RETIRED LIFE WITH JIM and JUDY

Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T13:22:00.000-08:00

We had such a great Christmas this year that I don't know where to start. I guess first of all Jimmy built me a platform to display my Christmas Village this year and it turned out so nice. I think I can tell the story best thru pictures..you know a picture is worth a thousand words...so please enjoy the pictures of our family's Christmas.

First the grand kids were at the house the day before Christmas Eve and the lunch they are eating was probably the last healthy food they had for the next two day.
The boys were happy with the iPhone and iPod Touch. They would play for a long time just sitting in the chair together.

Sara liked the train around the tree. She would run it until it came off the track, then Grandpa had to put it back on for her.

Even Sean and Sara's Elf followed them from Alpharetta to see if they were good..but you can't touch him.

Sean wanted to keep an eye on Santa's progress toward Georgia on TV...Yes, we watched Santa in HD...isn't technology great!!

Doesn't Sara look so sweet? So why does Grandpa call her "My little SF (Special Forces) girl"...

...because she eats snakes and lizards! Sara was not afraid of any of the things the boys were at that age, not even the singing Christmas Tree that scared both boys until they were 3 or 4.

Kim and Dawn comparing hip height...you had to be there to understand.

Food...need I say more?

My sons-in-law...and we could not have ask for two better men to take care of our girls.

Crystal and Matt getting ready to eat.

Everyone getting food

Then to open presents...looks organized right now, doesn't it?

Then chaos..

...More Chaos...

...and MORE CHAOS!

...and THE FIRST ANNUAL SWORD FIGHT...

...until sweet Sara came in with the garbage can so we could clean up and...WE LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.

A Day with Sean & Sara

2010-10-19T09:32:00.000-07:00

Jim and I left early Saturday morning to drive to Alpharetta, Georgia to watch Sean and Sara while Dawn and David went to the Georgia Tech Football Game that afternoon. We were lucky to arrive on a day that Sean had a T-ball game. I love to watch the little kids play. Sean is only four, will be five in February, and is one of the youngest kids playing, but he played like a champ.

Sean (before): getting ready to hit the ball of the "T".

Sean (after): consider the ball hit and out of here.

Sean running to second base (notice both feet are off the ground).

Sean running to third base (starting to look happy).

Sean is happy with his successful run home.

Yes, all the grandparents showed up to watch Sean play.

Dawn and Grandpa think Sara needs a drink and a hot dog...and she ate the whole hot dog.

After the game we took the kids back home and Sara was ready for her nap. She slept 2 1/2 hours. Naps are one of the perks of being 15 months old.

After nap Sara wanted a snack of strawberries. Of course she got it.

Sean wanted to go to McDonalds for dinner...and we took them. This McDonalds also has a playground for the kids (surprise, surprise). Sean was a pro at climbing and sliding but Sara was not really old enough to go by herself...so, of course, Grandpa went with her. (This is why Grandparents should not actually raise children)

...but look at how happy Sara was...I think she knew this was "forbidden play"...which makes it all the more fun. Sean told us that "grownups are not really allowed" and later Jimmy's back told him that Sean was right.

But, all's well that ends well, and after a long day Grandpa and Sara are ready for bed.

Iron Man 70.3 Augusta, GA

2010-09-27T08:44:00.000-07:00

We spent the day Sunday watching our nephew, Jason Wyatt, prepare for and complete the Iron Man 70.3. It is really a big deal to complete this race and Augusta can be proud of the good job done putting on this race. The Iron Man 70.3 includes a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride, and a 13.1 mile run.

We arrived at the 5th Street Marina at about 5:30am and many participants were already there preparing for the swim. Jason was in the 24 and under men's group; they were labeled the "Young Guns" as they were called to get into the water to swim.

Racing Fact that I did not know: all participants have their number written on their left arm and their age written on their left calf.

Getting into the wet suit is not easy. They have to spread deodorant on their arms and legs to allow the suit to slip over their skin and to make it easier to take off after the swim before getting on their bike.

Suited up and ready to swim. His girlfriend, Milissa, is great for moral support. She runs in triathlons herself and has come in first in at least two.

You can't pick out individaul swimmers but this is Jason's 'wave' in the Savannah River.

After Jason finished the 1.2 mile swim, which he completed in 30 minutes/22 seconds, he got on his bike and rode 56 miles in South Carolina. He completed the bike ride in 2 hours/35 minutes/40 seconds. No pictures of the bike ride cause we could not follow him.

As if that was not enough, then he had to run 13.1 miles, which he did in 1 hour, 51 minutes, 38 seconds. We all were so proud of this young man.

Jason was really, really tired and his feet and legs were very painful at the end of the race. I tried to get him to go over to the massage tent to have his tight muscles worked on but he just did not want to walk that far and just wanted to sit.

Jason completed the Iron Man 70.3 in a total of 5 hours, 3 minutes, 21 seconds, which made him #505 out of about 3,200 racers. That is an amazing finish for the first time competing in an Iron Man race!!

Jason found enough energy to smile for his proud mother even at the end of the race.

1st Annual Girls Weekend-Savannah, GA

2010-09-20T11:12:00.000-07:00

We had our First Annual Girls Weekend in Savannah, Georgia this past weekend. We plan to take a weekend trip with the "girls" every year. The girls" (and I use the word loosely) are myself, Kim, Dawn, Crystal, and Sara; my two daughters and two granddaughters.

We stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn right in Historic Savannah. It was a great location and the hotel was very accommodating. We had to Valet our car because of the lack of parking in "Historic Savannah". The young man who took care of the car also told us he would bring up all our luggage, so we went up to our rooms to wait for the luggage. When he arrived it was evident that we had a lot of stuff, because traveling with a 14 month old requires a lot of stuff. He was so polite and ask, "How long are you ladies planning to stay with us?". We told him just two nights and explained that we are on a "Girls Weekend" and we left the "boys" at home. Then he said, "...yet you brought all their luggage." It was really funny but you probably had to be there.

We then got ready and took a walk on River Street. It was beautiful and the shops were so nice. We seem to spend an inordinate amount of time in the candy shops, but you can see why from the pictures below.

Candied Apples

Pralines

We did see a rug that was shaped like a dog...

...only to find out it really was a dog.

Sara made quick friends with the dog.

We shopped for a while...

Crystal and Kim 'looking'.

...then had dinner at Spanky's.

Spanky's had the best chicken fingers I ever ate. Really great! By the time we finished with River Street it was time for Sara and Grandma to hit the sack.

The next day's goal was to eat at Paula Deen's "The Lady and Sons" for dinner.

OK, let me tell you there is a process to obtain this goal. First you have to make reservations, which can only be done at 9:30am each morning outside the restaurant.

Of course, we were not the only people in Savannah that had that idea. The line was already around the corner when we arrived.

We stuck Kim in line and walked around to take pictures. The line really moved fast so it was not as bad as it looks.

We got seats at the 5:00pm dinner buffet and were told to arrive at 4:45pm and stand across the street from the restaurant and someone would come out and call your name. When your name was called you could go in to eat.

When our name was called we were directed to the third floor. We were seated and got our food and I have to say the food was all GREAT!! If you like home cooking you will love this food. Everything was seasoned perfect and the sweet iced tea was great. You can see by the pictures we did not diet this night.

...except Sara who wanted no part of anything after she tasted the Ho Cake (corn bread). If it was not a Ho Cake she did not want it.

During the day we all took a tour of Historic Savannah.

The best part was after the tour guide pointed out the place where the movie, "Forest Gump" was shot, she said, "Who is that!" and an actor that looked exactly like Forest Gump came running alongside the trolley and got on. 'Forest' said he needed a ride to met Lt. Dan and when he got off he started running down the street again. Very cute!

We had a great weekend and plan to have another "Girls Weekend" again next year.

...so a toast to us "Girls" until next year!

Happy Birthday Sara!

2010-07-11T13:54:00.000-07:00

Friday Jim and I drove to Alpharetta to help Dawn prepare for Sara's first Birthday party. On Friday Dawn and I pulled things together and completed the cakes for Sara's party. The theme was a "Ladybug Picnic" so we made Ladybug cakes. This was the first time we had tried to use "Fondant" to ice cakes and it worked out very well. It was not as hard as I thought it would be to work with the Fondant. Jimmy "bonded" with Sara that day as he kept her busy while we worked on the cakes. She became quite a "Grandpa's girl".

This is the Ladybug cake we made. We fixed one cake for everyone and a separate cake for Sara, as well as some cupcakes.

Big brother, Sean, also wished Sara a Happy Birthday.

Here is Mommy and Sara. No matter who is around Mommy is always Sara's favorite person by far.

Here are Dawn, Sara, Kim and Caleb. What a happy group.

This is Sara playing with her new toys. No need to take them out of the box.

Pictures taken during the Skydive

2010-06-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

In the plane before the jump. My "guy" Frank is siting behind me.

Going out the door. Too late to change your mind at this point. Remember that Leslie is hanging onto the outside of the airplane to get this picture.

This is me...free falling @ 120 MPH. Don't judge...nobody looks attractive at that speed. It took over an hour just to get the tangles out of my hair.

Frank has already pulled the chute and it is getting ready to deploy.

Landing on the ground.

Adventure Skydive

2010-06-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

I will mark the 16th of June 2010 down as one of the most exciting days of my life. Jim, I, Dawn (my youngest daughter) and David (her husband) made a Tandem Skydive. Yes...we jumped out of a perfectly good airplane... with a professional skydiver strapped to our back. I invited Kim, my other daughter, but she told me...and I quote, "There is not one cell in my body that has longed to jump from an airplane, so, no thank you." Some say she is the smartest one in the family.

