Merry Christmas and driving into the New Year!

Merry Christmas to all!
We are enjoying our time in McKinney so far! Today is Lance's 37th
birthday! Happy birthday Lance! Tomorrow we are spending the day
together delivering gifts to a "Scotty's gift" family and going to a
worship service together.
I am looking forward to sharing this Christmas with Addison. We bought
her gifts today and a baby's first Christmas ornament. Christmas has a
whole new excitement when it's shared with children. I hope everyone
has a joyous Christmas. Also, it might snow tomorrow! That's crazy
since it was 70 degrees today. Merry Christmas!
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Our big girl!

New Pic

Faith

First, I just wanted to write about Addison's eating habits. She is my little southern girl. She likes Chili, Chicken and Dumplings, Beef Stew, Red Beans and Rice, cornbread, fried Turkey, and Dressing. She'll eat just about anything I put in front of her! I haven't given her sweet tea or Pecan pie but I"m sure she'll love these Southern staples as well.

On a more serious note the last week has been very up and down, twisty and turn-y. Tracy pulled/strained the stabilizer muscle in his quad (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quad_muscle). More technically Wikipedia tells me that it's his Sartorius muscle. Basically you need this muscle for everything, standing, walking, running, push ups etc. Due to his injury he got dropped from the training and is now home until further notice. We are waiting until the first of the year to make any job decisions (mostly b/c we are waiting to hear from people). I like to call it intentional procrastination, i.e. planning on doing something later not just waiting because we're lazy. So here we are waiting and trusting God for a job, for direction.
Ever since our flight to see Tracy I've thought about Addison's child like faith. She just trusted me to take her on her first plane ride and lug her across the country. She wasn't scared or worried. She knew she had her Mom and that's all that mattered. She knows that I'll take care of her and provide for her. I wonder why I don't have that much faith in God sometimes. We loose jobs, we get jobs, we move here or stay there. He has it all planned out. He knows what's best for me, for my family and for His Kingdom. We wait, we patiently plan, but all that really matters is that we have God and He provides for us every step of this journey.

Little Aggie!

Happy Birthday to me!

My birthday week started off with a surprise flower delivery on Monday afternoon. This helped put me in a better mood. I was feeling pretty sad about Tracy being gone, frustrated with this waiting game, and frustrated by Addison's fussiness. The dozen roses and box of chocolates did just the trick to put a smile on my face. On my birthday I got many calls, emails, and Facebook posts from family and friends. Thank you to all of you for remembering me on my birthday. The best part was the package I received from Tracy. Last week he kept mentioning that he was working on my present and then he told me he mailed it. I had to wait til we were on the phone to open it. So I did. I opened the package to find a sweet card and a box of Uno cards. I said, "oh, Uno cards!" Tracy said, "Yes, we're gonna play Uno while you read the letter I wrote you that's in the Uno box." I said, "how are we gonna play?" He said, "I kept half of the cards!" I was quiet surprised at his response but glad nonetheless. I read the "grocery list" of things and he would explain how I was like that object. For example, Klondike Bar. He said, "I'd do almost anything for you, you know, What would you do for a Klondike Bar?" We played Uno while I listed things off the "grocery list" and he told me how I was like those things to him. Oh another one: an eclair (ap?) doughnut, b/c your sweet like the other doughnuts but not as big as round. Last night, we finally finished the 30 something things on the list and I won the final game of Uno, 5 games to his 4. Lastly, Meredith took me to, Max's Wine Dive for my Birthday dinner while Aaron watched the kiddos. Comfort food meets fine, wine dinning. Delicious! The best steak I've had in a long while!
Some of you might be thinking "that's all Tracy got you?" Well, we celebrate our second birthdays now, when we became Christians, and give gifts then. That's when I got my awesome camera. By the way, I need a book on how to operate my camera so I can take better pics. Just an Xmas idea in case you were wondering. And no I'm not saying X-mas, X is the first letter in the Greek word Christ (Xristos). So Christ-mas, Xristos-mas, Xmas.
Thanks again for the b-day wishes!

Revision

There needs to be a revision of sorts. Addison is not only crawling but now pulling up! I left her sitting on the rug by the TV in the kitchen. When I returned a few minutes later she was standing up holding on to the fireplace! My little girl is getting so big!
Lori Phifer and I are leaving tomorrow for the Women of Faith Conference in Houston. Woot! We are meeting other women from our church in Bastrop there! I went last year and it was great. The verdict is still out, will it be a fun, relaxing weekend or frustrating and irritating trying to keep Addison occupied and quiet? We'll see. It's off to bed now! Gott be in Houston by 10 am.

9 months- Crawling and more teeth!

