SNOW!!!

Last week was a stressful week here. My dad was hospitalized and almost died because his organs started shutting down. He said that the doctors said that this was due to an infection that was throughout all of his body but he didn't know what the infection was called or what caused it. I am suspicious that it is something more. He is now out of the hospital and home but we are in a constant state of worry. So we have decided to come home for the whole week of Christmas so we can spend more time with him. On a lighter note it snowed yesterday and was absolutely beautiful!

A Special Visit

Over Thanksgiving my brother and parents came for a visit. We had a very relaxing time. It was nice to cook Thanksgiving dinner at home. It was a pretty eventful time though because we went to
Black Friday sales. Now I do not normally go to these sales. Adam really enjoys this day which is odd because he does not like to be around big crowds. I asked him why he enjoyed it and he said that he just thought it was fun. Well, I can tell you that I do not find it fun. The people are really rude. In our Wal-Mart a pregnant lady was punched in the stomach by another lady (lady is too nice of a word for her-I have a few others but I won't mention them on the blog) all for a scooter. It seems to bring the greedy and ugly side out of many people. I have to remember that there are still plenty of nice people on that day I just have to strive to find them. Anyway, this is the first year that Austin went with us and boy did he get his eyes opened. He was ready at 5 am to go home. I was ready before that. I am not sure that I will go next year. We will see:)

A BIG THANK YOU!

We just wanted to put a BIG THANK you out to Uncle Howard. He talked us through a time that was quite scary and gave us wonderful advice. I'm sure that most of you heard that Austin was really sick last month. In fact he gave us a bit of a scare. In retrospect we think that there is a good chance that he contracted the H1N1. He went to bed at 10pm then woke at 1:30am with all of the symptoms of the flu. By morning he was pretty sick. We took him to the doctor and he was prescribed Tamaflu but by that afternoon his temp went up to 104.1. That is when Adam called Uncle Howard. His words meant so much during a time that was really scary and helped us through this trying time. Austin ended up being sick for about a week with fever every day but never as high as it had been that day. We are thankful that Uncle Howard was there to let us know what to expect and when we should worry.

We have had a great start to Fall here in Tennessee. On the weekend of the 9th Marlene and Craig came for a visit. We had a great time. On the first day they were here Adam led them on a walk back to Abrams Falls. On the walk they were able to see a bear. This made me wish that I had been there too! I am posting at work so I will have to upload the pictures of Marlene and Craig as well as Abrams Falls later tonight. During the rest of the weekend we just spent time playing video games and watching movies. We can't wait to have them back! It was lots of fun. So for those of you that may be thinking of visiting Tennessee we would love to see you!

We are planning our trip up north for the weekend before Christmas. We are all getting anxious to see everyone since it has been a while. It will be nice to see snow. We don't get much of that here-and if we do it does not last. However, I am not complaining :) Alright, lunch break is over....I will write more later.

Austin started back to school on August 17th. He is getting back into the groove of things. It can be quite an adjustment when you have spent your summer playing video games:) Really..He is doing well and seems to be getting on fine. Adam's job is keeping him busy. Almost too busy since he is gone so much. I am grateful that he has a job I really am I just miss him sometimes. Work for me is going well. My client's keep me going as they are always happy to see me and it feels good to be helping them and making a difference-even if sometimes it seems small-to them it is big. Today we went to see the movie UP. It was a really cute movie. Bit of a tear jerker at times but good. I convinced the boys to try Red Robbin for lunch. They both loved it. The fries are the best. They are in the living room as I type playing Lord of the Rings Conquest on the X-Box. It is funny how much they are alike. I am very thankful for my boys. Sorry no videos or pics today. I will try to have some for my next post.

These pictures were taken on Austin's Birthday.

August has been getting away from us! We have been so busy. During the first weekend in August-Shayne, Cliff, and Seth decided to pay us a visit. It was really good to see them. Austin was terribly excited when he found out that they were coming for a visit. He could not wait to play video games with all of them. He really looks up to and admires them. Adam was overjoyed to see them since it had been some time since he had been able to hang out with them. We went to dinner in Pigeon Forge on that Saturday at Johnny Carinos. That place is by far the best place for Italian food. I believe in order to get the best though...you have to come to the Pigeon Forge location:) The weekend was too short and we were sad to see them leave on Sunday.

