Princess Haley!

This has been such an amazing week of celebrating Princess Haley’s birthday.  Haley turns 5 on Tuesday, March 6.  She has been counting the days and minutes for weeks!  (Which has been great for working on the concept of time and months.)  I told her a while ago what I had planned for her birthday and she has been talking about it A LOT!  I started getting nervous it wouldn’t meet her anticipated expectations.  Luckily, it was a perfect day and we all agreed we wouldn’t have changed a thing.  The celebration started out on Friday evening.  Hayden’s parents and Grandmother (Nana) was in town and we went out to Haley’s favorite restaurant- Cracker Barrel!  Of course, she wanted to dress up and couldn’t decide which princess dress to wear, so she wore two.  Ariel’s gown, with the Rapunzel gown over it…and the plastic dress-up high heels.  When we got home she couldn’t WAIT to dive into the presents.  Nana got her a new (and fancier) Rapunzel dress with matching shoes.  Mammaw and Pappaw got her several princess shirts, a beautiful sparkly silver dress, and some other nice goodies.  When we tried on the Rapunzel dress, it was a little too big so we rushed out to the Disney Store to get a different size.  I knew she’d want to wear it to her party downtown.  Mammaw, Haley, and I went- just the girls!  Haley also had some Birthday Money and we let her pick something out.  She grabbed the new Rapunzel Barbie immediately and could not be swayed to get any other item- even though she’s talked about getting a Flynn Ryder doll and Pasquale for a while.  She was hopping all around that store feeling like the Queen of the World.  They gave her a birthday crown and a button, too.  Before leaving the mall, we all took a ride on the Carousel.  It almost made me tear up because Hayden and I took Haley on the same Carousel four years ago on her first birthday…oh, how time flies.
Saturday could not have been more exciting.  Haley’s friend Ainsley came over early and the girls had a chance to play and get ready together.  Talk about a “flash forward” kind of moment…I could just see the girls giggling and doing hair together in 10 or 15 years.  Oh, I am not wishing for those days to hurry.  At 10am, Peyton arrived and the Princesses were excited to get their gift bags with bracelets, a necklace, a purse, princess gloves, and a crown inside.  After adorning themselves with all their goodies, we were off!  Prince Trey could not have looked more cute in his tuxedo…and neither could his daddy, also wearing a tux.  Once arriving downtown at the Peabody Hotel, the girls were getting a lot of “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” from the guests in the lobby.  A staff member escorted the girls to a prime spot on the red carpet to watch the ducks come off the elevator and into the fountain.  After watching the ducks for a bit, it was time to head outside, for our carriage awaited our arrival.  We hopped into the gold (Haley’s favorite color) horse-drawn carriage and were off on a tour of downtown.  The girls had a ball waving and calling out to all the pedestrians.  Some had seen the girls in the Peabody and were yelling back, “Happy Birthday, Princess!”

Hayden took the kids upstairs on the mezzanine level of the Peabody while I set up lunch.  Pink table cloth, candles, chocolate covered pretzels, heart shaped sandwiches, and of course, birthday cupcakes.  The girls drank Shirley Temples, with twisty straws, and had a great lunch together.  Again, they were quite the talk of the hotel- many patrons were taking their pictures.  Luckily, we took a full batch of cupcakes with us and were able to share with other “friends” in the lobby.  Everyone clapped after we sang and it was a special day.  We all needed a nap once we got home!  I couldn’t have been more proud to parade our little party through downtown. 

My Hunting Partner

It all started on when we went to Jackson for Thanksgiving.  I’ve been hunting a lot more over the past few years, but Laura’s desire to go hunting has been pretty "limited" to say the least.  However, when we were in Jackson for Thanksgiving, Laura mentioned to me that she thought she could kill a deer.  I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.  So I asked her what she meant.  She repeated her statement.  This immediately forced me to challenger her a bit.  I responded that I didn’t think she could.  That maybe she had the skill to do it, but I didn’t think she could pull the trigger.  She didn’t let up, though.

