The Morrises

2011

2011-12-31T16:06:00.002-06:00

Isaiah 40:31
Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.

It seems as though I spent a lot of my time in 2011 praying and learning to patiently wait on the Lord to hear my prayers. As the year came to a close, and the holidays arrived I had a very difficult time understanding why my prayers have not yet been answered. Today, as I reflect back on this year, I can see that the Lord has abundantly blessed me, and if He never gives me another single thing, He has done enough.

I chose 16 pictures to represent the best of 2011.
1. Celebrating Auburn's National Championship
2. Rejoicing in the promise of an eternal life with my love on a beautiful Easter Sunday.
3. Packing my car to go to the beach, and finding Reese in my trunk...he wanted to go so bad!
4. A GORGEOUS May day on the beach with my family. I'm quite certain that this is the view I will see when I look out the back window of my mansion in heaven:)
5. The twins graduated from preschool with an adorable and highly entertaining program.
6. Celebrating Memama's 80th Birthday with the entire Wiggins Family. We love her soooo much!
7. Reese FINALLY made it to the beach! He loved it!
8. Our sweet Josie joined the family!
9. I love spending my birthday weekend in Auburn! I turned 31 this year. .....how did that happen?
10. Pumpkin Carving Party with our boys and Josie!
11. Iron Bowl Party - Aren't these kids adorable? War Eagle!
12. Josie was once small enough to fit inside of a pumpkin!
13. Having an early Christmas with Brother, who always surprises us with the most thoughtful and creative gifts:)
14. Spending time Christmas shopping with my Davey:)
15. 2011- the year I got addicted to Pinterest.....this photo is from my first Pinterest Party.
16. Christmas 2011- Us with Riley Ann-I just thought this was a cute picture!

10 Things on Thursday

2011-09-01T16:38:00.002-05:00

1. I hope I can come up with 10 things today.
2. The orange and blue is up and ready at our house.
3. I have a young little intern who makes me feel so old. She says things like "Yes ma'am" to me.
4. I get so discouraged by parents who get an attitude with us because they think their child has too much homework. I promise these kids don't have anything near the amount of homework we had growing up. ( maybe I am sounding old now:) I love my students and I take the responsibility of educating them very seriously.
5. I so love walking around campus and seeing the twins at school, or hearing their sweet little voices call my name when I'm in the lunchroom. I try terribly hard not to pick them up and kiss them all over every time, but that is hard to resist.
6. I'm still low carb, but may cheat a little this weekend!
7. I've been burning the fall candles for 2 weeks now.
8. Dave and I look forward to watching "How I Met Your Mother" every night before we go to sleep.
9. I've got an extra long weekend coming up!
10. I am on the way to Blue Mountain Beach tonight!

1O Things on Thursday

2011-08-25T18:19:00.002-05:00

Even though it won't be cool enough for a while, I'm so disgusted that my new fall boots that I ordered 2 weeks ago still have not been delivered!
I am terribly excited about Friday night football in Straughn exactly 24 hours from now.
I love relaxing afternoons on Robin Road.
I have a great class this year. BIG class, but well behaved and precious.
Thank goodness for interns!! Grading 110 Math Tests today would have been impossible without her!!
I dislike the fact that starting back to school puts a kink in the amount of time I get to spend with Dave now. I miss our lunch dates the most!
I also miss my fading by the day tan.
I've been low carb for a month and a half, and still walking most nights.
I've lost 17 pounds!!!
I've deleted my Facebook page one week ago, and feel so fabulously FREE!!! It was not good for me, and I spend my time so much more wisely now:)

DONE!

2011-01-17T15:00:00.004-06:00

I earned this sweet thing back in July, and life has been much nicer since. I've thoroughly enjoyed the extra time, and money that have come with it. It was definitely a long, hard road, and I'm thankful to Dave for being so patient and understanding. He had to listen to lots of crying and complaining, and had to eat out several nights a week.

I started the whole grad school thing with the mindset that I would settle for whatever grades I made as long as I passed. After I made A's in my first 2 classes, I really pushed myself to keep up my GPA. I had to give up lots of time that I would have much rather spent with my family to read, study, and write paper after paper. The Counseling Program is HARD, and I was in utter disbelief upon graduation time when I found out that graduate students are not even recognized for honors!?! So, just so someone knows, I did graduate with a 4.0! Thank goodness I am done with Troy!!

One Year Ago Today

2010-06-04T06:51:00.006-05:00

God answered the prayers of our family and friends. In honor of Dylon's one year anniversary of having a healthy heart, I've compiled all of my blog posts from the day of his surgery to the day he came home.

June 4th: 6:15 AM Just received this photo and text from Griffin:

Dylon's now in surgery and I believe he is quite excited :)

Dylon just had to talk to his Houston this morning. I can't wait to see these two reunited again! You should have seen the hug and kiss Houston gave him before he left. It was the sweetest, most sincere good-bye I've ever witnessed. I think he understands more about what his twin is going through than we thought he would.

Still praying here at home, and expecting an update from the surgeon soon. It's been about 2 hours, and could possibly take 10 more. All of the support this morning from all over the world has been amazing. Dylon's name and picture is all over Facebook right now.

June 4th: 3:53 PM
SURGERY WAS A SUCCESSS!!!! PRAISE GOD!!! I will do a bigger update later! WE LOVE YA'll!

How We Spent Dylon's Surgery Day:

We picked up Houston and Laeton just before lunchtime. They'd had a great time at Wade and Suzanne's. We got home just in time for Houston and Dave to eat lunch together. They talked about Dylon some. Houston knew that Dylon was getting his heart fixed today.

Laeton saw his trains, and eating was out of the question.

We all wore our I Love Dylon shirts today.

Ms. Amy came over and brought the boys some snacks, some coloring books, sidewalk chalk, and toy trucks. They loved them. Thank you Ms. Amy. That was soooo sweet of you!!

Once the surgery was over, we had a wonderful video chat with our family members in Texas!! We were all crying tears of joy together.

Houston chatting with Daddy. The first thing he said when he saw Matt and Shelli was , "I want to talk to my Dylon!" We had to explain to him that Dylon was still sleeping. Maybe when Dylon comes out of ICU the two of them will be able to have a video chat.

At lunchtime, Dave promised to take Houston to Wal-Mart that night, and he did not forget it. As soon as Dave came in the door, he was ready to go!! Dave bought Lae Lae some more train tracks.

Justin, Anna, and Josh helping Laeton set up his new track. I think Justin and Josh love those trains as much as the boys do!

HouBaby picked out a Bumblebee Transformer, and Dave couldn't have been happier about it.

Lae Lae woke up early this morning wanting his trains. Mother said she heard him talking in his sleep last night. He kept saying, 'I need batteries!"

Houston is still asleep, and you can tell he does not sleep alone.

We are still thanking God for all of his blessings, and praying Dylon through a speedy recovery.

June 13th: Nine days after undergoing open-heart surgery he came home!!

I have no words to describe the love and joy this day has brought us. I'm so thankful to have been able to witness this..........

Grand Slam School Day 2010

2010-05-10T20:10:00.011-05:00

This day is one of the highlights of my school year:) I LOVE baseball, and if you have never been to a Montgomery Biscuits game, you are really missing out. Every year they host a Grand Slam School Day, and SES always takes the top 100 readers in the school.

This year 8 of my kids made enough A.R. points to qualify. They all had to have more than 72 points, and one of my girls has the highest number of points in the school at almost 600!!

Here we are excited and ready to go!

This is the view of the stadium from the lawn seating where our kids sat.

The Biscuits provided some of the teachers to a free lunch in the manager's box.

I felt a little bad sitting in the AC while my kiddos were sweating in the 95 degree heat:)

After my luxurious lunch, I got invited to sit with the "Biscuit Bunch" and the media by one of our students that had a press pass for the day. These seats were absolutely amazing! I actually got to sit down and watch the game. I normally escort kids back and forth to the concession stands and restrooms during our trips. We felt so important sitting here:)

As you can see, we were basically right by the Biscuits' dugout.

And we had the best view in the house, when the Biscuits' stole home in the
bottom of the 9th to win the game.

Thanks for inviting me to sit with you C!

Hobbies

2010-04-23T15:52:00.010-05:00

Dave's favorite hobby is of course turkey hunting. Unfortunately for him, he only gets to enjoy it for 2 months out of the year. He did get to go to Tennessee the weekend after Easter, but didn't kill anything while there:( He said the long-beards were all "henned up". I am pretty sure he is planning to go back again soon.

He did kill one last week. Here he is with the jellyhead. Dave has been telling Houston that a dead turkey is called a jellyhead. Now jellyhead is one of Houbaby's favorite words.

I have finally found the time for some hobbies of my own. I am happy to say that graduate school is winding down. I will take my finals next week, and then I will have the entire month of May off. This summer I will do my second internship at the high school, and since I PASSED both the PRAXIS Test and COMPS, I will graduate on July 23!!

My newest addiction is sewing. I love my new machine, and can't wait to have more free time to practice on it. Over spring break, Shelli got me into appliqueing, and mother gave me some sewing lessons. Here are a few of the things I've done so far.

An outfit for Kyleigh

I bought this dress at Wal-Mart and appliqued it for Blakeley.

I also appliqued a "Reese" onesie for Avery.

It's going to be a stormy weekend with a possibility of severe weather. I can't wait to stay home all day and sew. Maybe my turkey hunter will be here in the dry, safe house too!

St. Patrick's Day-Easter

2010-04-06T16:46:00.014-05:00

My class tonight was canceled, so I have decided to devote some time to get this blog somewhat up-to-date.

First of all, it is turkey season at our house, and that is a very important thing to my husband. These days he can either be found at work, in the woods, or asleep on the couch because because he's been, or should I say WE'VE been up since 4:00am.

On St. Patrick's Day, Josh and Dave got a real-life lucky charm which helped them to kill these two turkeys. Here's Josh with the turkeys and the new lucky charm, Avery Bryant Till.

Sweet Avery is such a good baby! You can read more about him on Anna's blog.

Dave recently had a birthday too! I can't say that he looks his age, but I can definitely look at photos of myself pre-graduate school, and now and see a BIG difference!

Avery and his parents stopped by to wish Dave a happy birthday. He has been to our house several times, and has slept through every trip!

EASTER 2010

I stole this picture of the boys from Shelli's Facebook. I was not able to catch the three of them together in a good picture on Sunday, and they were just as cute then as they are in this photo!

