The Tate's

Happy Birthday, Johnathon!

2008-12-16T09:11:00.001-08:00

In October, Johnathon turned 2 years old! Grandma and Grandpa Clayton came to visit and they got Johnathon a Swing set to play on outside. He loves sliding down his little slide and swinging on the swing. Unfortunately, he had pneumonia but that did not stop him from having a great time at his party on Sunday. He got some great gifts with the swing set His Aunt Tabitha got him a baseball bat with a tee to hit a baseball with it. Also Nana and Paw paw got him a very nice baseball glove. He got several toys for the bath from Grandma Vicki and Grandpa Tate and playdoe and a monster truck toy from his friends, Alena and Diana. It was a fun time and the kids loved playing on the swing set.

Happy Birthday, Johnathon

2008-12-16T09:11:00.000-08:00

Hurricane Gustav Part 2

2008-09-05T06:31:00.001-07:00

Hurricane Gustav came through Zachary early Monday morning. We were at my parents house sleeping when a tree came down almost smashing through the window of the room that we were sleeping in. However, we are all ok, power is still down in much of Louisiana and schools are out until at least Monday. This is the worst hurricane to ever hit our area. We are all ok and currently in Memphis, Tennessee spending time at Kelley's aunt's, Shirley, house. We will have more updates and pictures as we get them on to the computer. (I am typing from Kelley's computer, which does not have the port to simply put the memory card from the camera in, and we do not have the cord attachment with us.) However, keep tuned we will have many pictures from the hurricane, the damage done and our "vacation" to Kelley's aunts. We hope all is well, and if this hurricane taught us nothing else it did teach us that life is too short and to precious to waste time sweating the small stuff.

Hurricane Gustav

2008-08-30T20:15:00.000-07:00

The whole state of Louisiana is currently at its wits end awaiting what will be either a category three or four hurricane. This is Kelley's first hurricane that she has had to watch in the Gulf of Mexico and she is really hating how no one can tell her exactly where it is going. We have the cars packed with all of our essential gear and we are ready to head out at a moments notice. Johnathon is not really sure what is going on so he is quite a mess with all of that.

On the other hand, today was LSU's first home football game, it was against Appalachain State the champion of division 2 football last year, also the biggest defeater of Michigan. Even with all of the hurricane troubles, there was still a huge turnout at the game. We really enjoyed it, this was my first game in four years and Kelley's first ever. The game was pretty much a blowout at 41-13 but at the end I asked Kelley if she would rather watch it on television, to this she replied once you go to a game you have to keep going there is simply nothing like sitting in the stands even though it was very hot and humid.

Now back to Gustav, Bobby Jindal closed all public schools in East Baton Rouge Parish today until Thursday at the latest. Well, as I end this post I would ask you all to pray for our wellbeing and those around us. This is truly going to be a powerful storm, however as a very wise women, "my mother-in-law" always states if you are prepared ye shall not fear.

Oh the Joys of Childhood

2008-08-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

It seems as though Johnathon has something new to do or show us everyday. It is amazing how quickly he is growing. Last night for example, we were having family dinner, watching the Olympics close and he noticed that the Chinese performers were wearing hats so what does he do? He takes his backpack for day care empties out the contents and places it on top of his head and begins to dance around the room. Kelley and I find it so crazy that only a year ago he was barely crawling and now he is running, dancing and jumping. He is such a great child and a joy to our lives. We are anticipating having another one as soon as we are financially more secure.

We have also found the down side of Day Care, the sickness it seems that everyday Johnathon is coming home with a runny nose and a slight cough, at about 2 this morning he woke up with a very bad cough and we had to give him an asthma treatment. Kelley called and told me he is doing better today, thanks to a blessing but he is still a little down and out.

Oh by the way, I have finally found a routine for keeping this updated. It seems that Monday afternoons right after school and before I go home is a great time for a little updating of the Blog, so please check back every Monday for something new. I promise I will keep it up this time. Also, if anything important goes on during the week that I possibly cannot wait to update you on I will do that before Monday.

Catching Up

2008-08-19T17:37:00.001-07:00

Wow, I have been told by so many people that we need to update this, so here ya go.

