Precious Moments

Today, a friend of mine whose life is very similar to mine lost her husband suddenly. She and her husband are the same ages as Jeff and I and have a precious little boy who they were blessed with through adoption who is just a couple of months younger than T.J. My heart aches for her!! It happened early this morning, and all day I have just felt sick with hurt for my sweet friend.
When I got home, I could not wait to give Jeff a big hug. Instead of feeling too exhausted after a long day to cook, I just kept thinking how badly Kami must long to be cooking a dinner for her family, and cleaning up the kitchen with hers and her husband's dishes. Instead of thinking about all the things I have to do to prepare for going out of town this weekend, I thought how fortunate I am to be packing for Jeff, T.J., and I to be going to spend some time together with our family this weekend. Rather than stressing about the last of the adoption paperwork that I need to have finished and the house I have to have clean before our home inspection on Friday, I feel ecstatic that we are all working so hard together preparing to add to our family. As Jeff and I put T.J. to bed, I thought how incredibly lucky I am to have all I have ever wished for!! When I think about what she must be going through right now - the sadness, the loneliness, the complete and utter feeling of loss - I realize how quickly things can be taken away and how we need to treasure every single moment! I love my boys more than words can say and pray that I will remember that when I get overwhelmed by what life entails. I am so lucky!!

A Mountain Getaway

Well, after about 3 and a half years of going on family friendly vacations, we decided to put aside the stuffed animals and toy cars, and take an adult vacation. So, Jeff and I took a ski weekend to Ski Apache in Ruidoso, New Mexico. It was a BLAST!! The weather was perfect, we stayed in a beautiful hotel, and the mountains were breathtaking! There is just something so peaceful and majestic about being in the mountains. We couldn't have picked a better weekend to go - the weekend before Spring Break. We practically had the mountain to ourselves, but the snow was perfect!
HOWEVER . . . we did figure out that we are not near as young as we thought we were. It's a good thing that we didn't ski for more than 2 days, or we surely would have had some type of injury. Jeff pulled some muscle in his shoulder that has still not completely healed (after 5 days later!!) and I am just now able to walk normally again. Every muscle in my leg hurt for about 3 days after the trip!! We will definitely plan more trips just the two of us. It's sometimes nice to be more than just Mommy and Daddy.
T.J. had a great weekend as well. He got the royal treatment at Meme and PawPaw's house and was really not ready for us to come home. Fun times!

