Our first scary trip to Children's ER!

Well yesterday was a very scary day for the Hurley family. To make an extremely long, detailed story short,we were in Knoxville at the DeRopp 25th Anniversary party, when Hayden started whining and saying that he wanted to go home. Then the whining turned into him gagging and telling us that his tongue was hurting. Within a few minutes his lips were white and lined blue, his eyes had huge dark circles around them and his whole body was limp. Now all this happened within 4 minutes. So Craig and I grabbed him up and ran to the van, by the time we got him to the van his color was starting to get a little better, but his lips were still blue. So we took off with flashers on, we were just off Alcoa Hwy, so we were minutes from Children's. So many thoughts and feelings were running through my head and my heart was pounding. Riley was scared to death, he didn't understand what was going on. I pulled up to the ER doors and Craig went running in with Hayden and I parked the van. So then I tried to explain to Riley what was going on so he wouldn't be so scared, then I realized I better call my Mom and let her know what was going on. So after 6 hours waiting and several tests later we were discharged home. Dr. Campbell told us that all his test results came back great. She said that Hayden likely had a vagal event, which caused his heart rate to drop due to the gagging he was doing, and that led to his syncopal episode.



Riley was taking care of his Bubba.

He was such a good patient.


His EKG.

He didn't even move during his CT.

Listening to Dr. Campbell, Riley actually took this picture.

Let us all pray that he continues to do well and this doesn't happen again.

Kingston vs. Harriman

Last night, we decided to go watch the Kingston vs. Harriman ball game . As everybody knows I am a Yellow Jacket at heart, but this year, I had to cheer for the Devils. Yes I said the Blue Devils, I always told Tyler I would remain a Yellow Jacket until he started high school, and then I would cheer for him! So Hayden and I met Craig at the field, of course Riley wanted to stay at Nana's! This was the first football game that we had taken Hayden to and he actually understood what was going on. At first he was scared of all the loud noises, buzzers, and other various sounds, but he loosened up quickly. I love going to this game every year because I run into people I hadn't seen since the last game. I have to admit that this was an intense game especially the last 2 minutes, Harriman was so close to beating us, but the Jackets won, 20-18!


Of course, Hayden ran into his girlfriends, Kendal and Bennet. Let me tell you Bennett is quiet the photographer! She took these next two on her own, plus several others...LOL!

Beach Shoot

I am very lucky that I was able to get these pictures, because as we were leaving Charleston headed to our resort in Myrtle Beach I got my "big camera" out, and was going to charge my battery that way when we got to the beach we could take family pics on the beach. Well, I decided for some reason to take some random pics on the way there, I put my lens on and snapped a shoot of the kids in the back, when I went to look at it on my display, only 1/4 of the picture was there, the other 3/4 was black! So I tried again and again and again and it never got better, so I changed lens, still no luck! So I am freaking out......I know that my camera is about 3 years old and I was planning on upgrading to a 5D after my cruise, but I am on vacation without it. So as soon as we got to Myrtle Beach I searched for a camera repair store, knowing that I would have to send it off, I was hoping that I could get someone to look at it and if it was minor then they could repair it. There was only one store that told me to come in and one of their guys would look at it for me. So I left Craig and the boys at the beach and I took off. Once I arrived, they looked at it and told me that my mirror was getting stuck, and they tried a few trick and couldn't fix it. So once I got back to the resort I played around with it hoping I could get it to work, and for some reason I held it upside down and it worked!!!! I was so excited but it would only work in manual mode, which is fine for me because that is how I always shoot, but my sister was the one going to be taking our family pictures. So I tried to train her in the hours prior to the shoot, and I have to say, she done very well. Even though she looked retarded on the beach taking pictures with the camera upside down....but we all thought it was very comical! So needless to say, I have ordered my new camera just a little earlier than expected!







My boys!

Happy 4th Anniversary!

Four year ago today I married the love of my life! WOW! So much has happened in those 4 years! We are truly blessed with our two handsome lil boys, the wonderful life we live, the amazing friends, some old and some new. It doesn't matter how long we have known you, you all have special places in our lives.






Craig, I know that we have came a long way since the first time our eyes met, and I know that we don't always have our date nights or cuddling time on the couch, but there's nothing in this world, bad or good, that I would rather experience with anyone else. So many wonderful things have happened to us in the past 4 amazing years. Our life is totally different today than when we started it a long 6 years ago. Those years have been everything I could ever asked for, if not more. I know that we have heard from numerous people that the first couple years is the hardest, well if that is true then we have it made! How could things get any better?


Honey, I love you so much and love you more everyday -- here's to the many more years of our wonderful life!

Well it's official!

I really wasn't surprised when Bryan from Eddie's Body Shop called me this afternoon to tell me that the Jeep was a "complete loss". He told me that he just went outside and looked over it and got the verdict. He didn't really have to estimate a lot before it met the qualifing terms to be a total loss. Remember we just bought the Jeep at the end of March and put less than a 1,000 miles on it, actually we put 991 miles to be exact, but it was fun while we had it. So Jeep shopping we go again, this time we are going to go ahead and buy the 4-door unlimited!!!!!

Riley says that he wants a Red one....LOL!

