Jill's Jot

New Year's

2012-01-22T21:13:00.000-06:00

Here are few long-overdue photos from New Year's.

Photo Book

2011-12-30T20:46:00.001-06:00

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Fireworks

2011-12-27T20:29:00.000-06:00

Christmas Day

2011-12-26T16:42:00.000-06:00

We had a great Christmas Day!

Christmas at our house.

Christmas at the Daffrons.

Christmas at the O'Bryants.

Our family.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T16:17:00.000-06:00

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve.

The girls made reindeer food out of grits and glitter.

Then they made cookies for Santa.

We put a key out for Santa because we don't have a fireplace.

This is how we found Jack Christmas Eve morning -- holding the baby Jesus ornament Emma made in GAs this year.

One last picture before going to bed.

Jack again

2011-12-23T13:50:00.000-06:00

Now Jack is messing with our presents!

Where ya going Jack?

2011-12-22T10:33:00.000-06:00

Two more days...wonder what he will do next?

Bokah

2011-12-21T17:36:00.000-06:00

Just experimenting...

Jack

2011-12-21T09:39:00.000-06:00

Look at the mess Jack got into today.

Poinsettias

2011-12-20T19:13:00.000-06:00

Our Christmas Portraits

2011-12-19T09:39:00.000-06:00

The girls and I took these pictures in their Christmas dresses the day after Thanksgiving. I was so pleased with how well the girls did for me, and I was super excited with the pictures I got. I had a hard time choosing which pictures to use for my card.

Our Anniversary

2011-12-19T09:26:00.000-06:00

Tim and I celebrated our 17th anniversary this past weekend by taking a quick trip to Birmingham. We had a great time. These are some pictures we took around Thanksgiving. I love you, Tim!

Stationery card

2011-12-15T09:55:00.001-06:00

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Youth Choir

2011-12-12T09:53:00.000-06:00

The youth choir did their Christmas music last night. It was great!

Children's Choir Program

2011-12-05T06:58:00.000-06:00

The Children's Choir did their Christmas program last night, and it was so cute. Emma was an angel. She had a speaking part and sung "Silent Night" with a group of the angels.

Visit with Santa

2011-12-03T16:20:00.000-06:00

The girls enjoyed a visit with Santa this afternoon at Walmart.

Decorating for Christmas

2011-11-25T21:32:00.001-06:00

We had fun today decorating our house for Christmas. An addition to our house is an Elf on the Shelf named Jack.

Thankful for Family

2011-11-25T21:28:00.000-06:00

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. We enjoyed having lunch with my family and supper with Tim's family. We also made time to take a few family photos. Here they are below.

Weekend Fun

2011-11-14T11:00:00.001-06:00

Emma had fun geocaching with Tim Saturday afternoon.

While they were geocaching, Anna Kate and I were at the MSU/Alabama game working one of the Little Caesars booths. Working all the MSU home games is a fundraiser for the softball team.

Carving Our Pumpkin

2011-11-09T13:44:00.000-06:00

We had fun carving our pumpkin last night.

Then they decided to get goofy!

GA Bake Sale

2011-11-06T18:59:00.000-06:00

Our GAs had a bake sale right after church this morning to make money for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. Emma and I had a great time making chocolate chip cookies for the sale.

Christmas Shoesboxes

2011-11-03T09:30:00.000-05:00

Our church participates in the Operation Christmas Child shoebox ministry. The girls and I enjoyed shopping for things for our boxes this past weekend. Then Emma was asked to participate in a skit in front of the church to promote the ministry. Here's a picture from that.

Pumpkin Picture

2011-11-01T09:18:00.000-05:00

The girls won t-shirts at last night's fall festival. They wore them to school today, and I couldn't resist snapping one quick picture.

Fall Festival

2011-11-01T09:16:00.000-05:00

Our church has a fall festival each year for elementary school age children and younger. Most of the pictures are of Emma because Anna Kate is too old to play the games. She and I were workers at the horseshoe game.

