Chasten's Wedding.........

Jim and I traveled to Arcadia, LA on July 18th for the wedding of our niece, Chasten. It was a beautiful ceremony at the First Baptist Church, with the reception following at the new home of her mother and step-father. The tables were set up around the beautiful pool area. It was a clear-sky night with a light breeze blowing, which was perfect for the fantastic fireworks display down by the lake, presented by Chasten's dad, Ben.
The wedding was a perfect opportunity for all of Jim's family to get together to visit with each other and to discuss plans for the upcoming Neshoba County Fair.

On Sunday, Jim traveled back to Lumberton, Texas, while Eli and I traveled to Bankston, Alabama to be with Krisha and the girls for a week before heading to the Fair.
It was a great week! With the help of Mother, we were able to put up 18 jars of strawberry-fig preserves one day. We also carried the girls to Winfield for lunch and a little shopping with some of Krisha's friends from work.

On Friday it was off to the Fair...........Eli and I left early, followed by Krisha and the girls after they picked up Dan from work.

More on the Fair in my next post!

Life back in Texas.............

Not a lot of updates to give since I came back "home" to Texas. I was in Alabama for two months with Krisha for the birth of Aubrey and Lainey. I loved every moment of being with the girls while I was there and I miss all three of them so badly. Here are a few pictures that Krisha has sent to us:
























I really miss getting my "wake-up" call from Krisha and the girls saying "Moma D, it's time to come play with us!"


However, we have been busy since returning to Texas.
Jim was transferred from the Temple-Inland plant where he was working to their plant in DeQuincy, La., which is an approximate round-trip for him each day of about 150 miles!
We took our house off the market! We just didn't think it was the right time to sell, especially since we would only be moving about 75 miles......to a very, very small town. We do feel good about when we decide to put it back on the market, because we did get some offers, but they were not worth us moving to DeQuincy! We do want to ask everyone to say a special prayer for Jim being on the road so much and being tired. I realize a lot of people have long commutes to work everyday, but it still isn't easy.

We didn't get to have Eli's annual Ribeye Steak birthday party while Eli and I were in Alabama, so we did that since returning home:



And the picture below is of Eli while we were in Alabama, he is watching Dan mow the grass....until he sees his own reflection in the window and starts barking at himself!






Now, we are getting ready to go to Arcadia, La. this weekend for Jim's niece, Chasteen's wedding. It will be the first time all of us have been together since Jim's mother died in December. So, we are all looking forward to this very special occasion and getting to spend some time together.
THEN......the following weekend is the beginning of the one week of the year that Jim lives for! The NESHOBA COUNTY FAIR! We are all so excited that this will be Aubrey and Lainey's first Fair! Popa Jim is so excited about getting to show them off and let everyone see them.
Their great aunt Judy (Jim's sister) has already sent the girls their Fair outfits, this is Aubrey modeling hers:








For those of you not familar with the Fair, there was an article in the July issue of Southern Living, http://www.southernliving.com/travel/south-central/neshoba-county-fair-mississippi-00400000049513/ and we also have a link to their site on the right.


The light blue cabin is Jim's families cabin.

Happy Birthday to the best man in the world!

Happy Birthday to our favorite husband, dad, and Popa!

Little Angels............

The picture above is BEFORE their scheduled feeding. So, we decided to take the dresses off, feed them, and then put the dresses back on for the photo session! Below are the AFTER pictures.

Our precious, BEAUTIFUL, Lainey Ryan (above) and her precious, BEAUTIFUL sister, Aubrey Kathryn (below).

Aubrey and Lainey

Happy Birthday to Eli and Beau

Eli and Beau turn 6 years-old today! (The above picture is of our first weekend with them. The picture below is of them taking a bath when we lived in Oklahoma)

Our yearly tradition has been for Jim to cook Eli a ribeye steak on his birthday. However, since Jim is in Texas today and Eli and I are in Alabama, the celebration will have to be postponed for a couple of weeks. However, I did sing Happy Birthday to Eli this morning around 12:30 a.m. and gave him a special bone treat!

Being a Moma D............

MawMaw is holding Lainey and I am holding Aubrey. What a heartwarming moment to share with my mother!

We give God all the praise and the glory for Aubrey's homecoming! She is doing great at home and is more precious by the moment. We just can't thank everyone for all the prayers, God bless each of you!

And our beautiful Lainey. She is just a "little bit" spoiled since she got to come home first! She loves to be rocked and sung to. Her favorite song is "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." However, she and I changed the wording up s0me:

He's got the whole world in his hands, he's got the whole world in his hands,

his got the whole world in his hands. he's got the whole world in his hands.

He's got little bitty Lainey in his hands, he's got little bitty Lainey in his hands,

he's got little bitty Lainey in his hands, his got the whole world in his hands.

He's got sweet little Aubrey in his hands, he's got sweet little Aubrey in his hands,

He's got sweet little Aubrey in his hands, he's got the whole world in his hands.

Most people have told me that becoming a grandmother would cause me to "throw Krisha to the curb now" and all my love would be for the grandchildren. But, I find that so not true. I look at Krisha now and I am overflowing with love for her for giving me these two beautiful blessings from Heaven!

I have always said that Krisha is my greatest accomplishment in life, and now she is just adding to that accomplishment for me through my grandchildren!

I love you, Krisha!!!!

Making Sweet Memories..............