the road.

All the dry wall that Seth cut out. It didn't go that high but he had to cut that high to make sure it was dry.

Our lovely crawl space underneath the house with Seth pulling down the disgusting worm-filled sprayed-on insulation. That was not a fun job as I had to do some of it!

These are the bags of insulation we pulled out from under there.

I had to get a picture of my hot husband in his great gear! And yes, in case you were wondering, the beloved Bronco II was saved! The water did not get inside the engine though it did get all of the carpets wet so Seth had to tear that all out! Yeah to my wonderful husband who spent seriously two straight weeks of working 12 to 16 hour days to get us back to normal again. With internet finally up yesterday and phones working, we are well on our way. Thanks for being my hero Seth.

Thanks again to all those we helped with their time, supplies, manual labor, bodies, money, and prayers. We could not have done it without you, at least not without going insane first! All our love and next time I will post the few pictures I have from our trip to Utah, which basically only includes one day at my moms. I was so worried about the house the whole time that I forgot to take more pictures!

Cowgirl

2010-04-24T06:08:00.000-07:00

Bekah got some cowboy boots at Easter from Amma, Papa and Annie. It took her a couple days before she wanted to wear them but now that is all she will wear. No more Dora tennis shoes for her, no way, it is all cowboy boots! She looks so cute in them though. Here are some pictures of her playing in her favorite spot in our yard. Don't forget to check out her boots!

Bekah loves sticks.

So does Maggie, although she likes to chew on them.

Seth and I (though mainly Seth) have been building a fence in the lower portion of our yard for Maggie. We have one side down so far, minus the gate of course.

Seth also built a cool fireplace!

Our cute little Maggie.

Puppiness

2010-04-10T07:22:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it. We bought ourselves a little puppy! It was not supposed to happen until we got a fence up next year. But here is the story, some of you have heard it so skip ahead to the pictures.

Seth came home last Thursday all excited and said he did something that he didn't know if I would like. Uh-Oh. He said that a girl in one of his classes woke up that morning and found that someone had dropped a puppy in her yard. She didn't want to take it to the pound for fear that they would put it down, so she asked if anyone wanted it. Nobody said anything. Finally Seth said, okay I'll take it.

Right. So we went off and bought all the puppy stuff we needed and headed to the home with Bekah to pick the little guy up. We got there and found out it was a pit bull puppy. Now I know that there is a lot of controversy on pit bulls and how they really can be good dogs and all that so we played with it to see how it acted. I am telling you now, that dog was a menace already. Constantly jumping up on Bekah and no end to the biting it did. It would bite you or your clothes and not let go for nothing. So we decided after Bekah was crying and running away from it that it would not be a good dog for us. But we had bought all the puppy stuff so we headed to the nearest dog pound to see if we could rescue another dog while sending that one in. There we found little Maggie. She is a cross between a beagle and a labrador retriever. She was sweet, didn't bite, and Bekah loved her. So we got her.

It has been a hard journey already just trying to get her potty trained and now we need to build a fence. But the kids love her and get a kick out of playing with her so it is worth it. I think.

Lincoln showing me some stick he found. I just thought it was cute him going all cross-eyed and all.

Here is Bekah on Easter with the cute dress that Grandma Joyce made her. Thanks mom cuz she didn't like any of the dresses I tried to buy her!

Here is Lincoln in his "Steve" shirt as he likes to call it. Steve off of Blues Clues for those of you unsavvy with kid shows!

After church they had a big Easter egg hunt for the kids and let me tell you, I have never seen so many eggs. We still have a huge bowl full of candy! It was a bigger haul then at Halloween!

Lincoln finally gave up with plenty of eggs still to be found!

That is the latest news with us. Happy late Easter to everyone! And may you all find it in your hearts to save those poor puppies and kitties at the pound. Okay maybe not but at least we did our share.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

2010-03-17T09:06:00.000-07:00

The kids woke up this morning to find green Leprechaun footprints in the house.
They followed the footprints to a hidden treasure chest. Lincoln told us to be quiet saying it was the Leprechauns home!

They opened it up to find some yummy treasures!

Happy St. Patricks Day to everyone!!

On another note, I came home from work one night to find that Daddy had put up his backpacking tent in the kids' room to sleep in! And they did. They slept in there together all night with no problems!!