The Rodgers Family

Kyleigh has such a funny personality for a 10 month old. She is so growny. Her attitude and the looks she will give you are something else!

The egg hunters

In this photo it looks like Laeton Reid feels outcasted by Kyleigh! He does get jealous of her, but he also LOVES her too.

Aunt Christy wanted a photo of all of the Clark family, but this is the best we could do. My husband, Uncle Roland, and Justin were MIA at the time.

Here we are on our front porch before church Easter Sunday. I had set up the camera and tripod, and Dave was less than pleased when he stepped out the door and saw it. You can tell by the look on his face here:) Truthfully, he was in a bad mood all weekend because he was missing the opening weekend of turkey season in Tennessee. I don't know who in the world decides on the hunting seasons (obviously not a woman), but they should know better than to schedule it to open on a holiday! Or on my anniversary or birthday:)

SPRING BREAK BEGINS IN 3 DAYS!!! The students and teachers here need/deserve a break, and we are hoping this beautiful weather (minus the pollen) continues!

Baby Shower for Josh & Anna

2010-02-14T22:31:00.010-06:00

Saturday night Dave and I hosted a baby shower for Josh and Anna. (No,we are not having a baby boy---Stick a blue balloon on your mailbox in this neighborhood, and all kinds of rumors get started!) Avery's due date is March 17th. Soon we will have a sixth March birthday to celebrate in our family. We had lots of fun, and once again got a lot of little jobs done around here that would not have been accomplished otherwise. I finally found the time to pull out my sewing machine, and turn my snow day into a sew day on Friday. I have been wanting to make cafe curtains for the breakfast room for months now, but have been too busy or too sick. Dave wasn't crazy about my idea. I don't think he fully understood what I meant by cafe curtains, but once I got them up, he approved. I bought the rings with clips on them, so I can make curtains and change them out seasonally. I'm already dreaming about some navy and white nautical fabric for summer, and orange for Auburn football/autumn. I love my new machine. I can't wait to make some outfits for Avery and Kyleigh. Hopefully it won't have to snow again for me to find the time!

Then Sings My Soul

2010-02-13T00:52:00.028-06:00

February 12, 2010
Snow in Alabama!!

There is no doubt that nature is His greatest masterpiece.
Thank you God for giving us such a beautiful creation to enjoy.
How Great You Are!!

I have noticed a pattern. Every time Dave and I plan a party at our house, the weather becomes quite unusual. This time, however, no complaints at all!! I was so happy to have a snow day. My biggest excitement was to get a picture of our new house covered in the white stuff. I've been dreaming of doing that since before we started building. I didn't think it would happen so soon after moving in!!!

We woke up at 6:00 am on Friday morning to rain/sleet. I was SO DISAPPOINTED! I was just about to go back to sleep, when I look out the back windows and saw

SNOW!!!

I turned on the logs and enjoyed the view all morning.

My view from the couch.

Look at those big snowflakes!!

By afternoon, the snow had stopped, and everyone in the neighborhood was ready to
PLAY, PLAY, PLAY!!

Dave rolled the snow up like carpet. He didn't know what he was going to do with it.

This might end up on our Christmas Card this year!!
I'm sooooo thrilled to have a photo like this!

John built an igloo.

Dave decided to turn his snow into a chair. Here's Tamara modeling on it.

He rolled up another and made an ottoman.

Group shot around the igloo.

"Eskimo Kiss"

What a wonderful day! We are worn out, but trying to get things ready for a baby shower here tomorrow night for Josh and Anna. I didn't spend my whole day playing. I had a snow day/sew day too. I'll post pics of what I made and baby shower photos SOON!!

The Best Christmas Ever!

2009-12-31T14:28:00.061-06:00

I chose to title my post this because my fourth graders read "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" by Barbara Robinson the week after Thanksgiving. It is such a cute story, and one that I loved sharing with my 9 and 10 year-olds. It really put us all in the true Christmas Spirit. It is a story about the Herdman children, the worst kids in the entire town, who show up at church and take over the main roles in the Christmas pageant. The whole congregation goes into an uproar because these dirty, clueless children are portraying the Holy Family. In photos, Mary is always depicted as perfect and pristine, when she had just given birth to a child....in a barn. On this Christmas Eve, as we were singing Silent Night in the candle-lit church, I thought about Mary and Joseph, and how they really must have felt that night.

I thought about one of the lines from the book, "Now, whenever I think of the Christmas story, Mary is always going to look a lot like Imogene Herdman—sort of nervous and bewildered, but ready to clobber anyone who lays a hand on her baby."

I think I will also picture Mary this way from now on. I'm sure she and Joseph were feeling like all of us do when embarking on something new........scared to death and uncertain about their future, but putting all of their trust in God, and knowing that He would provide for them. Dave and I had to make a lot of big scary decisions this year. They were stressful, and at times Dave thought he might just

pull his hair out, but thankfully he didn't. (There might be a few more gray hairs though:) We are so thankful for all of the blessings we received in 2009, and will never forget our first year of marriage. We will continue to trust in the Lord in 2010, and cannot wait to see what he has in store for us.

************************************************************************************

I cannot believe that both Christmas and the year are over! Is life truly going to fly by this fast from now on? I hope that wedding planning, graduate school, and house building have been the culprits to blame for this blur of a first year of marriage. I'll let you all know next Christmas if that was the case. I plan to graduate in July, and the house is well......you can see for yourself!

On Christmas Eve, we recieved the surprise of a lifetime! It is seriously going to be one of those memories that is burned into my brain forever! I had been begging and pleading with John to come home for Christmas for months now! He was being so stubborn about it too, and I had honestly gotten so upset with him, that I did not even get him a Christmas present this year:)
We have not all been home for Christmas together in 4 years due to his travels and Justin's deployment. We have been told that Justin will be going to Afghanistan sometime next year. That means he could possibly miss 2 Christmases, so I was desperate to get all of mama's boys home this year.
On Christmas Eve, all of the Smith side of the family gathers at my parents house after the Candlelight Communion Service at church. We were sitting around waiting on everyone to arrive when Griffin came in wearing a white Panama Jack hat (should have been my clue). He is a real character to say the least, but we could not believe the performance he was putting on....singing Christmas carols like he was on a Bob Hope Christmas special, dancing and twirling Hunny around.........we all thought he was very drunk. Everyone was standing around the living room with our mouths and eyes wide open taking it all in. It was crazy!
The next thing I know, Griff is saying, "Do I hear someone knock-knocking on the door? Oh, I just love it when friends and family pop in during the holidays." At this point, everything in my memory is in slow-motion. I look at Dave and he has this clueless expression on his face. I start walking to the front door, Griff opens it, mother screams, I see 2 shadows on the front porch, I start running to the door, I get there in time to get caught up in the biggest group hug ever with these two

A Christmas Miracle!!!

Let the Christmas festivities begin!

Kyleigh's first Christmas- She LOVED it!!!

Matt's Family

The Smiths

The Clark Children

After a fun evening with the family, Dave and I were thrilled to get to go and spend Christmas Eve in our new house!

My Nativity is my favorite Christmas decoration of all!

All of our Christmas Cards are on display in the foyer.

Our tree in the dining room

Our ornament the year we were engaged.

The year we were married.

This year's ornament.

My new collection!
I hope I can get all of the verses of the Christmas story.

The tree in our bedroom.

This was taken at midnight on Christmas morning.
We set the timer and put the camera on our television cabinet.
(Dave was already asleep, but I woke him up)

Here we are on Christmas morning about to exchange gifts with one another.
I just love our first Christmas tree. I'm scared to take it down because I'm afraid we will never get another this pretty. It is a Frasier Fir from Howell's Nursery. It smells wonderful and still looks great after an entire month! We will definitely get one again next year.

My favorites!

I kept complaining that my other iPod was too heavy to workout with....
and Santa was listening!

Dave got his wish too!

After a quick shower, it was off to Carolina for Christmas with Dave's mom and grandparents.

Chad and Dave

Chad, Ms. Amy, Dave, Memama, and DeDaddy

I missed getting a photo of all of the stockings. Some of them had already come down, but there were 32 this year. Next year there will be 34 (at least).

Next we were off again to have Christmas with my parents and brothers.

The big box, was my new sewing machine! I'm so excited!

Next we had lunch with the rest of the Clarks. We set up the tripod and camera timer for some of these photos.

Merry CHRISTmas and Happy New Year!

Believe it or not, I do not have photos of EVERY Christmas gathering we attended. Maybe some of the other family members will have posts about the Wiggins and Morris Christmases.

Breaking it in

2009-10-06T15:44:00.010-05:00

Saturday night we had our first party in the new house. While parts of it are not complete, and much work is still to be done, it is beginning to look and feel more and more like home. I imagine it will take us another year to finish every detail on the inside, then we will have to tackle the landscaping....Yikes!

We had some of our family members over to watch the Auburn Tennessee game, and we had a great time! Shelli, my cousin and personal decorator, worked on this AU tree all day. I think it is soooo adorable! I love the helmet tree topper, and the white "toilet paper".

Jack was more than ready to eat some yummy food! Isn't he adorable?
What a cute group of AU fans! Dylon has been switching back and forth from AU to UA fan. Poor guy is confused. By the end of the night he was screaming War Eagle!!

The boys fell in love with all of the "gurls" that came over to play with them.

They also showed us how much they LOVE boiled peanuts.

Jack is such a happy baby! He is always so pleasant.

View from the kitchen to the living room.

We had such a fun night entertaining in our own house. We can't wait to do it again soon! We will most definitely have to plan something for the Iron Bowl. Dave and I are excited about going to both the Kentucky and Ole Miss games this month. We love our family and our tigers.

WAR EAGLE and good night!

Good Morning Fall

2009-10-01T09:37:00.002-05:00

Photo from Whatever

Life is good here at the Morris home. It has certainly been busy. Lots of memories are being made every day. The lovely fall weather here in south Alabama has rejuvenated my blogging spirit. Hope to be back soon with some photos of our new home.

Wedding Day Photo Shoot

2009-06-30T10:02:00.046-05:00

Is it crazy for me to think that this was possibly the most fun I had on my wedding day?? I LOVE getting my picture made, but I did not expect it to be this much of a blast. Our photographer was phenomenal, the warm sun was shining, and all of my friends and loved ones were in the same place at the same time- I imagine heaven to be a lot like that day in that pasture:)

Alyson took most of the candids for us with our camera. She did such a great job.Since we took our photos before the ceremony, Dave and I had a private shoot with Amy first.