Happy Halloween

2011-11-01T09:13:00.000-05:00

The girls chose fun costumes for Halloween. Anna Kate was a diva cowgirl, and Emma was a bride.

Go New Hope!

2011-10-24T14:40:00.000-05:00

Finally got some pictures of our girls in their uniforms. The last few months have been so busy with softball and cheerleading.

Yellow Flowers

2011-10-24T14:35:00.000-05:00

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-24T14:33:00.000-05:00

We had a great time at the pumpkin patch Saturday afternoon. The weather was great and there were lots of fun things to do.

Poor Emma!

2011-10-21T08:37:00.000-05:00

Emma has been complaining about her foot hurting for a couple of weeks now. I took her yesterday to an orthopedic doctor thinking she might have a stress fracture. It's not broken. She has what's called Sever's Disease where the tendons are pulling away from the growth plate. It's somewhat common among children her age who are active in sports. The cure is to immobilize it for a month, so she got a boot. Just glad she didn't have to get a cast.

Softball Celebration

2011-10-16T22:07:00.001-05:00

The New Hope community welcomed home the 14-time 5A Slowpitch Softball State Champions.

The players walking the red carpet off the bus onto the field.

Each player got a yellow rose and a chance to speak to the crowd.

Vicki Wyers Gerhart and I were both on New Hope's first state championship team in 1989. Now our girls are playing. Vicki with her daughter Kelsie and me and Anna Kate are the first mother/daughters to both win state championships.

The team with their state championship t-shirts, medals and roses.

The "Seven Sevens": there are seven seventh graders on the team.

Our family there to support Anna Kate.

Anna Kate with the rock. It's a long story, but the rock is a very important tradition to the softball team.

Anna Kate with the trophy.

State Champions

2011-10-16T21:38:00.000-05:00

New Hope is the 5A Mississippi Slowpitch Softball State Champions. This is the fifth straight championship, 11 out of the last 12 years, and 14 total since Mississippi started state championships for slow pitch softball in 1988.

Way to go New Hope! We are so proud of you.

Tim and Anna Kate with the game ball. Emma and I were not able to be there since we were at GA Mother/Daughter camp.

Softball Sendoff

2011-10-16T21:33:00.000-05:00

New Hope gave the softball team quite a send off to Jackson for the State Championship. The softball team was part of the football homecoming pep rally.

Each player made tags for each other and they all wore the tags for the pep rally.

Then it was time to load the bus.

The bus got a police escort out of town while students and fans cheered.

GA Mother/Daughter Weekend

2011-10-16T21:15:00.000-05:00

Emma and I had a great time at GA Mother/Daughter Camp this weekend. This was my sixth year to attend and Emma's second year. I attended the other years with Anna Kate.

We started off the fun with a camp fire.

Time for bed. Here are all the girls in our cabin with their Pillow Pets.

Cute photo of Emma.

Sweet picture of us.

The whole Mt. Zion group. There were 26 of us.

Geocaching Trip

2011-10-16T20:54:00.000-05:00

Tim and two of his buddies took a week-long geocaching trip in September to Nevada, California and Arizona. They found over 2,500 caches.

The two main places they cached were on the Extraterrestrial Highway and Route 66.

Halloween Has Come Early

2011-10-12T09:52:00.000-05:00

This is Homecoming Week at school, and today is Celebrity Day. Emma is dressed like Sharpay from High School Musical, and Anna Kate is dressed like country music star Miranda Lambert.

On Our Way to State!

2011-10-12T09:50:00.001-05:00

This picture was taken at New Hope right before the first round of state playoffs. The junior varsity players (Anna Kate is the third player from the right with the long blonde ponytail.) are watching the varsity girls warm up. We easily beat Yazoo City to advance to the North State Championship series, which was held last night. We beat Neshoba to claim the North State Title. We now advance to the State Championship series against Picayune this Saturday. A win will give New Hope its 14th State Championship (5 in a row).

What Happened?

