Newest Nephew turned ONE!

Thought you all might enjoy this adorable picture of our newest nephew. He turned 1 on August 30th. Here is a picture of him after he had gotten into his cupcake! It was a Construction Zone birthday theme with dump trucks...so cute! You can't see it but Grayson was wearing his orange shirt that said "I Dig Being One!"

New York City is WILD!

WOW! What a trip! Belle, Billie and I had a GREAT time in NYC!

I HIGHLY recommend clicking over to Billie's blog to get her version of the trip and more pictures (of course she has a much better writing style than I do): http://myoverstreetfamily.blogspot.com/

Here is my run-down:
Sunday -
1) Get up around 3:30 a.m. and get to the airport by 4:45 a.m. for check-in
2) Board the plane to Atlanta-Belle enjoyed the plane take off, but not the descent or landing. Her ears were popping and they hurt...bad enough for her to cry! We assured her it would not hurt as bad on the next flight (of course she didn't believe us when we started our descent into NYC...however, she could see NYC so it made it better). I thought "good, Belle is occupied but then I had to deal with Billie having a freak-out session when it literally looked like we were going to land in the water at LaGuardia Airport. Several of her fears were realized. Belle got in on the action and said "Momma, it looks like we are going to land in the water"! She was not helping her mother in this situation, but at least we were all laughing when we landed!
3) We got our rental car and made it to the hotel unscathed!
4) Belle and I headed out to the pool...it was about 85 degrees outside a great day for swimming. At least that is what I thought, until I got in the water! WHEW! It was chilly. I had to brave the cold water because Belle just jumped in and wanted me to swim.
5) Around 6:30 p.m. we went in, ate supper, took showers and were all in bed by 8:00 p.m. We were some tired puppies!

Monday
We started the day fairly early because Billie had to check-in for work and get her badge. After that we headed to the train station for our first trek to NYC. We made it to Penn Station (which is under Madison Square Gardens) and had to hike 16 blocks to our bus tour. We got to ride on the top of the double decker bus. We took the express route to the Staton Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty. Something happened on the ferry, and Belle became really grumpy. I had a "Nana-to-Belle" talk and found out she was tired and worn out and didn't realize New York was mostly outside. She ended up giving me and her mother each a "collection of smiles". We had to use the collection a couple of more times on this trip due to lack of a nap and lots of going that 4-year-old is not used to. After the ferry we jumped back on the bus and saw the 2nd half of the Downtown Loop (Chinatown, UN, Carniage Hall, Central Park, etc). We ended up in Times Square where we ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Belle was excited about that and Times Square. After we ate we walked back the 16 blocks to Penn Station and caught a train to Seacoucus where we got on another train to NJ and our hotel. We had dinner there and other cool dip in the pool! Billie left us around 8:30 p.m. to work the over-night shift. Belle and I did a load of laundry and went to sleep.

Tuesday
After Billie got back from working and changed clothes we were off again to NYC. This time we took the bus tour from Madison Square Gardens through the part of the tour that we missed on the Express route the day before (Empire State Building, Little Italy, Chinatown, SoHo, Tribecca). We got off at Chintatown/Little Italy and had lunch at Casa Bella Italian Ristorante. Belle was asking us why everyone used her name for stuff. We had no real answer to this other than it is a pretty name, just like her! After that and the crazy walk through Chinatown, we got back on our bus and rode the rest of the way to Times Square. Since we had seen most of this the day before, Belle decided it was time for a nap. Billie needed one too as she had been awake for 34 hours at that point. When we got back to Times Square we made our way back to Penn Station, Seacoucus, and back to NJ. It was too late for a swim, and Billie had to get back to work in a few hours. Once again Belle and I slept in the nice big King-sized bed as Billie went back to work around 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday
Billie did not get away from work as she planned so by the time she got to the hotel to get ready to go see "The Lion King" she had about 20 minutes to get ready. Belle and I were all but dressed. We left our hotel room at 11:00 to get to the train station and catch the bus at 11:14 a.m. Good thing we were about 5 minutes tops from the train station. Belle and I jumped out of the car and started toward the ticket machine as Billie parked and RAN to catch up with us. We made it just in time to get our tickets and get on the bus. By this time Billie was going on about 55 hours without sleep! Bless her heart...the things you do for your friend and child! She tried to sleep a little on the train but Belle kept waking her up. We made it to Penn Station and then caught the Subway to where we needed to be for our Broadway show. We didn't want to walk in our heels so far! The show was AWESOME! I am not sure I could describe it in words. If you ever get to see it...GO! Pay the $115 per ticket! It is WELL WORTH IT! However, if you do go to the Minskoff Theatre in NYC...take a sweater. I was cold and Billie was a popsicle! We made our way to a souvenir shop and then back to the subway to get to Penn Station. We got on our train which was held up by congestion...which caused us to miss a train from Seacoucus to Ramsey Route17 so we spent 40 minutes waiting on the next train...which got us to our hotel about 7:25. That was too late for supper there so we went to get gas in the car and eat at a diner close to the hotel. We got home, got showers, got packed and hit the sack.

