Spencer - Lynden - Marleigh

2011-05-26T22:10:00.004-05:00

Island Dolphin Care

I thought it would be easier to post this link.

http://idc.smugmug.com/2011DolphinTime-Out/Spencer-C/17196970_VLZD6b#1307579182_dmmG8DQ

Island Dolphin Care assigns each participant their own photographer for the week. This year her name is Marissa. She is with us the entire time taking pictures of Spencer and our family. Each night they added them to this website. There are over 400 pictures in there. At the end of the week we have the opportunity to purchase a disc with all these pictures and some on it. Today was sibling day. Lynden loved it! The pictures are so good. I hope you all enjoy these!

2011-05-25T22:36:00.004-05:00

Tuesday in the Keys!

2011-05-25T01:14:00.003-05:00

Hand shakes with Sara & Gracie.

Dolphin Ride!

Dolphin Talk

Spencer & the dolphins.

2011-05-23T22:46:00.005-05:00

We had an awesome Monday. Spencer was ready to jump right in. Only had time for one video today, but will have pics and a few more videos tomorrow.

Spencer wanted to say, "Hi" to Joshua and his other friends and teachers at Orchard Hills.

2010-12-06T08:38:00.005-06:00

Happy Halloween!

This year for Halloween we went to the Willard Rec Center. They had games and huge blow up houses. This kids really had a good time. It was just very, very busy. Nana and Papa were able to come visit and go with us. Afterwards, we all went and had dinner at Ziggie's.

For this you got harnessed in and ran to see how far you could get before your harness pulled you back. Spencer LOVED it, Lynden not so much!

2010-12-06T07:53:00.009-06:00

Lynden's 4th Birthday!

This year we had Lynden's birthday party at our house in Willard. He loved having everyone over. He originally wanted a rollercoaster cake, then changed it to a black TV cake but then finally setteled on Thomas after looking at the pictures from last year. His party was in the afternoon so he had to wait all day. He was pretty patient. Throughout the day he would yell out, "Okay, its time for my birthday party!!!" It was really cute. We are so thankful for everyone who was able to come. Lynden had a great time!

He loved having all of his "friends" over and loved all of his gifts. He was the most excited about getting Misty Island Rescue (Thomas movie). He had been asking for it for weeks.

2010-09-21T12:20:00.008-05:00

Welcome Baby Marleigh!

We have had many exciting and not so exciting adventures this summer (moving, buying a house, renovations, Spencer ending Rivendale and starting a new school, Michael starting a new job, my very hot, uncomfortable 3rd trimester) but of course Marleigh takes the cake. She was born August 10th at 1:24 am. She was 20 inches long and weighed 8 pounds and 3 ounces. She is such a beautiful little sweetheart and we could not love her any more! I don't know how our family ever felt complete without her. I will post more details at some point.

This camera was a day off.

So perfect!

All ready to go home from the hospital.

About a week old!

2010-06-23T10:31:00.012-05:00

Spencer's 7th Birthday!

These are not in any order, I just wanted to get them posted. There are a few random cute pics but they are mostly Spencer's birthday. He wanted another dolphin cake like last year. We had his party at the park in Harrison and then went bowling afterwards. He had a lot of fun. We are thankful to all that came. Love you all!

2010-04-19T12:35:00.010-05:00

CHRISTMAS AT NANA AND PAPA'S HOUSE!

CHRISTMAS AT PAPA GARY AND GRANDMA JOYCE'S!

CHRISTMAS AT HOME!

Spencer's Rivendale Christmas Program. He was a drummer boy who played the triangle.

2010-02-08T20:46:00.010-06:00

2009-11-03T09:42:00.016-06:00

Fall Pictures

So, maybe we go a little overboard on fall pictures. It is by far our favorite time of they year and having super cute kids probably doesn't help. Hope you enjoy!

Just a couple of cute pics of the boys that I couldn't pass up. Lynden is really into me taking pictures of his trains. Both of the boys are having a major Thomas phase. I don't know there are huge spaces in between some of my pictures when I download them. I usually take them out but there are way to many pictures this time. It would take me forever. If anyone else has this problem or know how to fix it, PLEASE, let me know. Thanks!

