Nothing Like a Great-Grandad

It's little opportunities like lunch dates that remind me how thankful I am to have my family here in Texas with me!  I have loved getting to see my granddad on such a regular basis, but I am ecstatic that my children have gotten to know him so much better!  They just love being with Papa G.

Family in Florida

We enjoyed spending time with family over Spring Break when we traveled back to Ray C.'s hometown - Monticello, FL.  We were so excited that Aunt Ruth brought Grandma and Grandpa up from Sarasota to visit with us.

 Grandma, Aunt Ruth, and Grandpa

 Grandma and Maggie

 Peppy and Finley

 Abigail painted the tree and Heather helped the kids decorate cupcakes to make a family tree.  What a cute idea!  Papa and Peppy had cornbread muffins since they don't eat sweets!  The kids had so much fun creating the cupcakes.

Peppy with her mom, Mrs. Jewell!  We are so blessed that they are part of our Story!

Grandma and Grandpa

We were so excited to spend time with Grandma and Grandpa over our Spring Break.  These are Ray C.s grandparents.

 Look at all those kids...

 Who says you can't have fun at 90?

Ellen & Adam's Wedding

Ray C. and I traveled to Charleston, South Carolina this weekend for his cousin's wedding. It was fun getting to see the extended family.

Ellen & Adam were married on Folly Beach and had their reception in the big house behind everyone in the picture below. It was so much fun!!Everyone walking out to the beach from our house to the ceremony.

Dad & Jaunice

One of my favorite parts was the "Very Manly Flower Man" actually throwing flower petals and carrying Ellen & Adam's dog, B.B., on a leash!
I even saw porpoises behind them during the vows! Could it get more perfect?
Adam's parents, Uncle Art & Aunt Gail
They planned everything so perfectly. The paper products all matched - from invitation to program. Ellen documented every special detail in a "fact sheet" for the guests at the rehearsal dinner. For example: the dress she wore at the rehearsal dinner was made from material Adam's dad brought back from Thailand while in the service; she wore an anklet made from something special belonging to her brother was died 3 years ago; and the arch was made by her father for her brother's wedding. There were many more, but the idea is that each detail was unique to her and Adam.
The cheese, cracker, and chutney spread on the table was amazing. Each item was labeled (in the coordinating paper).
Glen and Ray C. are enjoying the honeycomb at the end of the table. We actually scraped the honey out of the comb! It was an interesting conversation piece!
I love taking pictures of Grandma & Grandpa. I think Grandpa was tired of smiling! This was a silly smile just because I told him to smile! :)

I didn't take pictures of the steamed oysters that everyone picked on their own downstairs or the amazing dinner of Barbeque Pig (the whole thing) and many other amazing foods!

Ellen is a pastry chef and told me she did not want to talk about cake at her wedding! She made a delicious layer cake of brownie, chocolate chip cookie, and cheesecake! It was great, and to top it off they served it with milk in chilled old-style milk bottles!

They also made and served truffles, lemon curd, and Vanilla Bean Panacotta. It was AMAZING! I ate WAY too much, but it was delicious!!

It was a beautiful wedding, and I think they enjoyed it!

Thanksgiving Vacation

Candace and Brock met us in St. Pete. We were friends on the island. It was so much fun to see them and to catch up with Candace. She is very special to me!!
The Hughes Crew!
Smile if you love Papa!
Yes, that is 7 children six years old and under!
We fed Flamingos at the Sarasota Jungle Gardens!
Some of us held an Alligator! We even saw a woman put a Giant Hissing
Cockroach in her mouth!! Then, she spit it back out alive - just to prove to us that they don't carry diseases and you can eat them! The real test would be to call back this week to see if she came in to work!!
Grandma is very talented musically! So, it was very special to see the children playing the piano with their great-grandmother!
I love listening to grandma play. She rocks on the Miramba!! I love it when she gives us a concert on the miramba at dad's house!!
The kids couldn't wait to see their great-aunt Ruth! We also spent time with Uncle Jim and Barb. It was so good to be with family we haven't seen in a little while, and while we were there we discussed a family reunion next year! We can't wait!
So special to be with out great-grandparents!!

Florida Orange Juice

Thanksgiving in South Florida was great! We stayed in the little house that once belonged to Ray C.'s great grandmother when she was a snow bird. Then, Ray C.'s grandparents became snow birds and wintered in this house. Now, it belongs to Aunt Ruth who comes down to visit frequently! It was so much fun to be there. The best part was opening up the back door the first morning and letting the kids each pick a fresh orange off of the tree. Then, we cut the oranges and put them through the electric juicer.

Mmmm..... There's nothing like fresh-squeezed Florida orange juice!