The girls with Elmo!

New York City

This past weekend I flew to NYC to visit Paige and family. My awesome neighbors Alan and Bev watched the kids Friday night and Saturday night they spent with the Peck's. The kids had a great weekend although they kept Beverly awake for a while in the middle of the night.

We had the best time in NYC. Sonja took the bus up from DC with baby Kaleigh, and we just spent the weekend hanging out and getting in the Christmas spirit. It was freezing cold, I have definately gotten thin blood and get very cold easily. But Sonja and I got dressed and went for a quick run in Central Park Saturday morning. The rest of Saturday was spent shopping and to look at all the Christmas decorations. Oh yes, we went jeans shopping because I wanted a really nice pair of jeans. My budget of $100-150 was easily exceeded, but that wasn't the bad part. It was hearing from a snooty New Yorker in one boutiqe that they didn't carry my size! I didn't realize I was that big!!

We went to Union Square and bought the neatest gifts, ABC homestore just to look, and finished by going by Rockerfeller Center to fight the crowd. After shopping all day we went home had a glass of wine or two, dropped kaleigh off with babysitter Nick ( he was a trooper) and went to a nearby Wine and Taps bar. While we were sitting by the window which was covered with a nice wreath it started snowing....so nice.

Happy Birthday Emmie!

Emmie turned two on Sunday. It's hard to believe she is two already, time flies. We had a great birthday party with lots of kids and adults. The absolute favorite present is this trampoline, that plays a really annoying song nonstop. Emmie loves it and can jump nonstop. The hardest part is to share with her brother

Happy Thanksgiving

This is a picture from last Thanksgiving that we celebrated on Fripp. We want to keep up with the traditions so we are heading down there again this year. They have a great buffet at the Beach club and on Friday Santa arrives on the firetruck. Hayden has his lists ready for Santa. One list that he wrote himself has 7 items on it and the other list that Auntie wrote has 23 items. I told him that he will not get all the things on the lists and what did he want the most. Of course he wants this giant dinosaur from Target that costs $130! His response when I said it was expensive, "it doesn't matter mommy, you don't have to buy it, Santa will get it"!

Grattis till Morfar på födelsedagen!

Gary's blanket

Sonja's mom made this blanket for us out of Gary's favourite shirts. There is a mixture of Olympic swimming shirts, work, running races, diving expeditions, skiing vacations, Fripp and also a Corona shirt from our last weekend in Mexico. What a treasure, we all love it and it's already our favourite blanket to snuggle with in the evenings and mornings. Thank you Mrs. Leiter!

Princess Fairy and Bunny

Emmie and Maeve are getting ready to go trick or treating. We had to give them some candy to sit still for the shot! But they both did really well and it didn't take them very long to figure out to ring on every one's door and grab some candy out of a bowl.

how about this one. it's works to sit on it!

At the pumpkin patch

it's hard to find that perfect pumpkin for the carving

Happy Halloween!

Not the best picture but the battery on my camera decided to stop working so this is taken with Beverly's camera phone. Anyway, Princess Fairy and Black Spiderman had a blast going Trick or Treating and we got so much candy that we are eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner!

Posing with Monster truck

Can it be more Redneck than this??

Hayden at monster truck show

Hayden had a busy weekend. He went to Nascar racing on Saturday and monster truck show on Sunday. He was one tired boy Sunday night. Every boys' favorite monster truck has got to be the "Grave digger"

Gooo Dawgs!

UGA Homecoming

This past weekend was Homecoming at UGA so of course we had to head to Athens as we do every year. Emmie stayed at home with babysitter Alan, so Beverly, Hayden and I went to enjoy some football and catching up with old swimmers.

I have to say I only managed to have one drink at the tailgate, must be some kind of record, and I actually followed the football game, also some kind of record! We had fun and broke the bank at the book store. It was great!

Fripp fest 5K

Every fall they have a Fripp fest with a 5K running race. Gary ran this race two years ago when I was pregnant with Emmie, so I figured I had to carry on the tradition this year. There were more than 80 people participating this year so it has grown. And I have to brag that I actually won for the women and was third overall. Although one woman at the store asked me after she heard I won, if I ran or walked...hmm!

