Thank You Luke!

Jake's brother flew in to Pensacola from Oregon. He drove to pick up Jake's mother and sister and headed north to our home. This was their first time to visit us in our home and we were so happy that they came. Some time was spent visiting, playing Wii Fit (Melissa is amazing at the plank), Wii Play, Wii Sports, playing Golf (the card game), and walking around Walnut Square. The best memories were made at Ft. Mountain and playing Rock Band.

We drove up to Ft. Mountain after lunch on Friday. The weather could not have been any better. Luke is from Portland where it is always overcast and misty-raining all the time. He was so excited to see the sun! Melissa and Marilyn do not have many chances to see anything other than flat FL... so they were excited to see the hills and mountains of north GA. The sun was bright, the sky was blue with white fluffy clouds, and the lake was nice and cool. We started out splashing in the lake. I tried to put Taryn down but she did not like the way the sand felt on her feet. She loved the river at my grandparents cabin so I thought she would love this little beach and the cool water but she screamed. I guess the sand made her feel unbalanced and it must have scared her. So, she spent the rest of the time in grandma or daddy's lap. Caleb and Taylor loved the water. They followed uncle Luke and aunt Melissa all around the water.

Then came the real fun... paddle boats!! They have a new 5 seater paddle boat so Luke, Melissa, Caleb, Taylor and I were able to ride out together. Luke and Melissa started out paddling then I switched places with Luke. It has been a dream of mine to paddle a paddle boat and I had a blast :) We all had a lot of fun.

That evening we had Paul and Melydia over to play some Rock Band. We were rockin!! See the post below to read more about this and to watch a short video of Jake as a Beastie Boy :)

Sabotage

I was going to wait to post until after Jake's family leaves but something happened last night that I just had to share right now. Like I said Jake's mom, brother, and sister are here. Last night Paul and Melydia came over and we all played Rock Band. This was just part of our after dinner entertainment...

What a Show!

I grew up with a mother who loved storms. As soon as we heard thunder my brother, my mom and I all ran to the porch swing with a blanket. We sat and marveled at the bright flashes of light and the deep rumbles of thunder. I still love a good storm. I will stand on the back deck watching the storm move in. Then I will move to our tiny front porch where I will sit and watch the rain fall down. Our storms are usually just rain and thunder. If I am lucky we will have an occassional flash of lightning.

Tonight was my lucky night. We finally had a lighting storm. It was to the north and to the west so I grabbed my camera and headed to the back deck. I managed to capture two lightning bolt photos and one big flash of light. Follow this link to see the other two photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisadickey/

Mom, thank you for giving me this love for storms.

Getting ready for grandma!

On June 31st Melydia, Taryn and I met up with Lisa S. and her family at the Greek Festival in Chattanooga. There were all types of Greek food. Melydia and I tried the spanakopita and the pastitsio. Both were very delicious. We finished it off with some Greek desserts. Melydia had the Baklava and I tried some type of almond crusted cookie goodness ;) After dinner we were able to enjoy (watching) some traditional Greek dancing. I could not talk Melydia to getting up and joining in :) ... but Taryn really wanted to.

After all of this we journeyed to downtown, to the river walk. I had never been to down town at night... the view from the walking bridge was beautiful... all of the lights reflecting off the river. This is something I will definitely do again.

The last few days have been ordinary. Well, Caleb did loose a second tooth. Other than that we have spent our days playing and cleaning like usual. Today and tomorrow will be full of house work because grandma Marilyn and uncle Luke are coming to visit! This is so exciting because it will be their first time to ever visit us at our place. Grandma M lives in FL and Luke lives in OR so we do not get to see them very often... we are so excited that they are finally coming!

