Texas!!!!!!

Last week some friends of ours, the Mellorns, were going to Texas. They had two extra seats in their van so they asked if a couple of us would like to go along. :) As it was, Mama and I were the only ones who could take them up on their gracious offer. We all encouraged Mama to go because she hadn't seen our friend Mrs. Beeman in four years. (Most of the rest of us got to see her last year.)

When we got to Greenville, James met us and took us to their house. It was late, so Patrick and Nicolas were asleep by the time we got there. We didn't get to see them until the next morning.

Eating breakfast

The boys are SO precious! James and Hope are doing a great job training them!

Nicolas "reading" his Bible during Bible time :)

"Let's race!"

Patrick putting the mail in the mailbox. (He was a little worried because "Aunt Deborah" was standing in the street!)

Patrick picked a lot of flowers for Granny Smith, his Mama, and Aunt Deborah. He is such a sweet boy!

I love them so much!!!!!!!!

Hope and Nicolas

Mr. Beeman ("Poppie") and Nicolas

Mr. and Mrs. Beeman took us all to Chick-fil-A for lunch.

Playing with my darling little boys

Patrick opening the door for a lady :)

Mama and Mrs. Beeman

Patrick feeling very loved by "Granny Smith" and "Mimi" :)

What a cutie!

Playing outside together

Friday afternoon I helped Patrick plant a little garden.

Thanks to Hope for taking a lot of the pictures in this post. :)

Watering the garden

Nicolas wanted to help, too. Here he is inspecting the mud on his hands. :)

Patrick is mowing the lawn...

...and Nicolas is sweeping the porch.

"Stick ice-cream"

I thought Nicolas' soapy hairstyle was adorable!

Nicolas and Hope (and Baby G. #3!!!)

What precious smiles!

Patrick and Nicolas are so much fun to play with!

Showing Patrick pictures of our chicks

Patrick and Aunt Deborah

"Get in the picture, Nicolas!"

Saturday afternoon Hope took me to Mary and Eric's house, where Mama and the Beemans were staying. She and the boys stayed a little while to visit.

When we woke up the next morning this is what we saw!!!!!!! There was 3-4 inches of snow!

Mama and Mrs. Beeman cooking

Sunday afternoon Mr. and Mrs. Hale braved the snow and came and took me to their house where I surprised Hannah by walking in the door! I had a wonderful time in their home!

Out in the snow with Hannah and Esther

Hannah and me

Here are a few pictures from a stop we made on the trip home.

Josiah, Bethany and me

Michael

Josiah

Thank you, Hope and James, Beemans, and Hales for the wonderful visit!!!

Thank you, Eric and Mary, for allowing us to stay in your home while you were away!

Thank you, Mrs. Mellorn, for letting us ride with y'all!!!

V is for Violin and Viola

Last week Amanda and Deborah were asked to play for a class of local preschoolers who were studying the letter "V".

Showing the difference between the violin and viola

Whenever we do a program for a school, one of the children's favorite parts is getting to play the "Pop" of "Pop Goes the Weasel".

Playing for the students

The children also enjoyed playing on a violin that was just their size!

Our Trip to Chattanooga

We traveled to Chattanooga on Saturday for our cousin Jeremy's wedding. To get from West Tennessee to East Tennessee we traveled in 4 different states! We went from Tennessee to Mississippi...

...to Alabama...back into Tennessee...

...down into Georgia...

...and finally back to Tennessee!

We think this tree, on the side of the road in Alabama, is very interesting. There are all different kinds of shoes hanging from its branches!

David and Anna being silly on the back seat :)

Samuel was interested in what was going on behind him. :)

We stopped at the Unclaimed Baggage Store in Scottsboro, Alabama.

Amanda, Samuel and Rebekah

Looking through the store

When we got to Chattanooga we went to the hotel where our relatives were staying, to get ready for the wedding.

Here is Samuel meeting our cousin Allie.

Jeremy and Tamsyn got married on a riverboat. Newman, Jeremy's family's dog, was the ring bearer.

Samuel enjoyed petting Newman!

Samuel!

My little buddy Samuel has come to spend two weeks with me, and we are having the best time together!

This is Samuel, and he is going to tell you about our weeks...

Samuel says, "See how happy I am? I am loving my time with Bekah!"

"Each morning when I wake up, I sit and wait patiently for Bekah to finish studying, then it's time for my Bible reading. For my Bible time we are reading together in Mark. It has been very fun for me! We read about pigs that fell in the water, and that was my favorite part!"

"On days when it's not too cold, Bekah and I go out for a run together as soon as my Bible time is over. If it's too cold in the morning, we wait until after school for our run."

"Then it's time for Bible study with all of the Smiths. I sit very quietly next to Bekah. The Smiths are reading in the Old Testament, and I hear lots of funny names being read. I like it, though"

"After Bible study and breakfast I help Bekah take care of the chickens."

"When we come back inside, I help Bekah do her jobs. Here I am helping clean the bathroom. She let me spray the cleaner on the counter, then we both wiped it up... and I got to wash the faucet by myself!"

"When we finish our jobs it's time for school.

Bekah says I'm a good student.

I am learning to write my name!

"This is one of my math pages...

"... and I learned to spell some new words!"

"I can write most of my numbers!"

"After school time we can play outside! This is my favorite time of the day!

I get to feed David's geese..."

"... and play ball with Bekah..."

"We have so much fun out there!"

"When we come inside, there is usually enough time to play some more before supper"

"While I've been here, I have been able to meet lots more of Bekah's friends and buddies. They have all been so nice to me. I like them. I give them all hugs and they give me hugs."

"I got to go to Bekah's grandma's house with her, and she let me play with a doll that has red yarn hair. It had a string and when I pulled it, it made noises! That excited me!"

"Now I will be going home in just a few days, but Bekah is going to come home with me! She says she will put more pictures on this blog when she gets home in a few weeks."

Bekah and I love each other!