Then our family and wedding party joined us.

Amy Nichols Photography

Bama Jam

2009-06-25T09:31:00.011-05:00

Last year we started a tradition of going to Bama Jam with our great friends J.W. and Marrianne.

Aren't they cute?

We saw Gary Allen,

Brooks and Dunn,

Dave ate a polish sausage dog,

I got him to smile for a picture, and

heard Kelly Pickler sing a duet with...

KID ROCK

who I really wasn't sure about, but his concert was amazing. He is a great entertainer. We almost didn't go this year because we have so much house work we need to be doing, but I'm glad we took a break for something FUN!

I also ran into an old friend that I hadn't seen since we graduated from Troy. It was great to see you Hope!

Reunited and it Feels So Good

2009-06-13T15:27:00.025-05:00

I have no words to describe the love and joy this day has brought us. I'm so thankful to have been able to witness this..........

Friday

2009-06-05T23:54:00.016-05:00

The family in Texas was surprised to hear that the weather here has been less than pleasant for the past two days. We've been cooped up indoors most of the time. Houston is fascinated with video games, and he's pretty good at them too. Here he is playing the Wii this morning.

This afternoon, Mr. Sunshine appeared and we finally got to go out and play!

Laeton had just woken up from a nap, and only wanted to sit in VicVic's lap at first.

Then Houston drove over on the Gravedigger and said, "Hey baby! Want to ride?" Suprisingly he said yeah and got in.

60 plus acres of yard, and they only wanted to ride through this mud puddle!

We were surprised Lae Lae wanted to ride. His last time on Gravedigger was Easter Sunday. He had an unfortunate accident that day. He fell out of the truck, got drug a little while, and then run over by Houston. He hasn't wanted to ride since then. We're glad he's enjoying it again. I'm pretty sure Gravedigger was his first compound word.

HouBaby!

Thinking about it....

Going for it.....

This is FUN!!!

Baby Brother had to try it too.

And it didn't take him long to do this

They actually got MUCH DIRTIER than these photos show. I have that documented on video for Dylon

Sweet Kyleigh came to see us tonight. Houston cannot keep his hands off of her. He kissed her all over. Laeton even paid her more attention tonight than he normally does.

Dylon, Houston misses you sooo much! He talks about you all day long.

He's lost without his constant companion, and his Mimi and Dave are spoiling him rotten. Last night Dave bought him a Bumblebee Transformer which he slept with, and played with all day today. He kept telling me he needed a bad guy Transformer too. Tonight he and I went out all by ourselves to Wal-Mart and Burger King. He was such a good, sweet boy!!

Here he is showing off his Megatron and Bumblebee.

"Lae Lae, you be the bad guy, and I'll be the good guy."

I had sooo much fun with you tonight Houston!

How we spent surgery day

2009-06-05T07:15:00.016-05:00

Laeton saw his trains, and eating was out of the question.

We all wore our I Love Dylon shirts today.

Ms. Amy came over and brought the boys some snacks, some colorig books, sidewalk chalk, and toy trucks. They loved them. Thank you Ms. Amy. That was soooo sweet of you!!

Once the surgery was over, we had a wonderful video chat with our family members in Texas!! We were all crying tears of joy together.

Houston chatting with Daddy. The first thing he said when he say Matt and Shelli was , "I want to talk to my Dylon!" We had to explain to him that Dylon was still sleeping. Maybe when Dylon comes out of ICU the two of them will be able to have a video chat.

At lunchtime, Dave promised to take Houston to Wal-Mart that night, and he did not forget it. As soon as Dave came in the door, he was ready to go!! Dave bought Lae Lae some more train tracks.

Lae Lae woke up early this morning wanting his trains. Mother said she heard him talking in his sleep last night. He kept saying, 'I need batteries!"

Houston is still asleep, and you can tell he does not sleep alone.

We are still thanking God for all of his blessings, and praying Dylon through a speedy recovery.

2009-06-04T15:53:00.001-05:00

SURGERY WAS A SUCCESSS!!!! PRAISE GOD!!! I will do a bigger update later! WE LOVE YA'll!

Latest News

2009-06-04T15:11:00.001-05:00

They have Reconstructed the aorta, and now they are working on attaching the subclavian artery to the aorta. He will then have an echo and depending on how that goes they will take him off bypass. Then its just seeing how he reacts to coming off bypass. After that he will be done with surgery and admitted to the I.C.U.We are in really good spirits right now, that was a really good update from his nurse.

Patiently Waiting

2009-06-04T13:02:00.002-05:00

Update from Shelli: Just got Dylon on Bypass five minutes ago, getting him on went very smoothly. Dr.Fraser is now studying the anatomy of everything. We will get another update around 2!

Mother and I have the boys at our house now. Their arrival has done wonders for our anxiety. It's nice to hear sounds of laughter and playing. This afternoon, Kellye and Kyleigh are coming to visit us too!! Wade and Suzanne took fabulous care of the boys and updated for Matt, Shelli, and Dylon every day. Maybe I will be able to do the same. Shelli and I are trying to schedule a video chat this afternoon so she and her boys can see and talk to one another.

Aunt Christy is still recovering. Her doctors say things are looking really good. I'll have more updates in about 2 hours!

First Update from Surgeon

2009-06-04T10:19:00.001-05:00

just got 2 hr update..Dylon is doing good. They got all of his lines in and are starting him on bypass! We will recieve another update in 2hours. it should be more about the repair. Everything is on time so far! Thank you all for the prayers We love ya'll...these next 8 hours are so crucial for him please keep praying!

First Update from Surgeon

2009-06-04T10:19:00.000-05:00

2009-06-04T09:44:00.002-05:00

If you want to see something precious, go read Suzanne's new post! It made me cry like a baby Suzanne!

2009-06-04T06:12:00.002-05:00

Aunt Christy's surgery went well yesterday. She had a mastectomy and reconstruction a the same time so it was a very long operation. Praise God no traces of cancer were found in any of her lymphnodes. Her recovery should take about 6 weeks, but knowing Christy, I'm sure she'll be back to running around sooner than that. She's young, only 10 years older than me, strong, and has more faith than anyone I know. She also got some great news this week. Her job as music teacher at Morningview Elementary did not get cut. Every non-tenured teacher in Montgomery got pink-slipped, so on top of the whole cancer issue, she's also had to deal with the worries of being unemployed next year. We're all thankful that
she can rest and recover for the rest of her summer vacation!

Griffin just gave a Facebook update from his iPhone that they'll be taking Dylon back in 15 minutes. We should be getting Houston and Laeton Reid today. I'm looking forward to having them here! It will help to keep us busy during the LONG day ahead.

We're Still Alive

2009-06-02T10:34:00.004-05:00

If that's what you call this state of complete exhaustion!

I have nothing cute to post..not even a photo of our precious new baby girl Kyleigh. Just a short, boring list of what we've been up to:

We've

Worked on wiring the house.
Killed a turkey in Alabama.
Killed two turkeys in Tennessee.
Took 100 students to a Montgomery Biscuits game.
Tried to talk Dave into taking a break from working on the house to go with me to a Biscuits game without 100 kids so I could actually sit down and watch.
Watched the rain wash away lots of dirt from our yard.
Started going to a personal trainer twice a week.
Worked on the house some more.
Emceed the CCS Math Tournament...my kiddos won first and third place trophies!!
Directed the school play-Charlotte's Web.
Celebrated 6 months of marriage by working at the house.
Welcomed a new and precious baby girl into the family.
Finish my 5th year of teaching.
Started summer graduate classes.
Had a video chat with John somewhere in the Caribbean.
Worked on the house.
Looked at furniture.
Bought a kitchen table.
Paid for our Auburn tickets.
Watched a good movie.
Prayed for Bentley.
Worked on the house.
Watched some baseball.
Had a scare with Dylon.
Told Dylon good-bye.
Welcomed Dylon back home with a family cookout.
Told Dylon good-bye a second time.
Ran a last minute errand for Shelli before departure and told Dylon good-bye a third and final time.
Played with the boys.
Sent the boys to Suzanne's.
Worked on the house.
Prayed for Christy whose surgery is tomorrow!
Prayed for Dylon whose surgery is Thursday.

Gotta run..Dave's taking off work at lunch time today so we can try to finish the wiring. Insulation guys are coming this week!!!

Yard Sale Tomorrow

2009-05-08T22:45:00.010-05:00

Here are a few of my favorite items:

BIG WEEK

2009-05-03T00:06:00.003-05:00

Dylon's Yard Sale is one week away, and if you live in the Covington County area, you DO NOT want to miss it. I know that Shelli has had some amazing donations, and has well over 2 storage buildings full of items.

It will be a busy week. Here's the info:

Date: May 9th

Location: Andalusia Farmer's Market

South Cotton St. next to Historical Museum

Time: 7:00 am Until

Our community is also having a Spaghetti Plate Supper on Thursday night (May 7th). Plates are $5 each and may be picked up at Southside Baptist Church or Johnson Park on Thursday afternoon from 4:30pm-8:00pm. If you'd like to buy tickets email me at:

mandi.clark@yahoo.com

Why We Need Art in Public Schools

2009-05-02T22:59:00.002-05:00

I'm on a roll with the You Tube videos today. Dave and I love You Tube. Did you know you can watch almost any movie, tv show, commercial, etc. on there? We lie in bed at night with our laptops and watch all sorts of stuff, usually things that make us laugh so hard we can barely go to sleep. Right now our favorite is a Kenny Rogers skit from Madd TV.

The video below gives me chills. I so wish that our school system had the $$$$ to provide more art education to our students. I'm thrilled to see the month of May finally arrive, because this is the time of year that we get to expose our students to painting, drawing, chorus, music, dance, photography, and drama. Our hallways at school will be transformed into art galleries. Local artists, musicians, and photograhers will come into our classrooms and become the teachers. We'll culminate the entire festival with Parent Night where all of our students will show off their talents.

This is PS22 from New York City. They have lots of videos on You Tube, but this one is my favorite. I love the expressions on their faces. I love it when you're working with children, and you can tell that they love what you're teaching them as much as you do. That doesn't happen often, but it's an awesome feeling when it does.

You'll need to scroll to the bottom of the page and pause my music player to hear this.

Tara and Bella

2009-05-02T18:39:00.002-05:00

I took my finals last week, and somehow managed to get A's in all of my classes. It was a LONG semester, and now I have a short break before summer classes begin. If there's one thing I learned this semester, it came from this video we watched in my diversity class. AMAZING!!!

