The Westin Huntsville

... Yesterday was full of souvenir shopping for the boys and family. It was a great day filled with sharing of memories and God's blessings. Thankful we had someone to help us "haggle" in the market place. Jeff's blonde hair and blue eyes somehow makes the price of an item magically go up a few dollars. One thing I experienced yesterday that I will miss terribly... food court food. Yeah... who would miss that right? I had THE BEST ...

... br><br>The venue itself was pretty nice, and we had a really fun crew. They were so efficient and good that we had our fastest load out to date. <br><br>Decatur, AL claims to be a "Grand City on a Charming Scale"... now, I don't really buy that, but I will say, I found it's alternative title "Home of Meow Mix" to be the most exciting aspect of the city. We passed the giant Meow Mix factory on the way out of town. Sadly, it left it's jingle of singing cats in my head for about 5 min.<br>

We woke up this morning to Tim's snoring and I don't think Ashlan moved one inch. So two things.. was she scared..or was she tired? I am going to go with tired. They stayed up till 1am chatting. Although I heard other rooms had childrens who were up till almost 3am chatting. This is why we came a day early. These kids were draaaaaaaaging this morning. We all split up. Tim, Mike and Stan decided to go get a new goalie ...

... us the whole floor..why..because this hotel rocks and they know the drill. You never stick a team of anything in different rooms all over the hotel.. You control the chaos and put them all on one floor so the explosion will be contained. This has been a very enlightening trip. I did learn an interesting tidbit about one of the parents that couldn't make it. Let's just say tell your children that some things ...

(22) TRIP TAKEN MAY 14, 2005 SATURDAY WE DECIDED TO CHECK OUT THE BOTANICAL GARDEN IN HUNTSVILLE, ALABAMA WHICH IS ONLY ABOUT AT THE MOST 25 MINUTES AWAY FROM US. THE LAST TWO YEARS WE HAVE TAKEN OUR GRANDSON WITH US TO SEE THE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS BUT WE HAVE NEVER WALKED THE GARDENS. I WANTED TO SEE SOMETHING PRETTY. IT WAS VERY PRETTY AND I DID WANT TO ...

... ARE THE BIGGEST FISH I HAVE SEEN ANYWHERE EXCEPT <br>FOR THE ONES WE SAW AT THE AQUARIUM IN GATLINBURG, <br>TENNESSEE. THEY ARE VERY PRETTY FISH. IT HAS SOME OF THE <br>UGLIEST DUCKS, TOO! THEY, ALSO, HAD BONGO PLAYERS. PEOPLE <br>WERE SITTING, HAVING PICNICS, TALKING, SKATING, LAYING ON<br> BLANKETS, WALKING AROUND (JUST LIKE US), AND STILL OTHERS <br>WALKING WITH THEIR PETS. ALL SEEMED TO ...

... DURING THE DAY TIME HOURS. IT WAS SUCH <br>A BEAUTIFUL DAY. THE WEATHER WAS <br>PERFECT...IT WAS WARM AND YET THERE <br>WAS SHADE EVERYWHERE. WE WENT TO <br>THE OUT DOOR THEATER. WE LOOKED AT <br>THE NEW LODGE. PICNIC TABLES WERE <br>CLEAN. THE WHOLE AREA WAS VERY WELL <br>KEPT. THE TRASH WAS , EVEN, COVERED. <br>WE WENT TO THE SONIC BEFORE GOING TO <br>MONTE SANO STATE PARK ...

... THE WAY THE WHOLE POWWOW WAS SET UP IT WAS LIKE YOU COULD HAVE BEEN IN AN INDIAN VILLAGE ALONG THE WATER...OH THE SOUNDS ...EVERYONE INTERACTING WITH ONE ANOTHER. THE SMELLS; THE CRAFTS; THE CLOTHES; THE DANCES; THE MUSIC ALL FROM ANOTHER TIME. THE WEATHER WAS PRETTY COOL SO ALL WAS WONDERFUL. THAT IS UNLESS YOU DIDN'T BRING A WARM JACKET. THE LAND WAS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. I AM SO GLAD WE WENT! GOING BACK! LORD WILLING...<br>

I woke up with my clothes on and with a piece of chili stuck to my upper lip; it was still delicious in the morning. Evan's bed was covered with a confetti of malox wrappers and smalls crumbs of fruity tums. We headed into downtown Atlanta to see the World of Coca-Cola , the centennial Olympic park , and the Georgia Aquarium (the largest in the world) . We spent about 4 ...

Whatup all?! So I'm still hangin around Huntsville packin up. I just bought 3 increasingly expensive plane tickets this morning for travels around Europe and I'm getting very excited about this trip. I can't believe I'll be gone for 2 months!! Chance of a lifetime right?! I mean, RIGHT?!! Well, hopefully I'll get another chance, but man we're gonna get to see so many places. And so I thought I ...