Elijah is 1

Happy Birthday to my walking boy!

Mississippi 2011, Part II

At John and Leslie's house...kids are ready to eat.

I can't remember what John called this beef stew that he made.  It was amazing.

Some of Leslie's lovely Christmas decorating.

Elijah is enjoying some playfulness with his Aunt Leslie.

John's roasted red potatoes were really special too.  SO good.

After the meal, we all took a walk up the road behind their house to see their landlord's animals.

A fall/winter walk in Mississippi countryside is idyllic. 

This shot is at the end of our walk when we were almost back to the house.

Leslie and Elijah.  :)

John and Leslie have 3 black dogs.  Not sure which one this is.  Maybe Foxy?

Animal-loving, happy girl.

Mocha Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Cookies in the living room.  You might notice poor William laying on the couch in the left corner.  He got sick and slept there almost all afternoon. 

Leslie knew we would be moving when we got home from the trip and had thoughtfully picked out a housewarming gift. 

The girls helped me open this beautiful blue, pottery plate.  Thank you so much, John and Leslie!  We had a lovely time as always and appreciate all you did for us and the plate. 

All the children at Grandpa Jerry and Grandma Betty's house for their last meal there.

Most of the trip was such a whirlwind that I hardly got my camera out.  I was glad that Tessa took some pictures too.  It was such a special time to be with family even if it was hectic.  I'm already thinking about a get-together in 2012.  :)

Mississippi 2011, Part I

 An old friend of Peter's family hosted our family while we visited Mississippi this year.  There's just not enough room for us at Peter's parents' house anymore.  :)  I took some pictures of the home where we stayed.  It was such a blessing to us, so much more convenient than staying in an hotel room or two.  We had the entire upstairs to ourselves.  Ben is looking down into the living room from the top of the stairs.

 These wonderful windows look out on a pond and acres and acres of land.  Beautiful.  And so peaceful.

 This is the room that Peter and I stayed in with Elijah.

 Eli immediately enjoyed the benefit of a nap, not in his carseat.

 This was the room that the girls stayed in.

 And this room was in between the other two.  It is a playroom for the grandchildren of the people who live here.  They borrowed some full-size blow-up mattresses for the boys to sleep on.  The sleeping arrangements were so nice and having toys there too was such a help.

 Here is Peter's brother, Mitchell, greeting Elijah. (Making faces at him.  :))

 At this point, I'm going to fill in with some pictures that my sister-in-law, Tessa took. (See below)

 The cousins are happy to be back together again.  Ethan, on the left, is Mitchell's oldest child.

 Emma, on the left, is Mitchell's second child.  (The kids are playing on the bunkbeds at Grandpa and Grandma's house).

 And Micah, Mitchell's youngest,(at the moment, there's a new baby on the way) child.

 As an aside, ever since we came back from this trip, Eli doesn't suck his fingers anymore.  This is officially the last picture of that phase for him.

 Brothers playing 'Guess who?' 

 Peter with his dad, Jerry, and brother.  Tessa told them, "Don't smile."

 That's better.  :)

 We arranged to have a meal with all of Peter's siblings and some extended family at Peter's parents' church.  We were able to use this fellowship hall so that we could all be together at one place.

 We had a ham dinner, potluck style, and a chance to catch up with relatives we rarely see.

Many of the men and boys played football on the field outside the church.  Peter has a cousin with 4 sons.  They all had a great time together.  This marks the end of Tessa's photos.

 Family picture.  Peter's parents are in the middle.  Peter's sister, Leslie, is to the right of her dad, with her husband, John, next to Peter.  Peter's other sister, Anna, is on the far left, holding her daughter Madi and her son, Holden, in front of her.  Her husband, Walter, and other son, Weber, weren't able to come.  Last, on the farthest left, is Mammaw, Jerry's mother.

 Peter's mom and dad.  :)

 Anna, with her kids.

 Mammaw, Aunt Theresa (married to Jerry's brother, Pat) and Aunt Janet(Jerry's sister).

 Peter and his mother.

 Peter and his grandmother.

Most of the grandkids with Grandma Betty.

 The day after our "family reunion," Peter and the kids and I all went over to Oxford MS to spend some time with Peter's sister Leslie and husband, John.  Oxford has a beautiful town square with all kinds of interesting shops around it.  One of the ones that Leslie has taken us to several times is Holli's Sweet Tooth, a candy store.

 Picking out some candy.  What a treat.

 Sweet.

There's all the sweeties outside the candy store.

I'm going to end there for tonight and return later with the pictures of the rest of our time with John and Leslie.

When I'm An Adult...

A long time ago, I think I posted my children's responses to the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
As a part of our Bible time discussion today I asked the kids, "What would you like to do as an adult?"  (As in, something you can't do now as a child).  I gave them a moment to think it over and then we went around and heard everyone's responses. 

Amelia:  Tell my kids what to do.
Calvin:   Drive a car and build fires.
Sam:   Raise fish.
Ben:  Have a farm out in the country and buy a horse.
Will:  Marry and write.

These are their exact words.  I enjoyed their responses because they were very honest.  These sound like the things that they would each truly like to do. 

Our New House

There it is.  With 7 1/5 acres of woods surrounding it.  We are slowly getting settled.  You knew we had to inaugurate it with a bout of the stomach flu. (That was last week).  Each day we get a little more set up/fixed up.  Yesterday the kids did their first bit of schoolwork in over a month.  I finally have enough of the essentials in order to feel alright about taking some time to do a blog post.  I promise to post more pictures of the inside once it is looking picture-worthy. 

This is a little bit of side yard that is to the left of the side deck in the picture above.  I plan to put up a clothes line here and I think it will be a nice place for Elijah to play outside when spring gets here.

That's it for tonight.  I'll be back when I can muster some more minutes in an evening.  :)