Our Wrightings

Ms Trip continued… Audobon Aquarium of the Americas

travisandstephanie — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 03:31:56 +0000

So, it is now January 2012 and I am still posting updates from October 2011. To say I am behind would be a HUGE understatement. Sorry!!

Back to Mississippi…

After Cruisin’ the Coast, my dad took a day off from work and we headed over into New Orleans to go to the Audobon Aquarium.

From October 2011

The only other aquarium that Sam had been to was one of the NC Aquariums in 2010. Therefore, it had been awhile and he was older so we thought he would be more interested. He was interested for the first part but then just got tired. I guess to a 3 year old if you’ve seen one fish, you’ve seen them all. Right? HA!

The first thing we did was go to the stingray tank. We timed it great- it was about time to feed the stingrays! We bought a coin that allowed Sam to feed the rays and then got in line. First, Sam was able to pet the rays…

From October 2011

Then he was shown how to feed the rays. It kind of freaked him out and so he wouldn’t let them eat out of his hand and would just drop them into the water. HA!

From October 2011

Here is the video I made of Sam feeding the rays… to watch it, click on the “picture” and you will go to another website where the video will play. I forgot to upload the videos to YouTube instead.

From October 2011

After the rays, Sam visited the penguins and seemed to really enjoy them. He had a long “conversation” with this penguin about “Grandmama and Papa’s two garage doors that go up and down”…

From October 2011

Then we went to the Mississippi River exhibit and I decided to get all artsy and blur the water on the waterfall.

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Sam and Mum Jubie got their picture taken with a HUGE catfish.

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Sam’s catfish face…

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Then, near the “food court”, they had an enclosed area where you can go feed birds. I still don’t understand the connection of the birds with the aquarium but it was still a neat thing to do.

From October 2011

I think they were having problems with the leash length restriction…

From October 2011

Again, this next picture is actually a link to a video I made while feeding the birds. Click on it and you will be able to watch the video.

From October 2011

In case you can’t tell from the overabundance of photos, this was my favorite part of the aquarium. I LOVED feeding the birds. Sam wouldn’t hold a stick by himself unless a bird wasn’t around. If I bird came close, he would get spooked and one of us would have to help him hold it.
By this point, Sam was starting to get tired and lose interest quickly. So, we started plopping him on things and taking pictures. HA!

From October 2011

I love alligator exhibits… so does, Sam!

From October 2011

We also visited the BIG tank during a talk about the various animals…

From October 2011

The turtle below has been at the aquarium ever since it opened- a LONG time ago.

From October 2011

I tried to take some jellyfish pictures but the ability to take good shots of jellyfish still resides with Travis. This is the best shot I got…

From October 2011

Sam was REALLY tired by this point but managed to smile for a pic with Mum Jubie and Dad Buddy.

From October 2011

When we left, I took a couple of pictures of the “Mighty Mississip”…

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Sam felt the need to check out far away planets…

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Then he and Dad Buddy watched the Canal Street Auto Ferry leave land and across the river to the West Bank.

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One of my favorite French Quarter artists…

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The next time Travis and I go to the Quarter, we are totally renting one of these…

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I also took a few shots of some shirts in the aquarium gift shop. They didn’t have Sam’s size in the first one or else, I would’ve gotten it. It was my favorite.

From October 2011

This would be an appropriate shirt for me…

From October 2011

Quick drive by the ol’ Alma Mater… (given the location, I probably shouldn’t use the words “drive by” in reference to it- oops!)

From October 2011

It was a very fun day and we hope to be able to go back again when Sam is older and can be more interested in all of the fish.

Steph

The World’s Youngest Maestro!

travisandstephanie — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 04:00:19 +0000

(Sorry, but I HAVE to interrupt the never-ending Mississippi trip updates for a moment…)

Sam loves music. I mean really loves music. He REALLY LOVES music!

