Look at what was all wrapped up

for MeMe and Pops All Fired Up

the perfect place to make a family memory

that can be passed down

Kim made these for us

Look closely and you will see

that the football

and elephants on my

ALABAMA platter

are the hand prints of my

Grandchildren

Pops

got this coffee mug

It says

Pop's Little Hunters

The deer

and tree

are also

Emma, Abby and

John Brady's fingers

I fell in love with this

picture of

me and my girls

at

The Statue of Liberty

I wish I could

have gotten a better shot

It is a great picture!

I have dropped hints

all football season

that I wanted a

hounds tooth scarf

I believe they took the hint

I GOT THREE

and I love them!

Pops got his beloved

Bass Pro gift cards

You should see how that

man can shop at this place

It is his version

of my

outlet malls and Summit

And then there is one

of my passions

photo books from

Shutterfly

I have made about

fifteen of these books

and now I can make one more

Dave ventured down to

Barnes and Noble

to get this book

about the

HealthSouth scandal

He got it signed for Pops

If he is not being called

Pops

then friends call him

Big John

Josh overheard his Dad

say he needed a new drill

I knew Josh was getting it

I had to work to

keep him out of

Lowe's

so he wouldn't buy one!

Forgot to get a picture of Pops new shirt

and

the picture of me and the girls

at the

American Girl Restaurant

oops

HAVE I MENTIONED..........

I'm leaving on a jet plane

don't know when I'll be back again

That's not true

I just love that song

but I am flying out Monday morning for.......

New York City

yes.....two times in one month

I have always wanted to see that

ball drop

You might be wondering why I have a picture

of medicine on a blog post

about going back to

The Big Apple

Well....I am sick

The trip is paid for

I went to emergi care today

I think they all felt sorry

for me

I got four prescriptions

and

a shot

The doctor says

I will be fine

by

Monday!

It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year

I love Christmas

I love the decorations

I love the music. I love the shopping.

And I love Christmas Eve with my family

I always dread taking the decorations down. My house always seems so blah for a couple of days

I guess I am not the only one that feels that way.

I was reading Mary Alice's blog at Hocutt House

and liked her post of some of her decorations

since she was about to take them down

so.....I took a few pictures also

I bought this ceramic tree

at an estate sale several

years ago

It belonged to a lady here

in Berry

who loved to do ceramics

Berry Merry Christmas

Twas The Night Before Christmas

From Our Family
To Yours

Merry Christmas

The Lawson Family

They said it

I just returned from a wonderful trip to New York City with part of my family. The trip was to take Emma and Abby to see NYC and especially to take them to dinner at American Girl and for their first play to be on Broadway at NYC.
There are many wonderful memories but one statement I will always remember.......

We were seeing times Square for the first time
It was night
All lit up
Emma was walking in front holding Uncle Dave's hand
She looked up at Dave and said.....

Uncle Dave, "I am going to grow up and live here"!

Also, Brady and John Brady spent the weekend with Pops at the Creepy Hollow hunting camp.

Pops said they cooked, rode in the woods, went hunting and just enjoyed being with JB3. Pops was so tickled because John Brady had such a good time.

As it was getting close to time for Brady and JB3 to go home

Pops asked JB3 if he would come back

He looked up at Pops and said.....

Pops, "I'm not leaving"!

Find That Recipe, MeMe

Kim, Emma and Abby gave me this

Tavern On The Green

cookbook

Emma told me

MeMe, find the french toast recipe and give it to Pops

This is a very telling statement

1. The girls had french toast

2. Pops is known as the "cook"

I will cherish this for two reasons

1. The inscription on the front page

2. Tavern On The Green is closing

The Dreaded Airport Announcement

Your flight has been delayed

Your flight has been cancelled

Bad weather caused us to spend all Sunday afternoon and night

trying to jockey for a way to get home

After a few hours of thinking that we would

spend the night in the airport

we got on a very unexpected flight

The lady that let us on the flight

had been having a terrible day

she told us she wished she could get

all the people home

at one point I said to her

that very southern saying

"Bless Your Heart"

she looked surprised

An hour later

5 spots on a plane came open

we were 3rd in the line

Dave held up 5 fingers and pointed to us

as this same lady glanced his way

She pointed to us and said

GO

Dave thinks it was because

I said

Bless Your Heart!

Homework - Homework - Homework

Homework doesn't go away......even when you are in

The Big Apple

Saturday night

we came back to the loft

we picked up a pizza on the way

and

Emma and Abby did all their

make up work

for missing school

Thursday and Friday

and did the homework

for those nights

The good thing was that

they had a bag of

specially picked by them

M&Ms

from the M&M store

to eat while

they did their work

New York Troopers

You couldn't have asked a 7 and 8 year old to have

done better than Emma and Abby did on our New York trip

They were real troopers

They kept up with all the walking and didn't complain during a day of bitter cold

Waiting on the play

"Mary Poppins"

to begin

New Amsterdam Theater

FAO Schwartz



The piano
that was in the movie
??
was it
BIG

Tavern on The Green

The last time I will ever eat there

The doors close for the

last time

December 31st

Time To Remember

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRADY

What do I remember about the day Brady was born?