Fast-forward to January 26th when we headed down to Jackson again for a surprise birthday party for my dad.  Mississippi’s hunting season runs a little longer than Tennessee’s so she’d get her shot (pun intended).

We ran through the basics of what she’d need to do in order to fire the .444.  In MS, certain single shot cartridge guns (.444 included) are legal during muzzleloader season.  I knew if she could get the crosshairs on a deer, she wouldn’t feel the kick.  But I was hesitant to let her shoot it beforehand.  If you’ve never seen a .444 cartridge, it closely resembles something you’d shoot an elephant with.

On Friday afternoon we headed out to some land my dad owns in Kosciusko.  This place is a deer haven.  I was extremely confident she’d get a chance to see some deer.  On the way there, we stopped at another piece of land he has in Thomastown and set up a paper plate for her to shoot a .22 rifle at.  At 30 yards, she squeezed off 8 rounds that would fit inside a half dollar.  She was ready.

We hit Kosciusko and climbed into the shooting house.  The weather was perfect.  We’d just gotten a cool snap and the wind dropped down to near non-existent.  We’d had a lot of rain over the previous few days so the deer were sure to move.  We kept our eyes peeled.  We saw nothing.  Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be.  We did hear a couple of turkeys gobbling, but didn’t see any deer.

On the way home, we passed back by Thomastown.  Dad made the comment that we should consider trying it again the next morning.  That he’d stay home with Mom and help take care of the kids.  We talked it over that night and decided we’d give it another shot.

Saturday morning we were up EARLY.  It’s about an hour drive to Thomastown and I wanted to be in the shooting house when it was still dark.  As we got settled into the stand, I had to chuckle.  A few months ago, I could almost imagine Laura going hunting with me just to spend time together.  But I never imagined she’d be trying to bag one herself.  And I DEFINITELY couldn’t imagine her getting up at 4:15 in the morning to do it!

We planned to leave by 8:00 at the latest so we could get home to help with preparations for the surprise party.  As the sun broke, we looked around just admiring the beauty of the world waking up.  Seeing that sunrise and sunset…watching God’s creation wake up and go to bed…that’s what keeps me hunting.  For me, it isn’t really about the killing.  That’s an added benefit.  I was excited to share that with Laura.

The day was nice again.  Clear and cold morning.  There was no sound other than our breathing until the faint light of day started to appear.  Like a well trained symphony, all at once the noises began.  Squirrels chirping and rattling in the leaves below us.  Birds chirping.  Odds seemed to be in our favor.  About 7:20 Laura looked at me with eyes like saucers.  "There’s a deer", she said.  A doe was bee-lining it through the food plot and stood directly behind the one pile of brush that was around.  It stayed there for about 10 minutes.  Laura could see the outline through the scope, but it was probably a 50/50 shot that the bullet would hit one of the larger limbs.  Not good enough odds.  I kept telling her to be patient.  That the likelihood of it bolting off was slim and that it should come back and feed in the food plot.  It kept watching the woods closely…which made me think ole big boy might step out.

Not sure what exactly it was in the woods, but it spooked her.  All of a sudden she bolted.  Never to return.  There went our chance.  Laura put back on her gloves and tried to warm up.  She was sad she didn’t get a shot, but excited to have seen one.

Around 7:45 I saw one step out about 250 yards away.  It was coming our way.  From Laura’s spot in the stand, she couldn’t quite see it yet.  Then 2 more came out with it.  They were headed towards the food plot.  At around 150 yards away, Laura put it in her sights.  The all three continued towards us quickly until they stopped about 75 yards out.  Right behind the brush pile again. 

This time, I wanted to give Laura a chance at it at least.  She got the deer in her sights.  I told her to give it a shot if she wanted to.  There was a chance she’d hit the brush, but it was one we were going to take.  I watched her gently squeeze, squeeze, squeeze that trigger just like we’d practiced on the .22.  It went off like a cannon.  And all three deer briefly scattered.  She’d missed. 

