Independance Day

We had a great 4th of July weekend! It started Friday afternoon when we went out on my uncle's boat. There were several of the family that went and it was so good to see Uncle Ernie too!
Here is a picture of Cole just as he got on the boat, he was excited to go.

When we first got on the boat Cole seen this inter tube and he said, "I AM NOT GETTING ON THAT" and he almost started to cry because he thought we were going to make him. He finally decided to take a ride with his dad and ended up having a LOT of fun!

There were so many of the family that wanted to go out on the lake and Uncle's boat was not big enough. So he had to take 6 of us at a time to a little area and we all had to wait our turn there to go out on the boat. Anyway while we waited, Cole, Jack and Trent played some ball. Of course Cole won, "86 to 2." :D

Didn't get a picture of me and Jack on the inter tube because we were on it all of 20 seconds before Jack tipped us over. I told them from the beginning that if I tipped I would not be able to get back on the boat. Well it was a sight watching them try to pull me out of the water back onto that boat. I spared everyone of posting those pictures. But I finally got back in the inter tube and I went for a ride. It was fun!

Just a picture of Cole in the lake that I adored. It's kind of "abstracty." I am going to get together all of the good "abstracty" pictures I have of him like this. I LOVE THEM!

Another one of the "abstracty" ones I love.

Once Cole got the inter tube hooked to land he played survivor.

Then he had a lot of fun jumping off of the branches into the lake.

Cole was holding a HUGE stick in the air.

OK, another picture that I just love. I HAVE TO SHARE THESE PICTURES!

On the way back home Uncle let Cole drive the boat. Of course Uncle had to sit there with Cole but at one point Cole was actually doing it all by himself. Cole was steering and Uncle taught him to press the button hard for the gas and how to let off. He ended up racing another boat, COLE LOVED IT!

On Saturday we went to a cookout at my Aunt Phyllis' it was good. We left there and went camping. We got a late start and it was the weekend of the 4th so we had a really hard time finding a spot. Well we finally found somewhere to put down our tent. I didn't get any pictures but after about 2 hours of work we finally got the camp site set up with a fire and all of our chairs and the tent, we were ready to go. Well the police showed up, about 5 to be exact, the people above us were getting in trouble. The police come to see what we were up to, which was a bunch of nothing. Just making smores and fishing. Then they spotted our tent and made us take it down. They said there was a sign posted and we could hang out but we were not allowed to stay the night where we were. So we packed up and went home. 3 hours of camping, then we went home. We were sad.

Sunday was busy! We cleaned up the garage and turned the spare room into Cole's bedroom. If anyone knows the shape the garage was in (after 2 family's house fulls of stuff), the garage was a disaster! But it is finally somewhat organized.

It was a good weekend.

Life as we know it

Just wanted to share this beautiful picture of my cousins with everyone.

2 weekends ago my friend Bridgette had an extra ticket to the CMA festival and she took me. It was a lot of fun! I got to see Lady Antebellum, Jason Aldean, Little Big Town, Rodney Atkins, Luke Bryan, Jake Owen, Zac Brown Band and the special guest was KID ROCK!!!! And Martina McBride.
Mom's boss Kelly took her. We had separate seats from them but after the concert we all met up and went to downtown Nashville and had so much fun! Mom and I did not get home til 4:30 AM. :D

This past weekend Jack and I went to the Jeff Fisher annual softball charity game. The tickets were only$15 each, we were very excited to go. As we were getting to the gate of the Sounds stadium there was a man saying, "Free tickets, free tickets" so Jack and I stopped and as it turned out he was with one of the sponsors and they did not use all of their tickets so they were giving them away. We got in free!

They were having a silent auction and Jack bid on a softball signed by David Thorton. He won it for $15 bucks! We were so excited! We went, had a good time, got to see the Titans play softball, a awesome fireworks display afterwards, won a softball and still got out cheaper than expected! It was so much fun! We intend on going again next year.

Anyway this is a picture of Gnash (the predators cat), Kerry Collins and Steve McNair.

Jack is still doing his extern at United Regional and is loving it! I am so happy for him because he really does like the work and he really seems to fit in with the people there. At first he wanted to work in Murfreesboro but now he really hopes that they offer him a job there at the hospital. I am so thankful it is going so well for him!

On a final note, Jack and I have jumped into a new endeavor. Can't really go into detail right now but we really need everyones prayers. Please, please remember us when your talking to God.

I will keep everyone posted!

God knows your heart

As most of you know, I usually find a quote for the day. These quotes come from various different places. I wanted to share my quote from yesterday.
Sometimes people inspire me and don't even know it. The administrator at my work was talking with all of the department heads yesterday and she was totally talking about something kind of off the subject then she says: "The good will always win, God knows your heart." It struck me hard. It speaks volumes to me because of some different issues going on in life. I like this one.
THE GOOD WILL ALWAYS WIN, GOD KNOWS YOUR HEART!

Jack

Jackie's football practice for the season has started. Actual season don't start until August. Football gets him out of the house, away from me and active. He loves it! During scrimmage the other day he made 2 touchdowns and once intercepted the ball and ran it back for a touch down! It's so fun! I cant wait til season starts and I get to go watch him show out!

