Oh, TOOTHFAIRY..........

Yes, we are expecting another visit from the Toothfairy! Many of you remember that Payton was born with a tooth. We had her examined by an oral surgeon when she was just a wee little girl and he said that it was her true baby tooth and it would fall out when she started losing teeth. Well, it came out this morning! She actually has a very loose tooth on the top that I figured would come out first, but what do I know????

So, once again, they are growing up so fast! I am sad and excited all at the same time!

Until next time......

WE LOST A TOOTH!!!

Well, it happened! We have been having a wiggling contest - and Paxton finally won! We could already see his permanent tooth coming in and he asked me to look at it again tonight. So, I suggested we try to pull it. He didn't cry or whince or anything. I got it out on the second pull. So, we are expecting a visit from the Tooth Fairy tonight. Paxton told me that he would get a Silver Dollar. Wish someone would have told me before 7:30 pm! So, I guess this is the beginning of our toothless days! They are growing up fast!!! Until next time......

ALOHA!

Well, we made it to Hawaii! We arrived yesterday after 13 hours of travel. I never realized how small plane seats were until now. Anyway, by the time we ate dinner and got to bed, we had been up for 24 hours! Let me tell you, I ain't no spring chicken! I need my sleep. So, I slept for almost 10 hours and still got up before 7 AM. Pretty impressive for this old gal!

We haven't seen much at all, but it sure is beautiful here. Everyone is very friendly. Our hotel is located across the street from one of the world's largest shopping malls! THANK YOU, GOD!!!

Of course, we were greeted at our hotel with the Hawaiian tradition of receiving these beautiful leis. I somehow doubt that mine will survive until I get home, but I hope it does!

We ate dinner at the recommended Hula Grill. We got to sit on the veranda overlooking the beautiful waters. We watched sail boats and surfers while we ate. Scot's dinner was assorted fish over vegetables. One of the vegetables was Japanese Okinawa Sweet Potatoes! They were purple! I don't know if they were good, but they sure were pretty to look at!

My dinner was Shrimp Kung Pao! It came with vegetables and rice. The waiter told me that it came in mild, medium and hot. He said the hot was H - O - T! So, I ordered it medium. Well, it was KUNG POW! POW! It was very good and I enjoyed it!

We have an obligtory meeting to attend tonight, but I hope that we get to do something fun before we have to go!

Until next time.....

GO HUSKIES!!!

Well, it doesn't feel a bit like fall, but football season is here!

Our Trussville teams had scrimmages against Gardendale today. Our game was at 1:00 PM and we were the first game! It was HOT!!

It was a 30 minute game that ended in a tie. Payton loves being a cheerleader so much that she never once complained about the heat!

She just BEAMS when she is cheering. Her coaches have told her that she has the most spirit of anyone in her squad. She really does, too!

She has spent many hours at the baseball field while Paxton has practice or games. Now, it is his turn to sit in the stands and support her!

Payton will be starting art lessons in a couple of weeks. She is very excited about that. She is a very good drawer. So, these are her two activites that keep her busy. Pretty soon, we will add Paxton to the mix with Fall Baseball!

I wonder who ever coined the phrase - "stay at home Mom"? Yeah, right!!!

Pray for the heat wave to end! Everybody stay cool!

Until next time......

Welcome to 1st Grade!!!!

Our first day back to school was actually last Thursday, August 9th. It is so hot here - actual temps reaching over 100 with heat indexes into the 110s and higher - that it seems cruel to send the kids to school! Of course, they have PE in a nice air-conditioned gym and are only allowed to be on the playground for 15 minutes, so most of the day is spent inside where it is cool.

Here we are - ready to go!

As they got out of the car, I realized how big they were getting! They don't need me to walk them in. They are pros at this!

Along with the start of school comes all of those extracurricular activities that we LOVE so much! Payton is a cheerleader and the games are on Saturday mornings at 9:00! So much for sleeping late! And Paxton is gearing up for Fall Baseball! So, for us, summer is OVER!!!! Wish someone would tell the weather man!!!

Thanks for stopping by to check in with us! Hope you all are well and happy!!!

Until next time......

The rest of the story.....

Well, if you have been keeping up with mine and Joyce's tour of the mid-west, then you know that I did not have internet access for the remainder of our trip. I have been home now for 2 days, but simply haven't had the time to finish my update. I will try to touch on most of the trip today.

All I can say is that we saw some of the most beautiful landscapes, waterfalls and bodies of water! We saw a black bear, two moose, a baby eagle, pronghorn deer, and lots of bison and elk.

On Sunday, we went to Buffalo Bill Cody's in Cody, Wyoming. The wildest LIVE animal I saw there was this sweet rabbit who was grazing on the lawn during lunch. I did see lots of stuffed animals and even saw one of Uncle Steve's distant relatives:

I know it is Steve's relative due to the striking resemblance! All kidding aside, we could have spent a lot more time in this exhibit. We saw some very interesting art, a HUGE gun collection, real stage coaches and clothing and personal items once belonging to Buffalo Bill and/or his friends.

