1st Trip to Idaho Pictures

Here are some pictures from our 1st trip out to Idaho back in September. I wish I had some from Mandy's phone since she took most of the good pictures while I was driving.

Allie Rai Receives First Love Note.

Allie Rai comes into my office at home tonight with a folded piece of paper.  She proceeds to tell me that a little boy gave her a note today.  I immediately stop work.  These are the moments that my girls have their Dad's full attention!

I asked "who was it from and what did it say"?  This is code for "what little fellow will be placed on daddy's DADD (Dads Against Daughters Dating ) list and how far up the priority list did he make it on his first attempt"??

In her sweet little voice she replies "it was from Jace (pronounced Jase) and he asked me out in the note and the note said to choose yes or no!"  As I swallow the lump in my throat I asked her "Well which did you choose"?

She unfolds the note, holds up to me and said "I CHOOSE NO DADDY"  After a high five and good laugh I took a picture to share.  I think im going to frame this one!  Maybe start a collection of rejections issued by my daughters..

Dad - 1
Jace - 0

Thanksgiving Turkey or Turbacon

Got a great idea for Thanksgiving.  The ol Turbacon..  

Its Official..

Well, it is official.  After 2+ Mths of back and forth weighing out options and trying to make the best decision for the family, I have decided to take the promotion at Cives. 

We will be moving to Idaho Falls, Idaho next year.  I will be headed up first around March, then Mandy and the girls will make the move late May or early June after school.

My company will be sending Mandy and me out several more times to look for houses.  We have already decided on the area we wish to live in based on the high school we want our girls to attend.  The area is called Ammon.  It is just east of Idaho Falls.  They literally touch.  Ammon really reminds me of Valdosta but nicer and surrounded by rolling hills and mountains.  I will give more updates as they come available.

Below is a copy of the announcement just issued today.

Allie Rai's Write Up in Paper

Allie Rai's first gymnastics competition was a week ago.  She did great!  This is the write up in the paper.  I have highlighted the best parts. 
When I get time I will post the videos of her competition. 

Updates 08/31/12

Been a while since I did any updating on the girls.  So I figured while I was sitting here at work getting paid, what better time to do it.  :)

Allie Rai has continued to improve greatly. Her stomach issues are rarely even mentioned anymore.  She is gaining weight and is doing great in Gymnastics.  She reached level 3 (Competition Level) and is excited about her first Gym meet.  I would love to give you the date, but I don't know it.  I'll post that later when I ask the Mrs's.  School is going good for her and she loves the additional homework that 5th grade hands out in comparison to 4th.  That is not entirely true, she not excited at all about it. 
We took a trip to Atlanta last weekend to watch our high school football team play in the dome.  That night we took the girls along with Jessica & Shaun (Sister and Brother-in-law) out to Hard Rock Cafe Atlanta.  Well a certain song comes on, and Allie Rai starts dancing in her chair.  The waiter see this and asks her if she wanted to dance, and this kid jumps up, runs out in front of the entire restaurant and literally just breaks it down.  Other waitress's all came over and Allie Rai brought the house down.  When she was done she was given a standing ovation from the crowd.  I have this on video and will load it soon to post.  However i have a picture I can post now...  She is her daddy daughter!!!!




Allie Rai showing off her moves infront of Atlanta

 


Dawn is doing great.  We are a freshman now 9th grade.  Yaa! Cheerleading has started and I believe their first game is next week.  She will be cheering for 9th and 10th grade this year.  Won't be long and she will be cheering for Varsity Packers. 
We have another boyfriend.  Again, I can't begin to express my excitement there.  He seems like a nice kid.  This one is year younger.  I like that.  He also seems easily intimidated.  I like that too!  I really like that.  If the relationship makes it past the 3 week mark then I will pull the "DADD" speech out of my box to speeches and hand him one.  I will explain to him that it is in his best interest to hold on to that speech, and learn it, live it, love it.  Because I only give nice ones once. 

Mandy is going great.  Still hot and still putting up with me.  Nothing new there..

