Saturday, June 6

anyone got a life vest? - i'm goin' in!

Yesterday afternoon, we hit the lake one more time with the Royeas & some other friends! I had such a blast on the boat... despite some predictions, even without a nap all day - I was a happy camper & exemplified great 1 year old boating ettiquite :o) Why do you people ever doubt what an angel I am, huh?? hahaha!

Lacey & Jennifer were fabulous babysitters for most of the day (much more fun than my boring mommy)... and Ashton & Alek (aka: the water bugs) were a blast to watch! We even met up with Courtney & Troy for a little while - - - they were on another boat yesterday, too.

Everyone tubed &/or wake-boarded (aside from yours truly, of course) - and I made an excellent cheerleader for everyone - clapping & "wooooing" as they jumped & fell.

The best part of the day when I got to take a dip in the water. I was a little nervous about the water temp of the lake, considering the rain & mild weather we've been having, but it was nice & refreshing. Within minutes, I was chillin' on my back... kicking my feet... waving... pointing at airplanes.... and about the time I was just about asleep in the soothing water... they scooped me onto the silly old boat again.

Mom got a few photos from the first part of the day... her camera died after Chris & Daddy wake-boarded, and the boys tubed.... so she did not get any photos of Alek's first water skiing attempt or any of her or Lacey on the wake board.... but you'll get the picture! Many thanks, as always, to the sweet Royeas for inviting us out on their boat... we'll certainly miss these excursions with you guys!!

Friday, June 5

no goodbyes... just ciao for now!

Our wonderful friends, Jessica, Kellye, & Erica, put together a wonderful bon voyage party for us last night at one of mommy & daddy's favorite Mexican restaurants in Nashville. Lots of friends showed up to say "farewell" to us.... so I am guessing that our final road trip to Texas is nearing.

Aunt Kellye made a DELICIOSO margarita cake (even daddy, the non-cake eater, loved it & can't stop talking about it)....Aunt Erica brought a MILLION fun balloons (I say it all of the time, but - gosh she knows my likes!).... and Aunt Jessica brought a GORGEOUS flower arrangement in an "UTennessee orange vase" (she chose mommy's taste impeccably - it'll be the first piece in our new San Angelo living room & we'll think of our Nashville buddies every time we see it).

Kellye packed me a yummy dinner.... and Jessica & Lacey were my "babysitters" for the evening.... keeping me so occupied, that mommy & daddy barely knew I was around (they're loss). The partay got started a little late, so my buddy Mia was at home snoozing, but everyone got to see lots of the two of us in the fun photo album that Kellye & Bill made for us... it is filled with sweet pictures of Mia & I from birth until now (yes - there were a few tears in mom's eyes as she flipped through the pages of pix of her two babies).

Tennessee is the only home I've known & boy am I glad to have been born in such a wonderful place, surrounded by great friends who love me & my family so much! Daddy & mommy may have been a little nervous moving here four years ago, but I am not certain why, because it has been the perfect place to begin our little family. We cannot say enough about how much we'll miss all of our wonderful friends here in Nashville as we move onto new adventures in Texas. It was such a fun night & we're thankful to all of our buddies that came. We did not say "goodbye," but instead.... "ciao for now"!

*click once below to get started, then simply hold your mouse cursor over the photos to pause & see captions*


Monday, June 1

pass, pass, pass, pass....

Daddy read that wonderful word, "PASS," 4 times today..... one for each section of his SRTA dental board exams.... woooo hoooooo!

When he called to break the good news to mommy, she screamed like she was bungee jumping from the Empire State Building... and then proceeded to cry like a newly crowned Miss America for a good hour or so (what a dork, eh?). I was napping during her hiatus & it is a good thing that she had my sound machine cranked up loudly enough, because I continued my nap as if nothing had happened. Kellye & Mia immediately brought over flowers & a congratulatory balloon... what fabulous friends, we have, huh?

Mommy ordered me a new shirt for the occasion... it says, "When I grow up, I wanna be a dentist, just like my daddy!".... and of course - it was the PERFECT outfit for today! We laid low tonight... mommy made one of daddy's favorite dinners, daddy popped the cork on a bottle 'o' bubbly, I got to have a glass of non-diluted apple juice, & even the doggies got a treat or two!