Emmie finally wanted to come down and say Hi to the buck as well. He is very nice!

Our pets at Fripp

We spent the weekend at Fripp and had a mixture of rain and sunshine. Fripp is filled with deer that are very tame. Although you are not supposed to feed them or the alligator, it's fun for the kids to do (not the alligators but the deer). This buck is always around our house, and when we first bought the house it used to sleep in the little dug out in front of our house. So now the buck is called Gary!

Emmie's first ponytail

Emmie finally has long enough hair that I managed to pull it up in a pony tail. The creation lasted until the pictures were taken. But she is cute!

The cheer leaders did a great job cheering on the team!

3 touchdowns!

Hayden is ready to get that football. In the beginning he was just standing there, waiting for the ball to land in his hands, until I asked if his feet were glued to the ground (competitive mother, yes). The he figured out how to steal the flags and run with the football, and he actually scored 3 touchdowns!

Hayden's first football game

Emmie is cheering on her brother during flag football. One gets very thirsty from all the cheering!

Lost my voice

I've lost my voice, it's gone since last night due to a nasty cold. Headache, sore throat and no voice, fun fun. I just hope the kids won't get sick. They've both have had coughs and runny noses for a week, but hopefully it won't get worse.
On Friday I'm having some girls over for cosmos and Sex and the City...so I better feel better or if nothing else the alcohol will kill the bacteria in my throat!

Hayden the photographer

Hayden is quite the photographer. He just took this picture of Emmie and I in our office. Pretty good for a 5 year old!

Hayden and Emmie

Sometimes your kids can be such pains, then other times they are this cute!

Emmie in Halloween dress

Emmie and Hayden are fortunate that they have a nice Auntie and Uncle that like to spoil them. This is the newest dress Emmie got just to get in the spirit for Halloween. And one of her newest words is "cheese" so apparently she likes to have her picture taken.

Field trip to Jaemor Farms

Today Hayden had his first field trip to Jaemor Farms for some apple picking. I went as a chapperone and had a great time. We picked apples, watched the apple grinder, rode on a hayride and had lunch. And of course we bought a bunch of apples to take home!

Hayden's first sleepover

So it was time for Hayden's first sleepover. His friend Julia who had never slept at a friend's house wanted to stay the nights. We did all the fun stuff ate, played, watched movies, took a bath etc. After going to bed at 9, Julia comes out 15 minutes later with her bag, with Hayden in tow, stating she changed her mind and she wants to go home. So I had to do some convincing and some more story telling and they were both asleep fairly quickly.

This is how cute they looked the next morning.

To my friends, who enjoy a glass of wine, and those who don't.
As Ben Franklin said: In wine there is wisdom, in beer there is freedom, in water there is bacteria.
In a number of carefully controlled trials, scientists have demonstrated that if we drink 1 liter of water each day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of Escherichia coli, (E. Coli) - bacteria found in feces. In other words, we are consuming 1 kilo of poop.
However, we do NOT run that risk when drinking wine & beer (or tequila, rum, Whiskey or other liquor) because alcohol has to go through a purification process of boiling, filtering and/or fermenting.
Remember: Water = Poop, ...........Wine = Health
Therefore, it's better to drink wine and talk stupid, than to drink water and be full of shit

Six months!

So tomorrow it's been six months since Gary's passing. It' hard to believe it's been that long already. In one way it feels like forever ago, because every minute of the past six months have been so painful. On the other hand I can't believe we have already gone on living for six months without him. We miss him so much! I miss my partner, my confidant and my everything. Most nights when Hayden goes to bed, he wants to talk about Gary and that he misses him. It really sucks! I know God has a plan for everyone, it's just very hard to understand the plan of taking a good father away from his small children, when there are other dead beats out there that don't deserve to be here! Maybe one day I will understand it!