In an attempt at full disclosure, I should tell you some of the things that I did not think all the way through until we were airborne. I actually paid an extra $10.00 to be taken up to 14,000 feet instead of "only" 10,000 feet. Well, I had no concept of height. After we were on our way up in the airplane I started to realize that 14,000 feet is very high. It is 2.6 miles straight up and during free fall I would be traveling at 120 miles per hour, straight down. Guess what...I loved it! But I do think about it more after the jump than I did before the jump.

Here are all four of us before the jump. From left to right are me, David, Jim, and Dawn.

This is Frank. Frank is my "guy" who took care of me the whole way down. He was such a nice guy and reassured me all the time. He only had one rule...DON'T GRAB HIS HANDS. Other than that, just relax and he would "fly" me home...and he did.

Frank told me he took his own mother on a skydive, which did make me relax a little.

Here is Frank and his bride-to-be, Leslie. They will be married in October. Leslie was my "videographer" and she was awesome! She actually hung onto the outside of the plane, at 14,000 feet, to get a picture of me and Frank coming out the door. She did everything we did only backwards and with a video camera. Like I said, "Awesome". I was so impressed with both of these young folks, in fact, all the guys and girls at Adventure Skydive.

This is David and Dawn all ready to jump. It was so nice that they came with us on this adventure. It really made it special. Of course the look on Dawn's face says, "Now just how did I get here again?"

This is David and his "guy" getting ready to jump.

Jim is getting instructions from his "guy", Tyler, before the jump.

This is how they pack the chutes. Looks so easy...but must be just right.

OK, this is after the jump...and your hair would not be looking so good either after being blown at 120 MPH! So don't judge.

AIRBORNE!!

Memorial Day in Ocala 2009

2010-06-01T08:33:00.000-07:00

Jimmy and I attended the Memorial Day celebrations at the Veterans Memorial Park in Ocala. It was a very moving ceremony. Little Ocala is a very patriotic town. The pictures below are some of the highlights.

All services were represented and honored here, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and Merchant Marines. The Marines seen here are from a local Marine ROTC group. They did a great job and all looked like babies to me. I remember when the Lieutenants looked so young but when the Lieutenant Colonels started looking like they just got out of college, I knew it was time to retire.

All wars were commemorated, even the Civil War with representatives from both the Confederate and Union sides. These are the Confederate soldiers...

...and these are the Union soldiers.

The veteran's motorcycle club was a big part of the organization. They were helping with all aspects from parking to helping with the ceremonies.

This is the Monument to the Florida Metal of Honor winners. There are lists of names on all four sides.

They even had a fly over of vintage WWII planes.

For sure anyone associated with the Armed Forces knows that "Freedom is not Free" is a very true statement.

“Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie”

2010-05-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

Today we visited the home of the author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. She wrote several books about Florida, the most famous of which is “The Yearling” that won the Pulitzer Prize in 1939. I love to read but I have not read any of her books, but I plan to do so.

We took a tour of her home in Cross Creek, Florida and it was very interesting. The home was build about 1889 and is still the original house. It was formed from putting together three different homes and connecting them with a porch.

One of the books she wrote was a cook book. Just to give you a sample of her writing and her wit I will give you the recipe for “Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie”

4 eggs
1 ¼ cups Southern cane syrup
1 ½ cups broken pecan meats
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Boil sugar and syrup together two or three minutes. Beat eggs, not too stiff, pour in slowly the hot syrup, and add the butter, vanilla and the pecan meats, broken rather coarsely. Turn into a raw pie shell and bake in a moderate oven about 45 minutes or until set.

The funniest part is the next paragraph,

“I have nibbled at the “Utterly Deadly Southern Pecan Pie” and have served it to those in whose welfare I took no interest, but being inclined to plumpness, and having as well a desire to see out my days on earth, I have never eaten a full portion”

Congradulations to Crystal and Matt

2010-04-18T08:39:00.000-07:00

I just had to let everyone know that my beautiful granddaughter, Crystal, is now engaged to a great guy by the name of Matt Herndon. The ring is so beautiful and...yes...HE WENT TO JARED!! Matt is a science teacher at CT Walker Magnet School. They will take their time and plan to marry sometime next summer. We all welcome Matt into the family with open arms.

Braves Baseball in Orlando, Florida

2010-03-31T16:48:00.000-07:00

Jimmy and I drove to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Baseball Stadium at Disney World. It is the Spring Training home of the Atlanta Braves. We saw the Braves beat the Houston Astros, the score was 10 to 5, Braves, at the bottom of the eighth inning, when we left. The weather was perfect and we really enjoyed the day, especially the ice cream cone that advertised to be only 10 calories per ounce. I believed them so I got one. I would like to share with you a few pictures from today.

An Astro player running to first base...but not fast enough.

All set for a swing and a hit!!

Oh no...Pop fly!!

We enjoyed the day and the sports center at Disney is really nice. They also have Baseball fields, Soccor fields, LaCrosse fields, Basketball courts, etc. all for the use of local teams. It is a real nice place to visit.

Sean and Sara

2010-02-12T17:18:00.000-08:00

Dawn and David went to Utah for some skiing and the "grandparents" took care of Sean and Sara while they were gone. Dawn is very fortunate to have three sets of grandparents and they all pitched in to ensure the health and safety of their most precious children. Jimmy and I were scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

Dawn left us a very helpful set of instructions which began, "Who said that children do not come with instructions? Here they are."

When Dawn called back on Thursday I told her that Sean's "instructions" worked well, but Sara's "instructions" were more like "suggestions" because Sara had her own idea of how and when she would eat, drink and sleep.

Sean was such a good boy and Sara is a little doll. Here are some pictures taken while we were there.

Sara and Grandma bonded during this visit. She looks like me, don't you think?

Sean, the handsome boy, had fun at Monkey Joe's.

Sara was only allowed to sit on the slide, only big brother could slide down.

Got to take a break for a cool drink.

Sean loved playing Ski Ball.

Sean and Grandpa playing pinball.

I think Sean had the most fun at Monkey Joe's.

Sara had the most fun at home.
Love those kids!!

Merry Christmas from Jim & Judy

2009-12-27T15:19:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas this year. Family is the most important thing during the holidays and Jim and I are blessed with a great family. Dawn came down on the 22nd for Kim's birthday and then went out to lunch on the 23rd with some of her old high school friends. But the best was the grandchildren. I read an old Egyptian proverb that says, "The only thing more precious than our children are the children of our children." I can relate to that.

This is a picture of the whole gang. From left to right is David, Dawn, Sean, Crystal, Sara, Caleb, Kim, and Donald. What a good looking group!

It seems a lot of the day revolved around food, and there was plenty of it. Here are Kim, Crystal, and Sara with the Monkey Bread. David, Dawn's husband, makes the Monkey Bread every year and it is always a hit.

Here are Caleb, Sara, and Sean. The picture may not be perfect but getting three young children, on Christmas Eve, to sit still for a picture is not as easy as it sounds.

This is Jim and I with our girls. I love this picture.

Sara and Grandpa...youngest and oldest (don't tell Jimmy I said that)

Here is a picture with Jimmy's mother, Rose. Pictured are 2 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

Merry Christmas from Jim and I and a very Happy New Year to all.

Christmas in Ocala

2009-12-09T15:47:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to show you some pictures from the Christmas decorations in the "city square" in Ocala. Yes, Ocala has an actual city square and it is beautiful this year. They had a line to talk to Santa and a young girl singing Christmas songs and talking to all the children in line. The girl must have been a professional singer because she sure did have a great voice. The city of Ocala also had a "tractor ride" to take everybody around downtown for free. The Christmas Tree was really beautiful this year. It changed colors every couple minutes. Ocala is a nice little city.

The trees wrapped in green lights with red lights at the top are all the plam trees planted around the square. They are higher than a three story building. Notice that there is no snow on any of the trees. Oh yes, that is because it is 75 degrees! I love christmas in Florida.

Visit with Dawn and family

2009-12-03T13:15:00.000-08:00

Jim and I spent a few days with Dawn and her family. David, who works for IBM, went to Australia on business. That is a 22 hour flight! Dawn began decorating her home for Christmas and we helped.

Sean worked hard trimming the tree...

...and he did a great job! It was the "most beautiful Christmas tree" he ever saw.

(and me too)

Sara's job was to look cute...

...and she did that very well.

Asheville, NC

2009-10-29T11:22:00.000-07:00

Jim and I spent a couple days in Asheville, NC this week. We drove up Sunday and came home on Wednesday. The leaves were in peak season around Asheville.

Sunday afternoon we drove over to Biltmore Village, had lunch and walked around to see the shops. We were disappointed that the Hot Shot Cafe closed about a year ago. Jimmy's dad used to work at the Hot Shot Cafe and we always ate there when visiting Asheville. The road that runs directly behind the Biltmore Village is London Road and it intersects with Wyatt Street. Yes, the Wyatt family has a street named after them in Biltmore. Jimmy's grandfather, father and uncles all lived on that street. In fact the house that Jimmy was raised in is still there.

We also drove downtown Asheville which was so busy on a Sunday afternoon that we were surprised. Downtown Asheville is full of restaurants, boutiques, and art galleries. We even found one shop that sold all three of my favorite food groups; chocolate, nuts, and caramel. You could find almost anything downtown except a parking place.

View from the hotel room.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Biltmore East which was a great place because it was easy to get to anywhere we wanted to go. The view from the room was great and the room was very nice.

