Friday, December 29, 2006

2006 Down the Drain

As we put a bow on 2006 and send it off in style, I am so thankful for such a great year.

  • The birth of our second child came in February, and Lucy has brought us so much joy.
  • Our three-year-old Rigby really became a mature little boy - surprising us with his increased vocabulary skills and always charming us with his consistent good nature.
  • We welcomed back my sister, Tobi, to Chattanooga, as she, Corey and Nellie finished a three-year stint in Asheville.
  • We had a great week's vacation on St. Simon's Island. What a joy to be together as a family, away from all the busy hassles of everyday life. Oh, to win the lottery.
  • Stacy and I lost significant weight after the birth of Lucy. I lost 30 pounds and saw 199 for the first time in a long time!
  • This was a year that I saw my Mocs beat Georgia Southern on a last second field goal - boy that was awesome.
  • We celebrated my 35th birthday in Atlanta at the Tom Petty concert - there will never be another like that man. We also celebrated my birthday with friends and family and my sister and brother-in-law's new house.
  • I had a flat-out great time during UTC homecoming, staying up until the break of dawn with fellow friends and alumni.
  • Stacy and I got to meet John Legend after attending his concert in Atlanta. What a great talent he is.
  • Rich, my fellow Class of 89'er finally got engaged to his long-time sweetheart, Danielle. I really thank my mom and Tobi for meeting and befriending them in Asheville. They are a great addition to our family. Even though Rigby is heartbroken that his first older woman crush is leaving him, he is cool with it. Too bad Rich and Danielle cannot turn on a computer to read this - yuppie Asheville mountain-people types (whatever that means)!
  • We again spent two wonderful Christmas weekends with my mom and Bob and then with Stacy's parents and the rest of the family. What a wonderful month December is for us, even though we packed on some extra pounds from all the tasty eatings.
  • Stacy and I are very thankful for our careers and proud to work for a truly caring company, even though some think we wear devil horns around the office (whatever). We work with some pretty great folks!
Best wishes to all for a superfantastic 2007!

Monday, December 25, 2006

What a Christmas

East Ridge Christmas.
Ford Explorer - rear, filled. passenger seat, filled.
room for Erik, Stacy and the kids? maybe.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Football Championship


Chattanooga hosted its 10th-straight NCAA Football Championship Friday night, December 15.

Appalachian State beat UMass 28-17 in front of the largest Finley Stadium crowd ever - 22, 808.

I was fortunate to have an all-access pass at the stadium and got to visit many great friends.

I watched kickoff on the skybox roof with David Cope and David Smotherman (pictured).

I stood on the field at the 30-yard line with Warren "Moose" Koegel, current Athletic Director at Coastal Carolina. I also got to show pics of my kids to his wife, "Big E" (Elaine).

I visited the Chancellor's box and shared stories with Dr. Brown and UTC alumnus Steve Harvey - and we had some great stories.

I sat in the Coca-Cola skybox with friends - we are so fortunate to have Coca-Cola as a major supporter of UTC.

I hung out in the press box and visited some dear old friends - the most loyal volunteers UTC athletics has.

I saw a great football game with an overflow crowd!

What a night!

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

John Legend in the ATL

Stacy and I went to Atlanta last night to see the John Legend concert at The Tabernacle, a former downtown church and historical landmark turned into a music hall. The Tabernacle holds about 3,000 people and is mostly standing room only with a couple balconies for those wanting to sit.

The Tabernacle has been acknowledged as the best concert venue by Rolling Stone magazine.

It did not disappoint. We were three rows from the stage and John Legend put on a heckuva show. It was the second time we had seen him - the first was last year in Birmingham.
And because we got in right when the doors opened, Stacy was one of the first of 100 people to buy a t-shirt, which awarded us backstage passes to meet Legend after the show.

After two hours of G.O.O.D. music, we made our way to meet John. He was very nice and patient considering he had just put on a show and was now meeting 100 people and signing autographs.