This evening we get to go to an FCA bbq and swim party at the "Country Club". I will try to remember my camera and post about it later :)

Kite and Tooth

Jake had a great plan. He had it all set for his Geometry class to build kites the last few days of school and then take them out to the football field to fly them. Yesterday was the day. The boys and I were so excited. We got ready to go watch all these kites flying. Ha! Poor kids. Out of three classes, split into groups of three, only one group got their kite up. It was GREAT. As soon as they stepped out of the school one of the boys had it going. He moved it to the football field and kept it up in the air the entire time. Thank you whatever your name is for making our drive out to the school worth it :)

When we got home I fixed the kids hot dogs. As Caleb was eating he said mommy I think my tooth came out. Sure enough, his tooth was gone! We new it was loose and that it could come out at anytime. While he was eating a hot dog... his tooth is gone... went down to his belly with his food. I think it might have made Caleb a little sad because he really wanted to see this tooth. He also had a tooth fairy bear to put his tooth in to get a surprise in return but he had no tooth to put in the pocket :( He is still happy though... His tooth fell out before his best friends... Our little competitor.

My Brother Got Married!!

We had a great weekend. We headed out Friday morning to my grandparents cabin outside of Gatlinburg. Caleb and Taylor really enjoyed throwing rocks in the river while Taryn ate rocks (or tried to). Taryn loved playing in the water, she is definitely my outdoor girl... she loves the outdoors!
Sam and Rose arrived and we all visited. Family members began to show up and we had the Rehearsal. Caleb was to be the ring bearer but seeing all these strange faces he began to shy away. He did not want to walk in front of all these people (and this is just the rehearsal). So my mom came up with a plan. Let's bribe him. First attempt to bribe I offered him $5. I said this is enough to buy you one of the small Bionicles you want. He said NO I need a $10 to buy a Big Bionicle. My little deal maker! That was to much for me. I said I guess they don't need a ring bearer. But my mom had to do it. She said Caleb Papa will pay you $10 if you do your job. A silly smile came across his face and he went into wedding mode.
The next day... wedding day! It seemed like any ordinary day. Sam, Rose, her brother and I worked on piecing together the edges of a puzzle. Then they sat and played Magic the gathering while Jake and I took Taryn down to the river to play. Oh, I forgot to say that after the rehearsal my aunt took the boys for dinner, putt-putt, and a night at the Motel. It was nice to have a break but I missed my boys. Now back to wedding day. Around 2 Rose and I started on her hair. She pulled it up in a French Twist and I helped to pin it up and smooth it down. Then she was off to the Lodge... Scatterridge Lodge. Sam hung around waiting on his tux... oh here is another story. Sam left his tux hanging on a door in their apartment!! Luckily their friend decided last minute to come to the wedding. He was able to stop by their apartment and pick up the tux. He made it with a couple of hours to spare!

The Lodge was up on the mountain behind my grandparents cabin but we had to meet at a local church to take a shuttle bus up. A shuttle bus up a mountain... on a one lane road... a bit scary but you could tell this driver was very experienced on this road. The Lodge itself used to be down the mountain. The owner had it moved piece by piece up the mountain and I am glad they did... the views were amazing!

The wedding was wonderful. Sam looked so excited, Rose was glowing and beautiful, the mountain setting, the flowers, the live music, the small family atmosphere, all of it was just perfect. The dinner reception consisted of meatballs, cucumber sandwiches and freshly squeezed lemonade (for appetizers), salad, then the most delicious Fettuccine Alfredo, chicken kabobs, steamed vegetables and fresh fruit. Anyway, the food was all topped of by a very scrumptious chocolate cake!
As we were all enjoying our dinner Sam's friends (who will remain nameless) were enjoying some pancakes and shaving cream :) Caleb came running around the corner, "Mommy, you have to see this!! You have to see what they did to the green car!!"
Then the party was over. Time for the bride and groom to exit through the bubbles. Oh and you know they loved their car. It was so wonderful to experience all of this with them and all the family that was there. What a wonderful wedding weekend.

To view more pictures from the wedding please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/lisadickey/ . Remember to scroll through the pages because I took lots of pictures. I will try to remember to post more links to their photos from family and friends as they become available.

Backyard

We love our backyard even if the grass is lacking...