Heading Home for Homecoming

(Pictures are in reverse order...still can't get the hang of uploading them the right way....sorry)

We went over to Columbus for a lovely fall weekend. It was suppose to be a nice laid back visit, but, as we seem to do it, there was little time for resting. We went persimmon picking Saturday morning at a local orchard. It seemed that most of them had already been picked but mom and I found two good bag-fulls to bring home (as well as some home-made granola that the best Fran in the whole world made with love!) While HK was napping, Hook and I, as well as my dad, brother and nephew, went out for some target practice to sharpen our fierce shooting skills! Saturday afternoon we took a drive over to true Maroon country for State's Homecoming festivities! I haven't been over for a game in a while and was wow-ed away by all the new tailgating....as we were walking around, soaking in campus and people watching, we saw the Maroon Band march by headed into the stadium....HK had to march behind them for just a little ways. (She raises her knees up and coaches herself-"march, march" as she does it) When we made it into the stadium, Hannah Kate finally realized why we've been shouting "Go Dawgs!" and shouted it with us and the other bazillion (ok, not really, but a fabulous sea of maroon) fans. Then Sunday morning we were able to celebrate with our friends Jamie and Carrie as they baptized Hank. Thanks so much for including us, guys! (I can't believe I didn't get any pictures of that precious little man.-Please send me some that we took)

Happy Day Sweet Mattie!

Happy 9th Birthday to our cousin/neice Mattie(yesterday! I've been trying to upload this video for two days!!)! You are growing into such a sweet and smart young lady. You make us so proud!

Roadtrip to Iuka

We loaded up and headed to the northeast part of the state this weekend to visit with lots of family! First stop was Columbus for Friday night to see my parents. Hannah Kate was helping Gigi get an apple for breakfast and she looked just a touch sneaky in this picture!
It was such a pretty morning on Saturday. Hannah Kate and Gigi started the day out walking around the yard listening to the birds sing. She decided that she needed to be closer to the birds so we perched her in the tree to sit a spell.
Then we loaded up and headed up the Natchez Trace to I-U-K-A! Grandmother Hooker, Lee, Shelia, and David were waiting for our arrival. Mark III, Mary Glenn, Mimi, and Papaw had arrived earlier that day. The Hookers were having a reunion picnic on Sunday so it gave us all a nice excuse to head up to visit. G-mother Hooker gave HK a tutu and we were finally able to peel it off of her as she drifted off to sleep that night.
Sunday, we had a Hooker family gathering in the mineral springs park downtown. It was ideal for the kids with lots of play area and great slides! There were the nicest playgrounds hidden in the shade of these great oak trees. And, according to Hooker, there used to be 7 mineral springs that ran up in the park... we could still see where they used to flow out but now it's just city water.

There was even an old covered bridge adjacent to the park. It was such a quaint little town with lots of aesthetic value. Very cute place to visit. And lots of generations gathered to spin yarns and share the Sunday afternoon.