Anniversary and Grandson.....

Can hardly believe that it's been more than a week ago that my MIL and I headed off to spend the weekend taking care of our sweet Charley so Mama and Daddy could celebrate their 5th anniversary.

That's his cute new posed smile!  Little ham!  Charley seems to have a really special bond with his Greatgrandmother, Mema.  We so enjoyed our time with Tommy, Claudia and Charley.

It was late in the day when we got started on our drive down and Lola, our GPS, was programmed to take us straight to the motel, but it got dark and I guess Lola's a lot like me and doesn't drive well at night.  We got a little bit lost, but eventually found out motel which was across the street from Silver Springs.  Silver Springs and Spring Break!  Sounds like young people everywhere doesn't it?  No, we may have actually been the youngest ones there!

After getting in late, we just dropped some things off at the kids' house and went on to the motel and went to bed.  What a great night's sleep after a busy day.

Saturday, we cruised on over and spend the day with Tommy, Claudia and Charley.  What a nice day and sometime during that time we convinced daddy and mama that we could keep Charley overnight so they could have a night away.  We had arranged for them to have our motel room for the night, and we took a few minutes to run back and gather our suitcases.  There was a guy in the lobby with a guitar case slung over his shoulder, but I didn't think anything about it.  Then when I was in the elevator, it stopped on the 2nd floor and two men said going down I hope, to which I replied no, I was going up.

Side note:  They had on the loudest cologne, almost knocked me down.  Soon I was on my way back down to the lobby to get a cart.  As soon as I stepped into the elevator it was very obvious they had already been in and gone down.  Two more people got on the elevator with me and I explained that that WAS NOT my cologne.

Well, as it turns out, there was a festival going on over at Silver Springs and those men were original members of Three Dog Night.   Yes, I was excited to have seen someone famous from my era!

O.K. here's the happy couple ready for a night out all by themselves.

Mema and I settled in for a night of fun.

 We did have to rescue him from a few precarious situations, like pulling this planter over on his head.

Mema read books and Charley listened intently.

He pulled up on the coffee table and look at that look of victory on his face!

We played.......

and played......

Oh, hang on now......Mema brought Charley this Donald Duck dressed as a bunny and he sings.  Charley wasn't real sure about him.

But he loved laughing with Mema and Nana.

And finally......Charley and Curious George were so worn out they had to retire to bed for the night.

Sunday morning, we headed back home and we miss them so and can't wait until next time!

They grow up so quickly.  

She's arrived!

Guess who showed up today to visit?  She's a skinny little thing and already asking to see the town.

The Flat Princess!!!

She arrived all the way from Colorado where she had been spending time with Dawn.  She's been lots of places, but now she's in Florida for a visit to the sunshine state.....look, princess, it will be sunny one day while you're here!


We were so glad she got here safely.

We spent a little time chatting as I explained to her that before we can start her adventures, I need to tell all about my time with Grandson Charley!

He's all smiles and you'll see more of him in the very near future!

Wedding revisited and just stuff....

If you remember on this post, I so badly wanted to show my 83 year old MIL dancing at the wedding.

Well, I opened my email the other day and to my delight there were more pictures!  Thanks Susie!

I thought I would tell you a little about my MIL because she's truly an incredible lady.  She lived part of her childhood at what is now called Moody's Pasture at Redhead, FL....back then it was way up the country.  Her father was a turpentiner and from what I've heard, they had a little town on their land, complete with a commissary where workers could buy necessities.

This is the scale that was in that little store.  It now resides in our kitchen and we have weighed everything from meat to the dogs!  Which reminds me I need to weigh them.

She lived several other places and went to college at Florida State College for Women, currently known as FSU.  After she married Russell's dad, they lived in Gainesville, where he graduated from the University of Florida.  Go Gators.....I have to put that or I'll be in the dog house.

She and Russell's dad had a fun filled (with a smattering of tragedies thrown in)  life, living to the fullest and she still is going strong!  We tease that she has to have foot surgery before we will go on a trip with her.....several years ago she had foot surgery and about 6 weeks later we went to Branson and she outwalked all of us!

During the time my FIL had lung cancer, my MIL had breast cancer.  She had surgery and radiation and never missed a beat in taking care of my FIL.

She plays bridge at least twice a week, takes supper to anyone who is sick, goes on lots of day trips with her friends and visits the shut ins of her church every week.

She always loved to dance and hasn't in some years......but this night she danced.   Dancing with her nephew at a family wedding like she had been dancing every night.

I think this may be the swing.....I'm not a dancer so that is strictly a guess.  

I'm pretty sure she danced for 45 minutes.  On the way home the next day she did mention that her knee hurt!

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In other family news, we moved mama from her two bedroom apartment to a one bedroom at the retirement center where she lives.

We started moving several days before the movers came and slowly downsized and that will just be our little secret.

My brother and sister

We finally got smart and got a cart from the dining room

My two sisters

Getting things into the new apartment...You just cannot believe how many books and pictures mama has.

A little of the downsizing was done in her closets.  She had so many clothes, many she hasn't worn in years, so now someone else is enjoying them......if they show up at mama's in one of her outfits we're in big trouble!

These boxes mainly contain pictures

 We utilized every space and I do mean every space.

A little family conference outside of her old apartment

Another brother hugging mama.

Supervising

Progress!