The next weekend we had Austin's friend Tyler over as well as Tyler's little brother Dawson. With the exception of a few minor bumps in the road the weekend went well.

On to August 12th. Which is Austin's Birthday. We had a wonderful day!! Adam and I both took the day off work to celebrate his birthday. He told us rather than go anywhere he would prefer that Adam and I play video games with him. So we did. He had a great time. He had requested video games for his birthday so it worked out quite well. Later in the day we took him to his favorite restaurant which is Chili's and picked up an ice cream cake on the way home to celebrate. All in all it was a wonderful day.

Stop and Smell the Roses

Sometimes you have to take a moment to stop and smell the roses. Life goes by so fast and many times we forget to appreciate the small things. This weekend we ended up staying home. I know not much to write home about.....but it was relaxing. At least for me and I think for Adam on Sunday. Adam did work on Saturday. He is such a trooper. He never complains even if he has to work on Sunday. I could learn a thing or two from studying him...and believe me I do. He has taught me a great many things all of which I am thankful for. Anyway back to the weekend. Austin's friend Tyler stayed and they were happy to stay home and play video games. Not a surprise in the least. I got to catch up on some reading which was blissful. Adam got some much needed time to rest his overworked body. The rose that is pictured is one that Adam gave me a couple of weeks ago. Even though its life is almost over it is still so beautiful. So I had to snap a picture and see how it came out.

Whew! Almost caught up. Last weekend we went to see Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Now I know that some people who watched the movie were not as happy with this one. However, I have to say that we really liked it. Of course we are very devoted Harry Potter fans and have been for years. Some things were left out and I think that there have been fans that were upset about this but the movie was already 2.5 hours long and everything could not have possibly been put in. And compared to Transformers? Please! There is no comparison.

A view in the Smokies

Here is another video you might like.

Ok so here is the video of the fireworks.

Fireworks in Nashville

Well, we are a little behind in updating the blog. But late is better than never-Don't you think? On the 4th of July we went to Nashville to see the fireworks. It was advertised as one of the best fireworks shows in the nation by AOL. (It came in 2oth) It was the best I have seen and Adam said that it compares to Thunder Over Louisville in Kentucky which opens the celebration of the Kentucky Derby. There was a free country music show-but for those of you that really know us you will know that we strongly dislike that kind of music. So we found a cool restaurant to go to called McFaddens. It was an Irish pub and restaurant. The night is one we will never forget. It rained so hard during the fireworks that it flooded the streets. It was literally like a scene out of a movie.

Now let us change gears. The weekend before that we took a trip up to Gatlinburg. We walked the streets and went to all of the cool little shops. Austin's friend Tyler was with us. He is pretty much our adopted child :) We see him about every other weekend and it is a pleasure to have him around. We surprised them with lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. They thought it was really cool.

We went to see Transformers 2 tonight. We were a little disappointed. It had some really good scenes and could have been great except they decided to "Americanize" it by putting so much sexual garbage that it was over the top. It also pushed the envelope with fowl language and two new autobots that were clearly racially derogatory. I was hoping that I could write about how cool the movie was and what fun we had. Although we did have a good time together as always-we can't help but be disappointed in how the movie played out. On a happier note Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is coming July 15....We have been waiting on this one for two years. I am positive that it will be amazing. So I guess you will have to wait until then to read our review :)

It's official!! This is our very first web video of many to come. We put Austin on the spot for this one. He is now our official spokesperson for the Crawford Family Knoxville Chapter.

Austin and I had the day together yesterday since Adam had to work-so we took advantage of it and headed to the mountains. It was a fun day. We went to a place called Hilly Billy Golf in Gatlinburg to play mini-golf. They have a lift that takes you to the top of the hill and then you play golf. It is pretty novel but fun. Later we played in the river. It felt good because the water was so cold. It has been hot here. In the 90's everyday. I tried to take both of our pics but I kept blinking.