Swindle Happenings

Wild Dunes 2010

2010-09-30T12:28:00.003-04:00

Well we made it without shutting down a pool this time. We even decided to bring my mom along for the trip. We had a great time and the kids wore themselves out on the beach and pool everyday!

Kids are ready to get into the room.

Really, Cooper is choking me!

My artsy fartsy picture.

Momma's Shanaynay glasses.

OOOOOOOOH the water is cold at first.

After two kids, Steph still has the rockin body!!!

This is the best picture we could get because the kids were spent/horrible!

Summer writing her name

Baby got blue eyes

Recent photo shoots

2010-09-06T11:04:00.005-04:00

I have took a couple more photo's of my kids and a photo shoot of one of Steph's co-workers daughter, Lindsey. Here are some of those shots. BTW, the gas station in some of these shots is the restored Metcalfe gas station near shelby on Hwy 226.

Lindsey

Swindle Kids

Cooper's Birthday in Bham

2010-09-06T10:22:00.004-04:00

Cooper is 3! We decided to have a party for him in Birmingham and have all our old friends over for the fun.

Summer's Seizure

2010-08-11T15:22:00.002-04:00

On Friday, July 30th, Summer had a seizure while we were about to have dinner at Applebee's. We were parking and about to get out of the car and I noticed that Summer was getting a little sick. I took her out of the car as fast as I could and tried to stand her up. She was unable to stand. I picked her up to find that she was incontinent (tell tell sign of seizure). I instructed Steph to drive the car to the ER while I rode in the back. As I rushed her in the ER, Summer then went totally unresponsive. We got her in the room and the Dr's proceeded to get IV's and even intabation (breathing tube). She was then hooked up to a breathing machine and flown via helicopter to Lavine's Childrens Hospital in Charlotte. 2:30 that night she came back to us as we were transferring her to another bed. Ill as a hornet but ok! We came home Saturday and she has been fine ever since. All test that she had have came back normal and dr's-neurologist haven't found anything wrong with her. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Shelby Home

2010-07-04T16:31:00.009-04:00

Well, I finally got back on this 4th of July from Birmingham. I drove 7 hours with the kids and made it with my sanity (or what little I have). Steph has been home for about 4-5 days and did some last minute hanging, cleaning and moving. We decided to take some pics and let everyone see the inside/outside of the new house.

Front of House

Backyard

Rear Deck

Bonus Room

Summer's Sink Area

Summer's Closet

Summer's Room

Cooper's Sink Area

Cooper's Room

Office Area

My Side of Closet

Steph's Side of Closet

Double Shower

Bathroom

Bedroom

Kitchen

Living Room

Living Room/Dining Room

Will and Carol's Wedding

2010-06-02T10:29:00.007-04:00

Got done with the editing of the pictures that I took from Will and Carol's wedding. My partner in crime has his up on his website too! www.paintboxphotography.com

Summer's Dance Viewing

2010-04-21T12:43:00.002-04:00

Well Summer got to dance in front of us again this year. It's fun watching the girls dance and showing out for us. Summer doesn't really care about being in there, but it is fun nonetheless.

This is Summer really excited to get the dancing started.

Summer's friend Caroline.

Forming a train.

The egg roll.

Giving a peek to the teacher.

Brandon's Photography

2010-03-31T16:53:00.007-04:00

I have been on several photo shoots with my kids and some of the neighbors kids. Word of mouth has been getting around and everyone wants me to take their kids pictures. I am currently trying to build up a portfolio of various shoots. I have a wedding on May 1, that I think, will complete my portfolio. Enjoy and please give me some suggestions/constructive criticism.

The Maxey Girl's Shoot

The Chapin Girl's Shoot

Ok, so I went a little crazy with the editing, but I loved the porcelain doll look on Anna.

There was no editing done on this pic.

Swindle Kids Easter Pictures

Ok, there are no kids in this picture. I thought that I would take it just for fun. Then, I work a little sepia/vintage look to the picture.

This was my idea. Steph was near by to try and catch them if/when they fall into the water below.

Steph says, "take his picture by the car". I was like, "It's just a rusty old car". Turned out it was a good picture.

Disney 2010

2010-03-01T13:42:00.006-05:00

Well, we survived a week in Orlando. We stayed at the Yacht Club Disney and we didn't let the grass grow under our feet. Poor kids were exhausted on the way home!

Snow of 2010

2010-01-31T20:27:00.004-05:00

Well, we got about 6-8 inches up here in NC. We had lots of fun! It's not everyday we get a snow like this and the kids were a little stunned at what they saw. Daisy was the most stunned.

Our house after the snow.

This is the reaction when they opened the door. Fun to watch the innocent look of discovery on their face.

This is the realization that it has snowed on their face.

Do you think that Cooper saw what happened?

Lady killer!!

Summer wouldn't stop catching the snowflakes in her mouth.

Gator.

Notice my hat?! RTR!!!!!

Cooper love the Gator rides.

Mommy having a seat and enjoying the snow.

After play smoothies!!!

Utah Trip-Park City

2010-01-31T20:01:00.004-05:00

We took our yearly trip skiing with some friends of ours and their parents. We had a blast!

Steph skiing

Brandon skiing

Ahhh, yea!

Our friends on the lift in front of us.

Steph and Leigh Ann getting some skate time.

KRIT-MASS

2009-12-30T10:46:00.009-05:00

Like Gloria Gaynor sang, "I will survive"!

The Swindle's survived the busiest Christmas season yet! We started in Birmingham on the 15th of December and for 9 days straight we had some sort of event including Scott's graduation. Then we arrived home (along with my mother) and had 2 more events. Then, last Saturday, Stephanie's Aunt Cindy arrived with her daughter and stayed with us for four days. WOW! That is busy! I have to admit though, this was the best Christmas in a long time! It was very nice to see all the family in Birmingham and those who came to see us.

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-12-07T12:58:00.004-05:00

I have neglected to post any pictures on the blog here lately. I will show some of the Thanksgiving festivities we have been a part of over the past few weeks.

We got together in Birmingham to have an early Thanksgiving with Horne's. This is our group shot.
When we got back, I got the pleasure of being on a parade float with Summer. I was the only man on the float and I got to wear that rocking "Steppin out" dance sweatshirt. It was fun and Summer fell asleep about 2/3 through. Steph took this picture at the beginning of the parade.

We then decided to have Thanksgiving with our neighbors, the Chapin's. Here is dress up time with the Chapin girls. Notice Cooper in the back without a shirt on. Yea, we are from Alabama!

I think this is the 3rd time in 10 years we broke the china out.
This is my first wife.
This is my second wife. My third wife is a brunette, so it's nice to have a blond in the mix.

