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!

Easter Weekend

So we had a wonderful weekend with the Laney's! Justin and I were so anxious to hit the road Friday. It's been since July last year that we got to visit with them. (that's too long!) We had a great weekend of shopping, eating, geo caching, talking++++ and playing cards. We toured University of North Alabama's campus. It is so nice & they have lions on camps (their mascot). Who knew we would see lions in North Alabama?! The most exciting part of the weekend was feeling the baby kick! It was so neat! Audra and Andrew are getting ready for their bundle of joy to arrive. If you haven't been to her blog, the nursery is in progress and is so cute! I can't wait to meet their precious baby boy! Our outings will certainly be different with a baby in the mix, but it will be even more wonderful!
Thanks for a great weekend, Laney's! Can't wait to see you next month!

Lucy's first Easter egg hunt

Lucy had a wonderful time hunting the Easter egg I dyed for her. It said "Lucy" "wo_of."
She found it, licked it, played with it, bit it, ate it.

Our Patch of Earth

This past weekend we added some plants to the garden! We visited our local Feed & Seed and Miss Mary [pronounced May-ree] assisted us. She was great! Miss Mary-ree gave us good advice and answered our questions. She gave us planting guides for our area & an almanac. The Feed & Seed is so old fashioned. All the seeds were in wooden bins that had picture of the vegetables from years gone by.

After the organic fertilizer was added, the planting began! We planted tomatoes, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, bell pepper, onion, corn, basil, thyme and mint (herbs in pots). At the beginning of April we'll plant okra and purple hull peas. We are so excited and can't wait to see the results!

Lucy likes to help too!

Leigh & I planting the onions...

Justin waters our patch of earth.

Here Comes Peter Cotton Tail...

...Hoppin' down the Bunny Trail, Hippity-Hoppity Easter's on its way!!!!

Tuesday Leigh and I dyed Easter Eggs. Easter is one of our family's favorite holidays to celebrate...and it's because of the decor and the lovely colors! Since I was in the 4th grade we went to a church convention (Lads to Leaders) every Easter, so we didn't get to hunt or dye eggs each year. So, once I was out of college and done with L2L, we started celebrating Easter the old fashioned way. To this day we still hunt Easter eggs that our Daddy & Papa hide for us. I never want to be too old to hunt Easter eggs!! Here are some pictures from our festivities last night. Martha Stewart worked her way into our efforts; some successful other not so much. By-the-way, we look so lovely because we just got back from an hour workout...