January & February Recap

I am so so behind on blogging. I am going to do my best to catch up! 2024 has been a rollercoaster of emotions so far. Here is a quick recap of January & February after Jackson’s birthday.

We celebrated my sweet boy at school! I can’t believe he grew up so fast!!! 

He left school the MINUTE I gave him the “green light” and went to Athens to celebrate. This boy may have the worst case of senioritis EVER!

We have had lots of projects going on in the lab…and I am taking ALLLLL the pictures! 

MD brought some of her sweet Theta friends home for a weekend! 

We loved having them so much! I am so thankful for them and am praying Jackson makes some great friends at UGA, too! 

We had a trip to Nashville and celebrated Dalton’s birthday! 

Jackson got his wisdom teeth out and was the best patient! He even had a dry socket and still rallied! 

We celebrated Valentines Day with a party at school. I have really enjoyed this sweet group! I can’t believe we are in the last few weeks of school! 

The Baby is 18….

I can’t believe that this sweet baby is 18 today. 
He grew up SO fast and I can honestly say every single day has been a blessing. He was my best surprise EVER.  The Lord knew how much I need Jackson in my life. I kid with Dalton all the time and tell him, “Nobody loves me as much as Jackson does.” He ALWAYS has my back. He is my heart. 

He is so wise. I can’t even begin to explain the complexity of his thinking and his work ethic is phenomenal. He has made his law office gig look like a breeze. Everything he does, he does it well. 

He is so loyal. If he is your friend, you can 100% count on him to be there for you. He will be your biggest fan and celebrate you! He also gives THE BEST gifts! He is so thoughtful. 

He makes our lives so much fun. He loves to joke around, scare me, and really just loves to have a good time. He adores MD and I am can’t begin to thank God enough for their relationship. 

He is HILARIOUS. He is the best at telling a story and can impersonate almost every teacher at our school. 

I know he is 18, but sometimes I still can’t believe how lucky I am to get to be his mama. He has taught me so much about life, dreaming for big things, the importance of laughter, and is still trying to teach me to bake! ;) He is also super handsome. I could literally eat him up. He is just so dang sweet. 

My sweet baby…I am so incredibly proud of the young man you are and are becoming. I cannot wait to see the wonderful things you do in your future. I pray this next year will be filled with happiness, good health, safety, and that you would feel God’s prescience over your life every single second. Happy 18th birthday!!!I love you!

Christmas 23

I was so excited to have my “nest” full for the long Christmas weekend! I had a very late start to Christmas break, but we started it off by dinner at Beck’s. It was phenomenal!!! 

Jackson and I did our yearly hunting trip or two. We have the best time…or I do. ;) 

We kept the tradition of cabin Christmas on the 23rd. We had gifts, stocking and steak! We watched a Christmas movie and spent time just the 4 of us. It was spot nice!

I LOVE that bows are back in style!!! :) 

Sunday we had breakfast at the cabin and 

went to SCC for Christmas Eve serivce.

I gets better every year!!!

We then had a fancy dinner at Brinkley’s. This may be our new go to place!!! Oh we all loved it! 

We woke up to Santa on Chrismtas morning! 

And “Jackie Claus” made a visit, too!

We spent the day enjoying each other, eating and napping. I think this may be my favorite Christmas to date. 

The time that I get with the these 3 is my absolute favorite gift in the world. 

Christmas at School

NYC

Last weekend had my high school trip to New York City. I do this every four years and it is always exciting to take my small town students to the Big Apple. It was many of their first flight, too!

I was ecstatic to have Nancy as our tour guide again. She has become a sweet sweet friend of mine and I absolutely adore her! She was born and raised in New York and knows every little detail there is to know!

Jackson did not travel with a group but flew into Longoria and Nan came over and met us. He had his own agenda for most of the trip to meet up with us for the rockettes ,wicked, and ice-skating.

We had the best time and ate the most delicious food!

As many times as we have been to New York we have never ice-skated! I just watched but sure enjoyed watching him!

Wicked has been on my bus jet list for a long time! It definitely lives up to the hype!

On Sunday we had brunch at the Russian Tea Room. We had never been here and it was definitely 10 out of 10!

We also visited every church we passed that was open. The history, the windows, the traditions… It’s just beautiful to me! We even got to hear one of the choirs practice for their Christmas cantata! 



On Monday morning I headed out early and Jackson had some extra time in the city before he flew home. We went and walked the Brooklyn Bridge… Another first for me! It was a beautiful day and a wonderful ending to a fun trip!


I am so thankful that I have had travel with my students! This was a wonderful trip and send thankful I got to share it with my students and their parents… And especially Jackson! 

Thankful.

November was definitely one of the best months of 2023! We kicked off our Thanksgiving break with Mary Dalton and Jackson being reunited! It was so sweet to see these two back together!

we had movie night and watched Four Christmases with Sue-anna and Amos. We always have so much fun when they come to town!

I got the cabin all decorated for Christmas and we forgot about this ornament. Mary Dalton asked big D what he wanted for Christmas and he said, “Ohhhh just make me an ornament or some thing…“ And she did!

I think she was glad to see us at the beginning of the week! She was definitely having Athens withdrawals by the end of the week and was ready to get away from us! 

The night before Thanksgiving we had our annual oyster roast  at the cabin. Susan-Laine is such a little preteen now and it’s so much fun!

Jackson was the official oyster cooker and he did an outstanding job!

24 Thanksgivings with this one. 

I’m more thankful for him now than ever.

SL LOVES to play on the haybales. We have just as much fun as she does! 

Thanksgiving morning we slept in and Dalton cooked us a big breakfast while we watch the parade. We took a nap and then we had dinner at our house with just the four of us. It was exactly what my mama heart needed.

We had a wonderful time and ended our week with church and brunch on Sunday before Mary Dalton headed back to Athens. 

The older I get the more thankful I am for the ordinary days. November was so wonderful for us! Jackson got into UGA, Mary Dalton finished up her first semester of classes and is getting ready for exams, Dalton killed a mule deer, and I had a good mammogram. I’m so thankful for God‘s many blessings!!!