2009-10-01T10:02:00.005-05:00

FUN RUN!

Fun Run is an annual fundraiser for the Rivendale Institute of Learning where Spencer goes to school. It is a private school for autism and is wonderful. Much of it is ran off fundraisers. We are trying to help raise money. Fun Run is on Oct 17th at the Harrison Stadium in Springfield. There is a 5K for anyone interested. It is $25 if entered by Tuesday the 6th, otherwise $30. A t-shirt is included. There is also t-shirt sponsorships available for buisnesses, $500 for your name on the sleeve, $250 for your logo on the front and bigger than the one liners, and $100 for one line sponsors.

Michael and I are looking for individuals or business that would be willing to sponsor Spencer in his one mile walk. He will be walking with Michael and Lynden. It is a one time sponsor fee of whatever you would like. No amount is too small.

Michael and I are also in charge of the bake sale/cake walk that day, so if anyone would like to donate a cake or dessert of any kind that would also be greatly appreciated. If you have any questions please call me at 870-577-4863. Thank you all so much!

2009-09-27T22:20:00.016-05:00

Happy 3rd Birthday, Lynden!

We celebrated Lyndens birthday at the park in Harrison. We had been in town since Wedensday. We were fortunate enough to be able to spend quiet a bit of time with out families. We had a great visit and are thankful for the wonderful hospitality. We are also thankful for everyone who was able to come the party. I think everyone had a great time. We love you all.

It looks like Lynden is sharing all his cars with Devin but don't let the picture fool you.

Handsome Spencer

Yes, there are four kiddos on that tire - Taylor, Caleb, Dameon and Brayden. And Jason was pushing them like you would not beleive. They were loving it!

The boys!

Olivia was so proud of her worm find.

The sis and the Dad

Lynden first really checking out his cake

He could not love Thomas movies any more!

Devin striking a pose

Uncle Billy and Bubbers

Trying to get away from me with the camera

Christy and Taylor

We were so happy that Dale and Christy were in town from Memphis this weekend and that we got to see them. It was great visiting with you and having you guys at the party.

Lynden licking icing off of Duncan

Cutie Pie!

My two handsome boys!

Lynden ALWAYS has a train in hand!!!

Daddy and the birthday boy!

The massive cake

Lynden and Samuel

So, for some reason, from the first picture I took of him this day, every time I said smile to Lynden, he would wrinkle his nose and say "cheeeeese"! He is so done with the regular fake smiles and has moved on the this. These days you really have to make him laugh to get a normal smiling picture of him. But what can I say, I love all the smiles - fake of some sort of not!

Dale and Bill

Uncle J

Devin and Olivia spend much of their time digging for worms!

We spend the night with Brandy and Derek on Friday night and spent most of the night working on this bad boy. Michael spent even more time than that. What a wonderful Daddy!

I love this picture!

I love, love, love this picture of Spencer!

Three of my favorite gals

Two of his new take along trains. Amy so generously gave Lynden (and Spencer, it is taking Lynden a while to realize this part) a whole bunch of take along trains and gear. The both love it. Thank you so much Amy!

Proud of new bedding from Nana and Papa

Thank you all for the great time and wonderful gifts. Thank you to Mom and Gary for putting our family up Wedensday and Thursday night. And also thanks to everyone for letting us spend time with you and for feeding us. We have the best family. For those of you that check our blog, tomorrow I am finally adding the captions to my last post.

2009-09-21T22:21:00.016-05:00

Dickerson Park Zoo

Last weekend we went to the zoo on dollar day. Brandy and Derek came up and spent the night on Friday and went to the zoo with us on Saturday. We all had a good time.

Feeding the giraffes is by far my favorite part of the zoo. They are so cute. The kids loved it, too.

About 20 minutes after we got there Spencer laid down on the ground on his back. It sprinkled all day so to say he got a little dirty would be an understatement.

How sweet is that?

We Actually Moved!!!

