Baseball Season

Just wanted to let everyone know that baseball tryouts were this past Saturday, February 21. We should be hearing from our coach this week to know what team Dylan is on. Can't wait!! I just love watching him play sports!! So, be watching the blog for updates on Spring Baseball 2009!


Update: We made it onto the Cubs! More to come soon.....

Thank You!!

Sorry I am just posting about this, but Sutherlan wanted to say thank you to Aunt B and EE for the gift cards to Target. Last week, we had a busy week, but we were able to go over to Target and let her spend her gift cards!! She was so excited!! She just couldn't decide...she kept picking things up and saying, "yes, yes, this is what I want" and then we would walk down another aisle. She finally made her decision and we ended up getting quite a bit of stuff. She wanted to take a picture when we got home to show everyone, so here it is......



She got some Thumbelina dolls from the new Barbie movie that will be coming out in March of 2009 - "Thumbelina", Tinkerbell's House playset, a Barbie "Secret Hearts" book, a Hello Kitty Video with 5 episodes on it and finally a Hannah Montana microphone. It lights up and plays a song. She has been performing for everyone around the house!!

Thank you again to Aunt B and EE for the gift cards...she really enjoyed spending them!

Happy 4th Birthday, Sissy!!

Can you believe my baby is 4? Well, apparently she can't either. While giving her a bath Friday night, we were talking about her upcoming birthday and she said, "Am I 4?" I said, "Not yet, but you will be tomorrow". She then said, "I don't think that's such a good idea". I asked her why not and she said, "I like being 3". Then she thought about it a minute and said, "Will I be bigger when I'm 4?" and I said, "Yes" and she said, "Okay, I like being 4". She is getting so big and her vocabulary is just about to crack me up!! She is really getting to be such a "BIG GIRL" and she is so much fun to be around. She is becoming quite the little shopper too.

For her birthday, we went out to dinner on Friday night with our neighbors and had "Hello Kitty" cake. Then on Saturday, we had another birthday party to go to, but we had to celebrate her birthday with her again! After dinner Saturday night, we had cupcakes and sang "Happy Birthday" to her again and she opened her presents.

Happy 4th Birthday, Sugarbug!! We love you!!
Mommy, Daddy and Bobo





Sutherlan with Bailey



She got a wooden pizza for her kitchen from Bobo and a baby that crawls from Mommy and Daddy!



Here she is with Hudson, her other boyfriend, at his birthday party. Aren't they cute?



Singing "Happy Birthday" again after dinner on Saturday night.

New Orleans 2009

We went on our yearly trip with our neighbors, The Thackers, and had a GREAT time!! Last year, it was San Francisco. This year, it was New Orleans. John had to work some of the time, but for the most part we were able to sight see and eat at some great restaurants. We ate at Herbsaint, August and the last night of our trip Emeril's. It was delicious!! We also took the streetcar up to the Garden District and to Magazine Street to do a little shopping. Of course, we hit the regulars like Cafe' Dumonde and The French Market. Here are a few pictures from our trip.



Brandon, John and Rebecca at Pat O'Brien's




Me and Brandon at Cafe' Dumonde having our "Beignets and Cafe' Au Laits"



Me and Rebecca in Jackson Square



This is a great place to take pictures from....you can see Jackson Square behind you.



All of us on our last night in New Orleans. We had just finished eating at Emeril's.

Trip to meet Baby Will

We were so excited we were about to bust! Ever since last Tuesday when Will was born, Sutherlan asked every day if it was time to go see him. The 3 1/2 hour trip seemed more like 5 hours because she asked every ten minutes..Are we there yet?? We were so excited to meet our new nephew and cousin. We went to Birmingham on Sunday and came home on Monday. I have to say....He is ABSOLUTELY precious!!! I forget what it is like to hold a newborn. It sort of gives you "baby fever", but not quite enough to do it all over again. We can enjoy our nephew/cousin! I hate that we don't live closer because I know he is going to change so much in the next few weeks and months. Thank goodness Aunt B does a GREAT job at updating her blog!!! :) We look forward to seeing all the pictures that I know she will take. I think she said she was on picture 149 or so. Keep them coming!! We love you and miss you already!!!!

Baby Will

Brandon's sister gave birth to William Michael Vakakes on Tuesday, January 13 at 3:30 pm. He weighed 7 lbs. 13 oz. and was 21 1/2 inches long. The kids are so excited to have a new baby cousin and we can't wait to see him!!! He is adorable!

Bittersweet Bowl Trip

Dylan and Brandon received a call a couple of weeks ago from Pops with some exciting news. Brandon's Aunt Kay and Uncle Perry had three tickets for them to travel to see Alabama play in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.

Trip=sweet. Final score=bitter.

The Tide just didn't come to play and were outplayed, outcoached, outscored...out-everythinged by the Utah Utes. However, Dylan had an awesome time. He was so excited in the days leading up to the trip. He kept getting on the Internet looking up pictures of the Superdome and it was pretty much all he could talk about. The night before the game he told Brandon that he didn't think he could go to sleep because he was so excited.



Brandon, Dylan and Pops left Friday at noon on Uncle Perry's private airplane and arrived in New Orleans about 5 hours before the game. They went down to the French Quarter and ate lunch at the Acme Oyster Bar before walking over to the stadium. When they got close and could begin getting glimpses of the roof, Dylan's excitement built. See, not only was he going to see Alabama play, but the Superdome is also the home to his favorite NFL team, the Saints.



Outside the stadium there was a lot going on, but they soon headed inside. Dylan was antsy to get a souvenir with some Christmas money he'd saved from EE. He wound up getting a t-shirt commemorating the game. Brandon and Dylan also went down to the edge of the stands to watch warm-ups. He got to see many of the players come out of the lockerroom and just thought that was the coolest. Their seats were great. They sat in the loge section in the corner of the Alabama end zone. Javier Arenas ran the punt return back for a TD right in front of them, which turned out to be about the only highlight for the home team.

After the game the guys headed back to the airport for the ride home. They got back to Birmingham about 2:30 am and Dylan was needless to say exhausted. All in all, though, it was a great memory that he won't soon forget. Thanks Aunt Kay, Uncle Perry and Pops!