Shark Tooth Creek

Lindsey and Josh, along with the kids spent a week at Dauphin Island, and we met them on their way home.  The kids have been able to spend a few days with us, and boy have we had fun!  Our outings are limited due to the pandemic, but we have managed to make the most of the final days of summer. We have made lots of memories this visit with a river trip, a new zip line, pool time, and a fantastic trip to Shark Tooth Creek.  I'm going to start with our trip to Shark Tooth, and share the rest soon.

I could not recommend a trip to Shark Tooth more.  Where else can you the begin the day finding lots of shark teeth in a beautiful creek, and end up on a paddle board and a water trampoline?


They had a wonderful time at Dauphin Island.  We were actually suppose to meet them and head to Gulf Shores for a few days.  We decided to postpone our trip until later in hopes that corona will have settled down some!

Now on to Shark Tooth Creek.  Pop, Taylor and I had an awesome adventure with these guys. 

The creek is just beautiful!  Shark teeth can be found scattered throughout. We all had a ball filling our zip lock bags with many varieties of shark teeth.

John Sawyer spent the day looking for a waterfall, and luckily Lillian helped him find  a tiny one right before we left. Also, Mr. Ken really knows his stuff and engages all ages!

Mrs. Betty joined us and helped us find lots of teeth. 

Following lunch, they enjoyed zip lining (no pictures of that), and they ended the day by having a blast in the lake.

But, did the trip really even happen, if you don't get a t-shirt?  Maddie actually won hers for the biggest tooth found!

I could not recommend this trip more.  I think the kids will remember this for quite some time. Next up, the river, pool and zip lining.

When Old Becomes New

Sometimes in the world of blogging you write a post, and then move on without realizing you didn't post it.....This is one of those posts. I actually wrote this several months ago.


When old becomes new...…..Life has a way of changing quickly, and memories become so very important.  I have come to accept that while we may not always understand God's timing, His timing is always perfect.  Change is inevitable, and life truly goes on. I do not feel that material items should become something we cling to or place too much value on.  With that being said, our house is now filled with so many things that formerly belonged to those we loved so much and whose memory we cherish. Caleb said not too long ago (as he stood in my dining room door) that I sure had a lot of stuff.  I told him that the good news was that it would belong to him and Lindsey one day! I'm not sure just how excited he was! I was extremely close to my grandparents.  It is a relationship that I cherish, and that has defined me in many ways.  I am truly blessed to have so many precious memories of them and my mom. David, Di and Reed's parents also left us with so many memories!  Papa's unexpected death over a year ago has had such a profound effect on us-especially Reed.  He was his primary caregiver, best friend, and faithful son.  They shared such a special bond, and I have told Reed many times that he should always be proud of the way he cared for and supported his parents on a daily basis.  Papa's death was the end of a very special era in our life. Each room of our house now holds treasured items to remind us of these special people that have gone on before us. We are blessed to have had them in our lives, and these little reminders help keep those memories alive on a daily basis. I am only sharing a few of the things that we now consider treasures.

It would have been easy to simply sell the furniture that belonged to Papa and Grandmother, but thankfully we were able to have much of it redone, and we couldn't love it more.  Reed and I, along with Lindsey and Caleb are enjoying these pieces every day. I think they would be pleased that we chose to keep and cherish these things. We could not recommend Neely Pearson more.  She is simply wonderful to work with.  She has done other things for each of us, and we think she is just fantastic! I think we had a total of 9 of their pieces updated, and actually have more to take. 

First, some of the before pictures. We have more of these, but this will give you a good idea of where we started.

And now, the after pictures.  This bed was beautiful before, but we really love it now.  It's now in Lindsey's old room. Lillian and Maddie enjoy sleeping here!

I did not like this piece before, but love it now.  It's also in Lindsey's old room, but I use it daily. This mirror actually went with another piece pictured below, but works great with this vanity. I liked it much better than the original mirror, which we still have.

The next two pictures were actually in Di's old room.  Love them so much! 

This is now our TV stand. They are not pictured, but we also painted our coffee table and an end table. I am still working on finding matching pulls for this piece.  The holes are an odd size, and it's proving to be a challenge.

