A Breath of 'Southern Sunshine' on A Cool Fall Weekend

Here are a handful of pictures of Aly's Play-Day today...
http://picasaweb.google.com/thepennfamily2007/AlySPlayDayNov102008# Last week was pretty uneventful, except that we were busy getting ready for the upcoming weekend.
It was an AWESOME weekend, too... Some of our Louisiana family were able to come up for a visit and as ALWAYS we had a BALL!!!
We began on Friday evening with an all-Italian homemade meal at Mamaw S's. Spicy Chicken Spaghetti, an assortment of yummy Herb Breads and Breadsticks, Salads and the whole nine yards! YUUMMM... Following the meal, everyone came over to "Penn Place" for a Fall-Themed 'Dessert Bar'. Pecan Pie, Sugar Cream Pie & Apple Fritter Bread. With a choice of French Vanilla, Caramel Praline or Butter Pecan, (and Bunny-Tracks for the kids) Ice Cream. We had an assortment of iced drinks (including Vernors, of course!) and Coffee, too. My personal favorite items of the evening were the Coffee Creamers: Vanilla Chai Spice and Cinnamon Vanilla Cre'me!
On Saturday, we had lunch together at Steak-N-Shake... an Indiana favorite for our Southern family, before the ladies and gents split up for an afternoon of fun! The ladies found ourselves at 'Old Time Pottery' and for 3 entire HOURS, too! The men made their way to Gander Mountain and Dick's Sporting Goods for a couple of hours. Later that evening, we all headed back to Mamaw S's. for a COLD Cook-Out of Pork Steaks and all the trimmings! Thanks, to the guys who cooked out in that weather! It was well worth it, that's for sure!!!
We had a great Sunday, not only at Church, but a relaxing day with family, as well! Another delicious meal only made the day better! Roast, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Sugared Green Beans with Bacon, Cornbread, etc., etc. (I'll not even go into all the desserts we had available!!!) Why is it when humans have a 'get-together', we think food is one of the necessary items, in order to have more fun? In reality, though fun, food really only adds more and more pounds to one's body and what is fun about THAT? LOL
Today~ Aly and I were having a 'Play-Day', a kind of a normal day for us, of "School" and playing together, so we decided to take 4 or 5 pictures while we were at it! (I posted a link above.) This due much to the fact, that we didn't get ONE picture taken during the busy weekend... funny thing is no one had a camera all weekend! (Not even Ronda or Aunt Diane!!!)
Oh well! As you can tell, we had an excellent weekend, with our without a camera and only wished they could've stayed for a month or two!!! The time flew by, but they may make another trip North during the Holidays?!?!? (We certainly hope so!) Hey, ya'll... it really was a "Breath of Southern Sunshine" to have you with us! We are sorry it was so cold while you were here, though! That's all just a part of being in the 'Northland', I guess! We look forward to your next visit and PRAY that we'll be able to make a trip South again, SOON!!!

Somewhat of A Calm After the 'Celebration' Storm...

We had a calm week this past week... more or less! Just the normal week with Baby-Duty, Greg's job and my Church work. Aly has been working pretty hard, as well! With the addition of a new tooth or two and the business of trying the 'walking-without-leaning-thing'!
We had a pleasant weekend... Friday evening - we joined the entire family 'Crew' at a local Buffet for supper and ate entirely toooo much! (Isn't that what Buffet's are for, though? LOL) Saturday - Greg, Aly and I just hung out, had fun together and OF COURSE made our usual Saturday stop at Walmart! Sunday - We had incredible services at Church... much like a Camp Meeting with wonderful music and gifted preaching!!! The weekend felt very short though, because Greg didn't have Monday off this week and because of his schedule, this week already feels like it should be half over and it's only Tuesday evening!!! LOL
So much for the calm, we'll certainly be busy over the next 10 days or so finalizing Alyson's 1st Birthday party, no question there! Her actual Birthday is right in the middle of our Fall Revival, so we'll be celebrating with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins the weekend before and plan to invite 'friends' next year. On Monday afternoon, we went to order her cake and can't wait to see what she thinks of it! The theme is coming together very nicely we're so excited... though a bit sad that the year has flown by so quickly!
Here are a few pictures we snapped of Aly on Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon! (We promise to post more next week...)
Going for the big brown bear at Mamaw S's house just before Sunday dinner! Destination reached, made contact with the bear and quite happy about it, too! At home, trying to get this walking thing down pat, on Saturday evening!