Summer Turn's 4 - Strawberry Shortcake Style

2009-11-14T17:33:00.004-05:00

Powell Family

2009-11-03T14:01:00.010-05:00

Do not adjust your website. This is still the Swindle's Blog. I am posting pictures of the Powell's for their family to see. Leigh Ann, look below at the first posting for more pictures. Caution! The clarity will not be as good looking at these and if you click them, they will be clear, but gigantic. So, enjoy!

I just had to put the best picture at the end. Such poise! Such beauty!

Renaissance Festival 2009

2009-11-01T11:47:00.007-05:00

The time is here, once again, to strap on your corsets and rest your chin on your boobs. It's Renaissance time! We decided to take a friend and her two kids (I'm not taking pictures of random kids...that would be weird) with us. Our friend, Leigh Ann, made the costumes for her and all the kids. Pretty talented if you ask me. So sit back all you wenches and fair gentlemen and enjoy.

I bought a rose for Summer cause she loves flowers. Took scenery shot.

This is some crazy chic behind a tree.

Best buds!

Nothing says Renaissance like a Storm Trooper from Star Wars.

Another Scenery shot

This is our friend Leigh Ann.

Poser!

'Your going to make it after all'

Halloween 2009

2009-11-01T09:15:00.004-05:00

Well it's another "Spooky" year of ghost and goblins! Kind of sad knowing this will be the last year we trick or treat in this neighborhood. We lived in great neighborhoods, but this one is the best! Here is some pictures of the kids going out to trick or treat.

SUPER SUMMER!!

Let's get some CANDY!!

The kids must see a squirrel.

Mommy about to leave.

Here's what we got.

Trading and sharing. Not so much trading, but more of taking and crying.

That's right! He has four in his hands.

Pumpkin Patch 2009

2009-10-11T21:27:00.004-04:00

Well, we made it back to the pumpkin patch for another round of pictures and fun. Here are a few pics of our great adventure.

It's fun, but when you get home, there are a lot of hidden corn kernels found in various places.

That's right ladies, he is taken!!

MUST.....GET.....BOTH.....IN......MY ......MOUTH!!!!

This is our beautiful girl.

Suga-momma

Yea, that's right! I am just 5'5"!!

How to cut a tree down

2009-09-24T16:40:00.004-04:00

Today, I paid a guy to cut down a tree and let it fall in the woods.

Cooper playing the drums

2009-09-19T17:46:00.003-04:00

Cooper has a new hobby....I think he will take after his dad.

Summer Swimming Under Water

2009-09-19T17:27:00.002-04:00

Myrtle Beach 2009

2009-09-14T21:50:00.002-04:00

Portrait Innovations

2009-09-10T17:13:00.006-04:00

We had one of our frequent visits to Portrait Innovations last night. I will post the precious ones as well as the ones that will make you laugh and give you appreciation for what the night entailed. Overall, success!

Alabama vs. VT

2009-09-07T21:00:00.005-04:00

We had some friends over for the first Alabama game. Here are some pictures.

Bama cheerleader.

Now see, Alabama and Auburn can get along.

Mommy and Summer

Is it crowded in here?

This is my cute face.

This is as close and as still as we could get them.

Cooper's 2nd B'day Party

2009-08-30T20:47:00.003-04:00

Cooper's 2nd B'day Party was a blast. We had a BIG blow up thing to bounce/slide on, a fishing game, gator ride, corn hole, and a roller coaster for kids along with the traditional Swindle House of Fun stuff. We had a great time and more importantly, Cooper had a ball!! Thanks for coming and the gifts. Here are some highlights.

Sorry

2009-08-28T10:01:00.003-04:00

With the invention of the phenomenal website called, Facebook, I have seriously neglected the blog. I am going to try and update this a little more often and interject a little witty humor into it.

Steph and Cooper has just returned from Bham. This will be the last time Cooper can fly for free because he is turning 2 on Sunday. We are having a party for him on Saturday. There will be 2 bouncers and the rest of "Swindle's House of Fun". Of course, pictures will be posted ASAP!

Summer is talking (and talking, and talking, and talking) and starting to become curious and creative at the same time. If she doesn't know where Mommy is, she will scream, "Mommy"! If that doesn't work, she will then scream, "Mommy Stephanie"! She is become, some what, of a back seat driver. "Daddy your going to fast. Daddy your going to slow. Daddy why are you stopped. Go when the light turns green daddy! Daddy why is your middle finger pointing at that car?" Ok, I was just kidding about that last one.

Cooper is talking too (finally). Although, he doesn't speak 300 words (Steph A.), he is starting to communicate with words better and I swear he has changed tons since he was in Bham.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Enjoy this joke:

A married man left work early one Friday, but instead of going home, he
spent the weekend partying with the boys. When he finally returned home
on Sunday night, his wife really got on his case and stayed on it.

After a few of hours of swearing and screaming, his wife paused and
pointed at him and made him an offer. 'How would you like it if you
didn't see me for a couple of days?'.....

The husband couldn't believe his luck, so he looked up, smiled and said,
'That would suit me just fine!!'

Monday went by, and the man didn't see his wife.

Tuesday and Wednesday went by and he still didn't see her.

Come Thursday, the swelling went down a bit and he could see her a
little out of the corner of his left eye.

We be Bahama'in!!!

2009-07-02T21:32:00.004-04:00

What's up People! Well, we have had a busy summer! Steph and I just got back from the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas and now we are having family coming from both sides. Steph's family will be here tonight and my family will come Sunday. Both families will be passing each other on I85. Here are some pictures of our kid-less adventure.

Recent pics of the kids

2009-05-25T22:04:00.006-04:00

Hadley's 3rd B'day Party - Princess Party

Picking Strawberries at Patterson - Thanks Agent Oso, she knew the steps!

More Hadley B'day party pics

Cooper at School
Summer at School in her recital
Cooper showing off at Nana's house

2009-05-05T17:05:00.005-04:00

This is our trip to Orlando. We went to Sea World, Downtown Disney, and Cypress Gardens. Needless to say, we were very busy! There is also pictures from Bok Tower (the highest area in FL). We stay with Grandma and Grandpa a couple nights and the kids loved it!

If you need to look at a picture longer, just hit pause. These are in 2 second intervals. I am experimenting with the Mac.

Push the Button Cooper!

2009-04-22T20:37:00.003-04:00

You would think Steph would learn. Her "famous" last words to me today was, "I better get the keys out of the car before Cooper locks himself in". No sooner than she turned around, we heard the "toot" of the horn indicating that the doors have been locked. Now, I know what you guys are thinking. Where is the spare? I told Steph where they were but she didn't see them. All the while, Cooper is having a great time climbing the seats and turning the steering wheel. He finally hit the button as soon as I found the spare keys. The picture is of her pointing to the unlock button. This happened to her also with Summer when we moved up here in 2006. I love to rib her about it!!!!!

