Instagram phone dump....

The small sunroom tree:

The den tree:

The living room tree which looks short and dumpy...it's not - the top just wouldn't fit in the picture!:

And the sweet little angel:


There are four more. Just didn't get their pictures made last night....maybe another phone dump soon!

Wedding music....

I have been trying to figure out how to upload a song to a blog. I think I have finally figured it out! I wanted everyone to be able to click on it and listen to it, but not have to listen to it the whole time you were reading my posts!

As most of you know, Kylee and Erik are both great singers. (They're mine - I can brag!) I BEGGED them to sing to each other at the wedding, but NOOOOOOOO, they refused! :( However, one night at church, Bro. Rob Buckner came up to them and told them he had written several songs that would be perfect for a bride and groom to sing to each other at their wedding. They agreed to at least LISTEN to them. And there was one that they both loved. Now, I didn't get my way - but I think what they did was even better. They were convinced that their nerves would not allow them to sing live that day - so they went to see good ole Uncle Dusty....who just happens to have a recording studio at his house. And they recorded the song and Dustin added music.

We had been so busy with wedding preparations that I had not even heard the recording until it was played at the wedding - and I was very impressed! They did such a great job!!!

I want everyone to be able to hear it! So here's my attempt! Hope it works!!

"Time Stood Still" Written by Bro. Rob Buckner, Vocals by Erik and Kylee Aragaki

(Sidenote: You have to hit the green "download" button to listen. And every once in a while - it tries to redirect to a game place - don't go there, just hit the "x" in the right hand upper corner and it will go back to where you can download it.)

Just a quick pic.....

Taken from our front porch (via Instagram):

I plan and I try......

I plan and I try all year to get to November and December and there not be chaos.... well.....WHATEVER! :) it doesn't matter - it's still all out chaos and bedlam! I THOUGHT this year would be easier (of course that was BEFORE there was a November wedding!). Kade had already said he didn't want to be in the Christmas program at church so I thought, "Hmmmm, no weekly practice, no more preparation...." Guess what! STILL.CHAOTIC.AT.MY.HOUSE!!!

Thanksgiving was good. Great times with family. No need to do a thankful post. I thank God every.day.of.my.life for what he has given me. HE is the one that provides and blesses me daily. And even though I will never begin to be able to repay him for the the blessings he gives, I still tell him very often! And if anyone ever wants to talk about God's miracles and his awesome mercy, call me. I have amazing stories to share! Several people have told me I needed to write a book and classify it as a spiritual romance novel. I see it on the best-seller list in my mind. :)

Didn't do the Black Friday shopping this time. Man, I am OLD! :) Lee and I decided it was worth the extra money we were going to have to pay to get the items we needed, without the stress of Black Friday! That's all I needed to know - I was good with that. Of course, since he is a Store Manager for Lowes - I was still up at 2:30 a.m. helping get him off to work. But then I got to sleep for a while longer!

Of course we watched the ballgame. Or I PARTIALLY watched the game. Didn't keep my interest for very long. Roll Tide!

I now have seven Christmas trees up! Only one left that I'm still working on and thinking of adding a new one to my repertoire. We are hosting the church "middle-age" group Christmas party this year. I had said I wasn't putting them all up..... (enter MORE chaos here....)

Last night (Monday) the great ladies at Higdon were giving Kylee and Lauren (engaged to Kyle Young) a "necessities" shower/party (soap, lotions, etc.). So Melia and I went. Of course I had to leave straight from work and I ended up having to work over and it was raining/snowing. But we made it! It was a GREAT shower. Kylee shouldn't have to go to the store for a year! lol. I was thinking maybe I needed one of those! :)

Kylee had set her tree up a few days back. But it was just sitting there, waiting on Mom to help decorate it.... so after the shower me and Melia ran to Kylee's and went to work in a wild, rush, it's-snowing-and-we-are-on-this-mountain, frenzy! Erik was amazed. ha. We decorated that tree in record time - and low and behold, she has a gorgeous tree! I told her it looked like something from Trees and Trends! None of MY trees look that good!! We helped her put the rest of her Christmas decor out and then we took off for home. Got home at 11:15ish. Overslept this morning. Kade missed the bus. Had to take him all the way to Gurley. Was VERY late for work. Ugh! But just to add some Christmas cheer....here's KYLEE'S tree! I haven't even made pictures of my my own yet! (And excuse the poor iPhone quality picture!) :)

Tis the Season!!

