SURPRISE NONNI

Friday morning Hailey and I left Clarksville at 4am to embark on our surprise visit to Tampa! Well, Papa knew we were coming, after all he paid for our ticket, but Nonni had NO IDEA. Planning started the previous Sunday when Papa called and asked if I wanted to go and see Tech play at the ACC Championship, the deal being I would have to get on a plane (I fear flying) and he would take care of the rest, tickets, pick up, etc. I pondered the idea for a night and after much convincing from both Papa and Karl I decided to go. It was then decided that we wouldn't tell Nonni Irene that the Hailey bug and I were coming, why not give her a little surprise.

First leg of the journey was Nashville to Atlanta, since that flight was at 5 am I have no documentation, but Hailey and I were both passed out! Next we got to sprint through the Atlanta airport to catch our conncetion...once on board Hailey was her regular chipper morning self . . .

playing with the seats, belt buckles, tv screen and anything she could find. Thankfully the flight was only about half full so we got two seats to ourselves. To my amazement as soon as we were rolling down the runway for take off Hailey passed out again!! She proceeded to sleep the entire one hour trip down to Tampa! And even though she was such a great passanger the sight of the Florida coastline out the window was a welcome one!!

Papa met us at the gate and it was off to Ybor to surprise Nonni. She was speechless, shocked and I even though she might have a heart attack at one point =) But she didn't and the surprise was a super success!!! After the inital shock wore off Nonni proceeded to run around the house saying "I would have had this done had I known you were coming" . . . we kinda caught her on cleaning day so there was laundry in the works, dogs being bathed, etc. No big deal, Hailey dove right in and helped!!


After the doggies had their baths we went for some lunch at the local burger joint, yummy! Nonni shared her turkey sandwitch with Hailey, and her sweet tea (just what she needed Nonni, caffeine and sugar!)

Then we came home and just layed low for a bit. Hailey found some fun new toys, Nylabones. For those who don't have dogs, Nylabones are hard plastic chew bones for dogs. Yummy! Abbey wasn't too keen on sharing her toys, but so long as Hailey was willing to share back she dind't mind too much!

!

That evening Nonni Irene stayed home with Hailey while I went out with my dad to do some pregaming! Being a mommy now I am the ultimate light weight when it comes to drinking, so 2 and a half Shandy's later (a delicious mixture of beer and Sprite) I was DONE. We did however have a great time and met some fellow Hokies!

Family Weekend Recap

I know, I know, I've been slacking on blogging about the Holiday Weekend with the family, but here is a little recap of our fun!
Black Friday was a blast as usual . . . Karl and I got up at 430am and headed over to Walmart to get our 46" Samsung TV. The place was INSANE, but thankfully no one was trampled to death (apparently someone in NY was, how scary!) We got our TV no problem and proceeded to stand in line for 45 minutes . . . I had the camera but forgot to take pictures, oops! Then we headed to Target to try and get a car DVD player, but we weren't at the front of the line and by the time we reached the electronics counter they were gone =(. We came home by 630 and then Wendy and I went out for round two, the mall. By noon I was exausted and called it quits! I am happy to report however than Nonni in Florida was successful in procuring a car DVD player from Target down in Tampa =)


A little later in the day we all headed out to a local "cut your own" tree farm -- I had my heart set on cutting our own tree, Griswold style!! =) Once there however it didn't take me long to decided that I prefered the Frasier Firs way more than the White Pines, and since the Fir doesn't grow in Tennessee they were precut from North Caroline. So we picked a nice Fir tree and took it home for decorating.


There was also much present opening this weekend . . . Grandma and Boompa brought lots of Christmas presents from home and we opened several of them so that they could watch the joy on Hailey's face (brought on by the fun wrapping paper and tissue paper more so than the actual presents! They could have saved a bundle by just wrapping empty boxes!!


Grandma bought the cutest little outfit that has a trap door on the bum . . . ADORABLE!

Today we ventured down to Nashville and visited the Opryland Hotel. It was a great way to get into the Christmas spirit, we walked around all the decorations, and had lunch at the Irish pub, where we learned Hailey LOVES lemons . . . she's her daddy's girl!


Finally it was time to say bye bye to Grandma and Boompa who have a long drive back to Virginia . . . we had the bestest time while their visit lasted and cannot until we see them again!

Introducing Molly

I guess my family won't leave me alone until I post some Molly pictures -- so here she is, still living at our house on trial, although she'd have to screw up pretty bad to leave now =) She a sweet girl, calm with Hailey and gets along really well (usually) with Jersey ... they're still testing the waters with one another so there are occasional spats.

The first thing Karl did was put a Wake bandanna on "my" dog -- they ended up losing the game, serves him right =) Then he wanted to rename her Guinness ( I considered it, because Nessy would have been cute, but she has been Molly for a year and a half so I didn't want to confuse the poor girl)

Life Goes On

Sorry for the blogging hiatus, I'm sure you all understand my needing a little break. I have decided to take Cali's passing as a wake up call -- life is short (dog's are obviously way shorter than humans, but still) and Cali lived hers with so much joy and contentment for the everyday activites, so I have spent the last few days just hanging out with Hailey and Jersey (and daddy when he is around), my house is a little out of sorts (no mom, it's not in shambles, just not pristine like normal) and it's actually been really relaxing. I have worn sweats, as has Hailey, and we have just been bumming it, enjoying one anothers company. I have not worried about what laundry needs done, I have started several loads and they all now wait for me to fold them when I feel up to it, I have not vacuumed (that will be done today though because the hair is beginning to take over) and the bed got made today for the first time since Thursday . . . and I am happy to report, it hasn't bothered me =) So what HAVE I done for the past two days you may ask? Well here are some pix from our new "fun, laid back, life is short enjoy it while you can" attitudes . . .

