Here are some Halloween photos.

First, the Frankenstein costume I helped with.

Since he is a big guy, he got to Trick or Treat with his friends. He came back with most of the costume and lots of candy.

Jacquie dressed as Minnie Mouse. They have a friend with a son about the same age and he was Mickey. They make quite a cute couple.

Minnie was escorted by her Dad while trick-or-treating. I am sure he helped dispose of the candy as well.

Here is the whole family

We took the girls to the Trunk-or-Treat activity at our church. Lyric, the unicorn, enjoyed playing the games and trick-or-treating. Coda and I handed out candy.

For the last few months, Charlotte has been considering moving back to Alabama to go to college. She has always planned to go to college, but as a divorced mother of two, it was going to be quite a challenge. She didn't necessarily want to move, but since John's VA benefits will cover most of the tuition costs in Alabama it just made sense.

The plan is for Charlotte to take classes at night while we watch the kids. She will probably start at Jefferson State Community College and transfer to UAB later. She will not begin classes until January, but she decided to go ahead and move last week. I would like to say the move was painless but it wasn't. For the last few months, Charlotte's mom has been the primary caregiver of the two little girls and she misses them terribly. There is also the issue of arranging regular visits with their dad in Houston but we know everything will work out.

They have taken over the downstairs area of our house which includes a bedroom, full bath, den and a room probably designed to be an office. At different times we have used it as a guest bedroom, a sewing room, and an exercise room. Now it is a little girls room complete with a Disney princess bed.

We are getting used to having two little people around and they are getting used to us. Coda has allergies and sensitive skin so we are trying to make sure her new surroundings don't make her sick. Our cat has gone to live with Lee and Mac, we are attempting to keep the house clean and are being careful about what they eat.

We are enjoying getting the know the girls and hope to be posting lots of pictures of them in the future. 

I spent a lot of time in the car last week! One Wednesday, hubby and I drove to Panama City Beach, Florida, to visit his parents. He father has Alzheimer's disease and has recently moved into a residential facility. Mrs. Patterson has done a wonderful job of taking care of him at home, but it has become too big a job for one person.

Mr. Patterson is settling in just fine in his new environment. They keep them busy with activities and he is receiving regular therapy. He is very healthy physically but the disease has taken a toll on his memory. When we first arrived, he didn't know who John was but he thought he looked familiar at least.

Mrs. Patterson has rented a condo nearby. She says being on the beach is calming and waking up to this view Thursday morning made a believer out of me.

John and I returned from the beach on Thursday. Friday morning Mac and I headed to North Carolina to visit Barbara and her family. Callum had asked if I had any ideas for his Frankenstein costume, so I did some research and a little shopping before the trip. Callum, Barbara and I worked on his costume and it turned out really well. We didn't put it all together with make-up so I will add a picture to the blog later.

Little John visited while we were there as well and it was good to spend some time with him.

We attended Callum's soccer game Saturday morning. 

Mac and John spent a lot time watching the Internet broadcast of an international tournament of their (current) favorite video game. Mac taught Callum how to play the game and the uncles took Callum to the park for some baseball. 

I don't think Miss Jacquie ever stopped moving. She has a little path around the house and she went round-and-around all weekend. 

Hubby couldn't make the weekend trip as he had committed to taking the Youth caving. He has plans this weekend with the Boy Scouts but I am staying home!

In May, I decided the get braces. This picture is a couple of  years old but it shows how big the gap was between my front teeth.

After having braces for about 5 months, this is what the gap looks like today.

Still a long way to go, but at least I am seeing some results.

Also during the last month, Jacquie has learned to walk. Her mom reports she is enjoying getting into everything. At her last checkup she weighed 16 lbs and 4.3 ounces so she is still a tiny princess. I guess that means she can have a much ice cream as she wants!

Callum is playing soccer this fall and is active in his Cub Scout troop. Barbara is going to school full-time as well as being Den Mother, and probably several other things. I think she is like her Dad in that way.

I haven't posted in a while so I will try to catch you up with what we have been up to.

John returned from his seven-month tour of duty in Afghanistan in the early morning hours of August 2. There was a whole lot of cheering and crying when the whole group marched into the gym.

Then there were lots of hugs. There were eight family members there to greet him so this took a while.

Once his stuff was stowed away in his barracks, he was ready to go. He had slept on the plane but since it was 4 a.m. by that time and everyone had been up all night (and in our case had driven 10 hours that day) we had to put him off until we had some sleep. It is tradition to hang banners on the fence the buses drive by as they come back on post. Here he is with the banner his Mom put up. 

He had to stay on base for a few days but he did have some free time to visit with family and enjoy the beaches of North Carolina.

He spent most of his post-deployment 30 day leave with us in Alabama reconnecting with friends and just hanging out. The three of us attended the Alabama/Western Kentucky game on September 8. We had the opportunity to sit in the skybox owned by Dad's company. I could get used to that!  

Charlotte (a.k.a. Katie) also visited with us for a couple of days while John was here. They left within a day of each other so now the house is empty and quiet again. 

Today in granddaughter Jacquie's 1st birthday. Unfortunately we aren't going to be able to make the party but we have been promised photos.

We sent her a toy picnic basket which seems to have been a hit.

Here are some photos of John. We look forward to seeing him in person real soon!

Callum turned 8 this week. Here he is with his morning birthday cake.

and with some of his presents. Little sister is making her presence known as well.

Happy Independence Day!

For most of John's deployment he has complained of being bored.

We have been VERY thankful he has been bored and have tried to convince him that bored is good.

Last week, John lost two friends from his company. Our hearts go out to their families and friends. We are thankful for their willingness to serve and for their sacrifice. We know they made an impact on John's life and he will always remember them.

While we were not able to have a real discussion, we have spoken to John by phone. We look forward to seeing him in person soon.

Summer officially started one week ago and the temperature has been 90 or above every day since. This is our weather.com forecast for the next five days.

John said it is miserable in the warehouse and I have been nagging him about drinking more water. I am staying in my nice air conditioned office. The temps are expected to be in the mid 90s next week but it looks like we are headed for a long, hot summer!

Finally got some pictures from Scout Camp. Here are some photos from the Troop Stump-Tug-o-War Championship that was held in their tent area.

They evidently played this game a lot from their blisters and rope burns.

But it reduced the amount wresting with the two biggest boys in the bunch, John and J.T., and probably saved them from more serious injury.

I had some problems with my other blog account and deleted our old blog by accident. I thought maybe I was through with blogging but found that I have missed it so I am starting up a new one.

While John was at camp, I visited these two cuties.

and their parents.

We played games, went to a movie and just visited as we say in the South. It was great to spend some time with them!

John's second adventure of the summer was Boy Scout camp. The difference between the boys and the girls is that I can't find any photos from Scout Camp. They spent a week at Camp Skymont in Altamont, Tennessee. The first two days were rainy so they got a little wet but the rest of the week was beautiful.


The younger scouts spent most of the week working on merit badges. The older scouts got to try out the COPE course. COPE is an acronym for Challenging Outdoor Personal Experience. It consists of individual and group challenges on a low-course and high-course. (These pictures are not our boys, just some from the brochure.)

John is already planning the adventure for next summer!

The first weekend in June, John accompanied the Young Women to the Nantahala Outdoor Center on the Tennessee/North Carolina border. They went white water rafting and did the ropes course. (John is in the blue shirt)

The ropes course was too tall to get a good picture but maybe you can tell how big it is in this picture.

Here is a photo of the group.

Before they left they formed a line and wrapped John up in big hug for helping coordinate the trip.