Happy 15th Birthday, Jon!

We had a nice relaxing Girly Day this past Thursday. The guys were up & out EARLY that morning going to Bugg's Island to fish for the first time this season. So, the girls did their school work & then watched a movie upstairs together while I did some laundry & sat outside reading for a while. Then after their movie, we ran out to the library for a bit, picked up some mocha frappes from McDs & then went on one of our country 'explores'. Alli had never been down to see where Ridgley lived & she wanted to see her goats & also see John Ed's house, so that's where we headed. Such a gorgeous spring afternoon. The goats were so cute & even came up close to the fence to 'chat' with us when we stopped. The girls loved it! We took a picture (will have to post this when I get back on the GOOD computer) of this adorable ramshackle little cottage on the way. It was totally dilapidated & run down....painted Green & Yellow....with an outhouse out back....but you could just tell it had such potential. Ashley & I both loved it. She said she could just see it sitting out in our field all fixed up......the perfect place for Sandee to come visit & then wehn Wanda retires, it could be her little 'retirement cottage'. It was so fun dreaming up the possibilities!! Just LOVE days like this!



Saturday morning the guys got up EARLY again....this time for turkey hunting. Michael was hunting & Jon was videoing. It was three very excited guys that woke me up about 7:30 to take pictures of Michael's very first turkey! 17 + pounds!! And of course Jon captured the whole thing on video for us. I can't tell you how many times Clay has watched it back......he just keeps saying this is the stuff memories are made of. The look on Michael's face at one point in the video was priceless.....you could see the excitement & pride.....it just said it all! Not just proud of Michael & his first turkey, but I'm also really proud of Jon! To me, it says alot when big brother will get up at 5:30am....not to hunt himself, but to go along just to video his brother shooting his first turkey. I'm so glad they have each other!!



The rest of the day was spent napping & resting up for the big concert that night. Clay took Jon & Ashley to meet up with Chris & his room-mates AND the youth group from church.......Skillet & Toby Mac....Awake & Alive concert at LU. They all had such an amazing time! Clay & Jon had third row floor seats with Chris & his room-mates.....Ashley sat up in the stands with her friends from church. They came home with Tshirts & a couple of cds & Clay's favorite souvenir.........a drumstick thrown to him from Toby Mac's drummer! How cool is that?!



Yesterday we celebrated Jon's 15th birthday with a cook-out at Maw's house. Granny & Papaw even drove up from NC to celebrate with us. Ella & her kids were there too & Sarah, Anna & Daniel even stopped by for presents & cake....they were headed to NC to visit with David's folks for a few days, but wanted to get in on the celebration too.....even if just for a short time. Again, it was the perfect spring day....about 76 degrees.....just perfect for a cook-out on the patio & the kids had a blast playing hide & seek & basketball in Maw's back yard. More memories to tuck away. ;-) Happy Birthday, GEORGE!