All About Us

Our First Hockey Game Experience

2012-02-01T11:15:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, January 14, we went to our first Icemen's hockey game at the new Ford Center. Well it was our first hockey game ever for that matter. The night we went was a WOW sponsored event so we had free tickets. It was alot of fun and I can't wait to go back. It was chilly inside the arena naturally because of the ice so I was bundled up with my blanket, scarf and gloves. The Icemen beat the Ft. Wayne Komets 3 to 1 to a packed crowd of 9,403 fans! That's the biggest fan attendance so far! While I really don't understand all there is to know about hockey, I was there more to see some fights!! I can tell you that I didn't leave disappointed......there was 3 that night. One they broke up immediately and two that they let drag on for a bit. I'm glad I had my zoom lens with me cause we were sitting far away. And let me tell you, it's hard to zoom through the netting that was up to keep the pucks from going everywhere! I posted a photo below so you would see what I was talking about!

We didn't have horrible seats for the game, but I think it would of been really neat to be down near the windows!

YES....it was hard zooming in through this netting for the pictures!

One of the 3 fights of the evening!

The third fight of the evening!

And a VICTORY WIN for the Evansville Icemen!!!

Monster Trucks

2012-02-01T10:56:00.000-08:00

The monster trucks were at the new Ford Center a couple of weeks ago. We had been to Roberts Stadium to see them a few years ago and I was less than thrilled to go again. I told Shawn I would go ONLY if we took Gavin with us. He was sold! So Friday evening, Shawn drove to Rockport and picked up Gavin and then came to my work to get me. We left the cars here and walked down to Lic's to have supper and then walked down farther to the new Ford Center. Gavin and Shawn were way excited; me not so much! LOL!! We had bought Gavin a pair of ear phones, or "ear planes" as Gavin calls them, to block out the noise of the trucks cause Gavin is afraid of really loud noises. He loved wearing them and didn't want to take them off at all! His mom and dad gave him money to buy a souvenir so we settled on the Ironman pennant. I feel sorry for the bald man sitting in front of us cause Gavin poked him with the pennant about a dozen times! Eventually it ended up in the backpack.

Playing with Aunt CeCe's phone while we waited for Uncle Shawn. Halfway down to the Lic's, I realized I didn't put Gavin's earphones in his bag so Shawn had to go back to the car to get them. Thanks Uncle Shawn!

Gavin with his Ironman pennant. I'm not sure of the pose he's doing!

The poor bald man in front of Gavin! Hee!

This is my fave picture of the night!! He was having so much fun!

Ironman right before he flipped his big car/truck over!

The Rottweiler was my fave car/truck of the evening!

New Years Eve

2012-01-26T06:46:00.000-08:00

For New Year's Eve this year, we went to our friend's Heather and Bowen Robinson's house. We've done this annually for the last couple of years, with the exception of last year. We always have lots of delicious food and lots of friends come over and hang out. This year we I made our famous wing dip, veggie pizza, shrimp, and strawberry punch. (I crossed out the "we" because I did all the cooking, Shawn was out at Best Buy doing some impulse buying; however I do LOVE my new tablet!) We also did the gift exchange again, but this year instead of playing dirty Santa, we did it a little bit different. We all got in a circle with the gift we brought in, Heather read a poem, and we all passed our gifts either left or right depending on the words in the poem. I ended up with some cute Christmas dipping bowls that my sister brought and Shawn ended up with a golf-themed drink holder, which fits him perfectly since he's a golf-addict! We also played our annual game of Scattegories and of course, we had our annual cheaters in the game...you'll see their picture down below!

I didn't take many pictures throughout the evening, but I let Gavin play with my camera so he snapped quite a few of the ones below and then one of the teens took pictures during our gift exchange.

THE CHEATERS OF SCATTEGORIES I MENTIONED EARLIER!!!!!

I got a new smartphone earlier in the week and someone showed me some Toddler Lock games on it, so now my nephew is obsessed with Aunt CeCe's phone.

Shawn and Bowen, ringing in the new year!

My veggie pizza which is yummy!!

I was taking a picture of Shawnie's beard! He was off work the last two and half weeks of the year so I talked him into growing a beard. While he wasn't a fan of it, I liked it :) Too bad he shaved it off when he started back to work :(

Just fishin'

2012-01-24T10:25:00.000-08:00

Trace Adkin's has a song out called "Just Fishin". I know I've heard it a hundred times or more on the radio and it's a good song. I guess I had never really *listened* to it until last Sunday morning when I was getting ready for church. It brought such tears to my eyes. It talks about a dad taking his little girl fishing and the memories he is making. When I was little, I went fishing with my dad all.the.time. I wonder if he knew he was making memories for me? I'm tearing up now just typing this. I love and miss my daddy greatly!

I’m lost in her there holdin’ that pink rod and reel

She’s doin’ almost everything but sittin’ still
Talkin’ ‘bout her ballet shoes and training wheels
And her kittens
And she thinks we’re just fishin’

I say, “Daddy loves you, baby” one more time
She says, “I know. I think I got a bite.”
And all this laughin’, cryin, smilin’ dyin’ here inside’s
What I call, livin’

And she thinks we’re just fishin’ on the riverside
Throwin’ back what we could fry
Drownin’ worms and killin’ time
Nothin’ too ambitious
She ain’t even thinkin’ ‘bout
What’s really goin’ on right now
But I guarantee this memory’s a big’in
And she thinks we’re just fishin’

She’s already pretty, like her mama is
Gonna drive the boys all crazy
Give her daddy fits
And I better do this every chance I get
‘Cause time is tickin’
(Yeah it is)

And she thinks we’re just fishin’ on the riverside
Throwin’ back what we could fry
Drownin’ worms and killin’ time
Nothin’ too ambitious
She ain’t even thinkin’ ‘bout
What’s really goin’ on right now
But I guarantee this memory’s a big’in
And she thinks we’re just fishin’

She ain’t even thinkin’ ‘bout
What’s really goin’ on right now
But I guarantee this memory’s a big’in
And she thinks we’re just fishin’
Yeah, aww, she thinks we’re just fishin’
We ain’t only fishin’
(This ain’t about fishin’)

Christmas with the Glenn's

2012-01-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

Due to some personal family issues on the Gordon side of Shawn's family, we didn't make it to St. Louis this year for Christmas. Instead, Shawn's parents came in and spent Christmas with Steve and Christa and Christa's family. We went over to Steve's on Christmas Eve to exchange our gifts with them. I got a new scarf, a necklace, some hand lotion, gift cards to Fashion Bug and Bath and Body Works, picture frames, and a laptop desk. We also got our Christmas money from Shawn's parents. Shawn ended up getting a four-pack of Chalulha sauce he likes, golf tees, Best Buy and Red Lobster gift cards, and Christmas money :)

Christmas Lights in Santa Claus

2012-01-11T11:01:00.000-08:00

Mom and Gavin spent the weekend with us the weekend of December 17-18. Once we picked them up, we headed up to Santa Claus, Indiana to drive through the free light display at Christmas Lake Village and the paid display at Lake Rudolph Campground. We also stopped and visited the Christmas store and had some yummy, yummy cookies!

Our First Gingerbread House

2011-12-26T17:25:00.000-08:00

For my birthday this year, my sister got me a Gingerbread House kit. We've never made one before so I thought it would be fun for all of us to do on Christmas. It ended up being just me and Gavin making the house, and he spent more time eating candy and licking icing off his hands. It was fun making it with him, but it was definitely not as easy as it appears on the box! LOL!!

He's made the big time...

2011-12-23T00:01:00.000-08:00

Earlier this month, on my birthday actually, Shawn left to go out of town for work. He flew to Denver, Colorado to film a commercial for his work. The commercial is supposed to air sometime in March I believe, so I'll definitely be blogging about it then. He was gone for almost a week, and it was the loneliest week of my life :( While he was gone, he had a great time, but a busy time. He didn't have much down time, as the WOW! people had lots of them to do. He spent about a day and a half in the studio for production and filming, drove into Colorado Springs to visit the call center of WOW!, spent time at the main WOW! office, stopped and visited the Denver Garden of the Gods, and had lots of lunch and dinners out. He stayed at Hotel Teatro and I must admit I was very jealous! This hotel looks and sounded amazing!

Weekend in Illinois

2011-12-17T03:54:00.000-08:00

For the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, we went to Shawn's parents like we do each year. On the way there, we went to Cave in Rock park in Cave in Rock, Illinois. I had heard of the park before, but wasn't till I saw pictures of the cave that I wanted to go. The day was nice and sunny, but a little breezy. We parked the car, got out at the parking lot and walked a little pathway to the cave. The cave was so much bigger than I imagined and was really neat to see and walk into. You can read more about Cave in Rock here.

Saturday morning we went with Steve and Christa into Gallatia to go to the Amish Yoder Bakery for some pastries, which are yummy! Then Steve took us on a tour of Wasson. Wasson is the little town Shawn lives in, however their address is Eldorado, so that's where they say they live. There are so many little towns in that area, that people just usually say they are from the bigger towns. This section of Wasson is very run down. The sign on this pole just made me laugh so it deserved a picture.

Later in the day on Saturday, me, Shawn and Shawn's mom drove into Marion and Carbondale to go Christmas shopping. This is one of my favorite things to do while we are there. I just love shopping in different towns. On the way there, Shawn took us out to ____ (my mind has gone completely blank). It's a wildlife refuge that you can drive through. We saw one turkey and a few deer. We actually saw alot of deer the whole weekend.

Rockport Christmas Parade 2011

2011-12-17T02:58:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, December 4, we went to the Rockport Christmas parade. My family went every year as a kid, and then when we got older, we stopped going. Since Shawn and I have been married, we have started going again. It's just a small-town little parade, but it's always fun! We usually end up standing on the corner in front of the courthouse. It's never crowded there, there is close parking, and it's easy to tell people "hey, we'll be standing in front of the courthouse, look for us there!". There is also a craft show at the court house so we visit that after the parade.

