Loving It

For as long as I can remember, I've always said that I wanted to have at least 5 kids. In fact, in seventh grade me and my best friend Mavis even made up a contract. She decided she was going to hold me to it. In it, it states that if I don't have 5 kids (and I threw in there that even if I was unable to have children of my own, the contract would still apply :) ), I have to pay Mavis $25 dollars. She told me a couple of years ago that she still has it. So funny. I thoroughly intend to be the winner in that contract. Of course, it is ultimately up to God...but that's where I stand.

Whenever I would make that statement, more often than not someone would make some comment like, "Yeah, just wait until you have the first one...you'll probably want to stop there." I always wanted to haul off and slap those people. Well, I've had the first...and I liked it so much that 13 months later I had the 2nd. Then, oh no, I didn't stop there...19 months after the 2nd baby I am due to have the 3rd. I'm already scheduling in my head when I'd like to have the 4th. :) Somehow I always knew that God had placed that desire in me...to be a mother of many...and when God has placed a desire in you, He will see it through. It might not be exactly the way in which you thought, but nonetheless it will be seen through.

People ask us all the time if there's a "cut-off"...if we know how many we want. I would truly have 22 (at least :) ) if time and my body allowed. But, even to have more than my professed 5...I got started a little late. Not that I won't...I really don't know...but, I really thought I'd have those 5 children I talked about in 7th grade by the time I was 30. But, I was 29 when I had Grady. God's timing is perfect though, and we plan to adopt also (a huge passion of mine...since an early age too), so we're not sure how it will all work out. But, we'll see. It's very exciting.

Can I just tell you that I am LOVING IT though...having children and being a stay-at-home mama is the best job on earth. Could be that I think that way because I feel I am so called to it...I'm sure not everyone feels that way or is suited for it. But, it is totally for me. Things that get on some people's nerves...I love. Grady asking a million and one questions a day and saying the same things over and over...love it. As I posted earlier...the sibling rivalry thing...love it. I love seeing them grow, and grow through these things...I love trying to figure them out and seeing how they are different and seeing what their gifts are and what their love language is, etc. It is just so much fun. Challenging at times too of course...but what I was made for. I love it.

Grady has starting asking "What's that?" about 200 times a day. It is so fun to watch him explore his world and learn all about it. Just all the little things...like the other day we went for a walk and I showed him a fire ant bed and taught him about fire ants and the hills they make and how he should avoid both. It's so fun showing someone something for the first time and teaching them all about it. His mind can't grasp the "why" of things quite yet sometimes...so he hasn't started asking "Why?" over and over...but, I know that will come soon too. Grady's latest thing: He is constantly saying things like, "Get it, Mama, get it" or "Fix it, Mama, fix it" or "Kiss it, Mama, kiss it." Every phrase he says twice with "Mama" stuck in the middle. I love hearing him ask me to do things. He says "Mama" constantly. He says it so much that he even calls Joel that lots of times, just because it is such a habit. I've heard women say "I'm going to change my name" because they get so frustrated hearing their kids call "Mama." Some people say it jokingly, but I just don't think it's very funny. Never in a million years do I ever want to say that. I love hearing that name. I waited a long time to hear it and I know tons of people who are still waiting longingly to hear it. I don't take it for granted. What an honor.

Kid Stuff and Limbo

We made it back to Longview from Saline last night. It was a great time and Grady thoroughly enjoyed himself in Vacation Bible School. Hadley had fun just playing at Granny's house too of course. And we all had ALOT of fun going to the lake. Saline lake = paradise. :)

The kids are SO funny these days. Hadley has really started showing her emotions...specifically her anger and frustration...and specifically as related to Grady. It's quite funny to watch, although of course requires some attention and correction. They take things from each other and it's really hard to know who had what first...it's not like I can watch them every second. Hadley has resorted to biting whenever she gets mad. She's only done it a couple of times so far, but has done it. She used to just clench her fists, yell, and run away when she got irritated...now she bites. She has gone from flight to fight I guess. Anyhow, we are working through the sibling rivalry thing (don't plan to allow that with our kids...we know it is looked on as normal and is a normal thing to go through, but we believe kids can be trained to not accept that as normal), but even this we love to see. We are enjoying every stage and every step they move through. So fun.