Loving it....

Lee and I both bought new iPhones a few months back. I liked it. Didn't see any thing majorly big about it. UNTIL......I found Instagram. I LOVE Instagram (okay, and I have a slight addiction to Words with Friends - username "Marty Rogers" if anyone wants to play.) Back to Instagram - my username there is mkrogers3081. Have any of you used it? I just love the pics - maybe because I'm a photographer. You take pictures with your phone and then you can use their filters to change the way it looks. Aaaaahhhhh! My kind of thing! Yesterday, I found out (by googling) that you can download your Instagram pics to your desktop. Which means.....I can now share them on my blog! So here are a few pics from my phone!


The picture I sent to my husband at work one day. His response, "Oh no you are not!" My response, "Oh yes I already did! :)"


Kylee and Erik's wedding.


Our sweet baby.


Cooking orange blossoms.....YUM!


Me and the kids....very bored at Lowes while ordering Kylee's carpet.

Something a little different!

Melia and I had a chance to participate in something a little different than what we normally do. My great-uncle, Jack Kelly (yes, my dad is named after him), is a very very big UAH Charger basketball (and Alabama football! Roll Tide!) supporter and has been for years. He actually travels across the United States with them during their season to watch them play (did I mention he is in his 80s? :)) Uncle Jack donated the money for UAH to do some upgrades to their program, and in return, UAH dedicated their ball court to Uncle Jack, except he asked that they name it the "George Artis and Ethel Atchley Kelly Court" which is my great-grandparents. They had a court dedication between the mens and womens basketball games last night (November 14th 2011). It was actually pretty cool! They had court-side seats set up for the family....I never realized how HUGE college basketball players were, it was a little scary being that close to them!! lol. Kade went with us and he was thrilled, he loved every minute of it. Below is the official logo that is on the court and the press release that UAH has on their website. I took a lot of pictures but haven't downloaded them yet, I will add those when I get them finished.



HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Following a very generous donation from retired Huntsville businessman Jack Kelly, the gymnasium playing floor at Spragins Hall will be named the George Artis and Ethel Atchley Kelly Court, the University of Alabama in Huntsville Department of Athletics announced Monday.

The naming of the court was approved by the Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama System on Sept. 16, and the logo will be painted on the floor on Oct. 11-12 to ensure that the floor will bear the new name in time for Midnight Madness, which will take place on Oct. 15 at 12:01 a.m.

“Jack Kelly is a man who is widely respected in the Huntsville community, and it is with great pleasure that we adorn our basketball and volleyball playing court with the names of both of his parents," said Director of Athletics Dr. E.J. Brophy. "Mr. Kelly has always been a strong supporter of UAH Athletics and we greatly appreciate his generosity as we continue to strive to take our athletic programs to new heights”.

The Kelly gift will make possible the creation of a state-of-the-art film room, additional donor room, locker room renovations and video boards in the Spragins Gymnasium. The Chargers are coming off of an impressive 29-5 campaign in 2010-11 that saw them win the Gulf South Conference East Division crown, the South Regional Championship and advance to the NCAA Division II Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass.

Remembering the Details.....

Our Children - in pictures

My husband and I are extremely blessed. We have added another son to our family and we are so proud of him. Our beautiful daughter was married on Saturday in a picture perfect wedding. We had prayed and prayed and worried and worried when she decided on an outside wedding, IN NOVEMBER. But we could not have asked for a more amazing day. We are so overjoyed for the two of them. Here are just a sampling of the pictures. There will be many more!

Christmas Pictures!!!!

Believe it or not......Shannon and I ARE doing Christmas pictures!! They will be run the same way as they have been in years past and will be taken on Saturday, November 12th, 2011. First come, first serve appointments!

Call or text me at 256-656-9580 or email me at mkrogers3081@hotmail.com now! :) Set will be creamy, vintagey, antiquey.

Best colors to match will be browns, darker reds and darker greens. But really - ANYTHING will match this time!

Can't wait to see you all there!!