So, after months of praying, research and an entire school year for Spencer, we decided to move to Nixa, Mo. Spencer had a very rough year at school and we quickly realized that he was not somewhere that was able to provide the best for him. I wish we would have known a year ago what we know now. We would have moved a year ago and saved ourselves and our little boy from months of frustration and sadness and standing still. We sold our house and moved into a duplex in Nixa. We were fortunate enough to be able to enroll Spencer into a private school (Rivendale Institute for Learning) for autism in Springfield for this first school year. He has done wonderful. The first few weeks he had a few episodes with behavior but the staff new exactly how to handle it and knew how to redirect and prevent future struggles. Everyday when I pick him up now I am giving his daily sheet with everything they did that day, etc. I am told he had a great day almost everyday now. You can not put a price tag on peace of mind of knowing that your child is being treated like a person and progressing and being taught in a manner that works for him. And he loves it. I could not be more thankful for the way things have worked out. I can certainly see the Lord's hand in everything we do.

The boys loved the U-haul.

Our old living room the day we moved.

My mom with her Mom and Dad last summer!

So, as you seen from my last post, my grandmother passed away June 6th. Well, you hear those stories of old married couples who love each other so much that the one left just can't live long without the other. This must have been the case for grandma and grandpa because my grandfather followed suit on July 28th. I loved both of my grandparents very much. They loved like I you rarely seen in life.

When we were in town for my grandpa's funeral we took Spencer to the Dr. to find out he has juvenille diabetes, where we were told to take him to the ER at Arkansas Children's Hospital immediately. When we got there his blood sugar was well over 600. Scared me to death! This means he is type 1 and will always require insulin injections. At first I was scared to death that it was because of what he has been eating but it brought a little comfort to find out the type 1 diabetes had nothing to do with that. It is partly genetics but mostly luck of the draw. Bless his heart. I was devastated the first day. I couldn't even begin to entertain the thought of being strong for him. Tears just rolled down my face on their own and non stop. I was just so sad for him. As if he doesn't have enough to struggle with. I was just worried that he wouldn't be able to eat anything he liked and I wouldn't know how to take care of him. We had lots of training while we were there and had such a wonderful experience with ACH. After it sunk in and we knew we would do and learn whatever we needed to make his life easier, we moved on. You spend a few days in ACH with your child and you walk out of there all but on your knees thanking Heavenly Father that your child has juvenille diabetes and not something else. I could not imagine getting the news that my child had a terminal illness. I will take autism and diabetes any day. We had so many family members and friends who either visited or called or prayed or added him to a prayer list or gave us money or brought us food or watched Lynden or took Spencer to play while we did our education or....well, I could go on and on and on. We thank everyone for all your thoughts and prayers and contributions of some sort during this time. Spencer is now doing great and has barely slowed down at all. I am so thankful for that!

Camping at Cricket

Around mid July we went camping with all my family at Cricket. It was the most beautiful weekend to camp. The temp stayed in the mid 80s. We had this planned for several weeks but could not have picked a better weekend or a better spot. We were right across from the shower/bathrooms....big plus! We try to do this every year and we always have such a great time.

Michael brought his bike and Spencer's bike. They rode all over the park and loved it.

Lynden kept putting rocks in the fishing net and telling everyone "I got one!" He was so proud.

Spencer thought he was the biggest stuff in Papa's boat!

2009-07-22T11:31:00.015-05:00

The Welk Resort

Last Wednesday we spent the night at the Welk Resort in Branson. I paid $59 for it on Bids for Bargains. I was so excited. They have this huge new indoor/outdoor water park with a 107 foot water slide. Lynden was too small but Michael and I took turns taking Spencer on it. It was so fun. Even though we couldn't check in until 4, we still had access to the water park from the time it opened (at 10 am) on the day of check in until close (10 pm) on the day we checked out. So we had plenty of time to spend getting wet. It was awesome and the kids loved as you can tell from the pictures.

I think the water shooting out of the floor was Lynden's favorite part. He kept running through them all right in a row. They were all over. He also loved "sitting" on the stream. I never got a picture but it was really cute! It is hard to get good close up of him looking at me because he is too impatient. Where is the fun in staying still for longer than 1.5 seconds! Come on!

Spencer loved the giant water bucket. He would stand there and watch it fill up and then as it dumped on him, he would fall down on purpose. He is so dramatic. He probably did this 25 times.