A Travis By Any Other Name

Well, my main purpose for starting this blog was to have a journal that I can someday show T.J. and remember how I felt as he was growing up. So, this may be one of the most important posts that I want him to read. I always want him to know how much thought was put into his name, and how we decided what special name to give such a special boy.
T.J. stands for Travis Jeffrey - Jeffrey comes from his Daddy and his Pa - 2 great men who will always play such a special role in his life. But, his first name - Travis, comes from Mommy's grandfather, James Travis Perry (Granda). We chose this name because he was such a special person and influential in both mine and Daddy's life. Granda's body left this world on December 26, 2009 - the day after Christmas (we think he stuck around to see one more Christmas, he always loved family time at Christmas). We loved him very much and it makes us so sad to know that T.J. will never remember Granda the way we do. So, I want to let you know a few things about him.
1. Mommy, Stacy, and Tracy would always ask Granda what his name was, and here is what he would tell us: My name is "Rasnus Napoleon Bonaparte John Julius Ceasar Penerole Jack Washington Sylvester Jones Edgar Allney Buttercup Brewster James Travis Granda Perry."
2. When all of the grandkids (Mommy, Stacy, Tracy, and Uncle Gee) were little, Granda would take us to what we called, "The Bitty Store". The Bitty Store was a convenience store where Granda would get a small paper bag for each of us, take us to the candy aisle, and tell us to "fill that sucker up!!" We, of course, would with candy necklaces, candy rings, and every other kind of candy we could fit into the small bag. (I'm sure our parents loved that!!)
3. When we drove down the street Granda would say "Beep, Beep, Ooga, Ooga here comes the Stacy and the Tracy and the Lara and the Matthew." We would also "shoot" cars with our fingers and decide what was going to happen to them when they started their car in the mornings ("When they start their car tomorrow, their doors are going to fall off." OR-The favorite - "When they start their car tomorrow, all 4 of the tires are going to fall off!!")
4. Granda would take us to eat lunch at the country club, Bentwood (which we thought meant he was rich!) and there was a big hill when you left the parking lot. Much to Mimi's dismay, he would drive really fast down that hill when Stacy, Tracy, and I begged him to. We felt like we were flying!
5. When we were kids, we would spend the night at Mimi & Granda's house and after swimming all day long, we would crawl into bed with Granda in his silk pajamas smelling of Listerine and he would tell us the story of Stinky the skunk, who had trouble making friends, but finally all of the animals in the forest sang the song, "Stinky is our friend, Stinky is our friend, come and play with us, come and play with us" and they of course lived happily ever after.
6. Granda always said, "You flip my switch" - in fact, one time, we found a little plastic lightbulb filled with jelly beans that said that and gave it to him.
7. We once held a court case to get Granda to quit smoking cigars, and he did for many years.
8. Granda would sing the song, "I Went to the Animal Fair" for us. We liked it because it said the monkey got drunk.
I went to the animal fair. The birds and the bees were there. The big baboon by the light of the moon was combing his auburn hair. The monkey he got drunk, and he sat on the elephant’s trunk. The elephant sneezed and fell to his knees and that was the end of the monkey, monk, monk, monk.
9. Granda also had a poem about a mule named Maude that we would beg him to say over and over.
“There once was a farmer, his name was Sly Slick. He owned a buckin’ mule – Oh, how that mule could kick. She kicked up seven china men, she broke an elephant’s back. She stopped the Texas railroad train and kicked it clear the track. Old Sly hitched her up one mornin’ to ride her into town, she let in to kickin’ to let him know she was around. She kicked the baby in the jaw, she kicked the yellow dog, she kicked the tomcat clear the fence, that old mule’s name was Maude. She went into a saloon one day, feelin’ sort of dry. She went up to the counter and asked for a drink of rye. The man behind the counter, he commenced to grin. Old Maudy turned around and kicked the whiskers clear his chin. Now, when Maudy dies and leaves this world my heart for her will yearn. I know she’ll be with the angels, though she’s too tough to burn. When Maudy goes through those pearly gates, Saint Peter’s gonna yell, “If Maudy’s coming to live in paradise, you can check my butt to …”
10. Granda went to church, but he also drank beer, smoked, cussed, and bought lottery tickets - I had never know anyone like that as a kid.
11. My first year of college, when my grades were not so good, Granda told me that in 10 years that would not matter. As I was walking across the stage to get my Master's degree, I couldn't help but laugh to myself at how true that statement was.
12. Granda never judged people. He would speak the truth in love, but you never felt that he didn't love you even if he diapproved of your choices.
13. I was the only peson I have ever heard of who would go to meet friends for a drink at Chili's to find her grandfather alreay there. People of all ages and walks of life looked up to him.
14.. He was, as Stacy would say, "the best preacher who never had a church", and "the smartest man who didn't have a college education.
15. He was the most religious man I ever knew, but he didn't have a lot of patience for old-time religion - he thought it was too judgemental.
16. Granda was one of the first people you met. When we put you in his arms for the first time (the night we brought you home) he said, "You see the face of God when you see this. Thank you, Mr.Jesus, we sure do love this guy".
17. The last time I saw him, he told me how lucky I was to have you and Daddy. He loved you very much and was honored for you to have his name.

Granda was such a special man, and I think you have such a special name. We love you Granda! Thank you for helping to make me the person I am.

An A-MAZE-ing Weekend!

