Pre Christmas with Gaga Dale

Becasue we are going to be gone for Christmas to Utah we had a pre Christmas with Gaga Dale so the kids could open their presents from her. The kids got way to much as usual. Nathan and Devan even got an unexpected present from their cousin Emily. A bra and panty set. Emily just couldn't resist and had to play the joke on the boys. It was pretty funny.

Coming to Utah

We fly Monday and I can hardly wait but I can't hardly wait to see Alabama beat Utah in the Sugar Bowl. It should be an awsome game. I was just sitting here thinking about it and I thought I would get it off my chest how excited I am. LOL Really and truely I just can't hardly wait till Monday. I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas to get here. Please pray the weather holds until my flight arrives at 10:34 am Monday, Utah time.

Stay off the roads.

Now that Nathan is 15 he was able to go take the written portion of the driving test. Upon passing you receive your learners permit. Well he was successful on his first attempt and the great state of Alabama thought it was ok to issue him a permit. Very scary in my opinion. So of course he has been chopping at the bit to be able to drive when ever and where ever. The first trip to town was extremely scary and I nearly broke my fingers off holding so tight to the bar above the door. Anyway the trips have become less scary and he actually is doing a really good job. However, word of caution if you see my truck coming down the road just try to avoid it because you never know who is driving. LOL

"O' Christmas Tree"

It is that time again to put up a tree. Since we had lost are fake tree in the house the boys presuaded me in getting a real tree this year. It was fun even if our big tree finding adventure was at Lowes. We found one for the house and one for daddy.

"ROLL TIDE ROLL"

Larry and his dad where die hard Bama fans. Over the years of our marriage I had grown to enjoy Bama football too. I then really caught the fever when we moved to Alabama. You just can't help it. They live and breath football here. Of course the biggest rival is Auburn. They meet up yearly in what is called the "Iron Bowl". Unfortunately, Bama has lost the last 6 years which is kind of a source of embarrassment. Anyway the Iron Bowl was on Sat Nov 29th. We joined Jerry (Larry's Uncle) who is one of the biggest fans I have ever seen, in watching the game. This year the game was a complete shut out with a score of 36-0. Bama also won their first Iron Bowl ever on home territory breaking that curse as well. ROLL TIDE!

Missy entertaining herself during the game.

After the game and a birthday party that Aunt Alice was throwing for her two nieces we left and drove back to Alabama. We arrived home at 2:30 am but we beat all the holiday Sunday traffic. Made it home in our fastest time ever, 5hr 20 mins so it was well worth the late night getting in. We had a good Thanksgiving but very hard to get thru. It just wasn't the same without Larry and we all missed him terribly.

Thanksgiving Guest

For Thanksgiving dinner we had an unusual guest show up in the back yard. That is right a turtle. The kids thought it was great they all had to go see it and take pictures. Of course no one thought to take pics of the actual Thanksgiving dinner. Anyway we had Thanksgiving with my friend Erica in Florida. Those who attended (not pictured) Erica, her husband Tim and two children Jonathan & Katie, Tim's Mom, Erica's Mom and step dad, Erica's Sister Connie and her two girls Brie and Lexie, Erica's friend and her daughter Montana, and of course Me, Nathan, Devan, Marissa and my sister-in-law's sister Katie. We had all the usual Thanksgiving goodness and ate way to much.

Nathan's Birthday Cake

I found these pics of Nathan's B-Day cake. Erica made it for him complete with Alabama "A" and a singing candle.

YEAH, Happy Birthday too ME!!!!!!

Nathan's 15th Birthday

For Nathan's 15th birthday we were in Florida. Nathan had his party earlier on Nov 8th at the National Peanut Festival in Dothan. So on his birthday we went to Logan's Steakhouse (The Peanut Resturant) for a late lunch. On the way back to where we were staying we had this beautiful sky to look at. Nathan said it must have been his present from his Daddy.

Disney World

On Tuesday Nov 25 we went to Disney World. We spent half the day at the Magic Kingdom and the rest of the time at Disney Hollywood Studio. It was a very long day but we had a ton of fun.

Marissa, Katie, Devan, & Nathan in front of the side of the castle.

