Last Week of July

SATURDAY JULY THE 22ND. Kyle, Blake and I went shopping 1st thing to get Kyle boots. That went well and we did some additional shopping ... Oh I bought new coffee cups for the lakehouse, lol. I have been looking for some nice cups for months and just have not seen anything I wanted. Kyle was in the Camoflauge store and I noticed some nice cups on sale that had to do with fishing, lol I figured that was just the touch I needed or Pat and the men folk who drink coffee would enjoy them anyway. We headed back to the lake to meet up with Marcia and her grandkids for tubing etc. They were all there waiting for us. We went out for a couple hours and would go back to pick up Chloe when she was ready. Most of the kids rode the tube behind the jetski.... Marcia did as well.... she made me look like a wimp. I am thinking about it, lol. She did admit she would be buying BENGAY on the way home. We went to Raccoon Creek to check out this wooden boat that a guy I work with had told me about. His bro-in-law has a place there. The boat was sharp but I guess its a boat for looking at, lol or braggging rights. When we picked up Chloe we headed to the Aumei Cliffs, we were all keeping close then all the sudden we did not see Kyle, Chloe and Jacob with the jetski anymore.... they did not catch up by the time we got to the cliffs.....so we pulled in our tube and loaded all kids and went back to locate them. We figured they had some problem and was just hoping it was equipment problem and no one hurt. When we reached the point where we could see to the bridge and no jetski appeared to be stranded and no one seemed to be giving assistance to folks ... we grew more anxious to get to the lakehouse to see if they were there. Just as we turned into our slough my phone rang and it was Kyle they had been towed in by one of Chloe's friends. Seems they had sucked the rope of the tube up in the jetski. Well that ended the fun for all. The remaineder of the day the kids swam and played. Chloe got her lip busted by a softball that was not so soft when Kyle threw it. Chloe spent the night and on Sunday we all got up soon as we could and Pat carried then kids tubing and to Aumei Cliff while I gathered and loaded for the trip home. We left at lunch and stopped for SUBWAY. I was really stressed the entire weekend. I was ready to get home and chill . I guess I pissed all the kids off or they took me serious when I told them to SHUTUP...EAT.... AND GO TO SLEEP and of course I did tell them I was just stressed and on edge to just be good for me. That was the quietest trip home in a long time...Tanner went to sleep so did Brooke and I think Blake did tooo. We did not even stop til just before Jackson at the rest stop. I dropped Tanner off and then carried the rest to the house. Chris got in just in time to see the boys a short bit before Squeekie picked them up. The boys have been at thier Mom's all week and Chris and I have worked. Brooke has hung out with Tanner most of the week but she did stay home a couple days with Chris when he was sleeping days. Pat has been trying to get the jetski's all working and some of the summer fun things put away. I think he will be coming home for a couple weeks to help out until my ANNUAL REQUAL test is over. I just have to pass this test 1st time so I can get on with life.
THE WORK WEEK...Work has been steady and I have tried to do some study at work as well as home. I have been making cd's with some notes on them that are just things that don't stick for whatever reason. I really think this is helping.....but I am far from a good reader lol. Brooke and I have a shopping trip planned for Friday when I get off ... just to pick up supplies but we are both looking forward to it. Oh! I forgot to mention I have been on Atkins diet all week and have done GREAT. I figured while I was focussing on studing for annual exam, it might be a good time to start a diet. Brooke made brownies one night and cookies one night and I never even wanted either. Thursday night was tough for some reason and no goodies were being cooked .... I decided to grill a steak and see if that helped.... I had planned to allow myself steak on Monday's as a treat if I stay on Adkins all weekend. Well I think the steak is all that kept me from some kinda binge last night... So wish me luck thru the weekend, lol. The boys will be here Saturday night and Sunday while Chris is off and that could be a challenge. My house is a wreck so maybe I can divert my cravings to energy lol. Photo's are all posted below.

3rd Week of JULY

I had a quiet weekend and was feeling much better by Monday. The work week was the same as usual, other than I did escape a interview with the INPO group that is in for 2 weeks evaluating our plant and processes. Brooke was at Tracy's most of the time but did come home to sleep a couple nights. Chris got called in to work night shift on all his on call days, so we kinda met in passing one leaving for work as the other got home from work, lol. Tanner and Tracy had birthdays this week, but I had given them both early presents, lol. Thursday Blake came home and Tanner came to the house as well to be ready to leave for Bama early Friday morning. We left at 445 a.m. and had a pretty good trip, I figured the kids would sleep more than they did. Its quiet a difference driving by myself and with a bunch of kids. I am not sure if my quiet week spoiled me or what but the noise has really been getting on my nerves this weekend, lol.
We got to Jasper at 9:45. I had planned to take the 3 kids I had with me shopping for a school outfit and shoes, but I found out Blake had no shoes to wear to go buy shoes. I had to go buy him a cheap pair of shoes at Kmart to wear to the shoes store, then Tanner took his crocs off and ran all over the mall barefoot, lol. We had really good luck and got some real good buys, I just enjoy shopping in Jasper so much more than Vicksburg. I got all three of the kids 2 outfits and shoes well within what I wanted to spend. Tanner, just has to run that mouth and after 5 hrs in a car with him of which 3 he talked and 2 hours shopping with him I needed a break. We got to the lake just as Pat and Kyle were leaving to go get pay checks and run a few errands. It started to storm a bit and rain about the time we got to the lakehouse. Soon as we ate our lunch from JACK'S, I went to my room and shut the door for some quiet, lol. We did not get to play on the lake due to weather. Friday night Kyle and I went to get his school shopping done....he drove me in his truck. We had real good luck as well and got him 2 outfits at GOODY'S. We picked up pizza for supper and back to the lake we went to chill for the night. No photo's again this week but surely I will have a few for next week.