Tootie had to work this year, so we took Tommy and Gavin. And Nannie was a snowman in the parade with the Rockport Housing Authority. Standing with us was Chrystal, Braidon and Charlie, and then BJ and Trenton. Gavin didn't collect much candy, but I'm pretty sure his daddy did! Gavin was more interested in my little camera and taking pictures! He's going to follow in his Aunt CeCe's footsteps...hee!!

There is Nannie...she's the 3rd snowman on the right. Walking the parade really wore Nannie out, and that's even with her taking a few shortcuts along the route. LOL!!

That's our health care nurse at work Emily and her cute daughter Jayce.

Tommy and Gavin - Beth's boys!

My cousin Chrystal and her son Braidon aka Turtle

My little cousins Braidon and Trenton

Nannie the snowman, me and Gavin

I'm loving these pictures below. Aside from the first one, Gavin took the rest. :)

Homemade Peppermint Candy

2011-12-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

I was googling the peppermint candy recipe I make and came across this link to the exact recipe I use. (The following pictures and recipe are taken directly from her website and are not my own.)

Peppermint Bark Recipe

All you need is 1 pound of white candy coating and 1/2 cup peppermint pieces (or finely crushed starlight mints or candy canes).

Melt the candy coating very slowly in the microwave. If the candy is melted too fast and it gets it too hot it will harden and not become liquid. Start with 30 seconds and then stir. Continue heating at 15 second intervals, stirring each time until melted. Add in 1/2 cup peppermint pieces.

Stir until completely combined.

Spread candy thinly out on wax paper and allow to cool. (About an 11" X 17" area)

Once hard, break candy into pieces. This is the perfect treat to keep on hand for unexpected guests and it makes a wonderful hostess or neighbor gift when wrapped in a pretty container.

Believe me, your friends will eat this up! Enjoy!

Happy Birthday to me!

2011-12-13T03:13:00.000-08:00

Shawn was going to be out of town on my birthday so we celebrated it a little earlier. On the Saturday before my birthday, we went to dinner with some good friends, the Bullock's. We went to Cheddar's in Owensboro, stopped at Kroger's to get some ice cream, and then went back to Tina and David's for some of Tina's yummy cupcakes and ice cream. We had a great time with them!!

Then on my actual birthday, I went to my mom's and she made me my birthday supper. We had homemade chicken and dumplings, mashed potatoes, homemade dressing, peas, and baked bbq chicken. It was delish! My momma makes the best chicken and dumplings ever! My brother in law made me a yummy chocolate cake with white icing, my fave! And then we also had chocolate and vanilla ice cream with sprinkles and syrup :) Lots of people came over to help celebrate - mom, Beth, Tommy & Gavin, my and aunt and uncle Dobie and Charlie, and Thomas, a friend of theirs, my cousin John and his girlfriend and their daughter, and my uncle Popeye. And then Shawn called while we were eating supper :)

For my presents, Shawn got me a Brookstone laptop pad which I LOVE! He also sent me flowers and a balloon to work. Gavin got me a gingerbread house kit, which we've already opened so he could have some candy from it. All night, he kept pointing to the gift and telling me "open dis first cece". He's a smart little guy; he knew candy was in it. LOL! In addition to my yummy birthday supper, Mom got me a really pretty necklace and earrings set and some yummy smelling wax for my burner, and then Dobie got me a stationary set. A friend from work also got me a way cute snowman ornament for my tree.

Gavin helping me open my gifts. The big blue box contained candy so the whole time he kept telling me to open it first!

My yummy cake that my brother in law made :)

My cousin John and me! N DA MIC!

We had my party in the community room of where my mom lives and they have a pool table and air hockey table there. Gavin loved playing it!

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-06T09:10:00.000-08:00

Shawn and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house again this year. We had LOTS of people and LOTS of yummy food and desserts! There was turkey, ham, dressing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, sweet potatoes, cole slaw, watergate salad, deviled eggs, and rolls. We also had a cheeseball and crackers and deer meat, along with pecan pie, pumpkin pie, peach dessert, apple pie, chocolate pie, and my Aunt Joyce's delicious texas sheet cake!

Those present were me and Shawn, his parents, my mom, Beth, Tommy and Gavin, Uncle Popeye, Uncle Bill and Joyce, Joyce's sister Phyllis, Julie and her boys, Jenny and her girls, DobIe and Charlie, BJ and Trenton, John, Nikki and Aleaha, and Shannon and Thomas. Needless to say, we had a packed house.

Below are some pictures that were taken throughout the day.

Cousins having fun!

Shawn and his parents!

LOTS of food and LOTS of leftovers!

The rest of the food and leftovers!

I've been wanting to take a group photo the last few years at Thanksgiving, but it's always either been raining, or extremely cold outside. So this year, it wasn't too bad and we did the picture. It was an ordeal! LOL!! I set the tripod up to take the picture, set the timer, and set it to take 10 consecutive shots. I think because it was so cold outside, there was a delay in the shots. After the second shot, Gavin took off running to look at the pictures on the camera and you can see him running out of the picture. In the next picture you see Tommy running out to go retrieve Gavin. In the third picture, Gavin has been captured, and the fourth picture was the best one out of 20.

Gavin took this picture of his pretty mommy :)

FULL BELLIES!

Saladmaster Cooking School

2011-11-17T11:39:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday we went to another Saladmaster Cooking School for Saladmaster owners. Everything we had to eat was delicious and I can't wait to try my hand at everything. The menu for the day was The Great Pumpkin Chili, Bountiful Apple Salad, Broccoli Cornbread, and Apple Crumble Dessert. I've already made the chili and it was yummy! They also did prize drawings again this time and Shawn won a set of binoculars and I want a fun pink cooler! I've added the recipes to the end of this blog. :) Happy Eating!

The Great Pumpkin Chili – 3 Qt Saucepan with Inset (Church Pan), 5 Qt Stockpot

3 lbs. ground beef

2 green peppers, chopped
3 14½ oz. cans diced tomatoes
2 onions, chopped
2 15 oz. cans kidney beans, drained & rinsed
2 T. chili powder
15 oz. can pumpkin
¼ t. cayenne pepper
2 T. honey
1 t. salt

Process the onion on the Saladmaster Machine with the #2 cone. Chop the green pepper with a knife (it doesn't do well on the Saladmaster Machine). Place ½ inch of water in the 3 Qt saucepan and put the
Inset (Church Pan) on top. Brown ground beef in the Inset over medium heat, stirring to crumble; the grease will drain into the water below. Put browned gound beef into 5 Qt stockpot and stir in remaining ingredients. Place 5 Qt stockpot with all ingredients on stove set to medium heat. When Vapo Valve clicks, stir, replace lid and reduce heat to low. Simmer, covered, for one hour. You may leave it on the stove set to low indefinitely as it will not boil dry or burn, but one hour is the minimum required for the peppers, onions and beans to be nice and soft. Makes 12 servings.

Bountiful Apple Salad – Saladmaster Machine

1 red apple
¼ c. orange yogurt
1 green apple
1 T. lemon juice
½ c. celery
3 c. Romain lettuce
1/3 c golden raisins
chopped walnuts or pecans
1 T. orange zest
¼ c. Miracle Whip

Process apples on the Saladmaster Machine with the #2 cone, process the celery with the #4 cone. Chop
the Romain lettuce with a knife. In a large bowl, mix apples, celery, raisins and orange zest; set aside. Mix Miracle Whip, yogurt and lemon juice together in a small bowl; gently fold into apple mixture. Salad may be
refrigerated for an hour, if desired. Arrange lettuce on a platter or in an oblong serving dish; spoon salad
over lettuce. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Sugared walnuts or pecans are delicious tossed over this salad. Place ¾ c. nuts, ¼ c. sugar and 1 t. butter
in any Saladmaster skillet. Cook and stir over medium heat for about 7 minutes, until sugar is golden and
melted. Spread carefully on a greased baking sheet and let cool completely.

Broccoli Cornbread – Electric Oil Core Skillet

2 Boxes Jiffy Cornbread Mix
4 Eggs
10 oz Cottage Cheese
10 oz Frozen Chopped Broccoli
1 Medium Yellow Onion
1 Stick Butter

Process onion on Saladmaster Machine with the #2 cone. Melt butter in 200° electric skillet. In separate
bowl, mix all other ingredients together until it forms a thick batter. Pour melted butter into bowl and mix.
Wipe skillet clean with paper towel and turn heat up to 315°. When it reaches temperature, lightly coat
skillet with non-stick pan spray and evenly add mixture. Bake at 315° for 30-40 minutes.

Apple Crumble Dessert – 11” Skillet

1 Cup Old-Fashioned Oats
2 Tbsp Butter
½ Cup Brown Sugar
2 Tsp Cinnamon
4 or 5 Granny Smith Apples
Note: Do NOT forget the apples here either!!!

Process apples on the Saladmaster Machine with the #2 cone directly into 11” skillet. Combine oats with
brown sugar, cinnamon and butter; mix well. Crumble mixture over apples and cover. Medium-Click-Low.
Once you've turned it to low, cook for 10 minutes. This is great with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

Yellow Creek Park {Beware...picture overload! Hee!}

2011-11-15T10:27:00.000-08:00

On Friday, I took a half day vacation, Shawn was already off, and mom had Gavin, so I thought it would be fun to pick everyone up, have lunch at Angelo's in Rockport, and then head to Owensboro to Yellow Creek Park to walk on the trails, give Gavin and mom's dog Sassy a chance to run around freely, and to try and do a little photo shoot of Gavin for fall pictures. I had been out at Yellow Creek the weekend before doing pictures and I was eager to go back there to walk the trails again. The weather was perfect - it was sunny, not to cold, not to hot, and just a little breeze. We did some posed pictures with Gavin and then we set off on the trails. I didn't intend for us to walk the entire trail, but we did. The map says it's two miles long, so I know Gavin's little legs were wore out when we were done. After we left Yellow Creek, we took mom, Sassy and Gavin home and then Shawn and I went back to Owensboro to eat dinner at Cheddars and do some shopping before heading home ourselves.