Fourth of July

We let off or watched fireworks several times this year. On the actual 4th, Brandy and her kids came over and Bill and Judy came over for a while, too. We enjoyed watched the kids. They all loved it as much as any kid would.

Spencer's favorite thing by far were the snakes. Lynden's was the sparklers although I didn't get any pictures of him with one. I am really slipping on my picture taking...I think it has something to do with me being so far behind on my scrapbooking. Less pictures, less I am behind. That was my subconscience talking.

My special girl

My grandmother passed away on June 6th. I have been meaning to post a little something about her but have only updated my blog once since she passed. So, as you can see she is a beautiful ray of light. She was loved by everyone. No one left her house ever without a kiss from her. That is one of the many things I love about her. I had the opportunity to spend quiet a bit of time with her in her last week with us. For that I am forever grateful. I know I will see her again and look forward to it very much. Many of my childhood memories are tied to these two people. They were together for 55 years and I have never seen a couple like them, even in the movies. They are a great example of love to me. They always said the sweetest things to each other no matter who was around. It is a pleasure to be their grand daughter. I love both of my grandparents very much!

My adorable boys!

2009-07-07T08:20:00.005-05:00

This helicopter had a really long skinny blade hanging down that was trimming trees in the field right across from our house. When I first heard it, I thought it was landing in the cul-de-sac. Spencer thought it was awesome. He ran outside and was just giddy. Then he ran in and got his binoculars. It was so cute!

Lynden kept pulling Spencer's hair. What a little punk!

Spencer's Graduation!

2009-05-30T01:36:00.009-05:00

Spencer graduated from kindergarten on Thursday night. He was so cute. I just love him so much. He has worked hard and had a hard year and I just could not be any prouder of him. I am so proud to be his mom. I did fairly well...for me, I only had uncontrollable tears streaming one time. That was when he got his diploma. He is doing so well, and is very excited that school is over. We are equally excited about this. I am thankful for those who were able to make it. I didn't get to take as many pictures as I would have liked before my batteries went dead and the quality is not that good but here they are. He was adorable and did such a great job.

Daddy and Spencer

Mommy and Spencer

Brayden and Brandy

Mrs. Kersh with Spencer getting his diploma

Brayden getting his diploma

Spencer loved waiving his flag.

He liked to chew on his tassel.

He is so handsome. He really wanted to wear his long sleeve white button up shirt with this tie. Oh, my goodness, he is so sweet.

He is so precious! When I think he can't be anymore innocent and precious, he surprises me!

Spencer and Mrs. Kersh. She has been Spencer's speech therapist all year. We are thankful for her.

Brayden

Hope all is well with everyone. We love you!

FINALLY, A NEW POST...GEEZ, TRACY! There, I took the words right out of your mouth.

2009-05-18T21:15:00.021-05:00

Who doesn't love Hootie?

So Michael surprised me this past Friday with Darius Rucker tickets. I had no clue what we were doing or where we were going until we showed up at the mall in Fayetteville where the concert was. Bill and Judy watched the boys. Thanks guys! We had a great time. I am a life long Hootie fan, well, who isn't but anyway, he was great. I LOVE his voice. He sang his country songs, a bunch of old Hootie songs, some Hank Williams Jr., even Purple Rain by Prince. He was awesome. I loved it. Thank you Micheal, you are such a sweetheart!

Wade Bowen - They were good, kind of Rascal Flatts meets Steve Earle!

Sean McConnell - I loved him. He had a raspy voice and sang mostly slow rock style songs. It was just him and his guitar, no band...loved Him!