This precious little guy

2009-04-29T22:32:00.002-05:00

and his little brothers spent Monday afternoon with us while Shelli organzied yardsale items. I took the three of them to the new house for a little while. They love to run up and down the stairs and play in our big backyard. Dylon took a break from playing to run over to me and say,

"Mimi, I love your new house.....I think it's beautiful."

Then he ran off to play some more, and I cried because I love him and he is so beautiful.

Kelly's Corner & Interview with the Twins

2009-04-13T14:05:00.011-05:00

This morning Kelly, from Kelly's Corner, mentioned Shelli's blog in her post! How exciting is that?! Kelly's blog is quite famous for her prayer requests and praises. I'm so glad that the Lord led her to lift up Dylon today.

This morning I asked Dylon and Houston a few questions about some of their favorite things.

What is your favorite toy to play with?

Houston: "A dog toy."

Dylon: "A monster truck."

What is your favorite drink?

Houston: "I love tea."

Dylon: "I love milk."

What is your favorite food?

Houston and Dylon: "Pizza!"

What is your favorite color?

Houston: "Green."

Dylon: "Red."

What is your favorite movie?

Houston and Dylon: "Thomas the Tank Engine."

Who is your best friend?

Houston: "Dylon is my best friend."

Dylon: "Ummm, Laeton Reid is my best friend."

Then Houston changed his best friend to a boy named Xander, and the interview was pretty much over.

The Coolest People I know

2009-04-05T12:23:00.005-05:00

Today my brother John and his better half Alyson are coming for a visit. They are really neat people. I wish I were as creative, spontaneous, and brave as they are. They've left their home in Lincoln, Nebraska, sold most of their belongings, quit their jobs, saved lots of money, and are setting out to see the world. They should arrive sometime tonight and will be here for about 2 weeks before they fly out to their first destination, Trinidad and Tobago. Alyson's parents own a sailboat there.

I should visit them!

They plan to spend a few months sailing, which is a passion of theirs. Sounds nice, except I get seasick just laying on a float at the beach. They don't know where they will go next. Perhaps another country, or maybe they'll return to the states. We're hoping this time they'll be closer than Nebraska.

I'm so looking forward to spending time with them, and laughing until I cry. My brother is the only person on earth who can always make me laugh no matter what.

They have a blog at : http://www.hopandjaunt.com/

John and Aly,
I will be praying for you on this journey.
I hope you have an amazing adventure.
I hope you learn a lot about yourself and each other.
I hope you make wonderful once in a lifetime memories.
I hope you think about getting your sister a souvenir:)!
I hope you remember to take lots of pictures.
I hope you remember to blog often.
I hope you remember to call home or email so mom doesn't have a stroke.
I hope you remember how much we all love y'all!
Have fun!!

A man travels the world over in search of what he needs
and returns home to find it.
~George Moore

April Showers

2009-04-02T12:58:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone is staying safe in this terrible weather. I'm beginning to feel like I live in Forks. (Twilight reference for those of you who haven't read them). They were great books! Last night I started The Shack. Has anyone read it?

I want to share a couple of blogs of folks I'm praying for.

The first blog belongs to Brittany Mikel Daniel. She's from Andalusia, and we actually went to preschool together. She now lives in Montgomery. She went in to premature labor while on a business trip to Washington, D.C. Now she is there until her baby boy is born. Her husband has joined her, but their young son is staying in AL with family. Please pray for them!
http://beauandbrittanydaniel.blogspot.com/

Do any of you read Darby or Erika's blogs They're twin sisters, and both of them have great blogs! This morning Erika's husband experienced a head injury, and they are in need of prayers. You can read more about the situation on Darby's blog.
http://flythroughmywindow.blogspot.com/

Check out Erika's blog too. She is a great designer. I've gotten lots of ideas for the house from her site.
http://urbangraceinteriors.typepad.com/the_blog/

Everyone stay safe!!

Dylon's Yard Sale

2009-03-30T19:57:00.002-05:00

Last May we found out that my 3 year-old cousin, Dylon, has three congenital heart defects. He will be having open-heart surgery this summer in Houston, Texas. We know that he will be there for at least 3 weeks, maybe longer. His parents Matt and Shelli will of course be with him, which means Matt will not be able to work for that long. Shelli has planned a yard sale to raise money for this trip. You can read more about it on her blog.

She's had a great response from our community so far and some great items have been donated. Also, she and Dylon should be on the radio and television here in Andalusia this week.

Please keep Dylon, his parents, and his doctors in your prayers!!!

My Birthday Boy

2009-03-24T00:01:00.000-05:00

Don't be sad because you're another year older!*

That's much better!

I wish we were here today....away from all of our stressful decisions**, my never ending research papers, and your eluding turkey.

*He's really frowning because we were leaving our honeymoon, not because he's 32 today!

**We're having a hard time commiting to faucets.

Where Da Gold At?

2009-03-17T00:01:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone remembers to wear green today! In honor of St. Patrick's Day I insist that everyone watch this video. If you've already seen it, then it's worth watching again. This is a real news story from Mobile, AL!

That always makes me laugh till I cry. I love the artist's sketch of the leprachaun.

I have tons of news to share, but little time to post. I did get a start on the house blog thanks to Aunt Christy.

Happy Birthday to Shelli today. She has a blog now so that she can keep everyone updated on Dylon. Add her to your friends list and leave her a birthday comment!

God in your mercy, hear our prayers

2009-02-18T22:13:00.004-06:00

I know all of our prayer lists are pretty full these days, but thankfully our list of blessings is always longer!! Two of my family members will be needing prayers of healing for tomorrow as will the family of one of my dear friend's on Friday.

My Aunt Christy has completed 4 rounds of chemo so far and has done great. She goes to Birmingham tomorrow for tests to see if the cancer has shrunk. She will also begin making plans to have surgery this summer. We are praying that the chemotherapy is doing its job, and that she will be cancer free very soon.
Dylon, Matt, and Shelli are once again in Houston, Texas for a check-up. We are praying
that everything goes well, that his heart is continuing to function efficiently, and that they will have a safe trip home.
Marrianne's father, Buddy, will be having surgery in Houston on Friday. He will have a very long and tough recovery following the surgery, in addition to chemo treatments. I'm praying for a healthy recovering for Buddy as well as patience, peace, and understanding for his caregivers (the entire Harper/DuBose family).
I'm also praying for Dave. He's stressed. Our house is getting wet....Very Wet! I guess some one else is needing the rain more right now than we don't need it. Hopefully tonight's rain will move on, and he can finish what he needs to do to the dirt. Once the dirt is packed on the front side of the house, David's crew can build the garage and finish drying in the house.

This is the back of the house. The left side of the basement will be a garage for Dave's boat, lawn mower, and hunting supplies. The right side will have a bathroom, bedroom, and game room that open up to a covered patio.

On the main floor, the part sticking out is our breakfast room. It has windows on all sides. To the right of the breakfast room is our coverd porch. There will be french doors from the living room and our bedroom(on the far right end) that open onto the porch.

Happy Birthday Chocolate Dog!

2009-02-16T21:13:00.010-06:00

Reese turned 3 today. We took him to the new house and let him run around and explore his future home. He loves it there, and we can't wait to bring both of our dogs to live with us. We hope to get another litter of puppies by this time next year, and I can't wait!! We had so much fun with our first puppies.

Here are our puppies a couple of weeks after they were born. Fudge is on the left and he lives with the Nelson's at Camp Mac now. Lola, the only girl in the litter, lives in Montgomery with the Earnest family.

Reese and Lola

Dave and Fudge

At first, we picked the darker puppy as our own. We have tons of pictures of us with him. We learned our lesson when Graham Nelson picked that very puppy as his own. Dave thought I would cry all the way home that night, but I didn't. I knew we would love the other dog just as much. Now we can't imagine what we would do without him!

Happy Birthday Reesy!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T13:15:00.001-06:00

Our first Valentine's Day as a married couple has been the best one yet! In the past we've done lots of amazing things to celebrate, but today topped them all.

Our lives have been sooo busy lately. This morning we got up to take care of some business on the house. Dave had to haul some dirt into our front yard, and I went to a meeting with David and a potential cabinet maker. Then our neighbors, The Castleberry's, invited David's crew and us to have lunch in their beautiful new home.

All I asked Dave for this year was a copy of Twilight. It comes highly recommended from everyone I know who's read it. I'm 150 pages in since lunch, and so far it's pretty good.
So that's what has made my rainy Saturday so perfect. After lunch we came home, and we've laid around all afternoon napping and reading our books. We woke up around 7:30 PM, called in an order to David's Catfish, and went to pick up our dinner in our pajamas. It was delicious, as was all of the candy my students brought me yesterday. We're stuffed and sleepy.

Good Night!

Since Everyone Keeps Asking....

2009-02-08T19:16:00.004-06:00

what kind of house we are building, I thought I would try to answer some questions. I wish I could post a copy of the plans, but I don't have our exact blueprints downloaded on my computer. You can click here, and see one that is very similar to ours though. It's a craftsman style home, and one that took us a long time to decide on. One of the hardest aspects to picking the right plan, was the fact that this will be the only house we ever build. My grandma gave us the land, and we could never, ever sell it so it was important to us to pick a home that we could add on to or renovate easily in the future. Luckily, the slope of our lot is perfect for a basement. I had to give up part of my extra large laundry room to accommodate the staircase, but ended up gaining 2600 square feet of basement below! That was a compromise I could definitely live with. I did not however, anticipate just how high this would make my back deck become. You definitely don't want to be on it if you are afraid of heights!!

Our contractor, David Byrd, and his son Justin are wonderful! I can't sing enough praises about them. They are such hard workers, and have not taken a day off since they started. If you need a good contractor, let me know, and I'll put you in touch with David.

Today after church, we had lots of great help. David and Justin were there of course. Tamara and Erin picked up trash both inside and outside for us. Josh and Anna came by to help too. Then Mr. David and Ms. Carolyn stopped by and she swept the whole basement while Mr. David helped Dave. Thanks y'all!!

I'm attempting to create a house building blog. Mainly, Dave and I just want to document everything about the house for our own keepsake, but we'd also like to give credit to all of the wonderful individuals and businesses that have helped us out. Once I get it up and running, I'm turning it over to Dave to upkeep. Here's the link.

