yup, preston and van are tying the knot on saturday, so a congratulations are in order. we are very happy for them and this has been a long time in coming – just over a year engagement. it should be a blessed wedding event and hopping reception afterwards. they are perfect for each other and i just pray the Lord blesses them with a great marriage. just need to keep their sites on HIM and remember the commitment they are making to each other!
it’s just me and jonsee to watch the house. last friday, stacey, brooks, and ally piled up with her parents to go to gatlinburg for the week (returning tonight Thursday). they went to Dollywood a couple of times, visited downtown Gatlinburg, putt-putt, and bunch of other stuff. they had a good time and the weather mostly cooperated. i wasn’t able to go because i needed to stay behind and work and save vacation time for trips later this year (see pending disney and possible beach trip too).
with that said, it was me and jonsee to the occupy the house. naturally, i had a decent honey-do list while she was gone and i was able to knock off each of those items.
friday/saturday we had our sunday school retreat here in town where our pastor friend Mike Stinson preached a couple of sessions. it was an awesome time of growth and learning. that afternoon, i stopped by zeke’s parents house for a cinco de mayo party and for his birthday. later that evening, i was able to go see the avengers with paul, carmen, and josh. the movie was great and i really enjoyed it. even considering seeing it again if the option arises. 
sunday, church as usual and there was supposed to be a soccer game which for some reason was cancelled. i took the liberty to caught up on a few work related items.
monday, was about the only evening something wasn’ t going on. jonsee and i played around the house, i read some and sort of relaxed a bit.
tuesday, after work was deacon’s meeting which ended up going a bit long. after that i grabbed a starbucks coffee and made my way home. it ended up being a long day, but i was able to play some soccer at lunch over at intergraph for a about 35 minutes. it was a good run and good chance to touch the ball in a semi-competitive environment.
wednesday, the game that was cancelled on sunday was moved to this day and i was able to work that in. we won the game and for some reason they left me i the entire game — 90 minutes on the pitch put my body in a bit of shock considering that i haven’t ben exercising that much to be honest. it was a ton of fun though and i was able to notch a couple of assist while at it. after the game though, was a grocery run since that is always done by stacey on wednesday’s. so, off to the store i went and i am so not the one to do this. i think i left two coupons in the car and didn’t get a deal i was supposed to on some clearner. stacey indicated she would correct the mishap i said i would leave this up to her each week. she does a tremendous job for sure.
thursday, naturally put the house back in order they are coming in … in fact they should be here shortly. they went to dollywood today as well so i am sure the kids are worn out.
i will say that while they were gone the first day or so wasn’t too bad, but after that i was ready for them to come back. i told stacey going on business trips is easier and better than me staying at home and them leaving. just felt weird and was way too quiet at night without everyone here.
glad they are coming in tonight!!
yes, i know this is late, but this still needs to be addressed
2 monday’s ago, i had the privilege to a “patron” on the grounds of Augusta National Golf course. during last years lottery event for practice and tournament day tickets, i was lucky enough to get selected. as such, both my brothers, my dad, and me all piled up in chattanooga the sunday before Easter and left for augusta. it was a great trip. i was able to get us a room in aiken, sc, many months before on membership points at a fairfield inn i’m looking to make similar reservations again in an effort to beat the “special rush” but i doubt that is possible.
either way, the trip was a great, were on the grounds by 8am and didn’t leave until sometime after 5pm. even though the gates close at 6.30pm, we were exhausted by that point and were ready to head on back. we were able to see a lot of golfers on the course practicing, putting, chipping, and basically whatever they wanted to do. it was pretty slick seeing how they actually prepared leading up to the tournament. we were able to see tiger for a few holes as well the defending champion schwartzel among many others.
outside of the players that we saw, watching them sklip it across the pond on 16 was by far the coolest – so much so that martin kaymer aced his skip shot later in the day (youtube it). we weren’t there at the time but could hear the roar throughout the course.
the course was actually a LOT more hilly than i expected or as TV makes it out to be, but it was just as pristine as it makes it out to be. the greens were already fast on monday ahead of the thursday start, and the fairways were just incredible.
hoping to have some pictures of the fun up on the picasa page soon, so check there. now, the fun begins in trying to get BACK, oh how going back would be so sweet.
