Christmas Chaos -- in Pictures

Well, to keep this brief, I will mostly just post some pictures.  As it is, it takes eons for the pictures to load and blogger has gotten weird with pictures.  So it will take me much longer than I'd like it to, I'm sure. 

But for the record:  I'm 20 weeks pregnant today, so halfway there.  But based on last Monday's ultrasound, Baby is measuring a week ahead.  So I'm hoping to go early, if my choices are going early or having a gigantic baby.  All looks good, though.  We will be having another ultrasound at about 32 weeks (so about 3 months from now) to find out if my placenta has moved up with uterus growth.  Because as of last week, the placenta was a bit lower than they'd like -- which can mean placenta previa.  Which would mean they'd probably do a c-section.  I'm not overly concerned at this point.  My uterus has a lot of growing to do.  And whatever happens happens.  No point in agonizing over it.

So now on to pictures of Christmas.  Brad and his family came and stayed with us for a week.  We live in about 1000 square feet, so it was close quarters.  9 people:  4 adults, 2 toddlers, and 3 kids ages 8 to 13.  The dinner table was packed -- and pulled out as far as it will go!  It was good.  Just crazy around here.

So this was the day they arrived.  Which was also the day we had gone out to Jeremy's parents' and picked out our tree.  And also the day I decorated it :).  Lynnaea was so cute when I flipped the lights on.  She just couldn't believe it!

Because it's fun to be silly with my munchkin :).

This was right after Brad, Angie, and Vivienne arrived.  The tree was the place to be!

Lynnaea loved having so many cousins here.  She was buds with all of them.

We had Christmas Even at Jeremy's parents' house.  Lynnaea learned how to eat stuff off the table.  And her cousins thought it was hilarious.  So she kept doing it.  Turkey girl.

She tried on one of her uncle's hats.  She's so stinkin' cute.  Oh -- and Grandma saved the day with those pajamas (which were her Christmas present)!  On the way down, she had a blow-out.  Like the first in 7 or 8 months.  And I was completely unprepared for that!

Opening her shape sorter present.  She liked the tissue paper a lot.

It was a late night...  She was tired.  But going strong!  I think we could have a pianist on our hands ;).

Christmas morning at our house.  These are mostly the presents for Brad's kids.  They were here for Christmas morning, but they actually let everyone sleep until about 8!

So here we go with Christmas morning.

Here's all the kids plus Brad and Jeremy.

Most of the kids.  Vivienne was opening a present I guess.

Vivienne liked this present of Sam's better than she liked her own.  Lynnaea liked Vivienne's presents better than she liked her own.  Haha.

Angie and Vivienne, and me and Lynnaea.  Did I mention Vivienne was sick most of the time they were here?

Another of me and Lynnaea.  I was a beaut Christmas morning, obviously.

More pictures of the kids.  Samuel, Ben, and Brad.

Lynnaea with her "Big Girl Panties" book that April got her!  She loves this book.  She also got an Elmo Potty and big girl panties from Lea and Chuck.  Yep, it's the beginning of potty training!  It's been going okay.  Mostly we are just getting her used to the potty.  But she'll ask to sit on it -- because she knows she can use the tablet while sitting on the potty.  We have had 2 successful poopies and 2 peepies.  We still have a long way to go though.  Funny story:  before she actually peed in the potty for the first time, she'd been sitting on it for about 5 minutes, playing the tablet.  She told me she was all done and wanted to get up (having done nothing).  I got her up and told her to come to the room to get a new diaper on.  After about a minute I hear her say "uh-oh."  She had peed on the floor in the bathroom.  Hahaha...  It's fun stuff ;).

So anyway, that's all the pictures I took from Christmas.  We had Christmas with my family at my mom's house Christmas afternoon.  But I didn't take any pictures there.  Oh well.

Alabama Trip 2014: Final Installment

So, as I mentioned previously, we actually returned to Birmingham on the 29th of November, which was the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  It also happened to be the day of the Iron Bowl.  Which is why my original plans changed.

See, originally, I was planning to head to Tuscaloosa on the 29th and stay a night there.  But then Annie told me that was the day Auburn and Alabama were playing -- and it was happening in Tuscaloosa.  I quickly modified my plans.  Ain't no way I wanted to be in that mess of traffic!  So we just went to Birmingham and did our day jaunt over to Tuscaloosa later.