That night, we continued our drive to Yellowstone National Park. On the way, we stopped at some beautiful waterfalls and saw some beautiful landscape. Once inside Yellowstone, the evidence of the devastating fires in 1988 are still prominent. It seemed that we almost saw more burnt trees than live ones.

Once we arrived at our hotel, Old Faithful Inn, the Old Faithful Geyser was minutes away from errupting. What a greeting!

This geyser errupts about every hour and a half. People would sit for an hour just to wait for it to errupt. I was lucky enough to see it three times while I was there and never once did I have to wait more than 5 minutes!

The night we arrived, we were on our own. So, besides for dinner, we just walked around and took in the scenery.

On Monday, we had a guided tour through Yellowstone. We learned about things such as Fountain Paint Pots, Thermal Hot Spots and Lodge Pole Pine Trees. Sounds fun, eh? Well, it was interesting enough, but that was it. Paint Pots are simply bubbling holes of white-ish mud, like this one:

That is actually steam coming off the mud. It is thick like paint, but I don't remember why they call them paint pots. You see, my ears were clogged from the high altitude, the steam stinks, and the tour guide was old as dirt and I couldn't hear him. Plus he told corny jokes. All I wanted to do was take my pictures and move on. And, I did! This is a Thermal Hot Spot. It is actually BOILING water. Now, this I found neat! And the water is a beautiful blue-green color. Our guide told a story of a dog once running into a hot spot, a man tried to rescue him, and they both died. Dogs are no longer allowed in the park areas that have these hot spots. This is what they look like:

If you look closely, under the steam you can see the spots of boiling water. This picture doesn't do the color justice, though. We stopped at a couple of waterfalls. I discovered that I am just not fond of heights. My legs were like jelly looking over the edges of these mountains! But what beauty!

Isn't that beautiful? A long way down, too!

We stopped for lunch at a spot called Mammoth Hot Springs. Our bus was too big to actually get to see the spring, however, we did get to walk down a neighborhood street. Apparently, some park employees get to rent housing inside the park during the summer months while they work. This is what we saw in the front yard of one worker:

This herd of mother Elks with their calves were just minding their own business. I came within 10 or so feet of the one that is alone and she never minded me. I am not sure what the ones on the front porch are doing, except for sitting in the shade. I thought it was funny. There must have been about 30 or more all together!

Along the merry way, we passed this herd of Bison (we call them Buffalo, but we were educated that there are no real buffalo in the US). Our bus had to stop for one who decided the grass was greener on the other side of the road!

We stopped at Lake Yellowstone Hotel and what a view! Joyce wanted her picture made here,

so I took it. In turn, she cut my head off!

If you are in Yellowstone as a family, and you book a tour with one of the hotels, you get to ride

in this:

Years ago, it looked like this:

So, on the road again.......

We stopped at the Continental Divide. There was this beautiful pond of lily pads, but not a frog in sight!

Eventually, we ended up back at the Old Faithful Inn where we ate a very casual supper, did some shopping and then went to bed. We got up Tuesday morning and headed to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. But not before stopping to take a 2 hour float down snake river!!!

While floating, we saw several moutain tops that still had snow on them! I can tell you, it was NOT cold! It was a nice balmy 97 degrees! We saw the baby eagle and two moose on this part of our trip. I got a picture of the eagle, but not the moose.

Late that afternoon, while in the town of Jackson Hole, we shopped briefly and went tothe Million Dollar Cowboy Bar. All of their bar stools are made of real horse saddles. We went in and took our picture because that is what the tour guide said we should do. He made a real deal out of it! Then for dinner, we went to Bar J Chuckwagon for "supper and a show". The food was mediocre at best and the show was outstanding! Worth every mile I spent on that bus!!!! We spent the night at the Virginian Lodge. The only place that could be worse is prison! Seriously!

Wednesday morning we were off again for another long bus ride to Salt Lake City, Utah. We spent ONE hour touring Temple Square. Most of that time was spent trying to convert us all to LDS (Mormon). The Tabernacle is beautiful. And we saw where the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sings. Their grounds are beautiful, too. However, I left without converting. As did the rest of our

group.

On Wednesday evening, we had our farewell dinner at The Hilton, where we were staying. The food was outstanding! We spent the evening talking with the new friends that we made. Some who we will never see again. I won't miss Bob. If you ever get the chance to ask me about him, please do!

The worst meal I had was at Yellowstone's Old Faithful Inn and the worst hotel room was in Jackson Hole at the Virginian Lodge. Trust me on those things! However, I had an AWESOME time! I would like for Scot and I to take the kids up there one day. Scot would live there if I would! Unless I suffer from Alzheimer's, this is one trip I will never forget!