Now, for the "limbo" part of the post. As you all know, we are still trying to sell the house. Last week we started showing the house with a man who handles financing. He is able to advertise and bring in a group of prospective buyers who would usually not hear about our house or even be eligible to get financing (they are people with less than perfect credit). Anyhow, we are showing the house every Tuesday and Thursday. We have some good leads, but still no official buyer or anything. So, continue to pray for that.

Also, the applications that we sent to Brazil 4 weeks ago today have still not arrived. Our contact there said that it only usually takes 2 weeks for mail to arrive from the States, so it is a little out of the ordinary. But, we are in fact dealing with international travel to a 3rd world society, so we are giving it another week. Thankfully we made copies of our applications and all, so we would just have to fax it all to them if they don't arrive, but we are just praying that they arrive in the next few days.

Just a little update today...will post pictures from the last couple of weeks later.

Job

Yep, after 4 months of nobody in our family having a job, Joel became a working man. Lest you think we are just lazy bums, let me explain that we have been completely busy all this time and not just laying around on the couch eating chocolate and watching movies (although that sounds pretty good too...but that would get old really fast). :) We've been spending ALOT of time with family. Joel's family came in February (right after he became unemployed) and stayed a week. Then we got ready for and had a huge garage sale at our house. We spent March in Dallas...and the first week of April. We came back home to Longview and spent the week of Easter in Louisiana with my family. That is when we also found out about Asas de Socorro and started the application process...filling out that application was like a job in itself. We've been very busy getting the house in order and showing it constantly, doing everything from stripping and painting window trim to replacing toilet tanks...not to mention all of the sorting, organizing, purging, and packing involved with preparing for this type of move. Anyhow, tons more that we've been doing, but on to the job.

Last week Joel went out to Gladewater airport to check out a small flight school that is based there. He actually got offered a few flight students that very day, but wanted to make sure that was what he was supposed to do. After praying about it more he decided that he was supposed to pursue this, telling the students that we are trying to sell our house and if/when we do, he might not be able to be the one to finish their flight training. Anyhow, so he had his first student yesterday...a one-time deal where the regular flight instructor was going out of town...basically he was a "sub" for that flight instructor. Today he met with another student...a 17-yr. old guy who wants to get his private pilot's license by the end of the summer, so that is a pretty good pace...a nice steady job in the world of flight instructing. This guy's family is buying their own airplane and they are all getting their flight licenses. So, there might even be a possibility to teach the whole family.

Anyhow, so just wanted to let you all know about what Joel is up to...it's exciting and he is really enjoying it ALOT. He loves being paid to do what he really loves to do. It's really fun for him.

The kids and I are in Saline. Grady is going to Vacation Bible School this week...so fun. He will have a commencement ceremony on Friday night. Joel will be coming to Saline to meet up with us Thursday night/Friday morning. We will probably hang out at the lake Saturday and go back to Longview Saturday evening. Fun stuff.

Abort Mission!!

Some of you may remember a couple of weeks ago when we introduced the whole potty thing to Grady. It was really just a time of feeling things out and seeing if he would be ready for the real deal. So, we did that...showed him the potty, let him sit on it a few times, checked out his interest in it all, watched a couple of videos from the library, etc. He showed definite interest, but it was intermittent. He also showed definite signs of readiness other than being interested, but didn't display even a majority of the signs. Still, we figured it was enough to give it a concentrated effort.