What a great night!!


Thursday, November 09, 2006

Our nine month old daughter

Well, at first she scooted, now she is crawling. Lucy's first real crawl was Saturday night in a Finley Stadium skybox during the Mocs final home football game.

Lucy also all of a sudden has two front bottom teeth. She has such a great character. The teachers at school call her an actress. She likes to put on a show with that big smile of hers.

Monday, October 23, 2006

60

Happy birthday to my Mom, one of my best friends! I am who I am because of her.

Halloween Party

My sister had her 4th annual Halloween Party and the first one in Chattanooga this past weekend. Her house was decorated with perfection. Black lights and red lights were the lighting of choice. Strobe lights flashed across the front. Bloody shower walls with a chainsaw greeted guests to one bathroom. And in the kitchen and dining room, evil spirits of the liquid kind flowed. Enough that one 35-year-old rested on the couch until 5 p.m. the next day, doing nothing but watching NFL and the back of his eyelids.

Monday, October 09, 2006

Homecoming

Ah, what a great time of year. I enjoyed the UTC homecoming weekend with family, friends and fraternity brothers.

Even though the football game was horrible (UTC 21 - App St 56), tailgating was all-good. I sailed down Knob Creek for a good while, enjoyed a burger at Northshore Grill, rocked to the 80s at the Sigma Chi house, late night/early morning dining at City Cafe and then arrived home at 5 a.m.

Sunday was not very productive except for a nice family hike on Lookout Mountain. Rigby hiked a mile on foot!

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Mocs Win

What a great Saturday! The Georgia Southern Eagles football team came to town to take on our Chattanooga Mocs. GSU owns the Mocs, with an all-time 18-1 record.

Well, not this year! The Mocs won 27-26 on a last second field goal. I held Rigby in my arms behind the goalposts where the winning ball came through. It was awesome! All the fans just stood around in kind of a stupor - "did we really win?"

Later in the evening, Stacy and Tobi hosted a birthday party for my 35th year. We had beverages and food in to the wee hours. It was a great time to see several of my friends together that I usually do not see in one setting.

GO MOCS!

Saturday, September 16, 2006

St. Simons Island

The GrayStation spent the first week of September on St. Simons Island, a spectacular location about an hour south of Savannah.

We had a great, lazy time. Every day on the beach, good food, cold beer, a daring 3 year old, a patient seven month old and dreams of never leaving to go back to work!

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Rigby, the Informer

Erik was recently getting dressed and had his shirt in his mouth. Rigby came running in and said, "Daddy, don't eat your shirt. There is plenty of food in the kitchen."

Erik was laying on the floor in Rigby's room and Rigby said, " Daddy, don't go to sleep in the floor. The bed is for sleeping. You need to come get in bed."

Erik announced that he was going to the bathroom and Rigby said, "Daddy, there are diapers in that drawer if you need to take one with you."

The Gray's mailbox was knocked off its pole (vandalism? car came around the corner street and smacked it? Who knows?) Rigby announced, "The mailman hit our mailbox with a hammer. How are we going to fix the mailbox so the mailman can put mail in there?"

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Atlanta Trip

We went to Atlanta last weekend to enjoy a some time with the family. It was Lucy's first big trip. We spent Saturday afternoon at the Zoo and Rigby had an absolute blast. He saw all the animals he sees in the books he "reads."

Lucy slept.

Rigby loved the elephants, 'nocerous, zebras, gorillas, King Kongs, snakes, monkeys and especially the panda bears. One panda was pacing back and forth across the front window while dozens of people looked on. The panda stoped right in front of Rigby and proceeded to tease him. It was awesome.

Lucy slept.

That evening we went to Decatur and ate at Crescent Moon, a tasty little place. We all had huge meals and a blackberry cobbler with ice cream.

We stayed at the Sheraton Suites on I-285. We had a two-room suite, so we all had beds. Lucy slept with mommy, Erik was in a bed and rigby slept in the living room portion on the couch bed watching his ownTV.

