2 years

Today marks two years since our nephew and cousin Luke went to be with Jesus in heaven.

Please say an extra prayer for his parents, siblings and extended family today.

Thank you.

Rachel's 2nd year photo

I finally got 2 year old pictures taken of my little Rachel girl.  I expected her to be cooperative (as she usually is), but she was not.  In the end, between her squirming around and my lack of camera focus, I found one nice smile. 

It is in those times I really appreciate the photographers of the world. :)

Baton Rouge

My mom and I had a great time on our little trip to Baton Rouge to visit my Aunt Carol.  Of course, the absence of my Uncle Sonny was felt often, but we still had the best time we could.  As Carol said, he was always having fun, and he would still want us to have fun.  And we did.

 

I enjoyed the local fare while we were there--a catfish po'boy (AKA a sub sandwich), boiled shimp (not the first time I have had Gulf shrimp, but the first time they were served to me with their eyes and legs still attached!), crab cakes, boudain balls (fried Louisiana sausage), red beans and rice, seafood pasta . . . and I brought home a big King Cake, since it is Mardi Gras season! 

 

On Sunday, we drove to a town called New Roads to a great historic restaurant, Satterfield's.  We had a beautiful dinner on the False River, a manmade branch of the Mississippi River.  It turned into quite the road trip, as it was only 30 miles from Baton Rouge and took us several hours to find it, but the tour of rural Louisiana was beautiful so we didn't mind.

 

Now it is back to the normal routine again.  We had an extra day of "vacation" yesterday as the kids were granted another snow day! 

 

I much prefer temps in the 60's.  :)

 

 

 

A Good Day

 

Today was a day of major accomplishments in this house, thanks very much to my mom-in-law and aunt-in-law Darla.  They not only helped me clean this house, which is SPARKLING right now, but they helped me do other things out of my expertise. 

Tonight shelves, towel hooks and a new bathroom light are hung on the wall!

Darla and I spent a good part of the day tiling the entry stairs.  We decided that we could go into business--but only projects with three stairs--or less!

 

It is good to get this stuff done as I prepare to fly out of here for a few days.  It sounds like I will have to endure one more blizzard before I enjoy balmy temps for the long weekend!

 

Mining for Diamonds

 

Our boys love to watch Gold Rush on Friday nights.  If you keep up with it, you will know that some of the miners have now moved to South America and are trying for diamonds.

Well, Nathan spent most of his Saturday mining for diamonds, too. 

He had his own "wash plant" and everything.

He was pretty excited about his findings--he said he had more than the Gold Rush guys!  (Which, sadly, was probably true.)