He is constantly singing while walking around/ riding in the car/ playing/ using the bathroom (seriously…)/ or completely other daily tasks. His all-time favorite song has been The B-I-B-L-E but it MIGHT soon be replaced by “I’ve got peace like a river.” Seeing as I have a musical background, this just makes my heart smile. I can’t wait for Sam to get old enough to actually take music lessons. I think he would LOVE to learn the piano and he can do little things on it already- repeat 3 note patterns that we play, for example. For a 3 year old, we think he has great rhythm too. He bobs his head along to the beat, usually, and has really gotten into conducting lately.

He tried to conduct at our Hanging of the Greens service this past Sunday night but I wasn’t able to record it. However, tonight we went to the SEBTS Christmas concert and he was doing it BIG TIME! I did manage to get a video of that one! After the concert was over, the man who was sitting behind us commented that he thinks we have a budding conductor on our hands. I would have to agree. Watch the video and see if you would agree too…

This next one is even better…

Steph

Cruisin’ the Coast 2011

travisandstephanie — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 20:58:14 +0000

Again, sorry for the delay but I am still trudging through updates and holiday preparations so bear with me.

The weekend after the train ride during our Mississippi trip, the 3 coastal counties held their annual Cruisin’ the Coast antique car show. This is always one of my favorite weekends and I was SOOOOO excited that we were able to attend. Antique cars cruise up and down Hwy 90 (the road that runs along the beach) across the Mississippi coast. In Bay St Louis on Saturday, some of the cars park and you can walk up and down the street checking them out. My parents’ church, FBC Bay St Louis, has a men’s ministry that does an outreach event during Cruisin’ called “Cruisin’ for Christ” and they pass out FREE hot dogs, jambalaya (yummy), drinks, and desserts to anyone that wants one. My dad designs a different t-shirt each year with a different antique car on the back. They are neat. Church members buy them to help increase awareness of Cruisin’ for Christ and FBC. However, my mom learned this year that some of the repeat visitors to the BSL Cruisin’ buy the church’s shirts because they are nicely designed and cheaper than the “official” shirts- HA HA!!

This wasn’t Sam’s first Cruisin- he went when he was just over a year old as well. However, this was the first year that he was remotely interested in cars. Since then, he has become OBSESSED (to put it mildly) with cars and learning the different automakers. I think if they did Cruisin again this coming weekend and Sam was able to go he would go completely insane from all the cars he now knows. HA HA! Anyway, he rode around in his “yellow car” and checked out the cars as well as made some adults jealous because he didn’t have to walk around in the heat. HA HA! Again, I snapped way too many pictures so I will only post my favorites. However, if you want to see more old cars just click on any picture below and you will go to the October album where they are all posted.

We started off our morning by eating at the “Cruise In Cafe” (no lie, that is its 365-days-a-year name) and it is my parents favorite eating “joint.” Eating there wasn’t that big of a deal. It was what was parked in the parking lot that was the big deal…

From October 2011


Yes, my friends, that is Kit, the Knight Rider car! I have seen it at previous Cruisins but it always excites me. I LOVED watching Knight Rider when I was growing up. My dad figured out who the owner was and he let us go out there and take pictures with him (you know Kit is a boy.)   My dad was in charge of the camera. I was in charge of making sure Sam didn't push any buttons that might blow up the building. HA HA! Sam REALLY liked getting in Kit.







From October 2011











From October 2011




We saw the owner, Officer Bob (he works for the sheriff's dept), that next week and he told us that he always takes Kit because the kids (big and small) love looking at him and he thinks Cruisin' is supposed to be fun and for the kids. He gets frustrated with the people who put signs on their cars about not touching or who hover around their cars all day waxing or buffing. Well, while he was there, a guy came up and asked him "How much do you want for your car?" and when he told him it wasn't for sale, the man persisted. Eventually, Officer Bob sold Kit for an undisclosed amount of money and so I don't know if he will ever be at Cruisin' again.   I also really want to know how much that guy paid for it but I couldn't bring myself to ask. I am sure it was NOT cheap.
After breakfast, we headed downtown. Sam enjoyed his yellow car ride. I had packed his Diego "rescue pack" with surprises and so he enjoyed dressing up while riding around checking out the cars. He is such a nut!








