Florida visit...

Part two of the travel series...

Bud, Scott's older brother, recently retired after 22 years of service in the Air Force. I think it is so special Scott is from a military family. Bud was the first person to salute Scott after he became an officer, and Scott was able to preside over Bud's retirement ceremony. Thinking about how special that is makes me smile. There is just something about the service of his family that makes me so proud.

And speaking of proud, can you find the two proud grandparents in the shot below? Before the ceremony, we were able to spend time together as a family...

The day was made extra special, because Aunt Josie rode to the ceremony with us. She and I were in the back of the Pilot together, and it was such a treat to get to visit with her for over an hour each way. She is actually the one who started calling Bud, Buddy when he was just a little guy. To non-family he is Andy or Andrew...but to us, he is, and will always be Bud.

For those of you who were at our wedding, can you believe these are the same little angels who were wore matching while dresses with the sweet little green sashes? Pre-teens...but still just as sweet as the day I met them.

Natalie and Nathan...check out the grin on that guy!

Bud's whole family...Tyler, Chris, Balenda, Jayden, Bud, Devan and then Kayley and Lexi in the front.

All the guys in their military uniforms...aren't they handsome?

And a proud mom and dad with their boys.

Richard led the invocation...

And Scott presided over the ceremony. He kept it light, but you could still tell how much he loved his brother and how proud of him he was/is.

And if you have ever been to a military ceremony, you know there are lots of things to give out. Scott pinned an award and gave Bud his certificate of retirement.

Balenda received a certificate of appreciation.

And Bud got lots of cool doo-dads for his wall from the unit where he served.

And then Bud gave a short speech.

But his favorite "present" came from Balenda and the kids. They framed a collection of things for him that he was absolutely surprised by. I'll spare you the rest of the presentations, but know that mom, Balenda and the girls got beautiful flowers, the boys got coins, dad got an engraved coin made from the base of a 40 mm shell, and Scott got an engraved bowl made from the base of a 105 mm shell from the cannon the airplane he worked on fires.

And since we are ALL so rarely in one place, we took the opportunity to take a quick family picture.

After the ceremony, we were able to explore one of the airplanes Bud worked on, but unfortunately no pictures allowed. The kids all took turns in the pilot seat, and you know the boys were intrigued with the guns/cannons. I was amazed with how much technical information Bud knew. He was a huge asset to his unit, and I know they will miss him.

chattanooga weekend

Part one of three of the upcoming travel series...

About a month ago, we were fortunate to find a Friday/Saturday where neither Scott and I nor his brother Richard and wife Krista had anything on our family's busy schedules. They live about 3 hours away in Chattanooga, and we have been wanting to visit for a long time. We got there early Friday evening and had a great dinner and hang out time around the house. All the kids stayed up late and the grown ups enjoyed visiting.

The next morning we started off slow. Aunt Krista had a whole bunch of toys that CJ thought were great. His favorite was definitely the little people from Noah's ark. They fit ever so nicely in his mouth. :)

Natalie and Nathan snuggled and watched cartoons. Aren't they cuties? You should meet them...they are super sweet too!

They we had a wonderful breakfast. Krista spoiled us with biscuits, gravy, sausage and eggs. YUMMY!! CJ was a good eater too, but that was thanks to his cousin Natalie. She can get this little man to open his mouth almost to the point of unhinging his jaw. They were quite smitten with each other.

Then we got moving. The guys and kids went by the Harley store, and Krista and I enjoyed getting ready without any little helpers. We met up at the school where Richard works and the kids attend. It was fun to get to see their classrooms...even the biology lab where Natalie dissected an earthworm. GROSS!

And then we made our way into downtown Chattanooga. It is a beautiful city. There was an article about how great it was in Southern Living, and it lived up to the hype. We started off at the Chattanooga Cho-Cho and then headed to the aquarium. The kids had fun running around outside...

Then it was time for a quick bite to eat. Check out that wide open mouth! I kept telling Natalie she needed to move in and help me take care of CJ. She is going to be a great babysitter in a few years. I see lots of cash in her future.

And then we finally made it inside. A quick family shot of Richard, Krista, Natalie and Nathan...

And then a quick shot of Scott, me and Booger man...

There are actually two buildings split between freshwater and salt water. CJ had so much fun looking at the fish and touching what he could.

