Thanksgiving with The Staton Family

It's Saturday night, November 29, 2008. It is cold and rainy
outside. But within the Boone house, there is lots of family
warmth. We had a great evening together celebrating
Thanksgiving with our Staton side of the family. We talked,
ate delicious food, laughed, shared stories and were very
thankful that we have such a wonderful family. Thank you
Lord for blessing us so richly. Sherman, Sandy, Sherri and
Ric were here. Mamaw, Papaw and Gladys Ann were here.
Matt, Kristen and Turner were here. We missed Adam and
Melissa. We also miss Jenny, Matt, Addi and Maddox. But
we certainly thought about all of them. I'm so excited to
know that in less than 23 days, we will all be together during
the Christmas celebration of our Savior Jesus Christ's birth.

Here's little Turner arriving in his cute little outfit! He
slept a lot today and had just awakened when he entered
our home...his first visit to Gran and Grandad's house! He
has those big dark eyes, sometimes brown, sometimes blue!

Sandy, Sherman, Sherri and Ric...after dinner we all
gathered in the great room to be together.

Papaw and Mamaw took their turns holding Turner, but
he wasn't happy at all. He was so sleepy and ready to go
home! He let Grandad feed him his bottle. He let Gran
hold him and look at the lights on the Christmas tree while
others ate dinner. I didn't mind not eating! Holding Turner
was much more fun!

Mamaw looked so pretty in her royal blue outfit. She's doing
so much better, recovering from her broken shoulder.
Gladys Ann looked lovely too with her brown pantsuit and
green scarf.

Turner, his Dad (Matt) and Grandad Kit. Turner liked it
better with his Dad standing up and holding him up so he
could see better!

Turner and his Mom and Dad. What a handsome family!

Turner and his tummy troubles. He was sleepy too, even

though he took a good nap today.

Sherri, Sherman and Ric in conversation. My niece is so

precious! During dinner, she sat beside Papaw and took

care of his needs. We love our Sherri!

My beautiful Mom! Love her so much!

Gladys Ann, my favorite cousin! We are always so glad that

she can be a part of our family for all occasions. Do you see

the family resemblance of GA and my Mom? :-)

I love my Dad. I just wish he could see and was healthier.

I am grateful for his great sense of humor.

Thanksgiving Day 2008

Our Thanksgiving Day was a good day. We were missing some
family members, but we had great food to eat. The Isleys
opened up their beautiful home to our two families. We certainly
missed Marilyn, Ron, Emily, Doug and Bryson. But talking to
them on the phone was great. We know that they enjoyed
being together in Alabama, Emily's home. We also missed
Jenny, Matt, Addi and Maddox. But we celebrate that all of
us will be together in a month as we celebrate the birth of our
Savior Jesus Christ on Christmas Day!

Here is Jodie, Katie, Joel and a glimpse of Kristen. Joel made
a scrumptious pumpkin pie topped with Cool Whip! Jenny
you would have loved it. Jody cooked a terrific turkey. Katie
and the rest of us brought the rest of the food. Mmmmm!
It was all so good.

Kristen and Matt brought the entertainment...TURNER!

Here's Julie talking to Emily on the phone. Adam is in the

background. He has always been ready for the camera!

Adam is telling Jenny hello! We were so happy to have him

home for the holiday. We missed Melissa, but she was with

her family in Greensboro.

Jay, Jodie and Katie after eating a big lunch. The girls are

checking out the sales pages from the newspaper.

Kristen and Matt, relaxing, watching the game and having

conversation. Turner is on the floor with a full belly after

I fed him a bottle. Grandad played with him as he enjoyed

his freedom on the floor.

The Isleys have lots of windows in this beautiful new home.

Katie had to protect her eyes from the sun rays coming in!

Here is Grandad watching TV to get the score of the game.

Turner was enjoying his blanket on the floor.

Turner was all decked out in his shirt, corduroy pants and vest!

The socks/shoes were adorable! The socks had laces like

they were shoes. What a handsome boy!

This was Turner's first Thanksgiving! But he had a liquid

meal, no turkey this year. Maybe next year!

This boy looks so much like his Daddy did as a baby!

He enjoyed Grandad's attention!

We had a great day, although we missed the

rest of our immediate Boone Family. Our Staton

Family get-together will be Saturday night at

our house. We'll have another fine event.

Tuesday with Turner!

We are so blessed with wonderful children and grandchildren!
After visiting Cody at the farm on Tuesday-November 25, we
traveled to Apex to visit with Matt, Kristen, Chloe and TURNER!
Matt and Kristen were so generous and we had a great dinner
with them while Turner slept.

Kit was privileged to hold the sleeping Turner first.

What a precious little boy!

After dinner, I had my turn with Turner!

It feels so wonderful holding this little pumpkin!

A big yawn! He struggled to wake up!

Turner didn't hesitate to drink most of his bottle as I

fed him. Burping wasn't a problem either!!! Do I look

happy or what as I hold this little fellow!

Matt was generous in giving Kit and I his tickets for the

Winthrop vs. NC State game. We were happy to go to the

game, but I really didn't want to leave Turner. He's much

more fun than a basketball game!!! Here is a demonstration

of how comfortable Matt has become with the handling of

his son!