They weren’t running so I quickly got the gun from her and reloaded.  She got it back through the window and cocked the hammer.  This time one was in the food plot. This time she wouldn’t hit the brush.  She gently squeezed again.  She nailed it!  We saw it running, and saw where she was hit. She wouldn’t run far.  40 yards or so and she went down. 

I gave Laura a high five.  She was grinning ear to ear.  As I looked back out, the two other does that were with the one she shot came back out.  I quickly grabbed the bun, reloaded and dropped one of them at about 100 yards. 

It was an absolutely amazing experience.  I couldn’t have scripted it better.  I am not sure how much more Laura will hunt.  I know she won’t go nearly as much as I do.  But she will be back.  And I can’t wait to go with her.

Cupcake Wars!

Hayden and I (especially me) LOVE the show Cupcake Wars on the Food Network.  Although it makes me crave yummy cupcakes- it also inspires me to want to make fun deserts.  One day we decided that over Christmas break, Hayden and I would have our own Cupcake War.  We challenged each other to make two cupcakes, each having our own baking assistant, and to be judged by our neighbors.  We borrowed another mixer and set to work.  Two hours and a GIANT mess later, we were ready!

Hayden and Trey presented two delicious cupcakes:
1.A s’mores milk chocolate cupcake with a whipped vanilla icing, topped with graham cracker crumbles and two homemade marshmallow meringue cookies.
2.A dark chocolate toffee cupcake with a toffee buttercream icing, topped with a caramel toffee drizzle and toffee chips.

Haley and I presented two cupcakes:
1. A lemon cupcake with a lemon zest butter cream icing, topped with a white chocolate snowflake.
2.A dark chocolate cupcake with a chocolate raspberry ganache filling, topped with chocolate raspberry ganache, vanilla icing and dollop of raspberry jam.

The boys won and we had a great time.  Our neighbor asked what we had wagered…nothing at that point except bragging rights.  She suggested the loser have to clean the kitchen.  We both looked at each other and agreed that was WAY too high of stakes.  Next year we decided we are going to challenge the neighbors and expand the event!  In the mean time, I’ll be heading to Muddy’s or GiGi’s for my extravagant cupcake cravings!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!  So I’ve been slacking on blogging (so has Laura), but we’re working on getting back on track.  I’m not sure why, but it seems like time is slipping away from us more than I’d expect.  I know we’ve had Christmas.  I know we’ve got a new kid.  But it still seems like it gets away from me more than it should.

I read through my prior resolutions this past weekend.  Interesting to see what has and has NOT been accomplished.  So, in true form, here’s my NYE list for 2012.  Starting with our major milestones:

• Avery was born
• Now 3 years in the same house
• I got promoted to Director at work
• We got some land in Millington (well, my parents did)
• The hunting bug definitely bit me again
• I read the chronological Bible through
• Went to Honduras again for a mission trip – I led it this time
• Trey’s talking and starting to speak in sentences
• Avery’s near crawling
• Haley’s incredibly intelligent
• The discipleship group I was leading fizzled out
• The discipleship group I was in disbanded
• I felt like my work-life balance has never been better

Some things I hope to accomplish in 2012:

• Reading back through the Bible again
• Purposefully modeling Christ for our children
• Recognizing blessings as coming from God rather than my own doing
• Finding a family that needs assistance and helping them – not through monetary contributions only, but by making them a part of OUR family
• Taking time to build relationships…and not SELF SERVING relationships
• Letting others know what they mean to me.  Starting at home.
• Doing a triathlon – I’ve been slacking in this department

He Came!

Merry Christmas, Everyone!  I apologize for not sending out Christmas cards this year, but hopefully our faithful readers already know what we’ve been up to all year!  We have had a wonderful Christmas holiday
and LOVED having Hayden take off work and spend some time at home. One word to describe our Christmas would be “relaxed”.  How often can people say that about Christmas?  A few years ago we decided not to travel anywhere for Christmas day and that Santa would be able to come down our chimney each year.  Our decision to stay home is affirmed each year when we get to spend the entire Christmas day playing with all the new toys, staying in pajamas, and enjoying some family time. We have established a Christmas Eve tradition as well, Chuck E. Cheese.  This year was more crowded than normal but the kids had a ball.  (I laugh because every time we go to Chuck E. Cheese Hayden goes crazy wanting to play all the games himself too!  Definitely a kid at heart.)  After playing at Chuck E. Cheese we went home for dinner and cookie baking.  Hayden helped the kids bake cookies that Santa would love- Gingerbread with TONS of icing and sprinkles.

