hammock fulla fun...

Is there anything better than cousins? Grey, Stetson & Jax would answer with a great big NO!  Jacki, James, Stetson & baby Stella came to visit end of august and the boys had a fine time swinging and running up and down the hill at Gigi & Gida's house.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

We celebrated Dad's birthday tonight with a family dinner, all those who could attend. As you see, two great grandaughters got a birthday hug. Those celebrating were Mama, Holly and Troy, Josh and Jen, Ashlyn and Jax, Noah and Grey, Amy and me. It was a fun group that completely filled up our table. Blair joined us later after work.We are so blessed to have Daddy in our lives. He is 83 years young today and is still an active, loving part of all of our lives. My prayer is that he will have a productive, healthy and enjoyable life for the rest of his days and that he will never feel taken for granted. Sure do love you, Daddy!

Chickin Pickin

This past Saturday, our family increased by ten, ten hens, that is. We have had chickens for a while but our brood become extinct due to aging hens and preditors. Our grand girls took turns picking out chickens in earlier years and, since we planned to purchase two cages, both grand boys went along with Paw Paw. Noah went along in an advisory capacity to Jax and Grey. We now have five black hens and five Rhode Island reds. They pretty much stayed with their own breed for the first few days, but now they are one big happy family. The great news is that we are getting 6 to 8 eggs a day already! Great pickin, guys, and thanks for your input Noah. (You may have noticed that Grey likes to pose for the camera! Ha!)

A Week Celebrating Birthdays!

Noah's 8th birthday!

L to R Grey, Noah, Samerra, Ashlyn, and Jax

Jarrod's Birthday Pumpkin Pie

Jarrod's new Grillmaster, gifted by Blair and the children!

This had been a week of birthdays. I am finally posting pictures from Noah's party that we had last Saturday. The family, including great grandparents, cousin Amy, Jake, Jamie, Skylar, and Samerra, gathered here to celebrate. Following the dinner, cake, and present opening, the children went swimming, then the girls went home for a sleepover with Noah and the grandboys stayed here. Hopefully, a good time was had by all! You might notice on Noah's cake that there is a 7 and 1 candle. Being the goof ball I am, I did not check my collection of numeral birthday candles before the party and I didn't have an 8! Booooooo! Anyway, I added 1 more candle and begged Noah's forgiveness. She was cool with it and was so excited about her DQ ice cream cake!

Thursday evening, we had a family dinner and celebrated Jarrod's birthday. His birthday is tomorrow but he and Blair are going camping with friends so we celebrated early. Jarrod requested a birthday pumpkin pie an, since that isn't the most popular dessert among the crowd, I made brownies ala mode for everyone else. It is hard to believe my youngest son is all grown up with a beautiful wife and family. Sigh!!!! I am so proud of the man he has become and always enjoy his ready smile and sense of humor! I love you sooooooo much! (He claims to be not at all ashamed of being a Mama's boy!)

Catching up!

Miss Noah is 8 years old today!

Twinkle toes, Noah's birthday gift from Mama!

Ashlyn excels at gymnastics!

Chase's Family: Liam, Chase, and Rosalie

Jax and Liam, cousins getting aquainted!

Grey's first week in Pre-K

Jax's first week in Pre-K

Today is Noah's birthday and it was our privilege to be at the hospital 8 years ago to see our sweet, first grandbaby come into this world! She has blessed our lives tremendously through the years and watching her grow has been a wonderful experience! I will be posting more after her party tomorrow night. Her Mama gave her a pair of twinkle toe sneakers that she has been wanting so she has been lighting up our world all day! Happy Birthday, sweet Noah, your grandma and Paw Paw love you so much.

The last several weeks have been pretty hectic around our place. Our garden is coming in so I have been canning and freezing food for the winter. Ashlyn had a gymnastics exhibition and she did a beautiful job, as usual! How graceful she looks during her performance! My brother Steve and wife, Vicki came to visit our folks, along with my nephew, Chase and his beautiful family. We met for breakfast before Chase, Rosalie and Liam had to head back to Vidalia, Georgia.  Preschool has started for Jax, Grey, and me. I get to be their pre-k teacher this year! We had an awesome first week! Yes, life is busy around here but I really wouldn't have it any other way.

Each morning when I wake up, I thank God for the new day, a fresh page of life to fill with love, laughter and the hope I have in Him!

Just the two of us!

This time last weekend, we were returning from our mini vacation to Panama City Beach, Florida. It was a wonderfully relaxing time for us and we really needed it! Our lives tend to be so busy with daily responsibilities and I had begun to feel that my sweet husband and I were living parallel lives that rarely intersected for any length of time. It was so great just to spend alone time together and just "be", with no real schedules or agendas! I can tell you it was a terrific time of renewal for both of us! Note to self: Never, never let so much time pass without just a small oasis of renewal!
We returned home through Enterprise, Alabama, where we attended church on Sunday and touched base with our former church family. There is a wonderful group of people there. We were stationed at Fort Rucker when we had no children, when we had young children, and when we had teenage children so they have known us through many seasons of our lives. We lived there 10 out of the 26 years Alf was in the Army.
Alf and I laugh at the commercials that show grown children's perception of their parents really having no real life apart from what they are aware of. Even though we are older, we still have the passion for life and each other that has always been there. Even after almost 40 years of marriage, I am so very thankful for our life together and the lasting love we have for each other! I am especially thankful for our relationship with our Heavenly Father who has been the glue that has held us together through the years! Ah love........Sigh!!!!!!

4th of July Weekend!

Ready for the cook out!

Homemade Butterfinger ice cream, Yum!

Ashlyn

Noah

Grey

Jax

Grey, patiently fishing!

Noah, waiting for a bite!

The catch of the day!

Our 4th of July weekend started with a cookout and fireworks on Friday evening. Our children and grands were here to eat and enjoy fireworks. The children especially enjoyed the sparklers! Josh, Jen, Ashlyn, and Jax left for Gulf Shores for a vacation at the beach on Saturday morning. Noah, Grey and I spent the better part of Saturday fishing at Gigi and Gida's house. Noah caught several little fish and we threw them back but she loved the thrill of the catch! Fish robbed Grey's line of worms and we spent some time getting his line untangled from the brush along the bank. It was a fun day and Gida even joined us to fish for a little while! Sunday evening, we had our traditional church cookout at the Harder's beautiful home. We had a great crowd and loads of food! What fun! Yesterday was quiet for us and we finished some chores around the house. Alf mowed the yard so that is finished for the week!

It is a humbling experience to think about all of the freedom that we have in this beautiful country, America! Even the name of our country sounds majestic! How thankful we are for the men and women through the ages that have fought and died for our continued independence! Hope everyone had a blessed 4th!