TGIF

2009-02-06T06:40:00.015-06:00

**I owe photo credits on the last post to Aunt Kathy. Thank You!

I'm feeling bad about my whining last night. Surprisingly, when I got to work this morning I received the news that we could raise our thermostats to 68! I am very thankful for my job, and the fact that I am a tenured teacher.

Also, thank you Lori, Wendy, and Aunt Kathy. I know it would be A LOT HARDER going to school if I had children. I witnessed that first hand when my mom was in school. Have I ever mentioned that my mother was a nurse for 15 years? She went back to college when we were in elementary school and became a teacher. She's a great inspiration to me. Yesterday was her birthday. Happy belated birthday mom!

Here's the birthday girl with the brothers.

Wendy, here's the fourth picture in my fourth folder.

It's part of a wreath I made for Britton's baby shower.

Here's what the rest looked like:

I wish I was crafty, and try to be sometimes. The wreath is not an original idea, but I did come up with the plan to cover my tacky, gold wreath holders with cute ribbon. I have made several cute wreath hangers. Now I just need to make wreaths to put on them!

Have a great weekend!!!

We Need A Break!

2009-02-05T20:48:00.004-06:00

First of all I have to complain.....Graduate School is HARD!!!! I have no time to do anything, but study or write papers. My poor husband and our laundry are constantly being neglected. I have no business blogging right now other than the fact that I think it will help to revive some of my sanity.

I am also COLD! Not so much at home, but at work. Due to proration, we are not allowed to turn our heat above 65 degrees. My classroom has felt like a meat locker the past few days. Brrr, I'm so ready for spring time to arrive!!

On a happier note, Dave has been building this pretty much on his own.......

Can you believe they just started the framing 2 weeks ago?

You Must Read This Blog!

2009-01-26T22:07:00.000-06:00

Happy Day

2009-01-22T21:50:00.005-06:00

Today was a pretty great day for two of my best friends! Britton and Todd welcomed their baby girl, Blakeley June, into the world early this morning. I'm so excited to have a little girl to spoil!!

Eddie and Ashley Powell are celebrating their four year anniversary today. My how time has flown by! We were having dinner with them and their sweet baby girl, Aubree Claire, last night when I realized that today is a big day for Dave and I as well.

We've been married for exactly two months today! Whoo Hoo!!

House For Sale

2009-01-21T21:58:00.002-06:00

Does anyone recognize this house? Without giving it away, I must say I am infatuated with them. I read their new book on my honeymoon, and highly recommend it!! (Yes, I read on my honeymoon, and when I finally get around to that post---you'll know why!)

Sweet Man of Mine

2009-01-17T21:10:00.017-06:00

My new blog friend Lori, tagged me to share some info about my husband. I've only met Lori once in person, but she's been a great blogging buddy, and I've enjoyed learning more about her and her precious family.

1.What is his name? Dave Morris, and I know he'd die if I posted his whole name on here. (He's convinced these things are started by identity thieves.)

2. Who eats more? We both eat too much, but he can eat more in one sitting.

3. Who said, "I love you" first? He told me one morning on the phone before school.

4. Who is taller? Dave is by 9 inches.

5. Who is more sensitive? He would say that I am more sensitive, and I would too!

6. Who does the laundry? I usually do all of our laundry, but he helps to fold it.

7. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? We change it up a lot. Normally the first one in the bed lays on the side closest to the TV. After two months of marriage, we don't have a side of our own. Is that odd???

8. Who pays the bills? He paid them this month.

9. Who cooks more? We haven't really cooked much yet, but I will when we move into our new house.

10. Who is more stubborn? Dave is definitely more stubborn, and he knows it!

11. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Neither of us likes to do that, but I will before him.

12. Who has more siblings? I do... I have 2 little brothers, he has 1.

13. Who wears the pants in the relationship? He does!

14. What do you like to do together? We like to do everything together. He likes to shop with me, and I like to hunt with him.

15. Who eats more sweets? Neither of us is really big on sweets.

16. Guilty Pleasures? Will Ferrell movies, Krispy Kreme, and Nachos and Irish Wakes from McGuire's.

17. How did you meet? Kristen Wiggins actually tried to set us up while I was interning at AES, but I told her I wasn't interested b/c I had a boyfriend at the time. A few weeks later, I met him through me best friend Britton. We got to know one another, and hit it off. About a month later my relationship with the other guy officially ended. Dave and I have been together ever since!

18. Who asked whom out first? He asked me to go to a cookout at his work.

19. Who kissed who first? He initiated that one.

20. Who proposed? He did and you can read all about it here.

21. His best features and qualities? Feature wise, I love his blue eyes, his thick hair, and his great sense of style. He's my best friend, another version of myself, and I know God created him just for me. I love how he listens to every word I say, even when I'm convinced that he's not. He's so thoughtful, compassionate, and caring.

22. Tag you’re it. Who do you tag? Anyone who wants to . I'd love to hear all of your stories!

The Wedding Day- Detail Shots

2009-01-13T17:57:00.010-06:00

Enjoy some detail shots from our wedding day. Thank you Alyson and Anna for being thoughtful enough to take these. They've turned out to be some of my favorites!!!

Thank You Anonymous Commenter!!!

2009-01-07T15:28:00.003-06:00

I posted about this a while back, and had officially given up hope! Today in my inbox, I recieved this comment, and it couldn't have made me happier. I nearly settled for another duvet in Crate & Barrel. I'm so glad I waited! Thank you anonymous!! I wish I knew who you were !!!!

I'll be placing my order tonight!

Aren't blogs great!?!

PS- Julie, has this exact same bedding!

Our Virtual Christmas

2009-01-04T23:09:00.003-06:00

My brother John who lives in Lincoln, Nebraska was able to join us on Christmas Day for a little while via the world wide web. We enjoyed our visit, and watching each other open presents. We always take a family photo on Christmas Day, so we gathered around the computer for one. John, we were so grateful to see you, but we hope you can actually be here next year!!

Can you tell..

2009-01-02T15:27:00.003-06:00

One of my resolutions was to be a better blogger? I have worked in Photoshop all day.
I wanted to give this photo a post all of its own. Dylon: "I think I'm about to throw up."

Houston: "Uh oooohhhh."

I hope you all have a great weekend. My husband (that still sounds strange) and I are headed to Pensacola tonight to eat at our favorite place, do some baby shower shopping, and see Marley and Me. Don't worry, we've read the book and we're taking plenty of tissues!

Did you figure out who got a ring for Christmas?

2009-01-01T20:05:00.006-06:00

Kevin and Kellye got engaged!! They haven't set a date yet, but they think it will be a short engagement. And I get to be a bridesmaid!!!

Congratulations guys!! We love you both!

In case you've never met my cousin Kellye, she was the purplest bridesmaid in my wedding. Can't you tell how frigidly cold it was that day just by looking at her?

4.0

2009-01-01T19:27:00.005-06:00

I came home yesterday to find this stuck to the refrigerator door. Can you tell my brother loves to rub it in?

In case you can't read it, it's Justin's grades for fall semester. He made the President's List at LBWCC. He's working on a drafting degree.

After Rehearsal Dinner

2009-01-01T19:00:00.008-06:00

Following the rehearsal everyone headed to one of our favorite local restaurants, The Hilltop, for a seafood buffet. Thank you Ms. Amy,
Mr. David and Carolyn for the delicious meal! We had at least 60 people in attendance for dinner. Afterwards everyone enjoyed a slide show full of pictures of Dave and I. We received the beautiful plant pictured below. I don't know what it's actual name is, so I've been calling it our "Love Plant" like the Love Fern on one of my favorite movies.

This guy deserves some special recognition. He did a heck of a lot of work prior to and especially on my wedding day. Matt drove golf carts, lit candles, and walked two little boys down the aisle. He probably did even more that I'm not aware of.....Thank you Matthew!! I love you like one of my own brothers!!

My sweet, sweet cousin Griffin. He's always had more hair than me, even when we were babies! And for those of you wondering if those were my husband's shoes in these pictures, the answer is no. Those shoes belong to my Griff. Amy was more excited about those photos than any other.

Griff deserves credit for being the best sound man any wedding has ever seen! I didn't even have to tell him how I wanted it done, he just knew.

I love you like a brother too Griff!!

Josh and Anna

Josh also deserves credit for helping to light

candles at the wedding.

My daddy

Aunt Angela, Aunt Christy, and Grandma Clark

The food was great!

Laeton Reid doing what he does best.

John opening his groomsman's' gift.

The McBrides

Katie and Britton opening their bridesmaids' gifts.

Papa David and Nana feeding Whit and Brady.

Tamara and Anna

Aly and John

Caroline and her Aunt Heather

My Grandma and I

The photographer for the weekend...

Ms. Alyson Kilday. Thanks Aly!!

Farewell 2008

2008-12-27T20:40:00.007-06:00

I still have lots of catching up to do in the blog world. It seems like I'll never finish all of my post-wedding blogs. I did get a new lap top for Christmas from my hubby, and Photoshop Elements so I can't wait to get to work on my wedding photos.

We had a great first Christmas together. It was a little different not being at mom and dad's on Christmas morning. This year we had Christmas lunch at my parents' instead of Grandma Clark's. My aunt Christy found out just before the wedding that she has breast cancer. She had her first chemo treatment the day after Christmas, so Grandma has been staying with her in Montgomery for the past month. Christy has started a website specifically for cancer patients here. You have to sign in with your email address to view the site. There you can read updates about her treatments and progress. She has a guestbook as well.

All in all 2008 was another great year, but we are both looking forward to 2009. Our house was started the week of the wedding, and is coming along nicely. I hope to get to move in during my summer vacation. I have registered for two graduate classes next semester ($1500 for 2 Classes!!). It's going to be another busy year for us. Just when Shelli and Anna were getting rested up, it looks like we have ANOTHER WEDDING to start planning!! I'll fill everyone in on that news very soon!!

Happy New Year!

Our First Christmas

2008-12-14T08:37:00.005-06:00

Here's our Christmas card for this year. The cards were created on my favorite site, Shutterfly. I love all of the neat products they have, and recommend them to everyone! I placed my card order last Friday night and received my cards on Tuesday. The picture is of course of our wedding kiss. I think we need to come up with a kissing pose every year from now on!

Dave and I started and nearly finished our Christmas shopping yesterday. I know and appreciate how lucky I am to have a husband who loves to shop as much as I do. I grew up with two boys that made most shopping trips miserable!

We had a lot of fun together and spent a lot of time laughing. I have to say that being married is pretty great.

