How many Haynes does it take to put together a trampoline?

Just about all of them! For Christmas the girls got a big trampoline from Aunt Katie, Aunt Jenna and Uncle Prem. A few weekends ago they all came over to our house along with Gran and Papa to put it together. The ice and snow was almost completely melted and it was a beautiful weekend to be outside and enjoy the backyard. The trampoline is the perfect size for the girls. It can hold up to 100 lbs, it only about a foot or two off the ground, and has a net that goes around the whole thing. They decided to put it together in our driveway and then move it already assembled into the backyard. The deal was since they gave it to the girls as a gift, they wanted to put it together. We were just suppose to sit back and watch all the hard work. I of course took pictures because that is what I do =0)

Reading the instructions

The bottom

The middle

Waiting eagerly

Uncle Prem pretending to throw The Bear

The Net

Moving it to the backyard

Jump around! Jump around!

High five for Aunt Jenna

Auburn Love

For those that don't know, my husband had no intention of going to Auburn. It wasn't on his radar. He grew up in Augusta, Georgia where the majority of his friends planned to go to UGA from birth. He intended to follow. His parents, not being from Georgia, encouraged him to look at other schools and not just to follow his high school friends to UGA. When he visited Auburn, he instantly fell in love. He loved everything about Auburn, the people, the campus, the entire atmosphere. He was completely sold. He knows it was totally a God thing that he was forced to explore other options. I on the other hand, had known for years that Auburn was where I would go. We both became part of the Auburn family in the fall of 1996 as incoming freshman. We met at the end of our junior year. Our first date was to an Auburn v Ole Miss game (which we lost). We got engaged in front of Samford Hall. We got married at Auburn United Methodist Church. We were season ticket holders for many years (budget cuts aka: kids). We still travel to games when we can. Auburn will always and forever be a very special place for both of us.

Needless to say nothing was going to stop us from going to Glendale to watch our beloved Auburn Tigers go on a Duck hunt. We flew out on Sunday morning. We are so thankful that we had a morning flight since Snowmageddon slammed Atlanta Sunday night. Our flight out was fantastic (well except for the fact that we were in the last row of the plane). It was completely full of Auburn fans. The crew even played band music over the speaker. It was a mini pep rally in the sky. When we landed Lauren and Luke picked us up from the airport. They live in New Mexico and were able to drive to Arizona. We headed straight to Scottsdale to try and catch the Auburn pep rally. We knew we were cutting it close and we did in fact miss it but we got to walk around Scottsdale, eat lunch and soak up the Auburn atmosphere. And it really was an Auburn atmosphere. The "Auburn Family is ALL IN" motto was taken extremely seriously. The Auburn fans outnumbered the Duck fans probably 5 to 1 maybe more. We enjoyed our afternoon in Scottsdale and then headed to our hotel and then an evening out at West Gate. This is an area around the stadium with lots of restaurants and shops. It was really nice. Auburn was sponsored by Under Armor. They went all out for us. Auburn had a huge billboards, commercials running, and a tent with Auburn Under Armor merchandise. Nike sponsored the Ducks. They had nothing around. Not one sign. I almost felt bad for them. Almost.

We just missed the pep rally. War Eagle anyway!

Lunch in Scottsdale

Don't worry Under Armor, we will Protect This House!

Free cotton candy

Ridin' LD Style (see my previous post if you missed it)

Tailgate time:

Lauren and Luke were in charge of the tailgate since they had their truck and were able to bring a bunch of stuff from New Mexico. Monday morning we drove around and picked up all the food and drinks for the tailgate. Apparently Arizona doesn't really care for tailgating, the rules stated that we could not park until 12:30. That's just absurd. People just drove around the stadium causing more traffic until they were allowed to park. It was dumb. Once we FINALLY were able to park we got all 4 or 5 of the cars in our group spots right together. Lauren and Luke did an awesome job setting up the tailgate. They thought of everything we needed. Thanks y'all!.

I got to touch the Heisman Trophy

Setting up the tailgate

I met up with two of the girls who lived in my freshman dorm, Marjorie and Heather.