Steph's attempt

2009-04-18T22:35:00.003-04:00

Brandon always does these cleaver blogs that I think are hilarious. I have never been the funny one, but I have had several observations that I feel I need to share. I often wonder what my children's lives will be like with the new technology in their daily lives. Here are some examples....

1) They think a toothbrush is broken if it doesn't have a button on it or doesn't vibrate.

2) Waiting for a TV show to start is a thing of the past. They know that we have DVDs or the DVR to give them instant gratification. They even request certain episodes. "I want Minnie Mouse's Picnic" When she has to leave, you have to pause it!

3) Summer can click "47" on her own and know she is getting Noggin (cartoons, 24/7)

4) A home telephone is a play toy. We have only cell phones in the house. When we go to visit others, they treat it like a toy.

5) DVD's are portable. We take them everywhere. I can't imagine an 8 hr. trip without it.

6) Summer says "Ni Hao" instead of hello.

7) Summer can spend hours on the computer. She can work a mouse better than I can. She can already navigate websites and most of the time fix the problems she has on her own.

8) A cell phone not only is used for talking, but games. It even has a "pause" button as Summer likes to say.

9) Meals in minutes. We have become experts at the 5 min meal thanks to the microwave.

Annual Swindle Egg Stomp

2009-04-12T22:34:00.004-04:00

We had a great Easter Sunday. Summer thought Santa Claus had come this morning, but no it was just the Easter Bunny. We went to church, then had an Easter Egg hunt followed by the Swindle Stomp. Summer started this last year on her own and we decided to keep it going. Summer really enjoyed it while Cooper tried to rescue the eggs and put them back in his basket. He is really good at Easter Egg hunting. He got more eggs than Summer. You can compare the video from last year to this year for fun. http://swindlenews.blogspot.com/2008/03/easter-egg-process.html

Easter Saturday

2009-04-11T15:38:00.002-04:00

Well, the Easter weekend has already been a lot of fun. This morning we had Mickey Mouse Pankcakes, followed by an Easter Egg hunt at the church, and then a neighborhood Easter Egg Decorating party. We survived without anything on our new carpet, whew!

Busy Swindle weekend

2009-04-08T21:23:00.003-04:00

Well, we had a busy weekend. We started it off by letting the kids discover IHOP. We played a lot of time outside with a bunch of bubbles. Saturday night, Brandon and I had a date that included Olive Garden, Wal-mart, and Lowes....does it get any better than that. Sunday, we put our new patio furniture together. Sunday afternoon, Summer and I snuck off to Playhouse Disney in Charlotte. We had so much fun. Her face just lit up when the characters came out. We did it right as you can see in the pictures. We had popcorn, snowcone, a trumpet and lots of hot dog dance.

Tricks of the trade with small children

2009-04-01T14:19:00.003-04:00

Moisten bathroom handle towels work perfectly as a wet wipe if you ever find the need.
You can bath a child with wet wipes and have it count as a bath.
Diapers can last much longer than I thought.
If your child has messed his diaper and you don't want to change it immediately, tell everyone you are wanting for him to finish.
2 diapers placed side by side works perfectly to protected your child from a wet/soiled car seat. If placed correctly, they will also suck up the moister as your child sits (this can also go for sippy cup accidents too)
A great way to discretely pass gas is when you are changing a child's dirty diaper. People will think that it is the dirty diaper that smells bad. You will need to make sure no one is in the room with you so they don't hear, but if there is, totally blame the child. It's like the "blame the dog" routine.
When your child can speak, make sure she knows to tell daddy to buckle her seat belt before he leaves the neighborhood.
Buggies (yes I'm from the south and I call them buggies and not shopping carts) count as a stroller.
A dirty car can entertain kids. It can be used as finger painting, hand sketching device.
Video in a car can count as a personal movie theater.

Visit to B'ham

2009-03-31T21:27:00.002-04:00

Another full week in B'ham visiting family and friends. We really enjoyed it all. Here are some of the highlights....

Conversation's with Summer

2009-03-16T09:47:00.002-04:00

Daddy: "You are being very dramatic"

Summer: "No I not, I'm Summer Swindle"

________________________________________

Summer: "Daddy, get me some juice"

Daddy: "What's the magic word"

Summer: "Meesca, Moosca, Mickey Mouse!"

_________________________________________

Daddy: "I love you Summer"

Summer: "No, I love Mommie"

__________________________________________

Summer: "here are your panties!" As I have just got out of the shower and she has been through my underwear drawer. And no, I don't wear panties!

__________________________________________

Daddy: "yeeeeaaaaaa, you just made poopoo's"

Summer: "no daddy, that's a sea turtle"

__________________________________________

Portrait Pain Part II

2009-03-13T21:35:00.002-04:00

We survived another trip to get pictures. It is always amazing to me that we get such wonderful pictures after the blood and sweat. At some point, Summer sat down in a chair and said she was "sad" and "not so good," but we kept going. She was so excited about her new hair do when we got there. Cooper was on the run, but really enjoyed the bunny. Enjoy!!

2009-03-10T17:17:00.001-04:00

We decided to get out for this past weekend. Up top is Sloan Park and down below is Salisbury Park. We went to Sloan on Saturday and had a picnic in the field. I managed to fire off a couple of shots while we were there at the park.

Down below was Sunday at Salisbury Park. It was windy that day, so we decided to buy a few kites and fly them. We had a couple families from the neighborhood join us along with a co-worker of Stephanie's and his family.

Born to be Wiiiillllllldd!

2009-03-08T11:02:00.003-04:00

Careful not to........

2009-03-04T09:22:00.001-05:00

Leave children unattended too long.

Let your 1 year old drink out of a cup

Let Cooper's hand get too cold in the snow.

Take a picture of your cute boy eating popcorn while your 3 year old is buck naked watching Dora in the background. I really didn't realize she was in the background.

Vmax

2009-03-02T13:55:00.002-05:00

Finally! After 2 months of waiting, I got my number plate for my Vmax. This tells me that I was the 207th person in the nation to purchase this motorcycle after the release. I thought I was in the 400's.

Winter Storm 2009

2009-03-02T11:39:00.001-05:00

Lazy 5 once again

2009-02-08T23:52:00.007-05:00

So we decided to take the kids to Lazy 5 Ranch again. Kids enjoyed it for a while, then Cooper decided the Strawberry Shortcake DVD was more interesting. Here are some photos.

This is little man at the window. I had to roll it up and down so he would jump out.

This guy was trying to eat my lens off.

I don't think we where supposed to feed the Giraffe's, but they came to us. Kind of cool!

