Sweet Southern Comfort

The south land has claimed my daughter as her own.
Yes, she's the one, who as a kid, always said she'd live in Alabama someday.
And so she does. And we visit....and we always leave in tears. It's going to get worse. It's bad enough now!

And...she's totally enmeshed, even traced her genealogy to prove that she's a Daughter of the Confederacy. And so there with the group she can join other descendants of the south: something I can claim no connection to. It's only through her daddy.

We just got home from a week-long visit. I have my pictures and the sweet memories. But let me say this: I love the south. I have gone for thirty years now, being married to my homegrown southern boy, we've always made the trip and visited. But now things are going to change.

My grandson is there.

Yes, in case you didn't know it, our daughter and her husband are having a baby!
The first week of June!

We saw him this week; that precious little face, something that seemed impossible has happened, and a dream is about to come true. Through American invention, genius, and pure ingenuity, Jamie was able to be treated for infertility problems and now because of that great American spirit and innovation, we have the ability to look through the womb and see the precious baby inside!

Here's the first picture of our little fella's face...distorted maybe just a bit by the amniotic fluid and the way he's all squished up in there...but what a joy to see him! They even could tell us he has lots of hair...the shadows showed it sticking up all over his head!

We went with the other set of grandparents and our youngest son and we all saw him at the same time. What a special moment that was...the whole day sparkled.

I was able to be there for the baby shower...in a little town nearby at the old "Freight House", a really neat historical building--now a restaurant-- that once held freight from the train that still rumbles through town many, many times a day. Three trains went through during the baby shower alone.

I was so happy to be able to be there for the fun....

and to see friends and family...

And to see my grand doggies....first there's trusty old Bryant, the super hound.

And his little girl, Daisy.
(She's so EEYORE-ish!)
Just can't get enough of those forehead wrinkles and sadder than sad eyes!

And we got to see my little grandpug, Josie.
I tried her out in the crib.
Cute.
But not quite as cute and sweet as a real live baby.
(She did well for the tryout but didn't make the cut...sorry Jamie!)
She wuvs me, can you tell?

We made a few short road trips, while there. We always have to go one day for an "adventure"...so we did.

And...I wanted so much to stop and ask...
"WILL YOU PLEASE SELL ME THIS HOUSE?!"
(But I'm a chicken!)

And...did I mention I got to see DAISY?!

Well...I did!

Oh...and we worked on the baby's nursery:
It's retro cowboy themed.
I think you'll like it.

Here's a few teaser pictures...
I have more! Oh yes, I do!

And. Did I tell you that our family loves John Wayne? So much that he's in our grandson's nursery.
We wish there were more men like The Duke.
Politically incorrect, I know.
But we really don't care.
It's the American way.

Oh, while we were there, I stalked some real estate. And I talked Lem into a new project...our second home. Picked up fer cheap on a nearby mountain.

Sweet Home Alabama....

Stars Fell on Her.
She's the HEART of Dixie.

And she's where part of MY heart lives.

(And, I am JUST KIDDIN' about the house. So stop thinking about how crazy I am!)

More details coming on all that took place last week during our visit. For now, this is just an update because I've got a busy week coming up. And on top of that, I'm a little loopy from being on the road so much this week, eleven hours just today!

My niece's wedding shower is coming up Sunday, got to get busy on that!

But from my count, I've got at least SEVEN STORIES in me from this little trip.
(One big story from the trip is that our eleven-year-old Suburban, Dixie, made the trip one more time!)

I bet you can't wait to hear those seven stories, can you stand to listen? And to look at a million pictures?

Okay, but don't say I never warned ya!

And...I'll be by this week or next...to catch up with all of you on your blogs!
I've missed you!

Josie the Pug as Dolly Parton....

How's this for a cute costume?!?
This is my daughter and son-in-law's pug, Josephina, in her costume.
I thought it might make you smile, I know I did when I saw this!

My Granddoggies...

Here's the pug known as JOSIE (real name Josefina) ...she WUVS her Nana...and Nana is going to see Josie after Christmas. Josie has the most expressive little face and the most wonderful little curly tail that I love to uncurl, over and over....

Here's DIXIE (A redbone hound)...such a pretty girl, with soft velvety fur, she's gloriously squishy right now, she has all this extra skin that she's going to be growing into and she's soft and sweet with those brown eyes that beg. Her Nana loves to squish all those exta rolls of warm fur! Get ready, Dixie, Nana's gonna squish you to pieces!

And here's my oldest granddoggy, another redbone BRYANT, he's big and bad, sorta shy and quiet, loves Nana but tries to pretend that he doesn't really care (I so much know all about that game....). He's a bit aloof and when you warm him up a little, he's very playful and fun. He also LOVES a good watermelon on a hot summer day and he loves to play basketball. (No, he can't shoot, silly, but boy can he run after the basketball and put that baby in his mouth!!!!!) He has a huge bark and is protective of his yard and regularly patrols his territory, what a man!