On the other hand, I've learned a lot over the past six months. I used an electric drill to hang curtain rods, burnt of my eyebrows turning on the grill, had my air conditioner and ice maker fixed, had the roof and siding replaced, had two flat tires, written a will, been to court, and learnt not to mix wine, champagne and rum in one night! "What doesn't kill you will make you stronger"

I'm also really thankful. I'm thankful for the wonderful years we had together and all the great memories! I am really thankful for the great children we made together. I'm thankful for the wonderful friends and family we have, that have helped me and the kids through this hard time. I'm thankful for that we can go on living without the stressors of having to move and me having to return to full time work! And finally I'm thankful that we are still alive, because living is after all pretty wonderful! Gary we miss you!

Emmie in the frog pool

At Fripp there is a kiddie pool that Emmie just loves to go down the slide.

Hayden starts school

Hayden started school on August 7th at Friendship Elementary. he is having fun and is enjoying himself so far. The only hard part is getting up early early. Yuck!

Celebrating 4th

Our annual golf cart picture in our 4th of July clothes. Aren't they cute!

4th of July

We celebrated 4th of July at Fripp again and participated in the annual golfcart parade. This year's theme was "under the Sea" so we created a shark. We were so proud of our golfcart (Allen and Beverly did all the work so I'm not taking any credit) but unfortunately there were several other golf cart that outdid us so we didn't win. It was fun though and we had a good time. Fripp had a small carneval afterwards for the kids to do some activities but it was soooo hot.

We had a very nice time and it is so relaxing to be on on Fripp.

Hayden in Summer League

Hayden participated in a swim team this Summer and did really well. He only participated in three meets but dropped his times by a total of 30 seconds in 25 yards in both free and backstroke! Of course his favorite was 25 y backstroke (like dad) with a perfect streamline. Anyone who has ever seen me swim knows I couldn't do either backstroke or streamline, so watching Hayden swim is watching a mini Gary.
He had fun and was so excited in his last meet when he won his heat and got 5th total (in 6y and under) and got a ribbon.

Charlie and Emmie

Charlie and Emmie sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g! They have so much fun together these two!

My two angels!

Can they be much cuter than this??

Hayden graduates from Pre-K

Thursday was Hayden's graduation from Pre-K. I cannot believe he will be starting Kindergarten this fall. He was very excited, probably because he found out graduation = presents!

The school had a slide show from this past year which of course was a tear jerker. They also made predictions for the future and Hayden's was his love for dinosaurs will lead him to become a paleontologist. He also received some Laffy Taffy for always making people laugh!

9 year anniversary

Today is our 9th wedding anniversary! 9 years ago we got married in Athens, GA. It was a gorgeous day although the days leading up we had some severe tornadoes hitting the area. I'm not sure how Gary managed to get off in May to get married in the middle of pool openings ( I know he wouldn't have given anybody the time off!), but I'm glad because it was a great day.

I remember the caterer shaking his head at all the alcohol we had bought for the 130-140 guests, and said you bought way too much. Needless to say, we knew our friends and there was one case of beer left and one bottle of champagne! We had a great time and when the time came to cut the cake, we used the cutting knife to feed eachother and then the caterer proceeded to cut the rest of the cake with the same knife! After the reception we went downtown and continued partying all night in the local bars. It was fun!

Our "honeymoon" was spent on Fripp Island with 16 members of our familes and friends and this was when we first fell in love with Fripp. We always laughed talking about our honey moon because it wasn't the traditional way of honeymooning. We even brought our cats Norm and Elaine. And anybody who's ever heard of Norm must know that Gary loved me a lot to bring him on the honeymoon.

I'm grateful for all of our memories and just so sad that we didn't get longer together. The night before Gary died we were planning our 10 year anniversary trip. I had found this amazing little private island in the Carribean, and I was showing Gary all the pictures that I found and I was getting annoyed b/c he was watching the tornado that was hitting Atlanta during the SEC basketball tournament.

Thanks to all my girlfriends who are joinging me tonight for dinner. It will be fun!