The Posed Pictures

The Rest of the Pictures

Gavin brought his binoculars to look for squirrel and his little gun to shoot deer. Thankfully the gun got left in the car ;)

Uncle Shawn ran up that hill to see what was at the top; little Gavin wanted to tag along.

Aunt CeCe helping Gavin climb up the big rock steps. Apparently his walking stick wasn't much help to him. I sure wish I would of had my walking stick from our Gatlinburg trip with us!

Me and Mom's Sassy Hose!

I'm not sure what Gavin was telling them in this picture, but I can tell it was good by the expressions on Shawn and Mom's face. Hee!

Gavin gave this park and today's adventures "TWO THUMBS UP!"

And I wanted pictures of Gavin playing in the leaves, but he wasn't having it so Mom did. This tree was really neat. I googled it and found out it is a Ginkgo tree. I've been on the lookout for one every since!

Vacation 2011: Cobblestone Lodge

2011-11-09T12:55:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I forgot to blog about our vacation to Cobblestone this year. Here are some pictures that were taken while we were there. And you can read this post to find out more about Cobblestone. It's a link to last year's vacation post. We basically do all of the same stuff there each year; this year Shawn and I went to Dillard Mill State Park too. You can visit the Cobblestone Lodge website by clicking here.

The Jessee Reunion 2011

2011-11-09T12:32:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday was the Jessee Reunion down in Morgantown, Kentucky at the Charles Black City Park. Kimberly and Jessica live in the area and it's midway between the Indiana Jessee's and the rest of the Kentucky Jessee's so we have been meeting here. It's a nice park with nice facilities so we are going to continue having the reunion here. It's always great to see everyone cause this really is the only time of year we see them. And it shouldn't be because we really don't live that far away from them.

Mom and Gavin went with Shawn and I this year. Beth and Tommy had a wedding to go to. We brought deviled eggs, cornbread salad, and chocolate cupcakes. There was lots of yummy food to eat! We also sang karaoke, listened to Greg, Trisha, and Jessica play the guitar, and then some people played corn hole.

Those in attendance this year were:

Me, Shawn, Mom, and Gavin
Sissy, Bradley, Jessica, Kimberly and Elijah
Alice and Sarah
Greg and Lyndell
Trisha, Lee, Elvis and Hannah
Joe, his wife and Jordan
Daryl and his son
Billy Herb

Right before everyone left, well almost everyone, Greg and Lyndell escaped before I realized it, we did a group picture. That was alot of fun and I got some crazy things trying to get one good picture. LOL!!

Picnic/trails at Audubon with Shawnie

2011-11-09T12:27:00.000-08:00

One day I was looking around at some different websites of the area and was on the Audubon Park website. I found a picture of a really fun little wooden bridge/walking plank and it said it was on the Wilderness trail which went around the lake. I've been out there many times by the lake and have never seen that wooden bridge. Upon further investigation on their website, I discovered that there is a second lake at Audubon Park that is only accessible via some trails. Every since then, I have been itching to find it. I've also been wanting to have a picnic lunch out there. This past Sunday, we didn't have evening church and it was the perfect opportunity for Shawn and I to find it that little wooden bridge and to have that picnic lunch.

After church, we went to KFC in Henderson and got a couple chicken dinners and then went to Audubon Park. We had to drive around for a bit to find an empty picnic table. We finally did and enjoyed our lunch. After eating, we used the restrooms and then set off on our "little walk". Needless to say it was more than a walk. LOL!! We ended up being gone for over an hour and a half and probably walked about 3 miles. We had a great time, it was just a bit more than I had imagined. There were lots of hills, some paved, some little dirt paths, there was crazy steep steps, wooden bridges, earth made steps, etc.

We didn't experience any snakes in the woods so I was pleased with that. On our way out of the woods, we did run into two deer, so that was a nice treat. I had just told Shawn I wish we would of at least seen some deer. And then I said I would of even settled for a snake. As soon as I had said that, that's when we saw the deer. I immediately said out loud, Lord, please don't show me a snake now! LOL!!

Winning at the Luce Fall Fest

2011-11-09T12:24:00.000-08:00

We went to the Luce Fall Fest again this year and we cleaned up with better prizes. LOL!! Usually we win stuff, but it's t-shirts that are usually too small, coupons for kids' meals, etc. This year I bought $10 in tickets and won a $25 gift certificate to Zeidler Florists, a Scentsy nightlight/warmer and pack of Pumpkin Marshmellow scent bars to go with it, a Better Homes and Garden magazine, and something else that I can't think of now (see this is why blogging is good, it helps you to remember events; well that is if you blog about them when they happen!). The Scentsy nightlight/warmer is my FAVE! I'm in love with that stuff now and will probably be purchasing these for people for gifts. Shawn bought $15 in tickets and won a bunch of stuff as well. He got a $10 gift certificate to Acapulco Mexican, a pair of grippers for your shoes for the snow and ice, some Discovery Toys, a spinning pen, a gift certificate for a feather extension, a UK backpack with goodies, and a few other things.

I can't believe these pictures below are all I took during the whole evening and they are probably some of the worst pictures I have ever taken :(

Gavin did the cake walk a few times; but didn't win any cakes. Beth did the cake walk right before we got there and won a jumbo chocolate chip cookie.

Fishing in the fish pond

Boo in Boonville 2011

2011-11-09T12:02:00.000-08:00

For Halloween again this year, Shawn and I passed out candy at the WOW! booth at Boo in Boonville. We did this last year and had so much fun. It's basically one long line of people walking around the square collecting candy. I'm not sure how much candy everyone else passes out, but we went through 20+ large bags of candy. Shawn does more of the passing out of candy, and I keep the table stocked and take pictures of trick or treaters. I take pictures of a variety of the costumes, but for some reason, I love editing the scary/gory costumes the best!?!

Here is our stash of candy! Can you believe we went through every bit of it, except for the box of gumballs (because they are for a gumball machine and aren't individually wrapped) and just a handful of candy!

There was LOTS of yummy candy and we had quite a few requests for what we gave them.

A line of people waiting to go around the square to collect candy.

My FAVE trick-or-treater of the evening....Spiderman aka Gavin!

Me being silly before we packed up for the evening. That little bit of candy left on the table was all that was left.

I do NOT like this picture of us, but it's all that was taken of the two of us that night :(

Gavin's going to the Zoooooo

2011-11-04T08:10:00.000-07:00

Shawn and I had been wanting to take Gavin back to the zoo for some time now. The last time we took him, he was about 9 months old and all he could do was just sit in the stroller and look around. We were excited to go back with him; for the fun for him and for the exercise for us. Hee!! The weather on the day we went was perfect; it was sunny with a little bit of breeze and not too warm, but not to chilly either. Our zoo is nice; but we've been to other zoos that are nicer. I would love for us to take him to the St. Louis Zoo. I've been there once, but it's been quite a while ago. My favorite thing to see at the zoos are the giraffes. And then our favorite thing at the zoo on this day I would have to say would be the monkey exhibit. Those monkeys were running around chasing each other, jumping around, and swinging on their ropes. They actually drew quite the crowd in while we were there. I also had my little point and shoot camera with me and gave it to Gavin to take pictures while we were there. He took quite a few pictures and it was funny to see the zoo through his eyes.

The giraffes were so close to us that day. I tried to get Gavin to get closer and pet them and feed them leaves like the other kids were doing, but he wasn't having it. And by the time we could finally talk him into feeding them, the giraffes walked away.

These next two pictures are pictures Gavin took :)

This otter exhibit was really neat. This tunnel was built through the exhibit, so the otters were swimming around you while you were crawling through. In the next picture you can see the otters sitting on top of the tunnel while Gavin is crawling through it.

During the month of October they have Boo at the Zoo in the evening time, so the zoo is all decorated for Halloween and stuff. I tried to get Gavin to stand closer to the witch in the kettle so I could take a picture, but he wasn't having it.

A volunteer with the zoo had this porcupine out so we could touch it. It was really neat and felt like a plastic animal. I had asked the volunteer if he could climb off the table, but he said no, he couldn't jump. I tried to get Gavin to pet the porcupine, but he wasn't having it either. LOL!

The turkey butt started doing this new thing the night before we went to the zoo. I would try to take his picture and he would through his hands and arms up over his face and say the light was too bright in his eyes.

Heading out of the zoo. The sun was bright in his eyes too!

Gatlinburg 2011 Trip Report: Wed. Oct. 19

2011-11-03T12:17:00.000-07:00

Wednesday morning when I woke up, it was raining and cold outside. As soon as I saw the rain, I went back to bed and we slept in that morning. We finally got up, got ready, and ventured out for the day. We didn’t have breakfast that morning because we slept in, so we stopped for lunch at Calhoun’s. It was good. I had a salad with greens, grilled chicken, pineapple, rice, and a warm honey mustard dressing. It was a good salad.

After lunch we started out drive out towards Cades Cove. We stopped at a little mom and pop country store to shop at and get fudge, however we opted for the ice cream instead. Seems like we always stop in here when we are on our way to Cades Cove; just something fun we have started doing. We left there and were on our way to look for bear. We got to Cades Cove and there was very few people driving through the afternoon we were there; probably because of the rain and cold weather. The whole way through I was on the lookout for bear; but didn’t see any. We did see lots of horses, deer and wild turkey. We stopped midway through at the visitor center and got out and walked around the mill area and such. We have been to Cades Cove probably 5 other times and I never knew all of that was there. I could of done without the rain and cold weather, but we still had a great time.