Thursday
We woke up at 4:25 a.m. to get in the car by 5:00 so we could get to National Rental Car by 6:00. The signs in Jersey were not properly labeled so we missed the I-80 merge because we were looking for I-95 (I-80 becomes I-95...but how were we to know). There are people that will tell you where to go. Billie got out and a nice gentleman on his way to work told us how to get back to where we were headed. We did and made it to National Rental Car at 6:05 a.m! Success! We had a nice breakfast in the airport and then we had to part ways. I was headed back to Little Rock and Billie and Belle had to head to Detroit. David's grandmother (Belle's great-grandmother) passed away on Sunday the 12th and the funeral was in Detroit area. David, his parents and Luke drove up to Michigan on Wendesday and picked up Billie and Belle on Thursday. I made to to my gate in Atlanta and look back and saw my dad. He was going home from Baltimore and had the same flight as I did from ATL to LR! It was nice to see someone you love! Anyway, we stopped off at Jason's Deli for lunch and then he took me home!

I am so glad to be home in the quiet, slow-paced life of the SOUTH! New York is a great place to visit and I'll probably go back again, but for now, I just want some sweet tea and my nice quiet apartment!

Check out my pictures at the following link:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/alison.kerr@sbcglobal.net/album/576460762405156754

Once Billie gets her pictures loaded in her new Kodak Gallery site, I'll add a link to her pictures as well.

The Word is OUT!

Yesterday after lunch, Isabella got "the suprise"! See Billie's blog for video and photos:http://myoverstreetfamily.blogspot.com/

We are leaving on Sunday, August 12th at 6:00 a.m. headed for New York. After we get back I will update my blog with all the fun stuff we did and photos!

Our 9-year Anniversary

WOW! 9 years ago, two young kids said their vows and entered into this crazy thing called "marriage". On this journey we have had our ups and downs. Sometimes we didn't even know if we were going to make it. But we have survived by the grace of God. Over these years I have learned several things:

1) Love is Not a Feeling, it grows through happy times and through difficult times.

2) We may not be at the place in our lives that we thought we would be after 9 years of marriage. If we were on my time-table, we would have at least one child possibly two...but the Lord knows what we need and when we need it! HIS ways are higher than my ways!

3) Friends are a blessing from the Lord! During 8 years of our marriage we have had one set of friends that have stuck with us (and we with them) through EVERYTHING. We love them dearly and wouldn't trade anything in the world for the friendship we have with them.

Here we are with our neices and nephews (at that time):

Happy Anniversary Honey!

My Birthday

Well this weekend I celebrated another birthday. I turned 28 on Saturday the 7th. My plan was not to do anything, but those plans got changed. I got several calls from friends and family wishing me a "Happy Birthday". Then I got a call from my sister, who was heading to Branson for vacation and Camryn's Nataional Dance competition, saying that my parent's were in a bad car accident. They too were headed to Branson but were about 40 minutes ahead of Andrea and Camryn. They were in the Bee Branch area about 15 miles south of Clinton, Arkansas, when a big SUV turned right in front of them and they hit that SUV going about 55 miles per hour. Daddy had a mild concusion with a completely sore body and Momma had sore ribs (bruising the next day) from her seatbelt and the airbag. She also had a spot on her shin that was swollen. Praise the Lord they were not hurt more than they were. Their car is made to crumple up and not jam the engine into the cab of the car. You can see pictures of their car at: http://new.photos.yahoo.com/alicia652/albums
I drove up to get Momma and Daddy and all their stuff from there car and took them back home. They rested and drove on up to Branson on Sunday. They took their time, taking breaks to stretch and walk around so they would not get too stiff. They got up there around 3:00 p.m. yesterday. Pray that they will have a good time and that their bodies will heal quickly from all the soreness.

Well on Wednesday at lunch I am headed to Dallas, TX for the Premier Jewelry National Rally. I am pretty excited about it, but I have lots to do before then to get ready!

I'll post pictures from Rally after I get back!

Changes

It amazes me to think that in just about a month John and I will have been married for 9 years. I'm pretty sure that where we are now in life is not where that young 22-year old guy and 19-year old girl thought they would be 9 years down the road. We have gone through many things and had to rely solely on the Lord to get us through most of it.

If you don't know, John's major in college was Physical Education. If you know him that is not surprising. He LOVES sports and working out at the gym. For a while now he has wanted to find a job at a gym so that he can get his foot in the door. He also has a correspondance course to get certified as a personal trainer. That is what he wants to do when he grows up. The Lord has provided an opportunity. Starting Monday, June 18th, he will be employed at JP Fitness here in downtown Little Rock. He is really excited about it and I am to. JP Fitness is not one of those gyms that is focused on looking at yourself in the mirror while lifting as much weight as you can to impress all your testosterone friends while grunting. JeanPaul (the owner...hence the name JP) was on the Governor's Fitness Council when Mike Huckabee was governor (not sure about now). Anyway, this gym is focused on health.

So changes...
1) No more Dillard's discount - Darn!
2) I guess I'll need to really start working out, because I'm not sure that it looks really good if your husband works at a gym and I don't at least try to be at a healthy weight! ;-)
3) We will be able to ride to work together - haven't done this in a LONG time

God's timing is always interesting to me...especially since it doesn't always match up to my timing....But I do know that over the years I have learned that HIS timing is ALWAYS perfect.

So for now, I'll just keeping Believing GOD!

Happy Birthday

Happy 31st Birthday John!