Spring Hiking

2010-03-05T07:05:00.001-08:00

We had a warm weekend and decided to take advantage of that and do a little hiking. It was very muddy but so great to get outside!

Ella found a nice little creek to throw rocks in.

Linc and Daddy played on the swings.

Linc joined in the rock throwing.

We found some cool ice on the rocks while hiking. The rocks here leak a lot of water. Really pretty.

My favorite picture. Love Lincoln's face! They are holding up the rocks they found. Bekah loves her rocks!

We are so looking forward to warmer weather and more hiking!

Winter Wonderland

2010-02-15T07:38:00.001-08:00

Here are some snow pictures. As I write it is snowing again! Good thing it's President's Day or school would have been canceled. We have had more snow days here than ever in Utah!

Linc was really excited to play in the snow. Bekah would have nothing to do with it. Notice Linc's mismatched gloves! We had to scrounge to find gloves and shoes and hats. Living in florida we never needed them and haven't bought any since!

Here comes a snowball for Daddy!

Our Florida girl is safe and warm watching us from inside the house!

This sad face is after Linc got an accidental snowball in the face! Doesn't he look like Ralphie on Christmas Story?!

Then inside for some yummy hot chocolate.

My 30 birthday came and went. Seth was going to cook me some shish-kabobs but the meat turned out to be bad so we decided to eat out. We went to TGI-Friday's and we got about half our food when a fire broke out in the kitchen which was quickly put out and under control but it tripped the electrical wiring and they couldn't cook anymore. So they gave us our meal for free and a coupon to come back again! "It's a Christmas Miracle" Seth said! We had enough food to satisfy us and got the meal for free! It was a great birthday. And to top it all off, my cheesecake I made turned out perfect! Happy Birthday to me.

Last Saturday we took Bekah to a kids hair cutting place called Snip Its. They have T.V's for the them to watch, prizes and candy. We thought Bekah would do okay there seeing as it is her first haircut without Uncle Mikey to do it. Well, the minute she got on the seat she freaked. She wouldn't take her coat off. We had to pull it off. She wouldn't wear the cape so we did without it. She wouldn't sit up straight in her chair so the poor woman had to brush her hair and cut it at an angle and over the seat!! But she got it done and done fast and now Bekah's hair is shorter and better to manage. Here are some pictures of her hair while they are playing with some bubbles.

Such a pretty girl! Maybe next time will go better! Ha!!

Bekah's 3!

2010-01-26T06:33:00.000-08:00

Bekah finally turned three yesterday! She has been telling everyone that she is three already so its good that she really is now. We took her to Chuck-E-Cheese and she loved playing all the games and getting all the tickets.

They have a blue screen there that the kids can dance in front of and of course Linc loved it!

Bekah's cake that she helped me make.

Super Why books from Amma.

Fun train set from Grandma Joyce!

Horse carriage from her cousins! Thanks guys!

And her kitty piano!

It even has a microphone to sing into.

Amma, Papa, and Annie also got her Tinkerbell bedding which though hesitant about it at first she now loves it! Annie also got Bekah a Kelly Clarkson CD to sing along with.
Thanks to everyone for the fun presents which she hasn't stopped playing with since she got them! It was a great birthday and now my sweet little girl is three years old!

We Love You Bekah, Happy Birthday!

Christmas, Birthday and Snowstorm

2010-01-09T09:18:00.000-08:00

Here are the pics from Christmas morning and then Lincoln's 6th birthday celebration!

Daddy read their new book Super Why, the Night Before Christmas on christmas eve in their new pajamas.

Linc woke up to a new bike and Bekah got a slide.

Lincoln also found a note by the cookies from Santa thanking Lincoln for them.

Lincoln's dance over Grandma Joyce's present to him.

Bekah got a Super Why wand.

Annie got her PlayStation 3!

Bekah got a cute puppy from her cousins Lexi and Brynn.
It was a great Christmas and the kids had lots of fun with all their new toys!

Only a week later we then celebrated Lincoln's 6th birthday! While I took the kids to get their Happy Meals for lunch, Daddy decorated the house for Linc! It was awesome!

Making a wish.

Blowing out his candles.

All Lincoln wanted for his birthday was "cake, candy and balloons." A reference from his new favorite movie Monsters and Aliens! So he got cake, candy and a lot of balloons, most of which are still floating around our house.

