It is so good to be back! I'm embarrassed to admit it was just a password thing. Technology is not my friend. Lol! Bless my heart.
So I'm going to recap the last 6 months in one post and picture dump our highlights of photos with as few words as possible. Wish me luck...
JANUARY
January was fairly uneventful, everyone was recovering from the holidays and hoping to go back to school as normal with all the winter sickness mess and Covid combined. Our school did an AMAZING job of keeping the kids in class. It was so heartbreaking to hear of so many kids still in virtual learning, still so isolated. I was really proud of how CCS handled getting and keeping our kids in school all year.
Golfing with Granddad...
FEBRUARY
February 4th was a good day. 3 months after my sweet Nanny recovered from Covid and then rehabbed in Life Care of Hixson we got to bring her back to Regency. I will never forget the night dad called and said she was diagnosed with Covid and was taken to Memorial Hospital. After all those months not seeing her because they were in lockdown, she still ended up getting sick and I prayed we would see her on the other side of this. It was a scary few days but she thankfully had a mild case. She was so weak that afterwards she had to go to rehab to get stronger. Unfortunately, it didn't really work and she hasn't really gained leg strength. We were fortunate to get to bring her back to Regency House and enjoyed a short ride and visit before she was locked down again. This picture brings tears to my eyes...
And that night we had another reason to celebrate... our girl turned 10!!
A few nights later she had Emerson and Quinn for a sleepover...
Love this one of the 2 of them...
And 3 days later, we had a 14 year old...
Birthday sleepover...
Jimmy and I decided for their birthday we would give them an "adventure" instead of gifts. We decided to go snow skiing in Sugar Mountain, North Carolina. I had been a few times but not since college and Jimmy hadn't been since he was a kid, so it was bound to be interesting.
Having to pick the lock to get into our room at Sugar Top Resort. Good thing he knows how :)
The view from our balcony was beautiful! Sadly, the rain came in quickly and we didn't see this view again after the first night.
The first night we were there we went snow tubing which was so fun!
And the next morning we woke up to this... My plan had been to get there Wednesday night and ski Thursday and Friday before the crowds rolled in for Presidents Day weekend on Saturday. But given the fact that we were new at this, skiing in the rain didn't seem like the best idea.
So we drove around town and tried to go see Grandfather Mountain but
there wasn't much to see in the rain.
We headed over to the Sugar Mountain resort and went ahead and rented our skis and equipment so we would be ready to roll in the morning. I'm SO glad we did because the next morning was packed with people and we got to head straight to ski school and skip all the lines.
We all enrolled in ski school and it was very helpful. The kids had never skied before so we knew they needed some coaching, and not from us. Lol!
We were ready! Our first ride up the mountain... turned out to be Jimmy's one and only...
Trace jumped off the lift and took off, straight down like a champ...
Keatyn wasn't too far behind him. A couple of spills but she did great...
We get to the bottom to wait on Jimmy and we wait...and we wait...
Finally Trace and I decide to go get in line for food because it was getting very crowded and I knew everyone would be starving. Keatyn stayed to wait on Jimmy and was going to bring him in when he got down. We thought they would be RIGHT behind us. We got in the crazy line and finally found a table. By then 30 minutes had gone by and I was getting really nervous as to why they were taking so long. Finally, we look up and see Jimmy walking to us, in regular clothes, no jacket, no ski boots and skis no where to be found. We spent the next 30 minutes laughing hysterically as he recaps the drama that unfolded on the top of that mountain. He was done. He had turned his skis in and was done after one run. He said he fell about the time we all passed him and he couldn't get back up. He rolled and rolled until he would get halfway up, only to fall again. Lol! It went on so long, he finally popped his skis off and started crawling down the mountain. OH, IF ONLY WE COULD HAVE SEEN THAT!! I nearly wet my ski pants just listening to him retell the story. I can only imagine if I had seen it in person. It was lunchtime. We spent the morning in ski school, and made one run and he was done. He had no desire to even try it again. I told him to take a break and rest and we would go again and stay together but he was over it. The kids and I honestly couldn't start laughing, but we felt so bad. He told us to keep going, enjoy the day and he was content to chill and watch. So he went off to the car to work for a bit and the 3 of us went back to the mountain...
WE DID IT!! I was SO proud of them! We took it slow and there were moments of fear but they faced them and we were all so relieved and pretty pumped to have done it. It was really a lot of fun and the kids both loved it too. It's kinda doubtful we will ever get Jimmy to a ski slope again but I'm really glad we went. What an experience!
MARCH
This was the day we had been waiting for! We finally got to go INTO Regency and see Nanny, one whole year after this nightmare began. We could sit and visit, we could hold her hand, and we could HUG her! We prayed for this for so many months when we were looking at her
through a window. It was the best day ever!