Addison is 9 months old today! My, where did time go?; especially since Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. Addison has been a little fussy the last couple of days. I realized Saturday that her two top, front teeth are starting to break the skin, but today I noticed that the teeth next to those are coming in too. That makes 4 teeth coming in at one time. Wow! She’ll be all teeth by Christmas time. She is also learning to crawl. She can crawl a couple of times then falls to her belly. She is enjoying standing and learning to pull-up but not so much the falling down.
Today is also Veteran’s Day! Thank you to my two grandfathers, Glenn, Zeagler, and of course my wonderful hubby for serving our great nation. There are countless other men and women serving our nation today, some abroad and some at home. Some people I’m thinking of are the guys from A Co who fought along side Tracy in his two deployments. It just seems like your “everyday job” but we know it takes courage to leave that wire every time, not knowing if you’ll make it back to your bed. It’s your bravery and resolve which inspire the rest of us in our endeavors which are much less life threatening. It’s because of men like you that I can rest easy on my sofa watching my baby girl scoot across the floor after her toy. We all enjoy relatively peaceful lives because millions of service men have fought for freedom. Keep on fighting service members and civilians alike. Your congressman and senator can’t know your opinion if you don’t tell them. They can’t vote your way if they don’t know it! Let’s all fight for freedom.

Addison in the swing!

My Little Flower!

Happy Halloween!

NC trip!

Addison and I went to visit Tracy in NC after a whole month of not seeing each other. Our plane departed from Austin at 5:30 Friday morning. The only consolation is that it was 6:30 eastern time. We had a longish layover in Atlanta and arrived about 2:00 in NC. Kara Webb picked us up at the airport with her daughter Allison. Thank goodness they call her Allie, or Allison and Addison could get pretty confusing. We went to her house where I met her husband Lance and their son Graham. Tracy came to their house after he got off work! We all loaded up and went to Texas Road House. It's a little bit ironic but they have the best steaks in the area according to Kara. We had a good time talking with them and getting to know the Webbs.
Saturday we ate the continental breakfast and headed out for some errands. I suppose it wouldn't be a trip to a base without going to clothing and sales. I got a few things, Tracy picked up some things and before you know it we were out the door with $100 worth of stuff. While in Wal-mart we got news that Isaac Thunder Lemmon was born! He was born 1:42 pm, 7lbs. 1 oz, 19 inches long! Saturday night we went back to the Webbs for dinner and played a not so great game of Skip-bo. Kara and I got killed by the boys :(
On Sunday we enjoyed a relaxing breakfast at IHOP with the rest of Fayetteville. We got back to the hotel and realized Addison had a fever of 103. We spent the rest of the day hanging out, monitoring the fever and watching the Cowboys game. Tracy had to leave that night so that stunk.
Over all it was a great weekend! It was good to see Tracy and he enjoyed seeing us. I'm still not sure who he liked seeing more, me or Addison. He might even say Addison. We got to spend some time together and with some friends!
Getting back to Austin was a long story I'd rather not talk about. Who likes to talk about really frustrating travel delays? We finally made it home and I was able to hold baby Isaac for the first time! I forget how small newborns are. He has darkish skin (compared to my pale little Addison) and very little hair. When he is awake he can be quite alert but he sleeps and eats most of the time.
Today is our first day at home all together. Drew took off around noon headed to Dallas. We will miss him. I got assigned his dish washing duties :/ The good news is that Addison has no fever today, so I don't have to drive an hour to her doctor!

Isaac Thunder Lemmon arrives!

Meredith had Isaac at 1:45 pm. He weighs 7lbs 1oz, 19in. long. So far
he and Meredith are doing well. I'm not so sure about Aaron. Last I
heard he wasn't looking forward to seeing the epidural needle again!
Haha!

Try Andy's Tri

It all started this summer when some friends talked me into doing a triathlon with them. Out of the five of us I was the only one able to actually do the race. Did I get tricked into this? I waited in line two hours Saturday for a spot int he race b/c the race was full when I finally decided to buy a "ticket." I was number 14 in line to buy the unclaimed spots in the race. The race was on Sunday. I woke up at 4:00 due to my precious Addison waking up. I got up at 4:45 in time to pump and eat breakfast. Mr. Bill dropped me off at 5:30 at the transition area. All 800 of us got ready until 7:10. Then we were left to wait in the cold until the swimming started. I was in the last wave and swam at 8:05. I finished the swim in 7:54 and grabbed my jacket and headed to my bike. I got ready in 3 min. Right out of the gate I noticed that my back tire was low. I decided to use my CO2 quick pump to air it up. Bad idea to try this for the first time during the race. I ended up breaking off the air valve. So I now have a flat tire. We tried a new tube, in the process we lost the valve and had to dig around the grass for it. The new tube was leaking. We take it off, I really mean the 2 nice spectators, then put on the first tube which we think we can put the valve from the new tube on it. Nope, that's when we discovered that the valve was broken. Plan C, put the new tube back on and try to patch it. At this point I was very frustrated and prayed that it would hold air. The guy airs up the tube and it holds air this time! Woot! God was listening!