Rubbing a tree, rubbing a tree, rubbing a tree.

That's a Cheeto! What, you think I would teach him that kind of stuff!

Kids cleaning

2009-02-06T09:54:00.002-05:00

This was about 2 years ago.

This was this morning.

OMG, It's Snow!!!!!!!!

2009-02-04T14:08:00.000-05:00

Just like any other traditional southern state, we recieved 2" of snow and the local goverment shut the whole city down. I haven't got a chance to get my milk and bread, but I do need TP. We are down to our last two rolls (That's Defcon 1 emergency in the Swindle household). We went out and played for about 20 minutes with the neighbors (Tom,Emily,Megan). It is melted now. Boo Hoo!

We recently purchased a trailer for our next travels. That is, to pull the motorcycle of course.

Extreme Tubing in Colorado

2009-01-26T13:07:00.004-05:00

Happy Birthday to Susu, Brandon, and Heather

2009-01-24T18:46:00.003-05:00

Well, lots of Birthdays at the first of the year. We celebrated with a trip to Stix in Gardendale. Notice Summer's red cheeks. We have a tale-tale sign when she is beyond tired!

They sang to the group in Japanese and somehow we managed to keep Summer out of the water.

Winter Park

2009-01-24T15:04:00.004-05:00

Brandon and I snuck off to Colorado to enjoy some skiing! The kids meanwhile enjoyed some spoiling from Nana, Susu, and Babuce /Papaw.

Check out some of the beautiful pictures Brandon took...

Fun Videos of the Kids

2009-01-10T21:07:00.004-05:00

Summer is learning her letters while Cooper learns funny faces!

Another B'day Party

2009-01-10T20:54:00.002-05:00

Well, we are making the rounds to everyone's b'day party. Lucy's B'day party was at the local ice cream shop. I had never been there, but very cute. I'm starting to see a pattern with Summer's fashion sense. I dressed her and then she accessorized with the hat and pearl necklace. I did not have the heart to tell her she couldn't wear it, so we went with it. Needless to say, she won best dressed and everyone wanted a picture of her. Actually in most of the pictures you can only see the hat. Cooper loves his ice cream and don't even try to take it away from him.

Happy 2009!

2009-01-01T20:39:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year! It seems like yesterday several of us were bringing in 2000 in Downtown B'ham. A lot has changed since then!

We went to a neighbor's house to celebrate. The kids had an early night, but Brandon and I managed to wake up in time to toast the new year, but crashed about 30 seconds later. Here are some pics from our festivities. You can see Cooper was helping me with laundry today. Summer is already a computer geek, she can spend hours playing her games, but I managed to sneak her out of the house.

The other pictures are from a local b'day party for Mitchell is Cooper's class. We all had fun!

Somemore Christmas

2008-12-28T19:21:00.002-05:00

Here are some random pictures of December. Some of from our trip to B'ham, others from our home, a neighbor b'day party, visit from Susu, and also another haircut trip. You can see why when we play haircut at home it requires cookies and suckers, because that is what they remember about the trip.

These are from Christmas Eve and morning. We really enjoyed Santa Claus this year. Summer left cookies and milk for him. Summer got a bike while Cooper got a big wheel. Summer spilled OJ on her PJ's, so we asked her to go put more clothes on. You can see what she came out in. Maybe fashion design is in her future?!? Nana was here too and cooked us a wonderful breakfast!

Christmas season was so much fun and we really talked up Santa Claus. A funny story happened at dance class. One night, Summer's class was having a Christmas party. I talked it up that we were going to a party. Summer (who is really into b'day parties) asked if we were going to a b'day party? Before I could respond, she asked "for Santa Claus?" Before I could even say anything, a little girl came running by and corrected her, "No it is Jesus's b'day." That is one of those true mom moments when you go, "oops." Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, we truly did!

Christmas in B'ham

2008-12-25T10:56:00.004-05:00

I can't believe Christmas is here, but I have really enjoyed it. Last week, I had to work a couple days in B'ham, so we extended our stay through the weekend to have Christmas with our families. Such a great time and soooo many gifts. I really wish I had a picture of the Armada before we unloaded it. It was packed!! We had great food and wonderful visits. We had 3 separtate parties we attended...one at the Swindle's, one at the Horne's, and one at Mamaw's.

One of the highlights was the return of Scott's doll fear. Summer got a life size Barbie at the Swindle party. Barbie hid in Steve's bathroom for Scott. When Scott saw her, she made him jump and he yelped, "my golley." To be honest, I was proud of the language.

I Finally got it!!

2008-12-11T15:09:00.002-05:00

This is me today purchasing my new (200hp) 2009 Vmax.

Blowing Bugles

2008-12-09T17:30:00.004-05:00

Coop likes it when I blow Bugles at him (so does Daisy).

Salisbury Thanksgiving Parade

2008-12-02T13:51:00.005-05:00

Steph dragged....I mean, we as a family went to the Thanksgiving parade. We would have stayed longer to see Santa if my bladder could have held out. Here are some pictures of the parade.

Random Hot Chick

Unicycling Clowns

Those crazy Shriners!

I'm not going to say who, but somebodies looking good in this picture.

This is Summer's dance teacher.

SPAM!

Miss South Carolina (hot chick)

Leaves

2008-12-02T13:20:00.004-05:00

I am not sure if you know how many trees are in my yard. I have literally picked the whole yard up about 6-7 times in about a month. Thank goodness for my lawn sweeper and Gator. Money well spent.

We would throw Cooper in the leaves and he would be totally submerged. Almost to the point where we would have to look for him.

Thanksgiving in Georgia

2008-11-26T13:30:00.015-05:00

We decided to have the Horne family Thanksgiving in Cleveland, GA which is near Helen. We all had a really good time and with good food and fun.

This is about the only picture where all the kids are look toward the camera. How about the matching pajamas? Very cute and comfy! Each shirt had a different moose logo on it. Susu did each one with her new computerized sewing machine.

First, Steph/Steven/Summer opened birthday presents. Steven got a Auburn cornhole game. Everytime I hear the name of the game, I think of Office Space, "Watch your cornhole". If interested, Scott can make you one too.

We then ventured out to Cleveland, GA where the Cabbage Patch Hospital is located. It was quite distur....... I mean interesting. You can click on the picture and see that the "Dr." was pulling the babies out of cabbage. That won't confuse the kids! I can see us at the grocery store, in produce, and Summer staring at the cabbage wondering if there are any babies about to appear. I'll just tell her those are the un-fertilized cabbage.

This is my favorite picture of Summer from the weekend. She really did have fun jumping until the guy let her down from the bungies and she fell off the trampoline, flat on her back. The guy really thought that I was going to sue him. I was too busy telling her to shake it off.