From October 2011




Now, onto the cars...








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an example of a "do not touch" vehicle...








From October 2011




My dad owns a 1970 Plymouth Duster that is also yellow. I am always told to be on the lookout for Dusters and I finally found one this year. My dad walked down there with us later and informed me that this was a little different from his (I think it might be a year or two younger) but it looks very similar.








From October 2011




I absolutely love this truck and would totally drive it everywhere if it were mine.








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This car made me think of Travis, so I snapped a couple of pictures- it is an Alfa Romeo.








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"Mommy, a WHO DAT!!!!"








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KIT!!!!








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There is ALWAYS at least one General Lee (complete with the loud annoying horn)...








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I think Sam liked his hot dog...








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Here are the random SHORT video clips I made...









The last thing I am going to post are pictures I took of our various Cruisin' for Christ shirts. I am missing a few but I have the vast majority of them. I really like the new guy he has printing his shirts for him because they seem to hold up much better after multiple washings- and I wash ours a lot because I wear at least one a week in the summer. The first one is this year's shirt. The others are in no particular order...








From November 2011











From November 2011




Last year there was a big stink about the church using "Cruisin" in their shirts- they were told they didn't have the right to do that. However, after some digging, it was discovered that the church CAN use "Cruisin" so this is the only shirt with a "G"- silly silly people.








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This was one of the first...








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Just a shameless plug for my dad, if anyone is looking for shirts to be designed you should let me know.   I know a phenomenal graphic designer (in the old-school draw it out way or doing it all by computer). If you would like to chip in some money and help him buy what he needs to start his own screen printing business, he would be forever grateful and would definitely give you a discount or free shirt or two. That is one of his "retirement dreams"- to have a screen printing business and do it for churches and other smaller organizations.
Well, I hope you enjoyed checking out the old cars. I know I did.
 

Steph



More Sam-isms…
travisandstephanie — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 03:19:47 +0000







From December 2011




One of my Facebook statuses today:

Sam (telling me about his candy cane): red stripes cause they hurt Jesus… what white stripes for mommy?

Me: when we believe in Jesus He makes us clean

Sam: no, mommy…white bc Jesus wash sins away!

Me (with tears in my eyes): ummm…wow! That is right.

Sam: YEP!

(YAY!!!!!)
At breakfast today…

Sam: “Oh, Christmas tree, Oh, Christmas tree, How your pancakes doin?
My dad is in the hospital right now…

Aunt Jacky: Sam, where is Dad Buddy?

Sam: In the bed
The current songs he is singing ALL the time…

I’ve Got Peace Like A River

The B-I-B-L-E

“Wingy Wingy a Wingy Wingy Wing…” (#13 on the Lord of the Rings Soundtrack- The Bridge of Khazad Doom”

“Pum Pum Pum Pum” (Little Drummer Boy)
Cars he can accurately ID:

Chevys (sometimes he calls them HHHHHHHHHHRs, because of my HHR)

GMC

BMW

Nissan (his current favorite)

Toyota

Honda

Audi

Volkswagen

Lexus

Mercedes

Dodge

Ford

(if you are riding down the road with him, here is a typical conversation… Look, ____, another !)
 

Steph

         


The Mother of ALL Train Rides
travisandstephanie — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 03:59:15 +0000
**WARNING: LOTS AND LOTS of pictures and videos in this post!**
While we were in Mississippi, Sam was able to actually drive a train. Knowing his obsession with trains, he was ridiculously excited about doing this. We had to keep it a secret for the longest time because we/I knew it would be ALL he would talk about until it happened. He is STILL talking about driving trains and blowing whistles- and he did this over a month ago!
First off, he was appropriately dressed as a conductor with the hat they gave him.