That Sunday we went to the Little Gardens restaurant in Lawrenceville, Ga to see my dad and our extended family. We had a great time and it was great for them to see Rigby and Lucy. Food was aplenty and there was even a chocolate fountain where Rigby dipped strawberries and rice krispie treats in it.

We ended the weekend at IKEA and The Varsity. So it was a great weekend had by all!

Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Growing

Lucy is five weeks old today. And Rigby is two-and-a-half going on teenager.

Rigby is so loving to Lucy. Every morning when he wakes up, he jumps for his bed and runs to find Baby Lucy and mommy. He greets Lucy with a pat on the head and an "mmm, mah" - kiss.

The last several days Rigby has been picking clover flowers from school and holding on to one all the way home. He runs in the house each day and gives the flower to Mommy. Today he picked a purple flower from one of our phlox plants and told me it was for Baby Lucy. When he got in the house, he ran by Mommy and said, "this not for you, Mommy. It's for Baby Lucy."

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Our son

Not that I ever forgot one moment with Rigby, but these last couple days I have rediscovered how wonderful our son is.

He was away with grandparents, cousins and friends from Wednesday, February 8 - Saturday, February 11. Stacy and I only got to see him for just a couple hours each day while we were welcoming Lucy to the world.

Now, holding Lucy was equal to the experience of holding Rigby when he was first born. It is a feeling hard to describe watching the miracle of life come from Stacy’s belly. It is equally hard to describe the feeling having your family watch on when you walk out of the operating room with wife and newborn.

I went to pick Rigby up on Saturday afternoon at the Cope's house. My, had he grown in the past couple days. Just watching the new things he had absorbed and sentences that came from his mouth was amazing.

We left the Cope's and went to Target. Rigby and I had a conversation that is the best it can get between a 35-year-old and a 2-and-a-half year old. As we approached the Target parking lot, Rigby exclaims, "Daddy, we going to Target, I get pink icee, no, I get bloooo icee."

After buying an Icee, we strolled through the aisles and just talked about whatever came up or whatever was on the aisle. Rigby described things he saw, colors he knew and once stopped to tell me, "Daddy, I love you."

Rigby neared the end of his Icee, and handed me the cup, "You want some, there's more in it." The generosity of this child is awesome.

As we walked out of Target, a beautiful snow was falling. Rigby was so excited. "It is snowing at Target." Finally, Rigby told me that it was too cold and "we need get in car - that's you seat, that's my seat, you drive," he said.

In the car, Rigby asked me to play "peoples." I thought he was talking about The Beatles, but I did not realize Rigby was asking for a certain song - his own, Eleanor Rigby, which includes the line, "Ah, look at all the lonely people." After that it was Yellow Submarine, which Rigby sang the chorus.

Before going in the house, Rigby and I discussed the importance of taking care of Baby Lucy and Mommy and being gentle.

When we got inside, Rigby went to the bed where Mommy and Lucy were laying. Rigby climbed up the bed, laid his hand on Lucy's head, and said, "It's okay, Lucy home."

And so the next chapter in our life begins. Our son and daughter begin their lives taking care of each other.

The miracle that is our existence.





Saturday, February 11, 2006

Lucy Clare Gray

Our little girl is here!

Lucy Clare Gray
February 8, 2006
8:43 a.m.
7 lbs. 7 ounces
18 1/2 inches long


We are all home now and doing great. Lucy and Rigby are such great blessings in our lives.

Saturday, February 04, 2006

Blackbird

Erik was in the kitchen this afternoon singing the beginning of the Beatle's song, Blackbird.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly

And Rigby, sitting in another room, finished,

All your life

It was awesome!

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Lucy is almost here!

It is almost time to meet Lucy. We are very excited. We have most of her room ready to go. We bought her stroller and car seat today.

Rigby seems to be ready. He knows Lucy is hiding in Mommy's belly.