We're BACK!

Literally and figuratively we are back. It has taken a couple of weeks, but I am finally getting back into a routine. We made it through back surgery and Jeff is recovering well. The pain that was originally there and the reason for surgery is gone and he now is just dealing with slight post-surgery pain and looking forward to getting back to work and continuing to rehab.

We both now have a new perspective on dealing with pain and the slow recovery process that surgery entails. The first day he attempted to walk at the gym he was getting passed by old women. It was pretty humbling to say the least. We joked that he was getting smoked by old women. He has progressed nicely and last week was able to walk a brisk 3 1/2 miles around the track. There are still a lot of things that he can't do, but there are a lot of things that he can now do that he wasn't able to do just 3 weeks ago, like drive. I don't know if he missed driving as much as I missed him driving, but I am definitely glad that we have another set of wheels in the family again.

As for the rest of life, it keeps moving on. The girls are in the middle of basketball season and both are doing well. Now if you ask them, Bayley will say she doesn't like it and Kendal will say that she loves it. However, Bayley is hanging quite while with the 4th through 6th grade boys that she is playing against. She is a great rebounder and a great defender. I have been very impressed with her effort and know that if she decides to try again that she will only get better and probably like it even more....even though I am pretty sure that she would never admit liking it. She does however definitely like the concession stand that awaits her after each game. Kendal is getting the hang of the game. She has scored a couple of times and definitely gets excited when she is on the floor. Basketball takes up our Tuesday nights and Saturday mornings, but it sure is fun watching them play.

Kendal shooting a free throw

Bayley playing with the guys!

Kendal showing off her cute smile! She won't be toothless much longer.

Trey continues to enjoy preschool. He loves to write and will attempt to copy just about everything he sees and does a pretty good job at it. He can be the best of boys and the worst of boys all in the matter of minutes. He definitely is struggling with the I want it now and I don't care what you say attitude. I know eventually he will figure out who is boss...and realize that it is not himself.

Trey striking a pose!

I am loving Adison at this age. She is so much fun and so funny. She makes the best facial expressions. She knows what she wants and is pretty relentless at letting us know exactly what it is and when she wants it. She still isn't talking very much, but who needs to talk with 5 other people willing to help you out at any given time. Being the youngest in a busy family has made poor Adision have to adjust her schedule to ours more than we adjust ours to hers. Because of this, last week we finally drove her to exhaustion. Jeff was feeding her dinner, when he left the room to help one of the other kids and returned to find her passed out in her high chair...a first for one of our kiddos. She is trooper though and does a good job of being pretty flexible most of the time. She definitely has acquired her older sister's sweet tooth. She loves desserts just as much as Bayley....those two are going to have fun together.

Exhausted!!!

Just a few of her expressions! We love this girl!

Despite all of the goings on, I have very few pictures to show for it. February is bound to be better, right?

The girls trying to make the best of our icy snow day a couple of weeks ago. There wasn't really snow, just ice. The got out boogie boards and cardboard and had fun sliding down the hill.

Where to begin???

It has been a crazy week. Hopefully I don't leave very much out, but here are the highlights.

We had a great Christmas at home. We had planned on having Grandma and Grandpa G come for Christmas Eve, however due to illness they were unable to make it. We missed them, but enjoyed our time together as a family. Christmas Eve we had our traditional dinner of breakfast for dinner and then we read the Christmas story as a family. Jeff organized the program very well and the kids enjoyed all of the singing. They hung in there pretty well despite all of the excitement of Santa coming tomorrow.

We started our Christmas morning at 6:30 am. We had to wake up Trey and Adison, but Kendal and Bayley had been awake for a while. The big surprise this year from Santa was Trey receiving a lump of coal. After months of threatening and months of him calling our bluff, Trey's naughty behavior caught up with him and all that was on the couch by his stocking Christmas morning was coal. We were anxious to see his reaction, but he kind of surprised us. I guess we prepared him pretty well that he might be getting coal, because he was just excited that he got a few things in his stocking. Santa did leave him a note that he had left a few presents on the back porch for Trey if his parents decided it was all right for him to have them. He has promised to do better and I hope the memories of coal stay present in his mind. Bayley's big gift was a new bike. Kendal was excited about her new vanity and Adison got a new ride on toy. We had fun opening presents together and spending a quiet day at home. I didn't get a picture but the kids were so excited that we had snow flurries on Christmas day. A white Christmas in Alabama is very rare, so they were pretty excited.





After Christmas is when things started getting crazy. The Tuesday after Christmas Jeff was scheduled to have back surgery to take care of a herniated disc that has been causing him pain for the last couple of years. We were anxious but ready to hopefully return him to full health. Monday he went to do pre-op stuff and that is when plans started falling apart. His quick appointments took a couple of hours, his phone crashed, my child care plans fell through at the last minute, and finally we got a call late that because of bad weather in the Northeast his insurance pre-approval had not gone through. I'm not one to give up on plans very easily, but at 9:30 Monday night we finally decided that it would probably be better to wait and reschedule the surgery for a couple of days later.

Tuesday morning we found out why things had fallen apart the day before. Jeff's beloved Grandma Eloise Thornton passed away on Tuesday morning. If Jeff had gone to surgery as scheduled it would have been highly unlikely that we would have been able to make the trip to Indiana to be at the funeral. We definitely recognized the Lord's hand in our change in plans and as a result Wednesday we headed to Indiana to be with Jeff's family for Grandma's funeral. The funeral was very nice and a great tribute to a great woman. We enjoyed being able to spend time with the Thornton family and reflect upon the good times we had spent with Grandma. Bayley will never forget her yummy angel food cake. I think Kendal and Trey will remember visiting her in the nursing home and the dog that was the home's permanent resident. I know Grandma loved having the kids around and I will always remember how happy she would be when we would arrive to see them. July 2010


Saturday we left Indiana and headed to Georgia to spend time with the Griffeth family. Grant and Alyssa were there with their two girls Olivia and Madeline who we do not get to see enough. It was fun to see how much they have grown and get to put a personalities with their cute faces. Spencer and Leigh and their kids Spence and Jaidyn also spent the day with us on Sunday. It was a lot of fun having such a big group of us together. As we keep adding kiddos to the mix it definitely gets a bit more crazy! Crazy but fun!! We enjoyed playing games and catching up. It will definitely be fun to have everyone together this summer at the Lake.



Monday morning before leaving town we made a quick trip to the dentist. As you can tell by Kendal's smile we needed some dental intervention (j/k). Kendal lost her two front teeth on consecutive days giving her a new look.
No really, Spencer was kind enough to squeeze us all in for cleaning before we left town saving us a trip back to Georgia later this month.

The rest of this week has been spent preparing for Jeff's surgery. Right now I am sitting in the waiting area killing time while I wait for word on how things went. We are excited that this might be his answer to his back pain and look forward to a positive outcome. Hopefully next post I will have good news to report!