This piece is now being used by Lillian and Maddie. Pictures don't do the next two pictures justice.  Both of these pieces are gorgeous!  Reed and I actually had a set very similar to these that are going to be redone soon.

This one began in the sunroom at Caleb and Taylor's, but is now in John Sawyer's room.

This piece was not an heirloom, but I love it so.  Neely once again did an awesome job! Many, many years ago Mrs. Carolyn gave me her original china that is very similar to mine.  A few of each sets are displayed. I also have lots of my mom's and grandmother's, and I have made a promise to myself to start using it all more........I should have added a picture of my Christmas china that my mom made.  Up until last year, I used it every Christmas for about 20 years.  I was afraid I was going to damage it, so I bought a new set.

 Next are a few things that belonged to my mom and grandmother. I will add here that I have no intention of having them redone.  I like the mixture of brown and white.

This is my latest project. This was an old gun cabinet that I painted and Reed distressed.  It is now home to many of my afghans and quilts that were made by my mother and grandmother.  I also added one of Mrs. Carolyn's and one that Di gave me.  I have several more, but my sweet grandmother's quilts are so big that they took up more space than I expected.  I love that I can see these everyday, and that they are no longer in a closet.

This piece belonged to my mom, and is home to lots of goodies. It's about 200 years old.

I love that these things and many more that aren't pictured can be treasured by our children and grandchildren for years to come. Isn't it amazing how quickly time passes? I feel extremely blessed to have such special memories. I will also add that we are in the process of remodeling Papa and Grandmother's house, and will probably move there in the foreseeable future.  Lots of work has been done, but Reed still has a ways to go.  More posts on that process soon.

Sweet Summertime

Summer is just flying by!  School in one form or another is just around the corner.  We are soaking up these last few weeks, and enjoying it in spite of corona. Lindsey and her family are leaving for the beach soon, and then they will be here for a few days.  As always, we can't wait to have them!

I'm not sure anyone has enjoyed the pool more this summer than Belle.

John Sawyer has also enjoyed swimming.

Is there anything sweeter than a two year old?

I enjoyed a  visit with these angels one day this week.  I have long since lost count of how many playgrounds we have visited.  They have a new splash pad that they shared with me.  It's small, but lots of fun!  They are growing up so fast!  We now have a sixth grader, a third grader, and a first grader!

Love these sweeties! Can't wait until they get home from the beach!

John Sawyer has been doing a little farming.

And this little one has had two doctors appointments this week!  He did great at both.  He is growing and changing everyday!

The Fourth and Thirty-One

What a wonderful Fourth we had!  We enjoyed Reed's ribs and chicken, a little pool time, fireworks, and a trip to the river!  Mostly, I enjoyed having everyone here. Lindsey and Josh even managed to complete another project for us at Papa's house.  The Fourth has always been a special holiday to us, and it just seems to be getting better and better. No worries, no fuss-just lots and lots of fun!

Love this bunch very, very much!

Pop and I are very blessed!

We ventured up to the old hospital for fireworks.  Josh is convinced that this would be the perfect place for a haunted house.

Jack enjoyed his first Fourth!

The picture below is going to require a little explanation.  I have been going to the river my entire life, and this was a first for me.  This tugboat was coming down the river, and the kids were trying to get him to blow his horn, which he did.  Suddenly, he made a right turn, and headed straight for the back of our boat.  He stopped between 10-15 feet behind us........Next, the captain opened the door and tossed the kids some beads.  Then, he backed up and headed back down the river.  We went from terrified to thrilled in just a matter of seconds!  All of the kids were on the sandbar by the time he stopped!  None of us were sure what was up.  The first two pictures show just how close he got.  Lillian said she would be telling her grandkids about this one day.

Fun on the sandbar.

Lillian and Maddie are just doing great skiing.  

Airborne!

There is no tired like river tired.

A little playtime at home. John Sawyer loves when the big kids are here.

Pool time. It was hot!

Belle enjoys the pool, too!

And on another note, Happy Birthday to this special man! It is so hard to believe that he is thirty-one!  We are very proud of the son, husband and father he is.

Summer is just flying by a little too fast!