Here we are in Helen. A beautiful little German town in northern Ga. Check out the one man band. I think I had more children than he had teeth. Scary!

LET THE FEAST BEGIN! Check out Scott's plate. That could feed a small Kenyan village!

Summer Turns 3!!!!

2008-11-15T21:44:00.004-05:00

Can you believe it, Summer turned 3! She was really excited about her birthday party, but when everyone got here, she wanted to watch TV and play laundry. You never know with that child. We had planned a big outdoor extravaganza with a blow slide/jump, but the weatherman was saying that was not a good deal. So, we had 24 hrs. to pull an indoor party together. Yikes! So, I called mom and asked her to put her thinking cap on at 6:30 in the morning. Susu to the rescue. Amazingly, she had all sorts of fabulous ideas. So, we shut the garage and put our blow-up thing in there along with two tables with stickers. We set-up the Alabama room with drums, pool, air hockey, and Fuzzball. After playing for a while, Brandon (Diego) lead the group with Dora Backbacks and maps (created at 12:30 the night before) on a scavenger hunt to Summer's Party. We then had cake and ice cream and opened gifts. For some reason, Summer was not in the gifts and wanted to go play outside. Oh, did I forget to mention, it is beautiful outside. Ugh!!! I think all had fun!! And yes, we are all worn out but our little girl is worth it. Check out pics below.

Summer about to blow out her candle.

Random family pics. Cooper was the flirt of the party and a camera hog. I know it is Summer's Birthday, but Cooper was always smiling. We don't necessarily have that luxury with Summer anymore. You can see the playhouse in the middle, she hasn't stopped playing with it yet.

Below are some of the activities. Oh, we even had a pinata. I keep forgetting about that. Actually, we had to be reminded that "we had not done the pinata yet" during the party.

Some of Summer's friends. They came from work, school, and the neighborhood.

Cooper dozing off

2008-11-12T10:57:00.003-05:00

Here what happens when you try to describe the excitement of a new presidency and Democratic rule. Just kidding about the excitement. Don't the Cheeto kind of look like a cigarette? He likes Chiquita bananas too. Especially the sticker.

The ol' grey mare, she ain't what she used to be

2008-11-09T21:19:00.004-05:00

Well Stephanie turned 32 today! 32 whole years! Like 15 years + 15 years + an extra two years. I spared no expense when it came to her cake. I got her the best Walmart mini cupcake that was available. She also got a bread maker for this special occasion. I know, romance is dripping from my body. Actually, we did go out to eat and I spent the day stopping her from doing anything (ie..laundry) so we could just play with the kids.

Renaissance Festival 2008

2008-11-03T12:28:00.008-05:00

Hear ye! Hear ye! Greetings to all lords and maidens. Yes, it was that time of year again were the Star Wars/Star Trek/Lord of the Rings geeks get together and pretend that they are English and have warped back in time to the Dark Ages. I have to admit, I am one of those geeks. It is fun for the whole family also. I have compiled some of my favorites pictures of the event. Enjoy!

This girl just kept attracting me. She actually made the poster for the festival two years ago. She really acts the part.

This maiden was on stage singing and dancing. She was very talented. Check out those talents....I mean that talent!

This is one of my favorite picture of Summer.

We bought Cooper a hat. It can be a Renaissance hat, French beret, or a simulated cow patty.

Scarey isn't he? He played with fire. He's cool.

Summer and Mommy.

This girl was also a fire eater. I was a little too close so I couldn't get any good shots of the fire eatin'.

Hear are somemore pictures of our adventure.

Halloween 2008

2008-10-31T22:12:00.004-04:00

Halloween was so much fun this year. The kids were a hit at school and around the neighborhood. We could not believe that Summer kept her wig on. Summer fully embraced "Trick or Treating!" Once she figured out she got candy every time she went to someone's front door, we were off! Cooper had a light sabor that he enjoyed showing up and flirting with all the girls in the neighborhood. Yes, the vibe is already being developed.

After trick or treating...

Summer Driving

2008-10-31T22:01:00.003-04:00

This is a video of Summer driving. I'm not sure who she takes after, her dad or me. You decide...

The Memory of Charles "Bud" Swindle

2008-10-23T12:36:00.004-04:00

Years ago, when I was a little boy, Dad and I would take one of our many weekend trips to the landfill, auto parts store, grocery, etc. As Dad would drive, he would turn to me and ask, “How much you love daddy”? He would then hold his thumb and index about an inch apart and say, “this much”? I would then hold my little arms as wide as I could and say, “I love you this much Daddy”. I lost touch with that innocence through my adolescence and adult years. Regrets can accumulate but they can never be resolved when a loved one is gone. Being a father now, I look forward to having Summer stand up every morning and saying, “I wuv you Daddi”. I am sure in the not so distant future that she will be giving me the “stink eye” soon after I tell her, “I love you”.
It was one year ago today my father died of Cancer. There is not a day that I don’t think about him or the struggle that he endured. The whole family was at the hospital when the Doctor asked him if he wanted to stay at the hospital and receive more treatments or go home. He said with his broken speech that he wanted to go home. We all packed his things and headed home. We didn’t know if we had days, weeks, or months, but we knew his time was limited.
At home, the sons would take turns sleeping over. Both Bryan and Brad are paramedics and I worked as a EMT, so we all knew the medical aspects of Hospice. We were basically there to help Mom with the heavy lifting, changing, baths, moral support, etc.. Even with the sons help, it still didn’t equal half of the effort that Mom did for Dad. Sometimes at night, Dad would wake me up at 3:00 in the morning with his bell to inform me that he was in pain. His speech was poor due to a light aneurysm so he needed a bell to alert us. I would hold his hand and create small talk as the morphine quietly would take him back to sleep. Those conversations will never be forgotten. Nothing is worst than laying next to a loved one knowing that he or she could pass on your shift. Toward the end, I would lay there and listen to every sound that he made while he was sleeping. Anxiety is fierce when you know the outcome.
Steph and I drove down to Alabama numerous times to spend time with Dad. One time, as we were leaving, Steph and I had to have a pep talk on how we where going to conduct ourselves when we were going to leave. I told her not to cry in front of him. Then it was time to say goodbye. Dad was on Hospice so goodbye could possibly mean goodbye. Holding it together, I managed to hug him goodbye. He hugged me back, but he didn’t let go. It was enough to send me over the edge. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and basically ran out of the house so he wouldn’t see me cry. Steph was sobbing before I even went in for the hug. So much for the pep talk.
I went down to Birmingham alone for the last time. I got to spend the weekend with him. I could tell that he wasn’t as lively as he had been previously. He barely even hugged me as I was leaving. I left on a Sunday. Brad called me Tuesday. The only thing he could say is, “It’s over”. I said, “OK”. That was the only three words I think we spoke to each other that day.
After the funeral, days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months. It feels like an eternity ago to me. I took Summer to the cemetery to see where dad was buried. She said, as I was pulling up, “We gonna to see Pawpaw”. We get out and I have a seat at the bottom of the grave looking at the tombstone. Summer entertains herself by climbing on the tombstone and starts to trace all the letters of his name. “S-E-L-R-A-H-C”, she would call out as she read his name backwards. I am sure that Dad was smiling down as he watched her that day. As I was watching her play with the many tombstones in the cemetery, I thought to myself of the many things I wished I had of told him. Though, when I see him again, I am going to hold my arms out as wide as I can and say, “I loved you this much, Dad”.

