" OK, let's do it again!"

Happy Birthday, Pressley! I just can't believe our baby granddaughter is now 3 years old! Her big day was yesterday, April 25th. She had a really fun party at Chandler Park with lots of friends to help her celebrate. Amy had reserved a pavillion at the park, right next to the playground. All the kids enjoyed coloring pictures of the little mermaid ( the theme ), and decorating bookmarks with stickers of all kinds of "under the sea" creatures. Amy has gotten quite proficient with her decorating skills, and made this beautiful " Little Mermaid" cake for the party. Pressley was so excited about it! Smart Mommy, Huh? Blowing out the three candles!

Everyone enjoyed LOTS of pizza

After the guests left( that's the way they all do it now ), Pressley opened her gifts. She thoroughly enjoyed looking at each one, and politely thanked those of us who were still there. I don't think I've ever seen a child enjoy their birthday anymore than she did. As she finished opening the last gift, she folded her hands and said, " OK, Let's do it again! " It was so cute! I think she enjoyed being the center of attention as much or more than getting all the gifts!

Spring Soccer Fun

The weather here has been absolutely beautiful this weekend! It is still a little cool early in the morning, and in the evening. But what a delightful change from the last few weeks! We began the weekend Friday at Will's soccer game in Gainesville at 7:30PM. Before the game was over, it was about dark--but it was a good game. Will seems to really enjoy soccer and it is such good exercise for him. As you can see, Abby enjoys "cheering him on" and being her cute self.....

On Saturday morning, we went to Evan's game in Decatur. Those little guys are lots of fun to watch, too! Notice the look on Evan's face. I think he gets into soccer as much as his cousin, Will.

On the sidelines, when he's not needed in the game, he has fun with his friends.....

Pressley is telling her friend, Carrie, " When Poppy takes a picture, you're 'posed to say cheeeese!"

After the game, they always want to stick around to play on the playground next to the soccer field......

Pressley can't stand any pinestraw or mulch in her shoes, yet she loves to wear sandles. She spent most of her playtime emptying out her shoes......

When all the fun was over at the soccer field and the playground, we all went to lunch together at Toco Mac. Pressley then asked her usual question--" Poppy and GranNan, do you have seats?"

(That means "can we come to your house?") "Of course!" We love having them, so off we went to our house to have more fun!

Backtracking even more!

I couldn't let the opportunity get away without sharing some photos from our Spring Break! Because of the economy, we all had just planned to stay here in Atlanta, and do things around home. But the closer the time came, the more Beth and Amy wanted to go "somewhere" to take the kids for Spring Break. So, both of them started searching for just the right place( and one that was inexpensive). My sweet sister, Lynn, overheard the conversation and offered for us to come to their lake house at Lake Hartwell. She really seems to want the family to use it more( and I've already warned her that Ralph and I just might take her up on that when he retires!) Well, we jumped at the chance! It was going to cold, no matter where we went, and Lake Hartwell is a lot closer to get to. The kids knew there was a hot tub there, and all the movies they could hope for, so they were "on board" immediately. We had the best time! We got there Sunday evening, and came home Wednesday afternoon. The kids enjoyed eating out, going to the mall....

playing in the hot tub

going to a jumping place that had all kinds of riding toys

watching movies in the theater room

and feeding the fish down on the dock

Moms, and kids alike, enjoyed the Wii. Lynn and Tut have all kinds of games. (So, do you see why Ralph and I may be spending some time at Lake Hartwell after retirement?)

The Briarlake Easter Egg Hunt

Since today is a stay-at-home day for me( It has been pouring rain--and I am getting ready for a colonoscopy tomorrow), I thought I'd backtrack a little and share some pictures of the G-babies at the annual Briarlake Easter Egg Hunt. Will and Abby had spent the night Friday night with us, so they were able to come, too.

We all gathered in the Backlot Saturday morning and had doughnuts, juice, coffee, etc.
Then, got to watch a short film that told the true story of Easter and why we celebrate with eggs.

Pressley had been listening very intently to the story until she decided to convert her Easter basket into an Easter bonnet.





















Pressley and Bailey (our Pastor's son) were sitting together during the film, and look how well they were listening
























When the film was over, they were released, according to their ages
to go find as many eggs as they could. It was a mad dash!
Afterward, though, the little ones decided to sit and compare their loot.

It was a great time for kids, parents, and grandparents!

Evan and Bailey were also comparing

all the eggs they found.

Here's Evan and Pressley's stuff( GranNan was one of the stuffers of the eggs, so I can attest to the fact that there was lots of candy in each egg).

A good time was had by ALL!

Happy Easter!

Girl cousins

Boy cousins

And lots of loving for GranNan

Will, Abby, Pressley and Evan bring so much joy to their Poppy and GranNan!

Today was a wonderful Easter for our family! We all were able to worship at our church ( Beth and David's family went to their church ). Then, we all met at Amy and Corin's house to celebrate Easter together. My sister and her husband stayed in town this weekend and also joined us. The only sad note to the day was that my nephew, Matthew, wasn't able to be with us because he is in the hospital. He has had some problems that go back to the accident in 1991, when he had a brain injury and my sister was killed. We are so grateful the doctors at Emory have found the cause of his problem, and have put him on a medication that should correct it. God is so good--and we thank Him for many answered prayers.

After a delicious lunch, we all went to a nice, grassy area down the street from Amy and Corin's house and let the kids have an Easter Egg Hunt. They had a ball! There were also huge boulders to climb on. Perfect for four little ones under nine years old! This was their second EasterEgg Hunt. They all went to Briarlake's hunt yesterday. All four of them really loaded up on the eggs there. ( I'll try to back up tomorrow and blog about that and our Spring Break at the lake house last week ). Hope everyone had a special EASTER.

It's Official!

It's official--Ralph is retired, as of May 31st! He did it. He sent his retirement letter to Jacksonville yesterday. I don't think there was any great surprise, but he recieved a very nice letter from his immediate boss. He was very complimentary of Ralph's work, as well as the way he has touched the hearts of so many at CSX through the years. I think he is very special, but it's always nice to hear such nice things from others, too. We both have mixed emotions about his retirement, but we are both also very excited about it!

Today, we have come down to Jacksonville--our next-to-the-last CSX trip before May 31st. Here again, we have very mixed emotions. We won't have to make this trip every month--but then, we'll miss coming to this city that we have come to love so much! We still have dear friends here and enjoy coming here so much! Tonight, we had dinner at Bonefish Grill-one of our favorite restaurants. Tomorrow, Ralph will spend the day in the office here, and I will relax, read, and maybe do some shopping. ( I really have it rough, huh?) Then, tomorrow night, we will meet some friends for dinner. After Ralph has a meeting on Friday morning, we will head home.