And Natalie and Nathan were a hoot at usual...

And just as we were getting going, Krista's camera died. I said "No worries...I have mine." And then about 10 minutes later, mine dies. The funny part of this is the only person in our family more adamant about taking pictures than me, is Krista. For us both to be camera-less was very sad. :( So, you'll just have to envision the kids petting sting rays, playing with butterflies, and being oh so very cute.

After the aquarium we walked around downtown and then went to one of Richard and Krista's favorite Italian restaurants. It was yummy, but getting close to bed time for the little man by the time we were done. We headed back to the car and drove home as CJ slept. It was a fun weekend, and we hope we can do it again soon!

catching up...

My apologies for being a bad blogging mama. The past few weeks have been hectic with travels (more on that later), and CJ decided to go through a "I don't want to sleep at night" phase again, so I was one tired mama. Luckily he is back to sleeping well and even decided he didn't need to sleep in my arms for naps anymore! Yeah, yeah, yeah; although I do miss all the snuggling. It truly is amazing how much you can get done while your kids are sleeping. I totally understand how other moms stay on top of things and get anything accomplished before 8:00 at night.

Here are a few pictures from about a month ago. CJ was helping me in the kitchen and loved this pastry brush. He had so much fun playing with all the parts of it, so I couldn't help but snap a few quick pictures of his cuteness. Oh to be young and so entertained by something so simple...

may it continue...

CJ loves books. Unfortunately, he does not love to sit still long enough for me to read them to him. :( My hope is that he continues to explore them, and eventually loves to read them.

off to the races...

I proudly present for you consideration...

birthday weekend...

The big 3-0! I am no longer 20-something, and I'm still not sure how I feel about the whole thing. :) When Scott turned 30 it was fun to tease him, but he has been mercifully nice to me. But also may be all the percocet he has been taking. It was a rough few days around the Hetzel house...

Last Monday, my mom came down to watch CJ, and early Tuesday morning, Scott and I headed off to Ft. Stewart for him to get PRK (like lasik). Since we had a night all to ourselves before surgery on Wednesday, we headed into Savannah for a nice dinner on the beach. We didn't love the restaurant, but it was nice to be together.

All was well until about 12:30 that night when I woke up and quickly realized I had food poisoning. I won't go into any more detail, but needless to say, it wasn't pretty. Scott's surgery went well the next morning considering they brushed his eyes with an electric toothbrush and then burned them with a laser. yikes! After that, we still had to get back across Georgia. The 4 1/2 hour trip took almost 6 hours with stops for me, but we finally made it home. I kissed CJ on the head, thanked mom for being here, and fell into bed for hours. Scott continued medicating, but we were a hot mess.

Thursday, mom stayed until mid-afternoon until I was able to wrestle CJ, and we counted down the hours until my dad got there that evening. What a blessing to have her here!

I was OK by Friday, but not great. Up to that point I had eaten 6 crackers, and had been lusting after the chocolate cherry cake my mom made before she left. My dad helped me get the house straightened up Friday morning...he gets that when my house is clean, I feel better. Also a blessing. And by Friday night when my Uncle Carl and Aunt Kathy got here, I was feeling like going out for a bland, birthday dinner. No cake though. :(

Saturday Scott and I both felt soooo much better. He woke up that morning and exclaimed...I can see...the clock over there (across the room) says 7:20! And I finally got to eat cake!!!

Even though Scott and I were falling to pieces, CJ didn't suffer a bit with all the extra hands around to love on him.

He loves this cookie jar his Nanny the Great sent him. He can already take the cookies out and it working on how to get them back in. He was excited to show it to his Granddad. And his Granddad had lots of fun playing with him.

And this guy will never turn down a meal. I think they like each other. :)

CJ also had lots of fun playing with his Aunt Kathy. She has a granddaughter a few weeks older than CJ, but she and Uncle Carl were both amazed with CJ's mobility and dexterity. Little did we all know that by Sunday afternoon, booger bear would start walking! More on that later though...

Me and my three favorite guys...

And the Williams line...

And the whole gang...

It was so fun to get so many cards, phone calls and birthday wishes over e-mail and Facebook. I felt uber-loved. And maybe, 30 won't be so bad after all...