After we left Cades Cove, we drove back into Gatlinburg down Little River Road and pulled off at quite a few pull-offs. There was a waterfall at one and then the other pull-off was at a place that we went to our first year going to Gatlinburg and I never could remember where it was. We went back to the hotel to freshen up and then headed to dinner at the Bullfish Grill. The Bullfish is probably our favorite place to eat at in the area. We both had the baby back ribs; I had mashed potatoes and coleslaw with mine, Shawn had the hashbrown potatoes and coleslaw and we both had yummy, yummy bread. After dinner, it was back to the hotel for the evening and to start getting things ready for trip back home L

Gatlinburg 2011 Trip Report: Tues. Oct. 18

2011-10-28T10:39:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, we had tickets to the Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina. When I bought the tickets for that day, the weather was supposed to be warm and sunny. Closer to the day to go, the weather forecast changed to rain. We were blessed with a great warm, sunny day and no rain, except for a few sprinkles on the way home. We got up a little later than had planned, but we were off and headed down the road at 9:00 a.m. It was about a 2 hours drive to Asheville from Gatlinburg, and the scenery along I-40 was absolutely beautiful. Once we arrived at the Biltmore, I was in awe of how beautiful it was and how big it is. The Biltmore House is a 250+ room home. Home is putting it mildly! You can click on the link to read more about it. We were able to tour the inside of the house, but weren’t allowed to take any pictures inside L, and then we toured the property, flower gardens, farm, winery and just the property in general. We had lunch at the Stable Café and it was yummy. I had a salad with romaine lettuce, cheddar cheese strips, fried okra, tomatoes, deviled eggs, rotisserie chicken, and brown sugar bacon, and then I had a cup of potato soup.

On our way back home, we took a short cut across the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is another beautiful drive through the mountains. We drove into Pigeon Forge for dinner that night at the Applewood Farmhouse Grill, which was delish too. I had the sampler platter with chicken and dumplings, fried chicken, and chicken pot pie, fried apples, and mashed potatoes and gravy. All meals were served with apple julep, apple fritters, and apple butter. And of course, we ate too much and then stopped for dessert on the way back to the hotel L

Shawnie and I at the Biltmore House

The Biltmore House

Shawnie and I at the Biltmore House

The view off the back veranda. Would it be amazing to have this view each morning!

The back veranda with the amazing view of the countryside. This porch was huge and had about 5 or 6 sets of these chairs spaced down the porch.

My lunch at the Stable Cafe

Inside the green house

When I took this picture, I was just taking a close up of the grasshopper on the plant. Upon further inspection of the picture, I realize the grasshopper is pooping on the plant. LOL!!

The green house on the Biltmore property

Gatlinburg 2011 Trip Report: Mon. Oct. 17

2011-10-25T14:07:00.000-07:00

On Monday, Shawn wanted to golf, so I dropped him off at 8:00 at the Gatlinburg Country Club and I kept the car for the day. I planned on shopping all morning, but spent more time just driving around the area and exploring. I found a few back roads to get between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge to avoid the traffic so that was nice to find and to know for future trips there.

I ate breakfast at a Flapjacks in Gatlinburg. I had french toast, bacon and eggs. After breakfast, I decided to drive up Ski Mountain Road and go to OberGatlinburg since we weren’t going to ride the tram up there. I had heard that was a very steep road to drive. Steep would be an understatement. That road was ridiculous and at one point, I missed a turn and ended up on a very narrow one lane road. I didn’t think I was every going to find a place to turn around. I made it to the top near Ober only to find a sign that said the rest of the road was closed until Ober opened up at 10:00 that morning. So back down the road I went, and immediately to a gas station. I didn’t want to be stuck out on those roads and run out of gas.

I headed back to Pigeon Forge and went shopping at the Carter’s store and got Gavin some new jammies for Christmas. Then I headed into Seiverville to find this statue of Dolly Parton that sits on the courthouse lawn. I was flipping through the GPS for attractions and saw that there was a covered bridge nearby so I went see that too. I had read about it online earlier, but didn’t pay that much attention to it. Shawn called after this and I went back to pick him up.

We stopped at McDonalds and got some lunch to go and headed into the mountains to go to Clingman’s Dome. The drive up to Clingman’s Dome was beautiful; the weather was beautiful and the scenery was beautiful. We stopped at a few pull-off’s along the way to take pictures. The closer we got to the top, the more excited I got to go up there. The day was sunny and clear and I knew that there would be a great view from the top, unlike the last time we went up there; Shawn didn’t believe me, he figured it would be foggy like before. I also was in layers that day and had my coat, scarf, and gloves in the car. Last time, it was FREEZING so I wanted to be prepared. I didn’t need my coat that day and probably could of shed a layer that I had on. It was WARM walking up that hill! Hee!! From the parking lot, it is a half-mile, steep, uphill walk to the top of Clingman’s Dome, which has an elevation height of 6,643 feet. Once you reach the top, there is a concrete observation tower with 360 degrees panoramic views. On the day we were there, the view was very clear and we could see 20+ miles away. I wanted to stay up there forever, but of course we couldn’t. The walk down was a lot easier than the walk up, however it was hard on my knees and piggies. I was so glad that I was able to make the walk up, granted we had to stop every 20 feet for me to breathe.

After we left Clingman’s Dome, we stopped at the pull-off for the Newfound Gap for a few minutes and then headed into Gatlinburg for the night. I had been wanting to ride the Sky Lift to the top of the mountain, so I did that. Shawn is afraid of riding it, so I had to go by myself. It’s such a relaxing ride up that mountain, and at the top you get your picture taken. Each time I’ve gone up, I’ve bought my picture. There isn’t really anything at the top other than a gift shop and scenery. After I came down, we went and had dinner at Bubba Gump’s Shrimp House. The food was alright, but highly overpriced. I’m sure we paid more for the atmosphere than the food. After dinner, we just strolled around and shopped in some of the little stores along the walk. No sweet treats for us that night!

Every time you turn on a TV to the local channel in Gatlinburg, there is a show about Alewine Pottery. They've been playing it the last 5 times we've been there. The morning I was out driving around, I ended up in the Arts & Crafts community and drove by Alewine Pottery. Naturally I had to pull over and snap a picture.

The covered bridge I found in Seiverville. It's called the Harrisburg Covered Bridge.

Statue of Dolly Parton on the Seiverville Court House lawn.

The beginning of the hike up to Clingman's Dome.

Probably our first picture on the hike up. I still have a smile on my face so it must of been early in the hike. Hee!

If you can't tell in this picture, the hike is all uphill. And that's a steep hill!

Ahhh...we are almost to the top. Seeing this completely put a smile on my face!

Shawnie taking a picture of me taking a picture of him :)

These people were going to hike the Appalachian Trail. They were starting at the trail head at Clingman's Dome and were going to hike for 3 days and end up at Cades Cove. More power to them!

I should of at least walked on this trail for a little bit so that I could officially say I walked the Appalachian trail! The AT runs from Maine all the way down to Georgia, close to 2,000 miles!

Shawnie and I in front of Clingman's Dome.

Shawnie and I at the top of Clingman's Dome

Views from the top of Clingman's Dome

Me taking a picture of Shawnie who was taking a picture of me :)

Shawnie and I at the Newfound Gap pull-off. It is also the North Carolina/Tennessee state line.

Shawnie at the Clingman's Dome sign

Me at the top of Clingman's Dome! I'm so glad I made the hike this time!

Me at the Clingman's Dome sign

Me at another pull off on our way back into Gatlinburg

Shawnie at another pulloff on our way back into Gatlinburg

A cute little walking bridge at a pull off on our way back into Gatlinburg.

I'm going up the side of the mountain in the chair lift. I love doing this and wish I could get Shawnie to go up with me sometime.

The view from the top of the mountain after riding the chair lift up.

Gatlinburg 2011 Trip Report: Sun. Oct 16

2011-10-21T21:02:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning, we got up early, got ready, had breakfast at the hotel, and then headed into the Great Smokey Mountains National Park. We stopped at the Sugarland’s Visitor Center to go to the bathroom and then hike the Nature Trail located behind the park. I had read about the Fighting Creek Nature Trail online and decided to give it a try. Since Shawn and I are both trying to lose weight (although all the sweet treats we had this week didn’t help), I thought being as active as we could on this vacation would be great. I had Googled a few different trails/hikes for us to do and we enjoyed each one. The trail was relatively easy and was only a 1.25 miles round trip. About ½ way through the trail, there was a log cabin. The whole time we were on the trail, I was on the lookout for bear, but didn’t see any. I love, love, love looking for bear when we are in the Smokies. We didn’t see any bear, but did come across about 6 wild turkeys when we first started the trail, and then ran across 2 more as we were finishing up the trail. We also saw quite a few squirrel and chipmunks.

After we left the visitor center, we headed out to drive the Roaring Fork Motor Trail and hike to Grotto Falls. RFMT is a 6-mile long, one-way, loop road through the Smokies that offers rushing mountain streams, glimpses of old-growth forest, and a number of well-preserved log cabins, grist mills, and other historic buildings. The hike to Grotto Falls was about 3 miles round trip and there was a 25 foot waterfall that you can walk behind. This trail was a bit more difficult than the one earlier in the day, and it was definitely a workout. I felt like we were never going to make it to the top, but we did. The waterfall was beautiful and the hike down the hill was even more beautiful. Hee!! When we first started the trail, we saw some people coming out of the trail using some wood walking sticks. I mentioned to Shawn that we need to get us some sticks and they offered us theirs. I was so thankful that they did. They helped get up and down the trail a lot!