So we got back to Julie's early in the evening.  We ate dinner, ran a couple errands.  I started making cinnamon rolls while the big game came on.  Now, here's the thing:  I'm not a super football fan.  It's just never been important to me.  Like ever.  But Julie is a huge fan -- especially of UA.  And so she was watching the game.  Ergo, we all watched the game.  And I learned something:  it's not so bad.  I'll never be an avid fan.  I'll never live and breathe college football.  But it was a pleasant evening watching the game from the comfort of Julie's living room and watching her (and my husband ;)) get super-anxious at various points.  I missed some of it, as I was working on cinnamon rolls.  But I was in there for the end when Alabama walked away the champions.  I learned stuff about the game I didn't know at all.  And I realized I shouldn't have had such a negative attitude about it in the past.  You live, you learn.

After the game, Jeremy went to bed with the munchkin (we weren't super strict with her bed times while on vacation.  After all, it was vacation!) and Julie and I stayed up and had a fun girlie visit.  It's harder to come by those with kids -- so I've learned.  I had brought her birthday present with me on the plane so that it wouldn't take up precious room in the Christmas package I'd be sending later.  So here she is opening her birthday present.

I made her a froggy quillow!  I was pretty pleased with how it turned out.  And it's thanks to Jeremy that it happened.  He helped me design it.  That's definitely a nice perk of his engineering mind:  he can envision things where I really can't until tangibly hold it.  Anyway, so basically it's a fleece blanket that can fold up and tuck into the frog and become a pillow.  when it's unfolded, the frog part is inverted and becomes a place you can put your feet to keep them warm.  Depending on how ambitious I feel this year (which isn't looking good so far...), I may try to make different animals for each of the nieces and nephews.  But that's a big maybe.

Anyway, I stayed up with Julie until Jon got home from work around midnight.  Then I headed to bed.  Sunday morning, Jeremy, Lynnaea, and I went to the Alabaster Ward for church.  I ended up hanging out in nursery the whole time, because I didn't know how Lynnaea would do if I left her.  Which was just as well, since the usual nursery assistant wasn't there.  We took a nice afternoon nap.  And then we went to church with Jon and Julie in the afternoon.  Then we all went back to Julie's and ate pizza. 

Monday was our Tuscaloosa day, and then Monday evening, Julie cooked dinner for us and then we watched Elf (because the Christmas movies were starting to play on the tv!).  We also snapped a couple pictures, because we needed to :).  This was the better of the two.  Hard to believe we've known each other 16 years!

Tuesday was the day we left Julie's.  I woke up early to see Julie off to work.  It was sad.  We weren't leaving until the next day, but we were staying one more night with April and Greg.  Julie texted me later to say she didn't want to go home if I wasn't going to be there :(.  So sad.  We didn't leave until the afternoon, so we relaxed and visited with Jon.  It was nice to sit and chat with Jon for a long while.  And of course, get some pictures with him too.

It's funny...  In recent days I've been going through and organizing old photos.  My oh my how we all have changed!  It's weird that we're in our mid-30s.  With kids!  Yikes!  When did that happen!?!

Anyway, so we said our good-byes.  Headed to April's and then she followed me to turn in the rental car.  Then we mostly just hung out and visited at her house -- and played some old Mario Bros on some system Greg got for his birthday -- until we were meeting up with Greg at Cracker Barrel.  That was good food!  And Jeremy impressed many people with his eating abilities, let's just say that.  I think it took 4 servers to bring all our food out.  It was crazy!  The food just kept on coming!  Back at April's, she and I visited into the night while the men played Super Mario 3 (the best one, I might add...) and had a hilarious time doing so.  We were cracking up watching them.  Then we all turned in for the night.  Oh yeah, I also made cinnamon rolls again, only this time, I was concerned with whether or not they'd rise, since we used self-rising flour. 

Holy cow.  I just had a massive paragraph that I accidentally deleted.  Ack!  Well, forget it.  Basically, April took us to the airport.  Our flight was delayed a bit.  But we made all our connections.  And the last flight of the trip (from San Diego to Seattle) was bomb, because there were only 53 passengers on board, and a ton of empty rows.  Which meant Lynnaea got her own seat.  And that was the best ever. 

There we are on the airplane -- Lynnaea with the tablet.