On a random side note, Hallmark has the cutest ornaments! You know me, I can't make decisions. I showed Dave all of the ornaments I liked, and let him narrow it down. We chose this for our ornament this year:

We can look forward to getting one of these next Christmas,

and maybe a few Christmases later?

The Rehearsal

2008-12-06T05:47:00.004-06:00

Sorry it's taking me so long to blog about the wedding. I turned my camera over to Alyson (my brother, John's, girlfriend) for the weekend of the wedding and she managed to get about 2,000 fabulous shots for me.

Dave and I got married in a pasture at my parents' home. We chose a spot where the sun would be setting behind us. It worked out that it was on my brothers' old baseball field. When my brothers were younger my dad built them a ball field in our yard. It was a real deal regulation field. Their Little League and Babe Ruth teams practiced on it. Did anyone wonder what the big backstop was? The ceremony was actually set up in the outfield, so the ground was nice and flat. My dad nearly mowed all of the tall grass, but I asked him to leave it. I'm glad we did, because it turned out beautiful in all of the photos. I don't know how I'll ever repay Dave's Aunt Kathy. The woman scooped up all of the horse maneur in the pasture for our wedding! Thank you Aunt Kathy!

Our rehearsal was on Friday, November 21. It was a perfectly sunny, but chilly afternoon. We had a little chaos at first, which is to be expected anytime you get my brothers and Matthew together. Being serious is nearly impossible for them. We finally worked everything out and went in the house to warm up before our meal.

Next Post: The Rehearsal Dinner-Stay Tuned!

YAY!!

2008-12-01T15:03:00.002-06:00

I know I'm jumping ahead of the wedding time frame, but I just saw Amy's Blog.
I can't wait to see the rest!

Bridal Portraits

2008-11-25T10:37:00.005-06:00

Hello friends and family! I'm blogging from the honeymoon. I hope you all have warmed up from our chilly wedding night. I'm told it was cold. I honestly don't remember the weather so much. It was the fastest day of my entire life, and I feel the need to write everything down before I forget it. I guess I should start with the bridal portraits first, since I can finally share them with you. They were taken by my friend and co-worker, Nikki Guilford. She did an amazing job! These are a couple of my favorites. I think most of you have seen the others, but in case I missed out on giving you the info, go here. The email is mandi.clark@cov.k12.al.us and the password is wedding.

We're Getting Ready!

2008-11-17T09:55:00.012-06:00

I had not planned on blogging again before the wedding, but after seeing all of the masterpieces my family members have created, I felt that I needed to give credit where it is due. First are the cake tiers my daddy made. I looked for something like this for months and was about to give up on it when my daddy asked me what I wanted them to look like. I drew out a sketch and the very next day he came home from work with these. Aren't they gorgeous!! The legs are "M"s!! I know Dave and I will use these often and one day pass them on to our children.

My mother is creative too!! She made these beautiful pumpkin topiaries. The pictures don't even do them justice. I am already fighting with her about having them for my house next fall!! Thanks mom and dad! I love you and could never repay you for all of the hard work and sacrifices you've made for me and the brothers!

I made this banner for the boys to carry down the aisle. They've been practicing with it. Houston says, "Here comes the bride...........here she comes!" We'll see if they make it down the aisle Saturday. Being 3 is tough, and it's going to be a long day for them.

Speaking of the aisle, I made this aisle-runner a few months ago.

These window panes will be hanging from the sides of the barn. They were painted by Honey, Shelli, and Anna. There are several of them, and they are all cute!

Here's a shot of our garage. The candleabras were made by Ricky Bass. He's my good friend, Ashly Bass Powell's father. He made these for her wedding, and I think all of the girls in our circle of friends have used them since. Shelli and her mom made the bride and groom scarecrows, and Anna and Shelli are still working on the arch.
Here's the barn. We started hanging lights and fabric last night. You can't see it well in this photo, but there's a wreath that Shelli made hanging in the center.

Here's my lovely assistant going up the ladder again.

Here's my other assistant smiling pretty for the camera!

Hope to see you Saturday! The 10 day forecast predicts sunny skies today. Folks keep asking us what we'll do if it rains. Dave and I talked about it and decided........we'll still get married:)

11 Days!

2008-11-09T20:49:00.005-06:00

Happy Halloween!! (In Pictures)

2008-10-31T14:16:00.014-05:00

It's not a secret that Halloween is my favorite holiday. It hurts my feelings when people deem it to be an evil day or un-Christian. I have nothing but memories of wonderful times spent with my family on Halloween. Last night was no exception. Check out the photos below. I even got Dave to dress up with me. Can you tell who we were??

Another Reason I like Halloween.........My Birthday!

Thanks for the cake Dave!

If you go to the fair this week.......

2008-10-20T15:29:00.003-05:00

Stop by the Humane Society's booth and vote for our puppy. I think its a quarter to vote, but it'll go toward a good cause. I believe the winners get their photo placed in the Humane Sociey's calendar.

I don't have much time for blogging these days. It's extremely busy around our house and we have appreciated all of the help our wonderful friends and family members have volunteered on their weekends and afternoons. Maybe I'll be able to get in a few more posts pre-wedding, but if not, check back in about 5 weeks!!

Happy Birthday Granny Ruby & Laeton Reid!

2008-10-13T16:29:00.011-05:00

One year ago today, Dave and I were wrestling with 2 twenty-five month old's in the hospital waiting room. I have a hilarious memory of Dave with his arms loaded down with balloons, clothes, and food maneuvering Houston through the hospital lobby holding on to nothing but the hairs on the top of his head! It was an interesting day to say the least!

Laeton Reid is one today, and yesterday was Granny Ruby's birthday, so the family gathered at mom and dad's for lunch on Sunday afternoon to celebrate.

Dylon giving Granny a birthday kiss!

The birthday boy!

His brothers were more excited than he was.

He was pretty happy with his cake....

Just don't try to make him wear a dorky hat.

The boys were curious to see what Laeton got.

Houston the Rockstar.

(Griff would be proud!)

Laeton wearing his new boots and riding his Thomas.

Stacy and Tamara made Granny a cake.

The best family pic I could get...

5 Years

2008-10-08T16:02:00.002-05:00

As of today, I've been with this guy for exactly five years. I could go on and on about how wonderful he is, but I don't want to make everybody jealous! Seriously though, he's great!

Here we are Saturday night getting ready

for my ten year reunion.

My New Last Name

2008-10-05T11:24:00.002-05:00

Thursday afternoon I went to Marrianne's Punky-Doodle party with the intention of ordering an address stamp like the one above. I know what our address will be when we move into our house, but I had not considered one small detail. I am a math teacher, so that's my excuse for not knowing the answer to this question. My maiden name is also Clark, so that's another reason why I never really paid much attention to this rule in English class. Anyway, the nice sales lady, Lucy, was writing down all of the info needed for the stamp. At the very top of the stamp, it was to say the plural of our last name. That's when it hit me that I didn't know how to pluralize Morris. No one else at the party did either. A few ladies thought it was The Morris', but that didn't look right or sound right to me. I just went with "The Morris Family" to be on the safe side. I came home and tried to find the answer on-line. According to one grammar web-site, it would have es added to the end. The example on the site read, We are going to visit the Joneses. So will Dave and I be The Morrises?? Help me out!! Does anyone know the correct way to write this? I'm sure Dave's step-sister Wendy, the English teacher, can tell me!!

Okay, I just did a spellcheck. Morrises was highlighted and Morris's was the suggested spelling. That does look better......Is that the proper spelling????

Tailgate Couples Shower

2008-09-29T17:04:00.017-05:00

Dave and I have the best friends! JW & Marrianne, Alan & Lesa, and Michael & Wendy gave us an Auburn Tailgate Shower Saturday night. Marrianne's father, Buddy, has a 1950's style diner where the shower was held. Everyone had a great time eating yummy food and watching the exciting game! Since AU played earlier that day, we watched the Alabama/Georgia game. It was fun, and Dave and I are now set to entertain next football season!

Wendy and Michael

with us and Aubie

Alan, Lesa, Marrianne, and JW

(our other hosts)

Mandi's Family
We're ALL Auburn!!

Dave's Family

Our BEST Friends!

The gifts were AMAZING!

We were so excited to get this stainless steel trash can

from Dave's grandparents!

Ms. Amy gave us some awesome cookware.

We had to open it up to admire it, and of course

couldn't figure out how to get it all back in the box!

THANK YOU Everyone and

WAR EAGLE!!

Happy 26th Birthday Brother!!

2008-09-28T21:26:00.007-05:00

I love you and miss you brother! I don't have ANY recent photos of you, and I don't like that. I had to "steal" some from your Facebook account. I hope that's okay! See you and Aly in about 50 more days!!!!!!!!!!!

My middle brother, John (aka 4), is only 23 months younger than me. He still lives in Nebraska for now, but we're hoping he may be able to move to the east coast in the near future. This week he's on a business trip to Wisconsin. He called me Friday afternoon and was practicing his best Wisconsin accent on me. It was enough to make me nauseous!

Have a Happy Birthday Brother! Be sure to bring Justin a Cheese-head Hat back!!

LOVE YOU!!

Clark Family Portrait

by John H. Clark IV

The Office is Back!!

2008-09-25T17:52:00.002-05:00

We don't get to watch too much television these days, but we both love The Office. We're so excited about the new season that starts TONIGHT!!! Here's to no writers strike this year!

Fireproof

2008-09-21T19:38:00.002-05:00

Dylon stayed with us all by himself last night, but got an ear infection and didn't feel to great. As a result, we didn't make it to church today. While Dave was watching Frazier UMC on tv he saw this preview, and shared it with me. I LOVE Kirk Cameron. Our church youth group went to a conference and heard his testimony once, and that just made me love him even more. I think he's great in the Left Behind movies, and I can't wait to see this one. It looks like the perfect movie for two people about to get married, or any couple for that matter. I found out on the official website that it's playing in Montgomery, Dothan, and Destin this weekend. I'm thinking a Sunday afternoon trip to Destin would be great wouldn't it Dave? You must watch the preview, but be sure to pause my music player at the bottom of the screen so you can hear it!

I Should Be Grading Papers Instead of This.....

2008-09-17T20:04:00.003-05:00

Lately, I've enjoyed wasting a lot of time on The Knot looking for wedding ideas. I've found some really cute stuff!! I'm meeting with Amy soon to discuss poses, and I think this one is a must!

