So I mentioned in my last post that I’d share some pictures of our recent family trip to Lake Guntersville where Jeremy had his final FLW tournament of this year. And LOOK…. I’m actually doing it! And it’s not even Christmas! Yay me!!!

The cabin we found to stay in was very nice. It was right on the water, had a basketball court, and an awesome fire pit, perfect for roasting marshmallows.

Only 45 minutes north was Huntsville, Alabama, home of the US Space and Rocket Center. That place was really fun. Here are Savannah and Emery, ready for blast off:

We kept up with our school work while we were out of town, but it’s always more fun to take a field trip instead. So on the last day, while we were waiting for Daddy to get done on the water, we stopped by Cathedral Caverns State Park.

It’s was a pretty cool (literally) underground cave where a tour guide would show you natural rock formations that have been thousands of years in the making. The park itself was small, but very beautiful. The weather was perfect.

Then we headed off to the lake with our fingers crossed, hoping Jeremy brought in a big bag of fish. And while he did bring in a bag of fish, it was not big enough to keep him in the tournament for the final 2 days. It didn’t matter to my kids though. Their favorite part of weigh-in days, is when they get to go on stage with their Dad and talk on the microphone to the crowd. The fact that it’s being recorded and watched live all across the country, is the just the icing on the cake.

Fish? What fish? I was on TV!!!!

Let’s not forget about the men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for all of us who live in freedom. That’s the real reason we have a day off from work and can get together on a Monday afternoon. And even though we did celebrate the day with friends and family, we did not forget.

Oh, and kudos to a local church for their fantastic flag display, which also afforded me the opportunity to talk about Memorial Day in detail with my kids while in route to Kroger. That was a much better use of time instead of watching a DVD, playing games on my phone, or goodness knows…BICKERING IN THE BACKSEAT!

But ya know what? All those things involve our freedom. The freedom to come and go as we please, to play games, work hard, relax, fish, swim or make the best BBQ in the neighborhood. Let’s just not forget the families who have and who ARE making such a tremendous sacrifice on behalf of this entire nation.

First, a couple of weeks ago, Emery had to give a presentation at school about what he wanted to be when he grew up. He stood confidently in front of the class and told them all about how he was going to be a super hero someday. How his super power would be speed and his wife would have the ability to become invisible.

Second, last week while Jeremy was stranded in Louisana with his truck broken down, he met a young guy from Japan. He came to America to fish the FLW Series and even though he speaks very little English, he and Jeremy hit if off. When it was time for Jeremy to come home on Monday, he called to let me know Naohiro would be coming with him to stay for 2 weeks until the Table Rock tournament.

I thought it would be best to prepare the kids for this and tried to explain to them that he didn’t speak our language. I also wanted to make sure they could say his name correctly by the time he got here. Naohiro is pronounced “Ni-Hero”.

Emery: “My hero?”
Me: “No. Ni, Ni, Ni-Hero.”
Emery: “Whose hero?”
Me: “Nobody’s hero. That’s his name. Naohiro.”
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Okay, with that in mind, fast forward to dinner that night. Both kids were totally fascinated with the poor guy, but he took it all in stride. They were asking him how to say everything from “hello” to “sing”. They wanted to show him all their favorite toys and teach him how to say the names. He was playing along until Emery brought in his Buzz Lightyear. Naohiro’s face lit up and he exclaims, “Oh Yes!!! Buzz a-Lightyear!!!”

Well, Emery was beside himself!

At that point Jeremy calmed everyone down so we could actually finish our dinner. It was quiet for a moment, then Emery began saying the colors of everyone’s hair. Jeremy and I made eye contact across the table because we knew what was coming. You see, Naohiro has black and orange hair. Like maybe he tried to bleach it, but it never got blonde? Anyways, one half of his head is orange.

So Emery gets to him and says “Naohiro’s hair is black AND orange! I’ve never seen black and orange hair before. Why IS your hair black and orange?”

Naohiro gets very serious, leans down, and looks Emery dead in the eye. In a soft voice he says, “Becuss, in uh Japan. I Japanese Sup-a-hero. I good friend with Buzz a-Lightyear.”

Oh how I wish I had a camera to capture the look on my son’s face. It was really too much!

I’m talking about Jeremy and his career change. So long to headaches from employees, subcontractors, and homeowners! Hello fishy fishy…

Jeremy was a tournament fisherman when we met. As a matter of fact, on our first “official” date he took me out on Lake Oconee and handed me a fishing pole. If it was a test, I’d say I passed with flying colors. In his toast at our wedding reception, he recalls that our first date was on the pond and he never left my side from that moment on. I remember him saying that made our wedding night our 2nd date.

He’s so silly.

In these past 10 years with him, fishing has been a part of our family. I’ve fished Guys & Dolls tournaments with him (not that I’m any help. I’m just sayin’…), and now that the kids are older, they enjoy catching fish at Papa’s or riding in the boat on the big lakes.

After closing our homebuilding company last year, Jeremy decided he’d like to pursue his dream of becoming a Pro-Angler. I was completely on board from the very beginning because there aren’t many things in this life that put a twinkle in my hubby’s eye like the possibility of a day of catch and release.

So he spent last year qualifiying to fish with the big dogs and also finding out as much as he could about sponsorships and ways to save money while living on the road. Can I just stop right here and say how proud I am that he got into every major tournament series he applied for in 2010? That is so awesome!!!

I’m also excited about doing a bit of traveling myself. The pictures I’ve posted above are all from a tournament he fished last October on Lake Seminole. The homeschooling gig works out great because we can go to just about any place with him, for as long as we like. I teach while he fishes, and about the time we finish up for the day, he’s getting off the water to weigh in. I also think it’s fun to take the kids on fieldtrips to places we wouldn’t normally have the opportunity to go. On one trip last fall, we were in Alabama and I had time to kill between his weigh-in and our hotel check out. So I thumbed through the local attraction pamphlets and found out there was a kids science museum about 30 minutes away. It was perfect!

I love finding stuff like that!

Today kicks off the 2010 fishing year. Sure, things will be a lot different in the upcoming months. But different is good. For us…it’s REAL good! (Good luck Babe!!! We’re all at home pulling for ya!!!!)