We landed in Seattle a little after 9.  I was exhausted.  We got our luggage and took the airporter.  We got home about midnight, and by the time we got everything done that we needed to do (change the baby, give her some milk, brush her teeth, etc), it was 1 in the morning.  We were exhausted.  And so we slept.  And Jeremy took the next day off work too, just so he wouldn't have to go in at 6 in the morning.

So that was the end of the trip.  It was a wonderful two weeks.  Wonderful.  Sometimes I wish vacation was all the time.  But then, it wouldn't be vacation. 

So coming up will be Christmas stuff. 

Alabama Trip 2014: Installment 3: A Day in T-Town

One of the reasons I told Jeremy, when he asked if I wanted to take a vacation to Alabama in 2014, that I wanted it to be a long vacation was because there were several "stops" I wanted to be able to make.  Tuscaloosa was one of those.

So once we got back to Birmingham on Saturday, we did some fun stuff.  Which I will chronicle in the next post with my Birmingham and Alabama wrap-up.  But basically, the Monday after we got back to Birmingham, we packed up our little rental for a day trip to T-town! 

We took a leisurely drive over (about an hour total) and talked the whole way.  Lynnaea was quite content and well-behaved.  Because we had plenty of time, I decided to take Jeremy on a little tour of the things I used to know.  So we drove through campus.  And by the place my old graduate student apartment used to be.  I pointed out the library where I worked and attended school.  And we pulled up on front of the stadium and took pictures with the statues.  Of course!  I mean, I have pictures by Bear Bryant from my days in Tuscaloosa.  But I figured Lynnaea needed to be in one too -- you know, for posterity ;).

Then, because he is, after all, the up-and-coming next Bear Bryant -- and because the statue wasn't there when I lived there 6 1/2 years ago -- we took a picture with the Nick Saban statue too :).

And then, just because she is so stinking cute, Lynnaea decided to crawl on the pedestal of this guy who I don't even know.  But it was so cute that she climbed up there, stood there, and waited for us to take a picture, that I just had to :).

Deciding that this little munchkin needed a chance to run, we drove down to the Black Warrior River and walked along the trail.  And watched a barge or tug or something go by a couple times.  Of course, since this child has no fear -- and since there isn't a real fence to keep kids from the water -- we ended up carrying her a lot of the way.  Just to be safe.

We also stopped and took a family picture on the bridge.  Just thought it was too pretty not to.

Turns out, a little play place (which was fenced!) had been built since my days there.  I later learned from Annie that it was really recently built, actually.  It was perfect!  And we were the only ones there, so little missy could have her reign!  Jeremy played with her on it too, but she loved sliding and climbing.  It was just what we needed for her to burn off some energy!

And as I sat there on the park bench watching, I looked up and thought, "These are the types of days that make me think I could live in Alabama again and love it!"  The weather was perfect.

After a bit of play time, it was time for us to head to Swen's for some great Chinese food!  I don't know why, but that's where we always go to meet up with Annie and Virginia when I visit :).  I'm not always a Chinese-food lover...  But Swen's has never disappointed me!

It was a lovely visit.  We enjoyed the meal -- Lynnaea mostly enjoyed the fried wonton pieces -- and we chatted.  I love catching up with these wonderful ladies.  It means the world to me that we've kept in touch over the years.  Because they were a huge part of my time in Tuscaloosa.  They were a bright spot of dear friendship, and I am forever indebted to them for the goodness they brought into my life then -- and continue to bring in now.

We still had time after lunch to just relax.  And we knew we wanted Lynnaea happy for the ride home.  So why not let her play at the park again?  So we went back there, and Annie joined us.  So she and I visited a lot while Jeremy and Lynnaea played.  It was awesome :).

But as it goes...  The time passed, and we knew we didn't want to get stuck in Birmingham traffic.  So we headed out.  But not before stopping by the Nut Shop to pick up some boiled peanuts and roasted peanuts to bring back to Washington! 

We made good time back to Julie's -- but still at a nice pace.  No rush.  And we beat the crazy traffic ;).  It was a wonderful day in Tuscaloosa.  And I'm so glad we had the chance to visit it for more than just an hour this time :).

Interruption

So I realize you were probably expecting more Alabama trip pictures.  Because I totally owe them to ya ;). 

But I'm interrupting that regularly-scheduled programming to bring you a pregnancy update before I go get some shut-eye.

Reading that sentence over my shoulder, Jeremy said, "Are you still pregnant?"  Haha.  Funny man.