A BIG thanks to everyone who has sent up prayers for Jack. Tuesday he passed his final and as of today he has a extern at the old hospital here in town, he will start in the morning! God has really blessed us! There is so much going on right now and it was very important that things fell right into place, and thus far they have! All that is left with school is 8-9 weeks of extern then he has to take a state test to certify him. After that all he does is send in the paper work and apply. I am so very proud of him!

With all that is going on in our life, including wanting to buy a house before too awfully long, please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Colton

Cole is spending this week with his granny Pat. She called today and told us a little story about him. Apparently she had asked her husband, Doyle to put some water in the car for her. Well a bit later Mr. Doyle did it and Colton had come in and asked his granny Pat, "Did you tell Papa Doyle to put water in the car?" When granny said yes, he replied, "well, you have to tell boys 5 times cause they don't listen." When granny Pat asked how many times you have to tell girls, he replied, "just one."

Colton told dad the other day, "put your hands up, I'm the FBI!" Dad asked, "what's the FBI?" Colton said, "Its the cop's!" Dad replied, "Cop's is C-O-P, FBI is F-B-I." Colton then told him, "that means cussing and you must be drunk! Put your hands up your under arrest!"

We took Cole bowling a couple of weekends ago. He was really funny he was having a very good time bowling at first then he started playing with the strobe lights. First he was jumping them as they come around. Then he would hide behind the ball rack and when the lights come around he would jump out and shoot at them. He is so funny!

We went to eat Sunday lunch at the cracker barre ll and when we were about finished he took my aunts bill and told her that he would take care of it. She asked him if he had any money and when he told her no everyone started explaining to him about having to wash dishes if he did not have the money to pay for his bill. Well at this point the waitress chimed in and said, "yea, we are really behind back there and could use some help washing dishes." He then looked up at the waitress like she was crazy and replied, " well, I will come back there and help but I will just break a glass so they will fire me and I wont have to do it any more!"

Then so that he would finish eating his hamburger Ashlie promised him that if he would finish she would stop at the store and get him a prize. So he finished and on the way home she stopped and went into Food Lion and she brought him out some marsh mellows. Well he took one look at them and said, "ugh! I thought you were going to buy me a toy!" I said, "Cole! You should tell Ashlie thank you." He said, "thank you" and with the most pitiful tone you ever heard he said, "dang it." It was hilarious! I just like this picture of Jack and Cole.

Cole had his first school play! He done such a good job and said his line loud and proud! "In the 1800's the Americans had a terrible problem." He done a very good job!

Here is another picture of him at the bowling alley. He was so excited when he knocked down 8 pins!

Amber's Cruise

We had such a wonderful time on our cruise! There are many stories I could tell, but I already have too many pictures, I will spare you all of ALL the stories! So I will try to make quick captions.
Here is a picture of our boat out in the middle of the water. It was called the Inspiration. Take note of the smaller boat next to it. The smaller boat was our trolly back and forth to land. The smaller boat held about 250 people, so as you can see our boat was GINORMOUS!

This was our first view of Grand Caymen. It was really really beautiful there. Grand Caymen is actually British territory. The island is about 350 miles from Miami and 180 miles from Jamaica. There are no taxes on the island.

I just liked this picture of me and Ashlie for some reason.

So there is a place in Grand Caymen called "Hell." So Ashlie and I were being little devil's!

"Hell" is actually coral with mildew grown on it and it makes it discolored.

After Hell we went to the turtle farm. It was kinda interesting. We saw lots of turtles and got to hold some of the smaller ones.

Once we left the turtle farm we went to what is called, "stingray city." It is about a 20 minute boat ride out to the middle of the ocean and there is a place out in the middle of it that is about waist high and LOTS of stingrays hanging out there just waiting for someone to play with them. It was so fun! If you look in this picture alone you can actually count about 10 stingrays.

This sting ray, her name was bubbles (they can actually tell who is who) Bubbles had a scar over her left eye. Anyway, bubbles is so big, she covers me and Ashlie both!

We like this picture, Ashlie, Bubbles, and I are all smiling for the camera.

This tour guide said, "OK mom on the count of 3 snap the picture" he said 3 and put that sting ray above our heads!

We really had a lot of fun and would definitely do it again!

As if we don't eat enough on the ship, we got hungry and had to eat at Margaritaville. Again it was a lot of fun!

Mom and Ashlie decided to go para sailing. I had been before and decided not to go this time. Anyway they got this picture from the air. I thought it was really pretty.

This is the Ritz Carlton of Grand Caymen. Many famous people have suites here. Bill Gates bought out the top 2 floors for 40 million dollars! Other people that have properties in Grand Caymen are: Michael Jordon, Brittany Spears, Oprah, Cher, Magic Johnson, Tiger Woods, President Bush, Michael Jackson and many, many more.

I thought this was a pretty picture of the sunset one night. Over all we had a really, really good time! We could not wait to get home to our husbands, next time they will go with us!

Stay Tuned

Hey guys! Just wanted to let everyone know that I will be posting a new blog about the cruise and an update on Coton hopefully by Wednesday. Stay Tuned!