I’m off for the bike ride. I’m now riding alone due to the 23 min. delay and being the last wave of swimmers. The last five miles of the bike I had a personal police escort. I finished the bike in 1:04:??. I get back, I'm the last one and most people are done with the race by now and change into my running shoes, drop my jacket and go. The run was my best part. I finished in 31:??. That was pretty goo considering I was training at 12 min miles and was certain before the race that I'd have to walk! I didn't have to walk at all! I guess I had experienced enough sore muscles while running during my soccer days!

My goal for the race was to finish in less than 2:00:00. Despite the flat tire disaster I still finished in less than 2 hours! My goal for my next race is to finish in less than 1:30:00 and to majorly improve my bike time. The blind guy finished in 47:00. That's flying, average of 25mph on the bike! It was great fun, but I'm no superwoman. You can do it too with a little commitment and motivation!

Thank you all for your support! Especially Tracy for letting me buy a Tri bike!

1:54:06 Triathlon Time

Halloween Addison

Addison is all dressed up in her Halloween garb! You can't read her shirt but it says "I"m here for the candy!"

I haven't updated in a while- in brief I spent week before last in McKinney and Lewisville. Then I went to Ouachita for homecoming. It was my social club's 10th anniversary! We had a great time seeing old friends and I enjoyed introducing Addison to all my friends!

This week I booked a flight and hotel to go see Tracy next weekend, 23-26th. I"m not sure if he misses me or Addison more. For now we will call it a tie. But we both look forward to seeing him and meeting new friends.

Last night we all went to Amber's homecoming game where she is a dancer girl. Since it was homecoming the dad's danced too! It was really cute and funny! Imagine Dennis dancing and there you go. He did a great job compared to the other dads. Today I'm leaving for Sugar Land to see if I get a spot in tomorrow's triathlon. I"m staying with the Severances. They are friends of our family from when we lived in SL. I haven't seen them since 2005, is that right? Tracy and I weren't married and Leslie lived in SL. I'll keep you updated if I get a spot in the race!

8 months!

Happy Birthday Leslie!

Top Ten #1- The Waco Bridge

Finally the moment has arrived! The story behind the Waco Bridge. I'm sure it has a different name, but it's the old wooden bridge in downtown Waco. Tracy and I were seemingly going different directions in life in December of 2004. He was headed overseas for his first deployment and I was about to graduate college and head to Africa. He called me around Christmas and we found a way to meet up before he left for the deployment. At the time my oldest sister Leslie lived in Waco; my grandparents and Aunt Cindy, (was Meredith there too?) were all traveling to Waco to see Leslie. It just so happens that North Ft. Hood is 30 min. from Waco. I drove to meet Tracy at Chili's so his sister didn't have to drive all the way to the base. We ate, he ate a lot (2 entrees and an appetizer), then I dropped him off at the base where we said goodbye. The next day he calls me and wants to see me again. I was surprised but decided to spend some more time with him. He borrowed Watson's car and drove to Leslie's house where he met my Aunt Cindy and saw my grandparents again. This second night we went to Krispy Kreme; he'd never seen them make doughnuts and to the Waco bridge. It was a nice, cool night in Waco. We sat, stood, danced, talked on the bridge until midnight. At that time he told me that he loved me and I replied "okay." I was thinking this isn't going to work out; he's going to war! We said our goodbyes and I headed to Dallas. I got home and realized I missed him A LOT! He asked me to come to his going away ceremony in Waco! Which I did and would have been no big deal but that night I had to make a 5 hour drive to Arkadelphia. Before the ceremony I told him that I loved him and wanted to stay together this time! And we did! 4 months later he proposed on leave!

Top Ten #2- My Bed!

I know you've been in suspense regarding the end of my top ten list. My Tempur-Pedic bed makes the list at #2. Tracy and I inherited a bed from his family when we got married. We slept on it and endured two weeks of back pain until I finally said, "if we don't get a new bed today then I'm sleeping on the couch!" Wha-lah! We had a brand new Tempur-Pedic mattress that night! Not only do we sleep a zillion times better, since the bed conforms to your body it was an added bonus while I was pregnant! We also have Tempur-Pedic pillows that we lug around with us. We lug them around so often that I've been called a pillow snob! Well, to that person I say if you had a Tempur-Pedic pillow you'd be a pillow snob too!
The most recent Tempur-Pedic story involves it flying out of Tracy's truck on the way to storage. That's right, we put it in storage while I live in Austin (it was a sad day but we will survive!). Tracy came home from taking a trip to storage and said that we almost had a water bed because the mattress flew out and almost landed in the ditch. Don't worry it didn't but it also almost got run over by an 18 wheeler. Now that would have been the true test of the Tempur-Pedic.
Dear Tempur-Pedic, you should try an 18 wheeler running over a Tempur-Pedic and air it on your info-mercial. I'm getting tired of watching people lie on their bed on a back porch! No one lies on their bed outdoors!

