Snapped: Alabama

We arrived in Alabama on June 12th, so late it was almost the 13th. On Saturday the 14th we had a surprise 40th birthday party for Sam. But it ended up not being a surprise. One of the invited guests we actually ran into in the hotel lobby in DALLAS, TEXAS and he apologized for not being able to make it to the party. He could tell by the look on both of our faces that he had just blown it. Trying to do any sort of surprise for your spouse once you are married is just next to impossible. But even though the party wasn't a surprise, his gift was!

Here is cute, little guy Sam. He was a blondie for a long time.

Here is one month shy of 40 Sam, TRYING his hardest to look like he is surprised. :)

Here is the gift that was a surprise and he really really loved it!

There is a gentleman by the name of Rick Green who lives in Oregon and does character drawings. You send in the pictures of the person or people and describe their hobbies and interests and he combines them all into one great picture. I love lurking on his blog because not only is he a talented artist, the stories he writes about creating the pictures are really fun to read.

Rick's link is www.organizeddoodles.blogspot.com

Scroll down and read his post on Sam's picture, it will have you laughing out loud. Also, find the one above it where he gave Sam's love of Auburn to an unsuspecting family by mistake. SO FUNNY! Sam is in his Air Force uniform with his special stole, wearing his backpack hiking in the Saw Tooth mountains, walking with his Auburn flag, with the F-15 Eagle in the background and his Land Rover parked behind him.

Sam's mom had the drawing photo copied by a bakery and had it as edible frosting. It was yummy!

A silly picture! The adorable red head is my 5 year old nephew, Blake.

It rained for the entire party. Christopher had fun walking friends to and from their cars with the giant umbrella. We had 37 family and friends there. A great friend of ours put together a slide show from about 200 pictures from birth to present day. Some of those were really funny!

The next morning was Sunday, and I wanted a family picture since Sam's brother and his family and his sister were there. I was getting the camera ready when Kaebrie said, "take my picture," and then posed herself on the bench.

This one below also ended up being one of my favorite pictures.

Poppa and Tiff went worm hunting every day to kill the pesky things because they were eating the leaves in Poppa's garden. Poppa brought this one to us and I thought it was really fascinating with all the eggs on her back. I asked Poppa to give her to me for a few minutes so I could photograph her. I know he thought I was crazy, but he did it. He stood there and watched for a minute or two then said, "Jodi, you know I have to squish her when you are done."

I did know that, but I really like this weird picture.

She was squished less then one minute after this photo was taken.

Here is Sam's family. We are only missing his niece Brooke, who was in Florida.

This is my Dad,in the yellow shirt, known as Bumps, since that was what Collin named him many many years ago. With him is his brother, my Uncle Roy.

It was so good to see Roy again. He is bravely going through chemo right now and is so loved by so many people.

Roy's wife, my beautiful Aunt Lis. We had to go visit her at work where she manages a big department store.

WE had dinner one night at my sister's new beautiful home. The boys played war and loved it. Then Blake got some wrestling time with his Uncle Sam.

The drum set in Blake's room was a big hit. (That was an unintentional pun).

Funny history story: My brother-in-law and I went to high school together. He was the drummer in the high school band. My best friend at the time, Kelly, had a HUGE crush on him and would make me go to the games with her on Friday night, so she could sit and watch the drummer, who is now married to my sister. :)

Here is Bumps with all his grandkids!

My mom has a 3 legged dog named Jeff. Kaitlynn and Jeff have always had a special bond.

Aunt Erin, Sam's sister, is never short of fun things to do. Even having the kids wash her new car!

My mom, HAHA, with all her grands!

Poppa's motorcycle!

My dad again, this time with his sister, my Aunt Bettye.

And Blake again. I put in a request for Kaebrie to have that red hair! I just love it!

For 2 and a half days of our Alabama time, Sam and I left the kids with all their great relatives and headed to the beach. Alone.

yes, you read that right.

ALONE.

For the most part, it was WONDERFUL.

We stayed in a cute little Bed and Breakfast in Port San Blas, Florida. We enjoyed sitting on the beach for hours, and not talking for long periods of time. A peaceful, enjoyable, relaxing silence, listening to the waves and the seagulls.

Negative, bad, awful sounds we heard were the sounds of breakfast being served and loud conversations at 6:30 in the morning. :(

So my dreams of sleeping in until 10 am didn't happen, but everything else was great. We sat on the beach one night and watched the glowing orange sun sink below the horizon, ate at a delicious cafe called the Owl Cafe where we could eat outside and see the full moon. On our way out of town, we stopped at Tyndal Air Force Base and walked out on the beach there. It was a PERFECT spot for families! You have to walk a LONG LONG way to get to the water, but once there, it was really one of the nicest beaches I have ever seen.

It was a whirlwind 8 days in Alabama, with us being gone part of those days to the beach. It was hard getting in enough time to fit in all the family and friends we wanted to spend time with. When you only get to see each other MAYBE once a year, it does make it difficult.

The children were sufficiently spoiled by the grandparents and aunts and uncles: bowling, ice skating, movies, eating out, and one of the favorites: the annual water war!!!!!!!!

This was the third year in a row for this, yet once again, the kids were caught off guard. I had them stand in the pool and pose for a silly picture, while they were ambushed from behind. The pictures tell the rest of the story! :) This year, Blake got to join in the fun too.