With love...

I think this is the most perfect picture that shows Mom's personality.  She loved her chunky jewelry and always had her glasses sitting on her head (and could never find them).

Sadly, Mom unexpectedly passed away on 9 Sept 2010 due to complications from her treatment in her fight against breast cancer.  She was an amazing woman who always found something positive in everything she did.  She even considered this bought with cancer as an inconvenience.  She was the best mom, and an even better grandmother.  She loved life and all it had to offer (good bad or ugly).  Where do I begin?  There is so much to share.  All I know is that I am blessed to have been able to come home and live with Mom for a couple of months and that my boys had the opportunity to know what fun she was and how much she loved them.  I am grateful for the family that I have and the love and support that they have shown to me and my sister and our families during this time.  I know that through our Heavenly Father's plan, this separation is temporary, and that we have been blessed to be an eternal family and we WILL see her again.  I know that she is whole and without pain and is surrounded by her parents and her brother that went before her.

She will be missed.

Day at the beach

We wanted to do as much as we possibly could before Kevin leaves for Korea.  One of the things was to go to Corpus Christi to the beach, and while we were there see the USS Lexington and the Aquarium.  I found a hotel right on the beach and next to the USS Lexington and on the other side of the Lexington was the Aquarium. It was the perfect spot and we had a room of the beach side.  It was great! again no pictures of us in the water, was not going to get sand and salt water all over the camera.

Shaving of the head!

No, not my head.  So mom is undergoing Chemo for Breast Cancer.  It was a big shock to us all when they found it.  She was told of all the side effects that she would have including that her hair WOULD fall out.  So far she gets a bit queasy, and tires easily.  So she didn't believe that her hair would fall out.  Little by littler her hair started to break off, then it started to fall out more and more each day.  She started to look like the refugee with mange.  At that time it was time to shave it off.  So we gathered everyone together especially the grandkids to shave off the remainder of her hair.  We were trying to make it a fun thing so the kids could see it was Grandma who chose to take it off and try and make it fun.  So the kids wanted to see Grandma with a mohawk, so they got their wish (even if just long enought for a photo opp.).  Jared did the honors of shaving it all off.

Schlitterbahn

Ok, so this is something we like to do at least once every summer.  Schlitterbahn is a local water park that is on the river in New Braunfuls.  We went with Grandma and Grandpa Pressgrove.  There are pictures of us waiting to get in and when we are taking a break for lunch (and for some a quick nap).  No pictures of us playing in the water but maybe next time....

Climb every mountain.. (or rock)

Since Daddy is hom we only have 37 days to cram as much stuff in as we can.  So for starters we thought we would travel just north of Fredericksburg to a state park called Enchanted Rock.  It is as the name suggest a Rock.  Now Kevin and I had climbed this thing before, when we were engaged. (you do alot when you are dating or engaged that you would normally have no desire to do, all to impress a boy).  I have a picture of this somewhere in a box that has not yet been unpacked since I have been home.  I promise I will add it because it is a cute picture.  Now other than being 14 years younger and in much better physical condition, the only difference was that it was fall and A LOT cooler than the beging of August (the hottest month of the year) and we did not have two little people in tow.  So we got there around 11A, already too hot, but we were there are we were going to do this.  I had a snuggie for Blayne and the jogging stroller for Ethan.  I remember taking the long trail up the last time we had done this, it wasn't as steep.  For some reason I remember this being a fairly flat trail and way shorter.  I guess when you get older your memory starts to fail you.  Or I just rewrote the story in my head to make the experience more enoyable in my memory and after 14 years it just became fact.  Let's just say, this time round we didn't get too far as in not even on the the trail, just to the begining of the trail at the base of the rock.  But we had pictures.  We decided since we were there we would eat lunch in town, and then go peach picking.  However by the time we got to the orchards the boys were sound asleep and so we just drove to the 1st place that sold peaches and bough an 1/8 of a bushel and made cobbler when we got home.

  

   

 

Das Peach Haus

   

We're so glad when Daddy comes home....

glad as we can be.  Clap our hands and shout for joy and climb up on his knee!  Yay Daddy came home!! (pictures on new cell phone meeting him at the airport, will download later)  The boys had not seen him in over 3 weeks, this is the longest they have ever been away from him and were delighted
when he got home!

      

      

 

Afternoon at the Museum

So while dad was gone and before Ethan got sick we went to The Children's museum.  I left my camera at home so used my cell phone.  Unfortunatly it was my old cell phone that I no longer have service with and I couldn't figure out how to get them off the phone to the computer.  Keep in mind that this cell is at least 3 years old.  When/if I figure it out I will post them or I will have Mandy email me some of the pictures she took so I can post them.  Until then, just pretend.

Random Playtime

We had 3 weeks with out dad, sadly he had to go back to NC for a time before he could take a long vacation to spend with us before leaving for Korea.  But in the meantime Ethan had an ear infection that lasted 3 weeks and took two different antibiotics to clear up.  So we had a few pictures where we were felling good enough to play so here they are....

 

    

 

Patriotism at it's best.

So we were Home just in time for the 4th of July!  What better way to celebrate than a small town parade.

   

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We sat with Aunt Mandy and Uncle Jared, our cousins Megan Jacob Travis Chloe and Heath and their Grandma and Grandpa Barton

Hitting the road once again...

So as many of you know Kevin is headed toward Korea so I am taking the boys and moving back to Texas to live with Mom and be near family.  I have no desire to be by myself on this one.  I'm not working and the boys aren't in school , so there is nothing commiting us to stay in North Carolina.  Here are some highlights of the move.  It appears that I neglected to get pictures of us loading the truck and how be filled it to the last inch.  I also negelcted to get a picture of the house the boys 1st lived in.  We were in such a hury to get out on time (actually a little early) we just plumb forgot.

Ethan got to ride in the moving truck with Dad.  He was so excited to be able to sit in the front and see EVERTHING!  He had a blast.

We made a last minuite detore to Aunt Karen's and Uncle Bill's house in FL.  We are only 6 hours from NC so instead of a hotel in NC then leaving the next AM to head back to TX, we were invited to come and visit so they could meet the boys.  We got out of housing early and headed south.  We made it 30 miles to Savannah and the moving truck blew a tire.  long story short we ended up spending the night in where ever we were in SC because roadside assistance did not get to the truck until midnight.  Good thing we had the GPS it found us a gas station 1 mile from where we blew the tire to drive to safely and then found us a hotel for the night only 5 miles from ther.  So up early the next morning drove the 2 1/2 hours to the Barnes had a late breakfast with them and hit the road with full bellies and a coo;er of treats for the road. Thak you Aunt Karen and Uncle Bill, too bad it was only a two hour visit

 

So the next stop was in Mississippi for the night.  We stoped at a local BBQ place for dinner (can't you tell Blayne looks thrilled?)

The the best sight ever!  The TEXAS BORDER!  We mad it.  This means we only had about 5 hours until we reached home!!!