Dickerson Park Zoo & Saddlebrooke

On May 11th, all of the Valley Springs kindergarteners got to go on a field trip to Dickerson Park Zoo. They had to ride the bus there (which was fine, cause Spencer was excited about that) but then could ride home with their parents. I rode up with Brandy. We had a great visit and really enjoyed spending the day with Brayden and Spencer. They seemed to love it. Spencer asks me about everyday if we can go to the zoo. Then he will say "not today, maybe later!" Poor guy. We stayed at the zoo for an extra hour after the buses left to see more. Spencer's favorite part of the zoo was by far the snake building. That's my boy! Anyway, on the way home we pulled into Saddlebrooke to take a look, which is gorgeous by the way, we found this swimming hole (just for residents and their guests, don't tell anyone). It had this wooden bridge and huge, beautiful landscaping rocks....and free fish food. The boys were excited about that since they only got one go around at the zoo. Let's just say, if it were the same cost as it was at the zoo Brandy and I would be in serious debt. We let them take their shoes off and I rolled up Spencer's pants to wade in the water. As luck would have it, Spencer "accidentally" sat down...just on top of the water. Tell me how that happens. Anyway, he rode home just in his T-shirt. We were pretty sure that one or both of the would wind up soaked but that was okay. We just wanted them to have a good time and they did. They loved it. And you know me, always willing to take pictures! Sorry the pictures are out of order.

Mother's Day!

My two little angels!

Spencer painted this flower pot for me at school for Mother's Day. It is so precious. It came in this box and yes, the flower was actually scotch taped onto the stem when I got it. He must have gotten a little rough with it. I couldn't have loved it any more.

Bubbers just being himself. Michael also typed me up a sweet letter for me from the boys and got me two calla lilies from them. What sweeties! I am so thankful for my kiddos. I love being a momma!

Branson Air Show

So, we went to the Branson Air Show a couple weeks ago. Once we finally got into the airport it was great. They boys loved it, especially Spencer. They were big stuff getting into the airplanes and helicopters. They both love these two things. We parked in a parking lot by Country Mart and they had buses (50) shutteling people to the airport 6 miles away. The traffic was unbelievable and once we got loaded on the bus, it still took us almost 1 1/2 hous to get to the airport and apparently others had it worse. But, we still had a nice time.

2009-04-15T21:33:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luRmM1J1sfg&feature=related

For the few of you that haven't seen this yet, watch it now! I promise you'll be moved.

2009-04-15T09:20:00.015-05:00

Easter!!!

On Saturday evening Mom and Gary took all of us out dinner at Western Sizzlin. Yum, thanks again guys. We had a good visit and all went to their house afterwards to hunt eggs.

Mom got little kites for the kids also and I think everyone loved them. At one point all the kids were running around with a kite. It got a little crazy but in a good way!

Lynden mostly just wanted to play with "my truck", he thinks anything with wheels is his.

Easter Sunday Bill, Judy and Jason all came over and we grilled. It was delish! Then the kids got their baskets and goodies from Nana and Papa. We had very nice Easter get togethers this year!

Every time we have a family function I wind up with a funny picture of Jason. He put a throw pillow in his shirt to show how miserable he was after we ate.

On Saturday we went to Jennifer Flippo's wedding. The boys were really just in it for the "birthday cake" which Judy made and did a great job on.

Dyeing Easter Eggs

Last Friday we spend the evening at Brandy's so all the kids could dye eggs. They loved it and we had a fun time dyeing our eggs, too!

Happy Birthday Brayden!

Brayden's birthday was March 23rd. Michael helped out Brandy with the cake. We all always have so much fun on projects together!

The end has come...

2009-03-20T22:50:00.006-05:00

Michael here... It is late Friday night and we have made it to Lake Park, GA. We decided to get a good night sleep in case we are able to finish the trip out tomorrow. It will be nice to sleep in our own beds! We are so bummed though that this wonderful experience has come to an end. We have learned so much and have been given the opportunity to see Spencer possibly the happiest that he has ever been in his life. That is a tough one to have to give up. The goodbye today was a tearful one. We are bound and determined to return, so who ever wants to come with us next year, start saving your change! Enjoy the pics! We love you all.

Sibling Day!

2009-03-19T21:14:00.010-05:00

Hello ya'll! Michael here again. Today was Sibling Day at the IDC. Lynden got to get in the water with Spencer. We were amazed at how willing he was. We captured some priceless facial expressions! We had another great day. Spencer was being a little feisty with his therapists. They got to see a little bit more of his personality. We attended a sensory integration workshop this afternoon. We got a lot of ideas for assisting in calming Spencer when he is feeling overloaded which is fantastic. We are dreading having to go. It has been amazing seeing the true desire of these great therapists and interns and their willingness to do whatever they can to make this experience unforgettable. Tomorrow is the final swim and Tracy will be able to get in the water with Spencer. I look forward to getting some snaps of them.

