What a Fun Week!

Isn't this the SWEETEST face ever??
Excuse the dirty foot...I just thought this was cute...her feet are so tiny!
My little fisherman...he has always LOVED to fish!

What is THAT???

Kathleen caught the first fish of the night.

Angel and Kathleen Kayaking

Getting ready to go to the lake

Uncle Wes LOVES his little Aubree!

This is our second (and sadly, last) week with Kathleen and Aubree. We have had so much fun having them here and it is going to be SO hard to see them go. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. However, we have made LOTS of memories and I, of course, have taken TONS of pictures.

Monday evening we went kayaking and fishing. This was Kathleen's first kayaking trip, and she really enjoyed it. She also caught two fish...Aubree was fascinated by the fish...she even wanted to grab them!

We're Still Alive

WOW! I have not posted anything since November 2009. GEEZ, Di...get with the program. SO much has happened in the last eight months. I'm not even going to attempt to catch the blog up, but I am going to try to keep it current from this day on. Ashley has motivated me to keep up on my blogging...thank you, Ashley!

I have a new great-niece, Aubree Marie. She is a doll. She and her Mommy, Kathleen, are out visiting us and we are having so much fun with them. It's going to be hard to say good-bye to them, but we are soaking up every second we can with them for now.

Titans/49ers Game

We waited for years for the Titans to come back to California, and it finally happened! We took the boys to San Francisco on Sunday, November 8th, to watch our team play LIVE. We were all so excited! We ended up booking a room at the hotel where Coach and the players were staying so we could enjoy every possible moment with Coach. We knew he wouldn't have much time, considering he DID have a job to do, so we were grateful for every second he could spare. We were able to visit with him for a little over an hour Saturday evening before he had to go to his meetings. He's such an amazing man. It is such a privilege to know him.

After dinner Saturday night Wes and I sat in the lobby and watched as Cole and Angel greeted the Titans players as they came in and out of the hotel. We had so much fun watching their faces light up as they met the players, and even Coach Fisher. Angel was able to get a picture on his cell phone of him and Lendale White, one of his favorite players ever!

The next morning (game day) we met Coach for breakfast. Once again, we were so grateful that he took time out of his busy schedule to visit with us. After breakfast we headed to the Coliseum.

After breakfast in the hotel

Cole, Coach, and Angel

We went into the Coliseum as soon as the doors opened. We were able to make our way to the lower level, right by the field, on the Titans' side and immediately saw Coach. He came over and chatted with us for a few minutes and then headed off to do his job. We were amazed at how many Titans fans were in San Francisco! It was so comforting to be surrounded by fellow fans and not just people yelling obscenities every time they saw us in our Titans gear! While we were watching the players warm up we met a very nice couple (Ken and Sharyon) who live in the Bay Area, also decked out in Titans gear. They told us that they have a friend who works security at the Coliseum, and if they saw him then he was going to get them on the field. Soon enough, here came their buddy, Joe. They talked to Joe, who started to unhook the gate so they could go on the field. Ken then asked Joe, "Can they go with us?" and he pointed to us. Joe said, "Sure", so we headed down the steps to the field! SO COOL! There we were...in San Francisco...on the Titans' side watching OUR boys warm up!

Before we went on the field

Jevon Kearse shook Wes's hand...Wes couldn't believe how big his hands are!

Chris Johnson...what a STUD!

Coach with his players

Vince Young

The sun was so bright...there's a glare on Wes

As we stood there, taking it all in and taking pictures, somebody in a suit walked by and threw two NFL Equipment arm/sweat bands into a little inflatable helmet Angel was holding. Angel immediately put one on and gave the other one to Cole. Angel had his Lendale White #25 jersey on, and as soon as he made eye contact with Lendale he pointed to him, and Lendale pointed back to Angel. What a happy boy he was! We saw Coach as he was working with his players, but we didn't think he saw us. Apparently he did, though, because he grabbed one of the footballs from someone and came over to Cole and said, "Now we're even", as he put it in Cole's hands. What a special moment for Cole. Seven years ago Coach gave Angel a football, and now Cole was getting one. We had someone snap a quick picture of us with Coach on the field, gave him hugs, wished him good luck, and we started walking off the field.

On the field with Coach

THEN...as we were walking away, our backs to the field, I saw out of the corner of my eye someone was tapping Angel on the shoulder. I turned around and Lendale White was giving Angel his football gloves!!! I couldn't believe it. Lendale tracked Angel down...over the rope and through some people just to find Angel and give him his gloves!! What an amazing moment for Angel. He has barely taken those gloves off since that moment! He wore them throughout the entire game, the whole way home, slept with them on last night, took them to school, and played catch with Wes today. I'd say he is a pretty happy little guy!

AND...to top it all off...the Titans beat the 49ers in 49er territory...34-27!!! GO TITANS! What a wonderful and exciting weekend for the Abolds. The weather was beautiful and the memories are ones we will never forget!

Updates

WOW! Has it really been four months since I updated our blog? Believe me, it's NOT because we've had nothing going on. On the contrary, we have been VERY busy!

Angel finished his first year of youth football. What a stud! We are SO proud of him. His endurance and knowledge of the game is amazing. We were so thrilled to see him break through the line so many times and even sack the quarterback.

Here he is (#52) breaking through the line.

Cole is also doing amazing his senior year. He has scored three touchdowns so far. His team is in the play-offs this coming Friday...GO HONKERS! It's been a trying time (small town politics) for him, but we are proud of him for sticking it out and putting 110% into it. Way to go, Cole!

Cole (#5) running the ball

As for Wes and I, we are doing well. We are savoring every moment we have with Cole before he moves out into the real world! It's scary and exciting all at the same time. We are so blessed to have such amazing children.

Fort Bragg

We went to Fort Bragg for four days last week for a mini-vacation and to get Cole's senior pictures and our family pictures taken. It was absolutely beautiful! Tristan REALLY wanted to go for a ride in Cole's truck, so before we went to Fort Bragg (and before she went to her sister's house) Cole took her to the donut shop to get Wes's birthday donuts. She was SO happy!

The sunset on Wednesday

My Boys and Me

My Sweetie and Me

At the Beach

The three most important men in my life!

Wes's attempt at Skim Boarding

Here he goes....Heading for a nose dive. He was such a good sport about it!
Our vacation wouldn't be complete without a picture of Angel and his Titans Jersey

We should receive our family pictures and Cole's senior pictures soon. I can't wait to see how they turned out!

Fourth of July

We were fortunate enough to be able to celebrate the Fourth of July with my best friend, Yvette, and her two kids, Ryan (7) and Tristan (3). It had been over a year since we last saw them. Here are a few pictures from their visit.Tristan loved watching the fireworks, but she didn't like the loud noises.

Yvette and Di

I love this picture...That's Ryan and his sparkler

Cole and Tristan...so sweet!

Angel and Ryan hanging out

Sad Times

I'm feeling very sad right now because so many people we are connected to have died in the last three days. Wes's good buddy, Willard (82 years old) died this morning; a classmate of mine from high school, Dawn, died over the weekend; my old neighbor, Fred, died over the weekend; one of Wes's former youth football players, Cody (16) died of unknown causes over the weekend; and one of Cole's friend's dad died in a tragic tractor accident yesterday. With my niece's near-death accident last week added to all of this tragedy, I am so thankful for my friends and family, but am so sad for those around us who are dealing with pain and loss.