Until next time.......

Little Bighorn...

Today was mostly a travel day. We spent a lot of time on the bus. We made one stop in Montana at the Little Bighorn National Monument in the Crow Nation. In 1876, General Custer and his calvary met their demise against Sioux and Northern Cheyenne forces led by Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse (see yesterday's pictures). It was truly amazing to see the area where this battle took place and see the monument that was dedicated to all that lost their lives. There was also a "mass grave" for both the fallen soldiers and the fallen horses as well. Here are some pictures I took today.

General Custer is no longer buried here but a marker remains here to memoralize his death.

Well, I hope that you all are enjoying the updates. It is truly amazing sites to see!

Updates tomorrow! Until then......

Let the vacation begin....

Well, Joyce and I made it to our first destination of Rapid City, SD. Not without incident, of course. We experienced plane delays in Minneapolis, but we are here!

This morning after breakfast, we loaded the bus and headed out to Crazy Horse Memorial. It is a huge work in progress carving of Chief Crazy Horse to honor all Native Americans and what they stand for. It is an awesome piece of art that will probably not be completed in my lifetime.

The first picture is of course the head. So, far it is the only visible progress of the monument. The second picture is a large scale of what the mountain should look like when completed. Work begain in 1948. The original sculptor, Korczak Ziolkowski died in in 1982 but his wife, Ruth and 7 of their 10 children continue the work. The work is totally funded by private contributions. No federal aide or money is used.

After Crazy Horse, we went to see Mt. Rushmore. Another AMAZING piece of art sculpted by Gutzon Borglum. He began sculpting in 1927. It took 14 years to complete - only 6 1/2 of that was spent actually sculpting. The remaining time was spent tied up in political and funding wars. Mr. Borglum died in March of 1941 and work on the monument stopped in October of the same

year. It is truly a beautiful place to see!

Well, if the internet is available at our hotel tomorrow night, I will update you again with pictures from tomorrow's adventures! We will be headed to Billings, Montanta with stops in Sheridan, Wyoming. We will see an old western cowboy town and Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.

Hope you will be back to read more! Until next time......

New Family Addition!

Yes, it has happened! We have new additions to our family! They don't live with us, but if their parents ever mis-treat them or won't give them what they want - they can come stay with us! Okay, here is the story. Back before Christmas, Uncle Steve and Aunt Beverly got a new dog. Her name is Gracie and she is a Corgi. Well, Gracie needs company, so 2 weeks ago, Harri, also a Corgi, moved in. So far, as the story is told, it is not all lovey dovey in the Gaddy household - and NO, I am not referring to Beverly & Steve's relationship! Seems that Gracie is a little put out that she has to share her space with another dog - A BOY DOG at that! Well, Gracie. Get over it! I think Harri is there for keeps. He sure is a looker, but a boy nontheless.

C'mon Gracie! Cut the kid some slack! You don't have to guard him every minute! But you know how the saying goes - Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer! I will try to keep everyone posted on this HOT OFF THE PRESS topic!

Have a great day!

4th of July Fun!

I hope that everyone had a Happy & Safe 4th of July! We decided to take in a Baron's baseball game. They had fireworks afterwards. It was a sold out crowd. It was a good game - the Barons won! All around we had a good time. Nana, Aunt Beverly and Uncle Steve all came to the game, too! Enjoy these pictures!

We would love to hear from you all! You can leave us a comment by using the link at the bottom of this post, or as always, you can drop us an email!

Check back for more updates throughout the summer!

FORE!!!

Well, I don't know about where you are, but here in Birmingham, we are under drought restrictions. We need rain so terribly that Gov. Bob Riley has declared June 30 - July 7 as Statewide Pray For Rain Week! We got our notice in today's mail that we will be fined if we use over 15,000 gallons of water a month! I asked Scot how many gallons we normally use and he said that we could have a 100 gallon a day leak and never use that much! I feel pretty safe that we won't pay any fines now. So, today Scot and Payton and Paxton met Joyce at the golf club and hit some practice balls. Payton is like me - all girl. I don't see her being the next Tiger Woods, but Paxton, now that's another story! If you look closely, you can see Paxton's ball and Scot's ball in the air!

We had expected Scot to be gone by now, but he is still at home. That is unusual and we are glad to be able to spend so much time with him. It seems harder on the kids when he is not here during the school year though. Scot passed his final CPCU exam - which is some fancy schmancy insurance thingy. BUT since he passed, we get to go to Hawaii in September! Isn't that nice??? We have never been and we have heard that it "ain't all that", but we would regret it if we didn't take this opportunity - so we are going! Children don't go, so Granny is going to come up and keep Payton and Paxton for a week while we are gone. Nana should free up her calendar - I bet Granny will need some help! Well, we hope you all are having a wet summer! Drop us a note!!!!