We didn’t eat any lunch that day, but did munch on some snacks when we got back to the car. After we finished the RFMT drive, we headed back to the hotel to change and drove into Knoxville for dinner. When we were in Florida last fall we ate at a Brazilian restaurant called Texas de Brazil and it was delish! As we were driving through Knoxville on the way to Gatlinburg, I saw a billboard for a Brazilian restaurant called Brazeiros so we called to find out about it and knew we wanted to eat there. Brazeiros was just as yummy and I would highly recommend it to anyone! It was late when we were finished with dinner, and since we didn’t know the area, we didn’t do anything else and headed back to the hotel. We did stop at another ice cream place called Mad Dogs Creamery. It was absolutely delish as well. We went back again later in the week.

These pictures were taken along the nature trail at the visitors center.

These pictures were taken at a pull-off along the Roaring Fork Motor Trail. I had the tri-pod in the car for the one of us together, but it was a pain to set up each time so there isn't many using it.

The rest of the pictures were taken along the hike to Grotto Falls.

I wished I would of had someone take a picture of Shawn and I together at the waterfall, but I didn't :(

Gatlinburg 2011 Trip Report: Sat. Oct. 15

2011-10-21T02:21:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 15 finally arrived! It’s vacation time baby! We got up early that morning and started getting ready for vacation, packed the car, and drove both cars to Rockport. Mom watches the dogs while we go on vacation, so we dropped Shawn’s car off to her to have for the week, then we went to Beth and Tommy’s to tell everyone bye and so I could visit with Gavin for a little bit before we left for vacation. We said bye to everyone and headed on our way.

I did all the driving that day while Shawnie snoozed in the car. We stopped for lunch at a Cracker Barrel somewhere along the way. I had the veggie platter with dumplings, mashed potatoes with gravy, carrots, and fried apples for dessert. We shopped in there a bit and I bought a couple little Christmas gifts for some friends. After lunch, we got back in the car and were on our way!

I absolutely love going to Gatlinburg and look forward to each trip we make down there. When we got into Seiverville/Pigeon Forge, we experienced a lot of traffic, but that really was the extent of traffic for us all week (and I was thankful for that!). In fact, it took us about an hour to go the last 4 miles to our hotel.

We arrived at our hotel, Vacation Lodge, and checked in and unpacked the car. I booked our hotel based on the reviews about it on TripAdvisor.com. It had both good and bad reviews, but since we aren’t real picky people, I figured the good reviews outweighed the bad reviews. I’m glad I followed the advice of those with good reviews. Our hotel was nice, and had an exceptionally nice price. I think we paid around $350 for 6 days/5 nights stay, which is very cheap considering the time of year that we went. We got a non-smoking king suite room with a comfy, comfy, comfy king size bed, fireplace, TV in the bedroom, kitchen area with sink, microwave, refrigerator, large bathroom, and a living room with a couch and second TV. The room was extra large and super clean, which were both pluses in my book. I’m so leery about staying in hotels anymore. The bed was very comfy, so that was a huge plus as well! My only complaints were that there wasn’t a desk/table for me to use the computer/scrapbook at, and that there wasn’t any laundry facilities onsite. Shawn’s complaints were that there weren’t any exercise equipment onsite, and there wasn’t an indoor pool. Other than that, the hotel was great and we will definitely stay there again.

After we unloaded the car, we headed to Fuddrucker’s for dinner. I had the chopped steak dinner with salad, potato wedges and garlic bread. This is my fave meal from there, and like always, it was yummy. We stopped at Baskin Robin’s for ice cream and I had a double dip of chocolate and strawberry in a cup, even though I had already told Shawn we weren’t getting any dessert all week cause we have both been trying to lose weight. I’m weak; he’s weak; we both enjoy the sweet treats, especially on vacation! After the sweet treats, we headed back to the hotel to unpack and get a good night’s rest.

Fall Fest Fun

2011-10-14T12:50:00.000-07:00

This past week was the West Side Nut Club's 80th Annual Fall Fest. It is supposed to the 2nd largest street fair next to Mardi Gras in New Orleans. I can believe it! It's a week of nothing but eating, eating, and more eating. LOL!! They also have rides and games, but the best part is the eating. There are over 130 food booths all lined up and down both sides of Franklin Street for blocks. I went Wednesday night after work and got some supper before church. I had a deep fried twinkie (in fact, I had one every time I was down there! They are delish!), a huge pork tenderloin sandwich, and some german potato salad. Friday evening I went after work and met up with Angie and the girls while Shawn worked at the Wish Upon a Star booth until 7:00 p.m. That night I had chicken and dumplings, a deep fried twinkie, fried green beans with horseradish sauce, and apple cider. Then Shawn and I went back Saturday morning for the pet parade. I had chicken and dumplings, a stromboli, and a deep fried twinkie. I got an ear of corn too, but didn't like it so I only had a bite or two of it before pitching it.

Normally Shawn and I go down Saturday evening for the main parade, but this year we didn't get too because of a prior church event. So in place of that, we went Saturday morning to the pet parade. It was cute and there was lots of kids and pets dressed up.

This was Franklin Street at 9:30 Saturday morning. I couldn't believe how many people were here already!

The pet parade at 10:00 Saturday morning and all the people already lined up and down Franklin Street eating!

A couple of cuties and their tiny weiner dog puppies in the pet parade.

A UPS Puppy :)

A cute bumble bee puppy!

The pictures below were "borrowed" from the West Side Nut Club's Facebook page. I put them on here so you can see exactly what the Fall Fest is all about! There was lots of carnival games and rides; however the games are expensive to play and the wait times and lines for the rides were ridiculously long!

I love these two night pictures I found. It shows you just how big the festival is and how crowded it is. The weather this year was perfect for it! It was warm and no rain. I remember years that you had to have an umbrella and be bundled up!

12 Weeks of Pastor Appreciation: Week 6

2011-10-12T11:19:00.000-07:00

We presented Bro. and Sis. Heard with their Week 6 gifts during our weenie roast last Saturday night. They were going up north to Bro. Heard's brother's church for his Pastor Appreciation on Sunday so that is the reason we gave them their gifts early. This was also the first week that Sis. Heard has been there to receive her gifts. She has either worked or was sick for the other weeks :(

This week we got Bro. Heard a gift card for golf and then some money for lunch and then we bought Sis. Heard some of her favorite candles. She was so excited about the candles too cause she was telling someone earlier in the day that she was needing new candles.

12 Weeks of Pastor Appreciation: Weenie Roast

2011-10-12T11:04:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday evening, we had a weenie roast for part of our Pastor Appreciation celebration. It was supposed to be a combined scavenger hunt and weenie roast with people paying $5 a person to participate in the scavenger hunt and the funds raised going towards Pastor Appreciation. I guess people didn't like the idea of paying, or they didn't have $5 so no one was signing up. We decided to waive the fee and just have everyone come out and be a part of the celebration. We also presented Bro. and Sis. Heard with their Week 6 gifts for Pastor Appreciation (you can find out about those in a separate post). Our turnout for the event still wasn't what we expected and no one wanted to do the scavenger hunt once we were there, so we just had the weenie roast. We still have a great time and enjoyed the food and fellowship. We roasted hot dogs and marshmellows over the fire and had chips and homemade apple cobbler for dessert. Those that were there we Shawn and I, Angie, Garvin and the girls, Cheryl and Dewey, Bro. and Sis. Heard, Ron, Aaron, Mistie and the kids, Michelle and her kids, and then a coworker of Garvin's. Lots of thanks to Garvin and Angie for opening up there new home to us!

The Blonde one and myself :)

Mr. Sticky Hands :) You couldn't keep this cutie out of the marshmellows! For this picture, I had looked at him and he had two huge melted marshmellows, one in each hand, and was squeezing them together eating them and laughing. I definitely had to have a picture of this.

Alex and the Marshmellow Boy :)

Garvin, Shawn, Pastor Heard, Dewey & Cheryl

Gabe roasting marshmellows over the fire.

George sporting his Halloween shirt

Pastor Appreciation: Yard Sale

2011-10-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, October 1, we had a church yard sale at my house. It was originally going to be at the church, but because of all the road construction around the church, we moved it to my house. I live in a great location and we often have yard sales at my house. I didn't advertise this yard sale in the paper this year, just because it costs around $40 to place a very small ad in the paper. Instead I advertised like crazy on Facebook, Craigslist, Evansville FreeCycle and using signs in the neighborhood. It was a great day! We were busy from 7:00 a.m. until around 3:30 p.m. when we started breaking everything down. There was only maybe once during the day that we had a lull and it was only for a few minutes. We raised $540 through the sale! Praise you Jesus for blessing us with this fundraiser, because our last couple have not been the greatest! We also sold brownies and hot chocolate at the sale as well. I just want to say thanks to everyone who cleaned out their house and donated items for the sale. And a special thanks to Angie, Allesha, and Alex for helping load everything at the church and bring to my house and unload it! Thanks to Garvin for bringing tables to my house, unloading them, then reloading them after the sale and taking them back to the church. Thanks to Teresa, Dale, Allesha, Alex, and Angie for helping set everything out, pricing, and helping the actual day of the sale. You are all a blessing and God sees your hard work and servanthood!

The night before the sale, Alex and I were being silly when we were setting everything out and found these clothes, hats, and accessories in the yard sale stuff. I think we would make pretty hot chics for working in road construction. LOL!!

Happy Birthday Blondie

2011-10-11T09:42:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Allesha! Allesha's birthday was October 7 and she turned 15; she was 5 when I first met her. She is turning in a beautiful young lady who has a heart for serving the Lord. I'm so proud of the beautiful young woman she is!

When we were having our fundraiser at the Fiddler Fest a few weeks ago, there was a lady there that sold crotchet hats in all different kinds. She had a monkey hat that Blonde wanted, however it was $17. I was at Walmart a few days later and found a cuter monkey hat for much less. I bought it for her for her birthday and she LOVES it. I think I am going to go and get myself one for this winter!