2011-10-12T09:44:00.000-05:00

New Hope Softball state playoffs are in full swing right now with all kinds of fun extras added in. Prior to the first playoff game last week, the team had a "fun night" of playing games and dressing up. I had no idea this was happening, so I was quite surprised to pick Anna Kate up from practice and find her like this...

She had a great time. I hope I can get some more pictures that some of the parents who watched took. I hope to get a team photo and a better one of Anna Kate. By the time I took this photo, the shaving cream on her face had started to melt off.

Check out the teeth!

Dance Camp

2011-10-03T08:58:00.000-05:00

Emma had a great time participating in New Hope's Mini Dance Camp this past week. As an added bonus, they got to perform their dance at halftime. Emma did a great job!

Softball

2011-09-30T12:59:00.000-05:00

Here's a picture of Anna Kate batting last night. New Hope won both games against Columbus. Now it's playoff time!

More Cheering

2011-09-19T10:19:00.000-05:00

Emma cheered in her first home game this past Saturday. They were able to wear their uniforms too, so she was so excited and had a great time.

This was their halftime dance.

Some Extreme Caching

2011-09-11T19:15:00.000-05:00

Despite being VERY busy with softball lately, Tim and Anna Kate have still found a way to squeeze in a little bit of geocaching. They especially like extreme geocaches...

...where they have to crawl in caves,...

...climb trees...

...and paddle kayats.

I am so proud of the wonderful father/daughter memories they are making.

Emma is a Cheerleader

2011-09-11T17:48:00.000-05:00

Emma is a New Hope Pee Wee Cheerleader. The Jamboree was held Saturday, and she was so excited to cheer her very first game. Some of the girls' cheerleader outfits had not come in yet, so they all wore their cheerleader t-shirts this time.

School Pictures

2011-08-28T20:55:00.000-05:00

Life has been super busy. That's my excuse for being so late taking and posting the girls school pictures. We took them this evening, but we almost ran out of sunlight. They turned out pretty good anyway, and I'm glad to now say that they are done.

Anna Kate is in the seventh grade and is really enjoying middle school and playing softball.

Emma is in the second grade and is enjoying pee wee cheerleading.

Sunday Evening Boat Ride

2011-08-22T08:41:00.000-05:00

Tim has been promising Emma to take them riding in kayaks, so we rode out to the River Walk and put the boats in for a little while. They had a great time, and I enjoyed watching them.

New Hope Softball

2011-08-16T08:55:00.000-05:00

New Hope has started the slow pitch season, and last night was the first home games and the first junior varsity game.

There are eight 7th graders on the team. It will be exciting to see what this group of girls looks like when they are seniors.

Anna Kate started the game at second base and did a great job.

She also did a great job at bat.

Here she is on third.

And sliding in at home. She was safe!

She pitched the last two innings and did an awesome job.

She struck out two batters and didn't walk any. We were so proud of her for doing so great pitching in her first New Hope game, especially since she has only had three weeks to adjust from 46 feet to 50 feet on the pitching rubber.

They won 6-4. Way to go Trojans! And way to go Anna Kate. We are so proud of you.

Survivor

2011-07-26T09:12:00.000-05:00

For the past week or so, Anna Kate has been participating in New Hope's 2-A-Day sessions as a member of the 2011 Slowpitch Softball Team. The daily 3-hour morning sessions include conditioning, aerobics, and running. On the final day of 2-A-Days they do a 3-mile run. The daily afternoon sessions including working on softball skills. At the conclusion of the 2-A-Days, they all receive a survivor t-shirt. We are proud of you, Anna Kate!

Front of shirt.

Back of shirt.

World Tournament

2011-07-24T12:10:00.000-05:00

Anna Kate's tournament team participated in the World Tournament in Tupelo this weekend. They did great Friday, winning both games. They also won Saturday morning, but lost the next two. They ended up finishing in fifth place. It was a fun summer and all the girls got lots of experience. Here are a few photos from the weekend.