We took a tour on Monday morning which was very interesting. Asheville has a great history. Then we got on the Blue Ridge Parkway and drove to a Gem Mine. We spent the afternoon "mining gems". It was fun and we got some nice rocks. We had one of the emeralds cut and I guess I will see how that turns out.

View from the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Tunnel on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The Blue Ridge Parkway is a beautiful drive but the average speed is 35 to 40 miles per hour, so don't take this road if you are in a hurry.

Tuesday morning we went to Chimney Rock. We had not been to the top before so we went to the top this trip. Some pictures below.

View from Chimney Rock. Beautiful!!

Believe it or not, this is a mural done in the ladies room at Chimney Rock. It was beautiful!

No reason for this picture but to show you my HH (Handsome Husband)

Notice the "death grip" I have on the tree. I am not as "comfortable" as I appear.

During the tour the guide told us about the 12 Bones Smokehouse BBQ. It seems the 12 Bones Smokehouse has been named Best BBQ in Asheville for the last seven years and has been featured on Good Morning America and the Cooking Channel. Of course we had to try it. As you can see from the picture the building is nothing to brag about but we were assured the BBQ was worth it. You have to stand in line to order (no waitress), then get your own drink, find your own table and they will bring your food to you. Everything is served in "tin plates" . Well......the BBQ was OK but, for my money, Sconyers has them beat hands down.

We enjoyed Asheville and the fall leaves. I have to say that we take a third party along on all out trips these days and that is our Garmin. The Garmin takes us anywhere we want to go with no problem. We love it and don't leave home without it.

Caught a Bass

2009-10-01T12:05:00.000-07:00

Jim and I found a lake where you can fish from a pier and actually catch fish. We went Monday and Tuesday mornings. On Monday Jim caught one bass and on Tuesday I caught three (3) bass. This lake is a "catch and release" for bass so we had to throw them back into the lake after we took their picture. I will show you the pictures of the bass we caught but remember all bass look alike when hanging from a hook so you will just have to take my word for it that they are different fish.

Fish number 1.

Number 2

Number 3. Not real big but still kind of cute!

Daytona Beach

2009-09-27T14:54:00.000-07:00

Today we drove to Daytona Beach, about an hour and 15 minutes away from Ocala. It was a beautiful day.

This is Jimmy doing Physical Therapy...Florida style.

Isn't is nice to be retired!!

Westobou Festival, Augusta, Georgia

2009-09-18T11:07:00.001-07:00

Yesterday Jim and I were walking downtown Augusta on the opening day of the Westobou Festival. The Westobou Festival sort of took over the old “Arts in the Hearts” of Augusta that happens every year. Don’t worry, “Arts in the Hearts” is still going this weekend, always fun and has good food. We had dinner in a small restaurant called “Casa Blanca” which is located in the old Whites building. The upper floors are now luxury condos. They serve lunch but starting at 5:00pm they become a “Tapas” restaurant. After dinner we walked down to the “Zimmerman” art gallery.

HISTORY LESSON: The Augusta area used to be inhabited by an Indian tribe called the “Westo Indians”. There name for the near-by river (now called the Savannah) was the “Westobou”…thus the name of the festival.

We spoke to Ms Zimmerman the day before and she told us that she would be hosting a “Whiskey Painter” so we went by to see him. I don’t know his name but he came down from North Carolina.

HISTORY LESSON: There are only 150 “Whiskey Painters” and Ms Zimmerman is actually one of them. Google “Whiskey Painters of America”. It is very interesting. All the paintings are water colors using some “alcohol based” liquid instead of water.

Happy Birthday Caleb!

2009-09-13T06:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went over to Kim’s house for Caleb’s 7th Birthday Party. He is getting to be such a big boy. Kim had a Low Country Boil and the food was great! She made a “Soccer Ball Cake” that looked great…and tasted great (although black icing comes with its own set of issues). Here are some of the pictures from the party. I hope you enjoy them.

The Low Country Boil was so good. Kim always has great food.

Caleb and his cousin, Rusty, with his Soccer Ball Birthday cake.

Caleb opening his presents with his cousin, Hannah. She is such a pretty girl.

This is Caleb with his cousin, Kendall, and his new skate board.

Grandparents Day at Caleb's school

2009-09-11T17:58:00.000-07:00

Today Jim and I went to Caleb’s school for Grandparents Day. This is Caleb showing us his "Journal". He is in the First Grade and he really does a good job on his journal. The teacher told them they did not have to spell all the words correctly, just to try to sound them out the best they can. He wrote on one page that "he can klim a tree" I had no problem reading that because he spells the same way I do.

Caleb is doing so well in school and we are all proud of him. The teacher did an exercise with M&Ms. She passed out a small bag of M&Ms to each student, had them open the bag and separate them into colors. Then she gathered data from each student on what colors of M&Ms they got in their bag. Caleb could read all the colors and completed the exercise quickly…..then Caleb and Grandpa ate the M&Ms. quickly. We met Elaine Jones, Caleb’s other grandmother, at the school and it was so nice to see her.

Caleb and Grandpa. They both had a good time.

Calab and I at Grandparents Day.

This is Caleb with his other grandmother, Elaine Jones. We had a nice visit and I will see her tomorrow at Caleb's 7th Birthday party.

I love this poster!! Caleb had to write three "super cool" facts about himself and he wrote, "I can catch fish", "I can play Gitar Hero", and "I can train my pup". I hope you can read the other parts because they are so cute.

Visit with Dawn, Sean, .....and Sara

2009-09-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a lovely visit with Dawn, Sean, and, of course, Sara. This is the first time I got to visit with Sara since she was born and she is such a beautiful little girl. We were very busy and Dawn is such an organized mother. While I was there she cooked up 5 dinners to freeze and two boxes of whole grain pancakes for Sean’s breakfast. She sorted out boxes and boxes of clothes for Sara that will last her for at least the next two years….and we cleaned the rocking chairs on her front porch. That sounds like a harder job than it was because we got some great cleaner and just sprayed it on and the dirt rolled right off.

We took two trips to Rita’s for Italian Ices and Frozen Custards and took the kids out to eat a couple times. I hope you enjoy the pictures I brought back from my visit.

This is Sara "shopping". I think she has "shopping" down pat.

I know you won't believe me...but this is Sara saying, "Thank you Grandma for my sock monkey"

This is what Sean gets for breakfast...whole grain, of course. I think Dawn is making up for some lack in her own childhood because I know for a fact she did not get her name in pancakes for breakfast. Sean is lucky to have Dawn for his mommy.

This is Sean when we pick him up from school. You can hardly tell he just had a "dirt fight".

This is the handsome boy eating an Italian Ice at Rita's.

This is Sara playing. She loves to look at herself in the mirror....such a girl!

2009-07-27T16:59:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to bring you all a picture of Caleb's new puppy, Shadow. They call him Shadow because he follows Caleb just like his shadow. Isn't he cute??

Caleb w/Skate Board

2009-07-12T15:19:00.001-07:00

Caleb got his first Skate Board yesterday and he really learned a lot in one day. He said he learned just by watching what they did on TV. Pretty smart.

Trick #1

Trick #2

Grandpa giving advice?

Trick #3

Meet Sara Grace

2009-07-09T05:19:00.000-07:00

Sara Grace Abercrombie arrived a little early on Monday, July 6, 2009, but everyone was ready for her. She was 7 lbs and 19 1/2 inches long. She is so beautiful. She didn't want to put on the cap but when she saw how attractive it looked on her she loved it. She has already mastered the "nap" so she is well on her way to a happy life.

Grandma holding Sara. See how excited Sara is to meet Grandma!!

Baby and momma are resting happily.

Here is a picture of Sara and Daddy. David stayed at the hospital with Dawn and Sara the whole time. (See how excited Sara is to be with Daddy)

This is a picture of the "LoJack" attached to Sara's ankle. This will cause alarms to go off and lock down the whole hospital if I took her off the floor. Sooooo, our little walk outside was out.

I am so happy to have Sara in our family and we have many years ahead to love her. I thank God for this little girl.

SARA GRACE ABERCROMBIE

2009-07-06T15:54:00.000-07:00

Sara Grace Abercrombie was born today, 6th of July, @ 4:24pm. She was 7 lbs and 19 1/2 inches long. I am in Ocala and will drive to Atlanta tomorrow. I will post pictures as soon as I can. Thank God for a healthy mother and child.

4th of July at Silver Springs

2009-07-04T14:16:00.000-07:00

Well, since I am in Ocala for the 4th I went out to Silver Springs to see what they had going on. The reason I am in Ocala for the 4th is because I have Jury Duty on the 6th. That is what happens when you are a Florida resident. I lived in Georgia for over 30 years and never got called for Jury Duty. Oh well, I will do my civic duty on Monday.

Silver Springs will light up Marion County with another spectacular celebration on July 4th . They have live music with a band named "Live Bait" beginning at 3:00 p.m. Live Bait will be performing Jimmy Buffet's greatest hits. Also, the 60's pop band "The Lovin Spoonful" will play. I remember the 60's but I don't remember this band. Then they have award winning country music staple Terri Clark (Terri Clark is probably the only person at this concert that doesn't remember the 60's).

You may notice I did not say how good they were....that is because I did not stay for the concert. IT WAS TOO HOT! I took a couple boat rides on the beautiful Silver River, bought me some Carmel popcorn and went back to my nice cool home at 3 Kings. They will have fireworks tonight, which I may go back to see. But I will show you some pictures I took while I was at Silver Springs today.

This is one of the famous Glass Bottom Boats they have at Silver Springs.

Beautiful River....people, not so much.

...speaking of not beautiful...Giraffes are not really that good looking...and they STINK. They know that they stink and even have a sign explaining why they stink.