You have no idea what we went through to get this pic!

I got drenched on this one. Lynden got a nice drink of salt water as well.

As soon as Lynden got in the water, there came a torrential downpour.

Lynden handing dad the present (seaweed) that Fiji brought him.

Jack was excellent with Lynden. He went right to him.

Can't get any better than this.

Look at that face!

All suited up and ready to go.

Hello. My name is Wono.

Here are some pics of the beautiful tropical flowers here.

Wednesday in Paradise!

2009-03-18T21:51:00.007-05:00

My three favorite boys! We had just arrived at the beach in Key West.

Spencer's work of art!

We had almost decided not to visit Key West due to the drive. It is about 90 miles from our hotel, but we are so glad that we did. It was gorgeous and the boys absolutely loved the beach and so did we, I took so many pictures! I may post more later but it would take me all night to post all them tonight.

Key West Sunset!

Just having a snack. Spencer poured his popcorn and Lynden's (without being asked to share). It was really sweet.

The Seven Mile Bridge

Lynden and Honey....the painting dog! She is so sweet.

Mommy and Spencer!

Classic Bubbers! What a cutie!

Dr. Jack (one of Spencer's therapists) at the family BBQ!

The touch and feel tank!

Just Spencer being precious! We didn't take many pictures of Spencer with the dolphins today because we video taped most of the session. It was amazing of course, and I must say, this has by far been one of the most incredible experiences of my life. I can't even tell you all of the things we have learned. We have been in awe of the staff and their knowledge of therapy and compassion for Spencer. CNN was there today and asked me if they could film Spencer. I wanted to say heck yeah, but chose "absolutely" instead. Who knows, he may make an appearance on TV. Cool, huh? Well, I better go to bed, I am beat.

Better than we could have possibly imagined!

2009-03-17T21:11:00.011-05:00

Michael here again. Tracy was a little uncomfortable coming down to the wifi area by the marina alone so she is entrusting me to use her blog again.

The boys are in bed and have been for hours. It is midnight and I just now finished downloading all these pictures. I apologize for those that checked the blog yesterday for an update. We thought that we lost our camera bag but today found it at the IDC. So here are a couple of days worth of our fantastic vacation. They really aren't in any particular order. But if you will notice, Spencer was a little apprehensive in the beginning of the dolphins. He warmed up quickly though and did an amazing job today.

We are having a wonderful time at the IDC. We have fallen in love with every single one of the therapists and interns, including Deana and Peter and their son Joe, the owners. The have been so acomadating and have really given us the king & queen treatment. I can really see their love for the "differently-abled." Spencer has responded well to all of his therapists and has had no melt downs whatsoever. His class sessions are packed with positive reinforcement. He loves going into the water for his dolphin-assisted therapy. He has a therapist in the water with him, one on the platform, all along with the dolphin trainer and 2 interns. They are all amazing. We are so blessed that this experience was made possible and to be able to share it with Spencer.

Wednesday, we will be going to an IDC barbeque at 11 and then Spencer will have his sessions at 1:15. Then, we are going to go ahead and drive out to Key West to swim and have dinner. Hopefully we will get some amazing pictures of a sunset. By the way, we had some DELICIOUS key lime pie last night! Oh yeah, I better not leave out today, too :).

We love you all.

What the heck is that?

GET IT AWAY!

That's not so bad.

Wait a minute, it looked at me again...

Warming up...

In the water.

Mom is so excited.

Listen buddy...you get any closer and I'll box your jaws!

I'm sorry! I love you, man!

Ah sha boo boo!

Wait, Pencer!

It takes a real man to pull off dolphin sunglasses! I'm a stud!

Daddy & Spencer's turn! Day 2

I love my life!

Wooooo Nelly

Tummy scratches for Fiji and Bella

Listen sweetie... I'm married. It wouldn't work out anyway.

Kisses

Fiji pushing Dr. Jack and Spencer on the boogie board.

Fiji & Bella pushing Spencer's feet across the water.

Handsome!

All suited up.

Suck it in....

Potty training doesn't end just because you're on vacation!

