Louisiana Trip

Our trip down to Louisiana started off pretty awesome with an early morning shopping at Target with Scottie Pippen!  Yes, I was the crazy lady taking  pictures of him while in my van before the doors opened to go shopping.  I watched as Scottie sort of laughed at the guy who tried to open the doors to let himself in when it was so obvious by the people standing around, Pipen included, that the store was not open yet.  It was a funny feeling seeing a celebrity type of person in a regular setting.  I have been around many different stars while at concerts, baseball, basketball, football games, etc., but never at a random meeting like a Target store!!  Did I get my boys an autograph? No.  Did I go and talk to him? No.  I wanted to, but just didn't quite know how to go about it.  I was going to the store to buy snack and drinks for our long drive and he obviously went out early to not be bugged by random people. Right?  Me, a regular lady with three kids in tow just didn't seem like it would be interesting.  So I was torn by wanting to be around a star, and not pestering the guy.  Oh well, it was still super cool shopping along side him walking the aisles of the "bulls eye" store and seeing him being really nice to everyone and going about his day.
The boys and I were at Target so early because we went with Nate to his work.  He had to work a half of day and would be off at 11:30 so Target and breakfast is what we occupied ourselves with.  After Nate got off we had lunch and then headed out on our drive.  Because we were starting midday we stopped for the night and continued the next day.  We were a bit worried about the weather for the week since Louisiana was being visited by Tropical Storm Irene and a possible hurricane!  The whole weekend we arrived it rained over 20 inches!!  Some parts were having bad flooding issues, but Steve/Diana's house was just fine.  By Tuesday of the following week it had cleared up and the sun was shining.  We arrived safe and sound at Gr and Gr Cottrell's house around 4 or so just the perfect time to jump in the warm pool!  It was raining off and on and as long as there is no lighting it's a GO to swim!! 

 An hour into the fun and games this, no way in heck could your repeat, accident happened!
Clay was having a great time on the diving board and playing fighting games with Nate.  And if anyone knows Clay he is relentless at trying to win at something.  Some how he was a bit too crazy and didn't get far enough away from the diving board and hit one of his baby teeth on the side of the board as he was jumping into the pool.  The tooth made a huge gash up his gums.  It not only pushed upward but in as well making the bottom of his tooth the only visible part of it left. 
We left the other two boys with Steve and Diana while Nate and I took Clay to the Emergency room.  Like all emergency rooms we did our fair share of waiting.  Unfortunately, this hospital didn't want to mess with Clay's tooth problem and thought it would be best for us to go the the Children's Hospital Emergency Room and see and pediatric orthodontist there.  Since we were in Louisiana and not home we didn't even know there was an Children's Hospital around.  The doctor asked if we had a GPS, we replied yes, which he was really relieved about. He said "Getting to this hospital is a bit of a crazy route and we wouldn't want you ending up somewhere like the projects or something"  How reassuring Doc, thanks.  Getting to the next hospital was crazy and the roads it was taking us on didn't even seem like a road at all, more like back alley ways!! All the while it was pouring rain buckets outside.   Clay was handling things great with his bag of ice and some Tylenol we gave him.  We prepped him for what might happen like a shot to make his mouth numb and he seemed a bit worried about it.  After the dentist came from being on call we made our way through the winding hospital to a dentist wing on the fourth floor.  She was really nice to Clay and couldn't believe how his tooth looked that she ended up taking before and after pictures of it to show her colleagues.  After Clay was given a numbing shot in his mouth I asked him, "True or not true?  You just got a shot in your mouth?"  He hesitated and said "Not, true"  "Then you have a good dentist huh because you just were given a shot in the mouth!"  I replied.  He was shocked.  She extracted the tooth in a couple of different pieces all which were too small for Clay to keep for the Tooth Fairy so she gave him a little treasure chest instead to put under his pillow.
Here is Clay after the tooth was taken out and I asked him to tried to rub his lips together.  It was hilarious the faces he was pulling because he had no control of his right side!!  It was late and all of us were hungry since that last time we ate was at lunch time before we arrived at Steve/Diana's house.  It was past 11 when we got back, and we retold the events of the past six hours and two separate emergency rooms.  Clay was exhausted had a quick bite to eat then crashed in his bed.

So glad it all went OK and it is something to look back on and shake your head on how crazy it all was.  All in all I think Clay ended up being happy to get some Tooth Fairy money a bit early.  Although, the process of doing so was a bit extreme!!

