cousins

 Collin is 5 and a half months

 Jake 5 months

Owen 3 years 10 months

Sarah 6 years old

Anna 2 years 10 months

No doubt Nana was happy to have all of her grand-babies in one spot.

In fact no spot better than her backyard.

feeding goats

We had the pleasure of visiting with Mr. Jim and Mrs. Sheila while we were in Greenville. We wanted them to meet Collin and knew Mr. Jim might still have a few bottle babies Owen could feed. 

Mr. Jim and Mrs. Sheila have always been special people in our lives. 

David helped build the fences that house their goats.

He even "goat sat" one summer while Mr. Jim was away. David didn't have very good luck. The goats got into the mountain laurel (poisonous to goats) and he ended up digging a lot of holes...if you get my drift.

Going back even further, he spent many a night playing "war" with Bryan, Joe, and the rest of the guys in this incredible fort Mr. Jim built.

Owen loved checking out all of Mr. Jim's cool toys including this Army Jeep. 

Always enjoy our time with these special people.

afternoons and Nana and Papa's

While we were home we took advantage of letting the kids get together in the afternoons to play. This particular afternoon was St. Patrick's Day.

We were glad Uncle Brian got to stick around for a few days.

The kids love him because he is kind enough to join in their fun and games. He has a creative soul which the kids love. Here they are pretending to be a 4 headed dragon.

Owen snuck away with his daddy and Papa to spend a little time down at the pond.

He helped Papa feed fish and spot turtles.

While they were at the pond, we got to meet Alisha's baby, Blake. He was born just a few days after Jake. 

Collin- 8 weeks old, Blake- 6 weeks old, Jake- 6 weeks old

amazing how things can change in a matter of months…what miracles they are. 

Johnson family time

We were also able to enjoy some really special time with the Johnson family while we were home. 

Everyone was able to come home and be together and celebrate 2 new baby boys.

(holding Baby Jake)

These cousins are getting bigger by the day.

We even put Uncle Ben on baby duty and he did a great job rocking this little one on the front porch. 

Nothing beats a swing, a rocking chair and children playing happily outside on a Sunday afternoon. 

Uncle Brian jumped right in with the kiddos. They loved playing Mr. McGregor's garden with him. 

They were the little rabbits and he was Mr. McGregor trying to keep them out of his garden before turning them into a pot of stew!

While the big kids enjoyed the rocks and mud puddles, these baby boys were happy to enjoy some play time of their own. 

With birthdays only 2 and a half weeks apart, these boys may turn out to be big buddies.

I know Nana and Papa are so proud of their two newest grandsons. 

And Aunt Nell seemed smitten with her two newest nephews.

That is just the beginning of our week at home, more pictures to come!

sweet trip home to Alabama

The second week of March we traveled home to Alabama to visit with friends and family. We had not been to Alabama since September and had been anxiously awaiting this visit and introducing everyone to Collin. 

The first Saturday we were home, we got together with family at Gammy's house. We were so happy Riley could come up and meet Collin. Riley is the very special man we named Collin after. 

Uncle John got some snuggle time in. 

Gammy made her famous chocolate cake...

which was quickly devoured. 

Collin loved talking to his Great-Papa. Papa could really get him to talk up a storm.

And Collin got to fall in love with Gammy as we all have done. 

This time with family fills my soul up.

This swing that sits on Gammy's porch was the same swing that was on her porch as a child. Her daddy would go out and stretch his feet out in the swing each night after dinner. And there it hangs today, swinging many a generation later. 

And we can't forget this guy, he went around Gammy's yard picking various types of camellias for his mama…melt my mama heart ; )

It was a great day. 

Collin loved the snuggles and meeting the people that already love him so much.

Johnson get-together

While we were home, David's parents planned a family get-together at their house one night. It was a great time to catch up with everyone and see how the family is growing!

Here I am with David's cousin, Alisha and his sister, Julie. We are all having boys.

They are both due in February, just one month after me.

This sweet thing is too cute.

Miss Anna is two and is pretty excited about being a big sister. She loves her baby dolls and is such a good little mother. 

Ms. Peggy with two of her boys. 

We had quite the spread of goodies

and desserts. 

Then we tried to get a cousin pic.

And that was as good as it got! Just imagine how it will be next year with 5 in the picture!

Owen (3), Anna (2), Sarah (5)

Fun night hanging out with family.