Well, this past Thursday and Friday we did that. We had gotten all of the needed materials...real training pants, vinyl pants, potty, a timer, etc. We had decided to do the real training pants and go full force with it. So, we started out the day putting on the big boy underwear and going potty. Grady wasn't too impressed with how the day seemed to be going from the get-go. Still we pressed through, making it exciting and fun...adding a bank with money to put in the bank for incentive (he likes money...it was incentive and treat enough for him) to the mix. That worked well, but by mid-morning I had realized that it wasn't working...we would sit him on the potty, but nothing would happen...and he hadn't wet his pants either. I would take him about everything 30 minutes, but he just wasn't drinking enough to get things going enough to be able to train him on a consistent level. So, off to the store I went to get some apple juice. I wasn't able to go to the store until their naptime, so after his afternoon nap, we started with the juice. That worked VERY well in getting his bladder going regularly, but we never got to the point of being able to actually work through the first part of the training...helping him to realize that wet pants were not what he wanted and how to recognize when he needed to go, etc. The deal was this...he was just hating it. He didn't want to go to the potty. He was crying about going to the potty and asking for a diaper. We tried the same thing initially on Friday...you know, a new day, maybe a different outcome. Same thing happened.

There are definite things that kids don't want to do that you have to make them realize they have to do anyway, but we just felt it wise not to push it at this point. If, in the future, we are SURE that he is ready and really wants to do this and has in fact done it, then he regresses and decides that he doesn't want to do it anymore, we will know that he can indeed do it and is just being fickle. But, we weren't even to that point yet. So, we will hold off. The 2 main reasons:

1. Just felt like he wasn't ready and having fun with it.
2. We started thinking hard about it and decided that it would be way easier on us too. If we are indeed traveling alot this year, we don't want to have to be stopping every 5 minutes on the road or in the airports to find a bathroom and dealing with possible accidents...hello...not relaxing.

So, it was just made clear that we will wait, possibly until this time next year to do it. Then, who knows...maybe I will just potty train Grady and Hadley at the same time. :) What are your thoughts?

The Coming Year

Many things have changed for us over the last few months...many things that we didn't expect to change. And, then many things that we planned on changing stayed the same, much to our surprise. Here's some of what I mean...

In January, we put our house up for sale...for sale by owner. All we did was put a sign in the front yard. Within about 3 weeks, we had a contract on the house...easy breezy. We made plans to go to Dallas for Joel to get his flight instructor's license. We sent in a deposit to secure a place in a flight training program in Missouri...a Christian program where they teach pilots how to do missionary/bush flying. We had a huge garage sale and sold most of our things (we still have our beds and some personal things).

Then, the sale of our house fell through due to family illness (the buyer's family). So, we just kept our "for sale" sign up and headed to Dallas.

After Dallas, we headed back to Longview and then to Saline for Easter weekend. We had really been praying about the direction God wanted us to take. Joel, through a series of events, had begun to kind of question whether or not MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) truly was the organization we were supposed to go with. He really had 3 desires...to be a missionary pilot, he really kind of wanted to go back to Brazil and serve there, and he also wanted to be involved in more than just flying. The week before Easter he did a search on the internet, typing in the words "amazon missionary pilot." Asas de Socorro popped up.

Asas de Socorro is a Brazilian organization that actually started out as an MAF branch, but then became Brazilian, which, as stated on their website, "was important in gaining the trust of the Brazilian government and people." They are now considered an MAF affiliate. Joel's dad took him to visit their headquarters which was about 30 minutes from their home when he was in his pre-teen years...that, and his parents reading "Into the Glory" to he and his siblings, is really what sparked Joel's desire to be a missionary pilot in the first place. So, Joel has always known about Asas, but not until his internet search did that dawn on him as an option...to just go straight into that organization.

This organization really struck a cord with us and seemed to fit us like a glove from our first glance at it on the web. Then we called them and spoke to them personally for a couple of hours, which just seemed to add to the perfect fit. Here are some things that we just really liked about Asas:

1. It's in Brazil. That is not only a great thing because of our hearts to go to Brazil, but also just logistically. Joel has dual citizenship and so do the kids (well, Grady does, but we still have to get Hadley's)...since their dad is Brazilian, all you have to do is file some paperwork. And, same with me. Since I married a Brazilian, it's just a matter of paperwork for me to get a permanent visa. Also, Joel of course knows Portuguese.