Anyway. 

The answer is yes.  18 weeks today.  I have been feeling the little one move for about 2 weeks now.  Our guess is that it's a boy this time.  Jeremy thinks so because of a dream he had.  I think so because I felt so crummy in the first trimester, which was not the case at all with Lynnaea.  I go for my big ultrasound on Monday -- but we don't plan to find out gender, as with Lynnaea.  We'll have another surprise sometime around June 9th (the due date). 

And though, in this picture (taken tonight), all I look is fat...  I'm ecstatic to report that I have only gained 5 pounds, and I'm almost halfway done!  Woohoo!  My goal is not to exceed 20 pounds of weight gain this pregnancy, as I was already 5 pounds heavier than I'd hoped when I got pregnant.  The less I gain, the less I have to lose later! 

So there's that news :).  And a few pictures.  Because Lynnaea is too cute not to share!  (Also, we spent a week being sick and are just getting over it.  Finally.  That was one crummy cold!)

This was New Year's Eve.  She fell asleep on me earlier than usual.  We thought we were in for a great movie-date-night...  She woke up after an hour.  And that was the end of date night ;).

She has decided it's great fun to put the empty laundry basket over her head and walk around.  And laugh.  It's the cutest thing.

I put away all her 12 to 18 month clothes and got out everything up to 2T.  My baby is growing up.  I was looking at this dress against her to see if I thought she could still wear it.  She decided she wanted to wear it right then.  So I let her...  On top of her pajamas.  She kept it on for about half an hour and refused to have me take it off.  Hilarious.

And then these are from yesterday.  She looked so grown up in this outfit.  All 2T clothes.  Sigh.  I love this little girl.

She says "cheese!" when we take pictures.  And videos.  She's a crack-up.

And we'll return to our regularly-scheduled programming after these messages :).

Alabama Trip 2014: Installment 2

My how the time flies.  One more day in 2014, and I'm still updating about our Alabama trip a month ago!  Nevermind all the fun stuff that's occurred since we've been back!  Like Christmas...  Ah, but I'll get there...  Eventually ;).

So, after our awesome Scrubs party and a night at April and Greg's (with a delicious breakfast cooked by April on that Saturday morning), we headed to Dothan around noon on Saturday.  The drive is about 3 hours.  We made good time.  Lynnaea did pretty well for the most part, but started melting down inconsolably around Midland City.  So we stopped at Publix to pick up some groceries and allow her a little break from the car.

We reached my dad's house around 4:30.  He was thrilled to see us and re-meet his little grand-daughter.  Like usual, she took a bit of time to warm up.  But before long, she was running all over the house and trying to get into all his goodies laying about (and by goodies, I mean tools, etc, not food ;)). 

Because it was so cold there this year (an rather unseasonable freezing snap!), Lynnaea slept between me and Jeremy while we were at my dad's, to make sure she stayed warm enough.  Let's just say it wasn't the most comfortable sleeping arrangement for the grown-ups.  I think Lynnaea, on the other hand, slept just fine!

We attended church with Dothan 2nd Ward and were able to see many friends and acquaintances.  It was nice to be back there -- though much has changed over the years (people, is what I mean...  Lots of faces I didn't recognize).  But I guess that happens as life moves forward for everyone.

On Monday, we met up with my dear friend Stacy and her cute son for some pictures at the Botanical Gardens.  Just a few quick shots.  And a chance for Lynnaea to run around outside and drink the water out of the fountain.  Gross.  She's still alive, so I assume she either didn't drink enough to catch anything, or it was better than it looked.  (I swear, it amazes me children ever survive to adulthood!)  Naturally it ended up being a warmish, muggy day, so my choice of sweater was not the best...  We continued our visit with Stacy at Panera Bread.  Over some delicious mac and cheese.  Fortunately, they have Panera bread locally here...  Because I have a sudden hankering for that mac and cheese.  

