CAMPOUT!

This weekend a group of us from church headed to Chewacla State Park for a camp out. It's been in the works for a few months and everything went as planned. We feasted on hot dogs, s'mores, zebra cakes & chips. Our entertainment consisted of watching the dogs. They were all hilarious. Emmy (Murray's dog) rules the roost. After a late night of chatting around the fire we headed off to a good nights rest.

Justin cooked a fabulous breakfast in the morning, after Ashley called us on her cell phone from 3 tents over, requesting coffee :) We had bacon, sausage, toast, scrambled eggs and espresso. It was so good. Breakfast is my favorite, but it's even better while camping! We received notice of the coming storm (about an hour), so we decided to pack up and head for the falls. We made it down to the falls, but it was getting darker and darker. The guys decided to scale the falls. As soon as they made it to the top, it began to thunder and turn really dark. They high-tailed it down and the girls took off for the car. It was a pretty steep incline, but we made great time. By the time we got to the car it began to rain. It was perfect timing.

We had a great time, I just wish it could have been longer. Thanks to everyone that came!

Curb Appeal

Around early-mid April Justin and I decided it was time to get our front yard into shape. The top photos are right after we planted and the bottom photos are as of today. The impatients are beautiful and really stand out. They are blooming and blooming! The planters (there are two that flank the sidewalk to our house) are filled with sweet potato vine, sweet william and fountain grass.

Garden Progress

This is a poor attempt at before and afters of the garden. The first picture is the before (around early-mid April), followed by the after, which is our current status (May 01). The last 5 pictures are from the very beginning of the garden.

Baby Laney - Part II

Baby Laney-Part I

This past weekend we made a quick (and not nearly long enough) trip to see Audra and Andrew. The special occassion was a shower for Baby Laney. As always, we had such a wonderful time with them. Both Audra's & Kacie's blogs do a great job of telling about the shower. Kacie did a great job planning, everything was filled with so much thought. It was really special. The shower was a huge success! We finally got to meet Audra's (& Kacie's) parents. They are so awesome; it was so nice to finally get to see them face to face, although we know them so well already!


Sorry for the pics in another post. I can't seem to figure out how to add text to a Photobucket show in the blog. I need suggestions on posting pictures. Everytime I post multiple pictures it is so laborous. I've tried Photobucket, Picasa and Flickr. None of them provide what I want...easy loading. Any suggestions?

Mamaw Goza

A week ago Sunday, we lost Mamaw Goza (Justin's grandmother). Last week was spent traveling and being with family. It was a sad time, but it was also a celebration of her life. Justin spoke at the funeral and did a great job. He talked about her ability to cook and how she would take pleasure in proving food for others. It gave her joy to serve others. Justin remembered how she would always be willing to cook whatever he and his cousins managed to hunt from deer to squirrels. He also mentioned how she took joy in her family. She was always thrilled to have her grandchildren with her. One story that I loved was from Justin's cousin, Molly. She remembered back to when she was a little girl and she would pick out one of Mamaw's flashy shirts that had a fringe cut in the sleeves and along the bottom of the shirt with beads run along each piece of fringe. She would practice her dance routine all day long. As soon as Papaw came in from the fields, his ritual was to sit down and watch Wheel of Fortune. Molly was so anxious to show off her hard work and would perform for Papaw and Mamaw (smack dab in front of the TV, no less) and dance her heart out. Papaw patiently watched and Mamaw cheered Molly on; she loved it. Mamaw wanted Molly to do it over and over. Not only did she enjoy a good show, she was known to put on a few herself. As I hear, at Christmas she would dance around the living room doing a Minnie Pearl impersonation; cutting jokes and passing out gifts. She was such a character! So many people came to her viewing and many of them spoke of the same things; her love for her family, her humor and "...boy could she cook!" Her cooking legacy is one that I will remember. When Justin and I were first married, he had to go out of town for a week. So I pack up and went to his parents house. Mamaw was there and I told her that I wanted her to teach me one of her special recipes. She wrote down the recipe for Cabbage Rolls (one of Justin's favorites). We got all the ingredients and began to cook! Mamaw shared with me, not only instructions on how to handle the fragile cabbage leaves, but also a few secret items that weren't written down. Cabbage Rolls were a family tradition brought from Germany; her mother taught her and now she was teaching me. What an honor. Most importantly though, her death was not a final goodbye. It was actually homecoming. What perfect peace we have in Christ Jesus. While we thank and praise God for the amazing woman, mother, grandmother and friend she was to us on earth, we also rejoice in the woman she was for God. We will see her again. And next time, no aches, no pains, no wrinkles, just her amazing spirit and a twinkle in her eye.

Mexican with a twist of America

*****UPDATE: Daddy's surgery went great! Thank you for the prayers!*****

PRAY FOR DADDY MONDAY-he's having shoulder surgery!

Last weekend we visited Mama & Daddy in the 'Houn. They hosted their Sunday School class party and we all had a great time. Mexican pile up & Cranium were the order of the night and boy was it great! I love Cranium because it requires you to do things you normally wouldn't do. It also requires self confidence, which I'm sure I would have avoided earlier in my life. Now, I don't care what others think and it's such a blast.

**********************************************************************The other night Justin and I went to our favorite Mexican restaurant in town. We had heard that on the first Wednesday night of the month the mariachi band plays. We remembered on the appropriate Wednesday and headed out for some fine food! This mariachi band is like no other. How about a little, Brown Eyed Girl, Sweet Home Alabama, Cheeseburger in Paradise or Devil Went Down to Georgia? Not only bizarre, they are awesome!! We loved it!