Bryson and Gramme

Bryson and Gramme (me) playing in his Thomas the Train Tent that he got from Santa. It is so much fun playing with him. Just being with Bryson and watching him play is such a joy!!

Christmas Day

Kendrick and his dad took a bunch of pictures Christmas Day too. So as soon as I get that CD, I will post more pictures of others in the family.

Christmas Day

Grandpa and Bryson eatting Christmas dinner. Em forgot the bib so he wore a special one.

Our nephew Ben, Sean, Bryson & our niece Austin.

Gerald's brother, Jimmy carving the turkey.

Gerald's sister Karon.

Granny and Papa

For the last several years now, we have been spending Christmas at Gerald's sisters house. We all take something. We always take Candy Yams, stuffing and a dessert. Some years we take a little more. At Sheila's you never know who is going to be there. It is always a surprise. Some years (when Sean had to work) it was several guys from the Fire Dept. Everyone is welcome-friends, family and neighbors. This year was a little calmer because we didn't exchange gifts. I must say though, I did miss it a little. NO Jimmy, I did not miss playing that Santa exchange thing where you take other people gifts.:) I missed seeing people open gifts. Especially Bryson. He is such a cute age now and gets so excited about everything. Maybe next year I can convince everyone to draw names.:

All total there was about ---- 30 people this year. A little smaller than usual. Everyone had a wonderful time.

Christmas Day

Doesn't Greg look handsome

Christmas Day Greg was up bright and early getting a diet coke. I knew we had tons to do so, Gerald and I got up. Greg was very excited and so thankful for all that Santa brought him. It is always fun watching Greg's excitement on Christmas Day. He got several things he needed and wanted. He looked so handsome when Gerald took him to meet Rusty and Maxine. He spent the rest of his Christmas vacation in Clayton with Rusty, Meredith, Ally and Colby.

A Very Special Gift

This year I received a very special gift. It was something I have been wanting for a very long time but I could never find exactly what I wanted. It was hard to describe to any one. I just knew that I would know it was the right one when I saw it. Emily had been with me on several occasions over the years and would ask " Do you like that one?" and I would say "It's alright but it's not the one I really want. " Well, this year I got the right one, the one I wanted- to my surprise. My daughters hand painted me the MOST BEAUTIFUL NATIVITY SET that I have ever seen! It is perfect!

Christmas Eve

We had a fun Christmas Eve. Angela, Kendrick, Emily, Sean and Bryson all came over around 5pm. Greg was here, we picked him up the day before. We had snack foods: sausage balls, turkey, ham, cheese, chips, party mix and a bunch of other stuff. We all ate in the new dining room together. Then we opened gifts. It was so much fun watching Bryson this year. He could open his presents by himself (with a little help). He was so cute! We all love watching and playing with him.

Merry Christmas Eve Morning

Merry Christmas!!! I am so excited! Our family get together is tonight! I can hardly wait! It will be so much fun watching Bryson open his presents. Greg is excited too. He wants to write a letter to Santa. I think Meredith started something :)

Christmas Get Together

Eating in our new unfinished dining room.

Last night we had our get together with --Rusty, Meredith, Ally, Colby, Maxine, Greg, Emily, Sean, Bryson and Angela. Kendrick didn't come. We missed him and hopes he feels better soon. We all ate in our new dining room.There was so much room, we loved it. It's not finished but it looked good. There was tons of food. The kids played and the adults talked. I think everyone had a great time. It sure was great to all be together. We need to do it more often.

My Kitchen

What A Mess!!!!!

Last Sunday I asked Gerald if he could please clean out the old living room (new dining room) for Christmas. Of course he said yes and if you know me, I asked him again to be sure that he understood what I wanted. It is a hectic time of the year and I knew we would be busy with different activities so, I just wanted it cleaned up. No renovation work --just cleaned up. Well, Monday morning his brother Jimmy came to work and promptly started taking the ceiling down. Gerald took off all week to work on the room. They encountered major problems when they removed the carpet and the floor wasn't level underneath. So they spent two days working on that. Any way to make a very long story short---My kitchen has a curio cabinet, another cabinet and many, many tools all over the place. Plastic is taped in various places. I am told the walls are painted and the final coat will be put on the ceiling tomorrow.
Oh-and today, after I did my Christmas cards,I was going to wrap presents but NO the stairs are block off and I can't go upstairs to get the presents.

