Christopher Alan Hailey

A year ago today my cousin Chris passed away from a long battle with cancer at the early age of 23. Those of you that had met him or knew him well knew that he was such a wonderful, friendly, courageous, and sometimes moody person that loved the outdoors and hunting. Those of you that never had the priveledge to meet him really missed out.
My favorite story of Chris was when he was probably about 5 or 6 and we were supposed to be going to sleep on Christmas Eve in our sleeping bags at Grandma's. Chris, as stubborn as he sometimes was, did not want to go to bed. Instead he found it amusing to run around and do something to each of us to aggravate us and we would in turn yell to our parents to tell on him. When our parents had had enough, my Dad came in with one of Grandma's wooden spoons threatening to pop him if he didn't lay down. He ran around yelling "nah, nah, nah, nah, you can't catch me." Then he looked at my Dad and said, "That spoon will break if you spank me" My Dad assured him that it was strong enough to withhold popping him. Chris did not give up so my Dad popped him and guess what? The spoon broke in half! We all starting laughing including my Dad and Chris looked at him and said, "I told you so."
Today we celebrate Chris' life and are so proud of everything that he accomplished. He is so fortunate to live in Heaven and watch over each of us everyday. He was a much stronger person than we could have ever been. I wish that Jack would have had the opportunity to meet him. I tell him about his Cousin Chris everyday and he smiles.

We love you Chris and miss you everyday, but know that you are in heaven keeping everyone straight!

Jack's 1st Boat Trip

Sunday we took Jack out on Dad's boat in the Tchefuncte River. He had a great time when he was not in the life vest. Poor thing, look at how miserable he looks.
The only way to make him happy in the life vest was to let him sit with his Cookie in the drivers seat!

Finally he fell asleep. How cute is this?! We rode around on the boat for a while and then went to the beach for the rest of the day so that Jack would be comfortable. He loved playing in the sand and water.

Much needed Reunion

For the first time in a while everyone was in town for the weekend. Mo and I are both out of town so it isn't very often that we are both at a girls dinner at the same time. We all went out to dinner on Thursday night and had a great time catching up. I miss you girls and wish that I was close enough to do it more often!!!

My 1st Fishing Trip

Brandon flew into Mandeville on Thursday night for the Memorial Day weekend. Friday afternoon we left and went to Doug's camp in Montegut, La. for a fishing trip on Saturday. I was not that excited about it because I don't fish. I was very excited about a relaxing day on a boat getting sun though. Doug, Brandon, and Mom had a great time, but weren't too lucky on the amount of fish that they caught. They said that they weren't biting good that day. I did get persuaded, really forced, to fish for about 30 minutes and caught a redfish, but I made them throw it back because I thought it was too small. These are all of the fish that the 3 of them caught that day. We will be eating fish for a while now.

Our Trip to Mandeville

I am sorry that I have been absent from the blog world. Jack and I decided at the last minute 2 Sundays ago to head to Mandeville for the week to visit family and friends. We had a great time! We stayed busy the whole time. Jack is now 10 1/2 months(I can't believe it:)). As you can see in this picture Jack is now pulling up on everything. Gigi's house was not Jack-proof and he quickly figured that out. Thank you Gigi for letting Jack redecorate your house.
My Grandmother and Jack's Great-Grandmother was in town fishing for the weekend with Mom, Doug, Tracy, and Alan, so she stayed an extra day to see Jack and I. We had a great time with her! Jack was not much in the mood to smile as you can see.
Jack got in the pool for the first time while we were there. My best friends from home Kyli, Emily, Lindsay, and Cara got all of the kids together at the pool on Wednesday. They range in age from 10 months-4 so it was very interesting and alot of fun. Jack loved the water. He wasn't sure of it at first because it was not warm like his usual bath water. Poor thing, his lips chattered for about 10 minutes before he finally got used to it and decided that he liked it.
This is Kyli's yougest Sophia (2) trying to feed Jack.
This is a picture of all of the little ones. We tryed forever to get them to look at the camera at the same time and we never succeded. At least we got a picture. From left: Owen(3 1/2), Anna Claire(4), Sophia(2), Jack, Jane(1 1/2).
I hope that everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day!!!

Our Little Dishwasher

Last night Jack decided that he wanted to help Daddy load the dishwasher. These days he wants to help you do everything:) He had a blast and it was definitely the highlight of his day and better than any of the 100 toys that he has in his toy basket.
Poor Bella wants attention. She gets really jealous by the end of the day!
Jack took a second to pose for the camera. He is such a Ham.
He was trying to unload as Daddy loaded.

I hope that everyone is having a great week and can't wait to see my wonderful friends at home over Memorial Day!!!

Love,
Ashley

Long overdue post......

I am sorry that I have not posted in a week. I guess we haven't done anything too exciting. This weekend was nice. We had dinner with Sena and Robby Friday night and then went to our friends John and Emily's wedding Saturday night. My 1st Mother's Day was great! Brandon gave me money and let me take the afternoon and shop. It was wonderful. He took Me and his Mother out to dinner last night. I have the best husband!! Jack is crawling everywhere. I feel like I say NO all day long because he is into everything. The other day I turned my back to get a drink out of the fridge and he had turned over Bailey's water bowl and was splashing in the water that was all over the kitchen floor. On the same day I caught him trying to eat the rocks out of the bottom of the fireplace. The fun has finally begun!! He is cutting 4 teeth right now, so he has been pretty cranky. I hope that everyone is doing well and has a great week!

Jack's 1st Playdate

Jack had his first playdate yesterday with Isabella and Ian. We started a Kindermusic class about a month ago and have made some wonderful friends. Ian is only 3 days younger than Jack and his Mom Lacey is great friends with our friend Erin Martin that lives in Destin. Small World:) Isabella is 1 month older than Jack and Ian. She is precious and a tough one. She has been walking for about a month now and kept trying to ride on the boys backs. It was very entertaining. Next week we are going to take them to the zoo. They should have a blast.
I just couldn't resist posting this picture. I wish he would have been happier. It was really windy in the shade and Jack's hair was uncontrollable. He was not very happy about it as you can see. I think I am going to have to get it cut again.


Gigi will be here tonight and we are very excited. We have no big plans during the day this weekend because it is supposed to rain all weekend. Have a great weekend!

Love,
Ashley