Laurel / Laurelwood

We went to visit Grandfather at the nursing home when we were home about three weeks ago. Thankfully, we'd made arrangements ahead of time to bring Bugs - he really enjoyed seeing her. We were glad to see him, and pleased and thankful to know he's making progress day by day. I spoke to him at lunch today and Mother was there with Addy - I know he loves having such wonderful visitors and they mean so much. We also enjoyed meeting some of his "friends" at the nursing home. He has a great roommate and a very sweet WWII bride from England down the hall. She had some amazing stories about being in the Ladies' Auxiliary during the War. I am sure we will be down again soon, and we can't wait to see how much he will have progressed then.

Winter Gathering 2009

The annual GPAN Winter Gathering was, well now, about a month ago. We didn't take many pictures this year and Bugs didn't seem to like it as much as last year. She was kind of "over it", but did still have fun, as evidenced by her race with her friend Noble... which was too close to call according to her. 

We also met Lana's new family and were glad to see her, of course. It was strange, we wondered aloud whether they would be there and we looked up to see Bugs and Lana running together and when I called her name she made a beeline for me. I miss her so much - but I know her "child" (a precious five year old redhead girl) and her new home in the country suits her.

Shiloh / Rowan Oak

I have not updated the blog in a very long time, so forgive the forthcoming slew of posts. This is a follow-up to Bugs at the Super 8 seen below; as many of you know, Paul was recently a victim of layoffs at his former job. We'd planned to go to Laurel a few days after that, so he took the long way down via Shiloh and Oxford (which is why Bugs was pictured at the Super 8!) This was interesting because from some of Aunt Frances' documents that traced our ancestry - turns out, we have a second (or third?) great grandfather who fought and was wounded at Shiloh and is buried at Beauvoir! So now there is special significance to his trip, beyond a head-clearing mini-vacation - and I hope to visit one day, too. These won't really be labeled - I encouraged him to put them on the blog, but he whined that no one would be interested. He's wrong :)

Here's a couple from Rowan Oak, too.

Bugs at the Super 8 in Oxford

When Paul stayed at the Super 8 in Oxford on the way down to Laurel last week, Bugs got her own bed, which provided for extra cuteness. Her daddy thought the room smelled like the inside of a smoker's lung, but she thought it was the Ritz-Carlton.

January/February 2009

Since Liza is in Birmingham and the blog hasn't been updated in a while, I've been ordered to update it. Here are a few pics of our 2009 so far.

Bugs looking extraordinarily cute…

Bugs and recently-adopted Lana in the kitchen…

Lana is interested. Bugs is suspicious…

Lana in her coat on one of our really cold nights in January…

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On the last Saturday in January, we drove out of Nashville through Cheatham County. Along the way, we hiked up Sydney's Bluff, a high bluff along the Cumberland River across from Ashland City, and to near Mound Bottom, an old indian city near the Narrows of the Harpeth.

Liza on top of Sydney's Bluff, looking back upriver towards Nashville.

View upriver. It's actually a LOT higher than it looks.

This is the best pic we could get of the largest mound at Mound Bottom. Despite being state-owned and with property being recently bought for donation to the State, only group tours of the site are given. It's on a very tight river bend surrounded by high cliffs, so you can only get really good glimpses from the road in winter. For more info, check out the Wikipedia article…

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We woke up the last week in January to find a light dusting of snow! These were pictures Liza got before work…

Our back porch…

the front of the house…

on the Woodland Street bridge, across which Liza has to walk every morning. Her building is the tan one straight ahead…

looking down at the train tracks running along the Cumberland near LP Field

the icy Cumberland 

…at the plaza in front of the courthouse. Liza's building is the tall one on the left.

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Annie turne ONE on Saturday. These are from her birthday party at John & Sarah Beth's.

Pushing her alligator walker thingie she got from Minnie and Panda for Xmas…

Does this seriousness look like John Downey's child?

She guesses it's okay since cousins Martha and Emma are involved…

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Bugs is still unimpressed…

This has been her favorite pose since Liza left. She can't wait for the adventure she's going on tomorrow and Thursday. Then it's pig ear time with Pawpaw.

Lana discovers television...

...Family Guy, to be exact.

Bugs also wears a blue floral burka. 

Yeah, now you're interested.

 

Random Pics

Here are some random pictures from the last little while.
These are clippings from a baby aloe plant a friend of mine (Bugs' brother's mom) gave me. Hopefully they'll take...



Here is the progress on the aerogarden... looking good! Hopefully we will see some blooms soon!


This is why I vacuum the couch frequently... so my baby can look adoringly at me.


Here is the legendary "crazy tongue" Bugs gets sometimes. We don't know why. She just walks around like this sometimes, like a "real dog" would :)