He loved all the presents he got from his cousins, Riley, Connor, Lexi, Brynn, and Trevor, thanks guys!

He also got Sid the Science Kid movie from Papa and Amma!

And Diego coloring book and markers from Grandma Joyce and Papa John.

Linc had a great birthday and has put all of his presents to good use as school has been canceled this week because of our latest snowstorm.

Here is how much snow we have had fall. I'm sure our friends in the west will appreciate how funny it is that school was closed over this snowstorm!

It has been a couple days from that first picture and the snow is still falling, see how much has been added! The grass actually has a little snow now.

It has also brought the deer to our backyard frequently to eat. These next few pictures you can play Spot the Deer! Good luck, they blend in really well.

That has been our winter so far! How is yours?

Christmas Time

2010-01-06T08:21:00.001-08:00

Okay I finally have some free time to update the blog with all of our fun Christmas Adventures with Seth's family. But first, we have pictures of the Down Syndrome Christmas party we went to. Lincoln had fun and got to sit on Santa's lap.

They had some games set up for the kids to play. Here Linc and Bekah are bowling.

The chairs had wheels on them so Bekah liked Daddy to push her around. And notice Seth's cool new beard. He surprised his parents so I haven't been able to post any pictures of him for awhile. I love the beard!

And of course Santa himself showed up.

Bekah will do anything for candy, including sit on Santa's lap!

Cute Christmas pictures in front of our cute little tree.

Seth took his parents to the National Corvette museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Dan was in heaven.

We also took them to the cool tour at the Jack Daniels Distillery in Lynchburg. It was the warmest day they were here.

Doesn't Linc look like E.T. in Annie's jacket.

With Jack Daniels.

One night we went It to the Gaylord Hotel. It consists of four different atriums inside the hotel and they had them all decorated for Christmas.

This is inside the hotel.

And this is outside the hotel.

Next time I will post pictures of Christmas morning and Linc's sixth birthday! Happy New Year!

My LIttle Native American

2009-12-03T06:39:00.000-08:00

Linc made an Indian costume at school and got to wear it home and show it off to us for the camera.

Modern Indian dance moves.

Ella dancing.

We went to Bass Pro shops to check out all their festivities. Here Linc is posing like the reindeer behind him.

If only.

On a walk we look last weekend Beks found this huge leaf. Bigger than her head!

And here is the beautiful river that winds all around Nashville.

Happy Holidays!

Linc's Bed

2009-11-22T11:57:00.001-08:00

For Lincolns birthday and christmas present, Papa and Amma Bryant got him a new bed! He loves it and now sleeps better than ever. Seriously he was getting up at 5:30 in the morning and once he got the new big bed he hasn't got up that early since. It would also help if they didn't do daylight savings, that always throws their sleeping schedule off.

Here is his McQueen bed.

My mom asked why I didn't have anything new on the blog and I said it was because we didn't do anything crazy this weekend besides stain our deck (which doesn't make for very exciting pictures). She said to just take pictures of the kiddos playing. So these are for you mom!

Here they are playing together in their room.

Crazy Lincoln face!

Linc and Bekah like to jump on his bed.

Bekah dressed for church.

Dancing with daddy.

We also woke up this morning to deer in our backyard.

That is all she wrote. Happy Thanksgiving this week to everyone.

The Day for the Dead

2009-11-03T08:06:00.001-08:00

Halloween was a fun day for us. We started out by going to the most beautiful cemetery we have ever seen. It is called the Mount Olivet Cemetery. Everyday I drive Seth to school I pass it and have always wondered what it looks like. You only get to see a slim view from the road as it sits on top of a big hill. So we decided to check it out. Between the awesome grave markers and all the trees turning colors, it was amazing! And Halloween was the perfect day to go and honor the dead!

There were so many huge mausoleums all over the cemetery like these ones.

This is for Sue as her maiden name is Marshall like on this fancy grave marker.

Lincoln even found his name!

There were a lot of interesting things there. This grave marker mentions how this woman was a faithful servant for three generations and this is the size of her marker.

This is the family's she worked for grave marker.

Cute angel statue the kids liked.

The cemetery started when some women wanted to have a place to honor and bury those confederate soldiers who had died during the civil war. This is the monument for them.

This was the resting place of one of the richest families in Nashville. Their Belmont Mansion is a great tourist place here as well.

Can it get any prettier?

