In Search of Summer

I always say that as soon as Christmas is over, I'm ready for May.  I do not like winter--I'm always cold.  I get anxious for projects that revolve around warmer days; things I want to do outside and things I want to accomplish on the inside.  Collin and I also start thinking about summer trips we'd like to make in our RV and where we can enjoy peace and quiet in the great outdoors.  We've started thinking and looking.

Last Saturday, we hooked up and headed to the dealership in Memphis to drop off the RV for a spring maintenance checkup.  We had a few things that needed to be checked out and updated.  When Memorial Day arrives, we want to be ready to hit the open road.  After dropping it off, Collin and I drove a little further to Southhaven to shop in a couple of stores.  Mid afternoon we decided it was time to eat and here we are at Red Lobster.  We had a fun day; it was great to get out and have a change of scenery without any rush.

This weekend, we hit the open road again.  We're in search of summer time adventure and other great parks in the state where we might be able to camp this summer. Bryan went with us since he didn't have plans for the day.  We stopped mid-morning at Bald Knob.  We heard the Bull Dog had a great shake.  Collin tried it out and said his source was right while Bryan and I got a snack as well.

We traveled to Greenbriar and found the Woolly Hollow State Park.  It is pretty nice.

We traveled on on Petit Jean State Park as well.  We know it will be beautiful this summer as we explored a bit on the mountain.  Mid-afternoon, we had dinner at the Mather Lodge within the park.

 Our food was delicious and the view was magnificent.  We decided it had been a great day, but we had better head back home. The weekend was great.

Marcia

Christmas Recap and More

It has been a wonderful Christmas celebration time and a pleasant vacation from school. While the temps are really low, it looks as though tomorrow will dawn as a school day. With the exception of snow days, it will be 11 weeks until Spring Break. I look forward with anticipation to the "Spring" part. After Christmas is over, I'm ready for May and warmer temperatures. It has been a busy two weeks. When school dismissed for the holidays, I still had some shopping to do, groceries to buy, and some entertaining plans to organize. All packages were wrapped by Christmas Eve.

On Sunday, we began officially celebrating by having lunch with my mom and dad. Our children from NOLA joined us and we enjoyed a great time.

On Monday evening, we were invited to enjoy dinner with the Putman family.

Tuesday morning, we had Christmas Eve brunch for my family and invited the Putman family to join us. It's a pleasant time to enjoy family and create memories minus the excitement of opening the gifts saved for Christmas day.

We started Christmas day about 11 having lunch with my mom and dad.

After sharing gifts, we made a afternoon trip home for Ben to get a nap. Once he was awake, we went to share the afternoon with Collin's mom and dad for a while.

Getting back to our house, we got comfortable and opened our gifts. It was a great day.

Our kiddos left for NOLA Saturday morning. I had several errands and left behind them. In the afternoon, Colln and I attended a wedding, but upon arriving home, we decided to take down the tree and decorations. It was time to take down, clean up, and put away. This led to a week long adventure of cleaning our storage, shop, and house. We have stacked items for a rummage sale, but have also cleaned out and thrown away. It is amazing how things accumulate. I've also had some time to ponder, evaluate, and consider goals for the new year. We have been blessed this last year and we are thankful. We are rich with family and friends.

 Happy New Year