A Visit From the West Coast

We had some visitors from the West coast join us for part of the weekend. The Pucketts have been living in San Diego for several months now and are slated to return to Georgia in just a couple more months. We were grateful that they found time to visit us during their trip last week to begin finalizing plans for their return. We weren't sure if Jack would really remember Ben, Wendy & BJ, but it didn't really matter. He was thrilled to have a friend to play with.

He had some trouble with BJ's name and kept saying PJ. We tried to teach him by saying "ba, ba, ba BJ," but that only resulted in him calling him "ba, ba, ba PJ!" Thankfully BJ didn't seem to mind too much. He showed Jack how they jam on the West coast. We are looking forward to the Pucketts being closer to home in a few months. For now, enjoy that ocean air!

The Big Gorge

We spent Saturday afternoon at Tallulah Gorge with some friends who had come up to visit for the day. It was a very chilly day, but we bundled up and enjoyed the beautiful views. Jack enjoyed being outside and riding on Josh's shoulders. Here are a couple of photos from our hike.

Big Bulldog Weekend

We had a busy bulldog weekend, and there are plenty of photos to prove it. The fun kicked off Thursday evening when some friends of ours rolled into town. Ben, Wendy & BJ joined us for a long weekend. We gave BJ his birthday present, which you can see he loved. A Stafford jersey and football. The Pucketts brought Jack a jersey too.

Josh grilled up some great steaks. The weather was great so we hung around outside and enjoyed catching up. On Friday, I had a MOPS meeting. It was our last one before our new year kicks off...yippee! Afterwards, I met the Pucketts at the park, which was fun. Jack again loved the swing...giggling as I pushed him back and forth (all while his hair is flapping in the breeze!)

Friday afternoon as soon as Josh was home we headed to Helen to walk around a bit and then enjoyed dinner at the Nacoochee Grill. Then, we joined the Raider football game already in progress. The Raiders beat Heritage 12 - 7. Jack lasted most of the game, falling asleep on Wendy some time in the 4th quarter. He was a trooper.

We got up early Saturday morning as we had an errand to run in Athens before game time. The Pucketts joined us later at IHOP for a delicious breakfast. Then we dropped Jack off and did a little tailgating before the game. It was a hot day, but there were some clouds in the area, which provided some much needed shade during the game. We were treated to an awesome game as Georgia drilled Central Michigan and Knowshon showed off his vertical. The photo here is was just after T.K. made the first catch of his college career. We were never prouder to be from Habersham County! We went nuts! Our evening finished with pizza at Peppino's.

Sunday was also pretty busy as Josh had to work and I had the ER Open House. The Bates graciously agreed to watch Jack for several hours while I greeted folks and showed people around. Then, Jack and I headed to church. He managed to stay awake until almost 9 waiting for Josh to get home. After they had a little time together it was off to bed! What a fun weekend!

To Grandmother's House We Go

Last weekend we loaded up the truck and headed to Grandmommy & Grandaddy Garrett's house in Rome. Although we had planned to visit to celebrate Josh's mom's birthday, it turned out to be a longer trip to say goodbye and reflect on the memory of Josh's grandmother Virginia Garrett. It is always difficult to say goodbye, but it was good to be together with the extended family (Uncle Ken & Aunt Pat, cousins Derek & Joy, Ryan & Julie, Gina, Robbie & Nathan). Here's a picture of the great grandsons with Josh's grandmother or Miss Ginia (short for Virginia) as she was affectionately named by Sean.

On Friday evening we celebrated Josh's mom's birthday at one of her favorite restaurants, Olive Garden. Our waitress was so kind and even brought a cake to help us celebrate. It was chocolate on chocolate and delicious. As you can see Grandmommy had a little help blowing out her candles. Jack didn't skip a beat from his dinner to notice much of what was going on.

Saturday morning, we went to Atlanta for a baby shower for an old friend of Josh's. Our friends, Kajal & Brett live in New York and are expecting their first child in April. It was so good to catch up with them. We haven't seen them in almost a year, when we were in New York for Derek & Joy's wedding last April. Everyone enjoyed meeting Jack and the food was excellent...it was brunch at a place called Cafe de Sol in the Highlands area. Our evening ended at the funeral home, where Jack met lots of new faces. Afterwards, we enjoyed dinner at the Fish Market next door with all of the Pucketts. Sean and BJ had a lot of fun together. They even took time to hang out with Jack.

It was a long time to be away from home (3 days), so we were all glad to be back home. We will miss Miss Ginia greatly, but are glad she got to meet Jack. She was so proud of her family, especially her three great grandsons.