Atlanta- Day 2 & 3

It was our final conference day at the Chick-Fil-A headquarters, so thought I would post some pictures of inside the building.

The infamous "cow".
The owner has lots of antique cars...including.....

the BATMAN car!! Billy is actually talking to Chris and telling him about the car.





This was just outside the front doors; the whole building is surrounded by trees.

We met up with a friend that Billy met on the internet while playing the game 'Travian', and we ate at this restaurant. The desserts looked scrumptous!! (although after dinner we were too stuffed to try any!)

Here is Roy.....the monkey is a different story.


Saturday Billy is taking an additional session on becoming certified to be a teacher of the "Habitudes" curriculum that is authored by Tim Elmore. So I will be 'vegging' out at the hotel all day. Hopefully it won't rain and I can actually go swimming! It has been a great couple of days and I even have learned some things that will help me at my job.

Life Is A Highway

Billy and I have made it to Atlanta.....here are some pics of on the way here.


On the way from Nashville.....the 'spot' in the middle is actually bug guts on the windshield.

Steeep grade.....
So the trucks have a 'slow-down-lane'....so to speak!!
This was a truck we passed.....thought 'meow mix' was a strange thing to use for fuel!!
Our hotel here in Atlanta...it is right next to the airport.
Just look at the size of that T.V.!!
You can watch it from this room on this comfy couch....
Or from the king-sized bed.




I'll leave you with a 'highway' video.

Garage Sale & Hail Storms

This is Sydney posing with a concrete baby statue....but more on it later.


We had a garage/yard sale yesterday at my in-law's house, since our garage was far from being ready, and they have a nice long driveway!! Sydney taking a break to color; the table she is sitting at was sold, but the owner hadn't come back to get it yet: Annabella eating her yummy lunch of sweet peas and hawaiian delight!! Okay...this next picture is of the concrete 'baby'.....we affectionally named it the 'demon baby' because of the way the eyes are painted.
BUT.....something horrible happened to 'demon baby' on the way from our house to our in-law's house....it...um...... kinda fell off the trailer, making it a.......





HEADLESS demon baby!! Billy was going back to our house to unhook the trailer and found it in the middle of the street about 2 blocks from our house. So we put the head back on and let it sit in front of the garage to keep the bugs away. It really looks kind of creepy, doesn't it???
So we closed up shop around 2:00, and about an hour later, this nice little hail storm hit:




That is from the front door.............




This is from the back door; I was really afraid our glass table top was going to bust! Today has been a much quieter weather day.

I am on vacation this week as Billy & I are heading to Atlanta on Tuesday for the 2008 NATIONAL LEADERSHIP FORUM:
“Screenagers: Equipping and Unleashing Generation Y”
featuring Dr. Tim Elmore, Dr. Leonard Sweet, Paul Litten, and Chick-fil-A executives. I

It is being held at the Chick-Fil-A Headquarters. We have opted to drive because it just wasn't any cheaper to fly!! Hopefully we will have nice weather and no car troubles.

Stormy Night....

It's a stormy night here in SW Missouri; earlier today a storm came through and caused some damage to some businesses along Hwy 65; above is a picture as it blew over our house. Here is one from the newspaper of signs down along Hwy 65:




However, last Sunday was a very nice day as well before it rained, so Billy & Sydney took advantage of the nice weather.








We are having a garage sale this Saturday, so been trying to get ready for that as well. It is amazing how much stuff you accumulate even AFTER you have sale after sale!! The weather is supposed to clear up by tomorrow afternoon, so this weekend should be another sunny one!

Well, why I'm waiting on my cherry pie to get done, (don't worry, Mrs. Smith made it...) I thought I would update the blog.

Yesterday we saw some pretty big rains here in good ole Springfield...you can view pictures and videos of the floods around town at:

http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/gallery?Avis=DO&Dato=20080613&Kategori=
NEWS01&Lopenr=806130804&Ref=PH

And just like last time we saw flooding, the basement of the BSU flooded again as well. Billy stayed the night on Friday to make sure the sump pumps kept running, but just as he thought things were okay and he could catch about an hour's of sleep, the breaker that the electric pump was tied into tripped, and that sump failed causing water to get into the basement.

He was able to keep it from rising as much as it did last time, but even just a little water can cause a lot of headaches!!

So while he was having 'fun' mopping up water today, Ashley, me and the girls drove down to my dad's place at the lake for a Father's Day visit.






I had not seen his new place and I think it's really nice. I hope to be able to go down again soon. Both girls had a good time, although Sydney wasn't feeling too well. I think they were all glad to just be out of the apartment!

Tomorrow is not only Father's Day but Danny's 24th birthday as well. I'll post more pics later. I will leave you with this video of Annabella making some funny noises and faces:

It's currently 11:45 p.m. and Billy & I have spent the last hour with his mother & step-father at the hospital as his step-father said goodbye to his only sister. She passed away suddenly earlier this evening.

It's times like this that makes you look at all the 'petty' issues in your life and wonder why they are 'issues' at all. God has a way of bringing that to our attention sometimes. Life is definitely too short.

A Wedding & A Birthday

This past Saturday was the wedding of our niece Tiffany to Jody Willis. Here are some pics:




Sydney & Annabella patiently waiting for the wedding to begin.
They had their wedding at an old mill north of town. This was the covered bridge overlooking a creek; it was very pretty.


Here is the mill; the straw wouldn't have been there if it hadn't rained so much the day before! But it would have been might muddy without the straw.

Chris and Ivan rolling out the 'white carpet' .

Sydney was the flower girl, but wouldn't walk down by herself, so Ashley got to be 'co'-flower girl!


The bride arrived in a good old-fashioned convertible.

Her proud Mom escorting her down the aisle.


As you can see, it was quite windy as well.
"You may kiss the bride!"

The wedding party on the bridge.

Cutting the cake. The girls caught the bouquet, however.....


The groom had a little trouble 'flipping' the garter....

First time........
Second time.....he finally just picked it up off the ground. Chris....he just stood and watched.


The whole wedding party for a final picture.
Getting ready for the 'rice-rain'.

Then on Sunday....we celebrated Sydney's 3rd birthday!!!

Annabella looking as cute as usual.


The castle cake made by her mother; I thought it turned out pretty good!!

Sitting in her new chair.

And playing in her new Dora tent.
She had a very nice party and received lots of neat new toys and clothes. She is getting to be a big girl!!