the 2010 beach trip: presentations, beachtime & lottie's new mudder

the official photo, the gang's all here

(shon, chris, cj, tony, suzy, kristina, andy on greg, jennifer, spencer, megan over ronny, lianne and tommy over matt, moi with rowdy, lottie sue, lucy and sam, mary ann and then max)

we got back on saturday from a week of fun in the sun, it was another venable beach trip and was so much fun! i have some photos that i will put up here, but with two kids we noticed there is less photo-taking. i am SURE megan will post about it and will have 100 photos so i will link to her blog once it's up. i did steal a few photos from her but there were so many i was overwhelmed. anywho, here we go - and please note that their is not way that i can convey ALL of the jokes (inside and out) of this trip. it is rich, people. rich.

matt made the yummy pimento cheese (mild and spicy) for everyone with lottie sue's help.

after shredding, a mountain of cheese

lottie sue working the food processor

we left on friday and spent the night at the gilmore's house. it was super fun and we packed up early to head over to ocean isle.

the caravan from the smiths' car

once we got there lottie sue started with beach shenanigans, it was pretty funny.


then it was tommy's turn.

mazola

if i go anywhere the first thing i do is unpack everything - i like to have my room like my house. i put everything in the drawers and organize the bathroom and whatnot. tommy and megan live out of the suitcase so this year i offered to unpack their room and make it all martha stewart.

everything has a place in its place

the first night we arrive we have presentations and this year was the best! first, you will notice the queen of ocean isle here...this year she signed a new proclamation.

our queen bee

megan reads the proclamation before all

sam and mary ann enjoy the show

i'll have to get the actual proclamation
for you (or i bet megan will put it up)

then suzy and tony had an awesome presentation, they had special t-shirts for everyone (as in, everyone had their own special t-shirt that relates to them - yes, like i said - awesome). i have a few here that we took shots of...

matt's shirt states the truth - proud to be an american!

i'm a rowdy raider!

sam's shirt says "sin kills" - so funny

lottie sue got a hannah montana shirt, and even though she has no
idea who hannah montana is she LOVED it and wore it every day

our presentation was also great, we made a video titled "deaton the odds" - i can't post it here (soooo very sorry) but believe me when i say that there was a lot of time and effort put into this video that honors one of our brothers, the great tony deaton. he is america's new hero!

there were testimonials, doctors, jezebels (former), UT kickers, bag boys and so much more. you will have to trust me on this one. tony loved being the center of at all! we also made writstbands a la livestrong for the group. it was a winner.

all natural talent, never had a lesson

every night after dinner we walk out down to the beach together. usually the kids end up naked and in the water.

lottie sue maneuvering a sand castle

every afternoon around three, man time happens. man time consists of smoking meat, cocktails and LOTS of laughs for everyone. it is the most entertaining time of the day, lemmetellya.

let me introduce one of the stars of the show/man time...the smoker.

please don't crowd him, as he has to be able to catch his breath

it is rare that we get into the "ideal" zone

here we have a few more shots of the beach, lottie sue loves her some beach. she cries when we have to leave.

i put her in this hole someone dug and then
four people told me how dangerous it was, i missed
the 20/20 show that recently aired on the topic

our first and only (the horror, i know) family photo

there are many underwater meetings at the beach. we really try to solve world issues and come up with new business models.

rowdy's first attendance

matt chillaxes

i can't get by without mentioning the food - OH THE FOOD. matt gained seven pounds this past week! but don't worry, he can lose weight so easily. he'll be back.

megan made some yummy bruschetta

ok, more photos...

we are cute, yes we are

more man time fun

my kiddos

tommy loses an arm to lottie sue and her light saber
(don't worry, it grew back)

there was someone near us that made awesome
sand castles, alligators and so forth

lottie sue on the beach, carefree

here i am with the rowdyman

cj gets a beach feeding

lottie sue and matt run around together

tommy and chris

lottie sue did this one night sans underwear
(yes, sand was EVERYWHERE)

me and my cutie pie

oh yes, i leave you with this photo. lottie sue absolutely LOVES mary ann. i think she may love her more than she loves us. she called her "mudder" all week and the first thing she asked me every morning was "where's my mudder?" - true story.

