Thursday, June 30, 2011

Bama "Highlights"

We had another awesome time with family and friends in Alabama so I am going to just hit the highlights and share some of my favorite pictures.......

Pool Party for Hannah's 19th birthday at Mike and Jenn's house in Caladonia, MS.......
She's so beautiful!!! Fun around the pool..............

Below is Haven jumping off the diving board in her waterproof cast!!! YAY!!! She felt "normal" for once in 9 weeks!
Landon and Chloe.....
Faith and Haven on the slide............
Bren and Haven....such a sweet picture!
All of Nana's grandchildren!! (This was taken AFTER being in the pool so the girls were not very happy with their appearance....please don't kill me girls!!! You are beautiful!)
Me with my brothers Robby, Kerry, and Mike
We traveled to Milan, TN to see MIke's best friend Randy and his wife Penny. Mike preached at his church on Sunday night and then we went to Holly Pond to spend time with friends.
Making pizza with Bonnie is always a highlight!
We got to see many of our friends in a short amount of time and I didn't make many pictures. Mason and Landon got to see a lot of their Parkside school friends at a surprise birthday party for Hunter Whitehead. They also got to spend some time with the Tankersleys.....
I am so thankful for the time I got spend with Jeff and Tammy Silvey, Bonnie and Shane Bowman, Jessica and Jerry Creel, Dawn Wright, Tracy Tankersley, Appi Pate, and Cathy Bell...such a short time with each of you but thankful for what I can get!

Then we'll never forget the tornado damage....this was some shots of Cullman
This use to be East Side Baptist Church (above)
And below where whole blocks of buildings are just gone



And another highlight is always special times with cousins and grandparents.......
We finally got to meet Brayden, our great nephew....he is so adorable!!!!


All of the Owen grandchildren.........
....






Football with the cousins.....





And we'll always remember that this was the trip we said goodbye to this little fellow......
We found a great home for "Bama" in Bama and it was emotional departure from Gordo due to this!! (Never thought I could get so upset over a stupid dog!)

Then we traveled back to Colorado and just outside of Tucumcari, New Mexico, this happened....


At 5:00AM, we had a blow out. Praise God that we didn't wreck and He provided for us that early in the morning. May God pour out His blessings on the saint that got up at 5:44am to replace our tire!
We also spent time with our aunts, uncles, and cousins but I didn't pull out the camera during those times. I always regret it when I realize it! It was a great, very memorable trip and spending time with many of you made our lives a little SWEETER!

Kaye and Hershel's 50th Wedding Anniversary

Our reason for visiting Alabama in June (during baseball season here) was to celebrate Mike's parents 50th Wedding Anniversary!
Happy Anniversary Kaye and Hershel!!!!
We had a great turn out and the cake and food was great! Thank you to all who came out to help us celebrate!
Here are some shots from the day.......










The only family that got to come out was Hershel's sister and brother-in-law, Earlene and Paul Hamilton. It was so good to see them because for us it had been several years. The food was catered by Shelia Puckett and a lady that Kayci works with, named Crystal Buck, did the cake for us. It was beautiful and tasted GREAT so if you need a cake in the Gordo/Tuscaloosa area, call Crystal via Kayci. We also had two photographers there so they have a lot of pics to share with us and I can't wait to see them.
I enjoyed visiting with many of you and what an honor it was to be a part of such a major celebration!! We love you Pop and Mama Kaye!!

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

New, Shorter Cast

BEFORE..............

CUTTING IT OFF.......
The waterproof lining.....

The new tie-dyed cast!


It is still non-weight bearing but shorter and we can get it wet!! It took a little while to get use to being able to move her knee around. We go back in 3 weeks and then we might can go to a walking cast. YAY!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Summer is Here!

Well Summer is in full swing now! This is the first week that we have opened our windows and slept with the ceiling fans on (However, we close the windows at night). The temperature is perfect right now, but still too cool to enjoy Lake "Artic" as I call it. Everything is really green and beautiful, which makes for great baseball weather. Mason and I traveled to Grand Junction for a tournament this weekend and it was a beautiful place.
Here is Mason in the outfield....
He is pitching this year, playing 3rd some and playing in the outfield. While he is not thrilled to be out there, His arm is amazing so he can make those throws from outfield to home plate if he needs to.
His batting has been good this year, with 2 homeruns so far (in park).

