Things Remembered

Yes, I Know......

It has been over two weeks since I put anything on the blog. Life gets really busy this time of year. Not only the holidays but this football family is hit from every direction....not to mention that Bow Season opens in the middle of October and oh yeah, we have 5 immediate family birthdays starting September 30th........add Meredith and that makes 6!
so....this will be lllooonnngggggg!

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving the Sunday before. Josh and Meredith were going to Texas so we got together early to make their trip easier. We must be rubbing off on Meredith because they had an adventure at the airport.......sounded like a Lawson Family Tale to me!

Believe it or not......I do not have Thanksgiving pictures. We had a busy afternoon....met for a Thanksgiving supper but first we had to........make our Christmas card pictures. So.....I have those but can't put any of them up because you haven't gotten your card, yet!

I think we had a great Thanksgiving. The food was really good and we had fun making our Christmas card pictures.

John and I had a low key Thanksgiving Day. Brady and Kim were at Yellow Creek with Donnie and Dianne. Courtney and Dave were at Lake Martin with Mel and Ellen and Josh and Meredith were on a plane to Texas to be with Bart and Catherene.

John was going to check the gas wells since we didn't have anything we had to do and I decided to go with him. We got up early, got a biscuit and took off. I had a great time enjoying the country and the great weather.

See....I told you it was a beautiful day and a relaxing and fun way to spend the morning. John and I came home and ate left overs from our Thanksgiving meal and then made some turkey corn chowder with the leftover turkey. I am not a big turkey fan. We usually don't cook a turkey but we had to have one for our Christmas card.....you'll see....I should be mailing them in a few days. I remember when Emma was really little......one Thanksgiving she asked where the turkey was......all they talked about at day care was eating turkey for Thanksgiving.....John pointed to the ham and said....there it is....she was happy!

Oh, Christmas Tree....Oh, Christmas Tree

We always have a real tree. We go to Birmingham every year and go with Courtney and Dave to get their tree. They also, have a real tree but don't have a truck to get it home. I love going to a Christmas Tree Farm.....I am still a big kid at heart. So, since the family was going to be at Courtney's for Lily's Baby Blessing she wanted to get her tree early and put it up. So, off we went the day before Thanksgiving to get their tree, Lawson's "Charlie Brown Tree" and our tree. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed it!

The Iron Bowl

We did not go this year. Our life is so busy that the possibility of watching it calmly was so appealing. Yes, we had a good time and watched the game with Alabama and Auburn fans. We had a good afternoon.

Hope you can read this....noticed it on the back of Brady and Kim's van.

Lily's Baby Blessing
The Sunday after Thanksgiving was Lily's Baby Blessing. She was lucky to have every member of her immediate family minus one. Pretty good for two big families. The blessing was given by Courtney and Dave's Sunday School teacher and friend. He did a great job. It was such a special time.

Let's Eat
Courtney and Dave invited the family for lunch after the Baby Blessing.

Decorating the Tree at Church
I stayed up at Courtney's until late Sunday afternoon after the Baby Blessing. Melissa sent me a message and said that they were putting up and decorating the tree at church. We have a huge tree at church that we decorate with paintable Christmas balls made by present and past church members. It is really pretty but a pain to put up and decorate so.......instead of going home to Berry.......I went on to Fayette to help decorate!

BCS Game and Bowl Games
John and I decided that we wanted to go to the SEC Championship Game in Atlanta. WE have been all over for Bama games. We have been to Pasadena, New Orleans and Penn State recently but we have never been to Atlanta for the SEC game. So......I bought SEC tickets. Yes, I paid extra for them but I felt like I got a decent deal. Well........we had them in our hands for about 4 days when Alabama got beat by Texas A&M....oh, well.....then Josh called with GREAT NEWS. Southern Arkansas University had been invited to The Heart of Texas Division II Bowl Game and guess what........it was the same day as the SEC game.......well, hope we can get close to what we paid for our tickets! I decided to wait and maybe try to sell them to the team who had a chance of going to the BCS Game. I was a little worried but had decided to look at it this way.......I would have gladly given, that truly little amount of money, for Josh's team's success......thinking of it that way helped.....because I really am a cheapskate!
Well.........I go to bed the next Saturday night......EARLY ( i will tell you why later) and woke up to John holding up our SEC tickets and telling me they just became worth what I paid for them and more.
SO........while the Crimson Tide was playing in Atlanta....we were in Copperus Cove, Texas watching SAU play.
John and I drove out, Meredith flew into Austin, Friday night, and her Aunt and Uncle picked her up, Brady, Courtney and Lily flew into Killeen, Texas, Saturday morning.
We tailgated with the head coach's wife and family and watched the SEC game. I think they were a little amazed at how enthusiastic us Alabama fans can get!
WE had just won the SEC game as SAU kicked off. SAU played a great game......they had a lot of hurt players....at the last minute, literally....they lost by one point! I think Josh was proud of them and the great season they had. The best season for SAU in many years!
I know the Lawson family is proud of him and I think the SAU Family was impressed that his big brother and sister flew all the way out there for the game. Brady and Courtney had a big part in making their little brother the person that he is. So blessed that my kids love each other!
Brady, Courtney and Lily flew back home Sunday morning and Meredith rode home with us! Thanks to Kim and David for holding down the fort in Alabama!

OOPS!!!

I mentioned a little earlier that I went to bed early......the night all the teams lost that put Bama back in the running for the BCS game.....here's why. I headed down to tailgate with Meredith and her parents along with Brady, Kim and the kids to celebrate Meredith's birthday. I didn't make it......I wrecked as I was coming off the Eastern Bypass on Jack Warner. I made a stupid mistake that technically and insurance wise is my fault but one of those things that is really everybody's fault. Four cars links ahead of me a car slammed on their brakes.....I was car 4 and I slammed on my brakes as hard as possible but it was a hair too late and I watched as my car crumpled up, in slow motion it seemed, under a jacked up truck!

Well, I was okay, the truck didn't even have a scratch and the young driver was fine and that is what counts.

I didn't get to see Meredith on her birthday. My sweet Daughter in law, Kim, came and got me while the police waited on the tow truck. Let me say here.......The Tuscaloosa County policeman who helped us could not have been nicer. You sometimes only hear the bad remarks and I felt like this needed to be noted. He was kind and helpful!

One nice thing......as we were waiting on the side of the road.....me, Kim and the girls.....a man slowed down, asked if we were okay and asked if we were going to the game. Kim said no that we didn't have tickets....so, he handed us two tickets! How sweet was that. We called Brady and JB3....who were hunting tickets and met them on a corner and handed them the tickets.....it made me feel better!

SUPER SIX

I was exhausted the Monday after we got back from the Bowl game and was pretty sorry around the house, the next day was Tuesdays with MeMe and then Wednesday, Sue and I did our annual Smith's Variety stocking stuffer shopping trip.

Melissa, my buddy, had sent a text and asked if I wanted to go to the Super Six with a group from church. We live in Berry but go to church in Fayette. so....we always know and are close to a couple of kids on the Fayette County Football Team plus one of the coaches goes to our church. Sooo......I mean why would I want to stay home......I have nothing to do or get ready for....not!!! but I went. Yep, they came in the church van and picked me up, Wednesday night, and we got to Montgomery to spend the night at a little after midnight.

FCHS was playing for the 3A State Championship at Auburn University. They lost but they have a lot to be proud of and I am glad I went. It's always fun to have a little road trip with friends!!!

Time to Sing

I sent Courtney a text and told her that I might come up to Birmingham on Saturday if I could get rested up after all our whirlwind trips. I needed to go to the outlet mall. She said they had a Christmas Party Saturday night so why didn't we just come Sunday and see Lawson sing at church and then go to the outlet mall. So, that is what we did. Law Man did a great job singing and his group sang one song with sign language.......Oh my, so sweet!

Eating after Church

Courtney and Dave had cooked Sunday dinner....thanks to the crockpot.....Dave said Kim's (Lawson Party of Five) blog and FB posts had inspired them to start using the crockpot. It was delish but I think we can see who enjoyed lunch the most!

Since the outlet malls are right by Bass Pro
Courtney had not taken the kids to see Santa and get a picture. So......John and I left after lunch to go get a time card for the Santa line at the Bass Pro Shop while Lily took a nap. Courtney, Dave and the kids arrived and we had to wait about an hour. I am telling you....that Bass Pro Shop is the place to be at Christmas.....obviously!!!
Oh and......you don't feel like you have had kids if.....you don't have a SANTA picture with a SCREAMING BABY!

Whewwwww.....that's all for now!

Central Church of Christ

A week ago our church came together to organize 200 shoeboxes for Samaritan's Purse. This idea was suggested by our small groups young parents. It was a great idea and everybody got behind the idea.

I first became aware of this way back in 1997. Josh did this through Berry High School when he was a senior and I got to personally view how it affected these young people. At that time it was a young venture and not as organized as it is now.....as in.....you just used shoes boxes that you had at home and did not have as many suggestions etc.

Every year I give my children or if they are married their family a Christmas book. I love if I can find a book that in someway identifies with something that has happened to that child or their family during the year. This was Josh's book Christmas 1997.

Each small group at church took on a certain category to be in charge of buying. My small group had kids toys.

We had our monthly after church lunch, a Marriage Blessing for a young couple you have recently started attending services and that included our lesson for the afternoon. Then we all gathered in the sanctuary to put together the shoeboxes.

I think everyone felt the BLESSING!