After a week or so in NC we are having a lazy Thanksgiving and enjoying our day. Mike and Cheryl are up and brought the puppies, I think we have others coming as well - we definatly have too much food! Cheryl shocked us all by cooking, she made these amazing stuffed mushrooms that i cant put down and we haven’t even started on the meal Hope all of you reading this are enjoying or enjoyed your Turkey day and are stuffed with food, love and family.

We are missing our puppies and wish they were here with us… we have their cousins all around us and they would just be in heaven here - but i am sure Aunt Gina and Grandma are entertaining them at home. I loved this picture of Pepe and Nugget - its so adorable!

So far we have had a pretty interesting and relaxed trip. Not so much as what we planned, but what is in life right? One of my fav parts of our visit has been spending some time with Skye’s husband and kids. We have made it over a couple of times to play and look forward to more visits before we leave. I would like to go to the grave as well as spend some time with Ryan going through old pictures and going through some of her personal things that we want to go through together. The kids are wonderful and a handful of energy! We plan on doing something fun tomorrow with them - maybe bowling. Here is a funny video of them being totally crazy boys trying to showoff but its cute:

This week Rachel talked us into (or tricked us i think) being in the Mooresville Christmas Parade. It was feezing but entertaining. I am actually pretty impressed that this small town had an amazing parade with over 3,000 people that participated in the parade. It was defiantly full of energy and a lot of kids. Graydon drove the truck with Rachels dance team girls on it and I walked with Rach and her friend behind the trailer. We got some exercise, waved, picked up candy and talked i think the whole way.

Yesterday we flew out to North Carolina - we are here for a couple of weeks to spend Thanksgiving and help some of our friends and family with their new businesses. We are looking forward to a fun and exciting trip as our first day into the trip started out full of it! Let me sum it up and then go into some details: Sum of things is we packed waay to much… had lots of negative thoughts - laughed a lot… laughter turned to yelling and lots of frustration which turned into drinking and meeting very cool new people that i already love!

Starting with an early morning 4am wake-up Greg dropped us off to the airport to start our adventure. I was so excited that there were no lines and we got strait to the counter. Well little did we know we realized very soon that we packed too much. our 3rd bag they wanted $50 more to check (and it was the size of a carry on) and our 2nd bag was 13lbs over weight so there was another $50! So we decided that spending another $100 was not worth it… so we moved forward to unpacking things out of our bag into the other bags as well as plastic bags that Gigi (the nice attendant) gave us. When all done we finally headed to our gate with about 3 carry-on’s each and checking our 2 big bags.

Little did we think (really we fly all the time i think we are just sometimes retarded!) that one of the bags we decided to carry on was our bathroom bag… so of course as we all know that all our liquids got taken away… toothpaste, lotions, my fav body spray… all the great stuff! Well we said we will have a trip to Wally World when we get to NC and moved on with a smile and a laugh telling ourselves that we really know better than this… or we thought we knew better!

After scarfing down breakfast at CPK with only a little drama we made it to our plane just in time to board. Luckily we sneaked by with 3 carry on’s as we are only allowed 1 each and got on the plane ready to go. continental seats suck by the way - they are really small, the plane was packed and already we were uncomfortable - but we had a smile as much as we could. We smiled, listened to music, slept…etc for about an hour when finally they announced that we were changing planes as we still had not left the gate sitting in the plane. All of us going to Charlotte had to go back through security to another terminal and were on another flight. So Grady and I got off and went through the other security (they let us through just fine) and got to the new gate. We got there and the lady said we had to go back to ticketing downstairs to get a ticket and that they never should have let us through security, so the only easy way through security is the one time they shouldn’t have let us in - Ironic uh?