This is the way Linc likes to walk around when he wears this hat!

We then came home and carved pumpkins.

Linc liked getting all slimy.

Bekah wouldn't touch it!

The kids drew the faces and we carved them out.

And here are their costumes.

Happy Halloween!

Geese Fest

2009-10-30T07:35:00.001-07:00

We went to a local park and pond and fed some of the geese and ducks there. The kids had fun but the geese seemed to enjoy it even more. They were fearless.

The ducks hung back as the geese were so big and mean.

Those geese would take it right out of Bekah's hands.

The horde followed us for awhile until it realized we had no more bread.

We then went to play at the park which has the biggest slide ever! Linc loves this slide and just goes down it over and over again until we tell him we have to go. He doesn't even seem to tire climbing up all those stairs!

Bekah went down the big slide once but preferred this one instead. I don't blame her.

Fall Creek Falls

2009-10-14T10:25:00.000-07:00

We drove to Fall Creek Falls last weekend and had a great time driving through the beautiful winding, fall colored roads. Nothing says fall like Tennessee!

Fall Creek Falls.

We hiked down the very rocky trail to the bottom of the falls. Linc did so well walking down the trail. He only needed to be carried about half the time. That is good for him!
Bekah required more holding.
Here you can see how steep and rocky the trail was.

Finally made it to the bottom.

Looking up the falls.

There was a lot of mist in the air from the water so we found Linc like this.
And here is his Alex the Lion impression. Up happy, down sad.

Hiking back up.

And a good rest at the top.

As we left a fine fog was seeping over the forest. So pretty.

Bekah likes to wear her glasses upside down for some reason.

I found Linc the other day like this!!! He had gotten into a box of princess dress-up clothes a friend from church had given Bekah! So cute Linc! I love that he still maintains some of his manliness by having his shirt off!

Bryant Grove

2009-10-10T05:44:00.000-07:00

We found a great little beach on J. Percy Priest Lake here in Nashville that the kids love to play at and it is even called Bryant Grove. How appropriate!

We didn't know there was a beach there until we showed up so I didn't bring swimsuits for the kids, but that didn't stop them. They got their clothes soaking wet and rode home in just a diaper!

Here is Linc sitting in the chair.

Here is Linc falling out of the chair!

Seth even got to get some good fishing in.

Bekah found a nice little hole to play in full of water.

The lakes here are just beautiful and the great thing is there are a lot of lakes in Tennessee.

Jack Daniel's Distillery

2009-09-21T16:48:00.000-07:00

We took a historic tour of the Jack Daniel's Distillery in Lynchburg Tennessee. We heard it was a great tour to take and it turned out to be a fun and interesting one.

This was our tour group.

This is where they slowly burn the wood.

Where Jack Daniel lived.

This is the spring that he found to use the fresh, always cool water in his whiskey. He had the choice of being a preacher or going into the whiskey business and you all know what he choose! Prohibition came along and instead of bootlegging, he just registered with the government and kept his business going strong. But the county remains a dry county to this day. None of his whiskey can be sold there. Ironic.

Statue of Jack in the back. He was even shorter than Seth and I!

Black forms all over the vegetation and buildings around the distillery. It is completely harmless they say.

We drove back through the Cumberlands and they are beautiful! Here was a nice rock to climb and have a look.

A fun Saturday and we learned some local history as well! Every state as a wealth of things to discover.

Nebraska to St. Louis

2009-09-13T13:36:00.001-07:00

Our first break from the three day trip home was at Buffalo Bill Cody's Scout Rest Ranch. It was a very impressive place as should be expected from such a showman as he was.

This was his huge barn for all his animals.
And this was his house.

Love this picture.

Inside in his living room which you can't really see well but there is a gun rack behind Seth's head.

Coming out of a cellar of some sort.

And the man himself, at least a portrait anyway.

And some of you may recognize this device, if not read the next picture below and it will explain.

The eaves of the roof on his barn are in the shape of guns!

And it just wouldn't be Buffalo Bill's ranch without some actual buffalo.

This is what Lincoln does when he refuses to walk any longer.

Our next and last pit stop was at the arch in St. Louis. We didn't have enough time to take the hour long ride inside but they had a museum underground that we checked out.

The Mississippi River.

It was a good trip home and we had a lot of fun along the way! America is a beautiful and diverse place! God Bless America.