Other news:  Mandy and I will be flying out to Idaho Sep 19th to check out the area.  We are still on the fence about what we want to do.  I feel like a trip out there will probably give us a better idea of what we are facing.  I will give updates on this at a later date.  This should be interesting.  Neither of us has ever flown.  We will be flying out of Tallahassee to Atlanta, from Atl to Salt Lake, then from Salt Lake to Idaho Falls.  I'm sure I'll be fine.  Mandy on the other hand.. well that is to be determined.. 

Pictures from Atlanta last weekend.

Allie Rai & Dawn



Dawn, Ava (My Niece) and some good looking fella..



Dawn & Mandy

 

Sports Forum

For those of you that are big high school sports fans, I have created a high school sports forum for all Georgia Sports.  Several members have joined so far from Colquitt, Coffee, Valdosta/Lowndes & Tift areas.  Good place to find out some info on your teams or rivals.  Check it out or register for free and join the conversations. 

      http://www.gahighschoolsports.net/

Bragging A Little!!

Just wanted to say that Allie Rai received the "Overall Best Cheerleader" at the end of cheer camp today.  The top award.  But seriously, who is surprised.  She is her daddy's daughter. 

Allie Rai Update 06/04/12

Allie Rai's fever finally broke around Thursday late.   We are assuming the Doctors must have gotten it right the first time this time.  Her energy level really came back Friday morning as well as her appetite.  She was so tired of being in the house and so anxious to get out and do something we took her out to eat.  Probably not the smartest thing to do on our part but we did it anyway.  You could tell she was back to her old self again.  Thankfully the virus didn’t aggravate her IBS “much”.  By the end of the weekend she again at 100%.  You can always tell with Allie Rai when she is feeling good because you can NOT get a word in edge ways.  Yap Yap Yap Yap Yap.. (She gets that from her mother). 

Sunday After Church, Feeling good at the Cracker Barrel

Allie Rai Update

The past year Allie Rai has had little to no flare ups with her IBS.  It's amazing how soon you get comfortable in not having to think about doctor visits nearly all the time.  Last night was a reminder to me how lucky we have been in the last year with her. 

Around mid-morning yesterday Mandy gets a call from the YMCA saying that Allie Rai had started throwing up.  Mandy gets her and keeps an eye on her most of the afternoon.  When I got home from work Allie Rai's temp had reached 103.2 and off to the ER we went.  We arrived at the hospital around 6:00pm or so.  Her temp was still hanging around 102.5 at this time.  They immediately give Allie Rai an I.V....
 (as a side note, they bring in a second nurse when sticking I.V.'s in children.  I assume this is in case the child goes nuts one of the nurses can help to hold them still.  They were completely amazed when the nurse stuck Allie Rai and asked if she was ok and Allie Rai smiled at her while watching them put in the IV.  They bragged and bragged and couldn’t believe how well she takes IV.  To them it’s amazing, to me it’s just plain sad.  This kid has had so many IV's in the past years that it’s almost second nature to her to have to have them.  I don’t find that amazing at all.  It just breaks mine and Mandy's heart.)
 
Anyway after urine cultures and blood work they are "saying" that she has come down with a very bad virus.  They allowed us to go home around 10:30 or so, however during the night her temp spikes again.  She is having trouble keeping her Gatorade down, constantly in the bathroom, and running high fever.  Mandy is with her today, as I will be tomorrow if her condition does not improve.  I am hoping they are right the first time and it will only be a virus.  However it makes me nervous and I'm hoping this doesn’t aggravate her IBS.  However she is starting to complain of abdominal pains.  I will keep updating as I see necessary.

You never get use to seeing this....






What else can you do?



Keaton Beach Fishing Trip 05/20/12

My brother-in-law bought himself a new boat a few weeks back and asked if we would join them to test it out on his maiden voyage.  We loaded up and headed to Keaton Beach.  Surprisingly everything went pretty smooth.  Boat ran great and no children were lost at sea.  I wish I could tell you about the massive number of fish we caught, but neither Shaun (Brother-n-Law) nor I had ever fished there.  One fish was brought into the boat.  A 6" rock bass caught by my 4yr old niece Ava.  Dawn had the same (little bigger) but decided to hold it over the side when she got it to the boat and it got off.  Her expression and temper that followed losing her fish makes me nervous that she might not be a happy fisherman.  Either way we had a great time.  Made a few good pictures and look forward to the next trip. 

Headed Out! 