Opening up her card and gift that we got her.

Can you tell that she is uber-excited about that hat? LOL!!

Editing of the hat :)

Me and the Blonde. Even though she won't admit it, she does ♥ me!

Holiday World Fun Day October 2011

2011-10-11T09:35:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, I took Allesha and Alexandra, Gavin, and Zoe to Holiday World. I had a few free tickets from work still, and I always enjoy going at the end of the season - the weather is cooler and there is hardly anyone there which means closer parking, shorter times in line, and less people. We all had a good time and took turn riding rides so that we all could ride the ones we wanted. I rode the swings for the first time at HW. I've rode them before, but never at HW. They were fun!! I also took Gavin on the Turkey Whirl. He had fun on the ride when it first started, but once the turkey started twirling, he was completely done. He never cried, but he kept saying "done, done CeCe, done". I took lots of pictures throughout the day and have posted a few of my favorites below.

This is Gavin and Zoe riding one of the new rides in the kiddie part of HW. I believe it's called Rudolphs Roundup. There is a lever between the steering wheels that causes each sleigh to go up and down. Gavin kept moving it up and down really fast, thus causing their sleigh to go up and down really fast. LOL! It was hilarious and I wish I would of taken a video of it!

Gavin riding the seahorses. I was nervous about this ride since I couldn't stand behind him and hold him on, but he did great and enjoyed riding it.

Allesha and Zoe on the scrambler! This is one of my favorite rides and not once this year did I get a chance to ride it. During the summer, the lines were too long for me!

Alex and Allesha on the swings!

Me and Allesha on the swings. Alex took this picture and I think it's really neat. I've been wanting to ride this ride all summer, but wasn't sure if I could get up in the swing, or even fit in the swing. I did, but it was a tight squeeze...LOL!! I can't wait to ride it again next year!

Me and Gavin on the Turkey Whirl. I love this picture cause it's one of my favorite rides and you can see the excitement on his face. Must of been before the turkey actually starting the whirling process! LOL!!

Zoe, Gavin and Aunt CeCe! Every year I take a photo of three of us together like this when we go. I love looking at how we have all changed over the years!

Alex (in the green shirt at the top) and Allesha (in the pink jacket at the top) on the RoundHouse. Another one of my favorite rides. I rode it with Alex and when we got off the ride, I didn't feel so well. Not sure why, but all of the rides that day made me a little queasy!

Zoe and Gavin on the Doggone Trail!

Alex, Allesha, Gavin, Zoe and me - right before we headed out of the park for the last time this year.
See you next year Holiday World!

Alex, Allesha and me. I love stopping in the gift shop at the end of the day and trying on the silly hats and sunglasses!

We've taken Gavin to HW numerous times and this is the first picture that has been taken of me and him in front of the Santa Claus statue. Can you see his new pop gun he's holding? Can you see the string he has wrapped around my finger? LOL!!! I love this little guy so much! Don't worry bub, Aunt CeCe will buy you anything you ever want!

Pastor Appreciation - Photos in the Park

2011-09-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

I forgot to mention in an earlier post that we also held a Photos in the Park Fundraiser, where I held 20-minute photo sessions for $20. I was hoping for more participation, but was happy with the turn out we did have. Angie brought Allesha and Alexandra out for pictures, however it started raining right before their session. I was able to get a few pictures of them as we were seeking shelter on the porch of the museum out at Audubon State Park in Henderson, but will have to finish up their session at another time. Others that participated were Cheryl and Dewey, Mistie and her boys, and Jennifer and Chris. I also set up my tripod before the sessions started and took a few pictures of Shawn and I.

12 Weeks of Pastor Appreciation - Weeks 3 and 4

2011-09-20T11:30:00.000-07:00

Week 3 was their favorite snacks. They got lots of potato chips, mixed nuts, cookies, etc. They are leaving today for vacation to Florida, so they have LOTS of road trip snacks. And since they will be gone next week, we presented them with the Week 4 gift as well. In the blue bag was their Week 4 gift. I had made these little coupons and passed them out to everyone in the church and asked them to fill them out and then include their name on the coupon so that Brother and Sister Heard could redeem the coupon with them. They got coupons for meals out and home cooked meals in, gift cards, photography sessions, golfing, motorcycle detailing, car detailing, etc.

12 Weeks of Pastor Appreciation - Week 2

2011-09-20T11:27:00.001-07:00

Week 2 was their favorite drinks. Sister Heard didn't have anything down, but we knew she liked Diet Coke. Brother Heard listed 5 Hour Energy Drinks and Lemon Water, so he got lots of those!

12 Weeks of Pastor Appreciation - Week 1

2011-09-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

Week 1 was their favorite candy bar. They both got lots of yummy chocolates!

Too bad they haven't shared them with us yet :(

Pastor Appreciation Celebration

2011-09-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

This year is our Pastor's 30th year at East Side Church of God. Not many people can say they have had the same pastor for that long or the same pastor being at the same church for that long. We love Bro. and Sis. Heard are trying to make this year extra special for them. Sis. Heard gave us a goal of what she wanted to raise and get Bro. Heard for this year and divided us into three teams: Team Smith, Team Jacobs, and Team Glenn. Then we drew names for the members on each team. We've really all worked together as one, so it's been great! We've had sno cone fundraisers, puppy chow fundraisers, we are planning a food booth at the Fiddler Fest this weekend, we are having a fundraiser yard sale next weekend. We also have a weenie roast/scavenger hunt planned and then a roast for Bro. Heard with special speakers. And then on November 20, which is when our Pastor Appreciation Day is scheduled, we are presenting Bro. and Sis. Heard with gifts, a meal, and lots of fellowship! We are also doing a 12 Weeks of Pastor Appreciation (kind of like the 12 days of Christmas). I made up a Favorites questionnaire and asked Bro. and Sis. Heard to fill out their "faves". Then this list was given to each church member to use to surprise them during the celebration. Each week we are having a different them and people are bringing in goodies to go along with that week. One week it was their fave candy bars, their fave drinks, their fave snacks, etc. They have really enjoyed all their goodies so far and that makes me smile :)

Below are a few pictures from our sno cone and puppy chow fundraisers. I've helped with both and LOVE making sno cones!

Crazy Bee Sting!!

2011-09-08T20:00:00.000-07:00

On Monday when Shawn and I were at Spring Mill State Park, I got stung by a bee under my arm. We had pulled over to read the map of the park and a bee got in the car. We shewed it out and I went on about reading the map. The next thing I knew I felt something sting me in my underarm and looked down and the bee was stuck in my sweater. I finally got it out of the car and took my sweater off and saw where it had stung me. I thought I would be ok, but went ahead and took a Benedryl anyways.

This is my arm just shortly after I got stung (ignore the fatness of the arm!)...

And this is my arm Tuesday morning on my way to the allergist...

It was crazy! It was red, swollen, itchy, had fever and ached! The allergist gave me a steriod to take and it immediately started feeling better. I so do not want to be stung by a bee ever again!!

Day trip to Spring Mill State Park

2011-09-08T19:45:00.000-07:00

On Monday, Shawn and I took a little day trip to Mitchell, Indiana to Spring Mill State Park. I had heard it was a nice park to visit and they have an Inn there that has a yummy lunch buffet. It was about two hours away to the north west. We left the house at 10:00 a.m., which would of put us there right at noon, just in time for the lunch buffet. We went the longer way and took the two lane roads through some little towns I had never been through before. We stopped at the Gasthof Village in Montgomery along the way cause I had never been there, and I wanted to see some Amish people. For some reason, I am intrigued by Amish people. We weren't eating there, but stopped to go to the flea market and look through their bakery. When we were in the bakery, I noticed the time on the clock and realized that they were an hour ahead of us, which, because of us looking through the flea market and the one hour time change, put us getting to the Spring Mill Inn after the lunch buffet. We decided to eat lunch at the Gasthof Village then and it was yummy! Of course I ate too much and was stuffed! We left there and headed to the park. We drove around the park a few times cause we seemed to be getting lost. :( We stopped at a few of the different stops inside the park and finally found our way to the Pioneer Village. We parked the car and got out and walked around to look at all the old buildings and take pictures. We got there late, so alot of the buildings were already closed and the mill wasn't running. We did walk a little trail in the woods up to a cave, but it was closed. After that we headed back to the car and I assumed we were going home. However we ended up going to the Inn for the dinner buffet. Neither one of us was really hungry, but we had driven all that way and eating their buffet was one of our main reasons for going. The food was good, but I couldn't finish my meal because I was still miserable for lunch. Plus I got stung by a bee earlier in the day and my arm was killing me. (The bee sting incident will have it's own post!) After supper, we drove home, both sleepy and miserably full! We had a good time on our trip, despite the bee sting, and I can't wait for more little day trips again! Below are quite a few pictures from our day's journey.

One of the main roads inside the park.

I know this would be a beautiful fall picture in about a month or so!.

Me before we started our trot through the park.

The old mill, however it wasn't running when we were there.

There was a couple trails in the park and this is one of the smaller ones that goes up to Donaldson Cave. They said it was a small hike, so we decided to check it out...

...only to get to the top and see this sign...

...so back down the trail we go. There was beautiful scenery though!

The Inn at Spring Mill

And me stuffed and wore out from the day!

Labor Day Cookout at the Robinson's

2011-09-07T20:21:00.000-07:00

On Sunday after church we went to the Robinson's house in Richland for a Labor Day Cookout. There were lots of friends there and some new friends. We had lots of yummy food to eat and just had a good day of fun and fellowship! These are just some random snapshots throughout the day.