Dylon and Houston's 3rd Birthday

2008-09-14T22:10:00.004-05:00

Today the twins turned three years old. They were so cute and excited. They did not forget what today was. When Matt picked them up from the nursery after church today, they started saying "Party, Party!" when they saw him. We celebrated at Hunny's house with the rest of the family with a Thomas party. The boys are really into Thomas the Tank Engine and monster trucks. They especially love the Gravedigger. Cha Cha and Daddy B got them tickets to Monster Jam, and I know they'll love it! I think that the big boys like Dave, Uncle Two-Two, Josh, and Kevin had as much fun playing with the trains as the little boys did. We had a fun day, and a wonderful weekend. I can't believe that in less than a month, Laeton Reid will be turning one!

Holiday Shower

2008-09-14T18:55:00.003-05:00

On Saturday night, some of my family and friends gave me a Holiday Shower. It was so beautiful and fun! I can't believe how much holiday decor Dave and I received. We definitely got a great start on our collection! Thank you to everyone that came, and an even bigger thank you to my wonderful hostesses: Anna Till, Shelli Smith, Kellye Smith, Juni Smith, and Debbie Stuckey. These ladies did a great job! I love you all!

My Little Soccer Stars

2008-09-14T18:41:00.008-05:00

I'm so happy that Ramsey and Sydny have moved to Alabama for good! I've missed them terribly over the last five years, and I'm so proud of what sweet and smart children they've become. When they left, they were just babies, and now they're in third and first grade. Ramsey is in Suzanne's class (I'm so jealous Suzanne!) and recently tested into the TAG program. Sydny is loving first grade and making new friends. Dave and I went to their soccer games Saturday and had a great time getting to watch them both play. We never thought we'd get to do stuff like this with them, and it's so nice to be a part of their everyday lives now!

Rachel helped me out BIG TIME with these two.

Thanks Rachel!!!

Go Tigers!

2008-09-06T10:45:00.000-05:00

Sick Day

2008-09-04T17:35:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I either caught something from one of my students, or I've run myself down. I think these late nights of grading papers and working on the wedding are starting to catch up with me. Many nights I don't get to bed until 1:00 or 2:00 am. I haven't been this busy since my internship. Dave called to check on me several times last night, and then showed up at my house this morning before he went to work with all of this....

I LOVE HIM!

Here ya go Susan!

2008-08-31T20:38:00.003-05:00

My cousin, Susan, has tagged me to reveal six things that most people do not know about me. Like Susan, I have my reservations about letting everyone on the World Wide Web know too much about me. I'm sure some of you will not be too shocked about my list. It's a hard one to come up with, but here they are:

My brothers and I are convinced that we live in a haunted house. We have suspected this for years. Some strange things have happened here! Our parents built it in 1994, but it is built over the remains of an old sharecropper's home. Our Grandpa recently told us the story of how the woman that lived here, a black lady named Tessie, was murdered in the house! To top it off he says there was another house on the spot where Dave and I plan to build....YIKES! So there you have it.....I'm afraid of ghosts and the dark.
I don't love Elton John, but I do love his music!
I was class president and valedictorian of my senior class. I had to check the spelling too Susan!
I wanted to go to Auburn, but Troy offered me the free ride. I still regret not going.
I knew Chad for years, and had no clue that he had an older brother.
I can't walk past a mirror without checking myself out. The driver's visor in my car is completely worn out from me looking in the mirror.

War Eagle!

2008-08-30T09:16:00.003-05:00

I hate that we won't be on the Plains today, but we've got several good reasons.

My dress came in!! Mother and I are headed to Montgomery to get it!

Jessa's first birthday party is today, and Dave and I wouldn't dream of missing it!

We have a surveyor coming to look at the land!

It looks like we may not make many games at all this fall with everything that's going on, but that's where our hearts shall be.

WAR EAGLE!

Relaxation!

2008-08-27T20:12:00.002-05:00

Some of the bridesmaids,(Katie and Shelli) and myself have been walking the nature trail in the evenings in an attempt to tone up before the wedding. It's been great fun to work out with the two of them. Those two laps go by pretty fast when you've got someone to talk too!! They'll never know how much I appreciate their friendship and how much it motivates me.

A couple of weeks ago, I ran in to Mrs. McClung in Wal-Mart and she invited me to take her Yoga class. I had taken classes with her before, but I'd never tried Yoga. I decided I would give it a shot, thanks to Katie and Shelli agreeing to sign up with me. Tonight was our first class, and man was it amazing! I can tell that this is exactly what I need to be doing. On top of that, I left feeling so relaxed and stress-free. I can't wait for next week's lesson!

Our Busy Weekend

2008-08-25T08:43:00.010-05:00

What a weekend!! We've been going non-stop for several days, and I'm saying "THANK YOU LORD!" for the day off from school today. I've been up since 4:30 AM when the tornado sirens first sounded. I think I'll do a quick update post, and then head back to bed for a little nap. Maybe Dave won't call and wake me....he gets so jealous on days like this. He'll call me every hour or so to tell me he loves me, and to make sure that I'm not having too much fun without him:)

Friday started off with our very first field trip of the year. You can read about that on my other blog. On Friday afternoon I picked up Dylon, Houston, Laeton, Ramsey, and Sydny for a sleep over at my house. We played outside all afternoon, and then Dave brought home some pizzas. We had a great time with all 5 kids. We had planned to go swimming at Grandpa's house on Saturday morning for Clark's 2nd birthday, but the weather rained us out.

After church on Sunday, Dave and I went to Lowe's in Enterprise. We picked out our front door, and tried to decide on an exterior color for our house. That man of mine is so opinionated! Dave likes gray, and I like tan. We both like the mossy green, but are afraid that we would get tired of it. We decided to bring home some samples and see what the family thinks.

While the paint choices are still up in the air, we did come home with a lovely mailbox. We are hoping to get our new address this week since Dave's driver's license expires next Monday. We are still looking for a builder, and praying that God will lead us to the right person for the job.

Jessa will be one year old this week! We will celebrate this Saturday at the river.

Isn't she the most beautiful baby?

I don't have it in me to do a wedding post right now, but I liked some of the ideas on these inspiration boards from Snippet & Ink.

Thank goodness football season starts this week!

WAR EAGLE!

97 Days To Go....

2008-08-17T23:03:00.003-05:00

(Found this sweet pic on The Knot)

No Words Needed

2008-08-16T16:38:00.001-05:00

I'm Ready!

2008-08-10T22:44:00.003-05:00

Today I hurry off to school,

To work and learn and play.

I've got a brand new class this year.

What a happy day!!!!!

I thought I would share some pictures of my classroom while it is all neat and clean. The floors have been waxed over the summer and are shiny and bright. I've got everything in its place and ready for tomorrow. I don't know how I will be able to fall in love with another group of kids in the same way that I did last year, but it will surely happen. I can't wait to get to know each one of them.

This is my desk. The kids assume that I will have to get a new one once I'm married. I had to explain to them that I could take the "MS CLARK" off and just keep the desk.

I made this little sign four years ago, and am so sad that this is the last year it will welcome my new students into the room. I wrote Miss Clark on the apple before I laminated it.

What A Cutie!

2008-08-09T11:43:00.007-05:00

Shelli shared some pictures from their trip to Houston with me. While it was a long week for mom and dad, it appears that Matt Dylon had the time of his life!

Taking Off- This kid LOVES airplanes.

Matt, Shelli, and Dylon at the Astros game.
I'm surprised Matt didn't wear his Braves jersey to the game too.

Dylon met some professional soccer players.

Hard Rock Cafe

Dylon dressed up as a Mexican at The Childrens' Museum.

Answered Prayers!

2008-08-04T18:30:00.003-05:00

Just sharing the fantastic report....

The Surgeon said that there is no need for surgery right now! He said that Dylon is showing no effects with his "special aorta", so there is no need for anything to be done. I am still in shock b/c I was planning on a surgery but God is so good and definitely showed up and showed out today! He just said that they want to monitor him every six months but said that he should be able to live like this the rest of his life!

Thanks again for all the calls, messages and prayers....the prayers were definitely answered!

Love you all!

Thank you for the prayers! I have had so many people asking me about Dylon, and telling me they're praying for him. We were praying for a miracle, and recieved one! They should be flying home in the morning...Edouard willing.

Where Did the Summer Go?

2008-08-01T21:28:00.005-05:00

Another summer has come and gone. Today was my last Friday of vacation and it leaves me feeling kind of "blah". I'm excited about all of the wonderful things I have to look forward to this fall, but I sometimes feel like I'm wishing my life away and not really taking the time to cherish the present. So much has happened this summer that I wish I had a slow motion button to press and take the time to truly breathe it all in. I can't believe that this will be my 5th year of teaching. I love my job so much, and teaching with my mom and Hunny makes it a triple blessing. That reminds me, I have a classroom blog now! I've had a homework web-page in the past, but decided the blog format was way cuter. So, if you'd like to check out the happenings of Ms. Clark's fourth grade class this year, just click here. This should be an interesting year with me becoming Mrs. Morris in November. It will probably be harder for me to get used to than the kids!

The bridesmaids dresses have been decided on and ordered. I don't think I'll post a picture of them, but I will say that they are nothing like we had originally planned. I was going to let each girl pick their own dress in the same color, but when we went to look they all fell in love with the same dress. It's different, but gorgeous! I finally said yes to a dress of my own. It took me months and months and months, but I'm very satisfied with my decision. We're getting ready to start our pre-marital counseling. We've done a little registering. Dave picked out the china, flatware, and drink ware. He's way better at making a firm decision than I am. I could have stayed in Ansley Place all day pondering over which pattern I wanted.

Well, I'm off to make some curtains for my classroom. That was my goal for today and since it's already 10:00 pm, I'd better get started!

I enjoyed my summer visitors!

(I didn't realize my mom was watering her flowers behind us

so that's why you see a yellow hose in the background.)

My talented brother, John, made this sign and my equally talented father crafted the rest.

Wednesday's Test and Results

2008-07-30T19:20:00.002-05:00

Well, today was a lot harder of a day than yesterday, but it is over with. We went in this morning around 8:30 and began some tests (not sedated), the nurse couldn't find what she was looking for on the screen, so called the best Doctor on the machine and he still couldn't find his aortic arch! Matt and I try to tell her that it takes like two 90 degree turns, so eventually they listened and referred to the CT scan that we had sent them a few months back and then understood why they couldn't see it! Dylon was a trooper the whole time, just laying on his back for over an hour while they did the echo cardiogram, he never complained!!!! After that we waited in the lobby for 2 hours until we got to see his cardiologist Dr.Slesnick. We really liked the doc, and he was very good at explaining the situation. He explained that Dylon has a Double Aortic Arch with an atretic left arch and a vascular ring around his esophagus! Meaning.....