Celebrating Nana's 70th birthday!! She is the absolute best and words can't
describe how thankful we are to have her!
In mid March, Trace surprised us all by deciding the night before to try out for the Middle School golf team. We had talked it up for a while before but he never landed on whether he would or not until the night before. Jimmy and I were so nervous for him, we didn't even tell the grands he was trying out. I was so incredibly proud of him for even trying because he had only been playing since Covid started that summer. 19 tried out and only 7 made it and he was one of them!! We were so proud we could hardly stand it. It took a lot of guts to go out there and try it.
The next week we left for spring break to Destin... our happy place.
APRIL
When we got back, Cara and Ben got married on April 3 at the Venue right beside Black Creek. It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony and as always she was stunning. Jimmy and the kids stayed home because Keatyn had gotten a nasty ear infection while we were in Florida and was still not feeling great. It was the first time I had seem my extended family since Covid and it was so good to see everyone and celebrate!
So way back in October, we ran into some CCS families at Dollywood and they asked if Keatyn would be interested in trying softball. They had put together a team of mostly CCS girls called the Chattanooga Chargers that would play a few tournaments but nothing too crazy like traveling or every weekend like so many teams do. Honestly, Jimmy was opposed. He spent his childhood on the ball fields and felt like it took up way too much time and didn't really want to go down that road. Fast forward several months and she loves it. This was her first scrimmage at Middle Valley and she didn't even have a jersey yet. We were brand new to this, playing with and against girls that had been playing for years. I had no idea how she would like it but turns out she's a natural and as of today is all in. We will see how long it lasts. I have to admit, this was one I was excited to see her play. It was such a part of my family growing up, it felt good to be back at the ball fields again.
I told Jimmy to hold on, April was going to be insane. And it was. Between Trace's golf, her softball, a volleyball clinic and an occasional basketball clinic we were running ragged. But I love to see them busy and doing something that gets them moving and outside. So I taxied them around all month like my hair was on fire. And I don't regret it one bit.
In mid April, the Fab 5 and our guys got together at Feed for dinner. It was SO loud in there we could hardly hear each other and laughed about how old we are now. It was so good to see everyone and get to spend some time with Jill's new guy, Greg. Love these ladies so much!
Keatyn wasn't a huge fan of going to Trace's golf matches. Lol! We tried to make other arrangements for her but she did manage to survive a few.
MAY
Watching Roman play baseball at Rivermont. Uncle Andy was the coach so it was double fun to watch. He described it as "herding cats." Very true.
Nanny wasn't eating. Put she sucked down a Chick fil A milkshake in a matter of minutes. WIN!!
For Mother's Day, mom and I kidnapped Nanny and brought her to Camp Columbus where dad and Tommy have their camper. In keeping with the theme of any outdoor party we attempt, we were there about 45 minutes when a huge storm rolled in. We quickly got Nanny back in the car and the food cleared up and headed to safety. Ugh... the first get together since Covid and it didn't even last an hour. But thankful to have a few pictures and moments with the family after a year.
This was the first time we met sweet Noah! Oh my goodness, what a cutie!!
Our girls trip this year was to Blue Ridge GA for the weekend. We stayed at the spa and had the best, relaxing time. I literally was in a bathrobe for 24 hours...who could complain?
When we finally got out of our robes after being at the spa and lounging all day, we checked out the little town and cute shops before dinner. Such a great weekend with some of my favorites!
Keatyn did a basketball clinic for a few weeks and loved it when Jimmy
went to watch and play for a bit. These two crack me up together.
When I signed her up for this I knew most of the kids would be older. Daniel Gilbert, the coach, assured me she was ready and would be fine. Emerson and Madilyn were both doing it too so she was one of 3 fourth graders. But you can imagine my shock when she was out there playing against some 8th grade boys. The girl held her own and learned so much! She loved it and felt really tough being able to play with the big kids.
One day I get a text from Quinn's mom, Jada, that said... Is this Trace? Yes, yes it is. I don't have Instagram but apparently they used this picture to announce that weeks athletic schedule. I love this picture of my boy! We saw a photographer sneaking around during a match snapping pictures finally got to see them. Time to make an order...
High School, here he comes...
The next day, Leslie and I had a family get together at Vandergriff park with our families and James David Patton. Such a fun day celebrating these boys!
And we helped this sweet 5 year old celebrate his birthday at Carol's pool. Love my nephews!
And that gets us to the end of May. It's been 6 months of new sports, milestones and some fun trips and memories with family and friends. I am so blessed to do life with this crew. And very thankful to finally have figured out how to document it all on here. Lol! Let's hope I remember the new password next time.
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