Exer-saucer fun!

All Moved Out!

#3- Top of a 14'er/ Family Update

Top Ten List #3- Top of a 14'er

I have been to the top of 4 mountains that peak at 14k plus feet. One of them is Pike's Peak which we drove up to the top so that doesn't really count in the adventure category!

When I was 12 my family indulged my dad in hiking to the top of one 14k foot mountain, Mount Eolus, for his 40th birthday. This was such a great experience that my dad and I took another trip to the Chicago basin for my college graduation present along with Marcus and Forrest Bowen and Uncle Bob and Eric Gross.

A few highlights of the trip:

The unexpected 6 feet of snow at the top which resulted in a sunburn (ouch!),

Camping on a rock in the middle of the snowfield for 2 nights. Thanks to Meredith and Aaron for the use of their nice inflatable mattress thing to make the rock sleeping much more comfortable.

The feeling of summiting 3, 14k foot mountains: priceless. Actually, the views from the top are priceless and the true reward. Unfortunately I'm always so gassed at the summit that I just think about the long hike down. I hope to return one more time and summit North Eolus.

The Family Update:

Today is Tracy's last day of work! We will be packing up and leaving Bastrop this weekend, well our stuff will stay in storage. I am moving into the Lemmon house and Tracy heads east next week. Watch your e-mail account for updates on Tracy's adventures!

I'll admit that I will miss Bastrop, the tall pine trees, and our friends. I told Tracy that "this has been our best move yet." It was our first move away from the Dallas area and truly on our own. While confident that we'd make Bastrop work, you just never know until you move away from security and are truly on-your-own. I'm hoping that our next move will be just as good for our family; that we can find a good church and many good friends!

Hospital and Brno

Hospital:
It has been an eventful couple of days. We were enjoying our Labor Day Swim party, our last big hurrah with our Bastrop/Elgin friends, when we got an unexpected call that my mom was having surgery. Long story short she went in the hospital Thursday night with a blockage in her small intestine. They waited it out but with no change decided surgery was necessary. Tuesday morning Addison and I headed to Allen to be with mom. We left the hospital yesterday and spent today taking care of her! She seems to be doing better and taking less pain meds. Thank you for praying for her!

Now it's back to the Top Ten List- #4 Brno, Czech Republic:
After our wonderful honeymoon we took the opportunity to head back to Europe for a mission trip. A group from Parkway had been going to Romania for a couple of years, but this was their first time to go to Czech Republic. We worked with the Hatchel family ministering to Gypsies. We held back yard bible clubs in an apartment complex all week. We shared stories, songs and games with the kids. Another day we went to a village and had a Bible School. Tracy met this little girl who is deaf. She loved him and clung to him all afternoon. He knows a little American Sign Language and was able to communicate with her!
The best part of our trip was meeting Nelu and Doinita. They were Romanian, Gypsy interns for Boyd Hatchel that summer. They came over to help him begin a church in Brno. We lived next door to them for the week and spent time getting to know them. They have money but not a way to get good, quality clothing. We left Nelu some jeans and a few of Tracy's shirts. We also left them some socks that we hadn't worn that week. After finding out that they cannot buy athletic socks in Romania we even left them our dirty socks. If you've seen Tracy's feet you know how desperate they were for socks. I talked to them a few weeks ago and she said they still wear the socks we had given them!
We continue to have a good relationship with them and enjoy hearing about their ministry. Nelu is a pastor and travels to several cities to do ministry. The one that we help support is in Sintesti. Doinita teaches English and other subjects, other wise there is no formal education, and feeds the students lunch 3 days a week. They are doing wonderful work and we are happy to share in it with them. Who knew that we could make life long friends on a one week trip!

Applesauce Success!

Applesauce Success!

I made my first homemade baby food! I realized this morning that I was out of fruit to feed Addison. Suddenly I remembered the 3 lb. bag of Granny Smith apples that I purchased on sale ($1.50) at HEB last week. I decided to try my hand at making applesauce. I peeled and cut the apples then called my Dad for some "Applesauce making" coaching. My Dad has been canning Applesauce and Apple butter for years now! And it's quite delicious. I had already been boiling the diced apples when I found out that I was supposed to puree them first. Whoops! They were already soft so I threw them in the food processor (I'm glad to finally get some use out of it!). In no time flat they were smooth like baby food. Well, not that smooth so I added some Apple juice. Wha-Laaaah! Applesauce! The real test will be tonight to see if she will eat it! I made 3 cups of Applesauce which equals 6 jars of 50 cent baby food. Since I only used half the apples, instead of $3.00 I spent $.75 and it's all natural! I'm so excited and feel so domestic! I am glad that I stay home so I can do things like this! I'll update you on the results of Addison's taste test!

