Katherine's BirthDAYS

Yes, I said birth DAYS...she was one super excited 10 year old who managed to get FIVE birthdays because it fell right around the time we were leaving/getting back....so here's the recap.  Granddad was a little excited...he was lighting the candles and Katherine was downstairs playing! WE had to tell her to RUN because Granddad was starting without her.  HAHAHAHA!

She got some super cute new shorts.

Granddad, Mammy, and Katherine (almost 10)

We had a birthday party in Knoxville at Mamaw and Papaw's place with Emily and the Moores. She wanted a soccer birthday.

We ordered an ice cream cake from Dairy Queen and picked up some cupcakes at Wal-Mart just in case we needed both :)

Opening her presents under the pavilion outside. Uncle Jimmy went sticker shopping for Katherine...she scored TONS of fun stickers.

The Sheddan clan with their good friends the Moore clan :)

So, I just had to put this one on here.  The ice cream cake on the left was the one we ordered from the book.  The one on the right is what came to us.  I think someone needs some cake decorating lessons :)  All this to say...Katherine picked it out, and she was thrilled with the one that she got...Lesson? I should not stride so much about their cakes looking perfect because they are going to love it no matter how it turns out :)

Katherine went with me to pick up her birthday balloons for her party in Chattanooga.  All her SS class friends came.  Special Memories!

This was by fa the best cake! (my opinion) I'm a sucker for Great American Cookie Company.  If anyone can figure out how to ship me one that would be awesome ;) and Chic-fil-A, too!

The party girls.

She has always wanted to light her own candles. Sure, why not.

She requested a piñata and yes, she picked out the hamburger one.

So sweet! It's beside her bed now.

Early present from mom and dad.

party craft

I think they turned out fantastic!

 Then this was her last birthday, on the other side of the world, and actually ON her REAL birthday. Yes, that is a container full of shrimp!  One of her friends knew she liked shrimp, so they bought four different kinds, cooked them, and brought them to the party for Katherine to eat.

 Polly, Regan, Benjamin, Katherine, Hudson, Winter, Yoyo, Lauren, and Vanessa

 birthday cupcakes

These shrimp were HUGE!

Settling Back In

This picture was taken immediately after we got back...someone missed us :)  I'm not going to put  picture of Charlie up.  He looked pitiful.  He was sick and died shortly after we got back.

The city looked the same but different from how we remembered.  There were and still are signs of damage from the big typhoon that came through our area.  I guess if the tree didn't actually fall, it was not high on the priority list.

 Some of the trees that did make it literally had the bark blown off of them!

 And then other trees fell, but did not seem to be top priority...they just propped it up with bricks until they can get to it.  I'm not so sure that I would be as trusting as all these cars that parks in around and under it!

You also need to watch your step on the sidewalks.  They haven't filled in all the holes yet.

All the picture below are from the day after the storm hit.  It's a slow long process to clean up, but we are starting to see some things get back to normal.

Goodbyes

Round two...I already did this blog with many captions, but it didn't save my work, so I'm trying again.  One thing that is part of our lives is "Goodbyes" It never gets easier. We are always saying goodbye to someone, either in America or on the other side of the world.  The only part that makes it seem a little better is that we now have someone waiting for us no matter who we are saying bye to.  So, it was time to say all of our goodbyes...or should we say, "see ya later"  My mom came to visit for a few days right before we flew out.  She asked where everyone wanted to eat and the kids vote was for Texas Roadhouse.  It was good :)

The weather to a turn for the colder side of things...you know, 60's instead of 80's...the kids (except Regan) were freezing!

Group shot

Ma (Jonathan's grandmother) and Hudson

Our last Sunday in Knoxville before we got on the plane, we continued the Sheddan/Doty tradition of eating at Wasabi's Japanese Steakhouse.  Look at that crew!

Lauren and Will

Regan, Jonathan, Katherine, Benjamin, Kelly, Tina, Ben, Riley, Knox, Will, Lauren, Hudson, and Harper

This is the look you get when you are on the way to church and you are so excited because you think it's going to snow because it is soon cold and the ground is covered in frost (otherwise known as dew). In her defense, I'm not sure she has ever seen dew before.

Mother/Daughter selfie

Katherine is almost as tall as Grandmommy!

Benjamin and I went to get a last minute trim before we left.  Hudson just had to come so he could see one of his favorite stylists!  Thanks April!

So, the week before we left, Mamaw went on a hike and literally fell down the side of the mountain. A tree stopped her.  She ended up with a broken scapula and some broken ribs.  She was determined to still come see us before we left! So, she sat and watched Jonathan and I pack while Papaw and Emily took the kids out for a day of fun.

"Wait. Wait. Wait. Let me take your picture!"

Butterflies at the aquarium

SHARK!

Even Papaw got his face painted! They still couldn't convince Benjamin to do it :)

At church, they had a really cool campaign called Pray for Me where they matched up 1st-12th graders with one or more adults who would commit to pray for them throughout the school year. Hudson got Ms. Carol

I got Alissa and Baylee (picture of Baylee has not been sent to em yet)

Regan and Alissa

Hudson also got Mr. Chipree

Benjamin got Mr. Tom (Lauren got Mr. Ben and Katherine got Ms. Missy...will try to find those pics and post later)

Emily and Katherine

Regan and her SS teacher Ms. Mikaela

Look at him! He is so proud to be dressed like his daddy!

My dad and brother

Me and Shelby

cousins...

eating at Chili's

Ryan

Benjamin, Katherine, Regan, Caleb, Peyton, Tyler, Justin, Ryan, Hudson, Paige, Lauren

more cousin time

Josh, Kim, Kelly, Brett

Me and Dad

Hugs from Aunt Kim in the middle of hurricane Irene at the Atlanta airport

Waiting while they changed our flight to an earlier one to try to get us out of there...it was great...no Atlanta traffic and a virtually empty airport :)

He's too cute. He looks like he knew exactly where he was going.

It's hard to read. It says "Hudson, The Traveler's Best Friend" True. So Very True. :)

We arrived on the other side of the world and the kids couldn't wait to get their favorite snacks! Now we wait on the bus.