I'm combining 2 weekends into one blog so I can play catch up on my blog habit (that I'm having a hard time finding time to do sometimes!). Yet again, we had some more action packed weekend fun! On Friday evening, we all 3 went to the Fall Festival at our church. Mom and Dad met us there and got to see the new children's building that our church has - it is SOOOO colorful, and I can already picture all of the fun that T.J. will have in that building. Some of my best memories are of times at church and friends that I met there, I can't wait to see T.J. on that journey!! You will notice that there are no pictures of T.J. in his costume. That would be because Mommy did not take pictures the first 4 minutes we were there, and that was the length of time that our costume was on. However, T.J. was a very cute Thomas the Train (yes, he picked out his own costume, that definitely would not have been Mommy's first choice!)

On Saturday, we had a relaxing weekend at home. It's been a long time since we got to do that!! Then, on Sunday we went to church and then met some of our friends at the Corn Maze here in Lubbock. They had hay rides, a little cow train, a petting zoo, and then we went through a big corn maze. Every time you came to a fork in the road, there was a numbered sign and you had to look on a little card to answer the questions to know which way to go. It was REALLY fun, and T.J. has a pretty good little sense of direction (he must have learned that from his mom - ha, ha!!) The maze was in the shape of Raider Red (shown on the picture). What a fun day with good friends!!



The following weekend, we went to San Angelo for Halloween. When we first got there, we went over to meet my sweet little niece, Sophie, for the first time. She is almost a year old, and this was the first time I've seen her in person - she's TOO cute!! T.J. didn't really know what to think of her at first, but he warmed up after a little while. It was really nice to get to see everyone. We actually went for my grandfather's birthday, and he loved having all "his girls" there to visit. It was a good time!



We went to "Trunk or Treat" at Southland and saw some good old friends. Then we went with Shelly, Drew, Riley, and Kaylin to go trick-or-treating. Some of their friends had a little trailer that we took a TON of kids on to go to houses. Jeff and I got the good end of that deal - we stayed with T.J. and Kaylin (and they are not the fastest kids ever!) while the other parents were trying to manage about 15 five-year-olds - Sounds fun huh? All in all, it was a great Halloween.

What a Ride!!

During the week, we do not get to do a lot of extra activities, but on the weekends we try to cram in as much fun as possible. Boy, did we ever last weekend!! So much so, that I haven't even had time to get caught up to blog about it until just now (the weekend after, so be on the lookout for 2 blog entries today). On Friday, Jeff called to say that he and his old college roommate, Joel, were going to go out hunting. So, Joel's wife and my good friend, Sara, called to see if T.J. and I wanted to go on a mother/son date night with she and her boys, Mason (who is just a few weeks younger than T.J. and that he LOVES to play with) and Miles (who is not even a year old yet, but will soon be getting into all kinds of trouble with his brother and T.J.) T.J. has never been to Chuck E. Cheese so we decided to go there. He LOVED it!! We had such a great time. We have been to Mr.Daddy's (Mr.Gatti's for those of you that don't speak T.J.) but that is really geared more towards older kids. Not Chuck E., he's all about the younger kids. T.J. was fascinated with Chuck E. and LOVED all of the games. They had one ride that was a simulated roller coaster for the little guys, but it was pretty intense. I thought T.J. and Mason would get scared, but they ended up riding it more than once because they loved it so much. What fun!!

Then, Saturday morning T.J. and I got up and headed up to Home Depot for a building project. We had never been before, but on the first Saturday of every month, they have a free kid's project. We built a bank that looks like a firehouse. They also had some firemen and a real fire truck up there for kids to get in and explore. You know that's right up T.J.'s alley, so that was a great time!