Christmas morning was magical.  I’m not sure if Hayden and I were more excited knowing what the kids were getting or if the kids were more excited anxiously awaiting Santa’s visit.  I’m pretty sure it was us that were more excited.  Trey came down at 3am.  He came in our room and since it was WAY too early so I got him a blanket and pillow to lay down next to our bed and go back to sleep.  Before going to sleep I followed him out to the Christmas tree and he just stood there staring in amazement.  It was so sweet to see him just taking it all in.  Two hours later, Haley came down at 5am.  This time there was no going back to sleep- she was TOO excited.  “Mom, HE CAME! And he brought me EXACTLY what I wanted!”  Haley got a Barbie princess castle.  I kicked Hayden and got him moving, Haley woke up Trey and practically dragged him to his feet so we could start opening presents.  It’s amazing that we even got the other presents open after Haley started playing with the Castle.  Once she started, she didn’t stop for DAYS!  She really loves it and I couldn’t be happier that I was able to find it for her- thank you again, Craigslist!  After opening the presents Hayden read the note Santa left commending the kids on being so great this year, especially in welcoming the Avery into the family.  The note also directed Trey to go outside into the garage for his big gift- A FOUR WHEELER!  This is the perfect gift for Trey because we can’t go into Bass Pro Shop without sitting on EVERY 4-wheeler in the store.  He was a little nervous about it at first but after Haley showed him how to drive it, it was on!  (Little did Haley know, we also bought her one- both used- but since we bought it in Jackson, MS, we couldn’t give it to her on Christmas morning. Hayden’s parents brought it up the next week.)

Avery missed the opening of gifts but the kids helped her open hers later on in the day.  The kids shopped in their own toy baskets for gifts and wrapped them for her.  They were so excited to give her the toys they picked out. Definitely learned the spirit of giving without having to buy anything!

I entered the age of technology with my new phone- I can take videos, send/check email, surf the web, and play Words With Friends now!!  I’m so excited and have had fun playing with all the new features.  Hayden did a great job picking the perfect gift for me.  He took a professional step up with his gift too.  He got a great leather brief case and has been looking very stylish carrying it back and forth every day.

Our prayer Christmas Eve night was one of thanksgiving- 1) for a God that loved us so much he allowed His son to humble himself to come to Earth- coming as a baby, to become the man that would bridge the gap so we could have eternal life.  He is faithful to His word and promises and Jesus’ birth is just one more reminder of that.  2) for being able to buy gifts that our kids only dream about.  We are not in this position because of anything we do, but because of the blessings we’ve received.

Cookie Day!!

It comes every year with great anticipation…yes, I’m talking about COOKIE DAY!  About 25 years ago, my Great-Grandma, Stella Bretzler, passed down the beloved Cruschiki recipe to me. This is one of the most memorable honors I’ve had.  She was the only one who knew how to make these cookies that the ENTIRE family waited for each Christmas.  No, there was no recipe.  We just had her over to our house so she could make them in front of me while I wrote down everything she put into the bowl with my fifth-grade handwriting on lined paper from school.  I still have this lined paper, grease and sugar stained now, many years later.

