2012
Let me begin with my family. Joey and Katie are still in Hattiesburg and they are doing great. Joey opened a new office this year. We are so proud of him....especially since he is helping us to make money. Amazing how things have changed. He used to spend our money as if it grew on trees. Now, we go to him for financial advice. Huh....Who would have thought that?
Josie has grown up so much. She loves princesses, reading books, playing in the sand, and helping her mommy and daddy. She is a very good big sister and goes to preschool 3 days a week. She is extremely shy and doesn't like to get far away from what she considers "safe". I went to her school program in November and did not take my camera because I really didn't think she would get up on a stage in front of so many people. Well, I was wrong. That girl got up on the stage, sang all the songs and did all of the motions that went with the songs. She was amazing and I won't make that mistake again.
Colbie turned one this year and she is our little dancing queen. That girl likes to bust a move. For a 1 1/2 year old child, she knows how to get down and shake her bootie. She goes to preschool 2 days a week and she loves being with her big sister. She is learning about princesses, but I think wrestling with anybody who cares to get down on the floor with her more her style. Colbie is going to be our politician, because she never meets a stranger.
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| The birthday girl |
Jennifer and Craig now live two streets away. They bought our house on Kingsberry and Jennifer has been busy decorating and improving the place. We love the fact that now the boys can walk over...Oh, and it is also nice when you are in the middle of a recipe and realize that you need a can of soup or a stick of butter. Of course, that goes both ways.
Hunter, our oldest grandson, is a teenager. He is on the debate team at Colmer and is an avid fisherman. He loves the water and if you want to get him to spend time with you....then you better plan to go to the beach or the river. This year he was on the Pascagoula Baseball Allstar team and played in the state tournament. He has grown up so much and is so handsome, but the things I love most about Hunter is his heart.
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Fisher is our big man. He is a Yankee's fan and likes spending time on the water too. He goes to school at Trent Lott and is on the football team. I am not that good with the football rules and regulations, but I can tell that he is a pretty good football player. He made the Football AllStar team and was a standout.
This year I quit working. I loved teaching, but the stress and wear on my body was taking it's toll. I miss being with the kids, but I do not miss all the paperwork, the meetings, and the lesson plans. I think I realized it was time for me to hang it up when I backed my car into the garage door and didn't even remember putting it in reverse. It was like I had a fog over me. I am so blessed that my husband is so understanding.
This past fall, Glenn took me on a vacation to the Smokey Mountains. It was our first vacation in 30 years that was just us two. We stayed in a cabin between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Glenn is not into going to shows or shopping, but he took me wildlife hunting every day. We saw a deer, a bear, squirrelsl, rabbits, a bobcat and shared our back porch with a little thief who tried his best to take off with Glenn's swimming trunks. We had just come home for the night and I went to change clothes and found a raccoon on the porch, trying his best to take the swimming trunks that Glenn had left out there to dry. After getting a few pictures, he got away, but without the swimming trunks. He came back later that night a left us a cute little turd on our front porch. Guess he wasn't too happy about being busted.
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| The bandit |
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| Glenn also got to go ziplining, something he has always wanted to do. |
We also have a new addition to our family. While we were on our trip, I got puppy fever. Glenn and Jennifer found some puppies and I got my pick. Harley Marie is now 6 months old and she has brightened our house up. Even Sonja has to play now.
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| 6 months old and still a lap dog |
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| Harley's first days as a Rivers pup |
We decided to start looking for our vacation/retirement home this year. We considered a condo or a large piece of property where the kids could hunt. We finally decided to look for something on the water away from the coast. We had a contract on a house in D'Iberville and I was very disappointed when the home inspection came back with some problems. The owners would not meet us in the middle, so we decided to keep looking. Well, we found our dream camp in Lucedale....totally by accident. We were driving up to look at a camp in Greene County that Glenn had already gone and looked at, but wasn't really that sold on. We decided to drive through Plum Bluff in Lucedale and found a house for sale by owner. We called the owner and she agreed to meet us. While we were waiting for her to come, we were driving around and saw another camp for sale by owner. I fell in love with it and asked Glenn about it. He told me that one wasn't in our budget.
I insisted that we go look at it to compare with the one we were about to look at and after talking to the owners we decided that it was something we could manage. Thanks to new federal requirements and Fema regulations, it wasn't an easy task.....but, we are now the proud owners of Riverboat Landing.
This place is absolutely our dream. All of the kids and grandchildren enjoy it. I can't believe I am saying this, but I have told Glenn that when he retires again, I may just move up there for good. It is a small slice of heaven.
2012 was an amazing year and I am sure that 2013 is going to be even better....and I won't wait till the end to document.