On Tuesday, Lynnaea and I headed out to Troy Dothan to visit Donna.  It was a nasty drizzly day, but that sort of thing doesn't keep a munchkin down!  She was all about sitting in the swing and swinging.  And running through the puddles and wet grass.  Then we joined Donna for lunch at Cheddar's and enjoyed some yummy chicken fingers, french fries, and some mac and cheese which doesn't hold a candle to Panera's.  Not even a flicker.  It was a lovely visit with Donna.  I love that we are able to see each other every now and again when I visit -- or on the off chance she comes to Seattle!  (Hey, it's happened once -- in 2009 -- so it's possible ;)).  Around 3:00, Lynnaea (who took a 20 minute nap in the car) and I met up with Anne at Atlanta Bread Company and enjoyed a little dessert.  That was another wonderful visit.  I love meeting up with the dear friends I've had for ages.  Yes, life changes for all of us.  But there are still those ties, and it's wonderful to sit and visit with long-time friends.  Even if only for a short while.  On Tuesday night, after dinner, my dad, Jeremy, Lynnaea, and I watched some of Fantasia.  We didn't make it all the way through, as Lynnaea's attention span doesn't last that long.  But she enjoyed the parts she watched, and it was nice to do that as a family.

Wednesday was a nice day, and Lynnaea and enjoyed the must-have-when-in-Dothan roast beef sub from Italian Express!  We met up with Kristin there.  Oh my goodness.  My only complaint is that, like with everywhere else, the serving is getting smaller.  But oh what delicious goodness it is while I devour it.  With gravy on the sandwich and on the side, of course ;).  Afterwards, we went by the new public library.  And the ever-awesome Kristin checked out books for us on her card so that Lynnaea could have new books to read for a few days (not just the same boring 2 we brought from Washington...).  Lynnaea loved visiting the new library and it's awesome Children's Section.  She loved being able to play on the computer.  And we also got to visit with my former boss Bettye and Charlotte with whom I also worked.  Pretty much everyone else is new, though.  So many changes.  Including the fact that there is now no building where there was once a massive library.  No more page rec room.

True, change is good.  But there will always be a part of my heart that aches when i see the empty lot -- with the Indian standing alone in the corner.

But it is a nice new library!

Oh yeah!  Lynnaea and I also stopped off at the Visitors' Center and picked up a couple peanut ornaments (it's my new tradition:  to have a Christmas ornament from the places we visit) and for Lynnaea to have a little chat with the King (peanut-ized).  She thought he was cool.  On Wednesday night, we fulfilled Jeremy's one request:  that we at a buffet!  I was shocked when he made the request when we landed in Birmingham (because I'm the foodie in our family, not him!).  I thought he was joking.  He assured me he wasn't.  So when I asked why, he said, "Because we don't have them in Washington!"  True.  So we took my dad out to Golden Corral.  If you ever want to go to a buffet and not have a ton of people there...  Go the night before Thanksgiving.  Seriously.  We had no wait for anything.  It was pretty bomb. 

Thursday was Thanksgiving.  We were just having a small dinner at my dad's.  I went down and visited Julie and her family during the day and was invited to eat Thanksgiving with them (they ate mid-day).  It was wonderful to see her dad and brother again.  We had a great time visiting and sharing what we are grateful for.  Julie's family will always have a special place in my heart for a number of reasons.  I'm grateful for them.  At my dad's house, I was in charge of the cooking.  And the turkey breast took longer than anticipated.  I was annoyed a bit.  But we got through it.

Friday was a mellow-ish day.  It was a nice day outside too.  So Lynnaea and I took a walk down my dad's street.  It's beautiful in Alabama at this time of year when I go.  It's why I always choose to go at this time ;).

Lynnaea loved all her outdoor time while we were in Alabama.  This walk was no exception.  Check out this happy face!

Friday for lunch, Lynnaea and I tried out Chicken Salad Chick with my friend Karen.  It was yummy!  And a nice visit :).  Friday evening I met up with several friends at Chill, a frozen yogurt shop.  I got there a little early, so I went into the store next door because it was new and different, so I thought I'd check it out.  As I was about to leave the store, I heard someone say, "Hila?"  I looked up to see a guy I used to work with at the public library.  So we visited for a few minutes and caught up.  According to him, I look the same as I did way back when.  I'm choosing to believe that means I still look young -- and not that I looked old back then ;).  Hahaha.   So anyway, we said our good-byes and I headed next door to check out the frozen yogurt selection.  And met up with these fabulous ladies!  Let's just say the conversation was awesome and funny.  As always.

Friday night, Lynnaea and I played with her monkey hat.  She thinks I'm hilarious.

Saturday arrived, and it was time to get ready to head out.  Back to Birmingham. Before going, though, my dad, Lynnaea, and I went out to visit the grave of my grandparents. 