Elmo

2008-10-20T11:11:00.004-04:00

Well we took the kids to see Elmo's: When I grow up. On TV, Big Bird is a cute ostrich. On Stage, he is a 10 foot tall frickin beast that scares children. I looked over at the beginning and saw that Summer was a little scared and was contemplating crying. She even started shaking when Elmo came over to shake her hand. Cooper was very calm. That was the longest he (and she) have ever sat on my lap.

Chad's Wedding

2008-10-19T09:13:00.003-04:00

Congratulations to Chad (one of Steph's co-workers). This video is from Chad's wedding. Apparently, he doesn't enjoy candy down his pants.

Buell for Sale

2008-10-15T13:39:00.003-04:00

I decided to go ahead and sell the Buell due to my wife's "1 bike" limit. I have it on Craigslist currently, so if you know anyone interested in a different motorcycle, let them know. Thanks.

Here is video and the Craiglist entry:

http://swindlenews.blogspot.com/2007/12/neighbors-are-going-to-hate-me.html

http://charlotte.craigslist.org/mcy/880256415.html

PS. I listed it in Charlotte, but I can deliver to Birmingham if necessary

Pumpkin Patch

2008-10-04T13:58:00.003-04:00

Our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch. While the pumpkins were fun, the hit was the corn. It was a great time by all.

God Help Me!

2008-09-29T21:27:00.005-04:00

He started walking a couple of days ago. This was the first time I was able to really get it on camera. Steph wasn't here to see it. She worked with him all weekend walking him around while he held her hand. This is really when the fun starts for me, right? Really, what happen was that he was so excited that Alabama beat the snot out of Georgia, he had to start walking for joy. Roll Tide!

Thomas the Train

2008-09-28T19:19:00.004-04:00

Greetings everyone! Yesterday, Steph dragged....I mean, we as a family went to Thomas the Train. It was interesting to say the least. Kind of rainy. Lots of screaming kids. Our kids had a good time though they are not fans of the show. Bob the Builder was there. Summer likes him.

Also, our neighbors were kind enough to let us have a playground slide of theirs. It was basically the slide with the wooden platform. I went to Lowes (blows) and got the beam and swings separately. It took a little "engineering" but I was able to connect the beam with the older set. I have coined the phrase "Swindle's House of Fun" that refers to our backyard.

Lots of First

2008-09-21T21:21:00.004-04:00

This weekend, as always, was filled with family fun and a lot of firsts. The family had its first trip to the County Fair and Cooper had his first haircut.

The fair was a lot of fun. We rode pretty much anything we could get Summer on including the Ferris Wheel. Steph and Summer got to ride on the elephant and when we asked Summer about it she stated, "the elephant flaps his ears." We looked a lot of farm animals and then chowed on some typical fair food and rode as many rides before the kids tuckered out.

For Cooper's First haircut, I made Brandon take Cooper back to the expensive "kiddy" place 35 minutes away. While it is a haul, it is soo worth it. As you can see, food (which they provide) saved the day. He was so busy chomping on the cookie and sucker, he could care less about the lady trying to cut his hair. Summer also got a little trim, so she didn't feel left out. He looks like a little man....growing up too fast!

Before...

....and After

Other pics

Myrtle Beach

2008-09-15T10:59:00.009-04:00

Myrtle Beach sunrise

Summer has been "pretend" driving us to the beach all of last week. Wednesday, Steph and I looked at each other and said, "why don't we go to the beach". Thursday I had the plans made and we went Friday. We had a great time! We had a 3 bedroom condo which was huge. The hotel had 2 kiddie pools, a heated lazy river, and a heated regular pool. Summer would jump from pool to pool. Sometimes, without floaties. Needless to say, we kept floaties on her at all times.

The last day, we ran by Ripley's Aquarium. I got to play with a crab and the kids got to see sharks and stingrays. Good times!

Little Einsteins

2008-09-09T16:42:00.005-04:00

She looks forward to singing everytime the Little Einsteins come on.

Summer's/Cooper's first day of school

2008-09-08T09:55:00.003-04:00

Last week, the kids had thier first day of school. I know, it's more like a mommies (daddies) day out, but at least they are teaching the kids and making them learn Bible verses. Cooper only cried when I came back to get him.

Hanging out at Tiger World

2008-09-08T08:51:00.005-04:00

Tiger World is a place that houses tigers, lions, monkeys. Basically, a mini zoo. The only problem is that the park is in a residential area. Now, I don't know about you, but if I bought a house, I wouldn't want to hear lions and tigers as I am BBQing or think about which one of my family (or me) would be prey if a large cat were to get out. As a matter of fact, you can see the tigers "eyeing" the kids as we would walk past.

Cooper 1 year old video

2008-09-02T13:37:00.002-04:00

This is the video that we showed at Cooper's party.

More pics of Cooper's 1st Birthday

2008-09-01T22:11:00.008-04:00

We are back to North Carolina and finally have had a chance to add additional pictures from the week long celebration for Cooper's first birthday. It was so great to see everyone. I only wish we had more time to spend catching up amongst chasing kids.

It took so long because we had to deal with typical Swindle luck. A/C went out, found a massive amount of hornets in our garage, and now the Gator has died. Nothing is ever smooth around here, but we are making progress. I'm enjoying the A/C, the hornets have not made another appearance, but the gator is still a work in progress. Both kids begin school in the morning, so Brandon may have some peace to destress. OK on to the pictures.

The first collage is all about Cooper. He really enjoyed his monkey cake. We were not always successful with keeping the hat on, but Summer really likes it. He also loved the four-wheeler from Susu and Babuce. He was on it before it was out of the box.

The next one is about friends and family. Once again, it is so nice to know how great our friends and family are. All the kids are sooo cute!

This final collage is some other random pictures that were taken during the week. We were there 9 days, so we managed to take a ton of pictures. Oh, by the way, Rollll Tide!