Next we haul all our crap out of security, downstairs and wait in line. We became invisible at this point because this lady came over and asked for all going to Charlotte as they were helping us first. Grady and I both said we are pretty loud as well as did the whole waving the hands etc.. we figured it wasn’t really everyone as she took people from the back of the line and helped them then was leaving. We stopped her on her way out and told her were were going to Charlotte… we got an attitude back: “Well i asked who all was going” so me and my nice attitude was like “ya and we practically screamed it out that we were and you ignored us” so she takes us up to the counter and looks at what we have and tells us that we have what we need and never needed to be down there to begin with. So she tells us to go up the to the next floor, take a left and go to line 15 and they will help us. Before we left i asked to please be certain as we are so sick of getting a run around… here we go - we got a major attitude back this time: “I have worked here for so many years and i know what i am talking about”. I tell her we have dealt with many people today that have worked here years and to double check, and attitude back again:” have you talked to me?”.. she repeats like 3 times with a total attitude. So up until this point we are pretty giggle and okay about everything but this attitude rubbed me wrong and i got quite the attitude back with her. We headed up to ‘do what she says’ as Gigi (the great attendant that helped earlier) comes after us to double check if it is okay…. well actually we go up - go right, not left and its line 9, not 15! Ulg i wanted to go back so bad and throw it in the ladies face but Grady wouldn’t let me

So this time we get on the right track and head toward security - this time its the full search… going through each of our bags - practically have to be stripped and get checked inside and out. For some great reason (my attitude i am sure helped a ton) the lady checking my things made me sit a good few feet away from her, as everyone else got to be with their stuff as they go through it. When she was done i got up and was putting my laptop on my case and this other security guy cam up to me and said “This is not a chill table - move your things” and started to grab my stuff.” That wasn’t the best move - by this time i had just had it i turned around and told him to fucking leave me be and that he needed to chill out - started in on the shit the airport put us through and that if i needed 2 minutes to put my things together that they tore apart then i was going to have it…bla bla bla. Grady thought he was going to NC by himself and i was going to be in hand cuffs.

After another snotty act from the guy we moved on. I wanted to go to the ticket booth to make sure everything was good, but Grady made us go have a drink.. yup started at 8am. And it was the best move, as our bartender was hilarious and made me smile plus she gave me a margarita to go. We also met Nick - a military man who saved us from our last drama. We leave the bar and head to get on our plane - we are running a little late so we are the last ones on. I am trying to down my margarita, talking to Trav on the phone and carrying on my carry-on’s as we are getting checked into the plane. They stop Graydon and I and after all of this they decide they need to follow federal regulations and wont let us and our 3 carry-on’s all on the plane. so we either leave half or stuff or figure something out. I was getting calmed down until this point when i put my margarita down and started in on this flight attendant guy - telling him the hell we have been through and i was not about to start again with this and that they already let us on the plane with it and now they wont…. bla bla bla - Well thank god for new friends. Nick grabbed our smaller item and put it in his bag and then took another carry-on with him… somehow between us 3 we got it figured out to go on the plane. Graydon and I also had seats not by each other, but somehow my seat was next to Nick… weird coincidence. So all in all it turned out good - Nick traded Grady so we could sit by each other then Nick ended up trading someone else so all of us could sit together. The plane ride was actually one of the best i have been on - we drank the whole time, the flight attendants were great and bringing us more booze than we paid for, sneaking it in their pockets for us. We got popcorn from their personal snacks, etcc. it was a lot of fun. Nick and Grady hit it off and exchanged pictures and numbers and we plan on a visit from him in the near future. Oh also on the flight one of the flight attendeds shoved Graydon and I into the bathroom together and closed the curtain and told us to become members of the mile high club. Unfortunately for Graydon i had to pee so bad that i had to kick him out as there wasn’t enough room for me to pee with him in there (i have no clue how there is enough room for sex in there!) plus that is just gross.. those bathrooms really are not clean and i guess i am a party pooper in my old age… Sorry Grady!

Anyway it was so dramatic i thought i would share it with all of you! We are in NC now and looking forward to a great trip. We have already seen Ryan and the kids and plan on spending more time with them.

Welcome to our world and welcome to our family. Gina had her baby boy this evening after 2 long days - 30+ hours of labor, 2 hours of strait pushing and still… that poor head of his just didn’t want to come out. Gina worked hard and has been through a lot to deliver her baby boy via a C-Section (which by the way i got to watch!)

So I named him Oliver… as that is what we have been calling him, however until Gina gets to hold him she is not deciding on a name - so take it for what it is when you see Oliver’s name… as it Aunt Katie’s way of naming him for now. Oliver is 20″ long and 8.14lbs

So here are some fun things:

Check out Pictures!