Well, Happy 4th of July

Caleb at Hunting Island

2009-06-26T13:20:00.001-07:00

Kim, Donald and Caleb spent about 9 days camping at Hunting Island, South Carolina. I know they had a great time but I am sure Caleb had the most fun. Caleb loves to spend time in the water and he looks like a "surfer dude" even at six years old. I just wanted to add a couple pictures of Caleb at the beach because the grandkids grow so fast that if you blink your eyes they have changed again. I want to be sure to document his "surfer dude" stage.

No surfer is complete without his "boogie Board"

This is Caleb with a baby shark.....(I have no idea where he got it or what he did with it.)

Cool shades!!

At the end of the day all boys need sleep.

Crystal Graduates from Augusta State University

2009-05-12T08:00:00.000-07:00

Saturday, 9 May, was a big day. That was the day Crystal graduated from Augusta State University with a Bachelor Degree in Education. She has worked hard and we are all so proud of her. Kim, Donald, Caleb, Jimmy and I attended the graduation in the James Brown Arena in Augusta, Georgia. After the ceremony we all went out to eat a Macaroni Grill. There is nothing better than spending some quality time with family. Please enjoy some pictures of Crystal at her college graduation.

Getting her diploma. She will continue on to get her Master's Degree in the fall.

Yes, the left side of her hair is purple. If anybody can pull off purple hair, it is Crystal. I actually liked it.

Crystal and Kim, mother and daughter.

Crystal and Caleb.

Crystal, Kim, and Donald. Crystal is so blessed to have family to support her.

Bachelor's Degree down, Master's Degree next

Caleb (and flat Stanley) visit Ocala

2009-04-09T14:18:00.000-07:00

Kim, Caleb (and flat Stanley) were able to take a few days off to visit Ocala. Jim and I were so glad to have them and to show them around our “little town”. It takes about six hours to get to Ocala from Augusta so we arrived about 3:00pm, not enough time to go to Wild Waters or Silver Springs, so we took Caleb to the Batting Cage. We thought he would enjoy it even though the balls are thrown at between 40 mph and 75 mph. Well, you should have seen Caleb hit those balls!! He was hitting 14 out of 20 balls in both the 40 mph cage and the 45 mph cage. I knew he was a good little baseball player but I never believed he could hit those fast balls, but he sure did. Needless to say, the Batting Cage was one of his favorite places.
Caleb getting ready to hit

Taking a swing.....

...and a miss this time.

Caleb brought along a “friend” named flat Stanley. Flat Stanley is a project done by Elementary Schools where the students take flat Stanley along with them on vacations or even send him to other parts of the United States or the World so he can get his picture taken and sent back to the student’s Elementary School. Well, I had never heard of flat Stanley so I was surprised when he was readily recognized in several places at Silver Springs. In fact the guy doing all the reptile demonstrations came over and said, “Oh, I see we have flat Stanley with us today”, then brought over a snake to take a picture with him. After the show he asked us if we would like to get flat Stanley’s picture taken with a baby alligator. We told him that we would and he took us to the baby alligator cage and brought one out, just for flat Stanley. The captain of the Glass Bottom Boat also told everybody on the boat, “Oh, there is flat Stanley on board today”. Flat Stanley was a good traveler.

Flat Stanley at Wild Waters

Flat Stanley at the wave pool

Flat Stanley with the alligator

Caleb really had a good time at Wild Waters. He was so brave going on all the slides, some of which are really high and fast. I think Wild Waters was his favorite place, next to the Batting Cage. He is really a good little swimmer and has no fear of the water.

Caleb coming out of the "Mini Monster Slide", boy was that fun!!

Caleb with ice cream

Kim and Caleb in the wave pool.

Caleb also enjoyed bowling and he was quite good (89). Kim was very good (150).

Caleb bowling...form was not his strong point.

Kim bowling and Caleb getting pointers from Grandpa.

We all had a great time in Ocala and Jim and I were so glad Kim and Caleb were able to make it.

Caleb on 1st Base

2009-03-27T06:41:00.000-07:00

Jim and I saw Caleb playing baseball this week. He is in the "Six-year old" league this year and they play on the "real" baseball fields. Caleb is getting better at sports every year and he does them all...Soccer, Basketball, and Baseball. Since we have to sit behind the fence this year it is harder to get good pictures but here are one with him playing First Base and another batting. You would not believe how well he can throw the baseball now.

Caleb and Kim are coming down to Ocala next weekend so I will have more pictures then.

Meet Thelma and Louise

2009-03-16T15:59:00.000-07:00

Well my dryer of 15 years died last week and my washer had “work stoppage sympathy” syndrome. I convinced Jimmy that “washer” was is such distress without “dryer” that we should replace both of them and keep them together. It worked!!

We bought a new washer and dryer but it seems they have changed in the last 15 years since we bought our last washer and dryer. Some of the differences are:

1. The instruction manual (what Jimmy calls the manufacturer’s suggestions) is ¾ inch thick for each machine.

2. It does not use a lot of water. I will quote from the “manual”…"If you do not see the water during washing; it is not a problem because the laundry is sufficiently wet." Good thing I read that before I washed!

3. The rinse cycle involves a lot of “spinning” and very little “sloshing”. I was kind of used to the “sloshing”.

4. It plays you a little song when the wash is done instead of buzzing. I do like the song better.

5. All of the detergents, softeners, bleach, etc are inserted into their proper little cups before you start the wash and you better put them all in the right little cups or something bad will happen. Not sure what bad will happen but it came with a big “WARNING” so I will do my best to get it right.

6. Oh yes, there is no “water level” for you to select. It seems that Thelma (that is what I named the washer) “senses” the size of the load and “adjusts the amount of water required”. Isn’t technology wonderful!!

I named the dryer Louise; I think that was the nice one. It is not too complicated, sort of a cross between my old dryer and Wall-E. At least I have found the button that turns it on and turns it off.

I spent all day yesterday washing clothes so I think I got the hang of it, it just seems like I should dress better to wash from now on.

Baby Girl Abercrombie!!

2009-03-08T10:38:00.000-07:00

Well we now know that Dawn will be having a little girl!! We are all so excited!! She is due in early July so we don't have too long to wait. Here are the first pictures of our new granddaughter. These pictures were taken for you by her Aunt Kim.

This is her profile.

This shows her profile (see the little nose). It looks like her hands are already up ready to "duke it out" with her big brother Sean.

This shows her little feet with 5 toes on each foot, just like it should be. We thank God for a healthy child.

Sean's 3rd Birthday!!

2009-02-22T13:10:00.000-08:00

On Saturday we celebrated Sean's 3rd Birthday. The theme of the party was fighter jet airplanes, particular the F-22. Notice the large poster was actually signed by the Chief Test Pilot for the F-22. It seems either Dawn, David, or one of their friends knows just about everybody. Sean's flight suit was a little big for him but he can wear it for Halloween too. Jim and I drove up from Augusta on Friday the day before the party so Dawn and I could work on the Birthday Cake. Believe it or not it took us most of the day to complete it and Dawn already had the cake baked and frozen for us to use. We cut out all the pieces, which Dawn had drawn to scale, and iced it. The icing came from Publix. Little known fact: Publix, and probably other stores, will make up icing to any color you want and sell it to you. That helped a lot.

This is the cake!! Dawn molded the stars out of white chocolate. Notice the three candles on the back of the plane. We had a good time making it and the red, white, and blue colors look better than the grey and dark grey we did on our "dry run" in Ocala. (See earlier blog)
In keeping with the all American military theme the colors were, of course, red, white, and blue and we had mini hot dogs and hamburgers to eat. All the food was good but the hamburgers were great!!

Dawn also had a couple of things to keep the kids busy. The day before we prepared some small cakes with white icing melted and poured over them for the kids to decorate. Boy did they have fun and did such a good job!

Sean "decorating" his cake with all the other kids.

See what a good job they did....then they got to eat the cakes they decorated.

They also played a game called "Pin the Pilot on the Plane" Dawn had the picture that the F-22 Test Pilot had signed for Sean blown up and she used that to "pin the pilots" on.

This is Sean pinning his "Pilot" on the plane. Of course he could not win the prize because he was the Birthday Boy...and if you look closely he is also peeking.

Please notice that the kids did not pin just any Pilot on the Plane but each child had a picture of them selves to pin. You would think that this a sign that the mother has too much time on her hands.....but that is not true. I don't know where she finds the time to do all these things.

Not only did Dawn find time to help Sean with his cake...

She decorated one herself.

I know Sean will always remember his 3rd Birthday...at least until his 4th Birthday.

The Florida Manatee

2009-02-10T13:46:00.000-08:00

We paid a visit to Sonny and Mercedes on Sunday and had a great lunch on the water. We were so glad that Jason was able to join us. Jason is in ROTC at the University of South Florida and plans to go active duty in the Army when he graduates next May. The Army will be lucky to have him as he has the highest grade point average in his class and has max'ed out the PT Test with a score of 300. Hooah!!

After lunch we took a ride to a spot where the discharge from a power plant causes the water to always be at about 80 degrees. Because the water is so warm it is a gathering spot for the Florida Manatees. The Florida manatee, Florida’s state marine mammal, is a large aquatic relative of the elephant. They are grayish brown in color and have thick, wrinkled skin on which there is often a growth of algae. They are actually so ugly that they are cute.

The Manatees breath by sticking their nose out of the water. Their nose is like a short elephant nose.

This shows the temperature of the water. about 80 degrees. Manatees love warm water.I hope you can see all the Manatees under the surface of the water. There were several hundred Manatees hanging around the power plant. It was so interesting.
This Manatee weights between 1,500 and 1,800 pounds. Look at all the barnacles on him!!