Portrait Pain

2008-09-01T16:02:00.002-04:00

Well, my mom and I thought we could handle a 1 year old and a 2 year old for just a couple of pictures. Wrong! While Cooper pretty much cooperated, Summer was busy. Never fussy, but very, very busy! Several of the pictures of Coop have Summer's head in the curtain behind. She was having to much fun doing what she wanted to do. But, when you see the pictures, all looks rosy! So, 5 years from now, I will think how wonderful the pictures are and not remember the sweat that went into the pictures. Enjoy!

Cooper is 1!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-08-25T23:28:00.004-04:00

Cooper had his 1st birthday party at the Mcwane Center in Birmingham. There were lots of friends and family and we all had a great time. Thanks to all that came and there will be more pictures to come.

Golf tournament

2008-08-25T22:59:00.003-04:00

Steven and Heather Horne had their annual golf tournament to benefit the spinal bifida association of Alabama on Saturday. I attempted to hit golf balls toward a hole far away as I do not play golf. We did have fun though and raised over $7000 for the cause.

Vmax on tour

2008-08-16T16:42:00.006-04:00

I am sure that you guys don't really care about this new bike, but I have been waiting around 5 years for this bike to arrive. It is on tour now and only coming to Cornelius, NC today. That is about 30-40 minutes away from me, so you know I am there.

Summer's puzzles

2008-08-12T14:40:00.003-04:00

Summer loves to do puzzle and she is getting rather good at them. Here she is finishing up on a 48 piece puzzle. I didn't help her in the least bit either.

Yes, I know she is naked again!

Riding motorcycle and taking pictures

2008-08-08T21:34:00.002-04:00

I went riding the Buell looking to take a picture of a barn or waterway. I came across this scene and starting taking pictures. Enjoy.

Like Daisy!

2008-08-07T23:04:00.003-04:00

My words to Steph, "This is what you get when the dad stays at home with the kids". What I was referring to was something that started out as my laziness. Something very innocent.

I was building the new addition we bought which was a Step 2 Little Tykes playhouse. Coop was asleep and I was on borrowed time to assemble this plastic Chinese piece of crap! The instructions were not correct, so that was another issue that I was having to deal with. Suddenly, Summer looks at me and says, "I go tee tee in the potty". Translation: "Father, will you please go with me, take my underwear off, make sure I don't pee over the toilet, wipe the excess and make sure I return without waking Cooper up". Now, in my brain, I am thinking that we live in a kind of private area and most people are at work. Without a flinch, I take her panties off and tell her to squat. She says to me, "I tee tee in the gwass". I said, "yea baby, just like Daisy". Kind of cool, father and daughter bonding moment. She finishes and I get back to work and there isn't any harm.

A couple of hours later, I am talking to a friend and Summer wants to go outside and jump on the trampoline (another one of our Chinese purchases). I can watch her from the window and tend to Cooper also. So, I let her out. As I am on the phone, I notice (yep you guest it) Summer taking of her panties. I am telling my friend on the phone play by play action. She proceeds to relieve herself 2 feet from the stepping stones. I am scared to tell Steph because this maybe a habit. I fear we will be at a formal function and Summer will drop trou. Well, a day has past and only Daisy is doing it "like Daisy". Stay tuned though.

It is impossible to keep clothes on her also.

2009 Yamaha VMAX walk through

2008-08-06T14:37:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to show everyone what I should be getting in November. This is a 4 minute overview of the new Vmax. If you are not interested in the technical talk, just check out the guy riding off in the end. He can't even keep the wheel from spinning. COOL!

NC Zoo

2008-08-02T20:26:00.005-04:00

Steph informed me that we would have to have family time sometime this weekend. We decided to go the the Zoo. We decided to do this on one of the hottest days in the summer! Not a great decision, but the whole experience was actually great! Cooper didn't even cry and Summer only had one meltdown on the carousel.

The zoo has two sides, North American and Africa. We went to the African side of the zoo. I actually thought I was in Mexico, but that was due to the clientele, not the animals. The African side had cooler animals. Normally, I would just do a collage, but Picasa was cutting out animals. I figured that I would put the animal pictures on here individually. Enjoy!

Giraffes

Lions. I'd hate to be the bottom lion!

This was a great shot through the glass.

Monkey smiles.

Sweet, sweet turtle love!

I ended up making a collage anyway. As you can see, Elmo made the trip with us. Summer loved to kiss the monkey. She may have a unidentified lip fungus now. Second pic from the end is Summer making herself at home in the stroller. She fell asleep that way. Kids can position themselves anywhich way to sleep. I, on the other hand, would take at least 1 week of the chiro to get the aches out if I were to fall asleep that way.

More Random pics

2008-08-01T22:16:00.001-04:00

Heath, Seth, and Cooper

Random Pics

2008-08-01T22:07:00.002-04:00

Next door neighbors birthday party. There was a clown that made balloons.

My handsome man...
I got new software, still trying to figure it out.
Cooper man with Landon and Garrett.
More playing.

Fun with Derome

2008-07-30T21:49:00.002-04:00

I got a text the other day. I didn't recognize the number, but here's what it said verbatim:

Jul 25 2008 5:46 pm
-----------------------
This derome this my new number

Now, I wasn't sure what this text meant. What was a derome? Could it be a new phone out or could this be someones name? Who the hell would name child Derome? Maybe a woman with a speech impediment trying to say, "Jerome". I respond back to him:

Jul 25 2008 5:47 pm
------------------------
Who is this

I didn't hear back from this mystery texter until today. This person sends me 3 texts in a row which said:

Jul 30 2008 11:48 am
-------------------------
Fwd:Fwd: No matter what you will always be apart of my life. I hope we never fall apart... Send to all the ppl you never want to lose.

I am pissed now! I don't have unlimited service, but I do have 200 free messages a month and I don't want them wasted on stupid forwards. My very tactful response:

Jul 30 2008 12:02 pm
--------------------------
Who is this, you need to reply or take me off your list because I don't have unlimited.

After I text him, I give him a call on another cell phone. I got Derome's (yes someone apparently named their child that) voice message which clued me in on what I was dealing with. Through a heavily "Ebonic" message, I figured that Derome was a young male. His response:

Jul 30 2008 3:43pm
--------------------------
shut up this is derome

OK! De-rome doesn't believe me and still thinks that I am one of his friends. In a very polite manner (because I don't want an angry youth to be texting me around 3 am), I text him back:

Jul 30 2008 3:46 pm
--------------------------
you got the wrong # please remove me, thanks

Derome, the outstanding scholar that he is, replies:

Jul 30 2008 3:48 pm
---------------------------
okay
I see u hi hata

Now, I am thinking that this genius still didn't believe me! He may even think that I smoke marijuana seeing how he types "hi" and that I am "haten" on him. So I reluctantly sent him another text to verify:

Jul 30 2008 3:50 pm
---------------------------
No seriously, my name is brandon and you have the wrong #

Then I get this very intelligent, moving, diplomatic response:

Jul 30 2008 4:01 pm
----------------------------
okay stop txn me then damn
I see u hi hata

Well, apparently, Derome still thinks that I am smokin da reefer. I hope that Derome will contribute to today's society. Maybe, he will lead a company and/or become a government icon. My guess is that he will never get past the phrase, "you want fries with that?"