From there, we went back home to get ready for the Texas Tech vs. New Mexico football game. Martin Miller (the Edward Jones agent Jeff works with) and his wife, Patti, were out of town and let us have their tickets. We went early to go to Raider Alley and hear some live music and get a picture with the masked rider. That part was fun, but I was concerned about how T.J. would do at the football game because it was a pretty chilly day and that's an awfully long time for a two-year-old to sit still. However, he really outdid himself. Luckily, there were some people that usually sit by my parents that weren't there so T.J. got his own chair instead of having to sit in one of our laps. I have a feeling we would not have stayed long if we hadn't had that open seat. We stayed until the 3rd quarter, and then it started to rain so we headed on home.


The next day we got up and went to church. Then, we went out to lunch with some friends from Sunday School. Then, Jeff and T.J. went home and I went back up to the church to help with a baby shower. On Monday after school, T.J. and I met Sara, Mason, and Miles at the pumpkin patch. We really did it to get some cute pictures, but that was not happening. Mason and T.J. were really neither in the mood to take pictures so we just stayed and played for a little while and then left. It was quite an action packed weekend!!

Happy Birthday to Kaylin!!

We went to San Angelo this weekend for Kaylin's 3rd birthday. So, we have now seen Granna, Pa, Shelly, Drew, Mikey, and all of the cousins for three weeks in a row. Apparently, we all just can't get enough of each other! We stopped off at the Red Raider Outfitter before we left town to get new Texas Tech shirts for all of the kiddos to wear on Saturday for the big Tech vs. UT game, so we didn't get to Mikey's house until almost 10:00 that night. We went to bed right after we got there since we had such a packed day the next day.

We began our Saturday going to the soccer field for an 8a.m. game. We lucked out that Megan and Riley were playing at the same time, so we just went back and forth between the 2 games. They both played awesome and both won their games (even though the San Angelo Soccer League doesn't keep score - all the kids and families still do!)

After that, we came back to Mikey's house to attempt to get T.J. a nap before the birthday party - attempt not taken!! So, we headed off to Mr.Gatti's for a hoppin' birthday party! The kids had a blast playing little games. The big hit was the game where the kids were each given a part of a "noodle" (you know, the ones you play with in the swimming pool) and had to keep a big balloon up in the air. The little Tinkerbell high schooler who was our party entertainer could hardly get them to stop that game. Although, we did lose touch with what the object of the game was, and it quickly turned into who can hit the other party goers with the noodle.

They also played "Duck, Duck, Goose" and T.J. was so cute playing that. They play it at his daycare so he actually knows the rules and played pretty well. I just love to see how big and independent he is playing games with other kids.

After the birthday girl opened up her presents and the kids finished their delicious pizza, they each got more tokens than they could possibly spend and tore off in the play room. T.J. loved the "Whack-a-Mole" game and played it several times. He got a bunch of tickets and was very excited to spend them on a very impressive plastic snake that was confiscated many times after that for putting it in various cousin's hair and harrassing them with it - Such a boy!!

We then went and watched the football game (that Tech actually did much better than I was afraid they were going to). Shelly and Drew have this awesome cabin out by their house where we watched the game on the big screen t.v. while the kids ran around having a big time outside. It was really fun!! We all always have so much fun together!!

Then today, Sunday, we headed back home - that would be myself, Jeff, T.J., and another important part of our married lives - the Scout. For those who aren't familiar, let me give you the short version of the story of how the Scout came into our lives. Every marriage has a few areas where couples have to agree to disagree - ours is the Scout. It is a 1974 International Scout II - any of you like myself - who don't understand male lingo - apparently, this is quite a prize that men dream of getting a car, fixing it up, and driving it around town to show it off. Now, that is a great habit for a RICH person, or a person with lots of time on their hands to have - Unfortunately my husband is not either of those things. So, he has sadly given up the fight, and decided to bring it back to Lubbock to try and sell it. Such a sweet hubby! Anyway, on the way back home, we had a blow out on the trailer we are hauling this thing back on. I think it was just the Scout's last attempt to show me that it is not going away without a fight - ha, ha! Anyway, I'll keep you posted on what happens with our dear friend!

