Crushed Glasses, Cracker Barrel, Camping Paradise, Celebrations, Church and Crashing

Well, this weekend has been a whirlwind, or so it seems. Friday evening we were getting ready to leave to go and stay at my grandparents house (they were not going to be home, but had offered their home to us to stay over night), DaNae was changing her clothes, had laid her glasses on her bed, and Jeffrey went in her room, and began bouncing on her bed, and did not know that her glasses were there. She came out of her room crying that Jeffrey had broken her glasses, and the picture below is just about the way they looked, only difference was that the lens was not broken. I rushed to the dr's office where we purchased them, but of course they were closed, so I ran to Wal-mart, and they had a pair of frames that the lenses would fit into. So we purchased the new frames, and now she is back in business. After we ate pizza, we left for southern Indiana, and arrived at my grandparent's place around 10 p.m.

Saturday morning, we met my dad's younger brother, Larry and his wife Sharon at Cracker Barrel for breakfast. We had a wonderful time, and it was great to be with them again. We really don't live that far apart, but it seems that we just don't get to see them very often. This is Larry and Sharon Hudson.

Here is the picture of the other side of the table, my little family.

After breakfast, we headed further south to Clarksville, Indiana and stopped at the Bass Pro Shop there. We had never been there, but had heard wonderful things about it. We really didn't need anything, we just stopped to take in the "scenery", and boy was it something. They had a stream running through the place with real fish in it, and hundreds of stuffed game all over the store. It was quite the experience. We spent close to two hours there, and could have stayed much longer. Here is a picture of the entrance.

1 I wanted to get Jeffrey's picture opening the door. He looked so little compared to the door. It was all he could do to get it open.

Just a picture of some of the wildlife inside.

I thought this was really neat, the two buck fighting.

This bear was quite large.

After a couple of hours there, we headed a little further south to Louisville, Ky, for a 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration for my aunt and uncle. We don't get to see them very often either, so it was great to be with them. I have two cousins, their daughters, that I haven't seen since my grandfather died five and a half years ago, so it was real nice to see them, and be with them again. Here is the "golden" couple: Paul and Geneva Hairston.

Fifty years ago the eloped. He was living in Florida, and she boarded a bus, and went and met him, and they got married. He had never given her an engagement ring, so for their 50th, he gave her an "engagement" ring. She was so surprised, she told me later that she had no idea.

Here is a picture of them with their two girls. On the left is Pamela Hinson. Her and her husband are officers in the Salvation Army, and on the right, Angela Hairston who is a respiratory therapist.

My grandmother was there as well, and I wanted to get a picture of her with all of my children. I don't know how much longer I'll have the opportunity to have their picture taken with her. She is a godly saint, and I love her dearly. Her name is Ruth Brown. (As you can see, Makayla was really "hammin' it up".)

After the reception, my aunt and uncle invited everyone to dinner, and then to visit their new home that they just recently had built. We did go to dinner and visited with them in their new home, and then headed home. We arrived home later than we had planned, but it was worth it, and we were so glad that we went.

Then this morning, it was good to be back in our home church again. We had been away for the two previous Sundays because of camp. Of course we enjoyed being at camp, but there's no place like home, and especially if it has air conditioning :) (After the heat at camp, the A/C was a welcome relief.) Had some friends over after church, and DaNae has a friend spending the night, so it's been a busy weekend, but a good one. It was great to be with family and friends and to be reminded as I was yesterday by one of the guests at my aunt and uncle's reception (she asked me how many children I have, and I told her 4). She said: "You are rich". I responded, "Yes, I am, very, very rich." Thank you, Lord for your richness in my life.

Needless to say, I am ready to "crash", ready to hit it for the week that lies ahead. It promises to be a busy one. I think that every night this next week is already full and school starts on Friday.

(This picture was taken of Jonathan on the way home from IHC this year, but I thought that it was pretty appropriate for the way I feel about now. I think I could sleep in just about any position.) Thanks for stopping by, and be sure to let me know you were here (all you lurkers).