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. :-)

Gran and Grandad Get Some Turner Time!

I love sharing through this blogsite! It is for anyone who is interested of course. But it is truly for Aunt Jenny, who cannot be here to hold Turner, to see him grow, to enjoy time with her brother and sister-in-law. Enjoy the pics Aunt Jenny! Soon, in only 50+ days, you'll be home!!! Then you can get some Turner Time too!! And we'll have some Addi and Maddox Time. We are so blessed!

On Wednesday, November 5, Kit and I drove to Apex, to Matt and Kristen's home for a visit. Well, honestly, we wanted to have some Turner Time!!! Getting to see Matt and Kristen is a bonus too! When we arrived, Matt had not gotten home from working in Roxboro, but of course Kristen and Turner were there. Turner had just awakened from a 10 minute nap, not enough sleep for the little six week old baby boy, but nevertheless, he was awake. I think that he knew when we drove into the neighborhood, so he wanted to greet us upon arrival! RIGHT! Everytime we see him, we can see how he has grown. After I held him for only a few minutes, Kit reached for him for his turn...not really giving me the time that I wanted to hold Turner. But I let him have the sweet baby boy! Of course, then Turner wasn't happy and started making his unhappy faces and sounds! Kristen fixed him a bottle so that we could feed him. He is a nursing baby, but usually gets one bottle a day from his Dad once Matt arrives home each evening. Matt also gives Turner his bath. This provides some great "father-son" time for both. Turner wasn't happy with the bottle as I tried to feed him. He played with it for a few minutes, then began to fuss. Kristen took him and he did drink some of the formula for her. Matt arrived home and we were happy to see him. I tried to feed Turner once again while Matt and Kristen took care of some house things. (They have a friend of Kristen's, Kelly, flying in to visit with them for a few days.) Turner once again played with the bottle! He then gave me the privilege of changing a poopy diaper! I didn't mind at all! Kit then took Turner for a walk outside and he settled down as long as Kit kept moving.

Turner is so alert and watches everything! It is like he doesn't

want to miss anything that is happening around him. In the

picture you can see how he holds his head back so that he

has a great view!

Those eyes are big and beautiful!!!! Very dark too.

Kit stopped walking so that I could take a picture...Turner

wasn't very happy about that!!!!

Chloe went outside with us too! But she stayed on the deck

and watched.

Turner drank from his bottle with his Mommy! She's a

great mother and he knows it! There is no one like your

own Mom and Dad!

We went to dinner at Longhorn Steakhouse and it was so

good! Kit and I rode in the backseat with Turner. He was

happy when the car was moving, but let us know of his

unhappiness when we had to stop! There was one red

light that was really a long one. Kit and I did our best to

entertain the boy, but he wasn't interested!!!

Let's get this car moving please!!!

The car started moving...Turner said "alright!"

But then....when we stopped...phases of Turner's unhappiness

during the drive to the restaurant.

What a long stoplight!!

See those cute little legs!!!

Is it Mommy's driving or Gran's flash on the camera???

Once we were in the restaurant, it was snooze time!

Turner slept throughout our meal. What a good baby boy!

He continued sleeping even after we arrived back to his

home in Apex. So sweet!

We had a great time with this precious family. Matt and

Kristen's generosity in sharing Turner just shows how

wonderful they are. Kristen said to come anytime! We are

so grateful that God has blessed us with our loving children.

We know that He is with us. Praise the Lord for His presence.