Tim's Trip to Oregon

2011-07-17T11:18:00.000-05:00

Tim and his brother Derrick had a great trip to Oregon last week. They went to check out tree cutters.

They also had a chance to explore the area. Here's Tim standing on the beach, but it was way to cold to swim.

They stopped at a really neat restaurant/loggers museum called Camp 18.

They saw the Columbia River Gorge.

They also saw the Multnomah Falls. Tim hiked to the top for some neat views. We are glad they had a good time, but we are so glad to have Tim back. We missed him.

Lifetime!

2011-07-14T08:48:00.000-05:00

I did it! Last night I fnished the requirements for Weight Watchers Lifetime membership and was given my golden key. So excited to finally have met this important goal I set for myself after years of dieting. It was so worth it!

Sunflowers

2011-07-10T20:38:00.000-05:00

Love this beautiful field of sunflowers.

4th of July...a little late!

2011-07-10T20:30:00.000-05:00

Playing catch up. Here's our 4th of July picture.

State Champions

2011-07-10T17:59:00.001-05:00

Anna Kate's tournament team won the ASA State Tournament in Columbus this weekend.

They played Friday night and all day Saturday and did great. We are so proud of them.

Since the tournament was local, we had lots of extra fans, including my mom and Emma. Look at the cute sign Emma made for Anna Kate.

Anna Kate pitched all the games, striking out seven and only walking two for the whole tournament. She didn't walk any Saturday.

She had some great hits, including two really good ones Friday night.

The proud coach and daughter. You probably can't tell, but it is pouring down raining in this picture. We had two delays Saturday due to lightening. In fact, we were in the top of the seventh with one out and only needed to get to more outs to win the championship game when we had one of the delays. When we resumed play, they had to play in the pouring down rain. That was an experience. Now we are gearing up for the USSSA World tournament coming up next.

Beach Portraits

2011-07-04T23:11:00.000-05:00

Beach Vacation Fun

2011-07-04T21:30:00.000-05:00

We had a great time this past weekend on vacation in Destin, Florida.

Thursday night we ate at Joe's Crab Shack (Don't you love Tim's bib?) and then did a night walk on the beach.

Friday was all about spending time on the beach. We loved looking at all the parasails.

We built sand castles, found sea shells, and played in the water.

Friday night we ate at Longhorn Steakhouse and shopped around the Bass Pro Shop.

Saturday we were back to the beach for more fun.

We also enjoyed the pool.

Saturday evening we ate at Fudpuckers.

Then we explored Harbor Walk and enjoyed the sunset.

Sunday we stopped at Bass Pro Shop in Mobile on our way home. The girls enjoyed the pretend shooting range.

Park League Champions

2011-06-28T13:58:00.001-05:00

Anna Kate's team had their last park game last night and won 12-0. They finished the season undefeated with a record of 13-0. There were two rained out games. They scored a total of 194 runs and only gave up 39.

Anna Kate pitched a great game.

She made several outs.

She hit great too.

She presented the medal of her daddy who was one of the coaches.

Here's the championship team.

Another Tournament

2011-06-28T13:44:00.000-05:00

Anna Kate's tournament team played in another tournament this past weekend. It was the USSSA State Championship in Meridian. Unfortunately, we didn't play as well as we had hoped and finished tied for fifth place.

Anna Kate pitched great, only walking one batter all day.

She hit great too.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T19:55:00.000-05:00

Happy Father's Day to my dad, Tim's dad, and Tim. Here are a couple of pictures of Tim with our girls on Father's Day. We love you!

Father's Day Card

2011-06-19T10:03:00.001-05:00

Paper Hearts Father's Day 5x7 folded card

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VBS

2011-06-15T10:10:00.000-05:00

We are having a great time this week at VBS. The theme is Big Apple Adventure.

Anna Kate is too old to be a participant, but she is having fun working in missions.

Emma loves art time.

Another Softball Tournament

2011-06-12T10:45:00.000-05:00

Anna Kate's team played in its second tournament of the summer -- the State Games of Mississippi.

