family,food, cake and a hike

After DC the family got together at my house for some food and relaxation.We did do a lot of walking after all. I have to say mother nature really cooperated and the weather was wonderful so we gathered outside.

My daughter, her husband and their kids Adam, Emmanuel and Xavier drove down to visit with my brother Paul and his daughter Amanda who were visiting from Hawaii. I'm afraid we didn't get pictures of everyone but here goes...

Here's Heather, my daughter and her Uncle Paul hanging out saying their hello's.

And here's Mom, my son Matthew and my son in law Bo enjoying the beautiful day and an adult beverage before we ate.

My husband isn't much for cooking in the house, however he is great at the grill! And of course that's Heather again, even as a child she was a ham bone!

My grandson Emmanuel's birthday was last week so we had to have a cake right? What kind of grandparents would we be! With his parents looking on he's blowing out his candles and making his wish.

Then they all took a hike back onto our property which is about 26 or so acres, this is what they saw.The next three pictures were taken by my nine year old grandson Xavier. I think he's got a bit of talent don't you?

This is our pond, a timber company just cleared about one square mile of timber on the other side of it for a family who inherited the land. It looks terrible and leaves much of my area looking more like a prairie.

This is our old three level tobacco barn. It hasn't been used in many many years as you can see by it's condition. The tobacco would be hung on poles up on top across beams and then a fire would be built on the ground and the tobacco is smoked before going to market.

These are a several trees that are sure to become fire wood for our wood stove at some point. They are most certainly storm damage from our last hurricane. 

And now a few pictures that my niece Amanda took when she was out and about on the hike.

This is a deer track that they found out in the woods, we have a family of deer who come up to the house regularly and eat the apples and pears off the trees.

Our apples are just about done as you can see, this one is pretty rotten on the vine, and the leaves are almost all on the ground now.

And that was our family day, with food, cake and a hike. My brother and his daughter left to go back to Hawaii early this morning. We are SO happy that they could come and so sad to see them go. Maybe next time we can all get together; all of us.

party hats and other silly things we do!

It's important to me to celebrate family occasions as a family whenever possible. Last night we got together to celebrate my son Matthew's 29th birthday. It seemed like yesterday that he was born and now he's grown done with college and on his own, gosh did time fly.

I see so many parents out there in blog land and in real life who are in a rush to get their kids grown to push them through their precious stages of development; what I wouldn't do to have those moments back with all my kids. But I must say I enjoy very much being a parent of grown children and having my grand babies to spoil.

My daughter Heather called me the other day after my husband and I had left their house and said to me, "I went upstairs then their they were waving twenty dollar bills as if they'd just pulled off the heist of the century." She then added with a chuckle, "I knew you had given them that money for vacation but they were trying with their last breath to convince me to take them to Game Stop to get a new video game and I wasn't buying it for a minute!"  As a grandmother I have to tell you honestly I just love this, I cannot tell you how much!

Now back to birthdays and our family. As we were  seated around the table at the restaurant I was thinking about the little things we do with our kids and how they'll carry those things with them, make it their own and even build on it when they have kids of their own or get older. Those things that grow from the seed planted from the importance of family.

My kids know for instance  that birthday dinners when they were little or living home they always got to pick the meal and the cake; what ever they wanted and Mom's cooked it just for them. But now that they've grown and they have busy lives and work and families of their own we tend to go out to eat to celebrate birthdays.

My daughter Heather has started a bit of a tradition of her own which I love, she and her husband are both working parents. He works nights and she days so the kids always have a parent home with them.

Whenever we meet for a birthday for one of my grandsons they MUST wear a birthday hat during their birthday dinner. It's a rather funny thing too! Now mind you her kids are ages 9-13 so it's not to humiliating yet! I found two of the boys pictures on my cell here are the last two birthdays celebrated with their hats.

Adam on his 13th

Xavier on his 9th

Last night we celebrated my sons 29th birthday and she forgot to bring her brothers birthday hat to the restaurant so she had to improvise; and made one out of several napkins from the table. We were at a local sports bar so the head lock went surprisingly unnoticed by the other patrons on the outdoor patio. Oh that's right did I mention she had to put him in a head lock to get the thing on his head?

Matthew on his 29th

Nothing more than a few silly hats and a lot of laughs and new memories are made that we carry with us for the rest of our lives. So tell me what do you do? Any silly little rituals that make your family birthday's special?