Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has come and gone.  Whew! 

Last Wednesday started out a little hairy, but everything worked out.  Plus, how could I not relax once I saw the cutest little Indian ever?!

Jarrod's parents joined us this year in Arkansas since Jarrod worked over the holiday, so that meant I hosted my first Thanksgiving meal!  I was a little ambitious when it came to the turkey, but it was worth every bit of it.  My dad makes the most amazing cornbread dressing, and it has been my favorite Thanksgiving food since I was a little girl.  I remember being all dressed up for the day, sitting at my grandma's house with my dad and helping to tear up biscuits and cornbread to make the dressing.  It is my favorite, so I made it and we also had sweet potatoes, rolls, green-bean bundles (Jarrod's fave) and of course PIE!

SUCCESS!

After dinner, we had a dance party.  Ok, so Collin danced and we all giggled.  He has taken to making this silly face.  Depending on who you are, you might think he looks like Popeye or a pirate.  He scrunches his face up, closes one eye and acts silly.  Well, Thanksgiving night he was dancing while making this face and it was high-larious!

Cheese!

On Friday, Collin and I went to the Little Rock Zoo with Nonne and Papa.  A lot of animals weren't outside, but the ones who were seemed to be really frisky because of the colder weather.  A couple of monkeys were especially wound up and Collin LOVED watching and imitating them!

I couldn't get this picture right side up, but here is Collin Henry short of breaking his ankle in this thing while I ooh'd and aww'd over a gorilla and her baby!

Saturday we did the required Christmas decorating.  I was a little sad to put away my fall/Thanksgiving decor.  Like Collin, I've grown fond of turkeys.  In fact, I asked him if he wanted to get matching turkey tattoos and his response was an emphatic, "Shh-yeahhhh!"


Happy Fall, y'all!



My Dad, the Blue Hat

You may have noticed in my last post that my dad was absent.  That is because he has been on the East Coast for the last couple of weeks helping with disaster relief, post-Hurricane Sandy. 

Here is where my dad and his group have been "bunking"!

Back when I was in college, my dad got involved with Texas Baptist Men Disaster Relief, and he began volunteering with their feeding unit.  If you know my dad, you know he is the BEST cook.  And he loves to cook.  So this gig is pretty much perfect for him.

Every year, during hurricane season, he watches radar and weather patterns religiously.  When a storm hits, it's very likely that my dad and his unit will get a phone call telling them to drop everything, load up and head to where the storm caused damage.  The Texas Baptist Men have a chainsaw crew and a mud-out crew, in addition to the feeding unit.

Over the years, my dad has moved up and is now a "blue hat".  All the volunteers wear bright, yellow hats, except for those in authority.  The ones with some authority get a blue hat.  I just wish my dad didn't wear his so high on his head like some character from King of the Hill.

(I'll probably get in trouble for that one.)

Regardless, I'm very proud of him, and I'm thrilled he has something he is so passionate about.  He spends much of his time throughout the year working on recipe ideas and portion sizes.  He desires to serve people in their time of need, but he wants to do more than provide them with a bowl of beanie-weenies.  (Not that beanie-weenies aren't on the menu occasionally!)  He works very hard to make sure that a decent meal is served, while still respecting the budget and resources allocated to him.  It's a lot more effort than most people would exert in his position, and I so admire that.

CBS 11 News in Dallas, TX interviewed him before he left for New York.  You should be able to access the article and video clip here:  Texas Baptist Men Responding to Hurricane Sandy

My mom showed us the clip when we were home last weekend, and the one thing I can't stop thinking about is how my dad could have used those few minutes of air-time for anything.  He could have made it about his self, or been overly dramatic about the stress of the situation.  He could have said any number of things, but he didn't.  Every second of what you hear from him is about the Lord.  I can't quit reflecting on that.

My brothers and I, and now even Jarrod, tend to call my dad when we get ourselves in a pinch.  He is a wise man.  He gives good advice.  He also knows how the world operates.  He doesn't always know the right thing to say, and he'll be the first to admit that.  But he does know how to comfort us by providing scripture and prayer.  In fact, sometimes it can be infuriating when I call him in a tizzy and just want him to agree with me that a certain situation sucks, but he won't do it.  Instead, he'll make it into a lesson on how to walk with the Lord.  I don't always want one of those lessons when it feels like my world is crashing down around me.  I'm even guilty of thinking he wears rose-colored glasses and doesn't realize how hard it is to practice what you preach.  And then I see him on TV in the midst of travelling to a disaster.  He's packed up, leaving my mom and their home behind, leaving his business for who knows how many days/weeks and going to love on strangers.  He could say anything to this reporter, but he chooses to use the time to give glory to God and to testify about how none of it could work without "supernatural" appointment from God.

In order to practice what you preach, you have to mean it.  You have to 100%, in your heart, live and breathe what you're saying.  That's the thing about my dad.  Someone else may stick to a script of facts and figures with a reporter's microphone in their face, but my dad plugs God.  I can't quit thinking about that.



So. Much. Driving.