10 Years!! Sept 7th

Nate and I celebrated our 10 YEAR Aniversary on September 7th!!  We were able to leave our boys with Nate's parents (many many thanks to them) and drive to Mississippi to check into the Beau Rivage resort on the Gulf of Mexico!  We checked in on Tuesday and left that Friday afternoon.  It felt like the perfect amount of time!
The Hotel was beautiful and the buffet was super yummy!  We had a ocean view room from which we saw gorgeous sunsets on the Gulf.  The hotel was a casino as well which we basically walked around once and thought how crazy people can get sitting in there all day long and losing track of time (casinos don't have clock up anywhere just so people will lose track of time) and money, but we didn't come for any casino gaming anyway.  We spent over 5 hours or so shopping one day at an amazing outdoor shopping outlets called
The Gulfport Premium Outlets http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/outlet.asp?id=83
Shopping with Nate can be enjoyable with no time limit and no kids, who knew,  he he j/k :)

I made the best decision marring Nathaniel Stephen Cottrell!  He is the rock that hold us together. We have three healthy, happy, enegetic boys that are our life and we love deeply.  Nate and I work so well as a team at our families goals and just living life.  He is my best friend.  Life will always be busy and crazy with kids, stress, duties, and obligations, but Nate has always taught me to give it all that you have, care for the people around you, and be strong in what you believe.  And I know for I fact that I believe in US!!


Super bright ehh Nate!!

Our whole time there was sunny and beautiful.  We shopped well, relaxed well, and ate very well!!


The beach next to our hotel didn't have tons of people, probably because anyone wanting to swim would just go use the pools, hot tub, and lounge chairs at the hotel, but it was nice walking in the water and getting my feet all sandy.  There was a long pier that we walked down that made us feel like we were surrounding by water on all sides.  I stopped and laughed and said to Nate "I think it is so funny the things we don't have to be saying right now because our kids are not with us.  Things like, 'don't climb that, you'll fall in, don't lean over so far, stop, that wood will give you splinters if you drag your hands along it'."  I didn't have to worry one bit about Nate not being able to take care of himself or not be aware of dangers, he has that handled all by himself!  A whole line of instructions, worry, and alertness was unnecessary right then and it was good to just enjoy us. 
10 years has been wonderful and I look forward to so many more.  As they say life has many twist and turns, bumps and bruises, but I have NATE with me and he has ME! 

Louisiana Swimming fun!

Visiting Louisana is always a treat for everyone in our family!  We really enjoy spending time with Nate's parents Steve and Diana and the boys are in heaven with being spoiled by grandparents, hours of swimming fun, creating new lego structures, and playing card games with Grandma.  I always know my kids are in good hands with Steve and Diana!
 Clayton has mastered his diving!  Head down and tucked in, feet sometimes together, and jump straight into the blue aqua below.  He has always loved diving for gold coins (dollar coins) in Grandpa and Grandma Cottrell's pool.  This time he seemed to be super fast so Grandpa threw ten or more coins in a time and everyone would see how fast he could find them all on his own and he often came up with two or three at a time!!  He loves this so much that we have to tell him to take a break just to catch his breath!
 Hayden is a water bug!!  He loves diving just as much as Clay, but he would stand ontop of the hot tub and find his coin at the bottom of the pool and then jump off to dive for it!
Justin was just pure crazy when it came to swimming!!  He would do so many crazy jumps yelling "Superman" as he went.  He wore floaties that held his little body above water great.  Justin is fully aware that he is funny.  He gets humor and wants to make everyone laugh.  When he figures out he was the one everyone is laughing at he often will repeat and repeat his funny thing he did.  We all get a kick out of it that he KNOWS he is funny and uses it!!

I loved hearing all what the boys did while we were gone for our anniversary.  Steve said they had a morning routine of swimsuits on, breakfast, working out, maybe a bit of yard work and finish off with a dive in the pool for hours of pool time.!!  I thought is was so funny Clay and Hayden were trying to get more muscles to wrestle Nate when we got back, love it!  Again, it always is a huge treat to go to Louisiana and see Steve/Diana and it is hard to leave but we are so thankful to be a part of the family and spend time together. 
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First Day of School!!

I have two kids in school this year!!! Both were really excited to meet their teachers and make new friends.
Clayton-2nd Grader
Clay is such a smart kid. He is thoughtful of others, is concerned if someone else isn't happy, goofy, thinks he knows more than his mom at times, wants to get tough to beat his dad in wrestling, a really good big brother, and is tender hearted. He needs no help with his homework and is good at getting it done first thing so he doesn't have to worry about it. The teacher has told me that Clay easily gets along with everyone in the class and she can sit him by anyone which is helpful to her. Clay has his own locker at school. It is by a wall right next to his classroom which he thinks is cool.

Hayden - Kindergartener
Hayden has the same teacher that Clay did in Kiindergarten. Mrs. Morrison. Hayden thinks that is cool and wants to show her he is smart like Clay too. Only I know he will be a bit more energetic and class clownish than Clay was. :) He loves going to school, but feels that it is boring sometimes. When I asked why, he said that the work is super easy and he gets it done fast. He didn't need any reasurring to get on the bus, even though he was the only one getting on at his stop and didn't know anyone else on the bus. He tends to give me a hug and say bye before the bus gets there so maybe he can do it without anyone looking which is fine with me, I still get my hug. Hayden has tons of confidence and doesn't worry much except when it comes to him having to try hard to beat a level of Super Mario, then he does it till he has it mastered. He is good to Justin before he leaves and likes riding the bus home with Clay.