From October 2011




There’s our train- it was a freight train! (We call it a “stuff” train to help Sam differentiate it from an Amtrak- a “people” train)








From October 2011




All aboard!!








From October 2011




Once the train started moving, Sam immediately snapped into safety mode and felt that we needed to have the door closed. However, that was the only way for us to get a breeze and it was H-O-T so the door stayed open.



Then, it was his turn to drive! This is the lever that makes the train go either fast or slow.








From October 2011











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My mom and I were just along for the ride…








From October 2011




I think we went out into the middle of nowhere…








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But then we came upon a farm!








From October 2011




We crossed a few roads and therefore, the whistle had to be blown. I didn’t get a picture of Sam blowing the whistle but I did get a video!


It turned out to be an eventful trip- for our railroad working friends. Apparently, one of the CSX trains cars broke down and so there was a crew out there welding on one of the cars.








From October 2011




These cars were blocking the entrance so our shipment that we were coming to pick up was having to hang out in New Orleans until the car was fixed. We didn’t have anything else better to do, so we agreed to just hang out and wait on the cars. We were there for at least an hour but, we were able to easily keep ourselves entertained.








From October 2011











From October 2011




I was trying to get a picture of Sam and I sitting on the front of the train. However, unbeknownst to me, Sam burnt his little finger as he was sitting down- he grabbed the headlight to help ease him down. Therefore, he was not in the greatest mood for having a picture taken. Oops!








From October 2011











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It must not have hurt too badly because he climbed back into the engine room (?) and enjoyed goofing off…








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while I roamed and took random pictures…








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Another shadow picture!!








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It looks like they are having a spitting contest…








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And, yes, we drove over a penny… a copper one at that! At first, the guys thought that since I had used a copper penny it had melted into the wheel because this is what we first saw…








From October 2011




Then we found prints on the track!








From October 2011




FINALLY, we found my penny and it was sitting exactly where it started out. So apparently, some of the copper melted out of it and made the prints on the wheel and track.








From October 2011




What impressed all of us was just how much space was required for the train wheel to make a complete rotation… (click on the picture below to watch the video- for some reason this video and another one further down, never made it to YouTube)








From October 2011




(sorry for the skinny video- my computer thinks it was recorded vertically and I am too lazy to flip it- HA!)

So, once the cars that we were waiting on arrived from New Orleans (just down the street from the seminary actually,) we then had to wait on the fixed cars to get moved out of the way. What ended up happening was that the engine that came from New Orleans disconnected from its train and connected to the fixed cars. Then they pushed those to another set of tracks, disconnected the engine and drove it back out, reconnected it to our cars, and pushed those down ANOTHER set of tracks so we could hook to them and push them back to where we were going. It was a bit confusing but really neat to watch.

Here come the fixed cars…








From October 2011




They link themselves automatically but then a RR guy has to hook the brakes up (that is the hose you see dangling down)…








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In case you want to see it in action, we made a video… (again, click on the picture to watch the video)








From October 2011




The really scary thing is that when you see the train cars with boxes stacked on top of each other, they are only held in place by a metal stick in each corner. See…








From October 2011




Here are the cars we were waiting on. Some of them were empty (like the ones in the picture) but others actually had stuff in them.








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During all of this, Sam decided it was time to take a nap…








From October 2011




Once the other engine was out of our way, we connected to the cars and headed back in. Our engine actually pushed the cars back and so a guy on the other end was riding on the front of a car and blowing the horn- we never heard it! Crazy!