Unfortunately, this move has confused her and she just can't seem to fit things together even though she just moved down the hall.

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And finally,

The big moon.....my camera takes really good pictures but not at night!

The moon is just peeking over the pines.  It was so gorgeous.

The next time the moon is this close to the earth......I'll be old.

Beauty.....

The most beautiful things on this earth were created by our God.

We have a little piece of land a little way out of town and we try to go there a few times a week and walk.  Some days we take our cooler with a little wine and watch the sunset.  Some days we take sandwiches in our cooler and have a little picnic supper as we watch the sunset.

Below is our little man made pond.  Maybe one day we will have fish, but for now it's just a pretty place to sit.

When the sun starts to set it is a huge, glowing, burning ball in the sky and if you look at it too much, you'll end up seeing spots!

As it continues to set, it becomes a softer.....

but no less beautiful glow.

Then it just colors the sky.  I love the way the rays are coming up through the clouds and over the trees.

Finally, it's gone and a stillness settles in.....so we turn our chairs....

to see the moon rising.

It's good to have a little silence and peace and to enjoy the creation in this crazy, loud, ever moving world we live in.

These verses from Psalm 136 say it all.....

to him who by understanding made the heavens.... who made the great lights....the sun to rule over the day.... and the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever!

St. Patrick's Day Party....

Starting out to visit mama today, I had no idea I would be attending a St. Patrick's Day Party!  

But the party was on!

The private dining room was all set up with horrible Irish music playing, non alcoholic beer, cake, chips and green punch.

It was good to see mama looking so good and having a good time!  

This was the drink of choice.  I am pretty sure everyone thought it was real beer and they were happy to get a bottle or three!  

It was a fun little party and a break from the every day routine.

Wedding weekend.....

Maybe what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas, but what happens in Callaway Gardens is hitting the news!

MIL and I left early Friday so we could stop to visit with a friend of hers in C*lumbus.  Had a great time meeting her and seeing the retirement village where she lives.  It was luxurious!  We had lunch, then visited in her gorgeous apartment.  I wish I had taken pictures, but forgot!

We got to Callaway Gardens in time to take a little nap before my husband's sister and some of her family arrived.  Below are a few pictures of the villa.

Dining area

Living area

Looking up to the front door.  There were two bedrooms upstairs and two downstairs.  I wish I had taken pictures of our bedroom but....oh, well.

Russell's sister

Sue brought a delicious spaghetti dinner.

After a relaxing Friday night, we planned to go into Pine Mountain to eat at the famous Bullock House, which just happened to be closed for repairs or remodeling.  The reason wasn't so important to us, we were just disappointed!

In addition, it was biker week in town, so the very few restaurants were filled.  A good hour was spent looking for a place to eat....Sam kept saying McDonalds????  We finally found a small cafe and got seats outside with some hard drinking really nice biker ladies.  You may can tell by the picture below that they were also using a few profane words!

Above are Russell's mama, BIL, SIL, their son Sam and his fiance Shan.  In this very small and VERY crowded cafe there was one waitress who was every bit of 16 years old and so frustrated she was nearly in tears.  We were very patient and waited over an hour for our food. Now BIL Johnny was a good sport even though he wasn't feeling the patience.

We got through and knew we didn't have a lot of time left so went to the car and guess what?????  Dead battery.

Unbelievable.  I thought my poor BIL might possibly have a coronary.  He walked to the gas station only to be told that they had no batteries and the nearest place was 20 miles over in another town.  We were in a dilemma!

But what a perfect time for God to just show His providence!  SIL Sue wandered into a little store and mentioned our predicament.....did I mention we didn't even have jumper cables???.........The store owner said in her precious Georgia accent Why don't you worry, my husband will be happy to come and help.

Now our vehicle was parked between a want to be Hummer and a jeep.  We were all silently wondering how this sweet man would get close enough to jump our battery.
Pay close attention, this is where God's providence comes in!!!

The lady who owned the store also owned the jeep parked right beside us!!!!  What a wonderful blessing that turned out to be.


Some got ice cream while poor Johnny was taking care of the problem.

He got our battery charged while we went inside the store to buy some souveniers.  When BIL offered him money, he shrugged and it was his pleasure!  


I mean what are the odds that we would be parked in that particular spot?


Of course, then we had to hurriedly get back and get dressed for the wedding and made it with no time to spare!

Left to right.....Sam, his fiance Shan, MIL, SIL and BIL

Me with Shan and Sam

It was a great wedding.  A beautiful bride and a handsome groom in a gorgeous setting.  I'm just sorry I don't have any pictures of the wedding, and especially the reception!  It was a fabulous reception.  I've never seen anything quite like it before.

They had a great band!  One lady leaned over and asked me if they were the original Tams and I said who's that?  I looked them up later and there were three of the original members there and they played "our" music!  You know, 60's and 70's music.  Music you can sing to!   Umm, the music you young guys will also be singing to because you sure won't be able to sing to the stuff that's new now!  :) Now I don't dance because I have two very wrong left feet, but my 80 something MIL danced the night away!  She is a spectacular dancer and she and my FIL loved dancing!  I was so glad she got to have a night of dance!

We left very early apparently, we heard later the reception went on into the wee hours of the dawn.

We headed back the next day and had an uneventful drive home.  It was a good time and I'm so glad we went.

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I'll try to do better at posting.  This has been a pretty stressful few weeks.