One month...four weeks...PANIC

I have hit panic mode here. Kylee will be getting married one month from today. AGGGGHHHHHH! I keep going over and over in my head what I like being done with the preparations.....it's not a good scenario.....any way that I play it! :)

The days are flying by! We are down two out of six showers/teas/events! (SIX!?) I'm so proud of the person she is today! And obviously so is everyone else. They have SHOWERED her and Erik in wonderful, beautiful gifts. They should come out of this with EVERYTHING they need to start a life together....plus lots of extras!

If you see me on the street wondering around, looking dazed and lost....please point me in the right direction. Or call someone. I feel like I live in a fog right now. Poor Lee. Maybe by the first of the year I will have it all pulled back together and function normally again! :)

Fun, fun, fun!!!

Love

Just a quick picture so everyone knows I am still alive! I have been doing some pics - they just happen to be of my daughter and have to keep them under lock and key for a few more days! :)

Love this one....



and this one....

First Day of Seventh Grade...

Where does time go? Why do our kids grow up over night? How did my BABY get to be in seventh grade??

Actually, he's not much baby anymore. We decided to measure him again Saturday. From April 13 to August 13, he grew 4 inches. He's now hovering at 5'9".......at 12. And he is wearing a size 12 shoe....again....he's 12! What am I going to do when he's 16?? It is kind of funny...his dad is 5'7"ish...his mom and sister 5'2"ish....and then there's him! :)

Told you....

I have LOTS of pins...I need buyers...call me soon. :)

There is CHAOS at our house!

Well, actually, there is always chaos at our house. But now days, it's double chaos at our house! My nice big sunroom has now turned into a store room, my dining room has turned into the pin shop (I have LOTS AND LOTS of pins for sale!! Call me!! :)) My living room is now the pin manufacturing plant. My brain is on MAJOR overload...and I'm not sure that even touches it! Why? Because of this...and THEM! :)


See that ring on her hand? It's all it's fault!

Yes, they are engaged. Yes, she's moving away. Soon. They are getting married November 5th. Which explains the CHAOS! Geez! :)

I guess they better be proud that I really really like them both...... :)

Here's a few more pics. I have some that I took that night, but I haven't downloaded them from my camera yet, so we may just get a little backward with pics. Look for LOTS of wedding talk coming soon!








And Kylee normally refuses to dress in the same colors as us...but miraculously she and Erik were dressed in the same colors as her Uncle Johnny's wedding Saturday night! So OF COURSE we had a picture made! :)

The ACTUAL proposal...

These pictures were taken on Friday, July 8th, 2011 (need that for documenting purposes!) :) Approximately 11:30 p.m. at night!

Erik had asked Kylee to take him to the EXACT spot where they had planned on getting married so he could see. Well.....they are getting married in a pasture...that hasn't been bushhogged yet....the grass is about 4.5 feet tall....Kylee and Erik are only a little more than 5 feet tall.....oh, AND it was raining...did I mention it was about 11:00 at night?? (There's another story there...maybe Kylee will write about it on her blog!) lol.

Anyway, they hike through the wilderness to the exact spot where Kylee thinks they will be getting married....they are being watched by three deer, a rabbit, and probably many snakes that they just didn't see....

Supposedly Erik asked a ton of questions about where everything was going to be, etc. And then he gets down on one knee (keep in mind the wilderness) and proposes. Kylee says she started screaming and jumping up and down, which probably means the neighbors thought someone was killing someone in the pasture.

And to hear Kylee tell it....it was perfect. :)

Here is the first picture made of them when they returned...(definitely not the best picture but I couldn't keep her still very well!)



Hilary rushed up to the house when she heard. Daniel had proposed to Hilary earlier in the day, on the same land as Erik asked Kylee. Different spot but same land. And a great great piece of information that I thought was soooo special.... W.P. Simmons (my granddaddy) proposed to Catherine Simmons (my Goody) on July 8th, 1958. Exactly 53 years to the date that Kylee and Hilary got engaged.



Kaylee was in on the whole scheme. Poor thing, I think she was texting her Mom to pray because Kylee kept asking her questions and she didn't want to give the surprise away. hahaha



This what they did for the next hour.....text everyone they knew obviously!!





And of course there was LOTS of this.... :)







And lots of laughing and smiles and happiness in general....