Each year since, my sisters, mom, and I have gotten to work- worker bees in the kitchen carrying on the beloved memory of Stella and the cookies that make Christmas complete. The St. Louis crew still anxiously await for the Platten’s to arrive with their share of the cookies. Today was even more special, now that my kids are able to appreciate and participate in the cookie making fun.  Now that I have an embroidery machine and have gotten quite handy at the sewing machine…not to mention pinterest inspiration, I got to work making personalized aprons for the occasion. (a little more involved than I had originally planned but luckily, my handy and loving husband helped me out so I could meet my deadline!) They turned out "Fabulous" and made the day even more fun.  Haley and Julie made my day as I listened to the two of them talk about Christmas, sing songs, and fold cookies.  Haley was so happy to be so involved- I think she helped do almost every step…and I could not have been a more proud mama.  (I say that a lot!)  Trey was the master of powder sugar shaking and dragging chairs across the kitchen.  We all ate our fair share of cookies.  Haley got to thinking that Santa must have to throw up at the hospital each year after eating so many cookies.

Kathleen was missed but she’ll get her apron in St. Louis when they meet up with the family.  She’ll just have to save it till next year when she can join us for Cookie Day 2012.  We texted pictures several times to help her feel like she was a part of the family day.

Halloween

I know we are a little late in getting our Halloween pictures up, but here they are! We had a great time celebrating fall this year- the kids got to pick a pumpkin from the farmer that came to their school, we attended a Harvest Party with our Sunday School Class, and then the Big Event- Trick Or Treating!

Haley was a Pirate Princess, Trey was Mickey Mouse, and Avery was a Pumpkin.  The kids had a ball dressing up and participating in their school parade.  Trey won the costume contest at our Harvest Party.  Avery completed our set of pictures by being the third Simons to wear the Pumpkin costume on their first Halloween. 

Trick-or-Treating was fun.  My parents (the Platten’s) came to walk around with us.  Grandpa Bill helped Trey a lot- avoiding falls on steps.  The Lucky family joined us also, which made the night even more fun.  My kids can’t get enough of Connor and Carson.  Plus, Mr. Chad carried all the kids through the neighborhood at one point or another.  We were all exhausted by the end of the night!  Hayden and I weren’t sure who would fall asleep the fastest- us or the kids!

Candy rules at our house these days.  Dessert is the best part of the day when we dump all the candy out of our bags and choose a piece to eat.  Trey just jumps onto the floor and starts chowing down.  He usually gets two or three down before I can get to the pile.  I have to keep a tight reign on him…at least attempt too.  Haley sits and analyzes which piece to choose for about 15 minutes to ensure she gets the best piece possible.  I crack up because she’ll ask, "Mom, have I ever tried a _________?  Did I like it?"  She doesn’t want to make a bad choice if she only gets one.    She generously gives Trey all the suckers, tootsie rolls, and skittles…she knows what she likes and what she doesn’t!  Trey will eat about anything.  As for Avery, we just let her roll around in it- as you can see.

Christmas Card Pictures (Family Picture Time)

We have had a ball taking family pictures lately.  In preparation for putting together Christmas cards- for us, Hayden’s parents and my parents.  We thought we’d give them several options.  Our favorite is the one above (click on it to see the larger image).  The ones below are great too.  Since we’ve been spending so much time in Millington this year, we decided we couldn’t pass up taking a family Camo picture.  One of the kids’ favorite activities is riding a 4-wheeler, we thought that’d make a great center piece.  Yes, we even have Camo for little Avery!  Trey is currently obsessed with 4-wheelers.  If we go into Bass Pro Shop, we have to let him sit on every one in the store!  We’ve even asked Santa to bring a Power Wheels 4-wheeler for Christmas…and luckily Santa found one at a garage sale that will be perfect!  Christmas morning is going to be AWESOME!

Now, we are just looking forward to a great Thanksgiving holiday with the family.  We are staying in Memphis this year and I can’t wait to go shopping with Julie and Kathleen.  It will be different this year with many stores opening at midnight…but we are up for it!  We hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy counting your blessings with loved ones.

Below are some of the outtakes from our sessions.  The top image is a triptych from one of our sessions, you can click that image to see the full size version.

Honduras Trip

What a whirlwind past few days.  I just got back from Tegucigalpa, Honduras this week for a quick mission trip.  It was fantastic.  One thing I like about these short trips is that you get a lot of bang for your buck.  The tough part is, it is non-stop moving the whole time you’re there!