2. Asas de Socorro is a smaller organization. This allows for more flexibility in some areas. For instance, if we go with Asas, we foresee (and daydream about) being a contact for missions groups to come down from the States to work with us. It also provides a very tight-knit unit/family environment.

3. The pilots that work for Asas not only fly people into the hard to reach parts of the Amazon, but they also get to stay and be a part of the ministry at times. For the most part, MAF pilots fly people in and out, but flying is the big part of their day. With Asas, more ministry opportunities are open to you on a daily basis...and on a long-term basis. They are heavily involved in church plants, medical/dental clinics, showing of the Jesus film, etc.

4. They provide their own specialized training for pilots there in Brazil. Therefore, there was no need to go to Missouri for the missionary/bush pilot training.

So, after we spoke to them, we prayed and felt that they were indeed the organization we should apply to go with. We sent in our applications 2 1/2 weeks ago, and they still haven't gotten them in the mail. So, we are awaiting word as to whether or not we will be accepted.

In talking with them on the phone though, if we are to be accepted, the likely date for departure going to Brazil would be February 2007...yes, 8 months from now. That would be the earliest that we would probably go. So, what do we do from now until then, provided that we are accepted? Here is our answer: ??? :) We don't know. That is where you come in and can help play a part.

If accepted, we will have to raise up partners...both prayer partners and financial partners. So, those willing and wanting to be our prayer partners, start now. :) Here are some of our prayer requests/concerns:

1. Our hope was to sell the house and move close to Joel's family in Boston for a few months before going to Brazil. If this is God's will, please just pray for the sale of our house, smooth transition to Boston, a place to live in Boston, and a wonderful midwife for us while we are there.

2. If we don't sell the house and are to stay here, pray that God would make that very clear...that we would have wisdom and favor concerning getting a job here.

3. Pregnancy - We absolutely LOVE our midwife here. Oh my gosh...best ever. So, that would be a definite advantage of staying around this area. Even if we move away for a time, that is still a possibility...just coming back here for the last few weeks and the birth. So, pray that we would have wisdom and direction concerning that; and for the health of me and the baby.

4. Transportation - If we are to do a lot of traveling this year, we will most likely need a new vehicle. My '96 Saturn just wouldn't cut it, especially after we have to add a 3rd carseat. So, wisdom is needed concerning that issue...and provision as well.

5. That our base of support, both prayer and financial partners, start to be established...that God would bring that about in the coming months.

Obviously, all of these prayer requests could be blanketed under one big prayer that just asks for God's direction to be made clear to us. But, I wanted to be sure to update you all in each area of concern and explain to you some of our many options that we are being faced with.

As you can tell, there are many things to consider in this time. So many things are very much up in the air. We really appreciate your prayers and please let us know if you get any direction that you feel is from God for us.

If you are interested in checking out Asas de Socorro, here is a website that one of their pilots has put together of some of his work with them: http://www.homestead.com/amazoncurrents/. He has great pictures of the missions he and his wife have been on and some of the work that Asas de Socorro does. Asas de Socorro has 6 bases in the Amazon basin and their headquarters is located in central Brazil...the map below, at the bottom of this post, shows the locations of each base (even though it's in Portuguese). For all of you Portuguese-speaking people, there is also a Brazilian website: http://www.asasdesocorro.org.br. And you non-Portuguese-speaking people, if you google "Asas de Socorro" then you will have the option of having this website translated into English.

Thanks for all of your prayers. Let us know if you have any questions at all. We will definitely keep you posted.

New Addition

No, sillies...not the baby...remember, I'm not due 'til October. :) On Memorial Day we went down the street and got a kitten from our neighbors who had 4 kittens they were giving away. They were all gray with white feet, except for the one we got. We got a girl who happens to be polydactile. That just means that she has more toes than usual...ours has 7 toes on each front paw. Crazy huh? Apparently it was her dad who gave her this trait. We were told that her dad was an orange tabby and her mom is a siamese mix (although she doesn't look like the siamese part...is a white long-haired cat).

