The Rest of the Athens Trip

When Mom, Dad and Ryan left, things got serious on the Hill. Wannie, Kelly and I got into furious sewing mode, trying to accomplish all the projects we wanted to get done. Ok, maybe Wannie got into furious sewing mode while Kelly and I watched, ironed and cut. We did learn how to make a few things and had a few things made for us while we learned. Poppa, Jack & Abbott kept each other company by playing airplane, trucks, tractors and going outside. We hated to leave, as usual, but had an eventful ride home with 2 boys who definitely didn't want to be in the car. We gave up in Memphis and spent the night and I've never seen Jack & Abbott happier than when they got in the hotel room. We made it to Nashville with just enough time to drop off Kelly & Abbott and head to the airport to pick up my friend Jennifer. We spent Saturday night at "Chateau Pruitt" (AKA- Tim & Janet's) and headed to Knoxville this afternoon. Here are the pictures of the rest of our Athens trip and the ride home. I'll post pictures from Jennifer's arrival tomorrow.
Our sewing setup.

Abbott had fun in the pool. Jack didn't enjoy getting wet. I'm not sure what's wrong with that boy.

Jack got a new puzzle and he and Poppa put it together.

Jack's showing off his John Deere shorts that Wannie made him.

Kelly's new dress. I'm going to brag on Wannie even though she thinks she did a horrible job. She made this dress with no pattern. Kelly had one like and wanted more so Wannie studied the dress and cut out her own pattern and made this one. She did an amazing job and it looks great!

Kelly and I got new aprons and learned how to make them. Here, Kelly is showing off her apron as she happily prepares dinner.

I am do tired after a long day in the kitchen.

On our way out of town, we stopped at the visitor's center to find a cookbook for Janet and ended up finding the boys some really cool Athens, Texas hats. We walked over to the square and took their pictures. Jack is standing in front of the word "Happiest". It seems that Henderson County has the happiest people in Texas. I'd have to agree, because we are very happy when we're there!

Here they are at the courthouse steps.

We took a scenic route out of Texas and found this "oyo tiny" prayer chapel.

"On the Road Again..."

We made it to Atlanta... Texas and had to take a break. We found the city park and let the boys play for awhile.

We made it to Memphis and had a nice view out of our hotel window.

They didn't get asleep that night in the hotel so they both conked out in the car Saturday morning.

We made a potty stop in Jackson, TN and found the Casey Jones railroad museum. We didn't tour it but could see it through the fence.

I think we'll have to stop here again and tour the train. They both seemed to think it was pretty cool.

We're still going non-stop but having a blast! I don't know what we'll do when we slow down!

Baby Shower & Memorial Day

Normally, this time of year on the hill, you can expect the temperatures to already be hot. You want to spend your outside time early in the day and late at night. This weekend was an exception, however, with pleasant weather all day long. It got hot, but not unbearable and we were able to enjoy a lot of time outside. We had a wonderful baby shower on Sunday and got to see lots of family we don't usually get to see. Rebekah got lots of great gifts and she should be on her way to getting ready for baby Zoe. We missed out on the girl cousins, Caroline and Sydney, but the boys, Landon, Bryce, Jack & Abbott sure did have a great time together. We spent Monday just spending time outdoors and visiting with family. It was a great day.

Here's Rebekah with her cake and food table.

Here's Rebekah with the hostesses.

Rebekah & her mom, my Aunt Lissa.

Abbott is talking on his cell phone while driving. Not a good habit to have, but he's an excellent driver.

Jack wasn't a fan of the jeep actually going full force so Landon agreed to push him. It didn't last very long, the jeep was kinda hard to push.

Abbott was getting bored with just riding.

He really wanted to be the driver.

Jack's taking a picture of Poppa.

Today they played in the water. Landon & Bryce had a fun time getting wet while Jack chose to play from the sidelines. He did get in the pool but didn't want to splash around like they did. Abbott got in later, but Jack was asleep. Popo took some good pictures while I was letting Jack nap so maybe he'll blog those (hint, hint).

