Seafood Feast

We cooked the seafood tonight that we got when we were in Pensacola. It was really, really good. These oysters were grilled in the shell with olive oil, cajun seasoning, and parmesan cheese. These were the only ones left by the time I thought to take pictures.

Yum!!

These are just on the half shell. Yum, Yum!!

Boiled shrimp. Yum, Yum, Yum!!

We boiled new potatoes and corn. Yum, Yum, Yum, Yum!!!And finally, the swordfish steak. Yum, Yum, Yum, Yum, Yum!!!
It don't get much better than this.......

Heading Home to Texas

We got to visit with Greg's brother, Bruce, and his kids on our last night in Pensacola. They had just come back from a holiday visit to Disneyworld. It was fun to sit around the table and listen to the three brothers tell stories on themselves. Bruce's daughter, Larkin, who is 6, finally decided that I was ok and came to sit with me while we listened to the boys talk.

This picture of Sam was taken while we were at Millie's house. He is, as we would say in Texas, a "big ole boy". This picture makes me laugh......

This is what we drove home in today. We hit the rain in Louisiana and we had it most of the way back from there. The traffic was moving well for the Sunday of Thanksgiving though.

We took a different way back once we got into Texas so that we could swing by Brandon's house in Round Rock. Really, we just met them at a convenient point for us both to drop off an ice chest of fresh seafood. The traffic was bumper to bumper from about Temple (30 minutes from home). We stopped by Jeremy/Marci's and picked up the dog (thanks guys!) and headed home. We just finished a couple dozen or so fresh oysters on the half shell and about a dozen that were cooked in the shell on the grill. Later in the week, we will grill the swordfish and do something with the shrimp that we bought in Florida.

Just want to say a special thanks to Millie for putting us up at her house. You are always a terrific hostess and we always have such a good time. The food was wonderful and the company was even better. It is wonderful to have a "plant person" to visit with. Thanks for being there for me. I love you bunches!!! paula

Botanical Garden

If I could pick Millie's yard up and drop it in MY backyard in Texas, I would be so totally happy!!! The climate here is so great for growing plants and Millie's yard is a virtual jungle of plants. And I love it!!! She is sending me home with some great starts of some plants. Hopefully they will do OK back in our hot climate.

I really want one of these built in my back yard.......
This plant was COVERED in these beautiful yellow blooms.
A grouping of pot plants
An archway and gate that go into the backyard
These are growing OUTSIDE the yard area......
Only two oranges survived this year, and they aren't near ripe yet......
We will be up early in the morning to head out.

More Pics of the Kids

The weather took quite a turn while we were here. The first day it was pretty warm but since then, has been a bit on the cool side. The kids played outside yesterday but had to wear their jackets.

Pilgrim #1

Bricen
Kaila
Pilgrim #2
Kaila, Morgan, and Bricen

Grandkids

We got to visit with all the grandkids today.

This is Bricen with Morgan.

Kaila eating lunch.
Kaila and Madison eating a sandwich together.
I planned ahead and brought Christmas presents for them all. Morgan and I wrapped them last night to get them ready to drop off today so they will have gifts to open from us on Christmas Day.

More Thanksgiving Pictures

We had REAL pilgrims at our Thanksgiving feast. This is Greg's nephew and niece, Patrick and Kelly.

This is a shot of Greg's sister's whole family.
Greg and his brother Joe. Greg was peeling and cutting up potatoes for mashing for lunch. I didn't even know that he could do such chores......
After lunch at the table looking at old pictures. Greg's sister Nancy is in the blue, her son Stosh and daughter Katie in the hat (cute, cute), Millie, and Kristy.
Madison with Mimi's "sunglasses" on......
Thanksgiving lunch was really, really good. We were all stuffed.....

At The Beach

After we left the restaurant, we went to Pensacola Beach. The water was a bit cool but the beach is just beautiful. I love it!!

What are these??? They look like seals.......what could they be??.......
...they are surfers!!
I noticed that Greg was really quiet behind me while I was oooohing and ahhhhing over the pretty water and white sand. Then I turned around and saw what had taken his attention......
I think he really liked their surfboards......

Happy Thanksgiving!!

After a good night's sleep, we headed out early this morning to see where the "work" was being done. The diner wasn't open for business but Millie (Greg's mom) was there to serve customers that had placed "to go" orders for Thanksgiving food. We sat and drank a couple of pots of coffee and had a good visit with her between people coming in for pickups.

Greg getting us some more coffee.....
The diner is set up to look like an "old style" diner. It is really cute!!
Scenic 90 Cafe
Greg's sister and brother in law own the diner as well as the really fancy restaurant across the street from it called Skopelos. This was the kitchen over there. They were to open for business at about 11:00 AM. Everyone was bustling and busy at work. I should have taken pictures of the guy that was shucking the oysters......

Greg's family will gather here to eat lunch at about 2:00 PM. Will post more pictures later.

Trip to Florida

It took us 13 hours (give or take a few) but we made it to Pensacola. We had a few highway detours but overall, things went well. I think Madison got a bit tired of sitting in the carseat but she was really not a bad traveler at all.

Cute Vanity

I am off work for a whole week!!! Yahoo!! I can't remember the last time I took off this long. It is mainly because we will only be here today and tomorrow, and I didn't see any reaon to pay daycare when I had vacation time to use. So Madison and I are hanging out at the house, packing and playing. I started to save this to give to Madison for her birthday but decided that I wanted to see her play with it. She has been busy all morning with it. The vanity has a brush, comb, hand mirror, plastic lipstick, fake bottles of nail polish, perfume bottle, and a pair of clip on earrings. The vanity even lights up and plays music. It is really very cute. And since she is such a "girly" girl, she is loving it!!

I am not quite sure what this look is. I asked her to smile for me and this is what I got. I mainly wanted to get a picture of her in her earrings.

We love you Madison........

Today for our Sunday family lunch we had a farewell to Madison. My family has fallen in love with her and it is very hard on them to see her leave. We had burgers and the fixins, and a special cake for Madison that had many candles for her to blow out.

She got several gifts, I think she thought it was her birthday. Dr. Sam and Brandon got her a doll bed, and Mimi and Papa bought her a new baby doll. She could NOT figure out how to get her AND the baby in the bed. So she put the baby on the ground and started over.
But she stopped to feed her first.....
Dr. Sam tried unsuccessfully to get Madison to lay her baby on her back and not on her tummy, as is the new way of thinking for today's babies. Madison would NOT put her on her back, no matter what we told her. I think Dr. Sam broke out in a cold sweat at one point......
The baby just got pushed to the side when Madison decided to join her in the bed.
It took several folks to put together the princess castle.....Lucas read the directions while Brandon worked on it......
Mr. Tom and Brenda put on the finishing touches......
Dr. Sam and Brandon, and Miz Carolyn and Mr. Tom got Madison many new books to read. Madison likes to be read to at naptime and bedtime. We will enjoy the new stories.

Hopefully Brandon got some good pictures and I can snag some to post later. For the first time in a long time, Papa had the camera and I think he forgot what to do with it.....
Here are Brandon's pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/brandon.dieterich/MadisonSParty