We are the proud new owners of our very own condo!

Yippee! We closed on our condo!

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As soon as we finished closing, we had the carpets cleaned. WOW - what a transformation. I didn't even think the carpets were dirty, but now they're a completely different color.

These guys did a fabulous job. We got such a steal on the cleaning that we're going to have to have them cleaned every year.

Afterwards, Dad and Seth drove up with the Uhaul and we unloaded everything. I had NO idea we had so much stuff...

Everywhere you look, there's stuff - lots and lots of stuff.

And we haven't even moved our stuff from Omaha yet.
Sigh.

I see lots of unpacking in my future.

What to do on a Wednesday night

I know, let's go to Bass Pro Shop! We can put on coon hats.

And find animals that make funny noises.

Then we can play peekaboo in the tents.

And pretend to grill some fish we pretended to catch in the fishing department.

Next, we can play with the wildlife.

Those bears are so cuddly and cute.

Then we can explore some really cool caverns.

And finally we can say goodnight to those fish that got away.

Aaaah. All in a day's fun.

Gran had open heart surgery

Gran went in to the hospital to have a stint put in but it weakened the artery so they had to do a 4-way bypass.  He had quite a few visitors on surgery day, even though he doesn't remember them being there.

There's Tracy (Nanna and Gran's baby daughter) and Todd (Tracy's husband) and Nanna.

Randy (Nanna & Gran's 2nd son) and Sheila (Randy's wife)

Donna (my mom & Nanna & Gran's oldest daughter) and Terry (Nanna and Gran's oldest son)

Seth (my not-so-little brother) and Terry again with Dan (Gran's nephew) and Daniel (Dan's son)

Freddie (my dad)

Seth, again.

David and Grace (my darling husband and daughter) - and me, of course. I'm the one taking all the photos.

While waiting in the lobby, Grace kept us entertained.

She conned some of the adults to play in the phone booth with her.

There's Grandaddy Freddie

And Uncle Terry

And Aunt Tracy

and then she convinced Uncle Todd to play airplane


And finally she snuggled up with Nanna.

Thankfully, Gran came out of surgery just fine and will be able to go home in a few days. Please keep him in your prayers and continue to pray for a speedy recovery. We all love him dearly and can't wait for him to be able to come home.

UPDATE: July 4 is now posted

I finally got the July 4 photos uploaded. Just scroll down until you get to the date July 4 to see them.

We drove to Charlotte

We drove to Charlotte.
It was a very impromptu trip. David came home from work Friday and asked, "What do you think about driving up to Charlotte for the weekend." And that was that. 20 minutes later, we were in the car on our way.

The drive wasn't too terrible. David drove most of the way and then we stopped ata Hamilton Inn outside of Atlanta for the night. We got up first thing Saturday morning and started driving again. The only person we told was David's brother, Stephen. And he did a great job keeping the secret.

Mom and Dad were at Lenscrafters in the mall when we finally arrived. They were completely shocked when they saw us. Dad saw us first and we sat with him and chatted for almost 20 minutes before Mom looked over and saw us. It was a very sweet reunion.

Then we all headed to Bethany's house to surprise her. We put Grace at the front door and rang the doorbell and waited for Bethany to open the door. Needless to say, she was pretty surprised to see Grace knocking on her front door. In fact, she thought she was dreaming (she and baby Stephen had just laid down for an afternoon nap). Then Jennifer came over and finally we saw Ed afterhe got home from the movies.

We had a lot of wonderful family time together. Stephen and Grace especially had a great time.
Monday came too quickly and we had to get back on the road to head home. There was a lot we had to plan for - like closing on our new home! Plus Gran was going in for his balloon on Tuesday. So home we went.

Fortunately, we were able to drive straight through going back. It helped that we bought a dvd set that hooks to the back of the headrests for Grace. Of course, after 429 minutes of SpongeBobSquarepants, I was really ready to be home. Just for those of you who don't know, 429 minutes translates into over 7 HOURS - SEVEN HOURS of nothing but Spongebob over and over and over again. I dreamed about Spongebob and it took three days before I finally got that song out of my head. You know the one:

Are you ready kids! Aye-aye captain!
I can't hear you! Aye-aye captain!
Who lives in a Pineapple under the sea.
Spongebob Squarepants!
Who is yellow and coarse is he
Spongebob Squarepants...

Oh no! It's back! That song is back in my head again! Sigh. Oh well. For the next trip we're definitely taking some other dvds...

Pictures to be uploaded soon...

Bear comes home

Gran went in for his stress test today so Grace and I went to the dr's office to wait for them.While we were waiting in the lobby Grace crawled under the chair and took a nap.

After Gran's test and Grace's nap, we all went to dinner in Daphne. Afterwards, Queenie got Bear out of the car and gave him to Grace.

As soon as Grace saw him she grabbed him and hugged him so tight

and said "Bee-air, Bee-air!" "I mish sue!" "I mish sue!"

and hugged him some more

And gave him kisses.

He hasn't left her side since.

Randy's Red Face

Upside down he goes.The blood rushes to his head.
He sits back up so he can breathe.

Then tries it again, this time with arms crossed. Looks like he's dead, but he's not.

Then only half-way down.

Finally, he struggles to get back up. Brain freeze from all the blood running to his head.

Seth lost a few pounds....of hair

Seth needed a haircut so David volunteered.

Seth has the thickest, curliest hair I've ever seen.

Just under half way done, and all this hair has already fallen.

Getting much closer now...

End result...he's lost a few pounds, but he's still as cute as can be.

Oh how I'm going to miss Omaha...

There are so many things in Omaha I'm going to miss.

Like Wheatfields - it's a great restaurant with all kinds of sugary goodnessAnd Nebraska Furniture Mart - my what wonderful deals they have on all kinds of homey things
And Methodist Hospital where Grace was bornAnd our old apartment - our first home together
And Big Papio Trail - we used to ride our bikes along this trail for miles and miles and other days we'd walk along the trail to this park
And the wonderful road systems that prevent traffic jams and make it so easy to find your way around townAnd, of course, the neighborhood where we bought our first house and made friends with incredibly loving people
Omaha, you've given us memories that we will forever cherish and we are really going to miss you. Mobile, we are really looking forward to meeting you and calling you "Home."

Our new Home Sweet Home to be

We put in an offer yesterday for a lovely 3 bedroom 2.5 bath condo in Daphne.It's a gated community with attached garagesA nice community pool and hot tub Huge master suite with an incredible view of Mobile Bay
A lovely kitchen with Corian countertops

And a great family room with a balcony looking over the bay, as well. It's soon to be our new Home Sweet Home (as soon as our offer is accepted, of course.)