Since she has those big front feet, the family had started calling her "Sasquatch," but we weren't too fond of that. The name did fit logically though, so we just shortened it to Sassy. She was born April 8th, which makes her about 7 weeks old. She's a cutie and so sweet and patient with the kids. It's a good thing too...they are SUPER excited and tend to definitely show it.

There were more pictures that I wanted to post, but couldn't get them to upload. So, maybe some other time I will post the ones of us actually going down the street to pick her up. Anyhow, enjoy the ones that we did get loaded up. Be sure to read "New Addition" and also "New Addition (cont.)." And...thanks so much for the comments from you all letting me know that you are indeed checking out our site and I'm not wasting my time. :) I appreciate your feedback.


Grady still marveling over the idea of carrying this cute little thing home for good.















Me, the kids, and the cat. I love the kids' expressions in this picture.



Feeding the cat. Grady just feeding Sassy, Hadley making sure the water is the right temperature. :)



This was taken yesterday morning, when we all got up. The kitty was still sleeping on her "bed."



The kids were napping and the cat decided it was her naptime too. We set up her stuff in the empty, what used to be, study...her bed (much better than the outside bed), litter box, food/water, climbing/scratch area, and toys. I think she'll be happy here. :)






The kids coming into the room where the kitty was after their naps. They were excited to see her there.

New Addition (cont.)

The kids were very surprised to see the kitty cat in our house...and delighted of course. This is Joel showing the cat her toy. I had a cat before and didn't buy her a thing...just a litter box and food. But, a kitten is different...especially when you live in a house with very nice leather couches. We are trying to avoid declawing her...and don't really want to do that until we spay her anyhow (which will not be anytime soon). So, we got her a scratching post/play area and some toys to keep her happy and occupied.





Hadley petting Sassy.
















The kids and Sassy. Hadley is talking to her, as she does to all animals.










Lazy cat...flat on her back. After they saw her for awhile and played in "her room," we closed the door and let her sleep some more. She never got out of her bed the whole time the kids were in there. She had had a rough 24 hours though...being taken away from her family, sleeping outside alone last night, playing HARD with Grady this morning outside, getting shots, getting medicine by mouth, and getting a bath. She seems happy and content though. And the kids just LOVE her.

Does Anyone Ever...

read this? :) I know that most of my posts are pictures, so I'm not starting any deep, controversial discussions or anything. But, I just wanted to see if anyone ever checks this site. So, leave me a comment if you read this. Just want to be sure it's worth keeping this site. Thanks.

Picnic and Water Park

After we went flying on Wednesday, we went by and grabbed some Bodacious bar-b-q and headed to the park for a little picnic and play. We went to the one with the water fountain part...like a mini water park. It was fun. Here are some pictures...


Joel and the kids in the water fountain area. So fun. You can't really see it, but Grady's face is VERY dirty. He let go and fell face first off the merry-go-round. We found out after he'd had a bath and a nap that his face was also bruised. Hadley is always dirty and Grady is always banged up. :)



Joel taking Grady for a run through the water. Isn't that a fun water contraption?



Hadley's turn.












All wet now...and Hadley seems to be a little chilly.















There are spickets/fountains in the ground and Joel showed the kids how to step on them. They liked it.














More stepping on the water.












Hadley in her hat. Actually, it's Grady's hat, but she was borrowing it.















Walking back to the car, Hadley was holding on tight. Notice Grady lolly-gagging in the background. Hadley had lost her hat and he picked it up for her...that's what he's carrying; that and a huge cup from lunch.












Joel started dancing around and Hadley was laughing so hard...wish you could hear laughter through pictures.














Bathtime after the fun...now it's time for a nap.

