Date

So our wedding date is set! It is May 30th 2009. We are both very excited and have been very busy planning already. I will keep you up to date as we plan. More than anything I would like for you to pray for my Daddy. The ulcer on his foot just recently got infected and they are going to start a new type of therapy to try to help it heal. As most of you know, my Daddy has diabetes. We have been dealing with his ulcer problems for almost 3 years now. Please help us pray for him.

WE ARE....

ENGAGED!!! I am up now posting a blog because I have been up since 3:59am and I am not sure what time I fell asleep. I am so excited. So here is the story!
OK, So... Evidently this was all supposed to happen this last weekend in Helen. Pete bought the ring but was able to save on taxes by having it shipped to PA to his parents (smart, very smart). Then their job was to turn around and ship it to Pete at work. Well his parents did it perfectly, but it still did not make it to Pete before we left for GA. I can't even begin to imagine how upset he was! Anyway, I came home from work yesterday a little before he arrived and found a flower arrangement on the front porch. The card on it said "The Reckard's". Often times people will do this just to make it easier than saying both of our names. I get the card and attempt to open it and notice that the seal on the back was Kimball's Jewelers. I have been asking for a tennis bracelet so was sure he had bought me one! I called him before opening the card and told him about the flowers. He sighed (in what I know now as aggravation) and said don't open it. I had a hair appointment at 5:30pm so I left and went on my merry way. Many things were running through my head including a ring! I definitely had myself convinced though that it was not and if it were, I for sure never thought I would get it yesterday!
I got my hair done and came on home where I thought he had just went and got take out for dinner and it was going to be a nice calm evening.
I arrived at my house to find our little guy "Cadillac" greeting me at the door. He was wagging his tail as hard as ever. When I walked in there were candles lit EVERYWHERE, the fire was lit and the lights were off. Pete said the first thing I said was "good grief"! Then I noticed Pete! He was dressed from head to toe and the last time I saw him he was wearing jeans and a polo with pizza stains on his shirt! Still had no clue because he had been acting very strange for the last few weeks. So he stops me in the middle of our living room, in front of the fire place and ASKED! I will leave out all of the mushy stuff... Of course, I cried and said YES!!! He had a bottle of Dom Perignon and the table set up very nice for dinner! He then asked me if I wanted my "gourmet" dinner and I said sure. He opens the oven and pulls out.... Take out from Gondolier. It was great. We are very goofy sometimes and this fit! We both laughed extremely hard about the take out!
Wow! I am so excited. What a shock! I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you Pete!!! I love you with all of my heart!
I hope everyone enjoys the pics. The are not the best because I was so nervous!
We will add more soon. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Oh by the way he also was playing music in the background from the tv, that is why there is a blanket over it! That really had me confused...

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Happy Birthday to ME!

Well this birthday has been a lot of fun. I was really dreading it because I knew there would be one phone call that I would not get this year (Susie's). I was amazed though at my friends, family and Pete. They all kept me busy! On Friday night before my birthday, we had a girls night. I finally laughed and we really just had a good time. I don't know what I would do without my girls. Then on Saturday night Barry and I celebrated our birthday together. We had dinner and drinks with several friends. Then on my actual birthday I received flowers at work from Pete and went to dinner with Mom, Daddy, Brian, Benita and Rachel. We had a good time as well. I then took myself on a short shopping trip! :) Pete came home on Wednesday. He had been gone since the following Wed. so I was definitely ready for him to come home. This past weekend, I celebrated my birthday with him. He would not tell me where we were going. He told me how to pack and we left on Friday! We ended up in Helen, GA which is one of my favorite little towns. It is a German Town and has neat bars, stores and a lot of German food. Pete had rented a beautiful cabin. When we woke up on Saturday morning, Pete looked out the window just thinking he may see a couple of deer and he did! We saw 8 deer in our back yard. We then spent the day in Helen just doing what we wanted to do. Cadillac and Pete got me Aveda gift cards! I also got wine and champagne as well as a marble slab birthday cake. Man am I spoiled. Pete always goes above and beyond! Today we got up and went to breakfast and went to Anna Ruby Falls which you can see is very pretty.
I am very thankful for everyone. I have so many blessings in my life! Although we just lost someone very dear to us, we need to look at what a wonderful family we have (as well as friends) and enjoys our many blessings. Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

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Pete's Hunting Trips!!!

