Last April I picked up a bag of coordinated scraps at a quilt shop in Iowa while I was there with some friends. These served as inspiration for Sawyer's quilt. Since his room has a barnyard theme, I thought the ducks and puppies would be perfect. Here you see him, his mom Sarah and me with the quilt. I was very happy with the finished result and even more pleased that I could get it done by Christmas.
Addie sips a cup of tea with Nanna and "Sissy" at her brand new table and chairs on Christmas morning. As you can see, it's very good.
Drinking tea with Nanna is way more fun than drinking it alone, especially if Nanna give you little bits from her actual tea cup. Nanna is trying to bring the girls along in the correct way in honor of their African grandparents who definitely know how to make a proper cup of tea.
"Yes, Jasmine dear, this table is just what we needed. Now everyone will want to sit at the little table with us."
Jennifer's cousin, Alan, gets some help from Addison during the family Bingo game. Maria, Alan's wife, can be seen in the background. Alan and Maria were terrific hosts for this gala event. They had everything, including six different kinds of homemade pie and lots of toys that toddlers enjoy--something for everyone!
Addison and Jasmine enjoyed the rocking horse, which was just their size. Here Jasmine enjoys some face stretches for the assembled relatives.
Paul has adopted Jennifer's family as his own. Here he can be seen with Jennifer's cousin, JoAnn--one of the Baptist cousins. As you can see, they're on friendly terms.
Yes, this is Thanksgiving Day, outdoors for lunch. You'll note that Andrew and Paul are wearing sunglasses and that no one is wearing a coat. It was a lovely lunch. We saved our big meal for the evening indoors.
Poor little Sawyer was not himself for most of Thanksgiving as he had a bad ear infection that necessitated a visit to pediatric urgent care on Friday afternoon. His usual sunny disposition had its challenges since he could not eat or sleep well. When the medication he received did not include any flavoring his poor parents had their hands full trying to get him to take it. A kind pharmacist was able to remedy the problem on Saturday morning--the day Andrew and Sarah discovered their car had been broken into (two windows smashed) and their computer, etc. stolen. Fortunately, they were able to borrow Paul's van to return to Texas and the improved flavor of the medicine helped Sawyer to get some in his system.
The middle of November we journeyed to Austin when Paul had an unusual three days off. It was our first opportunity to see Sawyer since early July. My how he had grown. We enjoyed babysitting with him while his parents worked on Thursday and then spending time with his mom and dad on Friday.
This past weekend Paul drove to Memphis, TN to join Jennifer at the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapists' Annual Conference. He was able to take in the Civil Rights Museum while she attended the conference (a must see), but Saturday afternoon she was able to get away to go to the Memphis Botanical Gardens with him. Here you see a couple of shots at the gardens. We have visited several botanical gardens around the country, but noted this one was unique in its focus on trees. Above you see Paul with a very tall Southern Red Oak. Below he is standing in front of one of the fountains near the entry.
Jennifer attended the conference with colleagues Kristina Brown and Bill Robison from Forest. Both are professors and MFT faculty members. We also enjoyed spending time with Kristina's husband Tucker and Bill's wife, Laura.
