Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Christmas in Nashville

Hunter reading his new Cars pillow book.
Colin and Hunter's matching PJ's
Adam creating a new train track. He's so good with it!
The Morris Family
Mawmaw with the grandchildren and the newest great-grandchild Ellis.

Christmas this year was very exciting. Hunter understood who Santa was and the excitement was fun to watch unfold. Christmas morning Santa surprised Hunter with some new additions to his train track. Over the past 5 days that has been the highlight of his day. Adam, Annmother, Pops, Nannie, Papa, and I are becoming train engineer experts. We design about 3 or 4 train tracks a day. Adam surprised me with a new camera. Unfortunately, I took my memory card that I had in my old camera and put it in my new one and the pictures where erased. The only pictures I have are from my mom's camera. This saddens me because Christmas morning and Christmas' at Meemaws was erased. It is always good to see all of the family this time of year. Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Playing in the Snow

The Sledding Hill of TERROR
Aunt Wendy and Hunter swinging

This was Hunter's extent of sledding. We were the first people to break the snow at the park. Why anyone wouldn't want to go down a slide with snow I can not tell you?

Aunt Wendy headed up to join us for some fun in the snow. We haven't had much luck sledding until she brought us some sleds from Knoxville (NO ONE sells sleds here because it is a NO SNOW ZONE???). Adam had suggested we go over to the Sugar Hollow Park in Bristol. They have a dam that we decided we would try out. One trip down, I knew we were NEVER going to send Hunter down, even when he is 10! It was a blast though for us. Wendy and Adam even continued after I decided I had enough. They both went air born for a good period of time down one trip. Lots of fun, but for them today...LOTS OF PAIN! Totally worth it though. Here is a clip of one of our trips. Wish I could say that this was the most treacherous part, but it is not. No caught that one tape.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

The Olde Farm





We took a little walk over to the golf course. Here are some pictures!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

From the beach to the snow...



Our first snowman!

Snow...something I haven't experienced in 7 years. From yesterday around 1pm to last night about 9pm it snowed around 6 - 8 inches. Our experience in the snow yesterday was short-lived due to the windy conditions. However, this morning it was perfect. We spent over 2 hours running through the snow, building 2 snowmen, walking over to the golf course, and making roads for Hunter's truck. I was amazed that we were not freezing by the time we came in. In fact at one point, I was sweating. Hunter wore himself out. He immediately came in and crashed. Stay tuned for more pics of our afternoon adventures...

Hunter's Christmas Party @ Spring Garden

Look at his smile!
Hunter was so excited about his Christmas party at school. They ate pizza and decorated cookies. He continually asked me if I was staying to play. His teacher, Mrs. Jen, took my idea for a Christmas Book exchange and used it with the kids. Hunter ended up with a Thomas the Train book, which he LOVES!!!

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Our Trip to Florida

This was Adam's first full week vacation since our honeymoon. I think we all enjoyed our time together.
Hunter likes to build roads with castles on the side. This was one of our masterpieces :)

The dump truck is a "Must Have" when we go to the beach or park.

Michelle and Dave invited us over for dinner the first Friday we were in town. It was like old times...lots of laughter and some wine. Hunter enjoyed "the girls" (see below) and then later fell asleep to his favorite movie "Cars". I think he enjoyed hanging out at the Legried's.

The 2nd Annual Christmas Book exchange was held at our favorite park. It was a perfect day (other than a few of our friends not being there due to sickness, they were missed). Hunter and Hallie are working on their letters to Santa while the others are off playing.Opening presents has taken on a new meaning this year.
The Lussier Family made an appearance. Andrew and Emma just had their 1st birthday in October. They are 2 beautiful blessings.
The party participants had a blast picking out their new books.
The past few weeks have been filled with tons of fun and sun. We spent most of the time outdoors and enjoying all of our friends. Hunter was invited to spend a few days at Mrs. Dominique's house. He loved being back with the "girls + Andrew". In fact on the way back to Bristol he requested to go there instead of going to school. Overall he has done fantastic with the transition and hasn't showed much emotion until this trip. He is continually telling us that he wants to go back to our Naples house. Thanks Jayme and Kevin for that :)

In a few words, we built sandcastles and tunnels, trimmed the bushes, pulled the weeds in our yard (I know that doesn't sound like too much fun, but I TOTALLY LOVED being in OUR yard), playing in the wagon, going down and throwing rocks in the canal, going to our favorite park, play dates, dinner dates (including one that Adam and I got to go on without little guy), and a Christmas Book Exchange. I also enjoyed just walking around the shopping venues and listening to the music and hustle and bustle of the season. YES, I said listening and not buying! I did have a Girls Night Out that ROCKED! And a Girls Day Out filled with wine and chocolate and window shopping...my favorite things! It just doesn't get better than that. Thank you for all of you that continually make us feel like family in Naples. We do miss each and everyone of you!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Viva La Follies

