Vernon Visit

A few weeks ago, we went to Vernon for a little visit.  We were so excited to see Memaw, Aunts, Uncles and COUSINS!!!

My Grandma's church hosted a community supper Saturday night.  They invited everyone from the community to come share food and fellowship.  It was really nice to see so many people from the farming community where my Mom grew up.  Lots of great memories!  We also got to meet a very special little person that afternoon - Harper!  My cousin Lanthia and her precious family were in town for the weekend as well.  Harper was born last November, but this was the first time we got to meet him.  He is a little angel - so handsome and such a good baby!  Lanthia's daughter, Grace, turned two in March - she is a doll!!!  I couldn't believe how much she had grown since the last time we saw her.  She is such a sweet girl and looks just like her beautiful momma!!!



Handsome Harper!  I love this picture - Jackson was so excited to hold him!



First attempt to get a pic of my kids with Grace and Harper.  I love the look on Grace's face - she's not so sure about our curly topped crazy girl!



Jackson and Grace - poor thing, Jackson wanted to pick her up, too!

  

Yommy feeding Harper!  Such a sweet boy!!!


After supper, we went back to my Grandma's to visit with everybody.  Some of my sweet cousins left the lake early to come out - Thanks, guys!  Some of my favorite childhood memories include playing with my cousins at my Grandma's house.  I'm so glad my kids can make memories of their own playing my cousins' children!  I wish we had one of those "wiggle your nose" machines so we could see them more often!  They always have the best time!  Some of the boys came in talking about a helicopter they saw at the airport.  It turns out the Texas Forest Service had brought in a helicopter to be on stand-by because of the extreme drought.  So, all the kids loaded up to go have a gander!

 

I've never seen a helicopter up close before.  They are huge!  This helicopter can drop hundreds of gallons of water in just a few seconds.





Jackson, Caitlin, Alli, Grace, Case, Austen, Addison and Kendall in front of the tail.  My Grandma has 17 great-grandchildren - this is only 8 of them!

 

Austen went earlier that evening and got a "tour" of the helicopter from the Texas Forest Service agents.  They let him seat in the driver's seat and gave him this really cool pin.  He's not one bit proud of it, can you tell?



Ginormous blades!

 

The older girls couldn't get enough of Grace!  Who could blame them?


 

Baby Harper has lots of fans!




Caitlin and Grace playing puzzles.

  

Harper and the girls



Grace, Austen, Jackson and Andrew take turns on the DS.  Case is in the background getting sleepy.


 

Lanthia and Harper - it was so good to see her and her family!


 

Austen got to spend the night with us at Memaw's house!  I'm not sure who was more excited Jackson or Kendall!  They had so much fun and stayed up giggling and watching cartoons.  Fun times!!!

We had a great night visiting and playing!  Time always seems to go extra fast on these trips.  I feel like if I blink, these kids are going to be graduating!  They are all so special!  More to come from our visit in my next post...

Verse of the day - "Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth." Psalm 127:3-4

Blessings,
Kelli