2009-09-06T16:34:00.001-07:00

We finally made it to Utah and enjoyed our time there seeing family.

Bekah found the dirt right away and spent most of her time digging holes with Mariah.
This is Mariah.

The dogs were good to let her play with them. Although they wouldn't chase the ball she would throw.

Here they are digging holes together. Mariah found some animal scent and would go crazy digging while Bekah laughed her head off at her.

Linc and Bekah both enjoyed getting Amma all wet.

We took a trip downtown and met Papa John at his work and got some pics on Temple Square.

Aunt Annie and Beks

Linc and Grandma Nowie

Here are our cute cousins.

My beautiful sisters minus Joahna as she hadn't come yet!
Bekah and the boys looking at bugs.

Our other cutie cousin Abbie!

Papa John in his usual role of pushing the kids on the swings.

Just what could they be doing?

Linc and Bekah getting their hair cut by Uncle Mikey.

Bekah didn't really like it but she made it through, it was her first major haircut after all.

Coloring with Amma.

We had so much fun with everyone and Linc and Bekah just didn't want to go home. Who can blame them though.

And then began our long trip back home.

Colorado Springs

2009-08-24T17:06:00.001-07:00

We stopped at the Campbell's house in Colorado Springs our last night before Utah and had such a great time exploring the town and going a block up the street to the Garden of the Gods.

Hiking in Colorado Springs.

Ken and Cindy.

Here are some deer that like to hang out at their home every morning! Two baby fawns and their mother. They also have some resident skunks but luckily we didn't see those.

Ken and Cindy took us out for some yummy ice cream after the hike!

And the kids got to sit on the cow out front.

A wonderful end to a wonderful day was riding in their convertible through the Garden of the Gods at dusk!

Linc and Bekah just loved it!

It got a little chilly near the end and you can see Linc all bundled up!

It was such a relaxing and fun time to be with Ken and Cindy! And yes we even ended the night with our ritual of Canasta and popcorn! Couldn't have been better.

The next day we drove the last nine hours to Utah!

Nauvoo to Independence

2009-08-23T07:53:00.001-07:00

Our next stop on our trip was to Nauvoo. We stayed with the director of Historic Sites for the Community of Christ. It was a beautiful place right next to the Mississippi! This is our view from the back porch. We also had a huge groundhog that would stop in and say hi every once in awhile!

Here Linc found a nice leaf.

During the tour, Linc and Ella thought the headstones of the prophet and his wife and brother were a great place to sit!

Red Brick Store.

The Mansion House.

Cute pictures in front of the Temple.

Climbing the steps.

Wrestling on the front lawn.

Then we stopped off in Independence and took the tour of the Temple there.

We had a lot of fun. Next stop was in Colorado Springs to see our friends the Campbells.

Kirtland to Springfield

2009-08-20T13:34:00.000-07:00

Our first stop to Utah was actually at Camp Crooked Creek in Kentucky where Seth was a counselor for the Boy Scout Camp here 12 years ago! It was a lot of fun to see the place from where I have heard so many stories.

After 9 hours we made it to Kirtland.

Linc trying to break in!

This is looking out of the top tower on the Temple. You can see the graveyard down below.

And here we are in the tower looking out over the roof. A beautiful fly trap is hanging next to Lincoln's head!

On our way to Springfield, we stopped off in some little tiny town for dinner and we saw this live bait vending machine! Seth thought it was great!
Luckily we bought some DVD players for the kids to watch movies in the car. That was such a life saver.

In Springfield Illinois our second stop, we went to the Lincoln library and museum and if you ever find yourself in Springfield, you should definitely go! It was the coolest museum ever! The kids even loved it! Here is Lincoln with Lincoln as a young man.

And here he is again with Lincolns wife and kids.

Now they are both dancing in front of them!

Bekah playing with some Lincoln Logs.

They had a great play place for the kids. Of course Ella has the horses!

Here is the state capitol that Lincoln served as a House Rep and where Pres. Obama announced his run for the presidency!

Inside the Senate.

It was a great first half of the trip across the country! Next time, Nauvoo to Independence.

Downtown

2009-07-25T13:29:00.000-07:00

We finally explored downtown Nashville and found a lot of fun things to do. They have a nice park in the middle with fountains the kids can play in. Linc had a great time in the water but Bekah wouldn't go in.

Bekah and I watching Linc playing.