Bikers Retreat!

2008-07-20T15:23:00.016-04:00

Last minute deal! I called Brad and finally got him to join me in Pigeon Forge to ride motorcycles. Here are some pictures of our excellent adventures.

LOOK MOM, NO HANDS! This is me coasting down a mountain (with my arms crossed) in neutral with the motorcycle off ( I left the lights on though so people would see my brake/head lights). Without me knowing, Brad took this picture on his camera phone, which is also not too safe to do while navigating a bike.

I had to lay down on the pavement for this shot. I bet people thought I was crazy laying on the ground in full motorcycle gear taking pictures.

Here is the bike while at a stop.

Here is Brad.

Here is the deer at Cades Cove. I had the zoom on the camera, but I really didn't need it because I could just walk right up to Bambi. Pretty tame!
Here is me figuring out the B/W feature on my camera.
Here are the bats in the house above. I had the small lens on and had to hold the camera right up to them (with flash). I would have sounded like the shower scene in Psycho if those things fell from the roof. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

Grist mill in color.
Grist mill in B/W.
This was kind of cool. When Brad and I got to the TN/NC border, there was a wedding ceremony taking place. I zoom in from about 50 yards away and got this shot. Kind of cool having the mountains in the background. There were too many people (over the wall) for me to get a better shot.

Here is a collage of random photos.

Planting flowers and trampoline jumping

2008-07-14T10:29:00.004-04:00

We just got a new trampoline. The kids/neighborhood love it! Check out Summer planting flowers with mommy. I especially love the Michael Jackson orange glove she has on. (Hee Hee......Whooooooo!.............Hooooooooooo!)

I miss college football

2008-07-14T10:12:00.002-04:00

4th of July Weekend

2008-07-07T20:53:00.003-04:00

Well we survived the month of June and July is looking like it may be a little calmer. Steph's parents came up for the weekend to visit and my Mom came with them and totally surprised me. Steph actually kept the secret.

These first pictures are taken after church when the kids (and us) are actually dressed up.
For the 4th, we went over to some neighbors of ours and enjoyed their pool. Summer was able to swim without dropping the thunder.
Steph and Su Su took the kids to a new park up here called Tiger World. When I think of tigers, I think of the ambiguously gay duo Siegfried and Roy and how the tiger pretty much made Roy his rag toy. I did have reservations on letting my babies go, but the mother-in-law was there to fight off any tenacious kitty cat. She's tough!

They got to pet a snake, baby lion, and a baby tiger. Enjoy!

Things Cooper will eat with one tooth

2008-06-30T13:16:00.004-04:00

turkey
ham
sweet potatoes
corn
any fruit so far
basically anything but mashed potatoes (go figure)

Things that Mini Coop's likes to eat, but shouldn't........

grass
sticks
leaves
random food left in the floor from Summer
Skittles (also from Summer)
paper
crayons
sand
Gummy bears (see #4)
and Coop's all time favorite that he shouldn't eat (as was with Summer).........Dog Food!

We survived!

2008-06-28T11:42:00.004-04:00

Well we survived Steph's business adventures and a reunion to boot. Last Thursday we drive down to Commerce, GA and stayed for a half day so Steph could visit her new job in Athens. Then we drove down to "the Ham" for a Sanford Reunion. Here are some pics.

This is the Friday that we got down to Mom's house. There is a really bad picture of Sandy Sanford in there. It's there because she hit me with a pillow. Take that mean woman!

We spent Saturday morning having breakfast at Cracker Barrel with the Horne's.

Here is photos of the Reunion on Saturday at Walker Lake State Park.

Saturday night we went to see Matt and Christine's new baby, Jacob Dylan. He is currently 6ish or 7ish lbs. That is about as much as Coop puts down in food. Tiny!

Sunday, we went to Townley, Al. My Aunt Linda and Uncle Roy lets everyone come up and ride 4 wheelers and break ribs on slip and slides. No, I am not bitter! Accually, we didn't get away without injury. My nephew, Garret, ended up with a puncture wound to the nose due to some serious kick back of a shot gun. He got three stitches and some light hearted ribbing about how it looked like a booger on the side of his nose (or a fly). Good Times!

New Camera

2008-06-16T22:43:00.001-04:00

I just got a really nice camera! Now I just started so anyone who is a professional, just give me a little time before the professional pictures start coming.

Cancun 08

2008-06-11T23:29:00.005-04:00

Well we just got back from Mexico. Cancun to be exact. We went to a all inclusive resort. I am going to put all the pictures in one collage. Then, I will paste other pictures below and explain what is going on.

Here is the bed. It had a rose on it so Steph had to do her pose with it.

Here is the view from our balcony. This resort had pools all around the buildings. This is the Cigar bar. They had nothing but Cuban Cigars. Steph is taking my picture from outside the window.
No, that is not a hairy gorilla on the beach. It's me! I just wanted to show the nice scar I still have from the appendectomy. The surgeon must have used a rusty kitchen knife.
Here is the spa. We had a couples type message together. It was so nice, I woke myself up drooling and snoring a couple of times. We sneaked in late at night to get these shots.
Here I am in front of the spa.

The spa again.
Here are some rocks they make you walk across (not hot) with water spraying on you. They say the pressure on the bottom of your feet make you feel better.

Here I am at the hotel gift shop. Apparently, they sell Viagra over the counter. The airport sold Zoloft, Prosaic, and Ammoxacillian over the counter also. I wonder if they were lagit?

Well, I did it!

2008-06-05T15:45:00.002-04:00

I just put a deposit down for the 2009 Yamaha Vmax. There will only be 2500 of them made for the 2009 calendar year so it is to say they are in limited production. I owned a 92 model for about 2 years and sold it. I always told Steph that when the new one came out, I wanted to be first to get it. This motorcycle has a very large cult following because when it first came out (1985), it was the fastest bike. Now, with a claimed 197 hp, it should be one of the fastest bike out there even though its about 300lbs heavier than the fastest "crouch rockets". With that being said, I will NOT be racing or going fast on this bike. Just a little jolt here or there.

The Buell will be on sale come October (or sooner if anyone comes to me). So if you guys know anyone on the market for a bike, steer them my way.