A Day At The Beach

Today we headed to Galveston Island to play at the beach.  It was a beautiful day, and we had so much fun!!

According to Claire, today we went “shymming in the dirt.  It was fun!”

I Don't Get Out Much These Days

I can't remember the last time I blogged for the fun of it - but I found something today that I couldn't pass up. Our dear friend Don Lapre is being charged in a Federal Court on a number of counts essentially accusing him of being a fraud. He has taken in nearly 52 million dollars in the last few years as a result of his 'Greatest Vitamin in the World Scheme,' and the Feds aren't happy.

You'll recall from a post several years ago I was also a vicitm in the 90s of one of Mr. Lapre's little scams - I was just sure I too could hit it big using his simple program of 'Tiny Classified Ads.' The sad part was once I received the box of crap I bought I relaized actual work was involved and quickly lost interest.

An even better story comes out of the great State of Florida. A couple paid cash for a home that had been forclosed on by the evil Bank of America. After finally getting settled in the Sherrifs office showed up one day to advise them they were being evicted from their home due to a forclosure.

Attempts to reason with BOA and even try to show the local nit wits at the Bank a copy of the their deed, canceled check and title insurance went no where. The couple's laywer eventually got a judge to rule in the couples favor certifying that the Bank indeed made an error and in fact owed the couple $2500 in legal fees.

Of course Bank of America scoffed at the idea that they made an error and refused to pay. Left with no choice the ever so eagar lawyer got himself a seizure of assets order and showed up to a local Bank of America branch with a moving van, a crew of guys to help and several hand carts. With great flare and drama they burst into the local branch and inform the local Manager of their intent to sieze items like phones, chairs and desks in an effort to make the couple whole.

It took one hour for a check reimbursing all expenses and a letter of appology to be presented to the couple - I love this story, I'm not a big fan of big banks but in my opinion Bank of America is the worst - finally a score for the little guy.

My wee one is stiring - I gotta go!

Jernigan Reunion

This past weekend we attended the Jernigan Family Reunion at my uncle and aunt’s ranch in Stone Bluff, OK.

The Jernigans (Uncle Doug, Uncle Duie, Grandma and Aunt LaVerne) – These are four of the six Jernigan children.  Aunt Vi was unable to attend this time.

Some of my favorite people:

Chris, Tim, Laura and Nathan (Uncle Duie’s grandchildren)

Lana and Gary (Aunt Vi’s daughter and son-in-law)

Mildred Jernigan McComber’s family – Steve, Amy, Matt, Linda (MiMi), Doyce (PopPop), Aunt Cheryl, Becky, Jon, Shannon, Randi, Kenley, GiGi (Mildred), Allie, Angie, David, Claire, Analise, Evan and Keaton (Adam had to work and didn’t come until later in the day.  Bobby, Kari and Marq were unable to attend.)

Doye, a Major in the US Army and one of my favorite cousins, taught me how to shoot!!!

Here I am firing off a 9mm.

Then we pulled out the big guns.  I shot an AR-15!!  I’m totally awesome!

Claire and her daddy took a paddle boat ride on the pond.

On Sunday morning, we had church outdoors by the pond.

Claire folding her hands during the prayer

Singing

Aunt LaVerne and Grandma

My daddy praying over our family (He is the oldest grandson.)

Our reunion was a three-day event, beginning Friday afternoon and lasting until Sunday afternoon.  We had a lot of events.  I spent most of my time enjoying my cousins, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters, nieces, parents, grandma, husband and daughter.  As a result, I didn’t take very many pictures.  It was a great event, and I loved spending time with my wonderful family.  I can’t wait until we get together again!

Equestrian Entertainment

Steve, Claire and I went with Aunt Shannon and Allie to watch Aunt Shannon ride her horse today.  Claire got to ride Bullet, and she helped to give him a bath and walked him back to his stall.  Here are some pictures.

Bullet and Claire

Claire and her daddy petting horses

Claire riding with her Aunt Shannon

Claire giving Bullet a bath

Claire walking Bullet back to his stall

Claire loved the “horsies.”  We had a great time today!

Swappin’ My Ride

I am officially a mini van mom!!!  I am SO excited! 

My previous ride

My new ride

My new decals  (After all, what is a mini van without a stick-figure family?!)

complete with a built-in DVD player

Leather seats with one car seat already installed

Lots of storage

It comfortably seats seven and is easy to drive and easy to park.  We Nortons are really going to enjoy cruising around in our new ride!

Memorial Day

We partied all weekend.  Saturday night we went to Kati and Jason’s house for tacos and board games.  We had a blast!  Sunday night we went to the zoo.  And last night we went to Stephen and Kim’s for a cookout.  I failed to take pictures at Kati and Jason’s, but pictures from the zoo can be seen on Claire’s blog. Here are a few pictures from last night.

Our girl is ready to go!

Claire and Elie “shymming”

playing with sand

swinging

We had a great time with our friends this weekend!  Hope you enjoyed your holiday!

Falling In Love Again

I had an ultrasound on Sunday.  Here’s a picture of my latest love.  (This is a profile.  The head is on the right.  The baby is face-up.)

Our pastor’s daughter is a good friend of ours.  She works at St. Jude’s as an ultrasound tech.  She’s leaving on Saturday for a medical missions trip to El Salvador and has a portable ultrasound on-loan for that trip.  She’ll be doing primarily OB ultrasounds while in El Salvador and wanted someone to practice on before the trip so that she could get used to the portable machine.  It just so happens that we were willing “guinea pigs.”  And Pastor Jeff was kind enough to let us use his office.

Claire, of course, had to be up in the middle of it all.  (Me, Claire and Patti – Steve took the pictures.)

The baby is now lying face-down.  You can see the spine at the top.  The head is on the right.

We were unable to determine if the baby is a girl or a boy.  (It’s still a little early.)  The baby was very wiggly and kept crossing its legs.  (For my brother, Matt – I asked for a gender prediction based on the heartbeat.  Patti said she doesn’t believe any of that, so she doesn’t know what the threshold is.  However, Pastor Jeff came in during the ultrasound; and he said that if the heartbeat sounded like the hoof beats of a horse, it’s a boy.  If the heartbeat sounded like drops of water in a bucket, it’s a girl.  He said that he heard hoof beats.  Patti told him she thought it was all hogwash.  The Chinese Gender Predictor says it’s a girl.  We’ll just have to wait a little longer to find out.)

We’re having another ultrasound Thursday night.  I’ll post more pictures this weekend.

Additionally, we were able to determine that the heart and lungs look good.  The kidneys are functioning properly.  The brain looks good.  Every single part is formed perfectly.  Our baby is healthy and growing.

All three of us (Claire included) are so in love with this baby.  We’re really looking forward to finding out if we’re having a boy or a girl so that we can start preparing for his or her arrival.