Here is the state capitol for Nashville. They have a lot of beautiful architecture here, I'll have to get some more pictures of all the cool old buildings they have around.

Now this is the way to go, having the kids push their own strollers!!
Nashville is a fun place to live!

Bracelets and Bunnies

2009-06-29T10:13:00.000-07:00

Amma Sue made these cute bracelets for Linc and Beks! Bekah has taken to wearing both of them these days however! But here they are for you Amma to see and thanks for making them!

Here are the bunnies that like to come up and eat around dusk in our yard. Aren't they so cute?!

Camping

2009-06-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

We went this past weekend to Montgomery Bell State Park for some camping fun! We rode the boats again while Daddy caught some fish. We did some swimming and some hiking and some good eating and roasting of marshmallows! The kids had a lot of fun and Bekah walked away with three ticks! They really seemed to like her as no one else had any!

I love this picture of Linc just hanging out in his chair.

The weather was really hot and really humid though not quite as bad as Florida. Luckily it cooled down around midnight so sleeping was tolerable.
Bekah loved all the rocks and dirt to play with!

Linc loved the flashlights!!

Bekah found this cool Gandalf-like stick that she carried around all weekend hitting us in the face when she walked past!

Looks like she is going to cast a spell on us!

Linc and his Curious George fruit snacks or beans as he likes to call them.
Daddy caught a ton of fish while we were on the boat!
This one was very pretty.

Linc wanted me to take a picture of his fish that he caught! An imaginary fish anyway.

Bekah fell asleep in the chair waiting for dinner to cook. She was so exhausted after a full day of playing and swimming!

We also did a little hiking.

And that ends our fun camping trip in Tennessee!

Jenn

Montgomery Bell State Park

2009-06-15T12:11:00.000-07:00

So this last weekend, Seth found a great state park to go too just outside of Nashville! They had playgrounds, camping, and a beautiful lake that you can rent boats for cheap! They also had a swimming area in the lake but we didn't bring the swimsuits. Next time. The kids loved the boat and the hiking we did after. The forests were like a fairytale. We had a great time and will go back again soon!

Her first boat ride! Doesn't she look happy.
Linc is doing his Alex the lion impression from the movie Madagascar. He pulls his hand down his face and he gets a frown, then he pulls his hand up his face and he is smiling again! He likes to do that for the camera now!

There is the smiley face.

Bekah (new spelling so I don't confuse the poor girl when she really tries to spell her name!) loved to trail her little fishing pole in the water. I thought for sure she would drop it in but no, she didn't, Lincoln did!! Needless to say it didn't float!

The kids had fun actually watching daddy fish.

After the boat ride, we explored the rest of the park and ran into this beautiful church. It is the first Cumberland Presbyterian church. It was formed from dissident Presbyterian ministers in 1810 when they met and held the first Synod of the new church. Pretty cool history. Very beautiful church. A family was inside cleaning it for a wedding that night.

There is nothing like historical monuments to play on. So fun.

The house of Samuel McAdow, which is the actual birthplace of the Cumberland Presbyterian church until they built the other chapel.

And here are those fairytale like woods I was talking about. Of course the camera can never do it the full justice it deserves.
Lots of gorgeous little waterfalls. Apparently the park contained a rich area for iron and you can still see the huge ore pits the early settlers dug. We didn't walk that far.
Yes I know, you are probably thinking, wow it looks like Linc is going to throw that huge rock right at Bekah's head! Well he didn't. Thank goodness.

It was a great Saturday and such a fun park to visit. We are thinking of going camping there this weekend! This time we will bring some swimsuits.

Jenn

DSAMT

2009-06-10T08:26:00.000-07:00

The Down Syndrome Association of Middle Tennessee had their annual family picnic at the park. We went and the kids played for hours on the playground and ate good food for lunch.

All Becca needs is some sand.

Lincoln taking a breather.

Sidewalk chalk is always a hit.

It was a fun Saturday for the kids. Playing at the park is always a good day for them!

Jenn

Mammoth Caves

2009-06-02T11:47:00.000-07:00

Last saturday we decided to head up to Kentucky to go see Mammoth Caves. It is the longest cave system in the world with 365 miles of caves that have been explored and many more that have yet to be explored and discovered. How could we not go! Lincoln didn't want to go saying that he was scared and telling Seth that Randall from Monsters lived there! But by the end of our walk through, he wanted to keep going and when we got home, he said he was ready to go see more caves.

