Life in the country...

I enjoyed my day thoroughly today...spent the day with Shelby and Georgia Claire and it was so nice. Once again, I am reminded of why we love living in a small town. Mom and Dad planted a huge garden at the farm and decided (before Dad's surgery) to plant some fall purple hulls. When we found out Dad would be having surgery we thought the peas would be ruined by the time we all got home. BUT, we were pleasantly surprised to see that they were just ready to be picked when we made it home. As Mary Katherine (my FOUR year old niece) reminded us all during the first picking, "Timing is everything!" We have no idea where she picked that up, but she is so right! Even God worked out the timing of the peas! He knows how much we love our peas and cornbread! Ha!

Shelby and I got to pick today...probably one of the last pickings, if not the last. Right after we started Shelby told me it was his first time to pick peas!!! "WHAT?!" -I said, "Well, go get the camera! This has to be documented!!!"...and so here he is just starting out on his first pea picking...does he look like a farmer or what?! Such a cutie in his Carhart overalls, white t-shirt and boots!

And here I am...yes, I am under the deer net...not so much fun for someone who's 6 ft tall! But, I survived...sore hamstrings, but I survived!

Georgia Claire slept the entire time we picked...such a sweetie! Look at those cheeks!

And a little bit of our scenery while at the farm--there's nothing like the smell of cows...

AND the sound of a drilling rig nearby! These are our skyscrapers in East Texas...

When we got home, Georgia Claire decided she was going to work some more on holding her head up...she held it up for quite some time and Shelby captured this picture of her hard work!

We ended the day at Mom's & Dad's where I made homemade chicken 'n dumplings with Mom! It's my Granny's recipe...one that I've grown up with and LOVE LOVE LOVE! Nothing cures us better than Mom's chicken 'n dumplings and now I can make them! In fact, that's what Mom made for me back in October, when we found out our last attempt at IVF had failed...they always make things better! I felt that night that God was saying, (yes through Mom's chicken 'n dumplings), that everything was going to be alright. Little did I know at that time, the time of our greatest heartache, that God had already planned for Georgia Claire's life to be in ours. Her birthmom, at the young (but VERY mature) age of 17, chose life for her baby...for our baby...and for that we are forever grateful! We love you!