Jackie turns 18!!!

John's sister, Jackie, turned 18 on the 10th! Happy Birthday, Jackie! Her parents were kind enough to host a surprise party in her honor at Berkeley Hall. We think she was really surprised. Unfortunately...I didn't take any pictures! She looked beautiful in her dress! I'll post some pictures if I can get some from Genie. Here Jackie and Jack are posing in her kitchen. Jackie is excited that Jack recognizes her and gets excited when he sees her. By the way, Jackie's going to NC State next year! GO PACK!!!

Chuck, one of John's UNC roommates, got married on the 13th! His bride's name is Angela. Dr. Angela. And Dr. Chuck. Nauseating, really. Just think how smart their kids will be.

The other day when it was 80 degrees outside, I thought Jack might like to mix art time with outside time. And I was right. He colored with his new crayons. The huge ones that are for little kids. And he loved it! He got more on the driveway than the paper, but he did manage to complete his first masterpiece, which is hanging in his Daddy's office. Scout went on the outdoors art field trip, too, as you can see by the hairy paw in the background. Scout and Jack continue to be best buddies. Every time we pull into our driveway, Jack begins his repetitious "doggy, doggy, doggy" chant that doesn't stop until we're in the door and he's received a few licks from his hairy older brother. It's cute.

This is Jack's Elmo doll that he affectionately refers to as 'Melmo'. My Mom and Dad got Melmo for Jack while we were on our vacation over New Years. Since then, he has not slept without Melmo. In fact, he gets fretful near bedtime when Melmo is nowhere to be found. This weekend my parents are coming to town and bringing a back up Melmo with them. Just in case. And I should probably start calling him Elmo instead of Melmo. I don't want to be one of those parents who starts calling people and things what their children do. John would be 'Da-da' and Scout would be 'goggy'. And I would be strange.


Jack is so full of personality these days, and I think this picture shows that. He had just gotten out of the bathtub and was getting ready for his post bath naked house run. It's seems to be his favorite way to dry off.

John and I are doing well. John continues to be busy with work, which is a good thing. Our New Year's resolution is to take our house, room by room, and get rid of the stuff we don't want or need anymore. So far, we haven't made much (any) progress on that, but hey, it's only January, and there's something freeing about that. Like the feeling of a Friday night once you've started a weekday, 9-5 job. You know what I'm talking about. The go to MiTierra's and scarf down an entire chimichanga and glass of sweet tea because no one will care if you are overeating cause it's Friday night feeling. Maybe I'm alone on that one.

Christmas Vacation

This Christmas we traveled all over the place: Greensboro, Las Vegas, Sedona, Scottsdale/Phoenix, and back to Greensboro again! We spent Christmas with my family and then headed to NV on the 26th-2nd. Jack stayed behind with my parents. It was so hard leaving him, but very worth the time spent with my husband and the Ussery and Smith families!


Santa visited Jack in Greensboro. He got a basketball goal, this Superman that sings 'Itsy Bitsy Spider" (John think this emasculates the super hero), some books, an Aquadoodle, a lawnmower, stacking blocks and some UNC shirts. His favorite gift was a singing Grinch that Gammy gave to him. We're on the 2nd set of batteries already.


Here's Jack amidst the chaos.


Gigi, Jackie, Jordan and I posed for a picture underneath the glass pansies in the Bellagio hotel. They had some of the best Christmas decorations I had ever seen. That night we watched the dancing water fountain show in front of the Bellagio. Very Oceans 11, huh? We stayed at Caesar's Palace. I was confused most of the time just trying to find the elevator to our room.

Another shot in the Bellagio. These are all the original Ussery kids plus the 'additions' (Trevor and me). Believe it or not, John and I managed to see Vegas without gambling a penny. We did get to see Seinfeld perform, which was hilarious! After Vegas, we headed to Sedona. What was supposed to be a 5 hr drive turned into about a 7 hour drive due to traffic over the Hoover Dam and a pretty impressive snowfall in Arizona.

We finally made it to Sedona! Jordan had planned a rock climbing adventure for us, but we had to cancel because of the snow. Rats. But we did get to hike some trails. One trail led to this red rock formation. Some of us were more daring than others. John, Jeff, Jordan and Ramsey climbed to the top while the rest of us stayed below (Jackie, who wanted to climb farther, Austin, Logan, Trevor and me).

After Sedona, we headed to our final destination: the Phoenician! What a beautiful resort! Among our activities were: golf, hiking Camelback Mountain, working out, relaxing, Pilates class, bellydancing class, Bocce, ballroom dancing class, lying by the pool, sleeping in, playing Catch Phrase and Pit, kicking the soccer ball, throwing the frisbee, tennis, etc., etc! We had so much fun with the Smiths and Ussery! Thanks for the vacation!!!

Here is Mr. Smith, Ramsey and Trevor teaching a tennis clinic at the Phoenician, which is mainly the reason we were able to go. Unfortunately a nasty cold ran among our group for part of the trip, but it seemed that the Smith men pulled off a great clinic. And I would know because I am a tennis expert. Jordan and Mrs. Smith played Hale Irwin's wife and daughter and BEAT THEM! WHOO HOO!!! I noticed that in order to be accepted among the Smith/Ussery crowd, you have to be at least moderately competitive.

Here's a view of one of the pool decks at the Phoenician. So beautiful. The weather was cool for this time of year. Highs in the mid-sixties. But the pools were heated and you could pull off sunbathing during the afternoon.

This picture was taken about 1/4 of the way up Camelback Mountain.



Why we thought staring directly at the sun was a good idea, I will never know. But, alas, we made it to the top of Camelback. From here you could see over all of Phoenix and Scottsdale. Breathtaking (and blinding)!

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

Jack played, ate, ran, visited and talked the ears off of Mimi and Poppy (the Grandfather formerly known as PiPi). He regained his appetite and along with that a few extra pounds, 4 new molars, some new toys, and another black eye. I don't think he missed us one bit, but we sure were excited to see him again.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! Best wishes for a wonderful 2007!