And Now---Gerald has to go out of town. Yes OUT Of Town.
:( I am trying to smile. :)
Pictures tomorrow.

A Cold Rainy Night

Last Saturday night, Bryson spent the night with us. Gerald had the great idea that he would make Bryson his first home made hot chocolate. So he boiled the milk, added the cocoa and let it cool a little before giving it to Bryson. Well the pictures say it all :)

You have to click on the pictures to get his facial expressions.

Awesome MySpace Comments & Myspace Layouts

Sweet Wonderful Memories

This year as I was decorating my Christmas Tree, memories of past Christmas' came to mind. Like the time when I was around 8 years old and my mom and dad wouldn't get out of the bed Christmas morning-when they finally did, I had opened almost all of my presents. Other memories----my dad did some of the decorating ----lights on our house, a winter scene with cotton as snow in our entrance area, fudge----my mom made a Birthday cake for Jesus, hemming my skirts and pants under a blanket so I wouldn't see them, wonderful homemade treats, church "Always" on Christmas morning. Opening presents with Greg. 1969 spending Christmas in California -------spending Christmas Eve with my cousins-LynDel, Donna and Tami. Thank you Aunt Barbara and Uncle Delbert.
So many more childhood memories, too numerous to tell.
Christmas 1970---Gerald and I had only been married 6 days and we were very poor. No gifts for each other. Our tree was a tin foil type tree (thanks to Maxine).When we woke up Christmas morning Santa had left us two socks filled with goodies (thanks to Gerald's mom). I was certainly surprised.
30 plus wonderful years of memories with my daughters-waking them up Christmas morning, the smiles on their faces, and the excitement in there voices.

Sweet Wonderful Memories

More memories with Bryson

Thanksgiving

We all had a wonderful time at Sheila's (Gerald's sisters house). Everyone was there. This year there was only 21 people, so it was kind of calm.

Spending the night and pb and bananna

Bryson spent the night with us Friday! We just love having him. It's funny -----before he was born I told Gerald that our grandchild would probably be sleeping with us-------Gerald said oh no that's not going to happen------guess where Bryson slept-----that's right-------he slept with us. We loved it! I didn't sleep much ------too busy watching him. Bryson had so much fun playing with all the toys that Colby has out grown. It was fun watching and playing with him. I am learning to play with cars and trucks.

Tonight Bryson had his first peanut butter and banana sandwich! He ate almost all of it and seemed to like it. No allergies, thank goodness.


Looking forward to Thanksgiving with Gerald's family.

Odds and Ends

OK -so this post will be about odds and ends. Angela and Emily can tell you all about that-----I send them emails with odds and ends all the time. Yes, basically that means I will be rambling. First of all for all of you who do not use sun screen and do not put it on your kids----please please do. According to my research----a tan is sun damage. I know we all love a tan BUT Gerald has skin cancer again. Thanks to Kendrick for cutting our grass! We really appreciate it! I had a good visit with Angela. I don't get to talk or see her much because she is always so busy with school work, especially now that she is getting her masters in English. Greg is doing great! I am waiting for the surgeon to call me with the date for his gall bladder to be removed. Hopefully after Christmas. Emily will soon be busier than ever at work----with her promotion and now they are going to have business cards made for her and she will not be the only one handing them out. I DO NOT know how she does it------she has to be at work everyday at 7:30 am, that's after she takes Bryson to the sitter. We will be spending Thanksgiving at Gerald sister Sheila's house again this year. We have done this for the past 15 or so years. There are usually around 25 people there and sometimes the Apex Fire Department. We all bring several dishes each,and believe it our not there are plenty of left overs for everyone. All the family are so grateful to be able to do this. Christmas is the same as Thanksgiving except we all have our separate get togethers before Christmas Day. OK and now to comments--I love them and it's easy if you just do it anoymously
(at the bottom). I must say I need to make some comments on a few blogs my self. I have been reading my cousin Vickie's son Zach wife's (Katie) and love it but haven't made a comment yet. A few have asked me how (yes, that is the truth)so this is how---first click on comment under the post that you want to leave a post on,then leave a comment, after that go down to the bottom and the easiest way is to just hit anonymous(sign your name on the comment though) and hit publish---that's all there is to it. Did you think--she hasn't mentioned her grandson Bryson? I didn't forget----he has had a busted ear drum (that no one could tell) and a cold that he is getting over. He is talking more and more every day. He is extremely polite for 2----he says please and thank you.
Yes, Gerald is working on the house. When you do something by yourself it takes forever. We have the kitchen and dining room to do and then the down is finished. I am not going to say what we are going to do next because he might read this. Gerald is such a wonderful man that he isn't even mad that no one is helping him especially after all he does for others via the phone or in person. He drops what he is doing to help.
Thanks all for now.