They played six games, and she pitched all of it, only walking four batters all day. I didn't keep up with the strike outs, but it was a good many.

She also made a lot of good plays from the mound.

Her hitting was on yesterday too. She got tons of hits. Way to go Anna Kate.

The Columbus Crush finished third place, losing their last game by only one run. We are still proud of you. You all played hard on a very hot day.

Emma's Medal

2011-06-12T10:37:00.000-05:00

Emma had her last t-ball game in the park. She had a great season and was excited to get a medal.

Met My Goal!

2011-06-02T09:53:00.002-05:00

After eight years of ups and downs, I finally met my Weight Watchers goal at last night's meeting. I cannot begin to say what this means to me. This has definitely been a long and challenging journey. Over the years, I have come close to my goal, but this time I was determined to get there so I can become a lifetime member of Weight Watchers and attend meetings for free for the accountability and the support of other members. As of last night, I have lost 32.2 pounds. It took me eight months. However, looking at eight years ago when I first started my weight loss journey, I am down 94.2 pounds from my start weight. That is still so unbelievable to me. Looking back at pictures of me from that time is a little embarrassing, but it also makes me appreciate how far I have come. I've also posted an "after" picture. This is a picture of our leader, Ms. Elizabeth, giving me my Weight Watchers charm for meeting my goal. Now I have to maintain this weight for six weeks to achieve lifetime status. I truly appreciate all the support I have received from my family and friends. Tim was always faithful to check with me each week after my weigh-in to see how I did and to support and encourage me no matter how I did. I also really appreciate my friend Cindy for encouraging me to join Weight Watchers again and cheering me on each week. It made the difference this time to have a friend doing the program right along side of me. I believe God takes care of us and leads us through difficult challenges if we just lean of Him. I know that I did not pray and trust as much as I should have, but He was faithful anyway. He puts people in our path to encourage us along the way and even sends us signs that He is paying attention. Yesterday evening when I got in my van after my meeting was over, the song on the radio was Garth Brooks "The Dance." This is a special song to me because it was the theme song for our New Hope softball team when we won our first state championship. The last line of the song goes: "Yes my life is better left to chance. I could have missed the pain but I'd of had to miss the dance."

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T12:05:00.000-05:00

We all made a quick stop at First Baptist Church this morning on our way to Walmart to get a few things for grilling. First Baptist Church always decorates their grounds with flags to celebrate Memorial Day, so we decided to stop by for a few pictures.

Play Ball

2011-05-24T09:20:00.000-05:00

I took these three shots before we left the house for our ball games. Both Anna Kate and Emma played and did great last night. Anna Kate's team won again!

Tim coaches Anna Kate's team so I thought it would be neat to take their picture together, and this picture counts as Tim's birthday picture with the girls. Happy Birthday, Tim!

Anna Kate's Birthday Fun

2011-05-22T19:29:00.000-05:00

Anna Kate has had a great birthday week. It all started with finding out Tuesday night that she made the New Hope Softball Team for this fall. She found out Wednesday she was exempt from all her exams, so Thursday she spent the day with my parents. They took her to Starkville to Umi's for lunch and then back to Columbus a treat at Smackers. Her team won its softball game Thursday night, and she got a homerun! She spent Friday with my sister-in-law Samantha who took her to La Fagota for lunch and then to Smackers.

Saturday was her actual birthday. Tim's birthday is today, so Emma and I took them both out to eat at Huck's Place. It was great as usual.

Afterwards, we came home to open presents.

She got a new Bible with her name engraved on the front. She enjoyed taking it to church today.

Of course, she got yogart from Smackers again. This girl is a Smackers-aholic! Three days in a row!

Happy Birthday, Anna Kate!

2011-05-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

Anna Kate Birthday Card

2011-05-21T07:45:00.003-05:00

This is Anna Kate's birthday announcement for year. I think it turned out cute.