Here is how hard the drive back was for our conductor…








From October 2011




The conductor was telling us that in the summer it would get over 120F in his cabin (?)! YIKES! They had coolers and BIG jugs of water all over the place- and I can see why. It is HOT working on a “stuff” train.  
It was such a fun trip and I would love to do it again with Travis so he can experience it as well. However, with my dad retiring soon, I really think this was probably a once in a lifetime opportunity. If you made it this far in reading this post, thanks for the dedication and I promise that the next post won’t be nearly as long.
 

Steph


Mississippi Bound!!
travisandstephanie — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 19:25:56 +0000
So, on October 1st, we headed to Mississippi from my Aunt’s house. It was a very uneventful drive- thankfully. One of our “always” stops is at Priester’s in Fort Deposit, AL (exit 142 off I-65) because they have yummy candy samples, good bathrooms, and a cutesy gift shop I like to roam in periodically. If you stop on a week day, you can see the people making the various candies they sell- however, we were there on a Saturday so it was just a nice hall for Sam to run up and down in to burn some energy. Then, before we hopped back in our car, Sam got to ride on the tire swings. He loves those things!








From October 2011

After church and nap on Sunday, Sam and my mom participated in a marching band. It was hilarious! They marched down the newly poured sidewalk all the way to the end of the street (NOT very far at all), turned around and started marching back, only to turn around again, to wave to a train that was passing by.

From October 2011

The next day, we had some errands to run. One of them included a trip to Target in D'Iberville. While there, we found the best gift ever for my dad- an Atlanta Falcon pillow pet! Why IN THE WORLD this Target was selling Dirty Birds along side of Gumbeaux (The Saints dog) is beyond me. Sam enjoyed riding it around in the buggy beside of him.

From October 2011

I enjoyed using "dirty bird" as a paper weight. HA!

From October 2011

I do have to admit- the Dirty Bird does have an adorable face.

When my dad got off work, we walked back up to the train tracks so that Sam could get his first sno-ball from Mrs. Mickey.

From October 2011

He chose a grape one.

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He really liked drinking the syrup.

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But, eventually, he started eating it.

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He really liked it but the sweetness started to get to him because he got to the point where he didn't want any. The next SEVERAL times that we went while we were down there, he chose a more "calm" flavor (like Banana) where as I stuck with my favorite- Tiger's Blood.

After the sno-ball, we walked across the street to the really old park. Sam liked playing on it and was even more excited when a train came by. In case you haven't figured it out yet, my parents live by a very busy train track and so there are trains all.the.time. Unfortunately, even throughout the night. One night I couldn't sleep and I heard/felt a train every 30 minutes. No kidding!

From October 2011

Are you wondering what he was so happy about seeing? This...

From October 2011

I liked taking shadow pictures of myself.

From October 2011

If it weren't for my dad's shadow on the left, I could trick you into thinking Sam can swing by himself.

From October 2011

That was it for the first weekend. Stay tuned for an update on Sam's "most favorite" thing he did while we were in Mississippi!!

Steph

Sam-isms…

travisandstephanie — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:57:41 +0000

While going potty after lunch…
Sam: me need to go get a new Sam.
Me: a new Sam? How do you do that?
Sam: me go to the Toyota place. They sell lots of Sams there.

At breakfast this morning…

From November 2011

Sam: Look, Mommy! I am a king! I have a king hat on!

Trying to get out of a nap…
Sam: Mommy, I nap on carpet in living room.
Me: Nooo, carpet is not comfy, you will wake up grumpy.
Sam: Oh ok, then me nap on couch! It make me wake happy.

To the man parked beside our car as we left CVS this morning AFTER Sam just walked out the store while I was waiting on my receipt.
Man: Hey there!
Sam: Hey Mister Mister. Me on a mission!
Me: Sam, don’t leave the store without me ever again.
Sam: It’s ok. Mister Mister saw me. I told him me on a mission!
(I still don’t know what his “mission” was but the man beside us could not stop laughing)

Steph

I HAVE to interrupt our updates for this important video!!

travisandstephanie — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 01:50:46 +0000

Tonight, Sam shocked Travis and I by reading one of his books to us. Thankfully, after I picked my jaw up off the floor, he agreed to read it again so that I could record it. WAY TO GO, SAM!!!