Gavin's Weekend with Uncle Shawn, Aunt CeCe & Nannie

2011-09-07T20:13:00.000-07:00

I took a vacation day Friday and took mom to the foot doctor in Owensboro, then we came back through Rockport and picked up and Gavin and Sassy and headed to our house for a long weekend. Friday evening my Uncle Dave came over to visit and Uncle Shawn grilled out hot dogs for supper and I made potato salad and corn on the cob. After dinner, we all packed into our car and went to Bits and Pieces in Boonville for "ice heam hones" - that's what Gavin calls them. The ice cream was yummy!! Gavin had a kids scoop of strawberry in a cone, but quickly it was put in a cup. It was a bit on the warm side inside the place and Gavin's ice cream was melting quickly. He didn't mind the cup, he just wanted the ice cream. In fact, he helped mom finish hers....or maybe he stole mom's and finished it for her. After ice cream, we headed back home and Uncle Dave and Gavin played with his new toys that Nannie bought him.

Saturday morning I had a photo shoot in the park and I had wanted to take Mom and Gavin with me and then have a picnic lunch and play in the park and then go to the state hospital grounds to feed the ducks, however the temperature that morning/day was extremely warm - close to the upper 90's so mom and Gavin stayed home while I went out. I finished the photo shoot and came home and relaxed around the house for most of the day. We got up around 5:00 and me, mom and Gavin headed to the Evansville State Hospital grounds to feed the ducks. I had popped 3 bags of popcorn and took a loaf of bread to feed the ducks with. Gavin enjoyed it and kept trying to get the ducks to come to him. He wasn't much of a thrower of the popcorn one kernel at a time and they were constantly landing at his feet, instead of out in the pond where the majority of the ducks were. After that we went to Walmart so mom could pick up a few things and I got Gavin three new Hot Wheels cars and then we came home and I made ham and beans for supper.

Sunday morning we got up and got ready for Sunday school and church. The kindergarten teacher was sick, so I taught class that day. I took Gavin into class and he was such a big boy in there with the other kids coloring and playing. After church, we took Gavin to his mom and dad's and we went to Heather's for a cookout.

Riding "hikes" and playing in the "hebbles"

2011-08-30T18:27:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I went over to mom's house cause Beth and "Havin" were over there and I was needing a Gavin fix. I remembered to take Gavin's "hike" with me so he could ride it outside at mom's. He rode it for a bit and then he played in the "hebbles" for quite some time before heading upstairs for a bath.

I absolutely love this picture of Gavin. I took it as he was riding his bike across the lawn and I love that you can see him getting into the peddling of it.

I guess there was a mechanical problem and he needed to fix the bike.

And now that we are done riding on the bike, it's time to play in Nannie's pebbles!

This little boy got so completely dirty! His hands were filthy from playing in the rocks. He would get dirt in his mouth and then use his hands to get it out thus putting more dirt in his mouth. I looked at him and he was trying to spit it out saying "CeCe, get dat out" and stick his tongue out. I couldn't help but laugh while coming to the rescue and using my shirt to wipe his tongue off.

Taking a drink to wash some of the dirt down!

Absolutely the dirtiest I have EVER seen him!

He loved playing in the hebbles and enjoyed just being a boy!

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

2011-08-24T12:05:00.000-07:00

I decided to link up with Jamie again for What I'm Loving Wednesday!

It's actually Monday night, but I wanted to get a head start on this post, so here goes...

I'm loving all the Tastefully Simple products, but my current favorite is the Nana's Apple Cake. I make it a little bit different than the recipe calls for. In place of the chopped apples, I use a cup of applesauce and it makes it so moist and delicious. If you have never tried it, I highly recommend it!

I'm loving my two wiener dogs - Hershey and Reese. I can't image our house without these two crazy characters. We got Hershey in 2008 and Reese in 2009. Hershey is all black, however in the sunlight he looks very dark chocolate. Reese is red and my tiny puppy.

I'm loving this way fun picture I took of myself last week down at the bluff in Rockport! I love photography and can't wait for the cooler weather to get here so I can break out the camera more and start scheduling some fall photog sessions!

I'm absolutely loving these two kids - my nephew Gavin and my littlest BFF Zoe! They bring such joy to my life and completely melt my heart with their laughter and giggles. Zoe is such a mother hen to Gavin, which means she's a huge help to me when I have him!

Havin & Ooie

2011-08-16T19:15:00.000-07:00

This weekend when we were at the Robinson's, we took Gavin with us. Gavin and Zoe have the most fun playing and being silly. I don't think I ever see those two kids laugh and scream as much as they do when they are together! ♥♥♥ They both truly melt my heart! ♥♥♥

Hangin' out at the Robinson's

2011-08-16T19:12:00.000-07:00

On Saturday after the cooking school, we went to Bowen and Heather's to visit and for dinner. They have a big garden and had to put up corn while we were there so we helped them shuck all of their corn. It was fun doing that and with all four of us doing it, we got it finished in a fraction of the time. We were going to grill out, but they decided against it since it was supposed to rain. Instead we had pulled pork, pasta salad, potato salad, fresh corn on the cob, homemade salsa and chips and yummy watermelon.

Me and Zoe :)

Gavin enjoying the yummy watermelon.

And after we ate, the boys tossed the football around a bit and then played some corn hole and washers.

Saladmaster: Cooking School

2011-08-16T18:58:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, we attended another Saladmaster Cookware cooking school hosted by Jeremy and Christa Conrad. This class was held at the LaQuinta Inn in Evansville. We had Gavin with us this weekend, so he went with us. He was such a good little boy and thought the food was yummy too. They made Italian Goulash, an easy Chicken, Veggies and Sauce recipe, a crisp, tangy Greek style cabbage and romaine salad, and some Pineapple Honey Pears for dessert. They also do a drawing for prizes and Shawn and I both won a prize. My friend Misty was there as well as Mandy and Jamie. We are all Saladmaster owners :)

There was quite a few people in attendance for the school.

This is Christa, Jeremy's wife. She demonstrated the recipes and cooked the food. She's such a super nice lady and always has the answers to my SM cookware questions.

Shawn's name was drawn for a prize. He choose the set of two knives.

Here is proud Shawnie with his knives.

And then my name was drawn for a prize. I was super excited that we both won. I choose the magnetic spice rack set.

And both of my friends, Misty and Mandy, won prizes. Here is Misty with her trivet.

And Mandy with her knife set.

And Christa took this picture of me, Shawn and Gavin :)

Sno Cones, Puppy Chow, Twisties!

2011-08-07T21:32:00.000-07:00

This Saturday our church had a sno cone fundraiser in front of the east side Walmart. It was hot and windy that day and our stuff was blowing everywhere. While we didn't seem like that we were that busy, we did pretty good. We made $265. We sold small and large size sno cones for $1 and $2 each and puppy chow for $2 a bag, and then one lady did face painting and hair twisties (but I don't remember their prices, we didn't sell many, if any, of those). We sold out of our puppy chow, which was 50 bags. Angie headed up this fundraiser, and then me, Angie and her girls, Sherry, Mistie and Teresa were all out in front of the Walmart yesterday yelling "sno cones, puppy chow" "get your yummy treats" "enjoy a yummy sno cone on a hot day!". We had a lot of fun and I learned I LOVE making sno cones!

Allesha with her hair paint and twisties leading off our P-U-P-P-Y C-H-O-W chants!

Alex with her cute hair paint and hair twisties!

Lots of yummy syrup flavors! There was orange, watermelon, grape, cherry, blue raspberry and root beer. Cherry and blue raspberry were our top sellers (and my fave! I had 2 large sno cones myself!)

Teresa sporting her fanny pack! She has two if anyone needs to borrow them! HAHA!

Mistie with puppy chow, sno cones and hair twisties!

Our set up! We got lots of compliments on our grass umbrellas, however it was so windy, they kept blowing down and away!

Alex, our "runner" for the day! She's such a help and a blessing!

Our signs!

What I'm Loving Wednesdays!

2011-08-03T21:10:00.000-07:00

So I've seen people link up for these What I'm Loving Wednesday's posts and decided to join in! Now let's just see if I can link up correctly!

I'm loving McDonald's Mocha Frappes and I don't like coffee! I had a Mocha Chip Frappe from Tastefully Simple the other day and LOVED it. It was like an ice cold chocolate milkshake! So I asked around and found out that McD's Mocha Frappes taste the same. This can't be good for my Weight Watchers!

I'm loving my new nail polish. It's called Hot Tamale by Pure Ice. It's such a FUN color!

I'm loving my must have lip gloss. It's Coconut Cream from Bath and Body Works and it's yummy tasting and looking! Too bad they only made it during the holidays and it's no longer available!

I'm loving my new shirt from Fashion Bug! I've been buying some "out of the box" tops for myself and really like them!

And last, but certainly not least, I'm loving all the pool time I've gotten this summer, and my nice tan to go with it! I've been to Holiday World twice, Burdette Park three times, and to my friend Heather's pool a few times. In fact, I'm taking a vacation day on Friday to spend the day poolside with my friend!

Happy Birthday Pastor Heard

2011-07-21T11:03:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Pastor Heard!

Yesterday was our Pastor's 57th birthday, so instead of our regular Wednesday evening service, we sang a few songs and then everyone was dismissed downstairs for cake and ice cream and fellowship. Shawn and I got Pastor Heard a gift certificate to the Orange Leaf, our new favorite froyo shop. :) I'm sure that gift will just the sweet spot! Happy Birthday Pastor Heard! We love you and thank you for all that you do!

Angie brought out the cake to show him and acted like she was going to throw it in his face. The funny part was that if she would of been as clumsy as Alex, she would of. I'm glad I had my camera ready for that if it would of happened. LOL!!

Everyone taking pictures and singing Happy Birthday to our Pastor.

Opening gifts! The best part of the party in my opinion! He got a blood pressure monitor that he's been wanting, some candy bars, a gift certificate to the Orange Leaf, and cash.

