It was a Success!

Tommy and some of his buddies went offshore fishing yesterday and they did great! Tommy was a little nervous about going out again in the same boat but he couldn't stand it anymore! He loves to fish!! They ended up catching 20 dolphin and hooked up with a nice Wahoo but after 15 minutes of fighting it it cut the line! I can't wait to go! Hopefully next year!

Family Update and Ohio Trip

Family Update:

Tommy- Well as many of you read the last blog post Tommy went offshore fishing and it didn't go so well :( But they have decided to give it another try and they are going offshore tomorrow. Good Luck Guys!!

Katie- As for me I am doing good! 28 Weeks Now! WOW! Thomas has become quite active and sometimes it feels like he is doing flips in my belly. I had my first big pregnant, emotional break down last week. I put Gracie down for a nap like usually one morning and had some time to sit and relax and for some reason it dawned on me that WOW I am having another baby in a couple months and I don't have the first thing for him and I suddenly became overwhelmed with tears and anxiety. With Gracie her room was done a couple of months before she was born. I called Tommy and pour thing couldn't help but laugh wondering where have you been for the last 7 months Katie. Now looking back on it I can laugh too!

Gracie- She will be turning a year old in a couple of weeks and I have no idea where this last year has gone! I can't believe our little lady will be one! She is doing lots and lots of walking and becoming very independent. She would only like big people food and to feed herself because apparently Mom doesn't know what she is thinking trying to feed her baby food. That's for babies and we have a BIG GIRL on our hands. :) She keeps me laughing all the time and I love every minute if it!

I know it has been a couple of weeks since we got back from Ohio but I thought I would share some pictures. Better late then never! We went to Ohio for Easter weekend to visit Tommy's grandparents and for Gracie and I to met the rest of the family at a family reunion. We had a wonderfully time visiting with everyone. It was Gracie's first time on an airplane and she didn't great! It didn't scare her at all!

Everyone ready to leave the airport for our trip!

Gracie and mommy's first train ride.

Chip and Gracie's Easter Baskets!

Worst Fishing Trip Ever!

First time blogger here (obviously this is Tommy). Everyone keeps telling me I need to share my adventure, so here you have it. My friend Marcus has a 23 ft. center console boat that we take offshore fishing. We had been planning our first trip of the year for about a month. I invited two other friends to join us, Russ Bennett who many of you know is from Greenville and Robbie who has been a long time friend of my family. Well we set out to try to catch some tuna about 3:00 am April 4Th which was a sat. morning. It was a long, wet three hour ride to the fishing spot. We made it 55 miles off the coast and decided to start pulling baits. While trolling we kept heading farther out. Well after 8 hours of fishing and not one fish in the boat :( we decided it was time to head back. We realized we were 78 miles from the Charleston Jetties. As we were making great time heading back, the engine on the boat lost power with 55 miles left to go. Russ and I found ourselves praying in the bottom of the console while we were troubleshooting. It was 3:30 in the afternoon and once we realized we could not find the problem, we called for help. The only boat or ship we saw all day was a mile south of us at that time. It was a 550 ft. oil tanker who we radioed to for help. He then contacted the US Coast Guard who contacted Tow Boat US. We knew help was on the way, but we also knew that being in the gulf stream was going to do nothing but push us north. It was a blessing for all of us on board that the captain of that ship cared enough to turn around and offer us assistance. He also contacted our family members with a satellite phone and let them know what was going on. The ship through us a rope from about 4 stories up that had a lead ball on the end of it. The lead ball was so they could get the rope go fly away from the boat. While I was checking fuses and relayes on the motor (not looking toward the ship) the lead ball hit me in the top of the head. I briefly passed out then got very upset because I thought someone on our boat was messing with me. We stayed tied to the ship for almost 4 hours. Once the boat showed up it was 8:00 pm and we were glad to see him. Little did we kn0w that once he hooked up to us and started pulling us in we were only going 7 knots. We looked at our GPS and realized our ETA to the dock was 5:30 am. The first thought that came to my mind was my family. I knew Katie was going to worry and not be able to sleep, which was really upsetting to me. Let me drop a little side note in here, my wife Katie who many of you hear from quite often is such a blessing to me. I love her so much and she is the best wife/mother in the world. I love you Baby. Alright back to the story. After about 4 hours of pure misery (wet and cold) I began to get sick. Which now we know was caused from the mild concussion I received from the 3 pound weight to the head. Our prayers were answered and we were back at the dock at 5:00am. I finally pulled in my driveway to meet my beautiful, anxious, upset, crying, pregnant, loving wife at 5:30. It was a very joyful time to get to hug and hold her. I have a few pictures and a news headline to share with you. Sorry the story was so long, but I had to share about the worst fishing trip ever!

We did get to enjoy this incredible sunset. It reminded me of how awesome and powerful God is!

Swim Lessons

Yesterday, Gracie and I started swim lessons at St. Andrews Family Fitness. They have an amazing indoor heated swimming pool which Gracie loves. She did so good yesterday listening and trying new things. (Well as much as a 10 month old would.) The first lesson was just to get them adjusted to the water for those babies that have never been in a pool but Gracie took about 2 seconds to figure out she loved it. She practiced kicking on her belly, kicking on her back and blowing bubbles (which was funny to watch). She would basically try and drink the water which she found not to her liking. Can't wait for the next lesson!

Everyone introducing their babies

Gracie kicking on her belly! She loved this part

Trying to blow bubbles

All smiles after being dunked underwater!

Kicking on her back!