Visiting Maw Maw in Edgard

From as long as I can remember until well into my twenties, my parents took us to see my mother’s parents on Christmas Day. I can still smell the turkey in the oven and see my cousin fishing in the pot of chicken stew to make sure there were enough mushrooms. It was noisy and crowded and opening presents took forever, but I’d trade my right arm to do it all again with my grandfather and aunt there.

Now that Becca, Erica and I are all married with families of our own, we have other families to include and new traditions to enjoy, but C, Olivia and I made a special trip to E-town to see my grandmother a few days after Christmas. It was a great visit and the day went by too fast.

When we were kids we got the idea one year to build a bonfire, and Paw Paw let us put it in the yard next door. To quote my cousin Jonathan, it wasn’t any taller than we were, and that was probably about 4 feet. Basically we burned a trash pile, but we were proud of it. He’s been building a bonfire ever since, and I’d say that this year’s was pretty impressive. He worked on it for three days!

 

These are some of the “yard dogs” that live outside my grandmother’s house. Olivia was so excited to stick her hand through the fence and pet them and be licked. She had a great time playing with the eight (8!!) dogs that live inside too.

My younger cousin, Jeffrey, raises pigs, and Olivia went into their pen to get a closer look at one in real life. Momma watched for a moment and then had to leave because of the smell.

Apparently, Olivia’s thumb went directly into her mouth after this photo was taken. Yum.

The fruit trees behind my aunt’s house were so full that we had to stop and pick some to take home. Maw Maw suggested that C could pick the stuff at the top of the tree that no one else can reach, so he went a step further and climbed into the tree and pulled down everything he could.

There was also lots of talking, cooking and rearranging of toddler-height knick knacks but I didn’t get any photos of that. After dinner we packed up (most of) our stuff and headed back to Alabama. Hopefully we can get back again to visit soon!

What’s Better Than a Friend?

A Cousin!

I can’t even begin to describe how much Olivia adores Aden. He has been here in Alabama visiting for most of the last month, and the two of them have been inseparable. She wakes up in the morning, and Aden is the first thing on her mind…she asks for him before she goes to bed at night. And when they see each other (even if they’ve only been apart literally 10 minutes) the squeals and laughter are almost enough to split your eardrums.

It’s been a terrific month and I can’t believe how fast it’s gone by. The only down side to having my sister and my nephew here to see every day is that they have to go home again to Canada. It is going to break my heart to see how much Olivia is going to miss Aden once he’s gone home.

Putting on My Face

You know, at 22 months old, Olivia has hit the age where she imitates everything that her daddy and I do. She repeats things we say and wants to do the things she sees us do. We are often surprised by just how well she is able to emulate us – such a little sponge!

Which is why when I share this photo with you, I want to ask you all a favor: if this is what I look like after I put on MY make up, somebody please have mercy on me and say something.

I love this child.