2nd Week of July

This has been the longest week of the summer.... We drove back from Oklahoma on Sunday and I should have been rested , lol.... but I was still tired and felt bad. I thought I must have the BACK TO WORK BLAHS so I pushed on. We stopped at Tracy's and got Brooke on our way home. Gosh I really can't remember. But I do know I felt bad and throat sore slept very little and by morning figured was sure I had strep throat but went on to work. I Was worse as the day went by and went home to crash... Tanner and Brooke were there and Tanner was gonna spend the night ... Pat was home as well and Kyle came to stay so they copuld leave Tuesday morning headed back to the Lakehouse. I was just plain sick is all I can say and Tanner got "homesick" so Tracy came to get him and Brooke to spend the night at her house. Tuesday I was in the Dr. office at 8:00 a.m. Well I am sick of being sick all week and talking about it but basically I missed 2 days work should have missed all week and still feel like crap. It has rained Pat and Kyle out most of the week (doubt they earned gas money, lol). Brooke and Tanner have been back and forth but mostly at Tanners. Brooke did come home Tuesday and stay until her dad went back to work on Thursday morning. I have done nuttin but complain, try to sleep and get to feeling better and not done a good job at anything. "You know a woman is sick when she don't feel like complaining about being sick, lol." I finally decided the meds were making me nauseated as well as keeping me from sleeping.... soooooo ... now I am taking no more meds and gosh I hope I sleep tonight. This afternoon I will go to Tanner's Birthday Party... He's gonna be a Double Didget Midget (10 years old on Monday) We have had rain here several times this week and grass needs mowed and it is even green again. This morning I missed my chance to take pictures of 3 deer in my yard, well almost... YEP to sick to care or think about where the camera was but I did see them. Hopefully next week will be more interesting, So until then take Care.

KEESEE REUNION

We had a tough trip to OKLAHOMA but was worth it. We left Alabama at 5 pm on Thursday and drove rain most of the way to Vicksburg, Ms. We got in bed about midnight and the power went off at 1:30 and woke me and I never went back to sleep. The power came on about 4:30 and I got up at 5 to go to Walmart to get food for Blake and Brooke to have until Chris gets home later on Friday. We managed to leave about 8:00 a.m. and head to Little Rock where we met Amy about 12:30 and Whitney road with here the rest of the way. We had a nice drive was some rain but pleasant. We got checked into our room by 6:00 p.m. and met up with Bud, Rosemary, Rachael and Marguarette to go eat at Pizza Hut. We later met up with Sonny and went to David and Beths for the grand tour.





The KEESEE Reunion was in Catoosa, Oklahoma this year at the home of David and Beth. I really did like the stacked rock walls they had built in the back of the house. I am thinking that Pat paid attention to many things on thier remodel.














The patio area was very nice and had a great setup with the grill, very much what I dream of at the LAKEHOUSE.














The view from the front is very much like what we have planned for the LAKEHOUSE.

















Sonny and Doris seem to be doing well.
















Eva and Tim's kids all seemed to enjoy being together as well. I got the feeling that they do not see Nathan very often.




















Rosemary watches Phillip from the playground area.












Victoria checks out the water slide.
I thought this was very nice idea. I am thinking I may have to do this at the LAKEHOUSE in my patio/pavillon area, but it may have to include more than kids and grandkids, lol.

Pat was the burger and hotdog cooker .. he did a fine job and he loved the grill they had.

















Amy and Marshall get a chance to visit. We played several games and had others planned but ran out of time.













Most folks left headed home but our drive was much longer and we spent the night. I was sick the entire trip with strep but managed to make it thru the reunion before I crashed. I hit the bed in the Hotel at 6 pm and stayed there until the next morning about 8:00 a.m. We headed home after breakfast and I crashed again. Pat drove the entire way home. I needed the rest and hope to feel better soon.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY

The day started with pancakes for breakfast. Then with getting beds put away. Chris and his kids and Tanner went to the Rigsby cabin for lunch. I took advantage of the quiet afternoon for some sunning on a float. Whitney got a jetski riding lesson. Tyler just got some extra sleep. Josh did some fishing. Later in the afternoon when the gang returned from the cabin there was time for more water fun. Rhonda and Olivia made a visit and it was nice to see them. Papa and Ina dropped in for a few minutes to give all the grandkids birthday presents of money. They all get thier birthday present from them at the same time so they all have money. Randy, Glenda and Dustin came by to visit, also. It was nice to see Dustin... we been missing him. Brooke seemed to be amazed with Dustins bald head, lol. Not sure why ..its not like she has never seen or felt one before lol. We grilled steaks in the late afternoon and I must say they were the best I have had in a very long time. The kids got Papaw Pat to take them for more fireworks and after shooting some we all took a ride out to the end of the slough and saw a great fireworks show around the bridge and marina... I think we had a perfect spot to view it all. See the photos for a peek of the day.