Dawn and Sean Visit Ocala

2009-01-27T09:10:00.000-08:00

Last week we drove to Alpharetta to pick up Dawn and Sean for a visit to Ocala. We left early Thursday morning from Alpharetta to Ocala, which takes about six hours to drive. It was a long drive down I-75 but we all made it and Sean was a good little traveler. He watched his movies most of the time. After we got to Ocala Dawn and I took Sean to a little park so he could play a while after being cooped up in the car most of the day. He had a good time and he can really climb. This was a "nature park" which means everything is "natural" except the brand new playground equipment.

This piece of playground equipment is made to resemble a spider web....cute, huh.

This was a "jungle gym" that Sean climbed all over.

In this picture Sean is hanging by his hands, of course Dawn is close just in case he falls....which he didn't.

The next day we took Dawn to a couple interesting stores in Ocala, like a Gourmet Food store and a Restaurant Supply store. Then we took Sean to the park where he fed the ducks.
The ducks would actually take the food from his hand...and one almost took his hand.

Dawn and I also kept busy trying to make an airplane cake. We actually did pretty good but this is just a practice for Sean's 3 year old birthday cake.

On Saturday we took Sean to Silver Springs and he had a good time seeing all the animals, like the alligators and the stinky giraffes.

Sean wanted to ride the Carousel but only in the seat. He wasn't sure about the horses that were going up and down.

But Dawn and Jimmy had a great time on the Carousel!!

But he did not have a problem with the aligators.......

...or touching a great big snake!

We all had a great time even if Dawn was fighting a bad sinus problem the whole trip. Dawn is a real trooper and you would never believe she is four months pregnate.

Why old people retire in Florida....

2009-01-06T15:36:00.000-08:00

Today is the 4th of January and it is 80 degrees with a beautiful blue sky. This is why people retire in Florida.

This is a picture of Ormand Beach, about an hour and fifteen minutes drive from Ocala. We drove down to Ormand Beach because it was such a beautiful day.

This is Jimmy walking on the beach. It was such a beautiful day.

New Years Eve

2009-01-05T12:30:00.000-08:00

Jim and I spent New Years Eve with our grandson, Sean. Dawn and David had tickets to the Chick-fil-A Bowl with Georgia Tech playing LSU so Jim and I kept Sean. We took him to play at Monkey Joe's ...

and to lunch at Chick-fil-A.

We also fixed him a good breakfast in the morning. (Notice all the healthy food)

Sean was a good boy and we enjoyed taking care of him.

A Christmas Surprise!!!!

2008-12-25T13:54:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas Surprise this year!! I probably should wait and put it at the end of the blog but I can't wait to tell everybody. DAWN IS GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY IN JULY 2009!!! We are all excited and already getting ready for the new baby. Sean is going to be 3 years old in February so he will be a big brother at about three and a half.

BEFORE: This is the picture taken by David, Dawn's husband in front of the tree before he said "Everybody say (instead of cheese) "Dawn is pregnant"

AFTER: This is the picture of the reaction. Notice how Dawn becomes the center of attention taking the attention off my open mouth.
We always celebrate on Christmas Eve at our house and we had a great time again. Everybody got fine gifts but Caleb got a very special gift. You may have read in my blog earlier this year that Caleb caught a 2 lb Bass all by himself, picking out his own bait and everything. Well, Donald had it mounted and gave it to him. He was so proud of it and we were all proud for him.

Caleb and his first Bass!!

The pictures below are random pictures taken Christmas Eve. I hope you enjoy them.

The Jones (Donald, Caleb, Kim)

The Abercrombies (David, Sean, Dawn)

Caleb and Sean (Boys will be boys)

Jimmy and Dawn

Sean opening his stocking

Caleb (helping Sean with his play-dough) and Dawn

Dawn, Kim and Crystal with Jimmy's mother (Nanny)

Happy Birthday Kim!!

2008-12-25T13:33:00.000-08:00

Caleb helps Kim blow out the candles on her cake. The only candles we had was a "3" and a "5" so we added three extra candles to make 38.

Celebrating Kim's birthday always brings back memories of taking her home from the hospital on Christmas Day in 1970. Well I guess her age is no secret any more. Kim's birthday is the 22nd of December but Dawn did not get to Augusta until the 23rd so we celebrated it on that day. Kim had to work so she just came over after work and we had pizza and I baked a pineapple upside down cake.

From left to right we have Dawn, Crystal, Kim (with Sean at the table), Donald, (with Caleb in the red shirt)

Valencia Lakes

2008-12-08T08:59:00.001-08:00

Valencia Lakes is the place Jimmy's brother, Sonny, and his wife, Mercedes, live. It really is a great place to live. They have just about everything you could want right on the property of Valencia Lakes. Sonny and Mercedes have a lovely home and are able to take advantage of the amenities on the property like the full gym, sauna, jacuzzi, and swimming pool. They also have several clubs like fishing club, bowling club, cooking club, etc. Florida really knows how do put together "retirement communities" like no other state. Then there is the sunshine....it is almost the middle of December and it will be 75 degrees today.

Mercedes cooked a large pan of Paella for us. It sure was good and we ate almost all of it for lunch. Paella is a Spanish dish made with yellow rice, chicken, and many different types of seafood. Mercedes did a great job!

Mercedes did the cooking.....

....and Sonny opened the wine.

After lunch we all went over to the Club House and learned how to play "Pickle Ball"....yes, there is such a game as "Pickle Ball". It is played similar to tennis but with a smaller court and different rules.

Mecerdes and I played Jimmy and Sonny. We thought we were pretty good but we lost the game 11 to 2. I think it was our serve that cost us the game.

After "Pickle Ball" we went back to their house and then back to Ocala. We really enjoyed our visit and plan to return again.

Thanksgiving

2008-12-01T08:45:00.000-08:00

I guess it is appropriate that the first picture is of Dawn and Sean saying "Thanks" in sign language for the cookies that Kim made for us to eat while we cooked. They were Pumpkin Cookies and they were great.

Dawn and I really had a nice easy Thanksgiving. We fixed most things the day before like the Pecan Pie and the Pink Salad. Of course our pride and joy was the cookies and the cupcakes shown below. Sean wanted one of those "baby turkeys" to eat all day but we made him wait until Thanksgiving.

Cupcakes and Cookies

Sean is lucky to have three sets of grandparents. Three grandmothers....

....and three grandfathers!
Of course we had too much food!! That always happens on Thanksgiving and all of it was really great, but...a picture is worth a thousand words.

FOOD BEFORE........

....FOOD AFTER!!

And Sean finally got to eat his "baby turkey"

Dawn has a sign over her front door so that it is the last thing you see when leaving the house and I think it is very appropriate to end this Thanksgiving blog.

Cruise to the Bahamas!!

2008-11-02T04:23:00.000-08:00

Jim and I went on a four day cruise to the Bahamas. We left on 26 October and returned on 30 October, with stops in Freeport and Nassau. I want to show you some great pictures I took, it was so beautiful!!

This is the beach where "Pirates of the Caribbean" was filmed. It is just perfect!!

While in Freeport we got the most delicious frozen drink, with Mango, Pineapple, and Strawberry flavors from the lady pictured below.

These are things we did not buy in Freeport. They are all beautiful but you can't buy everything.

Then we went to Nassau!!

Nassau is the most populated island in the Bahamas. It is called the "New York of the Bahamas". Nassau is also the home of "Atlantis" which is a very upscale resort, water park, hotel, and casino.

This picture of Atlantis was taken from the ship. We took a trip to the casino that evening. It was just like being in Las Vegas.

I think the most fun we had was on the "Segway Tour". We got about 15 minutes to learn how to "drive" the Segway and then away we went into the forest for a great ride. We went up and down small hills and through miles of trails. I don't know how much they cost but I sure would like to buy one.

This is our "Segway" instructor. She has lived her whole life in Nassau. She was so nice and funny.

This is me and Jimmy after we became "ONE-WITH-THE-SEGWAY". They will go up to 12 miles per hour and are really fun!!

Of course I have to show you the "towel animals" we got every night in out cabin. They are so cute and I even purchased a book to show me how to do them.

"Walrus"

"Elephant"

"Dog"

Not sure, "Waterhorse" maybe?

Some things we saw but did not buy on Bay Street.

Boy, you really have to want a fish head real bad to pay $150 for it. I did not want one that bad.

But.....I have saved the best for last......I won the $500 BINGO game and it paid for all of our on-board expenses except for $28. If I had stayed away from the slot machines they would have had to pay us to get off the ship.

Who is the queen of the small picture frame??

Happy Birthday Crystal!!

2008-10-05T15:38:00.000-07:00

Crystal will be 23 years old on the 8th of October. I really can't believe she is that old but she is in her last year of school to become a teacher. She will be a great teacher and good teachers are so important to the generation coming up today. We got together on Sunday to celebrate because she has school all week and won't have time. She still works teaching gymnastics and had to go to work this afternoon.

Just the girls, Kim, Crystal, me, and Denise (Donald's twin sister)

Caleb, Crystal, and Donald.

Crystal and Caleb

Caleb playing Soccer

2008-10-05T14:59:00.000-07:00

I was able to go see Caleb play Soccer on Saturday and he is a really a good soccer player! He made two goals this week and last week he made three out of the four goals. Of course, remember these little guys are not professional, in fact the other team made a goal at the wrong end of the field. You could hear the coaches yelling, "Not that goal, not that goal, not that goal!!" They they would say, "Good try guys, it's OK". These little league coaches really deserve a lot of credit. Their generous giving of their time allows these boys to really enjoy sports. Please enjoy some pictures of Caleb in action!