Hailey has taken a shining to books (that must come from Aunt Lisa). Atleast she has good taste, she went for my drama/romance books rather than daddy's war books . . .

"Auntie" Jada and "Uncle" Garrett came over for a visit yesterday . . . Garrett is home on R&R so he finally got to meet the little bug! They had a good time hanging out, getting to know one another, and it was nice to have the company of some really good friends! We cannot wait for January when Garrett will hopefully be home for good, not that Jada herself isn't great company but we all know she and therefore we are happier with Garrett around =)

That same afternoon (at the same time as our visitors) there was a bad accident on the main road behind my house. You can see the emergency vehicles, and even med flight came in and landed in the field behind our house . . . exciting to watch but our prayers were with whomever was being medivaced out. When we drove by the area today I noticed a deer laying off the road in the field where the accident occured, perhaps that is what caused the accident



Last night Karl decided to give my back a break from leaning over the tub and he offered to give Hailey her bath -- so with running shorts on he threw himself into the task, literally . . . it just so happened that Garrett and Jada stopped by unannounced with some yummy "better than sex" cake right when Karl jumped in the bath, the slightly akward greeting between Karl & Garrett was so funny! Guys are silly, Jada had no problem waltzing in and saying hi, seriously Garrett I swear, he had shorts on =)



This morning daddy again helped out and fed little Bug her monring yougart while mommy showered, yummy!!



Then following Jersey's graduation from puppy class Hailey and Jersey played a little ball together. Those two are the best of friends and good company for one another, even though Jersey misses Cali girl terribly!

And finally Hailey was up to her new tricks again . . .

STANDING! She pulls herself up totally unassisted and just stands. She needs support from whatever it is she uses to get herself up, but still, standing, really!? She's not even 7 months yet, she NEEDS to slow down a little for mommy's sake!!!

Hope you have enjoyed sharing our past few days with us! And I hope that Cali can inspire others to just enjoy the simple things in life . . . I know we do!

On a little side note, we are going to visit an animal shelter tomorrow . . . I have no intentions of ever replacing my beloved old girl, but I know that she would want another dog to have the opportunity at life and a wonderful family that she did, and being that it's coming up to the holidays I can't help but think that we have the room in our home and in our hearts to give another pup that chance. I may get there and decide that it is WAY too soon for me, or I may just fall in love with another pair of baby browns like I did the day I found my Cali at the pound. Either way we'll keep ya posted =)

Wake Forest Weekend

Several months ago we planned our big trip to Wake (Karl's almamater) for Homecoming Weekend; Auntie Lisa, Auntie Heidi, Auntie Kris, Uncles Mike & Mike, Nana & Boompa were all going to meet up together in Winston-Salem, NC and have a big family weekend at the Homecoming game. Unfortunately plans got a little altered, as plans often do, and none of the Aunties and Uncles were able to make it, but wild horses couldn't have stopped Nana and Boompa from seeing little Ms. Hailey . . . after all the last time they got to see her was at Aunt Heidi and Uncle Mike's wedding in June when Hailey was only 2 months old.

So on Friday around 5pm Karl, Hailey and myself left Clarksville, TN and headed for Knoxville, our halfway point for the trip. Cali and Jersey were checked into their luxury boarding suite for their mini vacation! After our 4 hour trip we were happy to arrive at the Comfort Suites in Kodak, TN where Hailey got to take a big girl bath and we all tucked in for the night . . .

The next morning we continued our trip through the Great Smokey Mountains toward NC. The pictures don't do the scenery any justice, but I'll still share them . . . I thought all the colors would be gone, as it is the very end of fall foliage season, but due to an unusually warm fall we were really lucky and caught the last of the leaves for the season . . .


Hailey was again the perfect little passenger, with only a few fussy moments (usually when I was driving and Karl was left to do the entertaining) She's getting so big now that she peers around the sides of her seat to see what everyone else is up to!

FINALLY, around noon on Saturday we arrived at Wake. We met up with Nana and Boompa who were eagerly awaiting our arrival, and had a few hours before game time to walk about campus and grab a little food before heading over the the football stadium . . .

After sightseeing we all headed to the stadium for a little tailgating action and some football. Here are some of our favorite moments for Hailey's first football game . . .

Go Deacs . . .













Yup, that's it little girl, drool on mommy's head


Nana shared her program with Hailey . . .













Hailey got to meet Nick and Gretchen -- friends from Sigma Nu, ROTC and good ol' army life!















Once the sun went down it got pretty cold . . . and eventually Hailey had to surcomb to her tiredness (she was awake from 12-8 with no real napping!!)After watching Wake Forest dominate Virginia we headed out to dinner. The nap was short lived and Hailey was awake once again to enjoy some sweet potatoes, bread and other nibbles of dinner from everyone's plates.











Finally the day came to an end -- Hailey and I collapsed as soon as we arrived in our hotel room, and weren't even ready to move when morning came . . .










This morning we had brunch at the Filling Station before making our long trip back to Clarksville. We had originally planned on stopping half way, but were so ready for our own beds that we drove the full 8 hours home! Hailey was again a jewel in the car, there was some fussing, but considering the length of the trip and the time already accumulated in the car I was super proud of her! We had a great time seeing everyone at Wake, and especially with Nana and Boompa! No more roadtrips though, atleast not until our skiing vacation this Christmas!!!