Our Weekend in Missiouri...

Well, the trip went very well and we had a TON of fun in the 'Show Me State'! We packed up on Thursday evening and arrived at Greg's parents around 11 pm.
On Friday, we relaxed, played games, ate together, made last minute party plans for Saturday, etc. Aly sure enjoyed being out of that car seat and able to 'roam about'!!!

http://picasaweb.google.com/thepennfamily2007/MissiouriBirthdayTrip#

(The 'link' above will direct you to our Photo Album, "Missiouri Birthday Trip".)

Around lunch time on Saturday, we had our BIG combined-Birthday Party with a ton of pizza and two... yes, I said 2 Ice Cream Cakes! One for each, being as this was such a big year for both, Wes (18) and Whit (16)!!!

That evening, Greg, Dad P., Aly and I drove to Columbia to see the Collingsworth's in concert and had a fine time! It was fun to finally get to introduce Aly to Phil, Kim and the kids... just sad that it has taken almost a year to do so!!!
Sunday, we went to Church with the family and were able to meet their new Pastor and his wife, had a yummy meal and another enjoyable day with the In-Laws and kids!
Monday found us back on the road toward home, arriving around 10 p.m. all worn out, but very happy to have had such a wonderful weekend together!

Bye for Now...

...Watch us go

As soon as we're done with work today, finished running errands and our packing is complete... we're headed to MO. for a LONG weekend!!!

ASAP, after our return home, we'll post a BLOG of our weekend away... hope ya'll have a wonderful weekend, as well! Be sure to get out there and enjoy the beautiful weather God is giving us! Take care...

Home, Home on The Range...

CLICK THE LINK BELOW

FOR OUR LARGEST-TO-DATE

ONLINE PHOTO ALBUM...

OUR ANNIVERSARY TRIP 2008!

(Can you believe that we're still experiencing trouble with our computer, uploading photos, etc.??? So, this is about the best way we can share photos with you for now.)

http://picasaweb.google.com/thepennfamily2007/OurBelatedAnniversaryTrip2008

We had an incredible weekend... if it just hadn't have gone by so quickly! We began the weekend, on Friday evening, by taking Alyson to attend her first wedding... she did a fine job, too. (Thanks to Uncle Danny and Aunt Ronda for helping out!!!) On Saturday, we stopped by Paradise Cafe' and Bakery for Brunch. After arriving at our destination and before we could 'pick up our keys', we did a little shopping. We then went to see our Room for the weekend... it was BEAUTIFUL! (Thanks to Mama and Daddy for such a sweet Anniversary gift!!!) Some day we would love to have an old fixed-up house with antiques similar to the ones at the Inn! For an early Supper, we had yummy BBQ with all the fixins at "Trolly's" (AKA: "The Trolly"). This, followed by wonderful Hor Dourves at the Inn (provided every day in the late afternoon/early evening). Later that evening, we attended a light family comedy Play downtown and were able to get some good laughs in (following the Dessert Bar at the Inn... which is also provided on a daily basis)! Sunday morning, we had a lovely HOT Breakfast which included delicious homemade Pastries and fresh Fruit (also provided daily) at the Inn. We spent most of the day driving through the hills of Brown County, Bean Blossum, IN. (the Bluegrass Capitol of the World), and a variety of State Parks, wound up in Bloomington, IN. where we grabbed a late lunch/early supper, before heading back for a little strolling. (We'd like to add, that Nahsville is a bit of a Ghost Town on Sundays, but very nice and quiet!) Again, we were able to enjoy the Hor Dourves that evening and on top of that, a little later that night, we grabbed some of the Inn's 'to-die-for' homemade Desserts... TOOOOO much food for one weekend! On Monday, we were again at the Dining area for another wonderful hot Breakfast, before hitting the road for a little more shopping. After 'turning in the keys' at the Desk... (we sure are going to miss this place with it's lovely atmosphere, Staff and of course the incredible FOOD!)... we were once again, out for a bit more shopping and strolling. When we felt it was about the time to head home, we directed our car for the Highway... even though a wee sad, we were anxious to see our little Aly-girl!!!!! We grabbed a bite of late lunch/early supper at "On the Border", did a little 'Mall-walking' and then you'll never guess where we went!!!!! (Ugh!) Well, long story short, Greg's back had been 'out' all weekend, so our last stop found us at 'the Doc's'! However, all in all we had one of the best weekends we've had in a very long time and are grateful to once again be "Home, Home on The Range"!