La Nouba

2008-10-05T13:32:00.000-07:00

For our 40th Anniversary Kim and Dawn gave us tickets to see La Nouba. La Nouba is a Cirque du Soleil show that is full of lots of great costumes and gymnastics. These shows take gymnastics to a whole new level. If you have not seen one of these shows it is worth your time to go see one. We have seen them in Las Vegas, Atlanta, and Orlando. They are all different. La Nouba was playing in Downtown Disney so before the show we took in the sights. Since there were "...no photography or video cameras permitted in the theater" I could not take any pictures of the show so I will just have to show you pictures of Downtown Disney.

One of the coolest things was the Leggo display. The "family" that Jimmy is with are all Leggos, including the dog, as well as the dragon in the water. Cool, huh!!

We had a great time and we really appreciate the ticket from the kids.

We love you!!

Abercrombie Weekend

2008-09-21T09:41:00.000-07:00

In case anyone doesn't know, Dawn and David are BIG Georgia Tech fans and have season tickets to all the home games. Well, Georgia Tech played Mississippi State on Saturday (Georgia Tech 38/Mississippi State 7). Jim and I were able to spend the weekend at the Abercrombie's house with Sean. We had a great time with Sean and he was such a good boy all day.

We started off the morning with a healthy breakfast of a cereral bar, apple and banana. That boy has a good appitite and he doesn't miss anything. At one point Jimmy picked up part of his cereral bar and took a bite. Sean just looked at him and said, "What did you eat, Grandpa?" and when Jimmy told him it was his cereal bar that he left on the table, he said, "I did not share that with you, spit it out!" We all got a big laugh from that. You would not believe he is only two and a half if you hear him talk. He sounds like he is four.

We played around the house for a couple hours before we took Sean to Monkey Joe's. He spent most of the time either with Grandpa or looking for Grandpa. Grandpa was his buddy. Most of his interaction with Grandma had to do with diapers, eating, or bathing.

This is Sean with Grandpa.

This is Sean looking for Grandpa.

Sean eating with Grandma. We stopped at Chik-Fil-A and Sean ate his 6 piece chicken nuggets, all his fruit, and half of Grandpa's chicken sandwich, as well as all his Sprite. He especially loved the Sprite, which is apparently a treat given only by grandparents.

....and this is Sean on the ride home from Monkey Joe's and Chic-Fil-A.

After (our) nap Sean still had time to play a little golf.....

and slide on his sliding board in the backyard.

All three of us (Jim, me, and Sean) had a great day and Dawn and David also came home happy with the big win of Georgia Tech over Mississippi State.

Party Weekend!!!!!

2008-09-07T14:07:00.000-07:00

Boy, did our family have a party weekend!! We have so many things to celebrate in September and Dawn and Sean were able to get to Augusta this weekend so we just celebrated all of them at one time. We missed David, who was in Boston at a Georgia Tech football game

First we celebrated Dawn's birthday (13 Sep) on Thursday night. I cooked some Lasagna and a Dump Cake and Kim, Donald, and Caleb came over. Crystal and Chris came over after Crystal got out of class at Augusta State. We had a great time.

Sean and Caleb wishing Dawn a Happy Birthday

On Friday morning Jimmy and I, along with Dawn and Sean went to Caleb's school for "Grandparents Day". It was so nice. The school had donuts set up out front of the school for the visiting grandparents. Caleb was sure to tell us, "Grandparents are not suppose to stay for lunch" so I guess the donuts were to lure us out the front door before lunch. It must have worked because there was a line at the donut table when we left.

Caleb with Grandpa at Grandparents Day

Friday night the girls took Jimmy and I out to eat at The Chop House for our 40th Anniversary Dinner. The food was great but the company was even better. We had a big table with Dawn, Sean, Kim, Donald, Caleb, Crystal and Chris. We even had Turtle Cheese Cake for dessert!!

Caleb and Sean in front of The Chop House

Jim and Judy after the first 40 years

Then Saturday we had Caleb's 6th Birthday Party at The Wetzone on Wrightsboro Road. Boy, did those kids have a great time. You will see in the pictures that all the kids had big smiles and they all went down the big slide called "The Hippo".....and I mean big!! It is three stories tall and 170 feet long. Even little Sean went down the big slide about four times all by himself. The first time they go down it takes your breath away, even the adults, but they all go back for more. Please notice that Kim had the picture of Caleb's first Bass on the cake. He was so proud.

Happy Birthday Caleb!!!

The fun begins!!!

Sean coming down the slide!!

Caleb coming down the slide!!

Sean kept telling me, "Grandma, I have fun" and I believe he did.

Crystal & Dawn

All the kids had fun!!

Kim keeping everything moving smoothly

After the birthday party we took Sean home for a nap before returning to Kim's house that evening for hamburgers and more birthday cake. We all played "Wii" which Caleb got for his birthday. He is really good at the games and very good at sharing his toys with the adults and little Sean.
We all had a great time this weekend and I am sure we all need a rest.

Ocala Golf Course

2008-08-29T12:44:00.000-07:00

I would like everyone to see some pictures of the Ocala Golf Course. Every morning that I can I walk around this course, about three miles. It is located just across the street from the Condo and belongs to the City of Ocala. It isn't the Augusta National but it is a really pretty golf course that is well maintained by the city. The pictures below are things I see when I walk.

Putting Green

One of the holes on the First Nine

One of the holes on the Back Nine

A small pond

A place to rest

Then there is the Tennis Center that I pass in the morning. There is always someone out there playing to taking lessons.

There are a lot of homes around the Golf Course. The pictures below are just a couple. They would be "very unusual" anywhere else but seem to blend into the Florida landscape.

Yes, it is YELLOW, really YELLOW!

Please notice the 'shed' in the back is the exact color of blue as the house.

I hope this showed you some of the things I see when I walk around the Ocala Golf Course in the mornings.

Caleb's fist Bass he caught himself

2008-08-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

I just had to add one item to the blog to show off Caleb's first Bass. He caught this fish all by himself, picking out the bait and all. His dad is going to have it mounted for him as his first Bass.

Caleb spends the weekend

2008-08-19T14:16:00.000-07:00

Jim and I got to keep Caleb while Kim and Donald attended a Golf Tournament in Myrtle Beach (tough job but somebody has to golf). We had such a great time with him!!

On Friday morning I got to take him to his Kindergarten Open House to meet his new teacher, Mrs. McMillian. He looked like such a big boy going into school. After that I took him to his house so he could fish in his pond for a little while. He told me that he was a good fisherman and he really is!! He caught 5 fish and I caught none. They were not real big fish, only what he calls "bait snatchers", but he had fun catching them.

Jim and I took him to play Putt Putt and he actually got two holes-in-one. Both Caleb and Jimmy did better than I did so I will not publish the scores. Caleb also had a great time playing the games inside and getting all those 'tickets' to redeem for prizes. The prizes were worth less than one game but he had such fun getting the tickets.

On Saturday we took him to "The Wetzone" which is a type of water park with blow-up water slides. Caleb had a ball!!! They have "The Hippo", the largest inflatable water slide, three stories high and 170 feet long!! They also have a smaller water slide for the younger children and a rock wall. Caleb was interested in nothing but "The Hippo". Kim is going to have his 6th birthday party at the Wetzone on the 6th of September. Dawn and Sean will be in Augusta for the party and I can't wait to get pictures Sean on the water slides.

We took Caleb back home on Sunday and he was so glad to see his mom and dad. A weekend with grandma and grandpa is OK but nothing is better than mom and dad.

Fishing in Florida

2008-07-26T12:40:00.000-07:00

On this trip down to Ocala my cousin, Jimmy Trantham, took us fishing in the Ocklawaha River. Just so you all won't get confused, Jimmy T. is my cousin and Jimmy Z. is my husband. Jimmy T. has a very nice 20 foot John Boat that had plenty of room for all three of us. Jimmy T. has been fishing the Ocklawaha River for 50 years so he knows where the fish hang out. He showed me on his "Fish Finder" he has on the boat all the fish under the boat, and there were a lot!!....and big!! But he said that the "Fish Finder" did not show you how to catch them. First he took us to a place to catch "shiners", which is the "bait" we were to use to catch the bigger fish. But, alas, by the time we got to the real fishing spot the "bait" was not as lively as we would have liked. In fact, they turned into "cut bait" which I think needs no further explanation.

This is my cousin Jimmy T. showing the bait.

But...we did catch some fish. The first to catch a fish was Jimmy Z. who caught a "mud fish" about 18 inches long. Well,.....what do you do with a "mud fish"? I won't go into detail but it involves something called a "billy stick" which reduced the "mud fish" to the bottom of the food chain.

We then moved to another spot where we caught 'Gar'. These are actually prehistoric fish with a long 'snoot' and very sharp teeth. Jimmy T. caught the one pictured below which was about 2 feet in length. He told us that there were "Gar in this river that this fish would run from". That was the only one I got a picture of but I caught one that was even bigger than that but lost it just as it got to the boat. Then Jimmy Z. caught one that was really big. In fact Jimmy T. told him that we could not bring that fish in the boat because it was too big. But the line broke just as it got up to the boat. It was at least twice as big as the one pictured.

This is the small 'Gar'. Take a look at the teeth!!

It got too hot about 1:00pm so we went home. The fishing was fun and the Ocklawaha River is beautiful. It has beautiful Cyprus Trees along the bank and the water reflects the trees just like a mirror.