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So, as you can tell... Pete has been very busy. He has had a blast though. Hunting is definitely his passion and I am thankful that he is able to go and do as much as he does. The pheasant hunt that you see was in South Dakota. This was Pete's first time going there and he really enjoyed the trip. He also went to Mississippi to Tara Wildlife which he has done a couple of years now. He did not kill anything on that hunting excursion (deer hunting). Then the most recent trip was Zapata, TX where he killed a 12 point that weighed 215lbs and scored a 152 on the Boone/Crockett scale. I have no idea how that works. All I know is he killed a pretty big deer! His friend Walland is the one with the largest rack and it scored 165! Pete also killed a Coyote but left it laying... Doug and Doc obviously killed bobcats. I really want Pete to kill one of these for our wall of masterpieces. Yes, yes... We have a trophy room. I will only allow one room though, ha ha. Actually I am very proud of his animals and think most of them are beautiful! Hope you enjoyed the pics.

OK! So this is my response to Tara's tag... This is the pic I found.

Four things about this photo:
1. Pete and I took Cadillac on his vacation for the year in Tellico Plains.
2. Cadillac loved the river because he did not have to swim!
3. Cadillac's ears always get wet! Pete likes to tell him after he drinks water that he is "all wet behind the ears".
4. I caught a trout in this river that was about the size of a gold fish. In fact I killed it by hooking it because my hook was bigger than the fish!

Now I tag:
Lindsey Isham
Jessica Jackson
Katie Stooksbury
Heather Couch

Go to your pictures, go to 4th folder, 4th picture. Post pic, tell 4 things about this photo and tag 4 people!

Please keep us in your prayers...

Our "Susie" passed away this last Saturday, November 1st. It was sudden and it has been very hard. I can't imagine my Daddy and Benny's hurt. We need your prayers to help us have the strength to get past this troubled time in our life. Thank you.

I know that "My Aunt Susie" will not be able to read this but she is missed a lot and will continue to live through our memories. I love you dearly Susie. You have been and always will be my role model!

Happy Halloween!!!

Well, as you can tell we have been busy tonight! We carved our pumpkins and I think we did a pretty good job (not to have used a carving kit). Cadillac had his own although I really don't think he cared. Well Happy Halloween everyone!

Good News!!!

Cadillac's tumor was benign! We just got the news today. It was a trichoepithelioma! These are formed around the face in most cases and are filled with keratin. They can come in multiples (his did not) or single. He may or may not have another one in his life and there is nothing we can do to help prevent the tumor from coming back. Hopefully this was the first and last. His wound looks very good and we go tomorrow to have the stitches taken out. No more of that cone around his head! We are sooo relieved! Hope all is well with everyone.

Frankenstein?!?!

Although he felt bad after surgery, he still waited on his Daddy to get home.


SOOO. We have our own Frankenstein! Poor guy. He is pitiful. They got the tumor out and it will take 5 days to get back the results. They said it had tentacles on it and they had never seen one quite like it. I am so worried and waiting 5 days is going to be hard.
He did ok with the surgery but they told us he has "only child syndrome" and that we need to work on that! He deserves to be spoiled right now so they can just forget that!
Well his incision is almost 4 inches long... Pete said he will get all of the girls now because "chicks dig scars". Well I will update you as soon as I know something!

HAPPY FALL!

Hello everyone! Well it's my favorite time of year and I am loving it! I went camping with my best friend Heather at Norris Dam State Park and had a blast. A few more friends were there as well. I love this time of year. I went camping on Friday night and Pete left on Saturday to go on a hunting trip in Mississippi and will be gone until Wednesday. I left a good luck charm for him under his pillow on Friday which was a watch that is ideal for hunting (compass, etc). He had been wanting one for a while. Well... Just as I had thought I had outdone him, I get home from camping and there is a beautiful arrangement of fall flowers on my doorstep from him (in pic). He always does well! As I was going to bed last night I lifted my pillow and found a card! He was on his "A" game! For those of you that don't know... Pete is an over achiever and has done things like these since day one. I have to admit, I have a good one.
I start my new job tomorrow and I am very excited. It is going to be a crazy week though. We found a bump on Cadillac's head that would not go away so I took him to the vet. It could either be a mast cell tumor or some sort of cyst. If they tried to aspirate it to send fluid off and it were a mast cell tumor it would release histamines and cause him to go into anaphylactic shock. Therefore, we are NOT taking our chances... He has to have it removed on Thursday so keep our little man in your prayers! I know he is a dog, but he is our child! I will update you this week on how it went! I hope everyone has a great week.