Costa Rico!

#5 and #6- Costa Rica and Puerto Rico

As you can tell most of my travels have been on mission trips, minus my very first trip abroad to Germany and our honeymoon. For this I have two people to thank. My mother (and I'm sure my Father too) and Grant Byrd. I came home one day from school and asked to go to Germany with my German class. At the time I was thrilled that my parents said yes; in retrospect I'm kind of surprised that they'd let their 16 year old daughter go overseas with some classmates and 2 teachers. Nonetheless I'm very glad now that they let me be adventurous and take my first trip overseas! This trip inspired my love for overseas travel.
Secondly, my youth minister (Grant) took an international youth mission trip every year. He encouraged us to share our faith with classmates and with people in far away places. I took my first 2 trips to Mexico (well, besides the walk across with Dad and Meredith from South Padre), a trip to Costa Rica, S. Korea, and Puerto Rico with Grant. This was great for me b/c it combined two things I loved: adventuresome traveling and sharing my faith.

#6- Costa Rica had beautiful beaches. Across the street from the beach was a beautiful rain forest type park where we had rallys at night and walked around talking to people during the day. We travelled all week in the bed of a Ford Ranger equivalent. Mind you there were 10 of us crammed in the back of this little truck, roaming through the streets of Costa Rica. I'm sure the locals were thinking, "Hey, look at those Gringos!"

#7- Puerto Rico was also a great trip, this time I was a leader along with Grant for our group of 10. This time we traveled the rolling hills of Puerto Rico in a 15 passenger van. Most of us were feeling car sick after an hour ride. I asked if anyone had any motion sickness medicine b/c I was about to hurl. The response was no. About an hour later a kid says they are getting sick and finally Erica pipes up "I have some Dramamine!" I could have hurt her, b/c by now I had been feeling sick for a whole hour and not enjoying the hilly terrain. The best moment for me was sharing my faith with a girl at a park. We went to this park hoping to find some people to talk to but instead resorted to playing kickball. After the kickball I went into the stand to pass out some tracts. There was one 12 year old girl; I asked if I could read the tract with her. To my surprise she let me read it, and at the end she prayed to receive Christ. I was so pumped!

#7 Beijing

Beijing was a great city but I wasn't there very long; I'd move it to #10 now that I think about it! It was the last leg on my 6 week trip to East Asia. We had spent the previous weeks with medical students talking with them about Jesus and their beliefs. I spent several days a week with a girl studying the Bible. She had just become a believer and was studying with a Missionary in her city. It was a very rewarding experience getting to spend time with her and to talk about spiritual things. Back to Beijing, I probably remember this city so fondly because I was glad to see a Subway and a Starbucks at our hotel and to eat real American food at Hard Rock Cafe. It still amazes me that I've yet to travel to New York City or D.C. but I've been to many similar places around the globe, similar as in crowded streets and subways and tall buildings with extravagant neon lights! I feel blessed to have seen so many places so far in my life. Tracy and I are having a contest of who has traveled to the most countries, he's winning with 20 something!

#8 Sapporo, Japan

Sapporo Japan will always hold a special place in my mind. It was a beautiful city with kind people, but what I will remember is the eternal impact that I had. It was my first mission trip with iWitness ministries (igoglobal.org) and iWitness' first official trip as well. The 13 of us left on Friday the 13th, on a 13 hour plane ride. This was my second trip to Asia, I traveled to S. Korea 6 months prior in November of 2000. The most amazing part of this trip was one of the witnessing opportunities that I had. We had been walking around passing out Jesus videos and prayer walking in different parts of the city. On this day, I remember Lance asking who wanted to get up early and go with Heidi the journeyman to do some ministry. I wasn't really paying attention as my e-mail had my full attention. After no one else volunteered I decided to volunteer. So another girl and I got to sleep in late (Lance was tricking us!) and headed over to meet Heidi and a lady for lunch. The lady immediately noticed my OBU shirt and told me that her daughter went to OBU. Kind of crazy since OBU was a campus of less that 2k students.
Heidi had spent the whole semester teaching the lady English by using the Old Testament. They had just discussed that Jesus was God's son and came to fulfill the Old Testament prophecies (Isaiah 53:5- He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his wounds we are healed). We began to tell her about the cross, how Jesus was despised and rejected for her sins, and she began to cry. We paused and conversed with her about what was happening. She proceeded to slam her bible closed and refused to let us finish the story. I persisted by saying "It gets better!" She hesitantly let us continue showing her scriptures about our risen savior. Her face transformed from utter despair to over flowing with joy. She got it! She understood the saving power of Jesus through the story of his resurrection! Transformation happened right before my eyes!
This is by far one of my most favorite "mission trip" moments. God worked in this ladies heart so she would no longer be blinded but be able to see the truth of who He is, a loving, faithful, powerful, savior.
Any of you have moments like this? Seeing God at work?