This summer, was my first summer as a teacher with having nothing to do, other than being a full time dad, while Kelley went to school. Man, I had no idea how big of a job it is for the parent that gets to stay at home.

Other than this, I am anxiously engaged in becoming a Pharmaceutical Sales Rep. Go figure with a family full of doctors, I would decide to go into something in the medical field. I guess you could say that I finally woke up and realized that I have a family to support and so I need to refocus my talents in teaching and persuading into something else that I really really enjoy but will also allow me to support my family, being that Kelley and I are starting to have the baby hunger again. However, we promised eachother that we wouldn't have another one until we were more self-reliant than we currently are.

Kelley has been doing really well in school, she really seems to find the thing that she loves and is going after it. She has become so motivated in obtaining her goal. She continues to love being a mother and a wife.

It is really a great feeling when both people in the couple know what they want and support eachother to obtain it.

Johnathon started day care this week and is not quite sure about it yet, however with Kelley being in school and my working this is really the best option for him. He is going to a learning center in Zachary that seems to be a really good place where they focus on verbal skills which we hope will help him with his speaking.

Other things that went on this summer is the fact that we went to Virginia Beach which was great, we were able to stay in a hotel right on the beach front. It was the first time I had ever done that. Johnathon was so funny playing in the water, he wasn't quite sure about it at first but once I went in with him he loved the waves splashing him as well as playing in the sand. He also really had fun playing with his grandparents while we were there.

The other big thing that we are all looking forward to is LSU's football season. Only one week before the first game. I just got my season passes today, free for helping coach football at the High School, there are some perks in this job after all.

Well, I am going to try and update this more often than I have been. Sorry to all that have read it and haven't had an update in a while.

It's been a long time

2008-01-19T11:56:00.000-08:00

It's been such a long time since we had a post, but due to several people asking us to update we have decided to start it up again.

The first thing is that we are no longer in Utah but back in the land of Louisiana, where I am teaching history and coaching swimming at Woodlawn High School and Kelley is attending LSU to earn her Bachelors in Elementary Education.

Johnathon continues to grow, becomes more mobile, even though he isn't walking just yet, he is also becomming very vocal. He likes to mimic his daddy and just about everyone else. He is currently begin babysat by my parents every MWF which he and they absolutly love.

Other things that are going on currently, LSU won the Championship, we are finally going to be able to be financially independent which is something that we have been striving for, for quite sometime. Other than this we have had the opportunity to go to several weddings, graduate from college and other things.

Wow Over a Month

2007-08-18T20:04:00.000-07:00

Wow guys, I apologize, it's been over a month since we updated this. Since this time, Johnathon went on his first father-son campout, we didn't stay the night but it was still a lot of fun. Johnathon has also taken his first swim lessons, which he does really well, when you sing row row your boat he paddles his arms, it is very cute. We also had a wonderful trip from Grandpa and Grandma, we had lots of fun especially when we went to Lagoon themepark where Johnathon and I (Daddy) rode our first rollacoster together. We have been swimming a lot lately and are all getting in to a little bit better shape hopefully we can continue that.

We also went on our first family hike in the mountains by our house, it was awesome. As you can tell by the picture, Johnathon really loved it.

School starts in about a week, my last semester before graduate school, YES!!!! I am a little worried but I think all will be well. Today, Johnathon got a trainset which took forever to set up but he really really likes and is even standing up on his own to play with. It is really cute.

Fourth of July

2007-07-05T17:07:00.001-07:00

Well, I have decided that it way to hard to make a daily posts with all that goes on in life there just isn't enough time but, I will try to keep this updated as much as possible.

Yesterday, was the Fourth of July, it was a really great day, we went to the Sugarhouse park with David, Ioana and their kids which was really fun. Johnathon really enjoyed watching the kids play as well as playing with Zach.

We BBQ'd some Buffalo burgers, bratwurst and hotdogs which Lexie ate three of and we were completely surprised at how many she was able to put down. David also cooked a really great cake and we had a wonderful watermelon which Ioana ate a whole half by her self, or at least she attempted to.

