Home Sweet Georgia

We’ve been on the road again! It was good to see my family, but we are weary from the traveling.

We had planned a trip to Georgia a while ago when we bought my mom’s birthday present, tickets to the UGA v. UT game in Athens. Then several weeks before the trip, my mom’s very excellent family doctor noticed a mass in her abdomen which necessitated an expedited work up and ended in her having surgery to remove the mass Oct. 11--No Cancer! Thankfully, this was while we were already planning to be home.

We spent the first few days on our family farm. One thing I learned growing up on a farm was that extraordinary things happen sometimes. For instance,

A coyote in the yard, or

A snake in the chicken pen, or

A MOUSE IN THE HOUSE.

(Now there is a difference in a mouse and a rat. By my definitions, if it’s in your house, it’s a rat.)

We had a combination of the above (mis)adventures and you'll be thankful I have no photos to document this, but for those of you who haven't heard the story, have mercy on me. Anyway, all together we had a great time and Rowen got a taste of what my childhood was like. We spent the first few days visiting Granny, Daddy, and aunts, uncles and cousins.

Rowen’s highlights were collecting eggs from the chickens, feeding the goats, riding the golf cart, seeing a cotton field, calling the cows and feeding the fish. He also loved riding Papa's tractor. He had a ball!

Feeding GranDanny's chickens

Uncle Curt's cotton field

Bottle-feeding new puppies

Petting the goats with Granny

Our goats are sophisticated :)


If you look closely, right up at Mama Cow's feet, she has a new baby!

Catfish Central

Maybe we'll turn him into a country boy after all!

Hanging out with Lauren

On my way to Athens, I stopped in Macon to visit a wonderful friend, Candy and her family. Candy is a friend from high school and we have thankfully kept in touch pretty well over the years. Good thing, because she is a pretty fantastic person. Her husband, Anthony, and little boy Sheldon are awesome, too :)

Sheldon's a natural


Rowen's working on his skills, too

Over the weekend, Rob flew to ATL and joined me in Athens. He took my mom to the game to see the big win over Tennessee (Go Dawgs!) and she had a ball! It was a long day and way too hot for college football. But, then again, it IS Georgia.

Then we helped my mom prepare for surgery. Her operation was Monday and we found out during the procedure that the preliminary path on the mass was BENIGN- Praise Jesus! She had an excellent team of doctors and nurses taking care of her and she’s doing great post operatively. She’ll need at least 6 weeks to recover and she’s planning on coming to stay with us during her recovery. We had to leave Athens last week, but I know she is being taken care of and my brother Chad and Granny were still there with her. Thanks to so many of you who kept her in your prayers—it worked ☺

We’re settled back in at home now after a quick trip to Charlottesville for UVA’s homecoming last weekend. Rowen had his jersey all ready. Now we just have to find a Troy jersey for him ☺ We ask him every week whether he’s going to UVA or Troy and so far, he’s saying Troy! Mama’s got her fingers crossed! Maybe Troy homecoming next year will cinch it for him.

After all that, I have high hopes for a few weekends at home. We’re tired of going! Y’all have a great week!