Flying with Joel

First of all, I have a new little 1st cousin...Shane Dawson Hough, born Tuesday, May 23rd at 10:08 AM, weighing 8 lbs. 2 oz. If you want to see him, go here: http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLandingSignin.jsp?Uc=tt0qv3l.18iar5e1&Uy=-on10g1&Upost_signin=Slideshow.jsp%3Fmode%3Dfromshare&Ux=0. Copy and paste into the address line and then once the page opens up, click on the "view photos without signing in" button if you don't want to sign in to see them. He's a cutie...and so are his sisters. Now, on to today's post...

Wednesday was one of the best days ever. I slept in (I'm telling you...as a night person, this is a definite advantage of having a morning person as a husband), had pancakes for breakfast, and then our little family went flying, with Joel as our pilot of course. SO FUN!! We just headed up north a bit to Lake 'O The Pines and then back to the airport. We were in the air about 45 minutes and it was great. It was the kids' first time to ever fly in a little airplane, and with Daddy as the pilot...and only my 2nd time to ever fly with Joel piloting (the first being when he was still a student and didn't even have his pilot's license yet...the instructor was with us). Anyhow, it was alot of fun. And this was only the first part of our terrific day. You'll get the scoop on the 2nd part of the day in the next post. Here are some pictures from our flight...


The kids (and the piggy) enjoying the flight.



Me and the family in the plane...this just gives you a little idea of how the whole plane looks inside...it's pretty small.









Joel at the controls.
















As we flew over this, Joel turned to me and said, "Will you marry me?" :) I didn't know it, but this was the exact spot where Joel proposed to me 5 1/2 years ago in a canoe...right there where that little inlet is.



Right after we turned around and started heading back home, I looked back and saw this. She was really trying to keep her eyes open.



Then...they were closed for good.



Then...Grady fell victim too. :) It was awesome. We'd much rather them pass out than be throwing up or screaming because their ears hurt...or be scared of it. They did great and loved it.



Me and Joel...and the kids' feet. :)



Our little growing family by the plane.

Potty, Food, and Dirt

Some pictures from last week:


Our short-lived, 2-day half-attempt at potty-training? Here is a picture from that. Isn't he cute on his little potty?














Grady helping me cook some eggs for supper. He is such a big helper. It's so cute.















Hadley in her fine jewels looking up at Joel. No, she hasn't been to Mardi Gras, but you would think it by the looks of the toy box. Our first Sunday back in Longview, we pulled up to church at the same time as my friend Nicole. She looked over at us. Hadley was still in an infant carseat/carrier at that time and Nicole said, "You know you are from Louisiana when you have Mardi Gras beads as your carseat mobile." :) It was funny. Hey, it kept her thoroughly entertained.

After supper the kids wanted some loving...both of them at the same time, usually the way it happens. Where will we put the 3rd (and 4th and 5th, etc.)? At the rate we are going, Grady will still only be 4 or 5 when we have the 5th. :) I'm sure we'll find room. :)



O.K., I absolutely cannot explain the expression on my face. I had just woken up, so I take no responsibility for the way I look. I take no responsibility for anything when I have just woken up...not exactly the chipper morning person. But, this was fabulous. If you read my post on the 17th, you know that I was brought breakfast in bed by Joel and the kids. Breakfast in bed is not such a rarity really...God gave me the most wonderful husband ever. But, "candles" (yes, those are straws...Joel couldn't find the real candles at first...I had to tell them where they were and then he brought me a pancake with the real candles :) ) in my pancakes is rare. It was fun. And yummy. And look at that cute little girl wanting some of my pancakes.
Grady's new trick...turning a flip. This was after the flip had already been turned...I could never snap the shot mid-flip.