Give me some sugar!

Natural reef habitat in an aquarium. There are several at the IDC.

And the sand begins! So much for detailing the van!

Key Largo Sunrise.

Key Largo sunset.

Ocean Pointe Beach House and Cafe.

We are on the second floor (as you notice there is no first floor because the condos are built on cement posts for storm surge purposes). You can see the window to Spencer & Lynden's bedroom far to the right.

We're here!!!!!

2009-03-15T22:52:00.003-05:00

(Michael here) Well, we finally made it to Key Largo today around 5 p.m. The trip has been long but fantastic. We left Friday morning on the journey about 9 a.m. and drove to Little Rock for Spencer's MRI. He did wonderful and came out of recovery quicker than expected. He had no nausea from the anesthesia which was great since we were going to be in the car for the next 3 days. We ran into some rain between LR and Memphis and it rained the rest of the way to Tupelo, MS. We stayed at a Quality Inn. It was quite a unique place. We were on the 5th floor with a window that overlooked the entire atrium of the hotel. The boys loved it. We woke up the next morning and got on the road heading toward Orlando, FL. What a long drive. It rained until we got to about Lake City, FL. Atlanta was a "trip." 14 lanes of traffic at one point. We arrived in Orlando about 2:30 a.m. due to Lola, the name we gave to the GPS lady, giving us some bad directions. Well, I must say, it really wasn't her fault. Somehow a "via point" got added (right Tracy;) to the trip directions which showed our hotel to be in an old vacant warehouse. That was a little disturbing at 2 in the morning in an unfamiliar city. We slept in as long as we could. We requested a late check-out. We were on the road about noon. We then made an unexpected stop in Ft. Lauderdale at the Intl Airport. Unfortunately, Gary and Joyce had to make an emergency flight back to Arkansas. Elsie, Tracy's grandma, took a turn for the worse and was admitted into the hospital early that morning. It is believed that she has had a 5th heart attack. We are praying for her. She has been resilient pulling through these things. May God bless her and Kenneth and their children. After we said our goodbyes at the airport, we booked on down to the Keys. We are staying at the Ocean Point Suites. opsuites.com. I have included some pictures of this little piece of paradise. We got all settled in and went swimming in the junior size Olympic pool. It is spring break, so there are a lot of college students here. It is nice to see so many people having a great time. I went down to the Winn Dixie and picked up some laundry detergent and grabbed a bite for us earlier. It is now 11:44 pm and I am sitting on the beach here with the wifi. (Thanks dad for letting me use your laptop!) Tracy told me that I could go ahead and blog tonight. I am the only one out here. It is beautiful. I can hear the waves crashing and a wonderful breeze is blowing about 15 mph. It is, wait for it, 75 degrees. Don't hate me. Well, I am going to run back to the Condo and get some shut eye. We have orientation at the Island Dolphin Care in the morning about 8. We will blog daily. I will have Tracy blog tomorrow night with some new pics. We love you all!

2009-03-10T10:51:00.003-05:00

I am such a proud, lucky Mama! The Harrison Daily Times did a write on Spencer and autism and our trip. I couldn't get the link properly attached on here but, if you visit www.harrisondailytimes.com, you can find the link to Spencer's story. Celia did a wonderful job!

We will be probably back from our trip Sunday the 22nd, so plan on an extra long post. If we are able to post pictures while we are there, we will. Love you all!

2009-03-03T14:36:00.005-06:00

Happy Birthday, Michael!

Spencer was born on Michael's 23rd birthday, and because they share a birthday, we tend to overlook Michael's big day a little. He would prefer it that way but, I just wanted to let him know how lucky the boys and I are to have him in our lives. He is a wonderful, wonderful man. I love him so much and the boys do, too. He is always so funny and fun to be around. He is a great daddy and does more than his share to help me out around the house. I appreciate all that he does for our family and could not be more thankful and happy to be married to such a great, thoughtful guy!

2009-03-03T11:28:00.008-06:00

Spencer’s 6th Birthday!

