Happy Birthday............To Me!

Today is my 16th birthday!  I sound like an adult by saying this but it seems like my life has gone by so fast.  For my birthday we are going to have pizza and watch the Tennessee football game.  It is perfect that one of my favorite teams play on my birthday.  A great present would be a Tennessee win.  GO VOLS!!!!!!!!!!!

Catching Up.............

It's been a while but I'm happy to say, I'm back!!!  A lot has happened in recent months so
I'm posting some pictures to catch you up.

                                                               HALLOWEEN

ETHAN'S 14TH BIRTHDAY

THANKSGIVING

CHRISTMAS

How God has blessed our family over the last few months!!

Psalm 9:1

  I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

Tornado in Chattanooga

     Tuesday night a tornado touched down one mile away from our house.  The tornado touched down about 8:30p.m.  Earlier that day I heard on the radio that Hamilton County (where I live) was in a tornado warning but I thought nothing would happen.  It had been raining with really loud thunder and lightning throughout the day. At 6:50pm there was a multi car crash on the bridge near my house (a 7 car pile up) and the bridge was shut down for 3 hours.  The bridge was completely closed, all 4 lanes.  No traffic was moving in either direction for hours.  When the tornado touched down it ripped roofs off of houses and ripped decks off too, it tore trees out of the ground, it tore down fences and knocked down road signs.           

The tornado touched down near a construction sight and tore all the trailers to pieces sending them into the trees.    Then it continued on to some apartment buildings causing 50 units to be evacuated.  The storm also caused 2,400 homes to lose power.

 

Wednesday we went out to survey the damage and we took these pictures.  There were news trucks everywhere and tree companies and emergency assistance and disaster relief people crawling everywhere. 

 

The winds of the storm were 115-125 mph.  The tornado was ranked an F2.  Tornadoes are ranked from F0 to F5.  God protected us during this storm. All of these pictures were taken less than a mile away from our house.  Lots of people lost power but we didn't.  Our house didn't sustain any damage either. 

Thank You God!

Click here and check it out!

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/oct/27/video-tornado-hits-chickamauga-dam-area/?localvideo-news

and click here:

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/oct/28/camera-2---tornado-going-through-construction-site/?localvideo-news

My Mom

     A wonderful loving lady.  A beautiful woman.  A great cook.  She loves me more than anyone else on this earth.  She went through a lot of pain to bring me into this world.  I learned everything I know from her.  She does her best to make me happy.  Without her I would have nothing.  She has raised me up in the Lord.  She is Godly.  She is a great christian. If I didn't have her my life would be a train wreck.  Her food, nothing compares to her food.  She is a five star chef.  She is my teacher.  She spends her days teaching me.  She never gets angry at me, no matter what I do!  She is a wonderful wife to my father.  Always doing what he asks.  She runs his house and takes care of his children.  She is a friend to everybody.  Always helping others.  This is none other than my Mom!

Top Ten of Summer 2010

Summer is over and I have to say this summer was one of the best ever!  Moving to Chattanooga has turned out to be a lot of fun!  We created many special memories this summer as a family.  Spending time with friends, learning our way around our new city,  and making new friends, made for a spectacular summer!

Here are my favorite pics from Summer 2010

Check this out!!!!!!

Hey Everyone,

If you haven't already, you need to check out my mom's blog, (well - you ladies need to check it out, the guys might not be too interested.) 

Click here:homegrowncozy.blogspot.com

She's doing a great job and I am so proud of her!  (I taught her everything she knows......just kidding!)
I love my mom.  She is the most wonderful mom a boy could have!

Happy Reading!
Colin

Nic's Birthday....There is something fishy about this!

     Friday, September 3rd,  Nicholas turned 12.  For his birthday he wanted to go to the Tennessee Aquarium.  (The Aquarium here is amazing and it is one of our family's favorite places to go.)  We decided to do an aquarium theme for Nic's party.  My Mom made him a fish cake.  And we decorated a plain blue tablecloth with tons of fish stickers and Swedish fish to eat!

        On Thursday night,  me & Ethan, and my Mom stayed up late and decorated the house.  We blew up a bunch of balloons and made posters for him and everyone wrote him messages.  When we were finished decorating,  the house looked fantastic!!!   Ethan and I were completely out of breath after blowing up 25 balloons!

  

 Nic made a special request for his favorite meal............Petros!!!  YUM-O!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After we ate, he opened his presents.  We got him a Bible, 3 books, a Webkin, a slingshot, and a Starwars ship!!  We had so much fun watching him open his gifts!

      At the aquarium we spent most of our time at the River Otter exhibit.  The River Otter is Nic's favorite animal. 

     After a couple of hours at the Aquarium we walked around downtown and got ice cream and played at a park.

     Nicholas had a fishy-fun birthday!  He was so happy with all we did for him.  Nic is a kind, loving, wonderful  brother and I am very proud of him.  Nic is a godly example to me and he always puts others first.  I am so thankful God gave Nic to our family.

Happy 12th Birthday Nic!!!!!!

Virginia Tech vs Boise State

     On Monday, Virginia Tech ( my favorite team ) played Boise State.

  It was to be their biggest game of the year.  Tech lost 33-30 and boy, was it an exciting game!  It came down to the end and we were very sad when it was over.  We had been looking  forward to this game for weeks.    
     Here is a picture of the Moran Men decked out in Hokie attire!!  You can tell by our smiles this picture was taken BEFORE the game!  

Fun with the Anders

     Yesterday our best friends, the Anders, came down from Knoxville to visit us.  We were able to visit ALL DAY!  When they got here we spent some time talking and catching up.   A big part of our get togethers is always FOOD!!  Mrs. Angie made delicious chicken salad and veggies and dip and Mom made a cake and some cookies and lemonade!   After  lunch and went downtown to play at Coolidge Park.  While the little ones played in the fountains, some of the older kids and Mr. Gary played football.

     When we got home we played games while Mom and Mrs. Angie made dinner.  (We played Catch Phrase for a LOOOONNNNNGGGG time!!)  The moms made a delicious dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread while the dads went to the store to buy ice cream!!!  Shortly after dinner the older kids took our dog on a walk.  We enjoyed walking and talking together, and we REALLY enjoyed sitting on the deck eating cake and ice cream!
     When it was time for them to leave we were all sad and  very tired, but thankful for a great day!  We loved having our house filled with 18 people.  That's 4 parents and 14 kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

14 kids and counting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!