Family and Fall

The Golden Girls did it again...

 They hosted another amazing baby shower in honor of Bonnie's first grandbaby, Kyndall!!  We are so absolutely thrilled to be welcoming this little girl into the GG clan.  Kristie and Chad have been married for 11 years and have waited long and patiently for their precious blessing.  If only every child was so lucky to be THIS wanted and loved by so many!!  And Bonnie, nobody deserves a grandbaby more than you!!

(I went out and bought a new root lifter after seeing this picture...good grief!)

While we were busy with our baby shower, my boy took a trip to Alabama to celebrate an early Halloween and Nelson's 4th birthday with his cousins.  He had a ball!!

Since Jimmy's been working on the flip houses and had a lot of junk to burn, we decided to turn it into a bonfire and had his friend Troy over with his daughter Finley.  The kids carved pumpkins, roasted hotdogs and smores and enjoyed the campfire. 

Trace REALLY wanted to camp out by the bonfire, but thanks goodness he settled for a homemade tent in the living room. 

I know my days are numbered.  It won't be long before I'm FORCED to give up indoor plumbing and the comfort of my memory foam mattress for a handheld tinkle can and a sleeping bag under the stars.  I'm holding out as long as possible!  Ohhh, I'm not one with nature.  (As evidenced by the poison ivy I'm feverishly scratching while I type this!)

We had dinner at my parents the other night with Uncle Andy and Aunt Kadi.  Now that Andy's not working with my dad anymore, we have to really work at planning time together.  Busy schedules, busy families, but it's too important not to!  LOVE this...

 

My mom's cousin, Marilyn, came in from Virginia for a visit.  We hadn't seen her since last June and it's always so good to catch up.  As always, we met at Krystal the first night she was here.  Then we did dinner up at Mom's on Sunday night.

This baby needs to be on T.V.  I could honestly kiss those fat cheeks all day!!  And you should see his kankles. :)

We brought the kids costumes and ATTEMPTED to get a picture of them all together dressed up for Nanny's calendar.  It wasn't even close.  Keatyn screamed bloody murder, and Abel hated his head piece... maybe next year.  But I doubt it.

Another great one for the calendar!

On a totally different note, the Olde Mill across from our house fell a couple of weeks ago.  This has been a Hixson landmark since 1905.  For the last month, every time I pulled out of the driveway, I could see it had buckled a little more and was close to going.  But one night we were playing in the yard and literally heard it collapse.  It was a pretty scary feeling.  I'm so thankful no one was hurt and that it didn't fall out into the road.  It's so sad to see something that has marked this street for over a hundred years lying in the creek.