After that we watched the Fireworks which Johnathon really enjoyed, he wasn't scarred of the sounds or anything, he actually almost fell asleep but he didn't.

The traffic getting out wasn't too terrible other than the fact that our gas light was on and we couldn't get to a gas station but we finally did and so I didn't have to push and we found a new way home that we hadn't discovered before.

This Past Weekend

2007-06-25T12:18:00.001-07:00

This past weekend was a lot of fun. We did not sleep a wink Thursday night because Johnathon knew something was going on and refused to sleep so we stayed awake and left for the airport at three o'clock that morning for a six o'clock flight which was a good thing because my brother and sister-in-law missed the flight due to the amount of people at the security check point.

Friday, we spent the day helping Candice with the final wedding plans and went to the rehearsal dinner where Kelley was a bridesmaid. After that, we had the rehearsal dinner which was catered by Max and Erma's it was so good and had some of the best chocolate chip cookies ever.

Saturday, was a very early start day with Kelley getting her hair done at six o'clock while I took care of Johnathon and prepared him and I for the wedding ceremony, while Kelley took care of her bridesmaid's duty. The wedding was wonderful, Kelley and Candice as well as everyone else looked very beautiful. We wish the best to Brian and Candice, we know they are happy its just so obvious that they are very deeply in love.

After the wedding, Kelley decided that she would set up babysitting for Johnathon and take me out on a date, it's been a very loooong time since she has asked me out and it caught me by complete surprise but I loved it. We had a great dinner and wonderful conversation. We also spent some time hanging out with her family which was also fun.

Sunday, we actually got to sleep for the first time the whole weekend and slept until about ten o'clock which is really late for us, especially Johnathon. After this, we went to the Children's museum which Johnathon absolutely loved. He really enjoyed the area for babies where they were able to explore different things.

After the museum we went to the airport, where I was really aggravated by the security because of the fact that we forgot about the water in Johnathon's cup. So I had to go through the baggage claim to unload the water from the cup and then had to wait in the line again to get through the security point that I had already gone through. I guess if its for our safety its the best thing, however, I just wish they would be that through with everything especially people bringing illegal things across the borders.

Well, we made it to the plane on time and left Indianapolis and flew to Minneapolis which we had to rush to catch our plane only to find out we were actually about twenty minutes ahead of schedule. Well, we board the plane and take off only to have to return back to the Minneapolis airport because of low oil pressure on the airplane and so we got back to the airport, boarded another plane and were finally off for Salt Lake City, which we got in at about 12:15 and made it home at about 1:30.

Thursday June 21

2007-06-21T15:43:00.000-07:00

Today was an average day, Kelley got her nails done for Candice's wedding, Johnathon discovered that he hates and is scared of the vacuum. I got a hair cut and we all finished unpacking everything but the master bedroom. We are leaving tomorrow for Indianapolis for Candice's wedding we are so excited for her and Brian. They look so happy together!!!! Well, I won't be making a post for the next couple of days being that we will be out of town.

Hey Everyone

2007-06-20T20:39:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

Copying after Ioana, we have decided to also start a family blog so that everyone will know what is going on with our family. Well, for starters, Kelley and I have been married for almost two years now, man how time flies. In this time, Kelley has graduated with her Associates degree and will be attending Louisiana State University, LSU, this spring to work on her Elementary Education Degree. I will be student teaching this fall in Salt Lake City, Olympus High School, and will be graduating and teaching somewhere in Louisiana this winter. I will also be taking my GRE to hopefully get accepted to the graduate program at LSU. Also during these past two years we have had such a wonderful baby boy, Johnathon.

Johnathon is now eight months old and is growing so big, he is getting into new things everyday, which is putting Kelley and I on the alert about where we place things. He is currently trying to learn how to crawl so he can get even more places, he is also gaining quite a vocabulary which currently consists of Mama, Dada and Baba, he doesn't take a bottle so we think this is his sippy cup.

Well, now that we have been introduced to this will try to have a daily entry into our lives for anyone, other than Kelley and I, who actually cares or has the time to read it. We will also add new pictures as things occur.