We had Spencer’s birthday party on Saturday at our house, where we celebrated with our family. We grilled hotdogs and had chips and potato salad for lunch. Then we had cake and Spencer opened his presents. We made him a dolphin cake in lieu of our upcoming trip to Key Largo. For those of you who don’t know, Spencer got accepted to receive a scholarship from the Island Dolphin Care Center in Key Largo, Florida. We will spend the week of March 16-20 there where he will receive dolphin assisted therapy. We will leave out on Friday the 13th. Spencer has an MRI scheduled at ACH that day in Little Rock at noon. So we will take off from there late that afternoon. We will stay in Tupelo that night and Orlando the next night. I could not be more excited about this. It is all Spencer talks about. Every since we knew he got accepted in October, we have been telling him that he gets to go swim with the dolphins after his birthday. So, he has really kicked that up a notch in the last couple of days. He has a calendar that he has been marking off the days left until his birthday/swim with dolphins, for the last week This seems to help him out a lot. Anyway, back to the party, everyone seemed to have a good time and Spencer loved all of his gifts. We would like to thank everyone who came. We love you all.

This picture has nothing to do with Spencer's birthday, just a Bubbers catch!

The boys entertaining themselves while we baked the cakes. Lynden loved Spencer pulling him around the house.

Watching the cake bake...they were so excited, they could barley stay out of the kitchen.

2009-03-03T10:55:00.001-06:00

Spencer loses his first tooth!

On Thursday Feb. 26th, Spencer lost his first tooth at school that day. He is very adorable and proud of himself. He is getting so big!

Pirate!

Helping Dad in the yard!

Last weekend Papa came over to help Michael cut up our left over ice storm wood. Spencer got to be outside with them a lot. Each time they cut a load up, they would drive it up to the front across the street where the rest of it is. Spencer would get to ride on the wood in the back of the truck with Daddy. He loved that. Lynden had to stay inside with me but got to go out long enough for one trip back. My 3 boys are so cute.

Just Because!

2009-02-20T11:35:00.000-06:00

Spencer's Valentine Party!

Spencer had a Valentine party at school that day and I was able to go. I am so thankful that I am able to stay home with the boys and go to all his parties. He was so sweet. I nelt down on the floor next to him with my plate. He noticed I didn't have a cookie so he went and got one and put it on my plate for me. Then went and got me a juice box and opened it and put the straw in it for me. Then he drug me a chair over from the other side of the room for me to sit in. He is so sweet.

This is Mrs. U. Spencer really likes her.

Lynden fell asleep on the way and slept all the way through it, just as I had hoped for. Later that night Michael and I stayed the night in Springfield. We went to dinner and watched a movie. We never get to go out just the two of us. It was really nice. I am thankful to Nana and Papa Coffman for staying the night at our house with the boys. I am sure the boys did what they could to wear them out but everyone seemed to have had a good time.

My Silly Boys!

Spencer must have been really sleepy to not notice dropping his popcorn while falling asleep.

Lynden fell asleep on the couch like this the other day. When Michael went to put him in his bed, he had a death grip on the truck. He is such a car/truck lover!

Sweetie!

What a cutie pie. He loves these straw glasses, I mean who wouldn't!

Lynden just being Lynden. He is such a funny kiddo.

New Year's Eve

We spent the evening at Brandy and Derek's for New Year's Eve. We ate like kings and played games. The kids were really good playing together. They all had a blast and so did we. Thanks for having us over guys. Love ya!

Buggie

What a face!

Sweet Bailey

Brayden

Spencer loved this video chair...looks like he is getting a little sleepy!

Damster

The kids were fighting over who got to sit by me. It was so cute. I can't help it if I am a loved aunt!

Brandy, Spencer and Dameon

My New Kitchen!

Before...
Our fridge used to be where the new counter top is, making the space in the corner unusable. So, we moved the fridge into the utility room (see in the next picture) and my multi-talented hubby whipped up this new counter. I absolutely love!

Nast!

After...

Love it!

I think that I have had wood grain formica counter tops everywhere I have ever lived. I am really really tired of them. So, to say that I love my new kitchen would be a vast understatement. I am so thankful for all the work and labor that was put into these. I would like to especially thank Derek and Cheyenne Ireland for donating their time and talents to help us out. What a blessing.

2009-01-31T22:35:00.000-06:00