Jimmy T. also showed us the place where the "Cross Florida Barge Canal" stopped. The Cross Florida Barge Canal was a canal project to connect the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean across Florida for barge traffic. Two sections were built but the project was cancelled, mainly for environmental reasons. It is now a protected green belt corridor, one mile (1.6 km) wide in most places. The work was stopped in January 1971 and officially cancelled in 1991. The picture below is where is stopped.

The Abercrombie's visit

2008-07-20T12:57:00.000-07:00

Dawn, David, and Sean came up from Alpharette to visit this weekend. They arrived in the morning and Kim and Caleb joined us for lunch. As you see from the picture above, Caleb and Sean began plotting against the adults right away. After lunch we took the boys to Monkey Joe's to play for a couple of hours. We knew they had plans to run, jump and scream so we took them to a place built for boys to run, jump and scream....and boy did they!! Check out some of the pictures taken at Monkey Joe's.

Caleb and Sean at the bottom of the small slide.

This is Sean climbing up the wall to slide down the other side. Believe it or not Sean (only two) could climb up by himself and was able to hold his own with the big kids.

Caleb is an "old pro" at Monkey Joe's so he was showing Sean all the different things he could climb and jump and slide on. Sean just followed him like he was one of the big kids.

Wait Caleb!!! I think I knocked my tooth loose that time.

Well, look, here is Monkey Joe himself!!!!

After Monkey Joe's we all went out for dinner a O'Charley's. We all had a great dinner but the company was the best thing of all. The boys had a great time together.

After dinner Kim and Caleb went home and Dawn, David, and Sean came back to our house. Poor Sean had not gotten a nap all day except for about 10 minutes in the car on the way to Monkey Joe's. He was pooped. He always goes to bed good and Saturday night was no different except he now sleeps in the big boy bed. He was so tired he slept until after 8:00am. Then he just got up, picked out a couple books and went back to his bed. Dawn opened the door about 9:00am and he was just reading in his bed.

After Kim and Caleb got out of church, they came over for lunch. We all had lunch and let Sean and Caleb play for a while before Dawn and David got on the road back to Alpharette.The boys played with the race cars until they were ready to leave.

We all enjoyed the visit so much but I really think Caleb and Sean got the most out of it. They always have such a great time playing together.

Lightning, Lightning everywhere...and it follows us!!

2008-07-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

Just to keep you all up to date we have been having some lightning problems....to say the least. First the lightning hit my computer in Ocala (which they say is the Lightning Capitol of the United States). I could not turn my computer on at all. So we called the City Advantage guys and they were going to send a box for me to send my computer in for repair to the Augusta address. That meant we needed to return early to Augusta. When we got home the box was waiting for us on the front porch. Long story short; I sent it to California and they replaced the entire System Board and returned it to me in about two weeks...and I did not lose any files or pictures!!! Cost Zero Dollars, getting my computer back and working, PRICELESS!! While it was gone I had to go to the library every day because I do everything by computer, banking, pay bills, e-mail, and keep in touch with the rest of the world.

Then....the Saturday before I got my computer back on Monday.....lightning struck again, this time in Augusta. We lost, the big TV (50 inch); the little TV (13 inch), the phone system, the entire alarm system, the coffeemaker, and the socket the coffeemaker was plugged into. Jimmy spent the whole next week getting electricians, the alarm folks, the telephone folks, etc together so they could verify what was lost due to lightning. We had the complete alarm system replaced, and we replaced the coffeemaker. It seems Mr. Coffee does not make the one we had any longer so we had to get another type. We also replaced both TVs, which we upgraded from what we had before.

Well, we are about back to normal again and looking forward to Sean visiting this weekend. Oh yes, he will also bring his parents, Dawn and David.

Sleuths Mystery Dinner Theatre

2008-06-18T13:31:00.000-07:00

While Dawn was in Orlando, Jim and I wanted to take her out to dinner. There are several "Dinner Theatres" in Orlando but we chose the Sleuths Mystery Dinner Show. We heard that, not only was the show good, but the food was very good also. It was one of those audience participation plays in which someone gets killed and the audience is suppose to figure out 'who done it'. The play we saw was called "Kim & Scott Tie the Knot". Long story short; the groom gets killed and the best man 'done it'. But the funny part was when the 'bride' got up and declared that she needed, "Something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue". Her dress was new, she borrowed a napkin from an audience member, her garter was blue, but she still needed 'something old'. Then she came down off the stage, stood in front of Jimmy and ask, "Would you be my old thing?" Of course he said he would. Then she proceeded to take him back stage. In a few minutes he stumbled out onto the stage with red lip prints all over his face and said, "Boy, this is the best wedding I have ever been to". To this the father of the bride said, "This may be the last wedding you ever go to". It was so funny seeing Jimmy as part of the play.

The pictures below are of Jimmy and the actress that played the "bride". The earmuffs were from her costume but she just put them on Jimmy's head. We really did have a great time!!

Orlando with Dawn

2008-06-18T12:35:00.000-07:00

Dawn "had" to go to Orlando for some training at work and that was a great excuse for Jim and I to meet her in Orlando. We drove from Ocala, only a little over an hour, to pick her up at the Orlando Airport. We actually arrived in Orlando before Dawn boarded the plane in Atlanta, just to be sure we could find the Airport and to look around a bit. When we called her to say we were almost to Orlando she was concerned that we would get tired just waiting for her in the Airport. Well, we didn't. You should see this Airport!! The picture below is the Orlando Airport/Lobby of the Hyatt Hotel. I have never seen a hotel and an airport put together like this. It was really neat!!

.....and we were busy the whole time. We went to Starbucks....then to Sea World....then to Starbucks....then to Disney World....then Starbucks.....then Universal Studios....then Starbucks....OK, you get the idea, plenty of caffine before we left the airport.

....and we met old friends

.....and we made new friends

Jimmy's new friend could not speak English and Jimmy does not speak Spanish but all three of them had fun being "Goofy".

....ALL IN THE ORLANDO AIRPORT. Then Dawn arrived and we took her to her hotel. The hotel was fabulous!! It was like a big Las Vegas hotel!! Pictures below. That is what you get when you work for a large company (not the government). We stayed at the Holiday Inn (not pictured because is could not compare).

After we got settled in our hotels we all went to dinner together. The dinner was go much fun it deserves it's own entry. See "Sleuth Mystery Dinner"

Dinner with Anne and Richard!!

2008-06-14T17:10:00.000-07:00

This evening I had dinner with some old friends who are currently living in the Poconos. That is a very nice place where Yankees live, but Anne has not forgotten how to talk yet. I could still hear a "y'all" coming from her every once in a while. They were joined by Doreen and John Houpt and Ann Rodgers. We all had a great meal at Sconyers Bar-B-Q and got caught up on what is happening with each other. It was a very nice evening and it was a joy to see friends. The pictures below are of Anne and Richard, Anne and John Houpt, Doreen Houpt and Ann Rodgers.
PS I just wanted to add that Anne had a present for each of us. She gave us a really cute change purse from the Pocono Mountains and inside the change purse was a refrigerator magnet from Philadelphia and three quarters. The three quarters are to pay the toll across the river when we come to visit her. We also got directions to her house and a standing invitation to visit. It was very thoughtful.

Aqueduct Park, Augusta, Georgia

2008-06-11T17:23:00.000-07:00

As Florida residents visiting Georgia, Jim and I decided to try to see all the "interesting" things in Georgia, starting with Augusta. Well, we caught the tail end of Mary Morrison during a News Break talking about Aqueduct Park opening today. So we called around and found out that "Aqueduct Park" was on the Augusta Canel near Sibly Mill. Since we had nothing else to do....we went out to find it and were really pleasently surprized!! It was really cool!! There are two beautiful waterfalls flowing into a lagoon, that you can swim in, framed by the aqueducts, which were created by Italian stonemasons in 1850. The best thing is this park was cleaned up by Augusta citizens, who call themselves "The Saturday Crew". They have been coming out to this place every Saturday for the past year cleaning it up. The pictures below were taken this morning when it was opened up by Mayor Deke Copenhaver. It was also attended by Commissioner Betty Beard, who was helped down the steep path by Austin Rhodes. I also saw a couple old friends, i.e. CSM (Retired) Hussy and Charles Stewart. Charles retired from the Directorate of Training in 2005 and it was great to see him. I hope you enjoy the pictures and take the opportunity to visit Aqueduct Park. Be sure to click on the video of the guy diving.

The Blue Man Group

2008-05-29T17:07:00.000-07:00

On 28 May 08 Jim and I went to see "The Blue Man Group" at Universal Studio in Orlando. It really was a great show!! We had seats on the second row and the first thing they told you was to "put on your poncho as soon as you get to your seat." Every seat in the first several rows was supplied with a poncho, just in case some "unknown material" came your way from the stage. At the end of the show they started hundreds of rolls of crepe paper from the back of the auditorium and it was pulled, hand over hand, from row to row, until it covered the entire audience. It was really funny. I won't tell you everything but if you get the chance to see the show you should do it. Here are a couple pictures. They probably aren't very good because I took them with my cell phone instead of my camera.

Memorial Day 2008

2008-05-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

All give some; but some give all!!

Jim and I attended the Memorial Day celebration in Ocala, Florida. It was held in the Vetrans Park, which is just across the street from the Condo. I was very impressed. The people of Ocala are very patriotic. They held a band concert, then laid a wreath to honor all fallen Soldiers and even had a flyover of old World War II planes. It was very nice and I was glad we stopped when we saw all the flags. I have added some other pictures below.

After that moving ceremony, we just turned the car West and programed "State Parks" into the Garmin. We made it to two state parks, Ranbow Springs State Park and Crystal River State Archaeological Site, as well as three antique shops. Let me tell you a little about each park because they were so different.

