Baby baby!

Well! It hasn't been quite a year since I've had these pictures loaded and waiting for some journaling! Not even 3/4 of a year, but close. My, how time flies!

Ashley Taylor was born the middle of July. Annie was supposed to attend the delivery, but neither she nor the midwife was present to assist. Daddy to the rescue! So Annie got the first hold while I was getting comfy in bed.

Ashley weighed in at 9 pounds 1 ounce.

Mama's birthday, 16 days later. Impromptu photos taken by the Henderson grandparents after a grilled chicken and lemon lush b'day supper.

Too sleepy and warm to watch his sisters in the county fair tractor pull. Big sis Meg placed 1st in her age bracket!

Family Comes to Kansas

March brought Shannon's parents, sister, and niece to Kansas for about a week.

It rained several days and was a bit muddy and cold until the end of their stay, when it cleared off. We went thrift store shopping one day where Caroline snatched up a karaoke machine. The girls discovered the microphone will plug into the keyboard too, joy! They tried it in all the bedrooms, then moved to the porch which made a great stage with seating and all.

Grandma fixed a nice dinner for us one evening that the girls wanted to serve like a restaurant with menus and waitresses (decked in aprons and clip-on earrings of course!)

There was opportunity for needle-punching tutoring and sewing lessons...and pantyhose overnight curls with the fresh supply brought from Grandma's house.

While the men found a few projects to work on. They finished hanging sheetrock on the newly-opened house walls and tore out the rest of the floor coverings.

We had in a few friends of Mom & Dad's one evening for supper and fellowship. Another night Aunt Britney treated us all to a first-time supper at the local sushi and steakhouse, then they were gone again!

Less than a week later, my parents, brother, and two sons arrived in Kansas.

The littles spent hours outside riding the small four-wheeler, beep, beep! Mom, Dad, & Shannon walked through a handful of houses in Pratt. Another day we all went near Hutchinson to check out a builder that could move a new house onto a corner of our property. We spent a few hours at Dillons Nature Center walking the trails, watching the geese, finding fossils in rocks, and playing in the stream.

Kris mudded the drywall for us so the walls and ceiling are ready to paint!
Our scrap paper supply was diminished by the making of paper boats of all sizes and colors.

And that is just a little snapshot of what happened in our life to make a month pass by quickly!

Garden City, South Carolina/ Family Beachhouse Vacation

All 18 of us in front of the 5 bedroom, 4 bath beachhouse rental

After Thanksgiving in Charleston, our little family drove up the coast just south of Myrtle Beach to meet our bigger family for a few days of memory-making times. The beach was a short walk across the street and we visited each and every day whether it was pleasant outside or not! Over the weekend, the sand was covered with relaxing persons and pets, but the rest of the week we had the beach strip to ourselves.

Shannon helped out on our breakfast meal by making a slew of pancakes to go with sausage grits casserole and fruit. My morning sickness tends to get better when I'm away from home, but I was still tired with an unsettled stomach, so kitchen duty is not my favorite. It was very nice to just have a couple meals to think about, then relax and enjoy the rest!

overflow seating

backyard view

Aunt Britney treated us out one evening. We drove around a bit in search of seafood, but those restaurants were all "closed for the season", so we agreed on Chinese, which did present some fish, shrimp, and crab on the buffet, and we all ate dishes to our liking...including cheese pizza and French fries for Brit. 

Since we wouldn't be together for Christmas, Grandma incorporated gifts in this week of fun times. The littles were so anxious to open the pretty packages stashed in the corner and the girls had their private gift exchanges and girly talky times. The ladies went shopping one day, while the men rode go-carts and flea-marketed. Another day Grandpa escorted the bigs to the outlet mall.

mostly matching pajamas from Grandma

The wind picked up. So did the waves. We enjoyed the body boards and other sand & water gear furnished at the house rental. We also enjoyed a walk down to the pier watching surfers of all ages test the waves.

Ahhh, the sweetness of sun, sand, and surf!

Charles Pinckney National Historic Site, HIstoric Charleston City Market, Angel Oak

A last minute travel decision led us to the coast of Carolina visiting family and tourist attractions.

With Grandmama's as our home base, we trekked through horrendous traffic across beautiful bridges and waterways to one of the plantation homes of Charles Pinckney, an author and signer of the U.S. Constitution. My principal reason for choosing this national historic sight was because it was free, however it tied in nicely with our two high-schoolers' studies who are learning Government and the Constitution this year.

Before touring the house, we explored the trails outside. My nephews spotted and captured a couple of lizards. We read about the plantation slaves, and the farming in the area.

Inside the home, we browsed a bit, then watched the short documentary on Charles Pinckney, his family and the historical events during his lifetime. Of special interest was a Gullah Bible (sea island creole language of the African-Americans) lying on the table. We giggled as we tried to mimic the southern dialect as printed.

Charleston's market is a fun place to browse. Local artists of all sorts display their trinkets and wares. It is especially enjoyable at Christmas-time, when the holiday décor and music is abundant.

We slipped down a less-crowded side street to get back to our vehicle, and just had to pause inside this tempting candy store. The smells wafting into the air were marvelous, and they were even giving samples of gooey, melty, warm-from-the-oven pralines.

Our next jaunt of exploration (another fine southern winter day) was to Angel Oak, an enormous and very old live oak tree on Johns Island.

We popped by my uncle's boiled peanut stand for some regular and Cajun goobers.

Last, but not least, we gathered with the family for a Thanksgiving feast and fun.

Don't forget the brown rice, mac-n-cheese, collard greens, and fried cornbread!