Jonathan, Devan, Katie M., Katie T., Marissa, & Nathan after riding splash mountain. All Wet!

Devan bought himself an old fashion Micky Mouse Club hat complete with name on the back.

What kind of face is that!!!! LOL

Pretty Christmas Decorations. AWWWWWHHH!

What kind of gang is this in the streets of New York at Hollywood Studio's.

Memory Lane

On Monday we slept in then took a little trip down memory lane. We visited where the trailer had been, Grandma Dale's old houses, the kids old schools, etc. We even dropped in on Marissa's old baby sitter Ms. Glenda and visited for about 1/2 hour. She hadn't changed a bit. We then went to the mall to look around. The play ground was still there that had been Nathan and Devan's favorite place to go with grandma. I don't know how many hours they spent playing on it but it was alot. Of course, as Nathan observed, it was much larger back then. Marissa played some on the play ground but doesn't really remember. They had fun finding out that they could now reach the top of the castle and could climb up the pot of gold. We then had dinner at Wings of Winter Garden, one of Larry's all time favorite places to eat. Memory lane can be fun but it can be hard to remember all those good times.

Lake Tohopekaliga

On Sunday we went with Erica to her church in Kissimmee, First Baptist of Kissimmee. After we ate at Long John Silver (very yummy) and then Erica took as to a park on Lake Tohopekaliga. It is Lake ToHo for short. There was a huge covered playground, a light house, and lots of trees. The kids had a good time playing and exploring the light house. After we went to Tim's moms house to visit and that evening went to visit Jerry and Alice (Larry's Uncle on his dad's side and his girlfriend). Then home to bed because we where really tired.

Thanksgiving Trip To Orlando

We decided to go to Orlando for the Thanksgiving Holiday. The kids had the entire week off so I took Mon & Tues off. We left on Sat. Nov 22th about 10:00. It was a beautiful day and a nice trip. We took our time and even stopped at Cracker Barrel for lunch. Here are some silly car trip pics the kids took.

Katie & Devan

Nathan

Marissa & Katie

TROY BAND DAYS

Nathan talked me into taking him to the Troy University football game. It was also Troy band days. 26 local high school bands spent the day in clinics and then attended the game and performed 2 songs at half time with the "Sound of the South" Troy University marching band. It was awsome becasue I had heard their band was great. Which they were (26 tubes) so you can imagine how big this band is. It made it even better with all the high school bands. Brian is in the Geneva high school band. He is Larry's cousin Stephanie's oldest boy. Marissa decided to stay with grandma Dale at a birthday party and didn't go to the game. By the way Troy won. I don't know the final becasue it was so cold we left in the middle of the 4th quarter. Here are some pics. I only had my phone so they are a little blurry.

All the bands on the field at half time.

Larry's Aunt Sally (with glasses), Cousin Stephanie, and Josh (Stephaine's younger son)

Stephanies's oldest, Brian, is in the Geneva High school band.

Nathan went to a Troy University Game all decked out in Alabama outfit. Hat, shirt, jacket, pants, and key chain around his neck. Got to love him.

Cherie and Devan

Devan and Josh

Half time

In Memory of Larry

Husband, son, father, & friend.

Larry Allen Dale

12/27/1967 - 7/10/2008

House Fire

Most of you are aware that we had a house fire on 6/6/08. Some have asked to see pictures so I am going to post them here to save some time.

The two pictures above are of the master bedroom right after the fire department left. We could not go inside because the fire Marshall had not been out so this is looking through the window that the fire dept had broken out.

Living Room and Stairs
Shows how much smoke there was. This is the washroom off the back of the house. We had camping gear and Christmas boxes on the shelves. Most of our personal property was ruined due to smoke damage.

Hard to see but this is the hole left in the floor under the stairs. The air return duct work use to be in this space.

Up the stairs. The window in the background is the window in my master bedroom.

Front door.

Master bedroom and bath. The window in the back is over the jet bathtub. The hole in the wall is where the fire started and burned a hole through the floor, Larry's closet wall, and the wall under the stairs. The private investigator said he thought the alarm clock had started the fire. I never got an official cause from the fire Marshall.

Ceiling in master bedroom.

Different view of the hole with the puppies observing.

Looking under the stairs and through to the master bedroom.