Anyway, I'll start with my visit to North Carolina. Mom had told me that she was planning to go see Scott before he was shipped off to Iraq again. After thinking a few seconds and realizing it had been at least 2 years since I had seen him last and that I had never even met his son Chase who is 2 months older than Carolynn, I decided I wanted to go, too. I planned to take Carolynn with me, and a week before the trip, we added Trevor to the visitor's list. He was very excited to go see Caelin. I had to beg some fellow co-workers to trade days with me at work (which ended up causing some minor difficulties with Mike's schooling) in order to have the time to drive the 9 hours down and 9 hours back and still have time to visit. Trevor would miss a day or two of school, but I wasn't that worried.
We left Saturday October 10th in the evening about half past 6 pm. I figured if we drove all night, then the kids would sleep in the car, making for a more pleasant trip for them. We had a back-up plan to stop if Mom and I got too tired too drive. We made great time, only stopping once for gas and potty and got down to Scott's a little after 2 am. Carolynn had fallen asleep shortly after we left Granny's, and when I tried to move her into the playpen to sleep in the house, she woke up. She decided she wasn't tired anymore (even tho I was exhausted because I really hadn't slept the whole way), and even after I tried putting her in bed with me, she stayed awake until after 5 am. Then shortly after 6 am, Caelin, excited to start playing with Trevor, came in and woke me up with a cheery "it's morning time! Time to get up!" And the day's adventures started!
We started off the morning with Caelin's soccer game. Caelin didn't seem to care
much about the game, but he did go after the ball and actually got a kick on it a couple of times. It was hard to get good picture as my camera's zoom isn't that great and the kids all tended to conv
erge around the ball making a good shot nearly impossible. Caelin was #6. Scott spent most of the game entertaining Chase while trying to watch Caelin.
I finally got to meet my nephew. And
Chase is absolutely adorable! Beautiful curls surrounded
his cherubic face.
His whole face lights up in a smile when he is happy, and he has the most adorable giggle! Unfortunately, that evening before Scott left, Lori cut all those beautiful curls off of Chase. He sat very patiently, never uttering
a complaint through the whole procedure. And when he was finished, he was just as
cute as he had been when she started!
Carolynn loved playing with someone her own size. She and Chase were the best of buds as she pla
yed with all his toys, jumped on the trampoline and rode in the wagon with him. Chase was a little slow to warm up to
this creature invading his domain, but h
e was sweet and didn't fight back when Carolynn wanted the toys he was playing with. And Carolynn has never seen such fabulous toys in her life! N
ot only did Chase have fun things to play with, but he had two dogs bigger than her that didn't even try to knock her over!
Trevor, in the meantime, was having the time of his life with Caelin. Caelin's bedroom floor, sp
otless when we arrived, was quickly covered with Transformers, cars, dinosaurs, and myriad other toys. And after spending hours playing with toys in the bedroom, they went for walks with Granny and I, caught frogs, jumped on the trampoline and acted like boys. Trevor was as happy as coul
d be playing with Caelin and his toys! That afternoon, Granny and I took the kids to a playground where we had a blast playing tag, swinging, and climbing around. That ni
ght, Caelin introduced Trevor to his Xbox 360. You can guess what Trev wants (and isn't getting) for Christmas now.
Scott left for Iraq Saturday night. Our prayers follow him. I know I don't say it often, but I love my brother. I am so glad I got to see him before he left. He is remembered in our family prayers every night, as well as many times throughout the day in my personal prayers. Thank you, Scott, for the service you give to our country. Thanks to you and the other men and women of our military, I can tuck my children in at night and know they will be safe in their beds. I know the sacrifice it must be to leave those beautiful children you have so that my children can have peace and safety. Thank you. I love you.
Devon's calves are Spot and Spunk, and Josh's calf is Beef. As you can see, Sage likes to make sure the cow's faces are washed after they're done eating!
Unfortunately, Spot passed away for an unknown reason this past Saturday. Devon was very upset. He really enjoyed the calves... not just because of their money making potential, either! Sometimes I wonder if the boys will get too attached to sell them for meat this next year!
gon. They loved
being pulled by Granny all over! The weather was absolutely beautiful! We drove to the "beach" near the opening of the development and the kids waded into the cold water and played in the sand. Chase didn't really move from the spot he was placed for a good 15 minutes as the others played and wandered around the beach.
afternoon, Trevor and Caelin carved some pumpkins for Halloween. The boys helped clean out the guts and Granny and I carved the faces they designed. Carolynn and Chase wandered around the yard, checking miscellaneous items throughout the experience. Then everyone posed for pi
ctures.
We started off the morning with Caelin's soccer game. Caelin didn't seem to care
much about the game, but he did go after the ball and actually got a kick on it a couple of times. It was hard to get good picture as my camera's zoom isn't that great and the kids all tended to conv
erge around the ball making a good shot nearly impossible. Caelin was #6. Scott spent most of the game entertaining Chase while trying to watch Caelin.
Chase is absolutely adorable! Beautiful curls surrounded his cherubic face. His whole face lights up in a smile when he is happy, and he has the most adorable giggle! Unfortunately, that evening before Scott left, Lori cut all those beautiful curls off of Chase. He sat very patiently, never uttering 
a complaint through the whole procedure. And when he was finished, he was just as 
cute as he had been when she started!
yed with all his toys, jumped on the trampoline and rode in the wagon with him. Chase was a little slow to warm up to 
this creature invading his domain, but h
e was sweet and didn't fight back when Carolynn wanted the toys he was playing with. And Carolynn has never seen such fabulous toys in her life! N
ot only did Chase have fun things to play with, but he had two dogs bigger than her that didn't even try to knock her over!
otless when we arrived, was quickly covered with Transformers, cars, dinosaurs, and myriad other toys. And after spending hours playing with toys in the bedroom, they went for walks with Granny and I, caught frogs, jumped on the trampoline and acted like boys. Trevor was as happy as coul
d be playing with Caelin and his toys! That afternoon, Granny and I took the kids to a playground where we had a blast playing tag, swinging, and climbing around. That ni
ght, Caelin introduced Trevor to his Xbox 360. You can guess what Trev wants (and isn't getting) for Christmas now.