Brookfield Zoo

Before Sophie left us in Chicago we had to take her to the famous Brookfield Zoo!! A huge zoo with amazing animals pretty much sums it up. The day was beautiful, the dolphin show awesome and all of us in heaven. I just love zoos!!
Bears Wilderness, huge vulture, macaws, and fluorescent frogs.
Anyone else want to visit for a zoo trip? Super fun all day long!!

Summer RoAd TrIp- Nauvoo

To continue on posting about our summer RoAd TrIp, I need to mention all the things we did in Nauvoo, Illinois! Driving back towards home was so much fun this time around because we had more to our group. The Abercrombie Clan was taking on the road with us. Oh, the games that we played on the walkie talkies together. The laughing so hard that you cry and need to use the bathroom scenario, the hilarious knock, knock jokes from all the kids even when the punch line was missed, comments on the scenery like, "Holy windmills Batman", or the try to guess the movie line trivia. It got really good when we tried to sing the theme songs to the movies as well.
The Abercrombies were traveling to Nauvoo because Joe's (Br-in-law) Mom owns a house there on Palmyra street and her and her husband Wilson were so nice to let us all stay and visit.
Joe had the days mapped out for us and a perfect plan. Visiting different stops all through out the day. We just wished the weather would have been on board for it as well. Not a cloud in sight for rain, or any bad winds, just lots and lots of heat!! HOT, HOT, HOT. It made us have a new appreciation for the pioneers who houses were not air conditioned like some of the renovated ones are now that we visited. Not only was it hot but very humid. So much so in fact that our oxen and horse carriage rides were cancelled due to the heat index. The kids, my 3 and the Abercrombie 5, only had a little time at the Pioneer Pastimes before they closed up shop. Which was for the best though because this is where the kids could dress up in pioneer clothes and play old time pioneer games, but with the heat the supervisors didn't want and kids getting heat stroke while playing in lots of clothes and running after big wagon rings.
Some of the great places we were able to go and enjoy were:
Brickyard * Brigham Young Home * Joseph and Hyrum Smith Memorial * Webb Brother's Blacksmith Shop * Lucy Mack Smith home * Joseph Smith home * Red Brick Store * Visitor's Center and of course the beautiful Nauvoo Temple
My boys loved seeing all the details of the Nauvoo Temple up close. Justin kept repeating, "Moon, stars, sun". It was great just being on the temple grounds and discussing with my children the importance of such buildings and what they mean to me personally. The hardship and trials that the early pioneers went through to make such magnificent temples is truly amazing to me. There is so much history in Nauvoo. It makes you want to research everything and get to know the stories and background of each building, landmark, and people who lived there. My beliefs are confirmed and my testimony stronger that there is purpose in all things and everything has its time and place here and under heaven. I am so glad I have the gospel and am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. It keeps me grounded, it keeps me strong.
Nauvoo Temple
Here is our clan enjoying the Frontier County Fair that they put on every night before the Nauvoo Pageant begins. Cast members from the pageant that are dress in full pioneer attire, which made me even hotter just by looking at them, helped visitors: play 1840's games, dance, sack race, rag braiding, hand cart pull, log sawing and much more. So fun to watch the kids giggle and play.
The Nauvoo Pageant was amazing! They have over 150 volunteer cast members who tell the story of Nauvoo, how it came to be, and what it meant to those who lived there in the 1840's. The pageant also pays tribute to the Prophet Joseph Smith, commemorates the building of the original Nauvoo Temple, and celebrates universal themes of faith, family, and community. As the pageant's temple was being built, piece by piece, I loved the feeling that I had after it was completed and how the saints felt at that time. I was completely moved when towards the end of the pageant when the cast reenacted the time when the saints were driven out of the Nauvoo area and the temple prop was removed and the actual Nauvoo Temple was lite up on the hill for everyone, cast and audience, to gaze at. It was as if we were all saying goodbye to it as well in that moment in time.
Carthage Jail
Carthage Jail was the site of the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum on June 27, 1844. Joseph and Hyrum, with two companions, were imprisoned here. A mob broke into the jail, shooting through the door, charging in and killed Hyrum and Joseph who was shot while falling out of the two story window. There is still a bullet lodged in the door today. Visiting the jail cell and the quarters in which the Prophet spent his lasts days is a very humbling experience. John Taylor, who was one of the two companions with the Prophet in jail said these words:
D&C 135:3
"Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents: has sent the fullness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained to the four quarters of the earth, has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men: gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord's anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum. In life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated!
There was so many activities and stops made that my camera did not capture. My boys absolutely love their cousins and have non stop fun with them. We walked creeks looking for arrowheads and treasures. Visited the Dickson Mounds Museum. Talked, laughed, and cried when we had to part. Can't wait for another adventure like this one!!