Happy Birthday, Grandson #1

I give thanks to my God always for you..... 1 Corinthians 1:4a

Today is my first grandson's birthday.  He is 15 and he is a joy indeed.


I didn't get to meet Adam until he was 8 months old.  The months before the trip out to California seemed to go on forever and I had a deep longing to see and hold him and get hugs and kisses from that sweet baby.  When I finally got ahold (that's a southern word) of him, it was such joy!  He's been lighting up our lives ever since!


He was born smiling!

A joy to have visit with us.....he loves the water and took to swimming instantly.

When he wasn't feeling well, he would snuggle with Nana.

Ever the handsome little boy

Time flew and he's grown up so much!

And learned so much.

Still that smile!

Today he is 15 years old.  I'm repeating myself because I can hardly believe how the time has gone by and all the joy he has given us over the years and look forward to seeing him grow up to be a wonderful man.

Adam has always known he wants to be an architect and is such a help at home.  He can fix most anything and is always willing to pitch in and hang pictures or towel bars, he can fix or put together whatever needs fixing or putting together.  He is handy!

Over the years, I would go out to visit him and he would come to visit his Florida family as he says.  He has lots of Florida family to see and do things with when he's here for a visit.

Adam loves to fish, swim, shoot guns safely, he loves an adventure and loves to be with Uncle David.

We will miss seeing Adam this summer and hope to see him in the fall!

Adam, you are loved!

On with the vacation

 After the wedding, we had a nice visit with family and a good night's sleep.  That is if you don't count the moment we decided to move to another lot in the questionable RV park and when we plugged back into their electricity we had a power surge which took out......well enough to be annoyed and hot for a little while.  The burning smell made us uneasy too.

We overcame that obstacle and headed to our next destination...Williamsburg, Virginia.  Never assuming what we'll find in the next RV park, we were pleasantly surprised.  We reserved a premium site.  It took us 

two seconds a moment or two to figure out that by the word premium it meant we got a nicer picnic table, a firepit and a potted plant.  But I am NOT complaining....it was clean and the power was good.  It was unfortunate that the World's Biggest Inflatable slide was up, but we managed to overcome our disappointment.

We were down the street from a really pretty Mennonite church and not far from Williamsburg and William and Mary college.  There just happened to be a Chico's there too.  What a bonus!  Oh, and lest I forget, there were two outlet shopping centers too.  I knew this was going to be a good vacation.

Magnolia trees were everywhere!  I love the blossoms and enjoyed them throughout our stay.

Like the woman at the well.......

The hubby as we wandered through town

Below is the governor's palace....

Click on the picture below to read all about the Govenor's Palace & Gardens.  It's really interesting.

There were lots of reenactments going on....this was in the park and we stopped to listen for a while.  Everyone spoke to you as if you lived in the 1700's.

There were lots of horse and buggy rides and lots of that stuff that goes with horses on the road.  We walked very carefully!  

The jail....

called the Public Gaol.  Again, click on the picture to read about it.....it was interesting that Blackbeard and his men were kept here until they were hanged.

There were so many beautiful trees everyplace we went in Virginia.  The foliage was lush and beautiful and in spite of the heat, everything was so green!

Excuse me sir, don't speak so loudly, my husband is taking the picture!

And if you're ever in that neck of the woods and want to have a $31.00 buffet dinner, here you go.  We weren't very impressed with it....lots of atmosphere, not great food.  If you've been there and loved it, then I'm sorry!

One evening when it had cooled off a little, we walked through the campus of William and Mary.  Almost every place there was a plaque of any kind, the words To the glory of God were prominent.  It saddens me to think that those words are used so little now.

There was also a little building that was the school built to teach the Indians to speak English and to read and write.  I don't know why, but it wasn't open very long.  I guess I could stand to brush up on my history.

Stay tuned as we tour Jamestown next.....

Another wedding

Back to catching up!  In May we loaded up the motorhome and headed to North Carolina to our nephew's wedding.  

A beautiful day and a beautiful wedding...

Russell's mom rode with us in the RV and stayed at Russell's sister Sue's home along with three of our kids and grandson, Charley.

This is the first thing we saw .......Charley made himself right at home and thoroughly enjoyed his stay at Aunt Sue and Uncle Johnny's.  