Riley starts "His Kids"

Well, today was Riley's first day of "His Kids", a preschool program offered by Morrison Hill Christian Church. We have had mixed emotions from him since the first time we mentioned it. This morning when Dad woke him up, he was ready until he asked me when the bus was going to be here to pick him up. I explained to him that he didn't ride the bus that I would take him to school, and he got really upset. After we got him on the road, he was better. He kept on telling me that he didn't want to stay all day that he wanted me to come back in 20 minutes and pick him up...LOL! So we all (me, Dad and Hayden) arrived at the school and walked him into his classroom, once he seen all the other kids, he didn't even realize we weren't still there. So leaving him was harder on me than him, he just walked over gave us all hugs and kisses and said bye, and never looked back. Hayden loved walking in with his Bubba and he didn't throw a fit to leave either, which surprised me.

Riley being silly!

Riley shaking hands with his other teacher, Twilah.
The boys playing with all Riley's classmates!
Riley also signed up for AYSO soccer tonight. Gosh I can't believe he is growing up SO fast!!!!!

God was with us!

That pretty much sums it up. I woke up to my typical Sunday morning, Craig and the boys always stay quiet and let me sleep in on Sunday mornings. So when I woke up, I noticed it was too quiet, so I went outside and found the boys, they were doing "yard work". Then they asked me if I would go to Lowe's and buy a new nozzle for the waterhose cause they were going to wash the Jeep for our Sunday evening Jeep ride. I did as I was asked and headed to Lowe's. When I pulled back in the driveway, they were waiting with the waterhose in hand. I headed in the house to start lunch. Once the Jeep was finished, we had lunch. Immediately after Hayden finished his lunch he was ready for the Jeep ride, so I told him that once he took his nap we would go. Without hassle, he laid down and was snoozing within 20 minutes. Riley then decided that he needed to go to Nana's, for no apparent reason other than he wanted to, so Craig took him down and I finished downloading some songs to my Ipod for the trip. After Hayden's normal 3 hour nap, he immediately came to Craig and I and demanded that we get up and get in the Jeep. He NEVER forgets anything. So we all took bathes and got ready, diaper bag, camera, car seats and everything else we have to pack along with us. So we headed off, no plans other than a Jeep ride, we drove by the farm to see what was going on and then we headed to Kingston. We stopped at Rocky Top and got gas and a fuse for the cigarette lighter, that way I can play my Ipod in the Jeep. So while Dad was replacing the fuse Hayden said that he wanted to go to Ducklies (aka- this is what the boys call Lakeside Tavern), so we all decided that we would head to Calhoun's in Lenoir City, our normal Jeep rides go down Hwy 70. So that's where we headed just cruisin' along. We were not in Loudon County yet but past the New Midway Church sign and this maroon car comes around the curve completely on our side of the road and HITS us head on, I tried to get over as much as I could but he still hit us. It turned the Jeep around parallel in the road. I freaked out because all I heard was the boys SCREAMING, which is a mother's worse nightmare. I was trying to unbuckle and open my door all at the same time and it wasn't working, which I didn't know that my door was completely caved in on me, so I couldn't open it. So I immediately climb up in my seat and jump out the window. Craig jumps out and is yelling at the car coming at us, because we are just sitting in the middle of the road. Luckily she wasn't going fast so she was able to stop and the truck behind her was a Firefighter. The man and woman who was behind us came running and helped me get the boys out of their seats. I was so afraid that someone was going to hit us again with the boys still in there. Once I got the boys settled in the man and woman's truck I went to find Craig and check on him and that is when I seen the damage to the Jeep. OMG! the front drivers tire was completely off and laying under the driver's door. Pieces of the Jeep and his car were everywhere, not just directly around the Jeep. Then, what seemed like forever, the officers and emergency personal arrived. Once everyone started telling us that they couldn't believe that we were walking around, I guess then is when it all hit me, that we were very lucky!!!! For all those years working in the ER and seeing what normally comes out of wrecks like that, I just knew that God was watching over us. The man that hit us tried to leave the scene, but he busted his radiator so his car died just down the road. He was arrested for DUI and whatever else they end up charging him with. He wasn't drunk but he was definitely under the influence. He failed all his field sobriety tests. He told Trooper Brown that he would take a breathalyzer but refused the lab test, she told him of course you would! The boys were taken to Children's Hospital because Hayden was complaining with his belly hurting and after being advised after the impact we took, that to be safe we should have them checked out. The dr checked them out and sent us home with a clean bill of health. Craig and I are extremely sore this morning, he hit his knee on the dash board and the seat belt has me really sore, but we are being evaluated by our Family Physician this morning.







I would to thank everyone who stopped and checked on us and especially Mr. and Mrs. Mathis would stayed the whole time and keep up with the boys. I am sorry that I didn't get the names of everyone who stopped and offered to help, but we truly do appreciate your thoughtfulness. Thanks to our good friend Darrell Cook who came our as soon as I texted him..., Gloria Pickle who called 911, the fire fighter who stopped traffic for us, the tow truck driver who came upon the wreck and put the powder down on all our fluid that was coming out of the Jeep. Of course my Mom and Shara who didn't have a heart attack on the way to the scene, plus with the help at the hospital.


The scary part and I probably shouldn't think like this, but our accident was only a little ways down the road from where my Mom was killed in 1985. I truly believe that she was watching over us last night! Once again, I am very lucky.