lottie sue and her new mudder

i have a few more photos that i can't get to right now (mostly about the turtle nerds but i think i have more presentation-time photos). matt is doing a two-city tour this week and they are on his laptop. i'll get them and post later. i also have many things to post about the past month. i am WAY behind on posting about our happenings. forgive me.

but i will, of course, leave you with a few interesting reads. you're welcome.

• louis c.k. interview gets npr's fresh air banned in mississippi, their loss
• metallica says the 2004 documentary was a big, bad mistake
• here's an interview with paul buckley, he's the book cover design guru behind penguin books
• i love stuff like this, check out persona - it's an original photo series that displays a subject and their essential daily items
• i'm sure you've heard about post secret, people send in their secrets via postcards - if you are nosey like me it's a great thing
• here's a site that can tell you song meanings, lyrics and trivia
• you should bookmark this site, it's ALL about television shows
• the word detective can tell you everything you want to know about word origins
• pastemagazine is a great resource for anything in music, film and culture

buh bye!

a shonnie bear baby shower & dr. g changes a diaper (a success!)

Shonnie Bear and Chris are expecting Baby G early next year - it is SO very exciting! Last Saturday we held a baby shower at Patterson's house for our dear friend. Check it out!

here are the yum yums, and they were yummy

please look at the drink dispenser on the left (it's
mishi's) - i am obsessed with it (must. have. it)

these are the party favors, they are recipes of the dishes we served

quicki quichie made by mishi

shon, chris and trent

brandi and chandra

i took a picture of trent, mrs. graham (grandmommy
to be) and chris taking a picture

shon opening gifts (there were a million, i cannot stress to how much
they cleaned up. family members showed their love by giving big
ticket items and having them shipped to their house - SMART!)

rowdy is with his auntie beth and jo, megan and mary ann look on

brad and mr. cassady make an appearance
(please not cassady's tuft of hair on top - it's awesome)

hahahaha, jo wrapped the card inside the gift

For the first time ever, Chris changed a diaper. Better get used to it - hahahahaha! Anywho, he did a perfect job!

here we go...taking off, cleaning up and putting on

voila! a complete success

We then watched some football and ate TOT, here is a picture of Shon talking to Matt after he made a remark about Georgia.

matt is in troubbbbbble

they make her want to drink (no bowl game this year)

Anywho, I will try to steal photos as they come up. I was busy with the shower and I didn't take as many photos as I would have liked.

I meant to put these up in October, better late than never. Mike ran his first (and last I think) marathon in Chicago. Way to go! When Matt and I lived in Chicago the marathon ran on our corner, we would go out with coffee in hand and cheer on runners. It was so much fun, we would always see people wearing UT stuff. Cool.

run mike, run
(that's 26.2 miles, people)

And here is Harlan in his Halloween costume, he was Tigger.

becce said that harlan went nuts after he figured out trick or
treating, he RAN full out to each house yelling "I NEED CANDY"

And now, a few interesting reads for you...

• No more Santa for you!
• Read a little bit into Jung's mind...
• 'The Onion': Mocking All Who Deserve It Since 1988
• Google keeps getter cooler.
• Note for parents: A Hamster is the Hottest Christmas Toy. Go figure.
• Here is your complete guide to Thanksgiving television. Eat some turkey and veg out for a few days.
• If you like to read or need holiday gift ideas, here is the list to the National Book Award winners.
• Forbes names Hollywood's most overpaid actors.

I am so ready for turkey, gobble gobble. The next time I post it will be from our new iMac. I am so excited! We ordered on and it came with a cracked screen. Bleh. But we should be set up tomorrow.

Have a happy Monday!