Graduation Day

 After our celebration meal Todd and I spent the night at Casey and Charlies since the graduation was at 10 the next morning.

Todd tied his tie for him since he really doesnt do ties or know how to tie them.  Something he may have to learn soon.

We got there in plenty of time.

 and the waiting began.

Pretty soon all these chairs would be filled with hopeful excited graduates.

The rest of the family arrived a little later and there was more waiting to be done.  This little sweetie handled it with much grace.  She did really great.  No griping, no complaining, not even much fidgeting. She was wonderful.

 Finally they began filing in.

 We searched until we found him.  He is on the right side a little past the middle towards the back.

 We got to see him nice and clear when he was handed his diploma!

It took quite a while.  College graduations are LONG.  But it was worth it.

This is Mark singing the Alma Mater.  Go Dawgs! :)

After the ceremony was over we went outside to once again WAIT on Josh.

I was beginning to wonder if he got lost.  But finally he showed up.  Getting a big ole hug from Dad.

 We took a few pictures.  Should have let Mawmaw take one of these too.  Oh well.

Afterwards where did we go?

Yep it was pretty good too.

Then it was time to move the ole boy back home.  The thing he has been waiting on for the last 4 years!  HOME

So now he is home.  He has been job hunting and hunting.  I am praying he will soon find something he will be happy with.  But more than that I am praying that he will seek Gods will and plan for his future for without that there will never be true happiness.

CELEBRATING JOSH

 Last Month our youngest - JOSH graduated from Louisiana Tech University.  We gathered the night before to enjoy a celebration meal together.

Here he is opening his gift from his sister and her husband.

 Looks like he likes it.

 It is a Shoeless Joe retro Baseball catchers mit.  Or something like that.

This was dessert.  Caramel cake!  YUMMY

We played a little ball in the yard to break in the new mit.

 Sebastian was with us too.

My turn

 Yea I guess thats a strike.

But I had fun anyway

Sweet second cousins

We enjoyed our time together celebrating Josh.
Next post --- THE GRADUATION

Beach Trip

Casey and her little family  planned a beach trip this summer.  Last week actually.  We hadnt planned on going on one since we are doing a mission trip VERY SOON and didnt really have extra funds for it.  They however invited us to tag along with them and stay in their condo.  So we did.  It was so fun too.  Josh and Gigi went along as well.

Of course as I have mentioned before one of my most favorite parts of the beach is seeing dolphins.  And one morning they showed up!  So happy!

We brought a kite for Avery and we all enjoyed it.

We found shells, ate yummy meals, laughed, went on a dolphin cruise, sat under an umbrella and gazed at the beautiful water, splashed and crashed in the waves,

 soaked up sun, and were amazed at the sunsets.  Just wow!

It was very relaxing and a wonderful way to start off my break from school.  I got up early and went down to this each morning.  I felt so sorry for all the people in their room sleeping.  Seriously I did.They were missing it.

Josh and I also went running on the beach in the mornings.  He was most definitely trying to kill me.  He must think he is getting some huge inheritance or something.

Avery loved running all over the beach.

 I am very thankful we were able to go.  What a blessing to once again see one of Gods most beautiful creations.

Mothers Day 2014

Mothers Day all the kids were home and we had such a good time.  I got some nice gifts.  Casey got me two books I have been wanting to read and I am sooo looking forward to some time off so I can get into them.  Cant wait!!!  Mark (and Paige) got me a beautiful monogrammed wreath! Josh got me a candle holder with a quote on it that says 'Love makes our house a home'.  :)  The best gift though was spending time with all three (four counting Paige) of them.

I cooked, because I DID NOT want to eat out on Mothers Day with the rest of Vidalia and Natchez.  So we grilled and I got myself a Mothers Day Cake from Ednas.  Caramel with caramel filling.  Sooo yummy!

We of course played croquet.  But there was a little rain issue.  So we resorted to inside games as well.  While we were outside though we filled some water balloons and had a little fun with them.

This is Josh showing Avery how to pitch the water balloon so they could play a little water balloon baseball.

 Good pitch, good pitch!

This is when she got the guys on the patio with a water balloon! 

 Oh I think he was about to get her with one in return.

"Hurry Nonna I gotta get the boys"

Her turn to hit.with a little help from Coach Josh.

Thanks to Paige for picking up my camera.  Sometimes I enjoy so much just spending time with them I forget to grab my camera.  Way to go Paige!

Wonderful Mothers Day.  So blessed.  So Thankful.

Visit And Memories

For Spring Break this year Todd and I made a trip to see mom.  It was very nice.  While we were there we mainly enjoyed just spending time together and visiting.  We did get out to do a few things though.  We spent one day going around to flea markets.  My brother likes to do that.  So do I but I dont get to do much of it at home so we enjoyed doing that together.  Poor mama we walked her to the moon and back.  She is a trooper though. 

Another thing we did was drive down to my old elementary school.  I remember it so well.  Wonder what ever happened to Mrs. Harris, my first grade teacher.

 It was so cool driving up and seeing it as it was.  Still operating. This spot right here is where I was a crossing guard.  Yes with the orange vest and everything.  The traffic stopped while the kids walked across the street with the help of the crossing guards of course.  :)  Then I would walk down to the corner take a left and walk home.  A good ways home by the way.  We drove that course and went by our old house there.  I saw the spot where I lost all my Valentines Day cards from classmates when I was in the 2nd grade.  I remembered the happiness I felt with my envelope full of cards from all the kids.  And the sadness I felt when they all blew away in the wind and I couldnt gather them up. 

This blimp seemed to follow us around town.  It was pretty cool to see.  Not a sight we see in ole Vidalia.

This is my nephew Adam showing off his bike.  The others were impressed.

 This is Adams HUGE Great Dane, Stella!  So sweet and beautiful and large.  What a GREAT name!  She was a little sick while we were there.  Hope she is all better now.

 I love Adam!  Wish I could see more of him.  He is a pilot of a tug boat which comes past our Natchez Bridge from time to time.  I am always waving at the tug boats I see, just in case it is him.  :)

We went to lunch at Rendezvous.  It was sooooo good.  We loved it.  Its an interesting place.  A week or two after our visit there, turns out the Royals had a pre wedding dinner there with some of their friends who were getting married in Memphis.  We just missed them.  :)  I am sure we would have fit right in with Kate and the rest.  I bet they would have invited us right in to dine with them.  Of course, why wouldnt they?

All of the visit was very nice but the best part of it all was getting to spend time with this sweetheart, my precious mama.  I love her so much.  She is very special and has been the best mama ever.  Seriously.  I am not kidding.  BEST. EVER.   Love her!