Playing in the rain at Queenie's house

Grace and Jackpot found a "tat" to play with.

"Tats" don't like water.

Little girls don't mind playing in the rain.

Thankfully though, Queenie had an umbrella.

Meet our new friend, Terry

David and I are going on a canoe camping trip this weekend, so I took Grace to my parents' house for the weekend.

While at their house, I found this little guy.

I named him Terry the Turtle.

Look, Grace, it's a turtle.  Oooooh!

It's a "tur-uhl"

Do you want to touch it?  No way!

We decided to let Terry the "tur-uhl" go home.

Bye-bye Terry!

Wharf of Wonder

Today we played at the Wharf of Wonder

Grace looked at the stars through her telescope.

And sailed in a big ship.

She fell overboard.

But she was able to swim to safety.

Then we played with a few puzzles.

And finally went home.  Just another fun day at the museum.

Baby Donaldson has a name

Bethany and Ed called us last week and told us they had finally decided on a first name for our little heart hero.  The middle name still is undecided.

His name is....

Luke.

Luke is such a great name in my opinion.  It means "bringer of light."  In the Bible, Luke was a physician in Rome and wrote one of the four gospels describing the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. 

We are so excited that our little heart hero is doing well.  As of today Bethany is 34 weeks along and today is her 34th birthday - Happy Birthday sis!  Little Luke is 5 pounds and 11 ounces so far.  Bethany is still on bed rest in Charleston.  She did get to see baby Stephen for the weekend when Ed's parents brought him to visit.  We are continuing to pray that Luke will be patient and wait a few more weeks before being born.  The longer he waits the stronger he will be for his heart surgery.  Please continue to pray for him.  To read more about Luke's heart problem and upcoming surgery click here.

For an update on Luke, please click here.

Mammee and Pappy's visit: Day 9

Today was Mammee and Pappy's last day to visit with us.  It was also Sunday so we went to church.  This time we went to Bay Community in Spanish Fort.  The minister gave a very practical message about Christians being salt and light.  Salt is all about enhancing the taste of food.  Too much salt and you'll ruin it.    Very practical sermon.  I really enjoy those sermons that have everyday applications.

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After church we picked up some more Moe's barbeque and ate outside on the balcony.  It was such a pleasant day outdoors.

And Moe's is such good barbeque.  It's really lean - no fat at all - and so moist and tender.  And the sauce!  The sauce just makes your tastebuds scream with pleasure.  I could eat the sauce all by itself!

Here I am spooning out sweet potato casserole.  Moe's puts chopped pecans and cornflakes in the sweet potato casserole.  We also had chicken salad as a side and banana pudding for dessesrt.

It was a great outdoor picnic.  The company made it even better.

And one last three generation photo before they fly home tomorrow morning.  We're really going to miss them.

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We truly enjoyed having Mom and Dad in town over the last 10 days.  We made some memories that we'll cherish for many years to come.  We wish they lived closer so we could see them more often.  We're trying to convince them to just go ahead and move down here.  There's a condo next door with a view for sale by owner.  Hint, hint.

Mamme and Pappy's visit: Day 8

We decided to drive over to New Orleans for the day to eat beignets and drink coffee.

We took the scenic route and saw Jefferson Davis's house, Beauvoir.

Then we ate lunch at White Cap.

Grace liked petting the bird.

The bird is a statue.

We finally arrived in New Orleans.

Grace liked chasing the pigeons.

I stopped at one of the tourist stands for a map of the French Quarter.

It was somewhat disconcerting to see a bicycle chained to a post and missing its tires and chain. 

The city is quite beautiful though.

I enjoyed walking around and looking at all the charming buildings.

Horse drawn carriages could be found on every corner.

So could voo-doo shops.  Grace hated the mummy.  He made funny noises.

We finally made it to Cafe Du Monde for their infamous beignets.

The menu consists of beignets, coffee, and not much else.

It's definitely a popular place.  We arrived at 3:30 and it was still packed.

Our kind waitress.

Cafe au lait.  So creamy and smooth.

The beignets.  So hot and covered in powdered sweetness.

Cafe Du Monde has been around since the 1860s.

After filling up on sugary goodness, we walked around town.

And did some window shopping, of course.

There were several stops in shady areas.

We made it to a nice park.

Mammee's Alaska hat is a great conversation starter.  She had a stranger come up and start talking to her about living in Fairbanks.

Lovely cathedral in the background.

Grace had fun watching the "har-sees" (horses)

And playing in the grass.

Mammee and Pappy got splattered with dirty horse water.

More interesting buildings around town.

This one had trees growing on top.

Natchez ferry.

New Orleans is full of interesting people in interesting places.

Like this saxophone player.

And this silver man.

And, of course, you can't forget the devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

There are many houses still standing with the X markings.  Each quadrant of the X had a meaning:  whether the house had been searched, if there were bodies, the date it was searched, and who searched it.

Other houses mark that methane gas is present and warns to stay out.

This sign marks the water level during Katrina. 

Some houses remark on lost pets.  It's a sad reminder of the damage left still standing.  This month marks the 4 year anniversary of Katrina.

Here's a photo of the skyline as we said goodbye to the city and headed home.