This is the entrance to the main cave. We didn't take that tour but went down to see the opening anyway.

Getting themselves ready to go into a cave.

Our hike to the River Styx while waiting for our tour to begin. Linc and Becca like to play with the rocks so it took a little longer to get down to the river.

The River Styx, a subterranean river that comes out of the cave.

Our tour started a little bus ride away. It is also a man-made opening so we had to go through this door 26 at a time, all snug together until the door shut behind us and then we could open the other door to get in the cave. Helped with the natural airflow apparently.
I know its a little blurry but I still love this picture of my boys!
This is called the Frozen Niagara.

Becca camera shy? Unbelievable.

So going down into the caves we had to hold the kids because the stairs were very steep and very small. Some of the places we even had to duck down to get through, like here below. But once at the bottom, the way back was nice and wide and easy going.

The kids didn't want to sit for a picture, they wanted to find some rocks or just keep on walking through the cave. They loved it!
Here you can see why they were called Mammoth caves. Nice and big.
That was our fun weekend last Saturday! Its not everyday that you live so close to such a natural wonder. Have to take advantage of going when we can!

--Jenn

Flashback

2009-05-29T11:25:00.000-07:00

So here are some pictures from when we stayed at Ken and Cindy Campbells before we came up here to Tennessee. They were so great to let us stay and as setbacks came up, continue to stay! We just love them and here are all the fun things the kids did. The adults played Canasta all night after Becca and Linc went to bed but I didn't get any pictures of that. Canasta and popcorn, can't get much better than that!

Every morning the kids would help Cindy feed the birds.

After they would feed the birds, they would help fill the bird baths up with water.

We had a barbeque at Paynes Prairie park. Ken and Cindy look to be eating an early snack!!

The kids played on the playground until dinner was ready.

One day Cindy got out some chocolate pudding for the kids to paint pictures with. They seemed to like eating it more than painting with it! But really, can you blame them?

They washed off in the sprinkler afterward.

Cindy and I (jenn) took the kids to the church to get some pictures of them with the garden that they have planted during their Sunday School classes. They planted flowers, cabbage, and some great carrots that they usually grab and eat every sunday!
Linc pulled that carrot up by himself.

We all had such a great time at the Campbells. Thanks for all the fun!

Welcome Home

2009-05-15T11:20:00.000-07:00

We finally made it! We have unpacked almost everything and are finally settling down to our life here in Nashville. The kids favorite part about the new house is the deck outside where they can play all day with their squirt bottles! My favorite part is the gate that keeps the kids on the deck! Here are some pictures of the house. This first picture was actually taken during the time that I locked the kids and I out of the house right when the Orkin man came to spray it all for bugs! Seth was running an errand and we had to wait for him to get home!!

Here is the great deck and the great squirt bottles, and yes Becca is spraying her face.

Our nice backyard that slopes into some really great woods so we can't even see the neighbors behind us!

Grandma Sue sent the kids a house warming package and in it were these cool hats! Becca of course always wears her hat backwards cuz that is the way that aunt Annie taught her! So cute.

This was a night at a hotel on our way up here. Becca fell off the bed and hit her head on the end table in between. Of course it was nailed down as well as the bed so we couldn't move them. Needless to say it looks worse then it was. Once Seth cleaned her up, it was only one little cut on her nose!

I told my mom that I would send pictures of the kids in the cute Easter outfits she sent them. She got the perfect dress for Becca, one that she doesn't scream in when I put it on.

And of course Link has to make a face.

Before we left we got some pictures of Link with his therapists. Unfortunately I forgot to bring the camera on the day he had therapy with Miss Donna and Miss Ivonne so they are missing but a big thanks for them for all they did with Link!

Here is Miss Ali and Miss Katie.

Miss Ali was one of his Occupational Therapists.

Miss Katie was his Speech Therapist. Link is kissing her cuz the Little Mermaid song Kiss the Girl is playing in the background!
They threw a party for Link and Becca got to come and she wore the hat that Link wouldn't, and made the candy caterpillar that Link wouldn't, and ate the green frosting that Link wouldn't.

Next time I will post the pictures from the congregation party we had and when we stayed at Ken and Cindy's house until we came up here! Until then we are happy homeowners and loving Nashville!!