this past friday, april 13, we took brooks and ally to Thomas the Train in Calera, AL. it was a gorgeous day and it was not too hot and to top it off, it was not crowded at all. we had a blast. brooks and ally really enjoyed and it was such a joy to see the excitement in both of the kids.
on our way back from calera, we had to stop and pick up jonsee from delyn and jeff’s house. we weren’t 5 minutes away and brooks proclaims, “i’ve gotta go pee mommy!” well, for brooks, this means a near immediate stop as he waits until the very last minute to tell anyone he has to go to the bathroom. he kept saying, “mommy, gotta go pee pee, mommy, i’m gonna tee-tee hurry!” with no exit in sight, stacey turned around and had him unbuckle and proceed to pee in a cup we had. as she’s telling him to do this, he says “mommy, you aren’t going to drink my tee-tee are you?” oh my goodness, i nearly had a wreck and stacey nearly dropped a cup of pee. it was hilarious and we absolutely loved it. he did a great job peeing in the cup and reminded me of the days back in soccer tourney’s where we would do that in gatorade bottles.
all the while, ally just looked on and wondered if she could do it also : )
precious.
pictures are of the day with thomas are on picasaweb album, just let me know if you want the link.
ah, the season of basketball is coming to an end for college teams and my wife could not be happier. the bright side is that i really do not follow the nba that much, so she is spared from that given the coverage now available via espn. i do, though, perk up around nba finals time because those games typically are pretty good through and through (see dallas and miami last year).
heading in to this past weekend, i was actually in pretty good shape with my brackets. i was looking at potentially having 3 of 4 teams in the final four and things were on the up. then, kansas upset unc (not good at all) and osu beat the men in orange and things went south. i did have louisville (thanks rick p) and kentucky (thanks john c) as two of the final four dancers in addition to unc. i was simply rooting against osu as one should at this stage of tourney because others in the local pool had osu where as i had the previously knocked out ‘noles from fsu. it was not to be as osu won and kansas knocked out the hansen-less heels in style. the be fair, the heels were over-matched most of the game.
otherwise, this has been a good march, it did get off to a rocky start with tornadoes through the area at the beginning of the month, but the weather has settled down right nicely of late.
coming in to april, i’m headed to augusta! wahoo! yup, my brothers and my dad will be going to the monday practice round this year as i was able to score some lottery practice round tickets. we are stoked and are looking forward to a great time. for the trip, i’ve rented a nice 28-300 lens from lensrentals.com to help fill up the memory card of the nikon d40 dslr.
look for some other stories about brooks and ally coming in a separate post, this month has been a blast.
Well, we have finished another Poke Sallet Follies in Athens, and it was a great time as usual. Every night was a sell out and through the patrons, we were able to raise another significant round of money for the senior center and meals on wheels.
Stacey and I were both in the opening number and then separately in a couple of other numbers. This year was the 20th anniversary year and to date the events have raised over $400k for counties centers. Just tremendous.
We look forward to next year as well and I will try and get some pictures posted over the coming week.
stacey and i finally sat down to take some time for a movie and we had “Courageous” from our friends, the King’s, at church. for starters we did not know it was a 2 hour movie or we might not have started it at 10pm on a friday night, but oh am i glad that we did.
the movie was great and it was an excellent challenge and call to all fathers. we were both moved by the movie through the laughs and the tears. yes, both of us were easily crying at many points in the movie only to be followed by sheer laughter.
the movie challenges father’s and husbands to a Biblical call to be the man of the house and lead the home not just through every day but to Christ himself. as the movie portrays it isn’t an easy task and it is one that will be met weekly, if not daily, by the devil himself. however, with Christ as the rock and foundation of your home, you and your family will be able to weather anything.
i encourage others to watch it if they have not and wish i only had seen it sooner.
today is your 5th birthday and it is hard to believe you are already 5. you are growing up so fast. you have blessed our lives in so many ways and we continue to relish in your growth and progression. there are tough days, no doubt, but you are a child of God and blessing that neither of us ever expected when we started our journey together in 2004.
today was especially cute, as we kept calling you “Birthday Boy” and you kept saying, “I’m Brooks Givens” God Bless you son!
God bless you son and Happy 5th Birthday!
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