I'm pretty sure Uncle Johnny and Aunt Sue enjoyed him too.

Saturday night at the rehearsal dinner.

Sam and Shan 

Parents of the groom

The day of the wedding dawned sunny and hot and a good day for a special event.

Mother of the bride, aunt and mother of the groom

Siblings

Beautiful bride by her beautiful cake.  I must say that cake was so good.

The wedding was out in the gardens.....a gorgeous setting.

Shan's grandparents came over from China for the wedding.  Grandmother made all the centerpieces and there were beautiful tablecloths from China.

First dance

Sam and Shan had taken a trip to China and had traditional pictures made.  I took some pictures of their pictures.

Charley making his Pappy laugh at the reception

Uncle Matt with Charley

After this dream day for a sweet couple, they headed off to Japan for a honeymoon.

When they get back to the real world, Sam will start work and Shan will start medical school.

God's richest blessings on Sam and Shan and their future!

Adventures of the Flat Princess

I know, I know, I'm supposed to be talking about a wedding and a vacation, but the Flat Princess informed me she could not take this heat any longer and that I absolutely must send her on down the road, preferably in a northern direction.

So here we go.....

The princess arrived way back in March.   I'm ashamed she's had to stay so long,  but I think she's had a good time.

We sat and talked a while when she first came and she told me all about the places she's been and her adventures.   She arrived here in the south from visiting with Dawn.  Her adventures reminded me of a favorite childhood book by Rachel Field called Hitty.....Her First Hundred Years.  If you've never read this book, I recommend it to adults and children alike.

She went to a Mexican restaurant with us and became quite enamored with a certain chili pepper!  

Of course, in Florida, she had to go to a tourist trap store, where she met Mr. Frog.  

She went to visit with my mama and they got along quite well.

She went shoe shopping with me.....she wasn't crazy about these so we put them back.  She actually insinuated they might be a bit young for me!

I am pretty sure her favorite outing in our fair city was a trip to my massage therapist.  I had to pry her off that table.  I explained that the knots in her neck couldn't possibly be as tight as mine.

The princess visited a bit at my husband's office.

She attended a wedding shower.

Gave my sister some advice on how to love dogs

Attended two weddings, but her dress was just a little inappropriate for such occasions, so she stayed out of sight in my purse.

The Flat Princess could not possibly visit a beach town without a trip to the beach!  I took her out to P*er P*ark where she insisted on a ride on the carousel.......this is the same carousel I rode on as a teen, just in a different location.  You will have to click on the picture and look closely to see her.  The young man holding her was totally humiliated and probably went home to tell his parents about the crazy lady who made him hold a flat doll!  At least he has something to talk about and I nicely edited out his face so he wouldn't sue me  he wouldn't be even more humiliated!

This is a better picture of the carousel.  

She also took a look at the ferris wheel, another relic from the past

Finally, we trekked across the highway to the beach side in 100 degree heat so she could gaze at the gorgeous Gulf of Mexico.  I wasn't planning on her actually getting sand in her stitches, but we had an adventure.

As soon as I put her on that railing, she blew over and into the sand on the section of beach where you are NOT allowed to walk.  As I glared down at her trying to figure out how this mature woman was going to climb over and illegally retrieve the insulted princess, a young man came rolling by on his skateboard.  Noticing my dilemma,  he stopped to ask if something had blown over the railing.  And, yes, as a matter of fact, I had to tell him that the little lady laying flat on the sand needed to be rescued, but that I didn't want him to get into trouble going onto the forbidden sand dune restoration.  With no effort at all, this sweet young hero jumped over the railing, got the Flat Princess.....who by this time was wondering if she was doomed to die a hot death.........and jumped back over and graciously handed her to me.  I was beyond relieved.  How would you explain losing the Flat Princess???

She explained rather snippily that she didn't want to swim and there were yellow flags up so I didn't make her.  I had on jeans and was hotter than a dozen firecrackers so a little dip would have been nice, but I realized she had been through a lot, so we trooped back across the highway and hurried to the air conditioned car.

Last night, we all said goodbyes as she needs to resume her travels.  Even the dogs were sad to say goodbye!

We have had a great time with the Flat Princess.  You can read more about her here.

If you would like for her to visit you, please email me your address.  Believe me, she'd like to get moving!