Of course....pain

But...that was soon forgotten

I remember

feeling like I was floating on a cloud

Surely, I had the most beautiful and perfect baby..ever!

It is a wonderful feeling when a baby is born

sometimes I think of how many babies have been born

and I am in awe that everybody

still looks on it as the most amazing experience

Daddies were not allowed in the delivery room

when Brady was born

The doctor told me that John

dressed in boots, western shirt and cowboy hat

( that years style, I promise)

threw his hat to the ceiling when he told him he had a son

Hey, I was skinny enough to not mind you seeing this picture!

December 18, 1974

To put it in the words that we use to help John Brady understand
JB1 holding JB2

Happy Birthday Angie!

You might wonder how I always know when it is

Angie Bozeman Cannon's birthday......no calendar needed!

35 years ago today

Shelia Bozeman and Joy Lawson

were expecting babies

Both due December 17th

We both went to the hospital

December 17th

Angie was born at around 8:00 PM

Brady took his time and was born

December 18th at 12:03 AM Angie and Brady around 4 years old
So, go over to Angie's family blog and tell her
Happy Birthday

Now you know who's birthday is
Tomorrow

The Metro Card

Luckily, since Courtney lived in New York City for 6 years

Courtney and Dave know their way around the subway system

It is so much easier and faster to get where you are going than

in a cab

and a lot less horn blowing

and much cheaper

So..... we loaded up our Metro cards

and rode the subway

A little funny

Dave mentioned to us....

just after we barely all got in the door once...

that we need a plan should we accidently

get seperated on the subway

Dave suggested that if we get seperated to get off at the first stop and wait

and the person left behind

get on the next train and also get off at the next stop

It was only a little later in the

afternoon that we saw this happen

Three women were getting on together

one lady made it on and the doors closed

She was so shocked

She screamed and then said

WHAT DO I DO

So glad we had our seasoned NYC family with us!

312 East 22nd Street NY, NY

VRBO

We rented a three floor loft through VRBO.com. It was great. You got a feel of what it is like actually living in New York City. After a long day of walking it is so nice to have room to spread out, a kitchen for snacks, drinks and a quick breakfast. Two TVs and two baths. The best thing is how much cheaper it was than a hotel room!

The living room

A computer for us to use.
Behind Dave is a door to an outside deck

The girls room on the bottom floor.
There were two twin beds and I brought
a blow up twin mattress.
I slept on the other twin bed and Abby slept on the blow up
so they could both watch the TV as they fell asleep
You could walk out a door in the girl's room onto a brick patio.

The loft above the kitchen where Courtney and Dave slept

I didn't get a picture of Kim's room. She had a bedroom

with a double bed on the same floor as the girls.

That floor also had a kitchen area

and a bath.

LaGuardia Landing

When you walk through an airport with

two little girls

clutching

American Girl

dolls

Everyone knows where you are going!

ROLL

HEISMAN

ROLL

Congratulations Mark Ingram

We Love You!

THE BIG APPLE

We should be high in the sky about right now.

Emma, Abby, Kim and myself are headed to

New York

to soak up the Christmas Season.

There is nothing more fun than

Christmas in New York

and

I can't wait to see it through the

eyes of my

Granddaughters!

********Courtney and Dave are here too!********

The Lawson Family official New York tour guides

I need to have a talk with "Guard Lizard"

John was gone to the hunting camp for a few days last week.

The last night that he was gone I walked into the downstairs bathroom to put up some towels

Something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye as I bent down to put up the towels.

I slowly raised up and looked over the edge of the sink

There he was
A smaller version of Guard Lizard.

We have noticed that guard lizard has sent some of his relatives to guard us on trips.

We went to San Antonio a few weeks ago
and about half way there we saw a lizard riding on the hood

where the windshield wipers rest.

When we got to the hotel in San Antonio he was still there

I guess Guard Lizard thought I needed

someone to watch over me while John

was gone

John escorted him outside when he got home!

GAME CAMERA

John forgot and left his game camera disc in my camera. I thought this picture was so pretty.

The deer looks like it is enjoying the sunset

And...there are always some raccoons around that want their picture taken!

RETRO ALABAMA

John and I went to the same high school in Birmingham. That is
where we met. I was in the band and he played football.
Tyrone King, who played for Alabama in the 70's, also went to school with us. Of course, he was an outstanding football player and person!
Here, you can see pictures of him from my annual.
We were always so proud to see him on the field.
So, you can guess how proud we were to see the picture below on the front page of The Tuscaloosa News.

Yes, that is Tyrone's son playing for the Crimson Tide & celebrating the 2009 Iron Bowl victory!

Another little retro spot

Lawson is wearing an Alabama shirt that his Mom

wore when she was little