We arrived in Teguc on Thursday last week around lunch.  As soon as we grabbed our bags we went to the worksite where the men would be.  We wanted to get a quick assessment of the work that needed to be done.  If you have been on a trip like this before, you know that plan flexibility is the name of the game.  This one was no different.  A large chunk of the work we were looking to do didn’t get approved by the city, so we didn’t have the permits yet.  Enter plan B.  Which was breaking up concrete and breaking down concrete walls.

The job site is really quite interesting.  The goal of the site is to be a church for those we’re called to look after…the poor, widows, orphans, drunks, prostitutes, etc.  It’s in a not so great area of town, which was the full intention when buying the building initially.  Over the next 4 months, they’ll be transforming this warehouse into a church/recover center complete with dorms for housing those in need of shelter.  They’ve already built an indoor soccer field there complete with artificial turf.

Thursday afternoon was spent delivering water to people in the Villa Nueva community.  For just $75, we had a large water tanker truck show up that provides about fifty 55-gallon drums of water.  We distributed water to those who needed it.  It was amazing to see the need for simple necessities such as clean water.  The government supplies these water trucks once per month and water can be purchased at a cost of ~$3/barrel.  Unfortunately, many people run out of water and some can’t afford it at all.  The living conditions we saw were harsh.

That evening , we were back at the hotel.  We stayed at the Humuya Inn.  I would in no way call our accommodations “roughing” it.  We had a few in our group that had never been on a foreign mission trip before.  I got the sense that they were a little concerned that we hadn’t accomplished much.  I tried to reassure them that we’d get in all the work we could handle.  I’m happy to say, they weren’t disappointed.

Friday morning started off with a bang.  The guys were busting concrete by 8 am and the girls were off to clean two of the schools.  I don’t think I’ve worked that hard in a long, long time.  We were using 3 pound hammers and sledge hammers to bust the concrete.  By 9:30, most of us had hand cramps and had to pry our fingers away from the tools.  Lunch arrived about noon.  None of us had to be told twice to take a break.  The afternoon brought an electric jack hammer (which was much needed) and more ear pounding, shoulder aching sledge hammering for the guys.  The girls headed over to the House Home to do a bible lesson with the kids.

The house home is an orphanage of sorts.  13 kids are there full time along with a house mom.  The kids range in age from 5 to 13.  These are some of the most well behaved, loving kids you’ll ever meet.

After we finished for the day with the concrete busting, we ran back to the hotel, showered and headed to the house home to meet the girls.  We had dinner with the kids and got to spend some time just hanging out with them.  They spoke a different language that most of us couldn’t understand…but laughter and love transcended language barriers.

Saturday brought more of the same for the guys.  We worked all day breaking up concrete, breaking down walls and started putting up the foyer wall in the church.  The girls helped put on a women’s conference and spent more time with the house home kids.

Saturday night we went out to feed the homeless, drunks and prostitutes.  We hit the streets about 10pm.  Let me explain to you the prostitute situation.  There are about 1200 of them in Tegucigalpa.  The vast majority (like 99%) are males that are cross dressers.  Many of them take hormones.  My understanding is that a lot of them aren’t from Tegucigalpa,  but are from smaller villages/towns all over Honduras.  They’re outcasts there so they come to the “big city” to try to make it.

Esteban Elvir, the director of POI on the ground in Honduras, has a heart the size of Honduras.  To see the way he loved on these people literally brought me to tears.  Hugging these people, picking them up off the ground, LITERALLY giving one man the shirt off his back.  To see the way these people looked, smelled and acted contrasted to the way Esteban and others from POI were treating them was amazing.  They didn’t see the exterior, but saw the soul underneath.

While we’re on the subject of Esteban, let me tell you a bit about his vision.  He envisions brining these people to the church we’re working on.  Running vans early Sunday morning to pick them up.  Letting them stay in the dorms that will be built so they’ve got a warm place to stay.  He understands that he won’t change them overnight.  That he can’t force them into a change of lifestyle and an acceptance of Christ.  But he knows that if they stay, he’ll have opportunities.  Opportunities to share with them. Opportunities to show them love.  And at some point, they’ll recognize it for what it is.