Steph

Georgia, On My Mind…

travisandstephanie — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:15:30 +0000

My Aunt and Uncle recently moved to Georgia. My dad, Sam and I had yet to see their new house. Travis still hasn’t seen it so I thought I would be funny and take a picture of their house to show Travis what he was missing.

From September 2011

HA HA! For those of you who don’t know- this is Chateau Elan, a winery in Georgia. Hee Hee! However, I never did remember to post the picture to Facebook or the blog for Travis to see. Oops!

Anyway, we ate supper at their house that night and got a tour of the house. It is really nice. For some unknown reason, I never took a picture of the house though. I did take pictures of their back yard. I really like their patio and garden.

From September 2011

Their fountain was turned off because they found a small leak in the liner. I think that if I lived there I would be completely worthless if the fountain was on- I would just sit by the water and listen/sleep/relax. The previous owner was apparently an avid gardener and I think my aunt is set if she wants to do a square foot garden. She could grow TONS of food with this set-up…

From September 2011

Saturday morning, we packed up (AGAIN) to finish our trip to Mississippi. My Aunt found an adorable Peter Pan costume for Sam to dress up in. He enjoyed running around the house in it that morning.

From October 2011

One thing I enjoyed about this leg of the trip was that it was Saturday and there were college football games on the radio. Georgia played at home that day but, unfortunately, the game started after our radio was out of reach. Another thanks, is that even though Auburn was playing in Atlanta, we were going against the traffic and didn’t have to deal with that once we crossed the line into Alabama…

Steph

The SC portion of our trip…

travisandstephanie — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 21:05:56 +0000

So, after Sam’s 3 year check-up and mine and Travis’ flu shots, Sam and I loaded up in the van with my parents and drove to SC. We first headed to my mom’s parents in Kershaw and we stayed there two nights.

We take Hwy 1 to get to SC because it is a MUCH SMOOTHER road than I-95. There isn’t much for Sam to look at on that road and so he entertained himself with the DVD player in my parents’ van. This time, he discovered the ear phones and after FINALLY understanding that he couldn’t hear his movie if he removed them, he kept them on- even during his nap!

From September 2011

Once we got to Kershaw, we did “the usual”- go to church and walk to the lake. I have no pictures from church though. Sorry!
Sam was obviously feeling the need to help my mom walk down the hill to the lake.

From September 2011

My dad and I like to be camera dorks and take pictures of each other taking pictures. Seriously, I think we do this at least once every time we are together. HA!

From September 2011

Once at the lake, Sam immediately started throwing rocks in. He loves doing that. I can’t wait for him to get a bit older so Travis can teach him how to skip rocks. I can do it but not consistently- Travis is GOOD!

From September 2011

On the way back up the hill, my grandpa introduced Sam to mushroom kicking. Sam absolutely had a ball kicking over the plethora of mushrooms along the road. HA!

From September 2011

One night he was so tired that he crawled up in Papa’s lap and immediately fell asleep. It was so sweet. Sam has always been a buddy of Papa’s.

From September 2011

After two nights, we got up on Friday morning to pack the car and head to see my other grandma. First, Sam had to have his picture taken with the weirdest sweet potato I have ever seen.

From September 2011

We got to my other grandma’s around lunch and so we visited with her on my Aunt’s deck- the weather was wonderful! If I am doing my math correctly, my grandma is 94 years old! WOW!

From September 2011

Sam loves his Mama, too.

From September 2011

Sam also loves his great-Aunt Brenda and great-Uncle Don.

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I thought it was funny that their pool was a dirt hole- they were/are in the process of getting a new liner.

From September 2011

After visiting for a bit, we hopped back in the car and went to Georgia to spend the night with my Aunt Jacky.

Steph