Greg is Home

Greg went to UNC for his ERCP on Wednesday. It was a sucess in that the doctor was able to remove and crush the two stones that were in his bile duct. He had a hard time waking up and was in severe pain. The scary part was when his blood presure dropped. After watching him for several hours they decided to admit him to the hospital. He had a mild case of pancreatitis. This morning he was feeling much better-----ate a good breakfast and lunch. Had a Diet Coke... We were finally able to leave the hospital around 4pm. I am so thankful that Rusty and Meredith were with us yesterday and today. Greg is back at his home and so glad to be there. He will still have to have his gallbladder remove sometime soon. Not sure when.

Bryson's 2nd Birthday

Bryson had a great 2nd birthday! It was a Thomas the Train party. Emily had the dining room table set up with all of his favorite snacks-------gold fish, grapes, cheese (of course), teddy crackers and a few other things. Bryson was so cute going back and forth and getting food off of the table. He had the biggest smile on his face when we all sang Happy Birthday. He loved all of his presents -----especially the Thomas the Train set that he got from his daddy and momma. It was cute watching Bryson's daddy and grandpa put it together. When they were finally finished ----------they had a fun time playing together.

Bryson's 3rd Hair Cut

The Friday before Bryson's 2nd Birthday, Emily and Gerald informed me that Gerald (Grandpa) was going to give Bryson a hair cut instead of taking him to Snippits ( an expensive children's hair salon). I was not to happy about this because of his birthday being the next day and he was going to have his pictures done a few days after that. I tried to explain that it had been 30 plus years since daddy had given a two year old a hair cut and it was a girls bangs. I know Gerald can do any thing, he has given countless perms,cuts and even dye jobs but I still didn't want to risk Bryson's hair getting messed up. Well, Grandpa gave it a try and Bryson was really good but it was taking a little too long for Bryson and he started moving around. I was getting antsy so I pleaded "please let's just take him to a professional". We then all got into the truck drove 5 minutes around the block to get Bryson his 3rd hair cut. Snippits is set up with Animal Crackers, a chair that moves up and down and the best thing --------a tv with a little children's movie. Bryson ate his cookies and watched his video while Gramme, Grandpa and Momma took pictures .

Update on Greg

I spent most of Friday morning on the phone with doctors' offices. To make a long story short--Greg ( as of today ) will go to UNC on Wednesday to have a procedure called ERCP. The doctor will go down his throat and remove gall stones in his bile duct. This is done out patient. He will spend the night with me, and then on Wednesday, Gerald and I along with Meredith and Rusty will take him. Some time in the near future he will still have to have his gall bladder removed because the surgeon said he has tons of gall stones there. Please keep Greg in your prayers. He has been very healthy all his life so this is all very new for him.

Greg's Birthday

We all had a great time at the Golden Corral for Greg's 49th birthday.

Bryson in Leaves

Fall in North Carolina--------what a beautiful sight to see. The trees here are absolutely beautiful. I wish I had gotten pictures. Bryson loved walking in the leaves. Grandpa needs to get busy and rake. These are leaves off of only one tree and they are up to Bryson's knees.

Bryson's 2nd Halloween

Bryson looked so cute in his monkey costume. Grandpa and Gramme were so excited to see him.

More Alabama Pictures

Missi and Carolyn .......................... Grandpa and Bryson

Bryson & Grandpa