Dan's Wedding Weekend

My brother and Angie married in January 2003. There were so many good pictures, it was hard to pick just one!

Clockwise from top left: Alex, Laura, Brittany, Frank, and me; Dan and Angie; Angie and Brittany; my mom and dad; Laura and Andy post wedding.

Third Deployment

We deployed in March 2003 for the onset of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). It was my shortest deployment, at just one month. Of course, I left early due to a war injury (or rather a softball injury - how embarrassing!) Frank came home soon after me.


The picture on the left is me heading home from a day's work. It is early morning since we worked at night. On the right I am lost in a dust storm. They could get pretty bad at times to where you could only see maybe two feet in front of you! The other shot on the right is of me and Frank in our 'home'. On this deployment I found out how amazingly hard it is to walk in sand with crutches!

Dad's Visit

When I got home from OIF, my dad came for a visit to help me with my leg. He showed up while I was still in the hospital recovering from having a plate and screws put in my ankle - fun! Here we are in Destin having lunch with my friend Jolane. To the right is my post surgery x-ray.

Colorado Springs

We went to Colorado Springs in June 2003 to visit my sister and family. Our friends the Winninghams were also vacationing nearby and stopped in for a few days visit. On the left we are with the Winninghams at the cliff dwellings, and on the right we're at the Royal Gorge.

Welcome Home Gimlet

In early July we got a dog from the shelter - I found his picture online and immediately fell in puppy love! We traveled 3 hours to pick him up from a small town in Alabama. What a cutie!

My Motorcycle

I have always had a thing for motorcycles. In June 2003, my friend Jolane and I took a motorcycle safety course and went shopping for bikes. She found a Yamaha and I got a Katana. We took a few rides, my favorite being a day down on the barrier islands of Destin and Fort Walton. Due to deployments, I did not get to ride as much as I would have liked before I got pregnant and had to sell the bike. Who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to get another bike again! This time, I would go for more of a cruiser. Sport bikes are pretty, but man do you hands and back hurt after only a short while!

Mom and Dad Visit Florida

My parents visited us in Florida in July 2007. We had fun taking them out on our sailboat for a day on the bay. It was a fast, but wonderful weekend.

The Macks Come to Florida (and Andy in Iraq)

My sister and her family came to visit for a week in September 2007 while Andy was deployed to Iraq. The kid's favorite thing was the Gulfarium because of the fun dolphin show. Laura was five months pregnant at the time with Nate. There are a lot of pictures of this trip because I'd just got my new Canon SLR and was playing around all the time!

Also in September, Laura's husband Andy sent us this photo of him with Drew Carey in Iraq. Sometimes celebrities visit the deployed troops. BTW, notice the date stamps on Laura's pregnancy photo and Andy's photo!