2012 Christmas eCard

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Halloween 2012

Meet Link from Zelda and our little angel:

Trey's latest poem

Riding lessons

A sampler please

In this photo, Trey had just returned from a long bike ride around the Fall Creek Falls Park. He was hot and hungry. I offered to make him a sandwich and gave him the following three options: PBJ, BLT or Turkey & Cheese. His reply:

Fall Creek Falls: A Family Tradition

Every August for the past four consecutive years, the Patterson family gathers together at Fall Creek Falls. This is a tradition that dates back to the 1970s during Boyd M and PJs childhood. And for a tradition inside tradition, our foursome keeps track of how many deer we see during our annual weekend trip. Last year we counted a total of 35 deer; this year 17. As we approach the park

Words to remember

Yesterday on the way home from school, I asked the standard 'how was your day?' Trey burst out: "I cannot express to you in words how AWESOME 5th grade is!"

Samantha is also having a great first week both in and out of school.

Slight break in tradition

Today was the first day of school for our now 5th and 3rd grade kiddos! Instead of the usual, hurry-up-and-take-photos in the morning tradition, a sweet friend suggested taking our first day photo at the END of the first day. We thought it was an excellent idea since we missed the morning moment in order to get to school early. Both kids reported a great first day!

Celebrating 11 early

Trey and his buddie enjoyed a road trip to the Nashville Zoo to celebrate Ts 11th Birthday early. Our kids start school this Monday and T wanted to hit the zoo before school started:

From basket to table

The Eraser Army

Trey started his eraser collection while in the third grade. He collects would-be throw-away pencils, mechanical pencils and random eraser parts, saving bits and pieces of just the eraser for his army. He sometimes draws faces on them, sometimes not. And sometimes he inserts

Special Delivery

Samantha is creative--no arguing that point. Today, she asked me (aka Momma) to call over our four-legged family member Oz to me. Upon his arrival, I discovered an envelope for me with a special message inside. I read it, wrote a reply andsent it back to her via Oz.

More fun with our cousins

Can you say ROAD TRIP? We piled into the minivan, two moms, two boys and two girls, and headed to see GMA Helen and Gmama/ GDad P in Dville. Great time!!

Hanging with our cousins....

....on a wonderful Independence Day together!

The heat is on

And we're just trying to keep cool!

Someone loves Birthday Parties

Preparing to turn 8 and having a birthday party early can be lots of fun, especially when celebrated at the farm!

Horseback riding, outdoor mountain block playing (think Jenga only BIGGER!), tire swinging, eating Birthday cake and

Archery and bullwhip cracking

Just another day at the farm, doing archery with Dad and cracking the whip!

Golf lessons in the front yard

Someone has been very interested in learning to play golf.....Coach Grandpa to the rescue!

The Fort

Nearly finished and already loads of fun in the new club house, affectionately now known as The Fort!

Thanks so much Granddad P, Grandpa F and Daddy for all your sweat equity!

Please not another lemonade stand

Don't get me wrong, the kids have already had many a lemonade stands. It is a childhood rite of passage.

But on this occasion (Memorial Day morning) when Samantha and her friend H decided to sell lemonade by the gallon (for $12 a gallon!!) in order to earn more money, it seemed an excellent opportunity to discuss some small business basics and encourage them to think creatively. We discussed two topics:

The water is wet

And refreshing! Just what we needed on this sunny 91 degree day in Chattanooga!

We want to wish Uncle David F a very happy 35th Birthday today!

Summer Theater

The kids have created a long list of fun activities to fill their summer time! One of their recent activities involved creating and performing an original untitled play in our front yard:

More Mr. Squishy

We are pleased to report OK-432 is doing its job on Mr. Squishy, and at precisely one week post-op, has doubled Mr. Squishy in size as projected. In the coming days and weeks, we expect Mr. Squishy will deflate as it shrivels up into nothing more than scar tissue. Part of OK-432s magic is that it is helping Trey's body fight the cyst, creating what we anticipate will be insignificant scar-like tissue that prevents new growth of the lymphatic malformation.

Altar Servers today

Horsing around

Aunt Di, Kinsley and Samantha enjoyed time together at the farm today:

So long Mr. Squishy

Today's procedure went great! The radiologist and surgeon reported most of Trey's cyst was one large pocket which is great news. We anticipate going home tomorrow, and the next few days and weeks we will watch and document any changes as part of Trey's recovery and requirements for the study. We come back to Vanderbilt in a month to ultrasound Mr. Squishy to see what, if anything, remains.

Mr. Squishy

Our life took an unexpected turn on Sunday, January 15 of this year when I discovered a squishy lump on Trey’s neck while applying aloe to his sun burn. Trey had gone fishing out on the ocean for the first time earlier that afternoon, and the Miami sun was brutal even for winter.

Club House progress

Thanks to the incredible sweat equity of Grandpa and Granddad, the club house is really coming along!!!

Club House Work Continues

Club House Summer

Thanks to drawings by Granddad P and sweat equity by Grandpa F, work is underway for a new club house in our back yard for Trey & Samantha. Plans had to be altered to make the structure portable so being up in the trees was no longer an option. The kids are VERY excited!!! We will keep you posted on our progress:

Roller skating 101

It was very satisfying to see Samantha's friends teach her how to roller skate:

Gators and Scooping Poo

Uncle David M recently taught Samantha how to drive the gator and scoop horse poo. Interesting and effective combination:

The Shield

Trey has been earning money for a new shield, and not just any shield but an authentic stainless steel Link shield. The shield arrived today, and with some minor modifications to accommodate our lefty, it is ready for action!

Trey Recital Video

He performed the song Gerudo Valley from the video game Zelda:


Click here to view on youtube.com if video does not play.

Samantha's First Holy Communion

Samantha carried a vintage purse from 1977 thanks to her God Mother Aunt Di!

First time mowing the yard

Someone is super proud of himself for mowing our yard for the first time today. And he should be!

Ready for Father Daughter Dance

Trey with clay

Meet Link from Zelda game.

Fun in our front yard.

Inspired by book: Sadako and the thousand paper cranes

As part of a project at school with a group of multi-grade students, an exhibit of 1,000 origami cranes debuted at the recent St Jude Fine Arts Festival. Trey really enjoyed participating!

Our little scientist.

Second grade field trip to the Science Center at the Creative Discovery Museum was full of hands on learning.

Red birds.

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." ~Pablo Picasso

Sweet hand and feet.

Winkle and Twinkle

In early December, Trey and Sam wrote letters to Santa requesting magical stuffed elves. Not long after, Twinkle and Winkle arrived with a letter from Santa. Twinkle and Winkle were a lot of fun! They decorated the kitchen with marshmallows, climbed the Christmas tree to cover our angel with The Terrible Towel, and made snow angels in the den using rice. They even served the kids gf donuts for breakfast one morning! The kids enjoyed Twinkle and Winkle and look forward to their magic coming back again next Christmas!

Nov./Dec. 2011 Photo Memories

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving season of home-made goodies and time with family and friends including hiking at the McDonald farm and visiting Gma & Gdad P and Great Gma Helen in Dville.

In December, Samantha had a fun Christmas dance program before school let out for the Christmas break.

More Miami South Beach Fun

Jan. 12-16, 2012 with Aunt Di, Uncle David and Mom.

A "first" for Trey this trip was his first time fishing at sea. He said "it was cool! Because of the sensation of being on a boat." Samantha's first-- a French manicure. "Ooh La La!"

We always have a wonderful time being outside in Miami, and here are some photo highlights.