Honestly - this endeavor was such a group effort! We cannot thank all of our friends & family enough for all of the love, support, prayers, & help throughout this whole dental school craziness. This was one of the last steps.... after a few finger-prints & background checks, Daddy will now be a true certified dentist!!! Hope your teeth are prepared for this rock star tooth magician!

where's my pony????

What a lazy Sunday we had yesterday. Because of my sooper dooper snooty nose these days, the parentals decided that it would not be such a great idea to infect the rest of my Sunday School class, so we stayed home from church & in our pajamas until lunch! Just before lunch, daddy & I took a little siesta, while mommy went to her very last class at the gym (she's a bit bummed about leaving our Y... I think she uses it as an escape from me & daddy... hehehe).

It was an absolutely GORGEOUS day - not a cloud in the sky - so I decided to try on my new "poop kickers," to see if these Tennesseans could handle a little cowgirl attitude. In case you were worried from my last post that the camera had made a permanent departure.... put your minds at ease, because she was snapping photos as fast as Speedy Gonzales.... yikes!

Now.... where's my pony?????

Sunday, May 31

stacy saves the day

Well, ladies & gents - - - it has been quite the week here in Nashvegas. If I'm honest - it's actually been quite a couple of weeks!!! Daddy was frantically (& I mean F-R-A-N-T-I-C-A-L-L-Y) searching for a patient for his big test this weekend. As not to bore you with the nutty details, I'll give you the short version .....the SRTA (the test daddy must take to get his license to practice) is very, very picky about the type of cavities the dentist must fill for the test. Mommy had been saving up a few cavities for him over the past few years (ooooh - the things one does for love).... so daddy was able to use one of hers for the 1st filling. However... the 2nd filling (a class 3 cavity) proved to be quite the problem to find.

We had people all over the place looking for cavities. Popi was screening people in San Angelo, mommy was calling friends, who were calling friends & husbands & grandmas & dentists & strangers.... and daddy was searching through all of his old patients & all of the juniors' patients at school... it was a mess (to say the very least)! We were able to locate several class 3 cavities, but for different reasons - when closely examined - none would work as a test patient.

FINALLY.... on Wednesday morning, we called one last possibility in San Angelo.... mommy's long-time family friend, Stacy (we'd had a hint from Uncle Brandon that she might just have what we need). Sweet Stacy was willing to go into see Popi, so that he could get some good x-rays of her toothies. She went into his office Wednesday afternoon.... Popi told daddy that he thought she just might work & e-mailed over some pix of her mouth.... he filled another tooth that was just next to "daddy's cavity" that evening.... and got her a ticket to Nashvegas for the next morning.

Stacy left really early & got here on Thursday afternoon, got her cavity filled by daddy on Friday morning for the test, and headed back to San Angelo early yesterday morning. She deserves a medal for being so willing to do whatever was needed & asked of her.... her cavity worked out perfectly for daddy & we CANNOT, CANNOT, CANNOT thank her enough!!! Stacy was so much fun... I was feeling pretty crumby all weekend, so not only did she have to deal with the mouth stuff, but she also had to put up with my crankiness.

We also have to thank my sweet "Aunt" Kellye & buddy Mia for letting me hang-out with them all day Friday, while mommy & Stacy were having their cavities filled by Dr. Daddy. Both Mia & I were sick with snotty noses 'n' such, so you can imagine how much work it was for her to keep us both all day long!

It was such an absolutely wacko weekend... and mommy did not take the time to get out her camera much, but she did snap a few pictures when we took Stacy to see the Opryland Hotel Thursday afternoon while daddy prepared for the test. We were able to fit in a couple of other fun things, too, but mommy really didn't get out her camera (can you believe it????). There are a couple of other pictures, too - mommy stole those from Stacy's camera :o)

I've also included a snippet of video from my visit to the park with Mia yesterday. "Aunt" Kellye was nice enough to get us out of the house (to keep us from worrying about daddy's test all day)... thanks ONCE AGAIN, "Aunt" Kellye!

We cannot say enough about how very lucky we are to have absolutely WONDERFUL friends all over Nashville & Texas.... once again our family & friends saved the day!!!