Capt "No Find Fish"

Allie Rai & Ava enjoying the ride.

Dawn fighting that missive 1 1/2 lb Rock Bass.



Hott Momma




Dad trying to explain the art of looking good while fishing.



Allie Rai

Dawn and Daddy!

 

Dawn on American Idol (Maybe)

I don’t know how much you guys keep up with American Idol.  If you’re like me your wife and kids take it a little more serious.  However, I have to admit I have kept up with it a little more this year than before.  The one guy "Phillip Phillips" from Leesburg is the family favorite.  Dawn adores him and Mandy would probably leave me for him.  Ha.  Don’t know why that’s funny.
Anyway, he made it to the finial 3, this is where the remaining 3 singers left get to go home to what they call a "hero's welcome".  They throw parades; have a concert and people from all over come to see this. 
Dawn and Mandy head out around 8:00 am.  There hopes are to avoid the parade and go straight to where his concert will be held at the high school football field.  On the way they hear him on the radio.  Mandy pulls over gets directions as they are entering Albany and shoots over to the radio station in hopes to see him up close.  Well they make it in time and get closer than they had expected.
Dawn not only gets his autograph but is standing at the window of his limo, talking to him with an American Idol camera pointing dead in her face filming it.  See photo below....



If you notice, that is Dawns head in the bottom of the photo talking thru the limo window, Phillip signing autographs and if you look to the right you will see the camera filming it.  I must add that the 450lb body guard / bouncer was the only one able to remove Dawn before she had finished her conversation.

After the "Oh My Goodness I can't believe that just happened you have to call dad and everyone we know in Moultrie and tell them oh my oh my oh my" moment they had they then start to the concert site.
Here again, they are hoping to at least get to where they can see him perform.   Well as luck has it for these two googly eyed chicks, they somehow make their way to the front of the crowd and are now right in front of the stage. 
After the show had begun, there was a quiet moment where they were handing him an award or something (this is what I'm told) Dawn decides to break the silence of the crowd to yell "PHILLIP I LOVE YOU"!!!!!  To which everyone in the crowd and on stage stop and turn towards Dawn.  Again, this is another possible opportunity for Dawn to be recognized on Television.  I can't begin to tell you how proud I am. 

Anyway, Dawn and Mandy hope (and dream) that this Wednesday they may be shown during the show as they are showing the homecoming for all the singers.  So keep an eye out for Dawn and Mandy if you check out the show Wednesday night. 
This could be Dawns debut on national Television.  So she hopes. 

"The Talk" Update 04/17/12

Dadd Log: 04/17/12
Subject: "New Guy"
Objective: Give "The Talk"

"New Guy" is smarter than I thought. He had mom with him. This was an unexpected set back. He must have known it was coming. I suspect Dawn has thrown a friendly warning his way. Talk would have not been as affective with him having backup. Talk will have to wait until further date. Weekend looks promising. I am thinking of purchasing camouflage face paint. Just for dramatic affect. Too much? Time will tell.

Dadd Out...

"The Upcoming Talk"

Dad's nightmare begins yet again.  We have a new boyfriend.  Yaaa!  You just can't imagine the excitement this brings to my life.   

Seems like a nice kid.  I have met him a couple times dropping Dawn off at his house to eat with him and his parents.  I have yet to come up with a good nick name for him due to little time I have been around him.  ("That Guy") seems to cover most all of them.  However tonight he will be at the house for a few minutes.  My turf.  Just long enough to get "The Talk".  I have been asked by Mandy and Dawn to please not try and scare the mess out of him cause he is a nice kid..  So being the loving father and husband I am, I agreed.  (the finger cross thing still applies right?)  I hope so, because if he does not leaves the house without a new found respect for his life then I failed.  I will have a follow post soon on this subject. 

This reminds me, I have found a new saying for a shirt I am going to have Clements Printing make for me.  I only wish I had it to wear for the talk tonight. 


Let me know what you guys think about it.



Next Clements Supper

I think I know what I'll bring to the next Clements Family Supper.

Turtle Burgers!!!

Handmade ground beef patties, topped with sharp cheddar cheese, wrapped in a bacon weave, then the next step, add hotdogs as the heads, legs with slits for toes and tail.
Next step. Place on an oven rack, covered loosely with foil and baked for 20-30 minutes at 400 degrees. A little crispy, not too crunchy...just how a turtle should be, no?

