Campus Daughters Christmas 2008

L-R: Kelsey from TN, Melissa from WI, Darla from TN, Diana from OH, Kaylee from TN and Jess from CT

We had our campus daughters over for "Christmas Sunday Dinner" and gave them their gifts. Three of our girls were unable to attend so we missed them but enjoyed the other girls. They are in finals this week and then leave on Friday to go home for the holidays. They are a sweet bunch of girls and we wish them and their families all a VERY Merry Christmas!

Pics of our "D" Family 2008 Christmas Reunion

Here is the link to the album of pictures that Richard and I made at the Christmas Reunion on Saturday at Bill's and Darlene's home:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/ShareLanding.action?c=nhewoo3.4fhl9sl7&x=0&y=e1io2x&localeid=en_US

"D" Family Christmas Party Today~~~

We had a wonderful Christmas fellowship with our beloved "D" family today. Bill and Darlene hosted the event and made it extra-special nice for us all.

Everyone was there except for Amy and her family, and they were "providentially" hindered. We missed them but had a wonderful time with everyone else in attendance. I am uploading my pics into a Kodak Gallery so that I can share them around and will post that link here later. With a 5-hour trip there and a 5-hour trip back in one day, we are pooped (happily pooped but pooped none-the-less) and are headed to bed!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 33rd Birthday to Our Dear Daughter, Amy!

I woke up on December 1 in 1975 not even thinking that my baby would be born. Being my first pregnancy and still 2 weeks from baby's due date, I went to my regular weekly OB appointment AFTER I had mopped and waxed the kitchen floor that morning. When I got to my appointment and was checked by my doctor, he announced that I was in the early stages of labor (quite effaced!) and to go straight to Druid City Hospital for the big event. I didn't go "right to the hospital" but went back home and called Richard to let him know that we were to go to the hospital. I can't remember if he came and got me or if I drove and met him there. I think he came and got me. I do know that I got there at 4:00 and Amy was born at 6:15 ~~ just two hours later. Not bad for a first baby.

Amy has been a delight to her Daddy and me for these 33 years. She was a precious baby, a good child, a sweet teenager, and is a loving wife and mother of four today in addition to her professional role as an elementary principal. We made a lot of mistakes in our parenting through the years, but God blessed in spite of us and Amy turned out alright. We are very blessed to be her parents and are proud of our one-and-only daughter.

Happy Birthday to my lovely and dearly loved daughter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM OUR FAMILY TO YOURS...

Josh's School Program This Morning

The 4th grade band played in the chapel program at school this morning so Richard and I ran out to hear our favorite trumpeter. They are making progress. Josh is on the back row and is the 2nd boy to the left of the blond boy. Here is a video of them playing. It is of the portion of song they played called, "Childhood hymns."

HAPPY 34th BIRTHDAY TO MY 'FAVORITE' SON-IN-LAW

Brian is a treasure. Could I have had the precious privilege of picking my daughter's husband, I would have chosen him. Brian is a man of intregity: honest and hardworking, faithful to Christ and a loving and faithful husband to our daughter and daddy to our grandchildren. Tomorrow, Wednesday ~~ November 26, is Brian's big day. Happy Birthday, Son-in-Law!!!

Amy has some special birthday doings planned for tomorrow evening before church so perhaps I will have pics to post afterwards.

God Provides ~~ Answered Prayer!

Little is much when God is in it!! I decided I wanted/needed (?) a chest of drawers for our bedroom. We have a waterbed we bought for $100 twenty-two years ago and then a pretty nice entertainment center we bought new when we moved here 6 years ago. I have a lovely jewelry armoire that Richard gave me for Christmas some 10 years ago. Richard has a little chest of drawers that we bought at a garage sale here in our neighborhood a couple of years ago. SO~~~~~~nothing matches. It is quite eclectic bedroom furniture that we have. No one else ever sees it, and it works for us. When I decided we needed a new (large) chest of drawers, we had heard about a row of used furniture stores downtown. Richard removed a door from our nice entertainment center and off we went.

The first four stores we entered didn't have anything we could use and NOTHING I would have had. JUNK!!! The 5th store we entered, was the place we were looking for. A nice young man greeted us. Across the room stood MY chest of drawers. I walked right over to it and spied the ticket: $167. Richard had told me that we ought to stay in the $100 range (remember, we were looking at used furniture), so I asked the young man if he would take less. He said he would have to call his dad and ask. As he was dialing the phone, I asked him to ask his dad if he would take $100 for the chest. I figured we could dicker from there and meet about halfway.

The young man talked to his dad for a moment and in a second called across the room to us that, "My dad said you can have it for.................................. (my breath was baited!).....................$100!!!!! We paid, loaded her up, and hauled her home. It looks lovely with the entertainment center. I put all of my jewelry in boxes in the top drawer and am going to give my beautiful jewelry armoire to Amy as it will match her cherry bedroom furniture perfectly.

"Little is much when God is in it!" It is so neat to know that God heard my prayer for a used piece of furniture and answered abundantly!!