Turner looking stunned over his Daddy's shoulder! He has

those big eyes and they are dark. Kristen shared that they

are probably hazel at this time in that they change colors.

Here they look really big and dark.

Chloe took a break and gave up on getting all the attention

that she used to get!!!

Matt doing his "lifts" with Turner! "Whoa Dad! This is

really high!"

We did finally leave, getting to the RBC Center a little late.

The game had already begun, but being late because of

wanting more time with Turner was okay by Kit and I!

The Wolfpack handled Winthrop easily ending the game

with a victory. Thank you Matt and Kristen for dinner,

the game tickets, but most importantly, time with Turner!

Love, love, love!!!

Down on the Farm with Cody

On Tuesday evening, November 25, Kit and I went by the
farm where he works. Below you can view some pictures
of the colt born last May. Cody is six months old and has grown
so much! He has been separated from his mother, Lady,
so that the trainer can work with him. He allows Kit to get
close because Kit sees him everyday...and he feeds him! But
when I tried to get close to pet him, he wouldn't allow it. He
backed off. Addi thought that the colt should be named Max,
but that didn't happen!

He is a solid color except for one back leg that has a white
sock and he has a white streak on his head.

I kept calling Cody to get him to pose for me. Finally, he
did pay a little attention to me!

Look at those eyes! He wasn't too sure about me and the
flash from the camera!

Cody was ready for the grain that Kit gives him everyday.

Cody allowed Kit to pet him by rubbing his neck. He won't
allow you to pet his head yet. Kit brushes him everyday,
getting cocklebirs out of his mane.

Hooray Mamaw!!!

I took Mamaw for an orthopaedic doctor appointment this morning. It had been three weeks since the last visit. Mom's been going for physical therapy for two weeks. She's been very diligent in doing her exercises at home also. She has made great progress in her broken shoulder recovery since she fell eight weeks ago. It was a traumatic event and she thought that she would never heal, stop feeling the pain and return to her normal activities. But she has done very well! I'm so proud of her too. You can see that she feels much better just by looking at the smile on her face! She's regained lots of strength and her normal determination to be busy. Mom is back to knitting her baby caps for the newborns at the hospital. She has done some cooking, especially making desserts. She's washing dishes and making up her bed everyday. This morning the doctor gave her an answer to a question that she's been waiting to ask. He told her that as long as she felt like it would be safe, that she could return to driving her car. So this afternoon, she took herself to her physical therapy session! Also, this afternoon, I moved all of my things back home. I will return often to check on Mom and Dad, to do some cleaning and the laundry. Mom is forbidden to go down the basement steps ever again!!! I love my Mom!

SNOW in Greensboro!!!!

After working in Little Rock, Arkansas all week at several different
schools, helping teachers, I returned home on Thursday night,
November 20th. Kit picked me up at the airport and we got home
some time after midnight. We had heard the weather forecast of
possible snow flurries. But never expected the ground to be
covered on Friday morning when we got up! No matter how old
I get, I still get excited when it snows!

One view from our front porch.

One of our newly planted trees in the front yard.

Another front porch view and you can see that the snow

didn't stick to the sidewalk nor the driveway. Travel was

not hindered by this dusting of snow.

SNOW! Always a pretty view from our back door.

Of course, the snow here is nothing compared to many other

places...like where Jenny, Matt, Addi and Maddox live!

Fun in Boone, North Carolina!

On Saturday, November 15 Kit and I headed to the hills, to Boone
to see Adam, Melissa and those 2008 Southern Conference
Football Champions - The Appalachian State Mountaineers! First
of all, we enjoyed spending some time with Kiyah, watching Adam
lead her into doing her tricks for a treat! She's gotten so big, but what
a sweet dog!



Look at those ears! Perfect!

Love the sit, lay down, handshake, and high five! She's a
wonder dog!!!

After lunch at Our Daily Bread (Mmmmm!), we headed to the game.
The stands were full and there were people all over the hill too.
It was windy, cold, raining, freezing rain, snow flurries... you name it!
But when we first arrived at the stadium, we had blue skies and a
rainbow!!!! Beautiful!


We enjoyed meeting Melissa's parents at the game.

You can see the new addition on the west side of the stadium.
It isn't complete yet, but will be really nice when it is.

We sat on the east side and struggled to find seats. But with
the inclement weather, some people didn't stay for the
whole game. Additional seats have been added to this side
of the stadium also. With 3 National Championships, more
people want to see the Mountaineers play. Will there be a
4-peat this year? GO APPALACHIAN!!!!






Kit and Mary Ann, all bundled up trying to stay warm and dry!

Adam and Melissa, trying to stay warm too!

Go Mountaineers! Beat Elon!

And they did win the game!

The band did their thing, entertaining everyone.

The ASU Band with another great half-time show.

Welcome to the ROCK!!!!

Great view!

We were so cold and left before the end of the 3rd quarter.

We listened to the end of the game on the radio. We really

enjoyed having some time with our Boone children. :-)