The best Pastor and Pastor's wife in the entire world - Bro. & Sis. Heard!

Cute little Noah wearing the birthday hat and glasses!

And of course no blog entry would be complete without a picture of me :) Hey, it's my blog! So here's a picture of me with Alex and Allesha. I can't believe how big these girls are getting and how grown up they are for God.

Weekend with Gavin and Nannie

2011-07-18T16:58:00.000-07:00

This past weekend, I babysat Gavin and his Nannie. Hee! We had a busy, busy weekend, as I usually do when I have him. I always like to be on the go with him and doing things that he otherwise probably wouldn't get to do. I took a vacation day on Friday, and Shawn and I took Gavin and my mom to Burdette Park. I had been there the week before with some friends from church and they have a nice big pool and a kids play area, so I wanted to take Gavin to play and to get a chance to work on maintaining my summer tan :). We sat in the kiddie pool while Gavin played around in the water next to us for a while and then got out and had a picnic lunch that I had packed. I brought homemade chicken salad with bread and wraps, light Pringles, grapes and applesauce. After lunch, we got back in the water for a bit before Uncle Shawn had to leave for a work function. We were only there for a little bit longer after Shawn left and then Gavin started getting tired and was ready to go. Also while we were there, a friend of mine from growing up, Ashley, and her girls and some friends were there, so we saw them up and talked for a bit. It was fun just sitting in the kiddie pool relaxing in the cool water and hot sun talking about old times.

Gavin and Nannie having lunch.

Gavin has the bluest eyes ever!

Friday night for dinner we went to Cancun's. It's our fave Mexican restaurant. We are never disappointed in our food when we go there and everyone is always so friendly.

Gavin and Aunt CeCe - I can never get him to look at the camera anymore for a picture.

And after supper, we went to the Orange Leaf for dessert! The Orange Leaf is a new frozen yogurt shop in town and it's delicious! I hate to admit it, but I actually like it better than Sweet CeCe's and I swore Sweet CeCe's was my fave! I know, I know....I'm a frozen yogurt trader, or is it traitor!

Gavin loves having his own "ice heam hone" even though it was in a bowl. His blend was orange sherbet and brownie batter frozen yogurt with M&M's, gummy bears, sprinkles and whipped cream.

See...he won't look at the camera!

What's in my bowl you ask? Well everything good! I have orange sherbet and pineapple twist, coconut, and brownie batter froyo, fresh shaved coconut, Carmel topping and whipped cream. I was disappointed cause they have a peach froyo, but it wasn't working when we were there. It's YUMMY!

Gavin got ahold of my camera while we were eating and snapped a few pictures of Shawn, me and my mom. Our heads were cut off on all of them, and well, they just weren't very flattering so I deleted all of them! However he did find some cuties to take pictures off and even caught the attention of one of them. I wish I would of gotten her name so I could *tag* her in the picture.

And after all that, it was bath time to wash the chlorine off of Gavin and the sticky froyo that he was wearing. Whenever I am giving him a bath, "Ersey" and "Esse" (translates into Hershey and Reese, my dogs) always want to be in the bathroom and watch. I asked him if he wanted them to take a bath with him and he was way excited; the dogs weren't as excited. LOL!! So after I gave Gavin his bath, I gave "Ersey" and "Esse" a bath, and then had to give Gavin another bath. Hee!

And of course after every bath, we have to go show Nannie and Uncle Shawn we are clean.

Saturday morning, I woke up with a swollen lip, so I took a Benedryl and just relaxed all morning. I got ready around 10 and loaded mom, Gavin, and mom's dog Sassy in the car and we headed out to yard sales. Mom had been itching to go all weekend. After yard sales, we got lunch at McDonald's and then I took them home to Rockport and headed back home myself. Shawn and I were going to the derby at the Warrick County fair Saturday evening, but I knew it would be too loud for Gavin, otherwise I would have taken them with us; maybe next year.

How to Break out of a Rut

2011-07-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning at church, Bro. Heard's sermon was one that he has preached on before, but was one that was definitely worth repeating. It's happened to all of us at one time or another, and I'm sure it will happen to each of us again and more often than we would like. It was titled "How to Break out of a Rut" and he listed seven steps to getting out.

1. Assume responsibility for your own life. If you step out in faith, God will take care of you. Don't depend on someone else!

2. Believe you can change. If you don't like your life, change it, do something about it, and break out of your rut.

3. Clarify what you need. Be careful who you hang out with. Go where you are celebrated. Don't say or do anything today that you wish you hadn't of said or done tomorrow.

4. Stop worrying about what other people will say. When you start to succeed, others will be jealous. Get rid of your past and walk a new way.

5. Quit waiting for ideal circumstances. The circumstances in your life are what they are until you change them.

6. Do something bold and dramatic to get out of your rut. Quit blaming other people for your mistake. Call out to Jesus for your help!

7. Make your move and do it now! Today is the day of salvation!

Holiday World July 2011

2011-07-09T20:47:00.000-07:00

We made a second trip to Holiday World last Sunday. Shawn was out of town at his parent's house, so Beth made the trip with me, Zoe, and Gavin this time, along with Heather, Bowen, and Brenton. The weather outside was warmer than our last visit, so we spent plenty of time in the water park. When we did get out of the water and changed into our street clothes, we were able to ride a few rides, but then a storm brewed up and we had to leave. I've got two more tickets from the kids' picture that HW wants to use, so we'll definitely be taking anther trip back to HW.

Happy Birthday Alex

2011-07-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the birthday of a friend from church. Her name is Alexandra aka Alex aka Pootie :) After work last night, I was able to join them for her birthday dinner at Olive Garden, which was delicious. Then after church last night, Shawn and I joined them for a sweet treat at Sweet CeCe's.

I met Alex at church when I started going there with Shawn, 10 years ago this past May. She was this cute little chubby, chipmunk cheek little girl who, who 3 years later became the bubble girl in my wedding. And now, at 15 years old, she's this simply beautiful young lady who has a heart for God. We love you Pootie and are glad we got to help you celebrate your birthday!

This is a picture of Pootie at our wedding.

And here is Alex today, with her boyfriend Shawnie aka my husband...hee ;)

(She likes to joke that Shawnie is her boyfriend!)

Me and Alex :)

And Alex with her mom and Garvin :)

Holiday World Stars!

2011-07-06T10:36:00.000-07:00

On Friday, June 24, Shawn and I took Gavin and Zoe to Holiday World. You can read about that visit in a previous post. I took this cute picture of Zoe and Gavin riding their first water slide of the day in the new Safari Sam's SplashLand there. It really wasn't a planned picture, it was more of a quick snapshot of them coming down the slide. And I really didn't know what kind of picture I was taking cause I just holding the camera up while trying to get them in the camera, but at the same time, keep my eye on them to make sure they were OK and to see when they started coming down the slide so I could take the picture. And it was also hurried because I was trying to take the picture, make sure I could catch Gavin at the bottom, and paying attention to not getting my camera wet since I was standing in the middle of a swimming pool. And this picture was the product of all that!

I think it is an absolutely adorable picture of two kids have the time of their life! A few days after we got back, I was on Facebook looking at all of the pictures I had taken that day when I remembered that I was friends with Holiday World on Facebook. I decided to post a couple pictures on their wall to tell and show them how much fun we had that day and to also tell them how great their new SplashLand park is. Well HW commented on the photo and said "Wow -- that's a cute photo!" to which I replied "Thanks! I thought so too! Hee! :o)". I never expected any more comments after that. The next time I checked my email, I had an email saying that HW commented again. This time it said "I messaged you yesterday (my name is Paula) ... did you receive it?" Well I didn't remember receiving a message from her, so I started looking all around my emails, Facebook, anywhere that that message could of went and I couldn't find anything. Of course all the while I am looking for it, I immediately thought, oh my goodness, they love my picture and want to use it. I can see it in brochures and billboards and was so excited! LOL!! And I thought, oh my goodness, what if they give me seasons passes and everything. I told you I was excited. LOL!! When I couldn't find that message anywhere, I replied to their comment "No, sorry, I didn't get any messages from you :(". The next day I got this message comment on the photo "Would you please email me? fun@holidayworld.com". So naturally I did and the following day I got an email from them that said this....

We LOVE the photo you just posted with the two children on the yellow SplashLand slide. Would you give us permission to us it? This would be for our website and other promotional venues. I'd be glad to send you two tickets as a thank you. If it's okay, please email the photo in its original format and size to fun@holidayworld.com ... and include a statement that we have your permission to use the photo.

I replied that they could use the picture and sent it to them in its original format. I also asked about where they would use the picture and they replied that they would use it on their website, Facebook page, and their e-newsletter. Well imagine my surprise when I opened my email yesterday morning and I received their e-newsletter. I opened it up and first thing I saw was their picture!!

I can't wait to receive those two tickets in the mail so I can take the kids back to Holiday World! Next year, I'm getting myself and Gavin season passes!

Landscaping Before and After Project

2011-06-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

Shawn and I decided to do a little landscaping this spring/summer ourselves instead of paying someone to do it, like we did the year before. It was really all my idea, but someone I got Shawn roped into helping me. It WAS hard work and I'm glad it's done, but I'm really glad that we did it ourselves. I'm sure paying someone we would of gotten better work, but we are happy with it. The area to the right of the porch, we dug up the old mulch and just put down more black weed barrier and put new mulch down. We are planning on getting a pair of concrete benches and a bird bath or a fountain, and then I'll put some potted plants out there. On the left side of the porch, it was completely bare - there was nothing planted there but weeds. We dug that area out, dug holes for some plants, put down weed barrier, and but in some basic black edging. I planted 2 daylillies, 2 hostas, and some ornamental grass. I planted a third daylilly on the other side of the porch in a little area.

Here is a before picture:

And here is an after picture (I realize they are different angles, but you get the picture ;)):