Soccer Dads Trash Talking!!!!

This is a copy of an email correspondence between myself and our CPA "Randy" here at Cives.  Dawns soccer team has a game today against Thomas Central.  Randy's daughter plays on the Central team.  The trash talking began Tuesday.  Start at the top and read down.

Warning, some photos get a little PG-13. 

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From: Flanders Clements

Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 8:13 AM
To: Randy Eason
Subject: Good Morning From the Hog Pen!!

Beware of these girls… They have been known to kick, slap, bite, scratch, pinch, push, shove and tackle opponents.  They also love puppies…. GO PACKERS!!!!!!!!!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Randy Eason

Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 8:28 AM
To: 'Flanders Clements'
Cc: 'Stephanie'; Allison Eason
Subject: RE: Good Morning From the Hog Pen!!

The only way I would be scared of these girls was if I was a 13 year old boy.

Tell these gals to stick to texting and watching Justin Bieber.

Randy

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From: Flanders Clements

Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 8:31 AM
To: 'Randy Eason'
Subject: RE: Good Morning From the Hog Pen!!

These girls eat the guts of little boys like Bieber for breakfast and ask for seconds…  Animals!!!

-Flanders

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From: Randy Eason

Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 8:44 AM
To: 'Flanders Clements'
Subject: RE: Good Morning From the Hog Pen!!

Looks like they are more worried about the color of their finger nails to me.

Our girls are focused and extremely fast. They don’t monkey around.

Randy
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From: Flanders Clements

Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 10:05 AM
To: 'Randy Eason'
Cc: Mandy (Work)
Subject: RE: Good Morning From the Hog Pen!!

We don’t monkey around brother.. Neither do our fans….

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From: Randy Eason

Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 10:38 AM
To: 'Flanders Clements'
Subject: RE: Good Morning From the Hog Pen!!

Nor does our coach.

-Randy

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From: Flanders Clements

Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 10:52 AM
To: 'Randy Eason'
Subject: RE: Good Morning From the Hog Pen!!

Yeah we heard about your coach..

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From: Randy Eason

Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 10:13 AM
To: 'Flanders Clements'
Cc: 'Stephanie'; Mandy (Work)
Subject: RE: Good Morning From the Hog Pen!!

Allison ate nails for breakfast after bench pressing 400 lbs 10 times.

Randy

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Flanders Clements 
Sent: Wednesday, February 22, 2012 10:37 AM
To: 'Randy Eason'
Cc: 'Stephanie'; 'Mandy (Work)'
Subject: RE: Good Morning From the Hog Pen!!

Dawn woke up this morning to the Rocky theme song “Eye Of the Tiger”, went to the kitchen and downed about 5 raw eggs (little liquid chicken diet), before rubbing blood on her face and walking into the front yard yelling “VICTORY” .

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***Now after all that trash talk, we get to ride to the game together after work today.  

Dawn, Allie Rai Update 02/17/12

Dawn's second soccer game was yesterday against Cook County.  The girls came out on top with an impressive 6-1 victory over Cook.  Our girls showed no mercy to the other team.  She got a little playing time in the first half of the game.  She is really coming along and improving fast.  I get the feeling she is enjoying playing on a field more so than cheering on the side lines.

Allie Rai is really enjoying being back in gymnastics.  It is so nice to see her feeling good enough to enjoy a sport again.  I asked her yesterday if she might want to get back into soccer again.  She said she really doesn’t like soccer, and really wants to try and do gymnastics.  I let her know she can do whatever she wants to when it comes to choosing an activity.  Hopefully soon, she will move up to a level where we can watch her compete.  She was one level away 2 yrs ago from a competition level before she got sick. 

Columbus Trip "The Crazy Squirrel Hunt"

I received a call from a friend Tim in Columbus Ga this past week.  Apparently my Step Brother Chris was going to be in Atlanta for work this week and decided to drive to Columbus and visit him over the weekend.  They called me to join in since we haven’t all seen each other in years.  I agreed and with some strings pulled and some guys covering for me at work during the weekend I was able to make the trip to Columbus early Saturday morning.  Tim made mention that it would be cool if we and few other of his friends all went squirrel hunting like old times.  This was not taken completely serious therefore leading me and Chris in several small issues.

