Happenings

Well, the past few days have been busy! Thursday morning, we drove to TN for Thanksgiving dinner with my side of the family. It was a great dinner! Mom did a wonderful job, as usual, with the majority of the meal. Nunda fixed sweet potato casserole for the first time. Channing ate a ton of Sister Schubert rolls. We all missed Justin and my other nephew Blake, who was working. My brother David works for a cable company and gave my parents a test-run (so to speak) of cable television. I think my parents are some of the only people in the country who do not have cable! Dad seemed to really enjoy surfing all the channels, since he's used to only having 6 or 7. Uncle Don, Dad's brother joined us for dinner, dessert, and some good family fun. Later that evening, Mom and Dad told us that Aunt JoAnn had passed away early that morning. We were sad and surprised to hear the news.

Friday was quite relaxing....we stayed in our pajamas all day! Channing hung a couple pictures for my mom, and that's about all we did until it was time to go to Uncle Gene's visitation in Mississippi. It was good to see that side of the family again, although the circumstances certainly were not what we had wanted. Channing, Shelby, and I spent Friday night with Nunda, John, and Morgan. Shelby loves their two dogs, Annie and Lacey. She had a ball playing with them. Funny story from our time at Nunda's. We left Shelby's Pac 'N Play at my parents' house, and when we got in bed, we realized that Justin's bed was a double, not a queen. Channing and I could not move with Shelby in between us, so he went out to the couch and enjoyed a cozy night's sleep.

After Uncle Gene's funeral on Saturday we returned to Mom and Dad's house. Channing, Shelby, and I went to Target for a couple things and ended up with quite a bit more than that since infant and toddler clothing was on sale! We also visited Wendy and her girls that evening. They were in the process of decorating their home for Christmas. When we walked in, Wendy pointed out that the top half of the tree was missing. I wonder if Ben the Christmas Grinch swiped it last year?! (Ever heard Shedaisy's song "Little Good-byes"??)

Sunday morning the three of us, along with Mom and Dad, left for Kentucky. Aunt JoAnn's visitation was that night. Just like with Uncle Gene's service, it is a shame that funerals are one of the few times when everyone gets together.

Aunt JoAnn's service on Monday was lovely. What a wonderful legacy she has left behind!

Today the three of us came home to Arkansas. We are so glad to be here! As I type this, Channing is gettting the tree ready to put the lights on. He is just about done with the "fluffing." I tried to help with the fluffing the first year or two, but gave up last year. That is a job that only Channing can do!