Life of Late...

     Actually, this is just a late post about life.  :)  It's been a really long time since I've posted anything about us...  For some reason book reviews are just so much easier to write than a "home life" post.  I'll just give lots of pictures, and some explanatory remarks along with them.

     First I have to back up to October...

Daddy took Farrah, Savana and me to Kentucky to surprise Grandmother for her birthday.  She (and PaPa) were very surprised indeed when we showed up on their front doorstep at 9:30 that night.  We girls love KY, and were so excited...  We were supposed to leave at 4:30 in the morning, but couldn't sleep, so we left at 3g:30 instead.

I think Savana took over 400 pictures just on the drive up there.

We surprised a few other relatives too...

 

And played spoons...  (I usually lost, but it was fun anyway.)

And then we went to Indiana.  In some ways this was the highlight of our trip.

Our dear friends own this store.  (And no, they are not the Stephensons, they are the Joneses.)  The store is situated right next to a medium-sized brick building.  As we parked I read the sign and thought:  "Oh that's nice, they're right next to the police station.  But there probably isn't much crime around here."  Later I saw the back of the building, and realized that they are in a good position in case there is a fire, since the fire department shares the same building.  And since the town hall is in the same building, they won't have to walk very far to public meetings.

Just got to love small towns!

Their store is the most interesting shop I've ever been into.  The gift shop is similar to Cracker Barrel, but better.

It's part country store...

They have a section devoted to the history of Leavenworth, IN.

Part museum...

This is the hardware store in the basement.  I was gravely discussing the huge wooden beam above my head, and didn't know Savana was taking a picture of me...

Part hardware...

I love the funny little signs they have everywhere.

And part deli...

We love you Mrs. Jones!

Then on Sunday we went hiking.  It was so much fun, and such good exercise.  We hiked several miles, and ate a picnic supper on a bluff overlooking the Ohio river.

This was one of my favorite parts of the trail.  I have always liked climbing rocks, though I don't like heights.  How do you reconcile that?  Just climb low rocks.

Who knew Daddy was so adventuresome?  The bluff dropped down about twenty feet below him.  (I'm not sure he knew that though.)

This is where we ate supper.  I love the view behind me.

Walking beside the Ohio.

We topped the hike off by climbing an old fire tower to watch the moon rise.  This was the last dying gleam of the sunset.

Freezing in the top of the fire tower.

And the moon rose!  It was much bigger and more beautiful in real life.

Home, sweet home!  Everyone was happy to have us back (and we were happy to be back!)

Grammy came down from GA for a week.  We sure enjoyed her visit.

We went to Manatee springs with her.  Check out that blue water!

"Don't fall in, Justice!"

Grammy and Anna-Frances enjoyed the swings.

We love you Grammy!

Anna-Frances loves the animals.  None of them scare her- not even when Fannie or Blossom sniffs her face.  That would be an intimidating sight to most babies, but she just loves it.

We bought 14 hay bales to feed the animals through the winter, and they were great fun to play on for the first day or two.

Daddy and the boys built much-needed triple bunks in their room.  They provided an excellent jungle gym, while in their unfinished state.

Just for fun:  Don't you love this photo of my little cousins?

They have a new sibling...  Little Samuel Wallace.

It was fun watching the dump trucks...  Once everyone was accounted for and out of the way.

We had a clay tennis court put in, and it has already provided hours of fun.

It was fun before it was a tennis court.  (And yes, that is me up there on the right...  I still sometimes like to play in the dirt.)  :)

The Lord has blessed the business, and we were able to buy a barn.  The three men who put it up did such a good job.

Roof's on!  To get the first piece of metal up there, one of the men climbed onto one of the trusses and walked up it, carrying the metal with him.  After that piece was in place, he walked on the metal to secure the rest.

The finished product!

So that is a quick look at the main events in our lives over the last several months.  The Lord has been good to us, and blessed our lives greatly.