The Stadium

Lauren drinking some Cammie Cam Juice

Lauren and Luke

Game Time:

Two hours before kick off we headed into the stadium. The security at this stadium was in one word AWFUL! It's like they had no plan for this many people. Yet they hosted the Fiesta Bowl just the week before. We didn't get it. It was slow, inefficient, and annoying but we finally got through and made our way to our seats. I was so excited. My heart was beating so fast. Tears were forming in my eyes. I thought I was going to pass out. Literally. Auburn fans dominated that stadium. I've watched the game on tv and the cameras did a good job of making the stadium look equally divided. However, I assure you Auburn owned 75% of that stadium. We had great seats except of one large, blaring, rude, annoying, mean Oregon man sitting unfortunately right next to me. We were in the corner of the Auburn endzone (the game winning end zone. Woo Hoo!). We had a great view of the field. The Game Day crew from ESPN sat right next to our section. We could have reached out and touched Chris Fowler, Lee Corso, Nick and Urban. Well maybe not literally but we were very close. The game was hard to watch for many reasons, but the main one being how slippery the field was. It was down right annoying and painful to watch players slipping everywhere. My favorite moments of the game were:

1 - The Kodi Burns touchdown. I absolutely love Kodi and was beyond happy that he got the first touchdown of the National Championship game.

2- Our goal line stands. Who leaves Nick Fairley unblocked? The Ducks deserve to lose just for that reason alone.

2 - Michael Dyer. Michael Dyer. Michael Dyer. He is freshman and he is awesome.

3- The game winning field goal (obviously).

I'm pretty sure I lost about 10 years off of my life during the game. When it was over, I cried out of pure joy and exhaustion. We stayed in the stadium for a long time celebrating with fans, the team, the coaches, and the band. I didn't want to leave. When it was finally starting to clear out I walked down to the first row and asked a very nice security woman if she would get some of the confetti from the field for me. She did. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with it, but I wanted it anyway.

Pregame

Our neighbors

It's Great to be an Auburn Tiger! Let the celebrating begin!

Auburn Love!

After game press conference

Waiting for my confetti

We got up bright and early Tuesday morning to catch our flight back to Atlanta. A lot of people we talked to had their flights delayed. They all had connecting flights through northern cities though. Ours was a direct flight to Atlanta and was on time. We enjoyed another Auburn filled airplane ride back. The airplane crew even sported Auburn hats for the ride. We landed in Atlanta early. We couldn't wait to get home and get some sleep. Wait what's that, no one can come get us? What do you mean our flight landed just fine? Really no one can come get us? That's right, no one can come because of Snowmageddon. We were finally able to get a friend to meet us at the Dunwoody Marta station and drive us home. The ice hung around for a few more days and then finally decided to melt. According to weather reports we may get more snow next week! Craziness!

Ridin' LD Style

I know I haven't done a post on our Glendale trip. I totally plan to. It will be a lengthly one and I've got to block off some time to do it. I just haven't yet. However I am going to share one part of our trip now. Our very own Lauren Dorman decided to try and win $500 in a bull riding contest. There were only about 15 or so others trying as well so her odds were pretty good. Each contestant got two tries on the bull. Lauren's first try didn't go so well. She only lasted about 3 seconds. Her second try was much better ( or maybe entertaining is a better word). She would have won the $500 prize if it weren't for a tiny little blonde girl who went first. She rode the bull very well and for over 15 seconds. Lauren gave it her all but a few seconds too short. Enjoy the ride...

Christmas Fun

We had a great Christmas this year in our own home with my parents, Grandma and Pap Pap. To make it even better, it was a White Christmas. Altogether we got about 2 or 3 inches of snow. It even lasted a few days before it was all melted away. A few days after Christmas we headed down to visit Gran and PaPa in Augusta for a few days. The girls got to experience Christmas all over again.