This was our opening costumes. I was involved in 3 different numbers (not including the opening number and finale). I was disappointed that I didn't grab my camera in between acts. The costumes were amazing and some have even been seen on Broadway.
The last month has been filled with ups and downs. October 5th we went in for an ultrasound and was told that the pregnancy had become a miscarriage. The news was hard at first, but as the week unfolded I quickly realized that I have a wonderful blessing already. I am enjoying every moment with Hunter and know that no matter what I am lucky to have such a wonderful son.
Prior to that week I had joined the Junior League of Bristol, http://www.jlbristol.org/index.php. (A blessing in disguise) I joined this amazing group of women in order to get involved with the community and meet new people. Every 3 years the JL puts on a Follies show. This year the theme was Las Vegas. They fly a director down from NY to produce the show. We had 3 and 1/2 weeks of grueling practice every morning (splits and cart wheels included). We went from clueless to dance stars. I had a blast getting to know everyone and making a fool of myself with everyone. In the end, the show was a huge success. The money that we raised will go back to the community in several forms. One of the projects is Backpack for Kids - Every other week selected kids from several schools go home with 2 weekends worth of food). Although these women don't know much about my personal life, they helped me through this tough time. I walked away with some bruises, creaking bones, sore muscles, and a lot of memories!

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Hunter's 3rd Birthday with Boyd Family

Hunter is always surrounded by people that love him.


Chucky Cheese's with the Boyd family.
I can't believe that 3 years have past. It is amazing how time flies when you are having the time of your life. Hunter continues to amaze me daily with everything that he has learned over the small period of time he has been with us.
This year we have been blessed with being able to celebrate Hunter's birthday with the Boyd family. I love living so close to everyone! Annmother and Pops where able to join us for birthday dinner and a little birthday party Sunday night. The theme of Hunter's presents were mainly McQueen and Mater from the movie Cars. He had a great time opening his gifts. The evening was filled with dinner, cake, sparklers, gifts, and lots of love from the grandparents. The day of Hunter's birthday we took the Boyds to see The Old Farm Golf Course and Chucky Cheese. Hunter is still hesitant to ride on anything, but enjoyed pushing buttons on games and ski ball. That night we curled up to watch a movie and Hunter fell asleep within 30 minutes. It was a great birthday!

Monday, November 2, 2009

The "Fix It Man"


Being in our new home has brought some new experiences for us all. One of those experiences is washing the dishes by hand. As long as I can remember I have had a dishwasher. I had bought a drying rack a long time ago. Every time I would go through a "cleaning out" frenzy I would consider tossing it in the donation pile. However, I hung onto it thinking I might use it in the future. Well, the future is here now and I'm using it and discovering that it is a little temper mental. Anyhow...the other day it fell in the kitchen. Hunter said, "Mommy I'll fix it." He ran to get his electric screw driver and began working. It was so cute! He was so proud to discover that he had fixed it. Little did he know that I had fixed it while he was off looking for his tools.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Happy Halloween!

"What can Brown do for you?"


This is our 2nd year of dressing up as a UPS man. Thank you Aunt Wendy for the costume. When trying out ideas for a costume this year, I was really surprised when he didn't want to choose either Thomas the Train or Lightening McQueen. He chose to be the UPS man. Everyone loved it! We went trick-or-treating in a community nearby. At first Hunter was really hesitant about ringing the doorbell and saying "Trick or Treat". The more doorbells we rung the more comfortable he became. He didn't ring any doorbells, but he did whisper "Trick or Treat" and "Thank you" the last few homes we visited. I have a feeling that we will see him open up more next year and see more of the UPS man in the future.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Hunter's 3rd Birthday with Morris Family

The attempt at a train cake. It turned out good, except for the engine looking like a boat.
Hunter loved the look of the cake and how it tasted too.

Papa and Hunter with the "Major Trouble" shirt. Papa and Hunter have an act that they do. 1st Papa points at Hunter and says, "You're trouble," and then Hunter replies, "No, your trouble." It continues on for a minute and is rather cute. Papa gave Hunter a tee-shirt that said "Major Trouble" for his birthday.
Hunter's birthday is around the corner. This weekend with having Martha in town, we decided to have Hunter a little birthday party with the Morris clan. I attempted a train cake. It took 3 hours to ice and decorate, but it turned out pretty good. Next time...if there is a next time, I will be making the engine a little differently. Hunter loved it though! It is so good to be close enough to enjoy the family more often.



Saturday, October 24, 2009

Alzheimer's Walk




Today was the Walk for the Cure. We raised over $1700 and had 14 walkers. I never imagined being that successful with donations, but thank you to everyone who contributed. We were awarded Runner Up Rookie Team of the Year. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful support system with family and friends.

Monday, October 19, 2009

Weekend in Nashville

Hunter's first hay ride.
Treasure Hunting
Fun in the Corn Crib...like a sand box, but with corn. Neat idea!

Fun with Nannie and Papa!

We took a quick trip to Nashville this weekend. Thursday night Hunter spent some time with Annmother, Pops, and Meemaw. Meemaw, Adam's grandmother, turned 90 on Friday. She enjoys spending time with Hunter. I think he keeps her entertained.

Saturday we decided to go and spend some time with Nannie and Papa at a pumpkin patch. Hunter had lots of fun in the corn crib and in a hay maze. I didn't think we were going to be able to get him to come out of the hay maze.

Saturday night we went to Kelly and Paul Troutt's annual Bonfire in Gallatin. The evening was filled with a "Treasure Hunt", a hay ride, roasting hot dogs and s'mores, and glow stick fun with Virginia. Good times!!!