As we exited the trucks Chris and I noticed our first problem.  Our hunting “attire” was not quit the hunting status per say as the other special force commando’s exiting their vehicles.  It kind of resembled a small platoon of soldiers with two local hostages. 

Me in my jeans, American Eagle Fleece Jacket and loafers.

 

Chris in his brightly colored wind breaker, gray slacks and tennis shoes.  If you look closely, you might be able to spot Chris as well as Commando #2 trying to blend into the surroundings.  Stealth is key!!  

Regardless of our non-warish look, we march into the wilderness in search of the allusive tree rat.. After countless minutes of marching we arrive in an open clear cut area.  Good place to stop, regroup, and come up with different offensive measures.  However this leads to yet another problem.  As we discuss our next strategy, it is brought to my attention by one of the other Commandos that this is the exact location they were nearly attacked by pit bulls the last time they were there.  My thoughts are “Humm.. You don’t say.. Very nice.. Rabid Pit Bulls huh.. Great!!.. Good thing Chris and I are so noticeable, this way while they are mauling me and Chris to death you guys might have a good chance of making a break for it and escape.” 

Regardless of the danger we carry on like real men with a mission at hand, must push on.  Walking quietly and not a single sign of the enemy we somehow sneak up on a freaking grave yard.  I’m thinking “Seriously??  Wrong Cloths, Rabid wild dogs, and now a lost grave yard?”

Again look close.. You might be able to find Chris, along with Commando #3 overlooking some of the adult graves.  I didn’t take any pictures of the children’s graves laying around.. God knows what kind of bad luck that would have brought.

At this point I’m thinking this has to be a bad sign.  I mean, when has anything good ever come of just stumbling upon dead bodies buried out in the middle of nowhere??

To make a longer story short, we eventually made it back to the trucks.  Fire off a few rounds at whatever looked like a good target, and kicked back a few beers with old friends. 

Even though there were no kills the trip went great.  Even got a nice blurry picture of us all.  

Sam The Shorkie

Mandy has been asking for a small dog for some time now.  She has always wanted a little one for the house and I have been putting this off for a long time.  Well I finally gave in and (early January) found a breeder located in Valdosta.  Mandy had mentioned about a year ago that she really wanted a Shorkie (Yorkie-Tzu).  This is a designer breed between a Male Yorkie and a female Shihtzu. 
I was told they typically have the size of the Yorkies and the personalities of the Shihtzu.  At the time this didn't really make me jump for joy because I really didn't know what a Yorkie is supposed to look like nor how a Shihtzu acts.... But anyway, This past Friday I drove to Valdosta and Mandy now has her litte Shorkie.  She named him Sam.  Middle name "Iam"  Get it.. Sam-I-Am .. Seriously.. That’s his name.. 
The girls are also very excited.  By the time Allie Rai and him are done playing at night, the dog has no issues with us putting him in his bed.  He is typically poop'd..




Sam



Dawn Wins Her 1st Soccer Game!!

Dawn's soccer team (7th & 8th grade Packers) traveled to Lee County for their first soccer game of the season.  This was Dawns first soccer game ever.  They won by 1 point in over time.  



Dawn and some friends!!



Dawn waiting for something to happen...

 

Girls crashed on the ride back to Colquitt County



Dawn, Allie Rai Update

Allie Rai has continued to improve.  Yesterday she started back gymnastics.  She had to stop over a year or two ago due to her stomach issues.  Trips to Shands have come to a stop and are now seeing doctors locally.  It is a great relief watching her improve rather than the opposite. 

Dawn made the 7th/8th grade soccer team.  She has never played nor shown interest in soccer until lately.  We worked in the yard for several days before try-outs and she made the cut.  I credit both girls athletic ability to myself.  With the natural ability they inherited mixed with my 2nd to none coaching skills I feel they could be the best.... Ha.. 
She is really enjoying the game and yesterday while the girls’ team scrimmaged against the boys’ team, she literally tackled one of the boys trying to take the ball from him.  I was one proud daddy!! Ha..  I just wonder, does this mean my wife needs a super-size SUV being a soccer mom now?