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Emma's Awards Day

2011-05-19T15:17:00.000-05:00

Emma's first grade class had its awards day today. She got a ribbon for being on the Principal's List this 9 weeks. She also got a certificate for "Future Teacher Award." This picture is of her holding her awards and standing with her teacher, Mrs. Gregory.

GA Badges

2011-05-19T15:15:00.000-05:00

Our church held its annual mission recognition service last night. Emma participates in GAs. She got her sash with 15 badges. So proud of our girl!

Anna Kate is a New Hope Lady Trojan

2011-05-18T11:29:00.000-05:00

We are super proud of Anna Kate for trying out and making the New Hope Lady Trojan slow pitch softball team for this fall. She has worked so hard for this. Now she will have to work even harder. I can't begin to put into words what this means to me for her to make the team because I also was a New Hope Lady Trojan softball player, playing on the 1988 (State Runner-Up), 1989 (State Champions) and 1990 (State Champions) teams.

Homerun!

2011-05-17T13:28:00.000-05:00

Anna Kate hit great last night as her team won 20-8.

This one was a hit...

...and this one was a homer.

Another Win

2011-05-13T15:27:00.000-05:00

Anna Kate's park team got another win last night, winning 15-0. Their record is 5-0.

Anna Kate pitched a beautiful game with six strike outs!

She also got a couple of hits.

Anna Kate's Awards Day

2011-05-10T15:24:00.000-05:00

Anna Kate's class had Awards Day yesterday. So proud of our girl! She got three certificates -- Highest Average in Science, Highest Average in P.E., and Principal's List.

Mother's Day

2011-05-09T09:59:00.000-05:00

Love my sweet girls!

Emma's Choir Program

2011-05-09T09:58:00.000-05:00

Our church's Children's Choir had their spring program last night.

The program was really cute. They all did a great job.

Emma was one of the flag people.

First Tournament

2011-05-09T09:54:00.000-05:00

Anna Kate's tournament team played in their first team of the season this past Saturday.

Anna Kate did a great job pitching.

She also had a bunch of hits.

Unfortunately, they lost the last two games of the day and finished second.

Tim's one of the coaches. So proud of Anna Kate for the great day she had both pitching and hitting. Way to go Anna Kate!

Two more hits for Emma

2011-05-07T08:12:00.000-05:00

Emma's team played again last night, and they did great. Emma's coach pitched to her both times she batted and she got two hits. So proud of her!

Anna Kate's tournament team plays in its first tournament today. We are hoping for a good day!

Congratulations!

2011-05-01T00:16:00.000-05:00

Brian and Tiffany, congratulations! May God bless you in your marriage. Love ya!

Emma Hits a Pitched Ball

2011-04-30T21:45:00.000-05:00

This is Emma's last year of t-ball. A new rule with t-ball this year is the batter can be pitched three pitches rather than hit off the tee if they want to. We have been pitching to Emma at home to get her ready for coach pitch next year, so she decided to take some pitches Friday night. She hit the ball great. Way to go Emma!

Another Win

2011-04-25T20:41:00.000-05:00

Anna Kate's team won big again tonight.

She pitched a great game.

Her hitting was off tonight, but it didn't help that the other team didn't have a pitcher.

Happy Easter

2011-04-25T08:25:00.005-05:00

Our Family

2011-04-25T08:25:00.003-05:00

Easter Eggs

2011-04-25T08:24:00.002-05:00

The girls and I had fun doing Easter stuff yesterday -- hunting eggs and paiting eggs.

Easter Card

2011-04-24T14:56:00.001-05:00

Here's our 2011 Easter card. I am so pleased with how it turned out.

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Softball Time!

2011-04-19T13:39:00.001-05:00

Ball began at the Park last night, and both Emma and Anna Kate played.

This is Emma's last year of t-ball. She did great hitting last night.

She also got a turn playing on the pitcher's mound.

She had a bunch of balls hit to her and caught them all.

Maybe she will be a pitcher just like her big sister.

After two of the balls she caught, she ran to first base and beat the runner for outs.