When we finally got back to the hotel in the wee hours of Sunday morning, we were exhausted but energized.

I got the honor of preaching in church on Sunday.  Esteban was the translator.  The service was great and afterwards we walked across the street and prayed for the “warehouse” that is soon to be the church as well as the people that would attend and the staff that would lead it.  We followed that up with a quick soccer game in the indoor soccer field.  It was a handful of us from the trip against the house home kids.  I don’t know the final score, but I can tell you that they ran circles around us.

We hit the mall for lunch and bought a few things for the house home kids.  We went back to the house home and handed out the gifts.  It was awesome watching them open the gifts.  When I say gifts, I’m talking socks, jeans, tshirts…nothing like our kids want as “gifts”.  But they were all so happy to get them.  They opened the gifts one at a time.  Everyone cheered as a gift was opened.

We had a tough time saying goodbye to the kids.  It’s amazing that after spending only a couple of hours with them, you get so attached.  I guess that’s what happens when it’s mixed in with the other activities that break down some of the walls in our lives.

We had dinner at an authentic Honduran restaurant and it was back to the hotel.  Monday brought the airport, which brought goodbyes, flights and customs.  Quite bittersweet.  Anxious to get back to my family, to love on them, to tell them what had happened, to start life up again as a different person than when I left.  But also missing those that we left behind.  A piece of us will always be there…and a piece of Teguc with us.

Eckman-Legrand Wedding and Casey Jones

Last weekend was traveling whirlwind!  Hayden took off Friday so we could begin our trek around the southeast headed to Kentucky to see Justin LeGrand marry the love of his life, Erin. We definitely made the most of each moment:

First stop, was to explore the Casey Jones museum in Jackson, TN.  We did the choo-choo boogie (Thanks, Mickey Mouse) as we ate lunch at the buffet, learned all there is to know about Casey Jones- more than the Grateful Dead had taught us through their song- and aced the quiz at the end of the tour.  Haley was overwhelmed by all the options at the buffet, then again in the candy store when Hayden let the kids pick 3 pieces of candy.  Oh, the choices!  The kids loved climbing on the train and ringing the bell.  Ms. Norma, the local historian, became our new best friend and told Hayden and I to study as we went through the museum because she was going to quiz us at the end.  Well, putting our two heads together we aced Ms.Norma’s test and won a prize!  It was so cute- she announced our Casey Jones IQ to all the customers in the gift shop as she presented our gifts- brand new Casey Jones writing tablets.  Haley was kept busy for the rest of the trip practicing her letters and drawing an endless amount of pictures for us.

After staying the night as the Caswell’s and eating an incredible breakfast, we were off to Kentucky.  We made a stop to the fourth-largest city in Kentucky, Owensboro, to visit the Kirkland Clans. It was great to catch up with John, Bailey, Drew and Morgan and to  re-live some college memories.  We know they are great friends because we weren’t too embarrassed to ask to do laundry the minute we walked it- we had to wash car seat covers and clothes due to some diaper shortcomings. 

The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a blast.  I was blown away with the classy, personal touches Erin put on everything.  The wildflowers she had planted for this special occasion on her farm decorated each table, tastes of South Carolina throughout, and strung lights to set the tone for an exciting and intimate night. Haley and Trey started dancing immediately and only paused to grab a quick bite and sips of Sprite.  Well, I take that back, Trey had a slightly rough night- all the dancing and spinning took toll on his stomach and he threw up all over one of Justin’s fraternity brothers and the table.  And Haley danced till she dropped.   Other than that slight hiccup in the evening we had an absolute blast celebrating the start of a great marriage for Justin and Erin- Congrats! (and thanks for a great weekend) I must say, the Platten’s know how to tear up a dance floor!  It was so fun having KJ and Jason around for the weekend.  It was sad to say good-bye, we miss them so much.