I just felt it was an important thing to do.  Then it was time to go.  It's always sad to say good-bye.  Always. 

As you can see, it was a beautiful day.  Our drive back to Birmingham was good.  We stopped for food.  Made good time.  And actually watched the Iron Bowl at Julie's house.  First time ever for me to watch it.  I am not attached to football, but I have to say it was a fun experience.  And I realize I probably should have given it a fair chance years ago.  But, you live, you learn.  Oh, and in case you were wondering what Jeremy does while I go out visiting and eating a bunch of delicious food with friends...  Well, he helps my dad with stuff around the house.  He's happy doing that while I socialize.  It works out well for all of us ;).

Alabama Trip: Installment 1

So yeah... It's only been a month since I last posted.  And 2 weeks since we got back from Alabama.  What can I say?  It's a busy time of year.  But I figured I should probably at least start posting some stuff from our way-awesome trip to Alabama this year. 

After all, I've decided tomorrow is going to be a lazy pajama day.  Lynnaea and I will not be leaving the house.  And after the busy days we've been having, I'm quite looking forward to it.  So I'll sit here and pop my holiday mint m&m's for some late-night oomph and get this thing started! 

Welcome to our Alabama Adventure 2014 Installment 1! 

We began our morning at 3:30 on November 19th.  Jeremy and I did.  We did everything we could to finalize getting ready before waking up the munchkin.  And at 4, we couldn't put off waking her anymore.  She was surprisingly easy-going about being awoken from her sleep -- though she did want to do a lot more snuggling than usual.  My mom (bless her) picked us up around 4:25 and dropped us off at the ferry.  We hauled a suitcase, a rollaway bag, a backpack, and a carseat (whith child still in it) onto the ferry.  We spent the hour ferry ride deconstructing the car seat and keeping Lynnaea entertained.  She wasn't into sleeping like all other commuters were at that hideous time of the morning (4:50).  We docked in Seattle, and hoofed it several blocks to the light rail station.  Jeremy wore Lynnaea on his back and carried most of the items.  I had the backpack and rollaway bag. 

I was exhausted by the time we boarded the light rail.  Then we got to the airport (45 minutes later), got checked in.  Checked our bag and car seat (I love Southwest!  They let you take checked bags for free!!!).  Went through security.  Blech.  It took about 20 minutes.  Not horrible, but still annoying.  Lynnaea fell asleep in the baby carrier during the security line wait.  She woke up around the time we got to our gate.

She likes to pick her nose.  Nice, huh?  But yeah, this is pretty much right after she woke up. 

She did not sleep on the first flight.  Which was only 2 hours.  Which, sure, is nice.  But that meant the 2nd flight would be a long haul.  Our first layover was in Las Vegas.  Now there's an interesting airport for you.  Gambling machines everywhere.  And children aren't allowed near them.  Which is nice, since they are totally lit up with lights and look oh-so-appealing to a toddler.  Anyway, turns out one of my cousins is in Las Vegas these days, and she drove 30 minutes to see us during our brief layover!  It was pretty awesome of her, and it was nice to see her.  It had been almost a decade since I had.  We had a nice visit for the short amount of time we had. 

We left Last Vegas and flew about 4 hours to Birmingham.  Julie picked us up (after we got all our luggage), and we got Chick-Fil-A for dinner.  It's, like, the greatest welcome back to the South.  We were exhausted, so after visiting for a bit, we all turned in for the night.  The next couple days were spent in the Birmingham area with Julie and her family.  Lynnaea was in heaven, because there were other little kids there.  Which made it even more vacation-y for us!  At home, we are her entertainment.  She likes it way better when there are new people.  I can't say as I blame her.  We're kinda boring ;).  Anyway, she enjoyed hanging out in the backyard at Julie and Jon's house. 

We even found a huge knot in one of the trees in the yard and we could sit her on it.  She even cooperated long enough -- and sat still so she didn't fall ;) -- to snap a picture of it!

We spent Friday night at my friend April's house.  After an awesome [Scrubs] party.  Which, did I mention, was awesome.  Here's a group shot.  But if you're curious about other pictures and the details of the awesome party, just check out this link.

It was good times. 

On Saturday, we drove our rental to Dothan.  After April cooked us a delicious breakfast.  And so this is where I'll leave you with installment 1.  Because I need some sleep!