Both girls got their much desired Pillow Pets. Curly got a pink pig pillow pet which was especially hard for Santa to find. The Bear got a unicorn one which was readily available in any store that sold Pillow Pets. The girls have had a lot of fun playing with all their new toys. I've had a ton of fun arranging and rearranging the play room tying to find the best way to fit it all in neatly =0). The biggest gift came from Aunt Katie and Aunt Jenna and Uncle Prem, a big trampoline. They are coming up in a few weeks to put it together. The girls are very eager to start jumping.

I'd write more but it's all about the pictures on Christmas so here you go...

Santa came!

Curly ran and tackled her pink pig pillow pet which is named Pricilla.

The Bear running to her purple unicorn pillow pet which she named Unicorn.

Rip It Up! Tear It Up!

Thank you Aunt Lauren and Uncle Luke

Pocahontas in Santa socks

Wearing the new Christmas aprons their GG Lucy made

The Bear's little snowman, Frosty

Snowball fight with Pap Pap and Daddy

Daddy in the snow

Christmas in Augusta

"The Comeback" Thank you Lauren and Luke

New German baby dolls from Gran and Papa.

Checking out the trampoline box

Wrapping it up

Well I missed blogging about our last few activities. Sorry about that. Wednesday our advent activity was to drive around and look at Christmas lights. Well actually I intended for us to stop by the girls favorite place, Chick Fil A, and order a few yummy milkshakes to enjoy as we drove around looking at the lights. However, neither girl ate their dinner ( a way too common occurrence) so no dessert. We barely started on our light looking journey when The Bear starts saying "Where are we going?" "Why aren't we going home?" "I want to go home!" " I don't want to look at lights!". Needless to say our adventure didn't last long. The next day Curly got an ear infection so we spent time at the doctor's office, the pharmacy and home. She's better now. Today Grandma and Pap Pap came. We all went to Christmas Eve services at our church. Tomorrow we will celebrate our first Christmas in our own home. We've travelled every Christmas since we've been married. This year we decided to stay in our own home. We are very excited to see the girl's reactions in the morning. Merry Christmas everyone!

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM US

Activity Advent Day 21: Making Snowflakes

Today the girls attempted to make paper snowflakes. The Bear needed help with the cutting but she loved the decorating part. Curly is feeling a bit better. Still very stuffy but at least her eyes have stopped watering. We are hoping she will be 100% by Christmas.

Hard at work

Activity Advent Day 20 : The Giveaway

Before Thanksgiving, we went through the playroom and had the girls pick out all the toys they wanted to giveaway to children in need. We filled up a couple bags full of toys. I was very proud of them. However, I knew there were still plenty of toys in there that they no longer played with and could be given to kids who would love to play with them. So today my plan was to have each girl choose a few more toys each to give away and then actually go to Goodwill or a Toys for Tots drop off and let them hand the toys over. Sadly our little Curly was sick. She is very stuffy and her poor little eyes are so watery she looks like she is crying all the time. The girls did pick out toys to give but we are putting off the drop off until another day when Curly feels a bit more up to it.

In other news, The Bear adopts a new personality each day. When she wakes each morning she tells me what she wants to be called. In the past week she has been Clairce the girl reindeer, a pony, a baby pony, a cat named Jilliana, Dora, Diego, Alice (Angelina Ballerina's best friend), and a horse. Today she insisted on being called Hailey. Hailey is a friend of Curly's who gave The Bear some hand me down pink cowgirl boots. The Bear wore them all day around the house. If anyone forgets and calls her by her real name instead of her chosen personality she gets offended. "I Hailey" "I Pony" "I Baby Pony" she yells. The different ponies and horses throw me for a loop every time. I am working on her being more polite when asking to be called a different name. Bear say "Please call me Hailey". "Okay mommy, I will" she replies every time. Each morning I do a little devotional with the girls while they eat breakfast and then we say a prayer. This morning the devotional was about being kind to people even if you don't want to. As I said our prayer I mentioned the girls by their real names, The Bear immediately started crying and yelling "I Hailey! Call me Hailey!". That whole kindness thing just went in one ear and out the other in the matter of seconds.

Poor sick little girl

"Hailey" spent all day in her new pink boots

Clearly they have more toys to spare