#9 favorite place- The Eiffel Tower

Click here to view my list on toptentopten.com The Top Ten favorite places!
At this site you can rearrange my list and create your own list!
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#9- The Eiffel Tower
The first destination on our honeymoon was Paris. We had been married a few months but acquired laughs to last a lifetime. First, we thought our hotel was close to the airport (Charles de' Gaulle) but no!; it was close to Charles de' Gaulle Highway. After a 45 minute cab drive we were quite confused and a bit frustrated to pay 50 Euros for the ride. We decided to venture the wonderful Paris on foot, who knew a three day train pass was a mere 10 Euros? We walked our feet off, first to the Arc d' Triomphe then thought, "Oh, we can see the Eiffel tower it can't be that far." Ha, wrong again! Then we decided that we don't want to pay for the taxi (remember the 50 Euros we spent the day before?) so we determined to walk to the Notre Dame Cathedral. And to top off the long day on lag jet legs (yes, lag jet) we decide to indulge in French cuisine. Needless to say it didn't hit the spot.
On night two, we discovered that we were spending our honeymoon in a hotel without A/C. It was so hot and muggy that we couldn't sleep, or was it the nap that we took instead of going back to the Louvre? So, we aren't art connoisseur?! We decided to walk back to the Eiffel Tower, again thinking that "it can't be that far, we can see it!" It was a long walk, we saw a car wreck on the way, and the Eiffel Tower lights were off! We were a bit disappointed, but we finally made a wise decision and rode a taxi back to the hotel! We really enjoyed Paris despite all the walking and the terrible food (except the coffee and a ham and cheese omelet)! The sights were spectacular; I'd suggest using the trains or taxis unless you just want the exercise!

Top Ten Favorite Places!

10. Venice
9. The Eiffel Tower
8. Sapporo, Japan
7. Beijing
6. Costa Rica
5. Puerto Rico
4. Brno, Czech Republic
3. Top of a 14'er- Mount Eolus, Sunlight and Windom
2. My bed
1. The Waco Bridge

10. Venice- The last destination of our cruise on our 15 day honeymoon. We were exhausted after our trek across Europe, but we enjoyed the gondola ride and the quaint city. The thing you don't expect about the romantic city is that the water smells oddly like sewage. While you're trying to enjoy your gondola ride all you can think about is the awful stench of the water while hoping you don't tump over. The best thing, however, is that all the tourists take pictures of you on the gondola ride like you're a superstar!

Explanation of the rest to come!

Biking and Babel

Saturday night was great! We saw baby Caden, Lori and Brandon at the hospital! We then went to the house warming party. We didn't want to leave but had to head home pretty early (10:30) because Tracy had to work Sunday.
Sunday my tri-friends decided to take a bike ride at 2:00 pm. We should have our heads examined. It was 100 degrees for our 7 mile bike ride! It was great to be back on my bike. I still need to work up to 10 miles, that's how long the bike is for the triathlon. My goal is to be biking 15 miles bfr. the race. After that we did a more sensible water aerobics workout. I enjoyed my first atttempt at water aerobics. My kind fo exercise, working out but in the cool pool!
Has anyone seen the movie Babel? It was very strange. It was suppose to be a movie about the necessity of communication among various cultures, but the random sexual theme could have been left out. It was rated R for a reason.
Good news: Tracy has passed all the parts of his class! Yea!
Other news: We are moving out of our apartment in less than a month. It's kind of sad but definetly the right move. More on this later!

Saturday!

I slept in a little late today! I was pretty tired from yesterday's game night! Some ladies from church got together for some games! We ate, we played, and most importantly laughed (yes, you remember Erin's description of Nik's back problems, many opportunities for "that's what she said!")
This morning was pretty great! I watched last night's Cowboys game while holding Addison; 2 of my favorite things at the same time! I also fed Addison sweet potatoes (just had to add a pinch of sugar to entice her!), did day 4 of P90, and did laundry! There's been many loads of laundry this week b/c Tracy comes home every night with dirt caked on his clothes! We are heading to Austin for the McCarthy's House warming party. A big thanks to Vicki for watching Addison.
Lastly, our friends the Phifers' went to the hospital this morning to have baby Caden. Lori's water broke around 8:00am. I'm so looking for wad to meeting Caden!