BUSY, BUSY, BUSY!

Ok, so life has been a little crazy... In the last few weeks we have been on a weekend trip to Tellico Plains to fish (Cadillac's vacation), on a weekend vacation to Nevada City, California and I have decided to resign from Resp-I-Care!!! The trip to Tellico Plains was nice. We stayed in a small cabin and went fishing. Cadillac does not like swimming (he is not really built for it), but after we had the chance to show him that he could touch the bottom he really seemed to like the river! Pete then had to go to Sacramento, CA so he decided he wanted me to come out too! He would not tell me where we were going, but I knew we were not staying in Sacramento. I flew in on Thursday night and we left Friday on our excursion. Well we ended up in Nevada City which is right in the middle of the gold country. We arrived at a very nice bed and breakfast that was 138 years old! We had a blast. Pete had the whole weekend planned... Dinner reservations, wine and cheese every evening, a draft horse show, a wine tasting and brunch, visit to the Empire Gold mine, tour of the original fire hall, and just pure relaxation! I had a blast and we both needed it. I have been extremely stressed with the career change and my stress had rubbed off on Pete... He has been a trooper though and very supportive! The job change is a good thing and it is still in the Respiratory field, I am so excited and ready for something new! I am so sorry it took a while, but here are a few pics. I am also including a pic of Cadillac and his new neighbor friend! It's a CAT (sugar). She likes to come in our doggie door to visit. She is sweet but Pete can't stand cats. Cadillac is amused by her though and they enjoy one another. (I just realized, there are no pics of me. I will try to do better!)

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Long time no see!

I am sorry that it has been a while, but we have had a virus on our computer and it took me a bit to get it fixed. We have been very busy! Pete has been on a fishing trip, work has been crazy as I found out that my counterpart is quitting, it was Daddy's birthday, and we have been on an 8 day vacation! Well Happy Birthday Daddy! (I know I have already told you but I wanted to tell you in the blog world as well)

So, about the vacation... The Thompson family went on the first family vacation in a long time! We went to Orlando. I really enjoyed myself and Pete got exposed to all of us together. I think he was in culture shock! All Tara could do was laugh and Pete just shook his head. Bless their hearts!!! Oh well, we all understand each other! (Even though at one point our loving mother said she thought me and my brother were aliens) Anyway, Connor was great! I never imagined a 20 month old could possibly be that good in the heat for hours and not having had a nap! As long as he had snacks (aka nacks), he was good. Pete and I enjoyed him so much and are actually having to get adjusted to not having him around. We hit all of the parks in Disney and Universal. Mom and Daddy got a full day with Connor alone and took him to the beach for his first time. They were in heaven. I know for me, it made me miss being closer to Brad, Tara, and Connor. I am tired of only seeing them once every couple of months, so Pete and I are going to try to make it a point to see them more often. Pete and Connor are big buds! One of the funny moments: Connor comes out of the bathroom after taking his nightly bath and Pete says to Connor "Hey Slick" (Connors hair was all wet) and nonchalantly Connor looks back and says "Hey Pete". It's probably not as funny on here but it was hilarious that night. He has got us all where he wants us. Thank you all so much for a wonderful vacation. We enjoyed it and it was nice to have our family back together for more than just a weekend.

On another note... We got back from our vacation and poor little Forest had to be put down. He was so wore out and we think he had cancer. Pete and I took him and it was devastating. He has been around for more than half of my life. I miss him a lot. He was always so happy. I know he was hurting and he is better off now. I never will forget, Michael Kirkland, a middle school boyfriend got him for me on Dec. 18th, the exact same day my Granddaddy died. He was a Christmas gift and I thought my parents were going to kill me. Forest ended up being my Daddy's sidekick. We all will miss you Forest.

Here are some pics from our trip!