5 Cousins and a Funeral

Well, the Nelson clan has gotten to hang out more in the past week than we have in a while! Granna, Pa, Shelly, Drew, Mikey, and all the cousins came for the Labor Day weekend to go hunting. We had a great time! Shelly and I took the 2 little kids - T.J. and Kaylin - to Mr.Daddy's (translation: Mr.Gatti's). They had a blast! It's actually really nice to take the little kids because they're pretty cheap dates. Since they're under 3 (for at least a few more weeks) their buffet is free, and then when you go back to the play room, they just like to sit on the rides. Without putting a cent in, they think they are really doing the game - they're pretty funny to watch together. They are really interacting and talking to each other and it is just so funny to watch the way they play together.

The next night we went out to Uncle Donnie's house (where Jeff, Drew, Mike, Pa, Riley, Megan, and Matthew) went out hunting. T.J. took his play gun out there and was SOOO funny - he would squint his eyes and put the gun right on his eye (like he was lining it up) and then (quite loudly) say, "Pow, pow!" Now, I have to tell you Uncle Donnie has every critter imaginable out at his house. So, I was a nervous wreck with T.J. walking around out there. He, however, was completely entertained and had a GREAT time even with Mommy trailing behind him continually saying, "Don't touch that", "No, T.J., that is not a nice puppy", "T.J. Nelson, do not pick up that poo-poo" (Yes, those words actually came out of my mouth) But, Donnie does have this AWESOME (as far as snakes go!!) albino python. That is honestly the closest I've ever gotten to a snake - especially one that big!! T.J. was completely enthralled in that and all the kids posed for that cute picture.

Anyway, it was a great weekend with family members crammed into every corner of the house and no problems - that's a pretty amazing thing when there are 12 people piled into one house. Then, on Monday evening we got a phone call that Jeff's great aunt (Aunt Minnie, Memaw's sister-in-law) had passed away. Minnie lived next door to Memaw and she was a very sweet lady and a big part of our family. So, of course, we had to go to Burnet to be with all of the family to attend her funeral. So, we took off Wednesday afternoon after I got out of school and headed to San Angelo, spent the night, and got up early Thursday morning to head to Burnet. I was VERY worried about taking T.J. to a funeral - it was not open casket, but we did go to the funeral home before the service for a viewing. Jeff and I took turns staying with T.J. in the lobby. Then, we all went to the church for a family lunch. T.J. ate a ton and was then beginning to get cranky - as a Mom, I can see those "I'm about to need a nap" signs coming on, so I was worried. After we ate, we took all of the kids outside to get some energy out before they had to sit quietly through a rather lengthy service. There was a hill outside that the other cousins were having fun running up and down, but my little cautious fella spent his time sliding down the dirt hill on his bottom (so we looked very nice for the service but, hey, you pick your battles!!) T.J. did really well (he ate 4 of those little Dum Dum suckers during the service but, again, battle picking). He clapped for the soloist every time she finished a song which was really cute. Then, he had to go to the potty, so we quietly excused ourselves. Now, T.J. is going through a modest phase about going to the potty (which only kicks in at public restrooms) where he wants to go in by himself and close the stall door. So, I'm a mom who likes to encourage independence and let him do this. He doesn't know yet how to lock the door, so I hold the top of the door and peek in to make sure we're actually taking care of business and not just playing around. However, I usually assume that once we're sitting on the potty, we're in the clear - WRONG!! I looked away as he was on the potty, and all of a sudden I hear, "I catching Nemo." This causes me to look in thinking what on earth is he talking about and I see my precious child holding his belt in the potty like a fishing pole - that's my son, folks - fishing with his belt in his church clothes at a family funeral!!



The picture above of Riley and T.J. was taken about 10 minutes into our trip home - we were all exhausted after a long day of funeraling. So, we drove home beltless with dirt all over the bottom of our pants and a Dum Dum sucker stick stuck to the bottom of our pant leg. Oh, the life of a Mom with a little boy!!