Power 90 and Sitting Up!

Well, she can't walk and talk yet, but she can sit up without support! And that is one small step in the right direction.

I started Power 90, no not P90X, on Wednesday. It is Tony Horton's beginner version of P90x. The program alternates sculpt (calisthenics with weight lifting) and sweat (yoga and kickboxing) for 6 days a week for 90 days. Every other day you do the Ab ripper workout! I have done three days of workouts and can already feel the pain; it feels so good! Only 87 more days!

So far I've enjoyed the workouts and the ability to workout. The biggest hindrance, or excuse, to not work out is taking care of Addison. Now I am able to workout in my living room either while she watches or while she naps. She does enjoy watching me workout. She must be thinking "I hope you don't make me do those crazy moves later!"

Healthcare Reform!

I had a pretty uneventful weekend. The best news was the possibility of Obama dropping the "public option" from the Health Care bill. I am still a bit skeptical though. I'm thinking they might sneak it in on the committee level w/o congressional approval. I'm not sure if it is even possible, but if it is, I think they will try. I was very relieved to see the health care debate reach the tipping point at the end of the week and turn a corner. Hopefully it's a permanent change, but we will have to wait and see. What say you?-Bill O'Reilly.

Also, Cari and I saw "The Time Traveler's Wife" while the boys saw "District 9." "The Time Traveler's Wife" was good; I give it 3.5 stars. Definetly a Netflix watch! It's like the best possible mix between "Benjamin Button" and "The Notebook." It had an odd time element like Benjamin Button, but MUCH, much better, and a love story like "The Notebook."
Has anyone seen "Julie and Julia"?

We're Back Home!

We made it safely back from vacation on Monday afternoon. Phase 4 was wonderful; we really enjoyed seeing my grandparents, Aunt and Uncle, the Mountains, and the top of Mt. LeConte (again).
Recap of phase 4: We left McKinney for Gatlinburg. We arrived sleep deprived on Saturday afternoon. Sunday we took it easy by celebrating Violet's 2nd birthday with a picnic at the Chimney's picnic area, complete with making s'mores.
Monday morning we headed up Mt. Leconte at the pace of a 5 year old (yes Olivia walked up and down), a pregnant lady (Meredith did a great job too!), and a Mimi with hurt knees. We enjoyed the views from the evenings sunset and the nice warm cabins! The hike down was nice, but not much to talk about. The trail was more narrow and rocky than expected. Needless to say that Meredith and Aaron got their money's worth out of their Chariot. At the end of the day William said, "Daddy my back hurts." Poor guy was bounced around all day.
Wednesday we picnicked again at Cades Cove and finally found Aaron as we drove through Cades Cove (long story of miscommunication).
We learned our communication lesson and made a plan for Thursday for the boys and kids to hike to a waterfall. The girls went to the crafts trail. Afterwards we went for another picnic.
Friday, we went to Mingus Mill and to Cherokee. The highlight of the day was definitely seeing Olivia being sworn in as a Junior Park Ranger. We stopped for yet another picnic and said goodbye to Grammy and Grandaddy. We headed to Ft. Payne to visit Aunt Cindy, Uncle Don, and Grandad Addison.
Saturday the girls went to Hammer's (kind of like Ross on steroids) and the boys went to the World's longest yard sale. Lastly, we went to Orbix Hot Glass. The gallery was very nice and I hope to return one day when they are blowing glass.
I feel tired just writing about all that!
This week has been relaxing; trying to get back in the groove of things after doing piles of laundry and unpacking the suitcases, amongst keeping up with the health care reform debate.
Addison's 6 month doctor visit was Wednesday. All is well. She is 90th percentile for height and weight! Leave it to me to have chunky, tall babies!

Addison 6 months, by lauren coe

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.

On the Road!

Vacation Update

We are currently in McKinney on phase 4 of our 4 phase vacation. Let's back up and recap the fisrt 3 phases.

Phase 1: Visit McKinney for 3 days to see the FL Gross'. I hadn't seen Uncle Lloyd and Aunt Susie since my wedding and that was more in passing. We went to Six Flags Over Texas with the Flisowski's and had so much fun as you can see from the pictures taken from Six Flags. I even updated the blog while on the swings. My last night in McKinney we went to Cru Winebar in Plano. It was a very nice adult meal. I got a red wine flight and we all shared a cheese flight. I also had a delicious staek and shared choclate fondu with Susie. Yum Yum!

Phase 2: I left McKinney for Corpus Christi but stopped by our apartment in Bastrop for an hour or so to repack. I left for Corpus with the Sweeneys b/c Tracy had to work Friday night. Saturday and Sunday we spent at our marraige enrichment seminar at the Omni Hotel. The best part was hanging out with friends and talking about deployment/marriage things, oh and having dinner at Joe's Crab Shack on the pier!