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Happy Birthday Tara

Happy birthday! We are so blessed to have you in our lives! As I began to think about it, I realized you have been around more than half of my life! Tara and Brad got together when I was TEN! I am so thankful for you and I could not ask for a better sister! My brother had better be good to you on your birthday. Pete says happy birthday old lady... (that is pay back for the "little guy" comment) We love you!

I am sorry I am a little late, but Pete's birthday has been busy! His Mom, Dad, sister (Lynn), niece(Alyssa) and nephew(Justin) came in over the weekend. His sister and her family live in Alaska and we rarely get to see them. We had a blast! Friday night we just hung out and spent time together then Saturday went and played tourist in Gatlinburg/Sevierville. We went to the aquarium, rode go carts, bumper boats and played mini-golf! Then we went to the Dixie Stampede. Sunday we went to Rockwood and visited the property... They seemed to like it. Afterwards we all went to my parents house and Mom cooked one of her wonderful meals... Thanks Mom! Thank you all for making Pete's birthday a lot of fun! It was very nice to spend time with you all!

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Pete is turning thirty four! His family is coming in this weekend so I will have plenty of pictures for you soon!
I love you Pete!

Happy Late 4th!

Pete and I went to Williamsburg, VA for the 4th. We had a blast! Thursday and friday we just went around and learned about some history. We also went to a couple of original taverns. Pete made us reservations at a wonderful restaurant where we had a very nice dinner. Then friday evening we watched the fireworks from a large ship! It was very nice. We had never seen fireworks from the water and it was definitely worth while. It did rain on us the whole time though. There was a pretty large storm that came through, but we toughed it out. Then saturday and sunday we went to Busch Gardens! It was a lot of fun and we were not on any time schedule (which was the best part). I hope everyone else had a great 4th!

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Progress!!!

Back at Mom and Dad's, while we are hard at work is Mr. Cadillac (Daddy calls him Barney). As you can tell he is not the most energetic thing in the world!

So as you can tell there was a lot of hard work to be done this last weekend! This is where the house was... Pete and I have worked diligently and finally can see some progress! We filled up 2 of those garbage dumps you see in the last picture and need to fill one more! Lots of work but one day we will have a gorgeous farm house in the middle of 17 beautiful acres... I have to remind myself of that, lol. I have became good friends with our new tractor. I have learned how to bush hog. Never thought I would see that day!

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This weekend was very busy, but Mom came to rescue me for a little bit. She and I picked blackberries and enjoyed nature. We often times take the small things for granted, but we took a little bit to spend time in the woods! Mom was an avid girlscout and was raised on a farm so she is continually telling us the names of trees, bushes, and flowers! While she and I were out I learned a few things... What holly berries look like in person, what milk weed was and what it looked like (they are very pretty), and what a paw paw is. All of my life we have sung the little song... Picking up PAW PAW'S, puttin 'em in a basket. I had not a clue what I was singing about! Now I do! My favorite girlscout showed me one (upper right picture). So I am slowly learning this stuff!

Mom took all of the blackberries we picked and made a cobbler... It was EXCELLENT! Country girls at our best, ha ha. Thanks Mom! You are too good to us.

The big project, continued...

So the reason we tore the roof off of the house was so that it could be burnt. The volunteer fire department came in and destroyed it for us but would not do it with the shingles on the home. Needless to say this weekend is going to be filled with a ton of more work! Clean up time!!!!

The BIG project!

About a month or two ago Pete bought land in Rockwood. It is seventeen acres!!! Approximately ten acres of it is pasture and there are horses on it now... The horses belong to the previous owner whom we have told can leave them there until they find another home for them. It is nice having them there because that means someone is down there often and can also look over our land. It is out in the country and is very secluded so people have been known to trespass. It is also on the lake but the place where we will put our home will not have a view of it. There are two ponds on the property so our house will sit in the middle of them. The mountain views are gorgeous! As Pete says we don't need a house on the lake, we have my parents!!! He is just kidding... Or at least I think so, ha ha. Anyways, believe it or not I have been pretty involved in the work. I think my Daddy and Pete are scared. So far I have bush hogged and helped tear off the roof of the house that is on the property! We are having a blast down there. Enjoy the pictures as I try to keep you updated.