Our Family Tree Got a Little Tangled During the Sisters' Reunion

We have always known that my husband's mom was a Hobson and that my sister's husband's mom was a Hobson. Both of these moms have long since passed on, but back in the day, there was discussion of how they could be related because they both had lots of Hobson kin in the Bibb and Perry County areas of Alabama.

During our Sisters' Reunion this weekend, I got out THE HOBSONS book that Richard had bought from a man who did a lot of research on the Hobson Ancestry. I got the book out and gave it to Paul (my sister Karen's husband) to look at. He immediately spotted his GGG Grandfather who was Richard's GG Grandfather.


My baby sister, Nonie, is a genealogist and so she got interested in all of this and has spent much of today digging up a lot of information to send to us. She is sending it to Paul and Karen as well. Here is how the kinship has shaped up to be:

*My husband Richard and Karen's husband Paul are indeed related.
*Paul's mom and Richard's mom were 3rd cousins once removed. (Both are deceased.)
*Paul's mother and Richard were 4th cousins.
*Paul and Richard are 4th cousins once removed.
*Paul is not only my children's uncle because he married my sister, but he is Amy's and Chip's 5th cousin on their daddy's side of the family.
*My grandson Jaden is 6th cousins with my Karen's and Paul's sons (Steve, Doug, and Bryan) but is also their first cousin once removed on my side. (Right, Nonie?)

There is NOTHING hanky-panky about any of this, but it is a new twist in Richard's relationship with Paul who was before "just" a brother-in-law by being my sister's husband.

Are you confused???????????????? Dont' worry~~~ I am as well.

P.S. We had dear friends at our church in Tuscaloosa who are in this book, too, and so there is some kinship with them: Irene (Hobson) Hall and Katrina (Colburn) Ward. Here's the connection with Katrina: Richard's GG Grandfather William L. Hobson had 18 children, one of which was George Hobson. Katrina was George Hobson's GG Granddaughter.

Here is the connection with Irene: She is a descendant of Joseph Hobson who was a son of Samuel Hobson, Richard's GGG Grandfather.

Sisters Reunion Was a Big Success

The Reunion has come and gone. It was a jam-packed time with lots of chatter, laughter, eating, and the sharing of our memories growing up as sisters. I so much enjoyed having my sisters and their husbands here. Now, it is a sweet memory of a great time that I will forever cherish in my heart. I wrote in the article below about the arrival of Tom and Nonie and then Paul and Karen on Thursday afternoon. We had a lovely evening and knew the weather wasn't looking good at all for the Blue Angel Show we wanted to attend on Friday. There was a 60% chance of rain and severe thunderstorms as we went to bed on Thursday night. We prayed for a dry day on Friday.

On Friday morning, the forecast was the same and it was very cloudy outside. By the time we left the house at 7:00, the sky looked a little better but then it POURED RAIN on us as we drove out to NAS for the show. The sky was black and the local radio station said that a line of storms would be moving through for the next two hours. We were still praying.

We drove out of the rain and the sky brightened up. When we arrived out at NAS, the skies cleared and we had a FABULOUS day of bright sunshine, bright blue sky, and a high of 82 while we were out there. Several times during the FUN day, I worshipped God in my heart and praised Him for the beautiful weather. On more than once, my joy overflowed and the juice rain down my cheeks. (I didn't let anyone know I had those little spells of giving thanks.)

We had a fabulous day out there with the air show lasting from 9:20 until a little after 3:00. I still am rejoicing this morning for the beautiful gift of answered prayer regarding the weather!

We had a wonderful steak and/or seafood dinner out and then went to another restaurant for their famous key lime pie. That was fun. From there, we came back to our house and visited Brian, Amy, and the kids at their home before coming home and all going to bed. We were tired old folks!!!

We got up on Saturday morning and were all dressed and ready to head off to Cracker Barrel for our farewell breakfast. It was a sweet hour of fellowship which we enjoyed. We sisters hugged good-bye, we all shared hugs with our brothers-in-law and parted ways from Cracker Barrel. Paul and Karen were headed home (mid-state Alabama) to get with friends for the Alabama game this evening, Tom and Nonie were headed to Mobile and then on home to North Alabama, and we will be meeting up with Brian, Amy, and the boys to ride over to Tallahassee for Isabella's run in the Regional Cross-Country Run. We look forward to watching the BAMA game on TV tonight.

I pray my sisters and their husbands will come again for another Sisters' Reunion. My heart is cheered and encouraged by their sweet visit.

Here are a few more pics:

L-R: Nonie, Susan, and Karen at the Blue Angels Homecoming Show on Friday:



Nonie took this picture of us at the air show. We'll ID the folks backwards in this one. R-L: Tom in the hat, Richard, Susan, Karen, and Paul:



L-R: My husband Richard, Karen's husband Paul, and Nonie's husband Tom at the kitchen table on Saturday morning:



L-R: My daughter Amy with her beloved Aunt Karen and Aunt Nonie:



Nonie and Susan at our sister Sharon's grave on Thursday out at NAS: