Yes, I am still here....

Man. Has it really been 2 months since my last blog? I remember posting that last week, right?..oh well. Time flies. Been a hot summer here at my house. But thankfully it has passed with no major health issues for me. I usually have at least one bout of bronchitis during the summer, but thank the good Lord, I have made it thru the worse of it without one it seems.
I'm getting anxious for the holidays too. Yep. Already have a christmas tree sitting in the hall..lol. It's still in the box, I just got it a few days ago. I ordered it from the Christmas Shoppe in Pigeon Forge this spring, and it's just arrived! That definately put me in the mood and it's debut now ups my tree count to 10. Gonna start putting them together the first week in Nov..we're off to Disney the second week, and thats when these "decorating elves" come in and do all my decorating for me! When I get home, everything is decorated and ready to enjoy for the season. I've always decorated big for Christmas, altho not to the scale that I have these past few years. I have some friends who like to decorate, and need money for Christmas, so I hire them to do it all while i'm away. That way I , well, actually Tony, doesn't have to deal with all the mess that comes along with decorating and they have some Christmas cash! Works for me. These same girls come back in and take it all down and store it for me too...I'm just not able to climb that ladder up and down to even finish out one tree, much less the others..so this has really been a blessing to me and has allowed me to carry on some of my decorating traditions. Wow! A blog about Christmas decorating already....but it will be here before you know it!


Something else that will be here, and not quick enough I might add, is our upcoming trip to Hawaii in January with my sister, Donna and her husband, Chad. I invited my brother, Darrell and his wife Tamara to go, but HE DECLINED! Can you believe it? He was just too scared of the plane ride. Donna said she was too, but she was gonna get over it. LOL. I don't blame him. Some fears you just can't seem to override, no matter how insignificant it seems to others. I've made the trip twice already, (and got some beautiful grandchildren out of the deal)...but it still makes me nervous. I know they say if it's your time to go, you're gonna go...but Darrell says he's not gonna get on a plane and say..."here I am"...lol. I told him if something happened to our plane and he lost us, he better not put "I told you so" on our tombstones..ha ha. I really wanted it to be a trip for all 3 of us. I don't remember us going on a vacation as a family, unless you count the annual 2 trips to Alabama that we took growing up. Those vacations consisted of going to Granny and Papa Brazier, and Granny and Papa Gray's. Now, i'm not gonna say we didn't have fun...but we didn't do anything just as our family..know what I mean? Darrell said we can get together and go to the Smokies as our "sibling" trip...yeah right....me and Donna said..."get over yourself and go to Hawaii with us"...and he finally agreed to go...but with much pleading, and trying to console him and reassure him...but in the end, I could tell he wasn't at all excited about it. Not one iota. So..I called him and let him off the hook. I'm very disappointed, and he's very relieved. Oh well...maybe someday we can do something together, but i'm pretty sure it's not gonna be the Smokies..ha ha...
Kristen had a girls night here at the house Fri nite...she's such a hoot. She gets a lot of her personality from her daddy, ugh....but honestly, i'm glad she's a people person. If she's with the older teen-agers, she just hangs right in there with em...and when she's around the 5yr olds..well..she can act just like them as well..(sometimes she will do that when they're not around...:)...kinda the "only child" syndrome I hear...but nonetheless...she's my oldest granddaughter, the one that officially earned me the title of "Granny"! It won't be long and the boys will be knocking on her door, giving Todd heart spasms like he did us...and I hope they're good strong ones too...he might as well get ready for it...And it looks like our darling Resiana is gonna be Ms Personality as well!...she loves being around the older girls too...she has done so well, it's amazing actually...bless her heart, when I told her that I was going to Hawaii, she asked me was I coming back...and I told her yes, it was just like the vacation when she went to Disney...we go to visit, but always come home. I asked her if she wanted to go back some day and she said, "on vacation like you and Pappy?" and I said yeah...that she would have to come back home to Alabama when it was time to leave. She thought about it a minute, and then nodded her head "yes"....she's such a blessing to us all...her story, her laugh, Lord I love to hear her laugh...when we were just learning about each other, and she would laugh, (she kinda cackled..lol)...and i'd say..."Lord, I hear that chicken!"...and she'd just laugh harder...that memory still brings a smile to my face when I think of that...she kinda took up with me in the beginning...several noticed it...which of course made my heart swell...but now, she's comfortable being around people for the most part and doesn't "need" Granny as much, but she still will come running, arms open wide, with that big ole grin of her's, to hug me when she sees me...and she loves her Pappy as well. And Crimsyn! You talk about Granny's buddy!...he loves his Granny! And that just thrills me too...when he sees me, it's all over folks...ha ha...I got it figured that he will be our last grandchild, so i'm trying to take in every moment of his babyhood...almost like I did my own...I want to know every new accomplishment, can't wait for him to walk, (I think I do, but that means he's getting bigger, leaving that baby stage behind)...so I dont know if I want him to or not..lol...me and Crystal have laughed and said we want to enjoy him at this stage as long as possible, but we don't want to make him retarded...ha ha...and Caden...sweet, loving, sneaky Caden..oh boy...this one is gonna make Slick pay for his raising alright...there is no way that Slick could have had a blood kin kid that would have been anymore like him...i'm serious..it's like being with Slick all over again...always wanting to make you laugh, but sneaky as a snake..he can tell some of the biggest yarns you ever heard too...and eats non-stop when he's at the house..If I know they're coming I try to have something on hand that they like, but with Caden I don't think it would matter...I mean, he even tried, and liked, turnip greens!!!! But I love that they come to Granny's and Pappy's and enjoy their time here...he is truly funny, until you laugh at him for something that wasn't supposed to be funny...then he's not happy...and that makes us laugh even more. Those episodes usually end with him stomping out of the room, but Tony usually has him laughing in no time again...And wow, Carter...he is so smart..and getting older...I don't feel like it will be too much longer before he comes to the Lord. He is very protective of his siblings...and is a perfectionist. Everything has to be just right. When he stays the night on a school night, and he has had to when the baby was in the hospital..he got up, 1st call, showered and got dressed, no compaints. Then he helped me with the other 2...like gathering bookbags, or tying shoes. He is a big help to Crystal I know....my goodness, he's gonna be 11 this December....where has the time gone.....
Well, I guess i'll close for now...maybe it won't be 2 months before I post again...but then....