Phase 3: We left Corpus Sunday afternoon and stopped in New Caney to see Tracy's Dad and sister for the night. Monday morning we left for a short drive to Nacogdoches. We took Addison's 6 month portraits and the next day took family pictures. I will post more pictures later, but for now here's one for your viewing pleasure! We enjoyed our time in Nach. It's always good to see family especially since Tracy won't see much family until Christmas!

Now for Phase 4: We are resting, washing clothes, and packing for our trip to Gatlinburg and Ft. Payne. My dad's parents live in Gatlinburg, TN and my Aunt Cindy lives in Ft. Payne where my mom's dad will also come up to see us. We are traveling tonight with the Lemmons and my parents. We guesstimate that the total travel time will be 18 hours with food/gas stops!

I"ll update you from the road!

Corpus Christi!

Addison at 6 Flags!

Swings 2

Swings

Dippin dots!

Six Flags!

Addison's Remote!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my wonderful father! I hope you had a great day Dad and that you got by birthday voicemail! You're a great Dad and have always been there for mom and us girls! Tracy says happy birthday too!

Addison is officially 5 months old! I thought the above picture appropriate, a picture of her with her Papa!

Today I took my first ride on my new bike! I only fell once. That is an improvement! I stayed after church for the church membership class. Sad that we are moving soon, but might as well join since the future is uncertain. Addison and I enjoyed our afternoon with a long nap! It should be a good week; not a whole lot planned!

Cousins and Bikes!

The last two weeks have been very busy. Tracy and I went to Ft. Hood so he could complete a motorcycle safety course. We then headed to Houston to visit his Dad and 2 sisters. We stayed there through the 4th of July. We arrived in Bastrop just in time for a pool party with our friends.

Monday: I picked up Elizabeth at the airport. She stayed with us for a week. We spent the night with the Lemmons. Fun as always!

Wednesday: Tracy got his motorcycle license and we headed to Austin to check out the bikes he found on Craigslist. He dropped Elizabeth and I off at Jack and Adam's bicycle shop. Little did I know that 2 hours later they would be finished fitting me for my bicycle.

Thursday: Tracy found a bike that he liked in Kyle and we went to pick it up! Ashley Bushong and I went for a bike ride before our morning swim. I fell off b/c the chain came off and my shoes were clipped in. I hit the pavement, but I'm okay.

Friday: Left the Lemmon's house and picked up my bike at Jack and Adam's. Now I'm all ready for the triathlon in October!

Whew! That was a busy two weeks! I really enjoyed having Elizabeth here and I'm glad that Tracy got his motorcycle and I got my road bike. Happy riding to us!

Another Week!

New pics!

New Tricks!

Addison figured out how to pull the Elephant in the picture. When she
does that it retracts and jiggles. It's quite fun to watch her pull it
over and over again in amazement each time!

Call Now!

Please stop what you're doing and call your congressman. Ask them to
vote No on the Cap and Trade bill on the floor right now. The number
is 202-225-3121 or 202-224-3121 for the House switchboard. If you
haven't called already please call now and let your voice be heard.
Say no to higher energy costs.

Hard work!

The gang working hard on the play fort expansion! Will someone forward this to Grandad Addsion, please!

Adorable!

So adorable! Well I'm her mother I'm allowed to think so! This is Memorial Day weekend at Mimi and Papa's house!

Olivia made violets hair into a Mohawk!

Olivia @ VBS

Making her snack!

VBS-Day 3

39 kiddos asked Jesus to be their boss and savior today! My sisters
and I are helping at our mom's church in Frisco. Thanks for praying.
Keep praying b/c we are talking to 8 more kids tomorrow.

Happy Birthday!

I want to wish Aaron Lemmon, my brother-in-law, a very happy birthday! Tonight we are going to the Round Rock Express baseball game to help him celebrate!
Also, Randy and Marcella I'm glad that you are home safe and sound from Mexico. I know you'll miss Andrew while he's gone but hopefully this will be a great experience for him!
Tomorrow is rest day, no working out. I am pretty sore from working out 4 days straight. We ran 1.5 miles this morning and walk/jogged the other 1.5 miles. We'll get there gang! I'll miss you all this next week as I'm out of town!

4 months old (tomorrow)!

We went for Addison's 4 month well child visit today! She is now 25 inches and 14 lbs. and 11oz. She is in the 75th percentile and healthy.

Also, I want to congratulate Stephanie and Griffin Jones on the birth of their second son, Grayson Kyle. He was born yesterday, 6/9/09 at 9:18pm, 9.5 lbs. And 20 inches. It is a miracle every time God brings another child into this world!