Brecon Lex Hester

Len and I are pround to announce the arrival of our nephew. Brecon Lex Hester arrived March 11, 2011 at 3:59 pm. Weight 7 lbs 14oz Length 20.5 inches. Kimberly, Lex and Brecon are all doing well. He is so precious!!!!

Tupelo Baby Shower

Some of Mrs. Hester's friends hosted a baby shower for Len and I in Tupelo. It was very nice and I enjoyed seeing Tupelo friends and family. We are busy getting things ready for Meredith. Thank you for all the sweet gifts - she is going to have quite a wardrobe!!

Baby Shower

Aunt Jenny and Bette hosted a joint baby shower for Kimberly and I on February 12th in Memphis. It was lots of fun. Everything was absolutely beautiful!! Jenny and Bette did a great job decorating in pink and blue.

It's a Girl!!

Pink is our new favorite color!! Len and I found the week before Christmas that we will be having a girl. We are so excited!! We have been busy planning the nursery - the crib and chair are ordered and I have bedding picked out. Our guest bedroom is slowing turning into her room. We are so excited about this new journey!

Dove Hunt 2010

The Dennery Family hosted a dove hunt Labor Day weekend. Dad and Nick worked all summer putting the field in. We had a great time and Nicole and I even hunted Sunday afternoon. Len decided he was going to take Porter hunting. This was Porter's 1st hunt and he made Len very proud!!! Porter retrieved his 1st bird - Uncle Lex was so proud too that he teared up watching him retrieve. Those boys are funny :) Here are some pictures from the weekend - Everyone had a great time!!!

Whitewater Rafting

The Hester family went whitewater rafting June 25 - 27.

On Friday, we tubed down the lower Ocoee River. What an adventure this turned out to be. Little did we know the river split and Mr. Hester, Mrs. Hester, Kimberly and I stayed on the main river and the rest of the family split left and ventured down another part. Mrs. Hester, Kimberly and I decided to link arms and drift down enjoying the scenery and sun. However, none of us were paying attention to where the river took us and we ended up in some tree branches. Mrs. Hester was tipped off her tube and she grabbed on to a tree branch - I can still picture her holding on so tight and yelling at Danny (I am still laughing). Finally she let go and hung on to my tube and we floated about 1/3 of way down the river like that. Kimberly decided to go for the abondoned tube and ended up in more trees. When I looked back, she looked like a bird in a nest - she was in so many branches (I still have this picture in my head). Kimberly made it out alive but Mrs. Hester's tube did not. So with 1 tube busted we floated until we reached a dock. Meanwhile the rest of the Hester clan had their own adventure. They battled trees and shallow water - when we met up at the dock we all had stories to tell. We had a great time tubing and what an adventure it turned out to be!!!

On Saturday we went whitewater rafting down the Ocoee. This actually turned out to be easier than tubing! Only Mike fell out and none of the rafts tipped so it was a successful trip. I decided to "ride the bull" on the last set of rapids. Which means I sat on the front of the raft and held on tight!! To bad I don't have pictures but Len's cousin Mousey did it too. You can see him in the pictures below. We had a great time with the Hester clan!!

Tubing - Mrs. Hester's busted tube

Len rafting the Upper Ocoee - Olympic portion

Rafting the Ocoee - this is known as the Washing Machine

Rafting down the Ocoee

Riding the Bull

California

Len and I went to California to see my best friend from high school, Ann and her husband Tyler. We flew in Saturday and spent the day touring Berkeley. We got up the next morning and headed to Yosemite. The drive was beautiful - the landscape is very different from the South. In Yosemite we saw beautiful waterfalls and wildlife. As soon as we got there we saw a black bear. We hiked Mist trail - I didn't realize when I planned this trip how much walking I would be doing uphill. My favorite part of the hike was THE END!! Just kidding once we reached Vernal Falls it made the hike worth it. Plus I couldn't let all the retired people out do me. Next we headed to Wine Country - Sonoma and then Napa. I think this was my favorite part. It was beautful! We had a great time learning more about wine and tasting different types. We stayed at a quaint B&B called the Old World Inn in Napa. I wished we had one more night there. Then we toured San Francisco. We saw all the sights - Golden Gate bridge, Alcatraz, Fishermans Wharf, Ghirardelli Square, Cable Cars, Lombard Street (the curviest street), Filbert Street (the steepest street - Len loved driving down this one), Chinatown, Little Italy, The Painted Ladies and lots more. Our last day we drove down to Carmel on Highway 1. It was beautiful!!! We had a great time and I am glad I got to see Ann and Tyler. Thanks for letting us stay with you.

Beach in Carmel - there was wedding going on.

Beach in Carmel - Beautiful



Muir Woods - Redwood trees were really tall!!



Golden Gate Bridge - our bus was open top and it was so much to ride across!



The flowers were absolutely gorgeous!!




Len and I getting ready for our San Francisco tour.

The Painted Ladies - this is the opening scene from the TV show Full House

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_Tv5f3agDw\

here is a link to opening credits for Full House incase you are curious.

Cable Car

Pier 39 Sea Lions - there were sea lions all over this dock it was very entertaining to watch them.

Alcatraz - one of my favorite parts of the trip.

Alcatraz

Hall Winery - we toured this winery and this is when we were in the caves - they were beautiful!

Wine Country - we ate lunch at Auberge De Soliel it had great views of the vineyards but it was raining so we had to eat inside.

Grapes Vines

Yosemite - Yosemite Falls

Yosemite - Vernal Falls- I hiked over a mile uphill to see this. Needless to say, I was very proud once I got to the top. We could have continued up to another waterfall but I decided one accomplishment for the day was enough.