Eating at Applebee's with Bodie, Chance, and Taed
This is Robin Snooks and Jennifer Hine (mother and daughter) who we spent the weekend with

It was 90 degrees in Grand Junction but the wind blew some and it felt great! We loved to park ourselves under the shade trees!!!

I haven't been taking many pictures lately so I've been a little lax on the blog. Here's the updated news in our family:
1) We leave for Alabama the night of the 15th....that's next Wednesday---woo hoo!!!

2) Haven gets her shorter cast on in one week. It will be waterproof and could possibly be a walking cast depending on the x-ray. She does a lot of hopping around and rarely uses her walker anymore inside the house. She is definitely the best "HOPPER" I've ever seen!

3)I have been getting a lot of work with my new job at Derrico Computers because other employees have been out on vacation. The timing couldn't be better as God knows our needs and He supplies them for us every time!!

4)With that being said in #3, Mason goes for a consultation with the Orthodontist on Thursday because he will need braces on to help pull down some teeth that are not coming down straight.

5) VBS starts in July this year so I am now working on getting it organized so that when we get back from AL, we'll be ready to start.

Happy Summer everyone!

Thursday, May 19, 2011

May Updates


Haven is doing well, especially since her cast is on. Before the cast, it hurt her every time we moved her and we always had to keep the leg up, even when she was using the bathroom. Now she lets it hang down and it doesn't bother her which makes life much better! Baseball games were a little challenging because she would get so bored.......this is a picture of her at a game before the cast......
While she has some little admirers around her, this was not typically the case. The friends she normally played with ignored her because she couldn't run around with them any more....it made me so sad for her!
Well May is filled up with baseball......

It has been a challenging season this year due to some coaching issues, and believe it or not, Mason has not been enjoying it. Sometimes the coach makes allllllllll the difference.......

On Tuesday, we had Kindergarten Registration for Haven! She was excited about it and of course, we were a little sad. Someone let us borrow their pediatric walker on Sunday and she has now gained some independence back. This makes her so happy! Here's a pic in front of Bayfield Primary School with her little walker......
Yesterday was the last day of school for the boys and look at their first day of summer vacation....

All I've got to say is........BAMA in 29 days!!!!!!!

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

The CAST

BEFORE................
DURING.......................
Yes, this part was really, really painful for her because the doc tried to line the bones up....
And AFTER.........................
All the way up her leg................

Can you tell that's an elephant? We have to go back once a week for x-rays. She will eventually go to a shorter cast and then a walking cast. We have not been able to find "crunches" for her (that's what she calls crutches) and we are not sure at the point if she will even be able to use them because if she puts any weight on this leg, the break is diagonal and it would cause a more detrimental break.
As you read this, please pray that this will heal faster than expected so she can swim in Alabama with all her cousins. Also, she still suffers from pain, especially late evening. It is so hard to watch your child hurt and cry out in pain.....my heart breaks for those parents with terminally ill children.
Thanks for your prayers!

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Another Break!

Since moving to Colorado, Haven has broken her collar bone, fractured her wrist, busted her chin, and now ..........

She broke her tibia, the largest of the two bones that run from her knee to ankle. She and Mike were riding the 4-wheeler up to the mailbox to get the mail and Mike was letting her steer. For some reason, she jerked the wheel to the left as fast as she could, and in the gravel, the ATV turned over and knocked them off. Mike is pretty sore today and hurt his hip but is OK. Haven will get her cast on next week and will then learn to use crutches.

Meanwhile, there will be lots of TV, Ipod games, card games, books read, and developing patience over the next 6 weeks!
Please pray that her leg will be healed before our trip to Alabama on June 16th so she can enjoy all the swimming pools her families have!

Our little princess/tomboy is definitely our accident-prone child!! (There's one in every family- right? RIGHT????)