Here she is hitting one more time. Way to go Emma!

Anna Kate is the pitcher for her team. She did an awesome job pitching, fielding and hitting. So proud of her.

Wish I had gotten more pictures, but it was getting dark so the pictures didn't do so good.

Weekend Fun

2011-04-03T20:21:00.001-05:00

Here are a couple of fun activites we did this weekend.

We went to Tales From the Crypt Friday night. It was great as usual.

Saturday morning we participated in the MS Walk in honor of my brother-in-law and cousin. We also did a lot of softball practice and managed to squeeze in our Easter photo shoot. More to come from that.

Featured in John Deere Magazine

2011-03-26T21:54:00.000-05:00

Tim's family's logging business is featured in John Deere's spring magazine, and, as you can see, Tim's picture is on the cover. So proud of him!

Our Kentucky Trip -- Day 1

2011-03-22T22:35:00.001-05:00

Our main reason for going to Kentucky for our Spring Break trip was for Tim and Anna Kate to get an extreme cache in a cave in Somerset. The four of us hiked about a half mile up a mountain through very rugged terrain (including tons and tons of briars -- I still have scratches) to get to the cave entrance.

Here's the cave. It's about five feet in diameter and about 95 feet deep.

Tim fed the ropes to the bottom.

Then they got all suited up with their harnesses and helmets. Thank goodness for the helmets because Tim accidently knocked a large rock off that hit Anna Kate on the top of the helmet on the way down the cave hole.

Here's our 11-year-old baby right before she repelled 95 feet into a dark cave.

Here they go.

It was a little tricky at first trying to get their footing.

Tim had Anna Kate go down first so he could help guide her. That's when the rock hit her helmet.

Emma and I waited just outsite the cave entrance. I didn't keep track of how long it took them to repell and climb back out, but I was surprised at how quick they did this.

Tim took this picture at the bottom of the cave when Anna Kate found the cache container.

Here's the father/daughter team.

Anna Kate took this picture of her daddy.

Tim said it looked like the cave went a long way.

But they found this small snake, so it was probably best they didn't go exploring.

Here's a picture from the cave bottom looking up 95 feet to the light at the cave opening where Emma and I were waiting.

Time to go back up.

I know that must have been a hard climb pulling yourself back up 95 feet.

They made it.

This was such a huge accomplishment. Very few cachers have dared to attempt this cache. I am so proud of them. By the way, this was Tim's 4,000 cache. He timed it so this cache would be his milestone cache. It's definitely something they both will remember for a long time.

After we lugged all the gear back through the briars and down the mountain, we drove to the hotel where the girls were excited to take a swim in the indoor pool.

Our Kentucky Trip -- Day 2

2011-03-22T22:34:00.001-05:00

Before we left Somerset to drive to Bowling Green, we stopped a beautiful place right off the side of the road. That's one of the great things about geocaching -- it takes you to some of the neatest places.

The water was a neat green color, and the waterfall was so pretty.

It was the perfect place to take some family pictures.

When we arrived in Bowling Green, we stopped at the Lost River Cave and Valley. It was a beautiful area that was great for exploring.

We found another cave, but no repelling this time!

Before we left Lost River Cave and Valley, we bought the girls each a bag of rocks so they could do some gem mining. They both found many beautiful rocks to keep.

Our Kentucky Trip -- Day 3

2011-03-22T22:33:00.002-05:00

We started off our third day by visiting the Mammoth Cave National Park just outside Bowling Green.

It was a really beautiful place to explore.

I guess I had taken so many pictures of the girls, they decided I needed one with them doing goofy poses.

And back to a serious pose.

Then we spent the rest of our day at the Kentucky Action Park in Cave City.

The girls had fun wall-climbing.

We all played miniature golf.

Emma's favorite activity was the bungie jumping on a trampoline.

Anna Kate really liked that too.

Anna Kate's favorite thing to do was riding the go-carts.

Emma got a turn around the track too with Tim driving.

