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| The Week With Mama Ree |
| The week before Christmas Stephen and Holly went up to Nashville to be with Mama Ree
(Holly's mom). They left on Monday because there was to be 1 to 2 inches of snow on
Tuesday - How exciting. They couldn't wait to get there and play in the snow.
But, alas, there was no 1 to 2 inches. We saw a few flakes but nothing to
write home about. So why are we writing it here? I guess to fill space.
Two of my brothers (Woody and Jonathan) were there when we arrived. We were going to leave Thursday after my third brother (Michael) arrived but he was arriving too late for us to leave. We decided to stay an extra day. It is very rare for all of my mom's children to be together at one time. It was nice to see everyone. We spent a lot of time playing games, shopping, cooking and eating. Thursday night we exchanged gifts (from them to us and from us to them). We woke up early Friday morning, packed and came on home. |
| Christmas Weekend |
| Friday, after Stephen and I returned home, we spent time together as a family.
We cleaned house. I wanted the house to be clean for Christmas. The only
nap Stephen got was the one he got in the car on the way home from Nashville. We
did this on purpose so he would go to sleep early that night. We
wanted Santa to come early. What fun Santa had putting out Stephen's toys,
putting them together, trying to make sure he had them all displayed. For some reason (I guess the instincts start early) Stephen woke up at 6:30 on Christmas morning (normally he wakes up at 7:30). We were already up because we wanted to get things ready (get the tree lights on and the fire going). Daddy did all this and I waited for Stephen - just in case he heard Daddy and woke up early. I'm glad I did. Daddy got the video camera ready and told us to head on in. Stephen's first words were "How Neat!" We've never heard him say that before! He got a desk, baseball stuff, car stuff, books, puzzles, toys and more, I'm sure. And that was just from Santa. From others he received more baseball stuff, clothes, Leggos, a sleeping bag and overnight suitcase, puzzles, books, and much more. The rest of the day was spent leisurely. We played outside with Stephen's baseball stuff - a lot! I have to say this was one of the nicest Christmas I've ever had. I really enjoy just spending Christmas with my family. Thankfully, they're not picky, either. We had Kielbasa, rice and I think green peas for dinner. We didn't have any pumpkin or pecan pie but we didn't miss it. Sunday we went to church and then spent time at home playing some more. That evening Uncle Phillip (Mitchel's college roommate) came in. Monday we were headed to Granny and Pee Paw's for Daddy and Uncle Phillip to hunt! |
| Granny and Pee Paw's |
| We arrived at Granny and Pee Paw's on Monday. Daddy
and Uncle Phillip immediately went down to the camp
and were later joined by Mr. Doug. On Tuesday we visited Nana
and spent some time with her. We shopped in Thomasville, returned a few
things, exchanged some things - usual after Christmas stuff. That night
Stephen went down to the oat patch with Pee Paw Tuesday night Stephen went down to the oat patch house with Pee Paw again and Pee Paw shot at one! They came back and I went with Pee Paw to look for it but we couldn't find anything! We drove down to the camphouse where all the boys were (more had joined the crew). We saw 2 deer on a 4-wheeler and was told of one other one still in the woods. This was shot by Doug Scott. I went after the third deer with Mitchel and Doug. We found her and went back to Granny and Pee Paw's. Then we got a crew together to go look for Pee Paw's deer. Pee Paw found the blood trail and then it was lost. Eric Huggins finally picked it back up and led Mitchel to the deer. So all in all there were 4 deer slain that night. The next day Mitchel killed a deer. So the total number of deer killed that week was 5. I'm thankful only one was ours! Wednesday night Doug came back down with his two boys. We met them at Ezell's fishcamp and enjoyed Ezell's fine fare. After eating we went to the camphouse. I went to the camphouse with them and left Stephen with Granny and Pee Paw - the first time I spent the night away from him :-(. Actually we had a good time. The best time was had by Eric and Kyle, Doug's sons. They got to "camp out" and shoot guns. We had a great time roasting marshmallows and hot dogs. Thursday morning Phillip had to go back to Huntsville. Mitchel brought Phillip and me out that morning and went back to the camphouse to spend the day with Doug and the boys. He came out that evening and, oh joy, we spent that evening carving fat off of the deer and then cutting it into what we needed and then beating it flat. Now all we have to do is thaw it and cook it. Friday morning we left for home. We made it back in time for lunch and I think we're going to stick around here for a little while. In the immortal words of Dorothy - "There's no place like home." |
| Happy New Year! |
| We saw in the new century at our church. They had
a party with fun and games and food and fireworks. We planned on
going when it started (8:00 PM) and leaving around 10:30. We were
having such a good time we stayed until about 12:30. We brought
Stephen's sleeping bag so we could get him to sleep and lay
him in it but, alas, he wouldn't settle down and go to sleep. At 11:30 there
was a short sermon, we picked Stephen up from the nursery and
went outside for fireworks. As we were walking outside someone was
handing out bubbles. We were blowing a lot of bubbles when the
fireworks started. Stephen was scared and wanted to go inside -
for a second. Then he got excited and wouldn't go inside.
We had a good time - and we did it without alcohol! It still amazes me that we are in the new century. When I read about the "turning of the century" from the 1800s to 1900s I think about what an interesting time that must have been. Well, in 75 years when my great grandchildren are learning about the turn of the century they will think how exciting it must have been - and how strange to live without all the "creature comforts" they're accustomed to. What will those be? Will our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren not be able to believe that we grew up without certain things? Just a little food for thought. Our prayers for your family are that you have a prosperous year, a year of growth spiritually, a year of fulfillment personally. May you achieve your dreams and goals in the year 2000. We love you. |
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