Fripp Island

Fripp Island, S.C. has been our sanctuary for the past several years and this is the place we came to relax and enjoy eachother. Therefore it seemed to be the right place to spread Gary's ashes. This past Saturday, April the 5th we got up at Sunrise and headed for the beach. Gary was always up at sunrise when at Fripp and took the dog for a walk. It was a sligthly windy morning so after Hayden and I got the first shovel full of ashes and were ready to throw it in the ocean, the wind got hold of it and blew straight into Hayden's face!! Needless to say, Gary will be Hayden for a long time!

Thanks to our dear friends the Pecks, who have been visiting us almost every day and even joined us at Fripp. Their boys have been providing the best therapy for Hayden, and it brings a smile to your face to see them play and enjoy eachother. Even Emmie's got her first boyfriend in Charlie!

Celebration w/ PMG

Later that night PMG had arranged for a celebration of Gary's life down in Buckhead. All GMs and their wifes had made the trip to Atlanta which we all appreciated. The celebration included a slide show of Gary (thanks to Allen and Jen for doing this), food, drinks and a lot of speeches and tears. I'm so glad I came to this event, although I didn't feel too good the next morning thanks to Steve's gin and tonic mixing which only included gin, no tonic or lemon! Everybody here have been such a vital part of Gary's life (and mine although it seems like it was more in May less in November). I will miss being a part of this great team and I also know Gary will be greatly missed!
Love you all!

People enjoying a Sam Adams beer (one of Gary's favorite's)

I love you guys!

Thanks for being there for me!

Paige and Sonja (not sure about the baby!)

Reception at the house

Thanks for all your support

The past month has been a blur. We have all been hurting so much and we are missing Gary terribly. It's hard to believe he is gone, and yet life continues around us like normal! Iwould like to thank everybody that attended the visitation and the funeral. Everybody who knew Gary can agree that the service was very fitting. The entire service was arranged by my wonderful friends Paige and Sonja who left their families up north (DC and NYC) and flew to be by my side, and Kimberly who in turn used her amazing skills and set of friends to pull the entire event off. I am so grateful for all their help and their friendships. Our friend Jonathan, (old swimmer from Athens, now Father Jonathan) officiated and created a very nice service which included some special moments he had shared with Gary. Our friend Heather who also sang at our wedding were able to sing her heart out, it was magical! Three very special people in Gary's life (Sharon-sister, Tim-friend from UK, and Jim-boss/mentor) had some great things to say about Gary and I do appreaciate all the kind words and good memories. My sister-in law Jenny was so kind and took photos of the funeral and the event at our house and I'm so glad because I hardly remember anything of it. Booze, pills and crying will do that to you..!

Thanks once again for all your support and friendship during this difficult time. Your thoughtfulness is appreciated and I am forever grateful for everybodys kind words and love.

Our hearts are broken

this past few days have been a blur as Gary passed away on Saturday. He was the love of my life, an amazing father to our children and a great friend and rolemodel to so many people. It's very hard to comprehend, and we are all trying to cope by telling funny stories and memories. And there are lots!!! Just remember that you are missed by all of us and life will not be as bright with you by my side. I will always love you and you will live on in our children!

It's Spring

This weekend was absolutely gorgeous. Saturday was my birthday and it was so nice to be able to sit outside and enjoy the deserts Hayden and Gary had picked up. We were supposed to go out for the evening but Hayden got an upset stomach and threw up so we stayed at home instead. Sunday was even nicer than Saturday and it got really warm. Hayden got a new game for his Nintendo (a monstertruck game of course) that he had been earning money for. He spent some time on Saturday picking up sticks in Allan's yard and earned his last two dollars that he needed. Emmie just loves to be outside and climb on everything. Her poor knees are so banged up and we feel like we should put a helmet on her because she falls so much.

Emmie och Hayden

Emmies nya favorit sysselsattning ar att aka traktor med sin store bror. Det gar bra (an sa lange) och desto fortare det gar desto battre.

Emmie's new favorite thing is to ride on Hayden's tractor. The faster the better. He's being very sweet and likes to take her for a ride.

more presents

Hayden is very excited about his dinsosaur skeleton puzzle. He got so many presents, it was like Christmas all over again.

Nana and Emmie

Emmie had fun too at Hayden's birthday party, running around and eating everything in sight.