Style & Family

John Gannon started developing his own little unique sense of style when he was around 5 years old. He prefers soft pants (which means non-denim) with lots of pockets, a hat, and something to carry around. The past few weeks, Jackson has emerged with a sense of style himself. Here are a couple of pictures from this past week.

John Gannon received this scarf as a hand-made gift from Memaw (his great-grandmother)...the child has worn it every day! And of course, he has his cross/sword hand crafted by the one and only, Zowie Morris! He also picked up the wooden knife from our recent trip. He is wanting to make some replicas with his Papaw.

Jackson has his button-up plaid shirt on with wind pants, a belt and a tie! He also has his sword/cross by Zowie as well.

This past Saturday, we were able to host our family for breakfast at our home to celebrate the boys birthdays. Jackson prepared with his choice of decorations....

Halloween candles and a real candle.

His scrap monster hand-crafted by Ms. Kathy just had to attend. John's soon joined the decor as well. Kathy and Terry visited us on Friday night. We loved getting to spend some hours with them-having a dance party in the living room, getting a Minecraft tutorial, listening to the 2 man folk strum the guitars and sing...memories...

John Gannon prepared to host a game at the birthday party (which at the time, I had no clue what he was doing other than bringing about 8 dry-erase boards down with about 10 markers). He is always creating games to play from random things. Turns out, he replicated a game we played at Bible study a couple months ago where you ask random questions about people in the room and all the participants guess the answers.  Everyone was all smiles as he led the game. 

I say this every year, I know. But for Johnny and I, it just never gets old. We love the fact that even though we are from a very blended family they can all come together, talk and laugh with each other. We are truly blessed. Every year, we both have such a full feeling when everyone leaves. Not because we ate too much food, but it is just a beautiful sight-seeing our family taking the time to make some memories with us and our children at our home. Time in the presence of the ones you love is the best gift.

On a funny note, as for our house, we prefer to eat and drink from plastic cups and plates. We don't have to worry about things getting left outside or broken.  We buy a few packs of the brightly colored plates in the Spring and use/re-use them for the year, sometimes 2-3 years. As for cups, most of them are picked up at vendor booths at conferences I have to attend to maintain my credentials. For the past few years, after hosting our family, we always find our fine china in the trash! It has become something Johnny and I have looked forward to every year. This year was no exception.  Johnny whispered to me in the kitchen, "I just got one of our plates out of the garbage." We laughed. We are still laughing. I mean, like the belly-hurt kind... You know you are poor, when your family throws your GOOD plates in the trash! Can't wait until next year!

I have finally ordered my camera! Nothing fancy-just the point/shoot waterproof/drop proof upgrade of the one I had. I can't wait to strap it onto my water pack as we jump across boulders in the river this spring! HOPEFULLY IT WILL TAKE A CLEAR PICTURE!!! 

Live a Meaningful Life!