And some great videos below:

Oliver in the Nursery

Oliver on the Scale

Oliver’s Feet

Oliver’s 1st Bath

Saturday Morning… As i sit here excited about opportunities and have so much energy, my husband is sick and in bed (day after Scariokee at the bar, if you can imagine…) Usually it is me in his position so i feel for him. However we had a blast last night as Christine turned all heads in the bar all night and took 2nd place in the costume contest as a bar maid. We did call for Oliver to come out and play at 1am and he got up to get us… but unfortunately had to bring mommy with him (not that we don’t want Gina there, we are just all waiting anxiously for Oliver to be on his own… out of Mommies tummy).

On that note… Gina is so ready to have Oli but he is just not ready to come out. He has had a few due dates so we are not sure what one - i think all of us were hoping it was the original (Oct 22nd), but that day has came and past and still no Oli. Then next due date we were given is Oct 31st…. that was yesterday and still Oliver is hiding. Do you think he hears all going on and wants to stay safe instead of around all of us crazy people?? So that is leaving us with the final and furthest away due date: Nov 14th…. ulg! It has been interesting, fun and an adventure coming home as newly weds and having Gina living with us. I wouldn’t trade it for the world to get to be with her in this special time of life, it is defiantly an exciting adventure on its own.

Here is the ‘handicapped couple’ - if you read the sign below it says Handicaped Only ( i just noticed this after seeing the picture and thought it was a pretty good one!)

Grady and I are newly weds and the first thing i think we have learned is that we need to see less of each other! LOL - doesn’t sound right uh? But we are ready to kill each other with being around each other 24/7. So this week we are going to start a ‘personal’ time that is scheduled every week to be away from each other. When we were in NC we were with family 24/7 so we schedule a date night for us… i guess this is our personal date time to be without each other???? As backwards as it is - i think we are both excited for the personal time. Other than that married life is great, fun and exciting - a new twist every day!

We played a couple of weekends ago in Vegas with Lance and Christine and that was a blast.. and long overdue. It had been a while since we have had some fun in Vegas!

Business is good - I feel as though we are going in circles most the time, however Deka is steady as always - E-local is ‘In the Works’ as always and our new Business with Seven+ Juice gets more exciting every day. I think just in the past few days it has reached a higher level of excitement than before, as our friends and family that have joined us we get to share and see their excitement and that is better than our own. We really are excited for this opportunity that has been handed to us, it has changed our life and out come in many ways and many more to come. Travis is starting to get excited as well - which leads me to believe that we will be buying plane tickets in the next couple of weeks to go visit him for a couple of weeks. It will be nice to get back to NC and see all our friends we left there last winter. I am not sure 2 weeks will be enough time to spend… maybe 3??? I think we will go over Thanksgiving.

As far as Dad goes - he is working with FEMA, traveling a bit and doing home inspections for disaster areas. (i loved this picture.. except i cant see dad in a suit and the areas of town he talks about seem a lot more in the ghetto!) He has grown and learned a lot by the experiences so far with this new adventure for him. His biggest challenge was the computers, but i believe through ‘just doing it’ he has overcame that challenge for the most part. There are some factors in his schedule of how often he will be gone with this, but for now it seems to be a good direction for him. He was in Chicago for a few weeks and just got home - it is nice to have him home as well. Travis wants him back in NC for a new project so he might be heading out there again for a little while too. I guess he is like a leave blowing in the wind - he seems to just go wherever he is needed! His health seems to be okay, with the weather changing he is aching a bit and feeling a little down - but i think he is doing pretty good on his recovery. While dad was in Chicago he drove down to Iowa where he was adopted and met with the orphanage. There are a lot of hick-ups on finding his birth mom and possibly brother, however he took his first steps to fulfill the hole that resides in him, this was on his birthday and i thought was one of the best birthday presents for himself. We are going to now work together to do some more research… i will keep everyone posted.

Mom is enjoying her job and teaching - i think she is very happy with what she is doing and it defiantly keeps her busy. She is starting an art night once a week and i think that is exciting her as much as anything! When dad was gone we had a girls night while Grady went camping with his dad at Lake Powell and had a ‘boys night’. That was a lot of fun and enjoyable for all parties involved i believe (except for the crappy movies i chose for girls night).

And that’s all for now…. I am going to try and keep things a little more updated - maybe an update a week, so keep checking back!