Becky, look at that butt. :) On Saturday, we went over to some friends' house to grill for supper. It was fun. They have a little boy, Braden, who will be 2 this Saturday I think...anyhow, they decided to get under the porch and play in the dirt/sand. This was the end result...which only took about 2 seconds. :) Hadley had sat down in a wet/damp area of the yard and so her backside was REALLY getting dirty. The last of the pictures today are of our forever dirty little girl. Grady was a little dirty too, just because it was very hot that day...but, he has never just wallowed in the dirt like Hadley does. I'd swear she's part pig. :)

Ultrasound

We went for our ultrasound on Monday evening. It was stupendous. The midwife we see is about 45 minutes away. Our great friend Judy kept the kids for us and so we made it into a date. First of all, the ultrasound showed that everything is perfectly normal...you know, 2 kidneys, perfect spine, pumping heart, etc. We didn't find out too many details other than everything looked good, but we will get the full "report" from the ultrasound at our next appt. After the ultrasound, we had a great visit with the midwife. Then we went to a great Mexican restaurant that we had never been to before. Then, of course, we rushed back to our kids that we missed. :) I am usually never in pictures...or rarely in pictures. I'm usually the one taking them. But, today it's all about me. :) No, but seriously, I am in every last picture...crazy. So, here are the pictures of the ultrasound and date...


Here we are in the middle of the ultrasound. Can't really see much on the screen, but it's a cute little baby...take our word for it.









This is taken right in front of the birthing center where I see my midwife. Isn't it a pretty street?














This is our "too hot" shot. The "too hot" sign with the "too hot" Mama in front of it. That's sarcasm, by the way. And, I am poking it out a little...I look really big in the picture, but there is a poke involved.












Eating our great Mexican meal with my husband...great date. Great night...can't get much better...seeing your unborn baby move around on a TV and then going out for chips and salsa (and much more food) with your husband. :)

60th Anniversary/Graduation Pictures

My husband is now a CFI (certified flight instructor)!! WOOHOO! Yes, he finished up about 4pm this afternoon after dodging some major obstacles (like weather this morning and broken down airplanes and such). So, we are super excited to have that chapter over. Thank you for all your prayers.

Now for more pictures from the week in Saline...these are from the last 2 days there.


On the 13th, we had a 60th Anniversary celebration for Granny and Granddaddy Hough. The 24th is their actual anniversary. It was a great time and we got to see some family and friends that we hadn't seen in years. Here, Grady is nabbing some of the mints.





Granny and Granddaddy cutting their cake. I think this was their first wedding cake...they eloped to get married. In fact, Granddaddy was only 16 years old at the time...Granny had just turned 19 (yes, an older woman). Scandalous, huh? :) They both got gifts too. Their last name is Hough, pronounced like "rough" and "tough." Granddaddy was always known as "Huff," his nickname. So, he got an orange towel with "Huff" on it...there's a story behind why the towel, but I won't explain it all here. Granny got a wedding band. In these 60 years, she's worn out 2. One of those that she wore out Granddaddy had won by counting the freckles on a little boy at a jewelry store.


Granny and Granddaddy and their five children.



The 5 kids with spouses.



Tucker, Ariel, Colby, and Kiley deep in conversation.



Granny and Granddaddy with the grandkids (13 in all, but 1 wasn't there...and there's 1 on the way due any day now), grandkids by marriage (3 in all, but 1 wasn't there), and great-grandkids (4 and 1 on the way).



Hadley playing with Eli on the pew...and Grady taking a little break. :)










My brother cracks me up...all the time.
















Yep...goofy. :)
















Joel and Hadley having a good ole time...Hadley was laughing so hard playing with him.



One of the things we always do when Jared is home is go to Lakewood Inn...a really good seafood restaurant not far from us in Saline. Colby (cousin) and his girlfriend Melissa and Ariel (cousin)tagged along. Looks like they are having fun. :)



The other side of the table. For some reason, Mama and the kids didn't get in either picture. They were in the periphery that didn't get in the camera's view.








The kids saying goodbye to Uncle Jared. He is a veterinarian in the Army and they are pretty strict about how much time he can stay somewhere. So, he had to go back earlier than originally planned...but, we were glad he got to come for a little bit at least.











My cousin, Cobly Lee, graduated from Saline High School on the 14th. Here we are with Colby and our "dark-complected cousin," Shemarcus. I'm not really sure why I have raccoon eyes in this picture, but we'll just go with it.






Shemarcus and Tucker.