We are back from our whirlwind trip to Texas.  We left last Friday after work, got to my parents' house around midnight and spent all day Saturday hanging out with my mom, my youngest brother and his little girl.  Then on Sunday, we got up and headed to Abilene.  We made a quick stop to visit with our dear friends, the Wiley family, and then it was off to spend the rest of our time with Jarrod's family.

Grandmama's viewing was Sunday evening, and she looked beautiful.  She was buried in the dress she wore to our wedding.  She searched high and low for that dress and was so proud when she stumbled upon it.  She had to show it to me and get my approval before the wedding.  I told her over and over that she could wear whatever she wanted and not to worry about me.  I was not going to be that bride, but she was such a sweet woman...  She knew it was "my day", and she wanted me to love everything about it, including her dress.

Collin said she was "ah-seeping".  You can imagine that almost brought on the waterworks for everyone.

Monday afternoon was her funeral.  Afterward, we spent a little more time with Jarrod's family and then we packed up and got ready to leave town.  We made a few stops on our way out and I found myself incredibly crabby along the way.  I finally slowed down long enough to realize I was upset that we had to leave so soon.  Jarrod and I both love Abilene.  We went to college there.  We met life-long friends there.  We fell in love there.  And for Jarrod, most of his memories of Grandmama are there.  So we drove by her house on the way out of town, and we stopped for gas at the gas station down the street where she used to buy scratch-off lotto tickets.  Jarrod bought one for his self and one for his sister, Kristen.  (Ours was not a winner, and we've been tempted to scratch Kristen's!)  Jarrod even complained as we were getting onto I-20 to head back toward Dallas, "I don't even want to speed!"  I know, it's pretty sad, huh?!

We spent that night at Jarrod's mom and dad's house and had breakfast with them the next morning before getting back on the road to come back to Arkansas.  It's a 6 hour drive.  It was not fun.  Collin is facing forward now, and he spent most of the trip saying, "Mommy...mommy...........mommy....mommy!"  Here's an idea for you of what it was like:

I will gladly take any ideas from people who have suggestions for road-trip activities!  I was constantly handing Collin another snack or toy to play with, and after several hours he got tired of what was available and just whined.  He hasn't figured out how to just sit in his seat and be.  He also struggles with how to comfort his self and asked several times for his "bite", aka the paci.  I kept reminding him we didn't have one because it broke, and he would just get upset up all over again.

We arrived back in town just in time to unload Collin for the babysitter, who literally pulled up to the house right after us, so we could head over to our small group that night.  I have never done anything like that before.  I usually cannot operate without a good buffer of time to let ourselves unload the car and detox, but I think we just really wanted to milk our time in Texas!

Here are some pictures from our visit - enjoy!

Mommy/Aunt Nicki taking a picture with the babies in PawPaw's barn

Collin Henry looking at some donkeys

Mimi and Collin

Tinsley and Collin trying to skip rocks.  I love this picture.  I'm sure if we dug enough, we could find similar ones with my brothers and myself near this same spot.

Austin showing them which rocks to pick up.

Two silly gooses laughing at Jarrod.

And probably my favorite picture from the trip.  Don't they look like they're telling secrets?!



Collin throwing pennies into the hotel fountain with his Papa in Abilene.  Collin had so much fun doing this!
**Full Disclosure: Cave cannot tell Collin NO, so when he ran out of his own pennies to throw, Cave dug some more out of the fountain.  This repeated until we had to leave.  I couldn't decide, does that bring bad luck or does it cancel out some poor person's wish?!?





Thanksgiving and Losing Grandmama

In this season of Thanksgiving, today I am thankful for the opportunity to have known Grandmama and to have had her in my life for the past 7 years.  Grandmama passed away last night, and while I know that she is with her husband and her family members who have gone before her, it doesn't make it any easier.  It is going to be so hard for Jarrod not to just pick up the phone, call her and say, "What're you doing ol' bird?!"  And it's going to be so hard for me not to be there yelling things to her in the background or reminding Jarrod of stuff to tell her about Collin.

As we went to bed last night, all I could think of was how much she truly loved us.  I don't think I could ask for anything better to fall asleep to.  She was so proud of us, and she always made sure we knew it.  And she adored Collin.  She thought he was the prettiest, sweetest little boy.  She would say that we couldn't have made a better baby.  She would make us feel like we had achieved some great feat and produced the most wonderful child ever, when we know just as well that Collin is a complete blessing from the Lord.

I was reminded last night that it was almost 7 years ago to the day when I met her for the first time.  I was stranded in Abilene one Thanksgiving while in college, so Jarrod took me to meet his parents who were in town for the holiday at his Grandmama's house.  We played a game and ate on bread that Jarrod's dad is famous for in our family, and I quickly realized that Grandmama was a feisty woman who appreciated some feist in return.  It was safe to be my haughty-self around her!

We have such good memories of her, and we are surrounded by evidence of her love for us.  Last night, Jarrod was able to wrap up in a quilt she made specifically for him, knowing he could do no wrong in her eyes.  Grieving because we'll never laugh with her again, but thankful because it will be impossible not to carry her with us.