Rainbow Springs State Park

Rainbow Springs really surprized us in the number of people that were using the park. There were hundreds of people!! The swimming area is a springs, which means that the water is at 72 degrees all year around. That makes the water very cold, even in the summer. All the same....a lot of people were swimming. They also rent canoes to take down the Rainbow River. We are going to do that some time this summer (maybe). The pictures are beautiful but I did see many people who reinforced why I should not wear a bathing suit.

Crystal River State Archaeological Site

Cyrstal River is also a beautiful river but the park is really an archaeological site. We saw pre-Columbian ceremonial sites. It was very interesting and we got to talk to a couple guys fishing. Both had caught fish. The pictures show a boat in the river but shortly after that picture the river "traffic" really picked up and there were at least 12 boats and 10 jet skis on the river at the same time.

Taking Sean to the Circus!!

2008-05-09T12:53:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, 4 May, we drove to Alpharette to go with Dawn, David, and Sean to the Shrine Circus. We arrived very shortly before Dawn and Sean got home from Church. We all, with David driving, (because driving in Atlanta takes a special talent) left for the Circus about noon. Dawn had free tickets and this Circus included a carnival with it. It had a lot of rides and games of chance.

Sean really enjoyed watching the Circus (as long as he had his "sword" to play with) for about 20 minutes. Then just sitting in the bleachers got old for him. But he had a ball at the petting zoo. He got to feed goats and sheep. We kept asking Sean if he wanted to ride this or play with that and he always said "No, no!!". Then Grandpa said, "Come on Sean, lets ride the horse", and he shocked all of us when he said, "OK". After he rode the horse he wanted to ride the camel!! Boy, was he a brave boy!!

We all went out for dinner that night and enjoyed each others company. The pictures below are:
1) Sean feeding the goats

2) Sean cleaning up after feeding the goats

3) Sean riding the horse

4) Sean riding the camel

5) Sean at dinner

....as you see Sean was the main attraction.

Caleb spends the weekend

2008-04-27T13:45:00.000-07:00

Caleb spent the weekend and we had a lot of fun with him. I am putting out some pictures of Caleb at Monkey Joe's on Saturday. We went there when Sean was staying with us for a few days and both boys loved it, so we took Caleb back. Some of the pictures are of the "stinky feet" discussion Jimmy and Caleb had at Monkey Joe's. They both had a good time and I spent a lot of time saying, "Boys, boys, boys". I don't know which one was the worst.

On Sunday we went to walk up and down Riverfront. I think we walked poor Caleb's legs off but he made the entire walk, about 2 miles. Also, he played in the playground, and please look at the video of him going hand over hand across the monkey bars. He really did a great job!!

Next weekend we will be going to Atlanta to the Circus with Sean and Dawn. I will be sure to put some pictures of that visit when I get back. I just love being retired!!

Ocala Horse Fever

2008-04-16T08:42:00.000-07:00

As most of you know our Condo is located in Ocala, Florida, in Marion County. Ocala/Marion County, according to the United States Department of Agriculture census, has more horses and ponies than any other county in the nation. As "The Horse Capital of the World", the are project of "Horse Fever" was perfect for Ocala. In September 2001, 52 live-size horses designed and decorated by local artists were displayed throughout Ocala. In March 2002, after being on display for six months the horses were sold at auction with the proceeds shared by the Marion Cultural Alliance and a local charity of the buyer's choice. Many of these horses are still displayed in Ocala by businesses or in the "town square". Below are some of the pictures I have taken. I hope you enjoy them.

The Condo kitchen is done!!

2008-03-27T12:17:00.000-07:00

I wanted to add a couple pictures to the blog to show the final product of the kitchen in the Condo. Also, a picture of my "desk", which has been fit into what used to be a closet. There are still things to do but at least I can cook now.

Caleb playing Baseball

2008-03-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple videos of Caleb playing Baseball. One video is Caleb hitting the ball and making a home run (except for one little trip at third base). The other is Caleb catching the ball and throwing it to first base. He is getting to be a really good little baseball player.

Dawn and David's Trip to Italy

2008-03-23T14:00:00.000-07:00

I wanted to add a blog with some pictures from Dawn and David's trip to Italy. We kept Sean for them about 5 days. We had such a great time with Sean while Dawn and David enjoyed themselves in Italy. The first picture is Dawn and David in Florence.

The next picture was taken in Venice and the next was taken in Rome. The last picture is New York taken from the top of the Empire State Building.

Sean's Visit with Grandma & Grandpa

2008-03-12T15:07:00.000-07:00

What do you get when your parents take a 10 day trip to Italy?? If you are Sean Abercrombie you get to stay with your grandparents. We went to Alpharetta on Wednesday, 5 March, to pick him up and we brought him back to Augusta on Thursday. Sean really was a good little traveler on the trip to Augusta. He spent the almost 3 hour drive pointing out to us each and every truck, tractor, and crane on the road.

While he was staying with us, Kim brought Caleb over to play with him. Sean would wake up in the morning saying, "Play with Caleb". The highlight was our trip to "Monkey Joe's" on Saturday. Sean was not sure he wanted to get into those "blow up" slides, but once he got the hang of it you could not keep up with him. He did not want to stay in the "little slide" but he wanted to follow Caleb through the "obstacle course". So Kim and Caleb gave him a little assistance to get through the hard parts but he went down the big slide and went back for more. Here are some pictures and videos from Monkey Joe's.

After Monkey Joe's we went to eat. Sean then took a bath and was ready for bed that night.

We took Sean to his other grandmother, Jenny, on Monday. We sure did enjoy Sean's visit but I know Jenny will also enjoy him while Dawn and David are gone.

Caleb playing Basketball

2008-03-03T12:37:00.000-08:00

Here is a posting that I have been trying to get up for a while. The pictures are of my oldest grandson, Caleb. Caleb is five years old and he played basketball for the first time this year. He is the youngest on his team but he has a heart big as all outdoors. The pictures are not the best because they were taken from the stands and I could not get him to "pose for the paparazzi" while he was playing. As you will see in the little clip below, once he gets the ball he keeps it as long as he can. He likes basketball and has improved so much during this short season. Now he is getting ready for baseball.

3 Kings Condominum in Ocala

2008-03-01T05:19:00.000-08:00

Jim and I have owned a two bedroom, two bath condominium in Ocala, Florida for the past 20 years. We have rented it out all that time but since we retired we have decided to fix it up . These condos were build in the early 70s and still had the "avocado green" bathtubs, sinks, etc., so the "fix up" turned into a big project.

One thing I will say about construction is that "Murphy's Law" is alive and well in this industry. But I don't take it personally any more because I have decided that it doesn't matter who you are, a movie star, millionaire, or the Queen of England, Lowe's will still lose your oven, the cabinets will not be ready on the day promised, and electricians and plumbers still won't return your calls or work on Saturday.

I will post a few "before" and "during" pictures and soon, very soon I hope, I will be able to post some "after" pictures.

KITCHEN BEFORE:

KITCHEN DURING:

KITCHEN AFTER (sort of): This is just the cabinets installed. Please notice this kitchen is not functional. We have no oven, cook top, dishwasher or sink. But it is another step in the right direction. I will post pictures when we get those things but this will show you the difference between then and now.

Sean's 2nd Birthday

2008-02-26T13:22:00.000-08:00

Jim and I went to Alpharette, Georgia last week for our grandson, Sean's, 2nd birthday. Boy, did Dawn out do herself with this party. She is so cleaver!! It was a "Cars" party based on the movie. I am sure everyone with children or grandchildren has seen the movie. Dawn had signs in the yard saying "Route 66" and a "Pin the car on the finish line" game and a "McQueen" pinata. We (I helped) put together the cutest cake. It was made of 24 cup cakes then iced over the whole top to look like one cake but when it came time to "cut the cake" Dawn just gave out the cup cakes. We also baked about a hundred cookies in the shape of "2's". Kim and Caleb drove up from North Augusta. Caleb is the "best kept secret" for keeping Sean happy. They play together so good.

Sean "helping" with the cookies and Caleb and Sean playing.

Cake before and after.

Retirement is just a new start.

2008-01-12T09:59:00.000-08:00

Well, this is going to be another new thing to start along with retired life. I am excited because this blog could be a great way to keep in touch with family and friends. I will probably attach too many pictures but you know what they say "a picture is worth a thousand words" and pictures of my family is worth a whole library.

I guess I should start at the beginning of our retirement which was a dinner our girls (Kim and Dawn) gave for us at the Blue Willow Inn. It was so great to get the family together and, also eat good food. After dinner Kim and Dawn gave us some very precious things, a card from Kim & Dawn that all parents would envy, a picture book of all the pictures taken at my retirement dinner at Maccroni Grill, and a Garmin GPS system. Wow!! What more could anyone ask for?? Below are a few pictures from that dinner.

Retirement Dinner at Macaroni Grill

2007-12-27T14:05:00.000-08:00

I had a retirement dinner at the Macaroni Grill in Augusta, Georgia which was such a great time. I don't know about anyone else but I really enjoyed the evening. Most of the preparations were put together by Mary Recchia and she did a great job. I would like to add a few pictures of the very special people who attended.

The first picture is of me with both my daughters and my granddaughter. From left to right are Kim Jones (oldest daughter), Crystal Wyatt (grandaughter), me, and Dawn Abercrombie (youngest daughter).

The pictures below are some more pictures taken at the dinner. If anyone would like to see all the pictures, just e-mail me and I will send you a link with all the pictures on it.