This is a happy lil boy and a happy lil puppy as well.

1ST WEEK OF JULY

There has been so much going on this week I figure I better make my post before we leave here and I can remember some of it. On Sunday Amy and Whitney(Pats daughter and granddaughter) came to visit. We had to play hard because they were leaving on Tuesday. Well Whitney fits in well with the kids here and she decided to stay until we go to Oklahoma for the Keesee Reunion. We started by taking them to what me and the kids call Rock Island ( Pat and the map calls it Sandbar Island) anyway we like this area and I took a few pictures here.

On Monday we planned to leave at 10:00 a.m. to go to the rock cliff.. which Chloe has lead us in naming Aumei Cliff, because when someone jumps off they yell aumei feet, aumei butt, etc. Not the way I would have spelled it but hey it works and we all know what it means. The morning started witha breakfast treat of chocolate and biscuits...which I guess Amy and Whit just could not get into... guess if they were around enough they would learn to appreciate them, lol. I was gonna do this on Sunday morning but Brooke was at Susans and I knew I had to wait until she was here. We were pleased to see that our names were still there just like we had left them and we added one for Whitney.

After we finished at the cliff we checked out a new spot on Sand Island which is across from the cliff and had several tents set up. Its a real nice sandbar , we spent a good amount of time there just playing in the water and sand. Pat got a chance to give Amy and Whit a jetski lesson. As you will see we have found some creative ways of taking pictures. The man that was yelling about a fine last week when we were at the cliff... well he spotted us and he found opportunity to talk to Chris(who had nothing at all to do with the names on the rocks) and told Chris how bad it wasd that we did the grafiti on the rocks and he could report us and we could get a fine and how it was like looking out his door and someone had grafiti on his door... and how we should clean it off, etc...(a yankee) Well , I was proud of Chris he just said yes sir and nothing smart. I would have not been so kind... to begin with he can not see it from his house and heck it had names on it long before he ever built there I am sure. GOSH, there are names and paintings on rocks all over the lake and always will be... but you know I have never seen anything ugly drawn or written... just folks having a good time and saying I was here. So I still see nothing wrong with what we did... By the way I also found out the cliff belongs to Alabama Power.

When we got back Susan came and brought puppies for everyone. Mom came with Hannah and Josh. We finally had all the kids there for a picture we wanted to take. Well the picture includes a few extra but who is counting.

Tanner picked him out a puppy and managed to talk his Mom and Dad into letting him have it. Then he managed to talk Mamaw Sand(me) into letting him keep it here until time to leave. Puppy and Tanner seem to be quiet happy.

On Wednesday the 4th of July I have a special post, but on Wednesdfay night Chloe and Hannah spent the night with us. After breakfast we made time for some more lake fun... the kids just can't get enoughof the tube behind the jetski... ashame they been begging for 3 weeks to do that and 3 days before we leave they finally get to. Oh well next year they will make up for lost time. We packed and loaded and got out of there about 4:30, but we had to stop to get burgers at JACK"S one last time.... the kids were amazed..... we went thru the drive thru and had 4 special orders and the girl at the window repeated them back exactly and we coyuld even understand her.... and the order was RIGHT. It rained on us most of the way home and we did not get there until after 1030 then it was midnight getting in bed and guess what .. the power went off about 2 and came on at 430... I slept no more. I had to get up at 5 to go to wal mart to get Brooke and Blake some food, lol they will be here today until Chris and Kyle return from Bama. Well its 730 and we are out of here headed to OKLAHOMA for the KEESEE Reunion. Until Next time... TAKE CARE.

SATURDAY BEFORE THE 4TH OF JULY

THIS IS THE 3RD ANNUAL MYHAND REUNION.

We did not have as big a turnout as last year ....but I think those here had just as much fun. We had a little introduction session prior to lunch with spot testing during the swimming time. The younger bunch is actually beginning to get to know each other better. We had a total of 24 folks here. I will say that the spot check on .."Do you know how you are related to who?" went well. It would be really good if we do this again next time.
We had plenty of food and it was all good.

There was a little story telling....but I do believe it took 4 sisters to get my Dad ready for a date.

The younger generation paid attention during introduction time.

A little ride for all who wanted.

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Hannah and Chloe take a ride

Jackson was the tour guide.

Brooke and Ali try out the jetski float.

Rando showed the kids how to play Indian Poker.

The guys play football from a float.

Dad found time and a spot for a nap.

Many were missed and we hope that next year we will have a 100% turnout.