What the BLog?

What the blog is going on here? Has anyone seen my blog because I sure haven't! THis summer has come and gone so fast that I haven't had time to blog some weeks and I thought I would never miss a beat with my blogging! It's been very busy around here. June and July flew by and August is on auto-pilot. My calendar is so busy I can't even pencil in scrappin' time!

School started last Monday with seminary starting the next day. Mom had her other knee replacement also last Tuesday so I have been traveling back and forth to see her and Dad in Athens. My sister MK came up to help out with Dad this past weekend and Sadie and I got to hang with her and we had a blast. (I didn't realize it's been almost eight months since I have seen her!) Sadie and I will bust mom out of rehab this Saturday and bring her home. She is doing such a fantastic job and is such a trooper! Grampie misses her so much and can't wait for her return.

Forrest turned 15 on August 8th and on the same day as mom's surgery he skipped school and took his learner's permit test-and PASSED! He's doing a great job driving but I swear, it's driving me crazy! I stress too much. The thought of putting my life (and his) and my car in the hands of a 15 year old scares the *&^%$ out of me! He gets good practice time by driving to seminary every morning and to school. ( there's not much traffic going in our direction! lol) He'll get in more driving time when soccer conditioning begins in the next couple of weeks. He and Sadie are growing up so fast! Just this past weekend, Sadie opened a Facebook account. Both of my babies are social networking!

I began my official duties as Sadie's middle school treasurer/secretary today. Football season starts next week with Sadie playing in the pep band. Believe it or not, I haven't picked up my camera in the last couple of weeks. I only realized I needed it ofter the fact. Oh well. Life happens.

Even though life is busy right at the moment, we are not loosing out on family time. I'm making sure we get in our time together and having our family dinners and hang out time. Family is all that matters in this crazy world and I will not loose them to craziness! Well, you know the 411 on us and hopefully the next blog I'll have a picture to post if I don't forget my camera! lol

Proud Moment

Forrest receive his Life rank in BSA last Wedensday along with several merit badges he has earned this summer. After he earns a few more merit badges during the next six months, he'll be ready to begin working on his Eagle! My favorite part of the Court of Honor is when Forrest escorts me to the front of the room and he pins me with the mother's pin every time he advances a rank. It's really a special moment when Forrest says thank you to me for all the help and support I give to him. Now if I can only get him to help me sew the badges on his sash!

Sadie's Turn

Sadie has been asking me for the last six months, "When am I going to get my braces?" I never had an answer to tell her until last Wednesday after her consultation visit with the orthodontist. She doesn't need major work like Forrest did, but it is enough to warrant metal in the form of brackets on her teeth. While Forrest was getting his six week check-up , Sadie and I had the consultation with Dr. Walker (no, we're not related) and it was then I was finally able to tell Sadie, "It's this Tuesday". Her reaction was priceless. She was happy, excited and nervous at the same time. She did really well during the two hour visit on Tuesday and came out wearing a big metal smile on her face. I was able to answer one question and hopefully it will be awhile before I hear her next question of "When am I going to get by braces off?"

Headed to EFY

I beleive this is my earliest post, as it's 4:15am this morning. I take Forrest and four other youth from our ward to Especially For YOuth (EFY) in Bowling Green Kentucky. It's a week long youth conference that really boosts their testimony, values and friendships amoung peers their ages. I'm so excited Forrest is able to go this year. The youth had two yard sales to healp raise the money, but fell really short. Each person costs $415 and we only raised about $650, which comes to $119 each youth. Our Bishop didn't give up hope and wrote to the EFY in Kentucky and told them our situation and they replied, "Send us your youth and your money". What an amazing blessing theyouth received, so here we come!

The Challenge

Our Relief Society issued a challenge of reading the Book of Mormon back in June and our family has taken has taken the challenge of reading two chapters a day (and I am also reading it personally.) To help motivate us to press forward and continue in our reading, the sisters were invited to watch John Bytheway's "Heros: Lessons from the Book of Mormon" last night. What an amazing video! Bytheway has such a talent in sharing his testimony and telling stories that keeps his audience's attention and wanting more. I'm so thankful I brought my scriptures so that I was able to follow along. (it also helps my mind not to wonder!) In our last televised Stake COnference in January, Sister Beck challenged use our Book of Mormon as a workbook. I have no problem marking and highlighting in my scriptures and by the time the movie was over, my poor marking pencil was so dull! Lately, I have discovered I'm marking in every chapter I read. I am so happy that our family is reading the Book of Mormon. With everyday that we read, we are increasing our testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ and moving closer to our goal of finishing by mid-September.

Down and Back Again

As my last post said, my purse was stolen last weekend and I was headed back to Troy, Al to make a police report. On Tuesday, we began our journey. I was able to find Troy State University with out any problem and went straight to the campus Police Station. The sergant who took my report was great and after finishing the task we came to do, we celebrated by eating at Ruby Tuesday. When it was time to leave, I wasn't aware I hadn't reversed my directions from the way I came and after traveling over an hour, I realized I wasn't seeing any familar land marks . After we passed an aviation college the sergant had told us about and remembering he also said the beach was only two hours from Troy, I had the feeling we may be going the wrong direction. Luckily, the next exit was a rest stop and it was there I was told we were only 38 miles from the Florida state line and 105 miles from Panama City Beach! When Sadie heard this, she begged me to continue in that direction! We all laughed at our situation and it was then I decided to take our picture to document this adventure was had gotten ourselves in! After getting us back on track and going the right direction towards home, we settled in for theride home. Those six hours passed by very quickly. We talked about everything and anything and more of the same. It was truly the best time I have ever had with my mom and daughter. After being gone for thirteen hours, driving for twleve hours, one police report and 700 miles later, we were home! We can honestly say we drove "down and back again"!

(this trip was the equivalent of driving to my sister's house in Lagrange, Ga twice! Lagrange is located on the right-hand side of the ALbama map above. I'm sure Mary Kate would have loved for us to visit her instead! lol)

My Purse is GONE!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks around here with Sadie and I going to camp and and this past weekend George and I chaperoned our youth to Troy State for Youth Conference. It was Forrest's first time and the whole experience was a blast, but the ending wasn't a blast for me-my purse was stolen! I remember putting it in the trunk of the Civic on Friday along wtih my camera so I would'nt have to carry it around with me during the workshops and when I came out an hour or so later, my trunk was opened! All I could think about was my camera. As soon as I noticed it was there, I drove off. It wasn't until Saturday afternoon that I noticed I couldn't find my purse. WHen I went to fill up for gas, it was nowhere to be found. It was then that I remembered that the trunk on the civic wasn't closing correctly when I packed the car and George took care of it and so when I opened the trunk to put my purse and camera in it, I guess it didn't close and so someone helped themselves to my purse! (I'm so thankful my camera wasn't taken. It would take me a over a year to replace it.) They got away with a good amount of cash and my favorite purse! (looks similar to picture, lol) Today I went and closed my bank accounts and opened new ones and renewed my drivers license. BOth sets of keys to my van were in my purse so I will need to get those replaced. They might be expensive because they have a chip in the key and will need to be programed. I still have lots to do to recover my identity. Sadie insisted I call the Social Security office Saturday night when she said, "I do not want to loose my identity at age 12!" She's so funny! I couldn't file a police report over the phone, so my mom and I will make the four hour journey back to Troy State University tomorrow. What a hassle it is to loose something so private and intimate as your purse. I'll be drinking a case of Sundrop tomorrow as I'll be gone for about 12-11 hours. Wish me luck!