Vacation without the kids!!!

I love my boys dearly, but...getting away without them was fabulous!! It was our first time leaving them overnight and I was nervous that they would cry and be horriable while we were gone, but surprisingly I don't think they skipped a beat without us around. Much thanks to Blaine's mom for keeping them for us. :) We can't thank her enough!!

We went to Lake Guntersville Lodge in North Alabama for three days and two nights. It was so nice not to have to worry about nap times, potty breaks, which kid was hungry or thirsty, temper tantrums, kids fighting, etc..... Blaine and I spent the first day at Cathedral Caverns Cave. It was my first time to go inside a cave. It was so cool to see the natural wonders that occur under ground just by dripping water. It blows my mind how the stalactites and stalagmites form into these beautiful creations. The other crazy thing was that the temperature stays consistent year around inside the cave, so even though it was in the 40s outside it was a constant 60degrees inside the cave.

That night we drove up to Lake Guntersville Lodge (where we were staying) on top of Taylor mountain. It was gorgeous. The leaves on the trees were bright, oranges, red and yellows and the air was crisp and cool. It was so nice to need a warm coat and a blazing fire place and get away from the humid Mobile weather. The lodge itself was super nice and accomodating. The lobby and sitting nooks all had roaring fires, along with a huge terrace that overlooked the lake. There was a wonderful restaurant in the lodge that also overlooked the lake.

The next day we drove up to Bucks Pocket (a canyon overlook with hiking trails) and spent the day hiking and exploring the area. We had a blast hiking, acting silly, taking pictures and enjoying the beautiful nature around us.

Our last day there we drove into the town of Lakes Guntersville and went to a local history museum, that told the history of the town and displayed local historical items. It was a very fascinating little museum. Blaines favorite thing was the collection of guns from various wars!Go figure!!

Our trip was a blast and I hated to come home to reality. THANKS again Grandma for keeping the kids, I am already planning our trip for next year!! LOL!! :)
Outside Cathedral Caverns Cave entrance

View from our room's balcony.

Acting silly! view from Bucks pocket canyon overlook.

Again acting silly in the lodge

view from lodge terrace

Christmas decorations inside the lodge

One of the many fireplace nooks. We ordered hot chocolate and cheesecake from the restaurant one night and sat by the fire place drinking hot chocolate and eating cheese cake!!FABULOUS!!

Blaines favorite gun display at the Guntersville history museum

Blaine amazes me,yet again!

Our TV was broken for over a month, but I didn't complain (as long as I could watch Survivor on the computer) because it actually made our house quiet and nice. Can I just say this was NOT a cheap TV and it was only a year old and we were really aggravated it broke. Needless to say we will never buy a samsung again. Anyway, last week before we left on vacation, Blaine was determined to get it fixed so his mom (who was keeping the boys for us) would have something to watch while we were gone. We hadn't gotten it fixed because it was going to cost a third of what we paid for the TV just to get it fixed and we didn't want to spend that much money on fixing a year old TV. So, much to my amazement Blaine went on the internet and looked up what was wrong (LOTS of people who bought the same TV had the same problem, THANKS SAMSUNG, YOU STINK), how to fix it, and what tools he needed and went to work. He ran into a few problems but managed to jimmy rig it and put it back together. As he got ready to turn it on I was very skeptical that it was going to work, as was he. At first try it didn't turn on and Blaine was like, oh well it was worth a shot. He then realized he hadn't flipped the power strip button to on. LOL!! When the TV screen turned on I was amazed and a huge grin came across Blaine's face!! For around $50.00 Blaine fixed the TV and boosted his confidence 100%!!

FYI: the 2 parts that blew on the TV cost $5.00 each at Radio Shack. The tools to fix it was what cost Blaine the other $40.00. So Samsung is making $1,000 TV's with faulty $5.00 parts and then charging customers a load of money to get it fixed by them. WHAT THE HECK!!!!

TV all taken apart.

Soldering it back together.

IT WORKS!!! Way to go Blaine!

Stomach virus with a side of Candy,please!!!!

So this year Halloween was not so enjoyable for me. I got a stomach virus the week before and was miserable. Since I was sick I didn't make the boys any Halloween shirts, we didn't do any Halloween crafts or desserts, and I caved in to the cheap Wal-Mart pre-made costume(I just didn't have any energy to sew anything). For the ward Trunk or Treat Blaine took the boys all by himself and got to see how it was trying to keep up with two excited, candy loaded little boys!:) I managed to get off the couch to take a few pictures and then went back to bed. Carter screamed for half an hour before the activity, hating his cowboy outfit, and ended up just wearing part of his costume. We joked we might have to make him a naked cowboy, since he kept stripping down to his underwear and riding around on his play horse. :) Then on Halloween night I was feeling better,but really weak, so we went to my sister in-law's and let her chase everyone around from door to door! Blaine stayed home to hand out candy and enjoyed a night to himself. (He needed it since he had been waiting on me and the kids all week,while I was sick) Carter again hated his costume, so Autumn dug around and found him an Lowe's handy man outfit he seemed to like. The boys got tons of candy and I managed to get their bags away once they had eaten their fair share of candy. Now I hand it out daily for treats or rewards! And as for me I still haven't had the stomach to enjoy the candy very much (usually I raid all of the good candy and leave the boys with the stuff I don't like)! Well there is always next year!
Rough and tough cowboy. He is eating a sucker,which looks like a cigarette. I guess we have the Marlboro man look going on! LOL! He HATED this costume and stripped it off 2 seconds after this picture.

Transformer-Bumble Bee. Don't mess with this tough guy! (yes, we caved to the cheap Wal-Mart costume. But Cooper was so excited to be a Transformer!)

My brother's 4 kids, 2 cousins, and Cooper. I was just getting over a very bad stomach bug,so my sister in-law graciously agreed to take the kids trick or treating and chase after everybody while I just watched and took it easy.

Much happier with this costume than the cowboy one. (thanks to my sister in-law who dug this out of her kids dress up clothes at the last minute) Surprisingly every man in the neighborhood, LOVED his costume and couln't stop talking about the Lowe's handy man.

Adam and Carter gettting a ride in the stroller to the next door.

Candy Loot,YES!!!

I love candy!!!