Thanksgiving in the Ozarks

Sorry it's been so long. It's been kinda busy. But I had to share some of the pictures from our annual Thanksgiving trip out to the Ozarks in Arkansas. The trip started out well, then late Wed. night took a turn for the worse. I had been talking to my family who were back home in north Alabama, extending my sympathies because Caiden, Dad, and Mike were all sick with a stomach virus. "How awful to not be able to eat Thanksgiving dinner," I was saying. Then it hit me, Wed. night, the night before we were to eat Thanksgiving lunch! Not fun, not fun at all. Thankfully, it wasn't a long virus, so I did get to enjoy leftovers Thanksgiving night and go on our annual post-Thanksgiving hike in the Ozark Mountains and this time with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Joey and his brother had a little too much fun being dare devils.

I LOVE this kid!!

So you can't tell me this baby isn't the most precious thing ever! Oh, and by the way, he said "ma-ma" for the first time this weekend! And the crazy thing is that he stops at "ma-ma." He doesn't say "ma-ma-ma-ma." Ok, so maybe I'm a little to proud, but I have a right to be as an aunt, right?!

Mallows

So what did we do with the gigantic stump left in the yard from the tree Joey and Randy cut down? We turned it into a fire pit! This is one of my favorite things, especially in the cooler months, sitting around a warm fire. It takes me back to my high school and college days when me and some of my greatest friends would sit around at my now-husband's house down by the creek in his backyard around the fire pit he and some of the guys built - known as "the camp". So that's where Joey and I got started as good friends. And here we've come full circle - married with a house of our own, two babies, and a backyard with another fire pit. Anyway, we roasted marshmallows to break in our fire pit, and the doggies seemed to enjoy too.

Timber!

What do you do when you have a rotten tree in your yard right next to your house? You call a tree service to cut it down, right? Well, not Joey. He just calls up his friend Randy to cut it down with him. They tied one side of a strap to the tree and the other side to the F-250. I stood on the deck videoing and praying that the tree wouldn't hit our bedroom. Well, Joey started sawing and Randy had the truck in 4-wheel drive pulling the strap tight. The tree started to crack, so Joey ran, leaving the chain saw in the tree because it was stuck. Thankfully, the tree fell the right way (away from the house) and only took out one limb on my dogwood tree. So they got it done! I would post the video, but it's too big.

It's Fall!!!

To me, no other season displays God's beauty and majesty more than fall. I absolutely love the leaves, cool weather, and outdoor fires. I can't wait to go up to some of the lookouts we've found and take pictures of those views with all the fall colors (those posts to come).

I went home for a couple of days this past week while Joey had to go out of town. We got to use Mom and Dad's outdoor fireplace to make smore's. Such a great fall night.

Some pics I took while at home....

Huntin' Dogs

Joey finally got squirrel #13 which he has been after for several months. Rocky has always loved it when Joey pulls out his .22 because that means he gets to grab the squirrel when it drops to the ground. He's very good, though, about giving it up when we make him. Well, as Joey was taking the squirrel away from Rocky, Ty (who had not yet seen a live, well recently dead squirrel) immediately snatched it out of Joey's hands and ran off with it.



It took Joey a long while to get that squirrel from Ty. I never knew Boxers were a hunting breed, but I guess a little bit is in them all.

What better end of the week treat could you have than to spend time with babies and puppies! (And of course, family too). Caiden and Ty love each other! Caiden even laughed when Ty licked him all over his face.





Wouldn't Joey be a proud uncle - Carhart overalls and a thermal shirt.