James. I just discovered that my camera has the B/W feature. I cannot believe I never knew this until now! I love black and white shots. James is taking a rest and apparently telling me to be quiet.

This is a shot of me being defeated by James and Judson. They were dogpiling me on the couch.

Judson 14 months

I'm back....I think

I've been in a blogger coma since August. It's not that I didn't have things to write or even time. I don't really know how to describe why I haven't been blogging. I think that the sheer amount of upheaval in our lives (packing and moving back to MS; unpacking and trying to settle in here; getting adjusted to new places and new people, etc. etc.) led me to just function over the last few months. You know laundry, feeding of children, cleaning, day to day stuff. And nothing more.
I was dealing with a tremendous amount of raw emotion, too. <----this equals my summary of the last few months. There. I've written about it...now we can move on to the present.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and I am super excited that my brother, Jason, along with Mom and Tom are coming to our house to spend a holiday together. Thanksgivings were always a little tough while we lived in the northeast. Mainly b/c you don't have the awesome distraction of squealing, happy children opening presents to take up the void of missing family. However, past Tday celebrations have been unique in that we've been invited to share in other families festivities. It's neat to see how each family has it's own traditions and warmth.

This brings to mind Turkey Day 2004....at Gino F.'s house. Gino worked with Jason at FedEx and we became fast friends with him and with his wife, Emily. Gino's folks are off the boat from Italy and totally loved having people come over for "festivities."

Let's see...the first course started around 1pm and the last course wrapped up well after 11pm! Interesting things about this family's traditions: Each course was served on *very* nice fine china that was hand-washed between courses. Yes, hand-washed! The women washed in the kitchen while the men gathered in the living room discussing politics, God, and family. Oh, and between each course some form of alcohol was served. I see why Italians are known for being so warm and loving, lol.

At some point in the late afternoon, everyone took a walk to try and burn off some of the calories and fat we consumed. Or maybe it was just to try and settle all that food, I don't know. By the end of the night, we were part of Gino's awesome family and they were ready for us to spend the night and start again the next day! Family is big with Italians....maybe *the* most important characteristic. It was clear through all the eating and talking and laughing that children were welcome and loved and each member of the family was a cherished and important part. We had a great time with the Forgionni's and will never forget that Thanksgiving.

I haven't had the pleasure of cooking a full Tday meal since 1999, when Jason and I had only been married for 3 weeks! Yeah...that turkey was raw on the inside and I cooked every. single. possible. dish I could think of that my own mother had cooked growing up. Did I mention it was just the two of us that Thanksgiving? :) Jason dutifully ate the outer rim of the turkey....and parts of the 20 dishes I served and never once complained about any of it. That's the type of man I married.

Let's hope this year I get the turkey right and take from the Forgionni's warmth to have a memorable and warm family celebration--there is certainly much thanksgiving to offer to our God.

Random pictures

And even more beach photos

More Beach photos

A Day at the Beach

No words....just pictures.

Gone for awhile....

I had visions of blogging and blogging about our 3 week trip to MS. I suppose that's as far as I'll get, because we've been back now for over two months and it just isn't happening! For starters, our digital camera was left at whatever-the-name-is St. Louis Cardinals baseball park. Yeah. That happened the SECOND day of our trip, so unfortunately there are no pictures of all the fun we had. I opted not to check email while we were gone, so I had a huge amount to catch up on when we returned. That takes time. Then I had to get our lives back in order and all that.

Anyway, here are the cliff's notes on the MS trip:

--Flying alone (i.e. without any other adult) with four children, including a nursing baby, CAN be done.

--Just because it can be done does not mean it should ever be attempted again!

--It wasn't as hot as I thought it would be in MS, but pleasant for the entire time. Yay!

--Dori, Micah, and James absolutely loved playing with cousins Hayden, Emmy, Mason, Noah, and Mary Thomas.

--Southern dialect is *quickly* picked up by children. "Mom, can I go outSAHD?" Uh, is that my little Yankee Micah talking?

--We were able to go to a wedding, the Pink Palace, the Memphis Zoo, fossil hunting, MSU, see several sets of grandparents, and celebrate Micah's 6th Birthday with a full-on Southern style barbeque, complete with a random neighbor child riding her dirt back in the back yard. :)

--Dori, Micah, and I planted a holly bush at Dad's grave site. I'm glad they were able to see where Papa James lived and died. We also were able to visit Dorinda's grave site and tell the kids all about Jason's mama.

--Flying home alone with 4 kids, including a nursing baby is equally difficult, but further complicated when oldest son pukes during landing.....on the first flight. Kicking myself for packing everyone else a change of clothes, but not Micah. Oh well....

All in all it was a great trip and visit for our family. We were able to do so much and see so many friends and family. Well worth the stress of getting there.