Our Kentucky Trip -- Day 4

2011-03-22T22:32:00.001-05:00

We spent our last day driving back home, and we enjoyed stopping at a few fun spots along the way.

This was taken at a park in downtown Nashville, Tennessee.

This was taken at a park in Spring Hill, Tennessee.

Our final stop was at Spring Park in Tuscombia, Alabama. The Cold Water Falls is the world's largest man-made natural stone waterfall.

We had a great time on our Spring Break vacation, which was full of adventure, fun activities, beautiful scenery, and great geocaching. Tim and Anna Kate racked up just over 50 caches, including a dozen earth caches. This is their favorite kind of geocache.

St. Patrick's Day

2011-03-16T10:57:00.000-05:00

Spring Flowers

2011-03-13T22:10:00.000-05:00

The girls and I had fun taking these spring flower pictures.

Mardi Gras

2011-03-08T08:37:00.000-06:00

Here's a fun picture just to say Happy Mardi Gras.

Here's an extra picture showing Emma's lost front tooth. She held on to this tooth just as long as she could. She didn't want Tim to "help" her get it out last night, but this morning she was super proud that she did.

Happy Birthday Emma!

2011-02-28T06:00:00.002-06:00

Happy 7th Birthday to our sweet Emma Frances. I can't believe she is seven. She and I had the best time shopping for her birthday outfit. If you know anything about Emma, you should not be surprised that she picked purple. We also had a great time taking these pictures a few weeks ago. We took them the last Saturday in January when our area enjoyed a beautiful 70-degree day. That's how we were able to get away with her wearing a skort and short sleeves. Anyway, I am very pleased with how the photos turned out. I think they reflect both her sweet and her sassy sides. We love you Emma!

Trip to Jackson

2011-02-27T22:18:00.000-06:00

Following Emma's birthday party, our family took off for Jackson so we could attend the Mississippi Loggers' Association Banquet. In case you didn't know, my husband and his family own and run a logging business.

We made a couple of stops along the way so Tim and Anna Kate could find some geocaches. We stopped at the Mississippi Petrified Forrest. This was a neat place to stop.

We also stopped at an Indian burial mound. See it in the background.

Sunday we worked our way home, picking up some geocaches along the way. One of our stops I took this photo of the girls with the wildflowers. Wish I had brought my "big" camera. All three of these were taken with my point-and-shoot.

Emma's Party

2011-02-26T22:12:00.000-06:00

Emma and her friends had a great time at her birthday party at Merle Norman.

They all got their hair and makeup done.

Emma was so surprised to see herself in the mirror after she was all done up.

Anna Kate and all the other girls got fixed up too.

Here are our sweet girls.

She had a Barbie theme, so here she is blowing out the candles on her Barbie cake.

She got lots of great presents.

After cake and presents, they all got their nails done.

Now it was time to strike some poses.

Random Stuff

2011-02-21T15:34:00.001-06:00

Here are some random shots from the last few days.

Emma's GA group hosted a Valentine's Tea with the older ladies of our church. She is on the front row, third from the left.

Tim received an amo can at a geocacher's event Friday night. This can was to recognize him for finding his 3,000th cache.

Tim decided to hide a cache in our pond in front of our house. This should be fun to watch people look for it.

Tim took Emma out on a date Saturday night. She was so excited to do something special with her daddy.

Emma's Birthday Card

2011-02-18T07:00:00.001-06:00

Here's Emma's birthday card I did with Shutterfly. I think it turned out so cute. Emma did such a great job taking pictures that I was having a hard time narrowing it down to just a couple of photos. I was excited to use this Shutterfly card that allowed me to use a bunch of cute photos. I even had another favorite photo from this photo session printed by Shutterfly on a sticker that I have used on the back of each envelope.

Classic Black Solid Colors

Unique party invitations and announcements by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Valentine's Bears

2011-02-14T09:24:00.000-06:00

Here's one photo before we left for school this morning of the girls with their Valentine's bears. I hope they have a great Valentine's Day today.