Landon trying to get Bryce with the ball.

"Hey, did you see what he did?"

Landon & Bryce splashed too much to be in the same pool as Jack so they got their own! It was so fun to watch them play together!

Life Is A Highway

At least that's what it felt like Friday and Saturday. Jack and I drove over to Nashville on Friday afternoon to pick up Kelly, Ryan and Abbott to head to Texas. We left Nashville about 4 pm with our final destination being Texarkana. We'd used Hotwire to book a room so we had to make it there or we'd lose our money. We should have arrived at 11:30 pm. We didn't make it until 2 am. Our first mistake was deciding to stop at Olive Garden and eat dinner. That set us back an hour and a half. We were doing ok until we got about 50 miles outside of Little Rock and came to a stand still for 45 minutes on I-40. We debated begging the hotel to change our reservation to Little Rock but decided driving time with sleeping boys was better than driving time with awake boys who didn't want to be in the car so we made it to Texarkana. We left Saturday morning at 8 am and drove to Dallas. We had lunch with our great Aunt Treville and then went to visit one of our best friends Jeremy and his family. Jeremy used to live down the street from us in Amarillo and we pretty much grew up together. We hadn't seen each other in 2 1/2 years so it was definitely time. It was so nice to see him and his wife, Jenny Lynn and their kids Peter, Isabelle, Daniel and Luci. Jack & Abbott had fun playing with them. We then headed onto Athens and arrived about 5 pm. It was a long 2 days and looking back it wasn't too bad. The boys did pretty good traveling and the adults were silly enough to make the time pass. Today we're celebrating our cousin Rebekah and her baby, who will arrive in August, with a baby shower on the hill. Here are a few pictures from our traveling days.

Ryan needed the peace monkey to help him drive.

Jack needed the peace monkey to help him stay sane.

Jack & Isabelle playing with the train set. Jack loved this train, more than he loves his remote control one at home.

Peter & Isabelle being silly.

Here's our group. Back row: Jenny Lynn, Luci, Jeremy, Me, Kelly & Ryan. Front Row: Daniel, Isabelle, Peter, Jack & Abbott.

Abbott having fun on the swing and slide.

Daniel helping Luci swing and patiently waiting for his turn.

Swinging with Isabelle.

Dads playing soccer with babies. I think this should be a new sport.

Swinging with Abbott.

Isabelle loved to be right near Abbott. She would hold his hands and help him walk around.

Jack & Uncle Jeremy.

Three tired boys.

2 crazy girls. Don't worry, we were sitting in traffic.

You Are My Sunshine

It is obvious Jack got his wonderful singing abilities from his Mommy!

Water Fun & Goats

Today was water fun day at Jack's school. I arrived a little early to pick him up so I stayed and took some pictures. He had so much fun!

Jack & all his friends at the water table.

Pouring water in the "spin thing" as Jack informed me.

Helping his friends paint the fence.

Silly boy!

Playing with a friend in the soapy water.

His teacher, Ms. Kelli, is helping his squirt paint onto paper.

The water hose was hanging over the fence and was a popular place to hang out.

We have some friends, Chris and Holly, who live on a farm and invited us to bring Jack out to see the cows and goats. We went out tonight and it's such a neat place. It's been in the family for over 200 years and Holly said that there's a dirt road that runs through the property and there are huge trees that form a tunnel over the road. She said she's heard that when Andrew Johnson was president he would travel that road to get to the White House. There were some really cool things on the farm, and I'm sure some even cooler stories to be told.

The goats.

Jack & the John Deere. Jarred told him to "come stand by this big wheel and let Mommy take your picture." and pointed to the front wheel. He said, "No, daddy, this is a big wheel." and pointed to the back wheel.

Driving the John Deere.

Jack & Emma the goat.

Sitting in the big wheel.

This was cool old Chrysler Windsor just rusting away, waiting to be restored. It may be beyond that but it was still really cool.

Jack loves being on farms! He had fun here and he has fun on the farm in Texas!