The heart in this defect has four chambers and four valves.
The big blood vessel that moves blood to the body (aorta) is normally one tube with small branches that take blood to the arms, head and neck before going to the lower body.
In this defect, the main aorta tube splits into large left and right branches before becoming one tube to go to the lower body. This branching pattern can cause the swallowing tube (esophagus) or breathing tube (trachea) to be pinched (compressed). A child may have difficulty swallowing solid foods or sometimes have difficulty breathing.

Many times a child is several years old before this is discovered.

This is a rare heart defect and can be fixed by surgery.

So after we began to understand all of this we were told that surgery will definetly be needed and that the surgeon will explain this better on Monday! He said that this is very rare and that probably only done a handful of these surgeries! I hoped that the surgery would be done like with a scope or something, but he said that they will open him up through the chest.

I am still absorbing all of this, this scares the mess out of me, my baby having to go through this and then I look around at other kids that have a type of cancer or disease that isn't treatable and thank God that Dylon's is treatable.... I'm still believing in a miracle and I know that God will and has come through for us!

But on another note, we had a blast at the ball park last night, they have a train that goes around the park if a home run is hit by the Astro's and luckily two or three were hit. At the end of the game fireworks shot out from the train to celebrate the victory, and Dylon got upset because he thought the train was broken, he kept saying "they broke the train" it was cute!

So we are done with testing for the week, and now all we have to do is see the surgeon on Monday! I will try and post something then to let everyone know!

God Bless

*Please continue to keep Dylon, Matt, and Shelli in your prayers. I'm still trying to wrap my head around all of this, but it is so overwhelming. I can't even imagine what it must be like for the parents. Shelli is right. It is a blessing that they have been dealt with something that is treatable. I'm now praying for the doctor's that will care for Dylon that God will give them the knowledge and the skill to do what is best.

Tuesday's News

2008-07-29T20:37:00.001-05:00

Hey!

I just wanted to say that testing went pretty good today! They decided not to sedate him today, so that was a relief. We got an x-ray of his chest and then we did a barium swallow, that ended with more xrays. Dylon called them "camera's" and Mimi would be proud to know he did try to smile for the first few ;)! They are trying to see if there is a vascular ring around his esophaugus. I called to get our directions for tomorrows sedation and they to decided not to sedate him! I'm really really relieved of this! Hopefully he will cooperate as well tomorrow as he did today! So we are done for today besides going to an Astro's game....Ronald Mcdonald house is treating us to this! Ill do my best to keep you guys updated as much as possible!

God Bless

Dylon Update

2008-07-28T18:35:00.002-05:00

Baw Baw watching over Dylon.

I thought I would share this news from Shelli's blog:

I just wanted to give a short update on what we are doing, I guess I shoud've done this before we left!

We flew into Houston Texas today around 12:00 p.m., our flights were really good and Dylon became "pilot" Dylon today. For those of you who dont know Dylon can pretty much name any thing that flies, he's two and I dont know half the of the planes he knows. He did get to sit with the captain and recieve some wings, which was a really exciting time for him! We got the opportunity to stay at a Ronald Mcdonald house which has really been a blessing. Dylon can play with other kids his age and really get a special treatment, I am really amazed at all the activities that they have for him to do! I was really worried about him and afraid that he was gonna get lonely without his"Bubba", they did talk on the phone when we landed and they talked for 5 minutes about airplanes! *S* It was really sweet!

Tomorrow we start our testing and will have testing on most days of the week and will meet with the cardiologist one day and then on the last day that we are here, August 4, we will meet with the Chief Surgeon here, Dr. Charles Duncan Frasier and will discuss what needs to be done with Dylon! I am believing in a miracle!
Thanks for the emails and phone calls and prayers!

Much Love!

Prayer Request

2008-07-26T13:52:00.002-05:00

I haven't shared this information with a lot of people, but because I do know the power of prayer, I would like each of you to remember Dylon this week. A couple of months ago both of the twins were extremely sick with a virus. Houston was sent by helicopter to Sacred Heart in Pensacola and a few days later Dylon had to be hospitalized in Andalusia. Most of the family came down with the virus as well. I stayed in the hospital with Dylon because I was the only person in the family that was not sick at the time. When the doctor came to check on him he told me he thought he heard a hurt murmur. He said you could hear them better when children are sick. The following week, Matt and Shelli were back at Sacred Heart seeing a specialist who at first thought Dylon had a coarctation of the aorta. Further testing ruled this out and they discovered that there is an abnormality with his left pulmonary aorta. As a result, his heart has a rare way of functioning.

Monday morning, Matt, Shelli, and Dylon will be flying to Houston, Texas to meet with an expert in the field, and Dylon will be enduring a week's worth of tests. It' s my understanding that he will be sedated for most of these tests, but the thought of him having to go through any of that breaks my heart. I love those boys so much. They were born into our family during one of the most difficult and trying times we have ever gone through. Their little lives gave us joy, hope, and peace during that time of sorrow and loss. The Lord welcomed home one of the most wonderful men on Earth that week. We see his smile on their faces and his swagger in their walk. I know Baw Baw will make sure God is looking after Dylon in the coming days, but it wouldn't hurt if you could lift him up in your prayers as well.

For John: News From Home

2008-07-24T09:04:00.002-05:00

Okay Brother, after your comment on my last post, I got out the video camera and filmed two short videos of the twins. You won't believe how much they've grown and how much they can do now. The spend the night with me every Tuesday and this is the sight I get when they come. I don't have any real news that I can share with the "blog world", but I'll give you a call this weekend! Love you Brother!

Magnolia Lane Collection

2008-07-17T20:46:00.003-05:00

I've been in love with the Magnolia Lane Auburn pieces for quite some time, but wasn't aware of the photo frames they made. Tonight I went to my friend Patty's baby shower, and she received one of these. It's going to look so cute in their new house!

I also discovered these frames. I'm told they are available at Ted's Pharmacy in Opp. I just might have to make a trip there soon!

It was on clearance....

2008-07-17T10:58:00.005-05:00

We don't have a home. Heck, we don't even have a porch, but we do own this beauty.

Castles and Crowns

2008-07-16T22:36:00.002-05:00

My friend Jana is hostessing a Castles and Crowns party next week. If I had children of my own, I would probably spend my whole month's salary on this stuff. So cute!! You moms out there must check it out!!! Pumpkin Patch and Gone Bananas are my favorites.

The Morrow Kids

2008-07-11T12:00:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, Ramsey's six-year old sister Sydny joined us for some summer fun. We spent the afternoon in the pool, and then Dave and I took them to see WALL-E last night. What a cute movie!! After the kids got their baths we had a few minutes to snap some pictures. I mainly wanted to share these photos so their mom, Stephanie who's in Texas, and their dad, Jeff in Iraq, could see that the kids are doing just fine!! They send their love and miss you both.

Our Summer Visitor

2008-07-11T11:30:00.008-05:00

This is Ramsey. He's eight years old and has been staying with me since he was 4 months old. He's like a family member to us. Ramsey was the first person to start calling me Mimi. He started talking very early, and Mimi is what came out when he tried to say Mandi. Now my brothers and Dave pretty much call me Mimi all the time. He is extremely smart and constantly amazes us with all of his knowledge. He attends the "Cluster Class" at his school which I think is the same as the "TAG or Talented and Gifted" classes we have here. For the past 3 years, his family has been stationed at Fort Hood in Killeen, Texas, and I have misssed him oh so much!! I now look forward to Christmas and the few weeks in the summer, when I get to spend some time with him. Dave and I hope our own kids are as smart and well-behaved as Ramsey.

Laeton Reid

2008-07-08T08:18:00.007-05:00

It aint easy competing for attention with Dylon and Houston, but Laeton Reid gives them a run for their money. What a sweet baby he is! There is always a smile on his face. He's 9 months old now, and we attended his baby dedication this past Sunday. Needless to say, we are so happy that Matt and Shelli are raising their boys in a Christian home.

YUMMY!!

2008-07-05T16:04:00.002-05:00

Well, the Grinch changed his mind about working all day yesterday. I think my blog may have influenced his decision:) So instead, I made a Cornbread Salad and a Flag Cake, we loaded up our puppy, and headed to the river. We enjoyed a delicious cookout with the DuBose/Harper families. Last night we took the boats out and watched an amazing fireworks show, then cruised up and down the lake listening to some of Marrianne's favorite songs while JH entertained us with his dance moves. I didn't get any pictures. Dave was terrified of the thought of taking our camera out on the water. It was a lot of fun, and we are looking forward to another fireworks show tonight!

I've seen photos of cakes like this in magazines for years, and have always said, "One day I'm gonna make that." I finally decided to try it yesterday. It was easy and delicious!! The kids at the river deemed it "best cake ever!" Sorry daddy, there was none left, but I'll be glad to make you one when you and mother get back from Nebraska!!

Happy Independence Day!

2008-07-03T11:10:00.009-05:00

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Fourth of July. I will be spending the day here.

With this guy and his toy.

It's going to be HOT! Next year when we are (hopefully) in our house, maybe we'll have a BBQ and I can wear this dress.

And use some of these ideas I got from Martha.

This day has a whole new meaning for these folks. What an amazing story!

God Bless the USA!!

Beach Wedding

2008-07-01T08:12:00.004-05:00

Dave's step-brother, Ricky, got married on the beach this past Saturday. It was a beautiful wedding, and we are very happy for Ricky and Lynn. We were looking forward to laying on the beach all day Sunday and reading our books, but we woke up to thunderstorms. So we drove around and looked at furniture instead. It was a quick get away, but I enjoyed spending the time with Dave. It seems like the only thing I've done all summer is go to class and study. Here are some pretty entertaining photos for your viewing pleasure!

Dave before the wedding

The next two photos were made by Dave's father:

I promise that I did wear clothes to the wedding!

The Morris kids minus some of Chad's head.

Chad got this photo of us. Hmm... it reminds
me of another picture he made of us at Christmas.

How do you do it Chad?

I'll leave you with a picture of this sexy beast!

Dave after the wedding....what a difference a little L-O-V-E makes!