Savannah and Charleston

Last month, Wes and I had a chance to get away for a few days.  We've always wanted to see Savannah and Charleston, so we decided it was time to go.  A marvelous time was had by both of us!  There is so much American history in those two cities, and the Southern hospitality was incredible.

Savannah

Our first stop was to Mrs. Wilkes' Boarding House for lunch.

 A fascinating place where you sit at a table that seats 10.  So, since there were only two of us, we were seated with 8 other folks we didn't know.  When we got to our table, it was already set with all this food.  Our waitress informed us that they had already blessed the food, so just dig in.  Our meal included, fried chicken, pulled pork, beef stew, jambalaya, green beans, cabbage, macaroni and cheese, rice, turnips, cucumbers, black eyed peas and sweet (and I mean SWEET) tea.  For dessert, there was blackberry cobbler and banana pudding.  To say the least, we did not eat for the rest of the day.

Gorgeous homes are everywhere in Savannah.

 St John's Church.  Incredible architecture.

 River Street on the banks of the Savannah River.  In days gone by, this is where the cotton was stored before being shipped to England.  Now it is filled with restaurants and shops.....particularly River Street Treat Shop!

Spanish moss is everywhere.  It is absolutely amazing.  These huge live oaks are all throughout the city.

 John Wesley brought the gospel to Savannah.

Christ Church is where Wesley served for 2 years.

 A trip out to Tybee Island to climb the lighthouse steps to the top.

Charleston

94 live oaks line the drive going up to the Boone Hall Plantation.

 Boone Hall Plantation.

 Wes participating in the story of Brier Rabbit and the Tar Baby.  He was the fox.

A slave house.  Evidently these are nice dwellings as they were made of bricks.  Each house consisted of 1 room for the whole family.

 Fabulous old houses line Battery Park.

We boarded the ferry and headed to Ft. Sumner.

 The first shot of the Civil War was shot at this fort which at the time was occupied by Union Forces.

 At the beginning of the war, these walls were 30 feet tall.  Now they stand about 15 feet.

 A mortar shell from the civil war still embedded in the wall.

 A look at Ft. Sumner from the ferry.

 This is the Angel Tree.  IT IS HUGE!

Yep, that's Wes at the base of this tree.

This is one of its many branches.  Many with circumferences of more than 12 feet. 

The knot in that tree is over 3 feet tall.  This is a beautiful old tree.  They don't really know how old it is.  Some guess it is as young as 400 years.  Others believe it could be up to 1500 years old.  However old it is, it is absolutely amazing.

So, these are a few of the pictures of our trip.  It was so very enjoyable.  We hope to go again sometime because the Southern hospitality of the people in Savannah particularly is just incredible.  It was just a lot of fun.

A Day at the Park

Last week Wes and I had a play day with Ashlynn.  We spent several hours at the park and had a wonderful time.

We first started with a picnic.  Nothing like chicken nuggets and lemonade for a perfect lunch! 

Playing hide and seek with Granddaddy.  Ashlynn was a master of staying one step ahead of Granddaddy. 

 Even tried a bit of fishing.....but they weren't biting.

 A game of tag.  Granddaddy was "It".

Even Follow the Leader is more fun when Granddaddy plays. 

We loved getting to spend the day with our girl.  Can't believe how big she is and how quickly the time is flying by.  What a fun day.

People I want to meet when I get to heaven

There are several people I can't wait to meet when I get to heaven.  Of course, Jesus is the first person I want to see.  I don't think that there's a Christian alive how would not want this.  Of course, I want to see my family who have gone on before me.  Yes, I want to see so many of the people mentioned in the Bible.....I do have questions I would love to hear the answers to.  I want to ask Noah's wife, "Didn't you think Noah was crazy?"  But there are two ladies who most of us don't even recognize that I want to go to and hug their necks and say thank you.  

Those two ladies names are Martha Franks and Olive Lawton.  Martha was a missionary to China in the early 1900's.  Olive was also a missionary to China, best friend to Martha, and as it happens is the first cousin of my daddy-in-law.  These two ladies I will be grateful to for a very long time.

You see, God gave Martha a most unique vision.  She saw that missionaries, preachers, and ministers, who gave their lives to serving through the ministry, would not have a place to go when they got older and needed specific health care.  Because of their very modest salaries, they would not be able to save the money needed or even buy insurance policies that would provide for them in the older age.

Martha took her inherited land in Laurens, SC and started the Martha Franks Retirement Community.  She and Olive worked tirelessly to raise the money needed to get this community up and going.  That is an incredible feat considering that it happened during the time that they started this....it was a very male dominated world.....yet these two ladies had a mission from God and today, there is a wonderful establishment where these precious ministers can live out their final years in peace, love, and dignity they deserve.

Why is this so important to me?  Because Wes' mom and dad moved in to this retirement community back in November.  His dad is in assisted living and his mom is in skilled nursing.....which is in the same building....so they are together every day.  We invited them to come live with us, but Texas is a very long way from South Carolina - where all their family resides.  So we understood why it wasn't very appealing to move our direction.  However, they were just not able to take care of themselves and we knew that they needed to be with someone.  Through miracle after miracle after miracle, we saw God guiding us to Martha Franks.  Not only are Wes' parents well taken care of, but are so happy too.  The staff is unbelievable!  The love they show to each individual is incredible.  As Wes and I were leaving from our last visit, I looked at him and said, "I just can't find anything not to like about this place!"  Yes, it really is that wonderful.

And it all started with one little lady's vision and her friend who told her she wanted to help.  Yep, I'm gonna hug those two ladies when I get to heaven.  

More Memories

We had a great time in New York.  It was just a fun time for the family to be together.  But several of my "funnest" memories were:

1.  The "Go Fish" games that were played in our hotel room.  Ashlynn was pretty good, but Uncle Brendon seemed to beat us all!

2.  Receiving dance lessons from the up and coming Ashlynn Kate.  She was quite patient as she tried to explain and teach us turns and moves.  Let's just say, she has her work cut out for her!

3.  We had adjoining rooms.  We did not show her the connection doors until the 2nd day we were there.  When we did, it was just like Austin said, "It's like having a magic portal".  Ashlynn thought that was the greatest thing to be able to go back and forth between our rooms.  She would run back and forth saying "your room - my room".  It was truly magical to her!

4.  Singing the Cinderella song.  It's so hard for a 5 year old to sit still - particularly if grown ups are trying to decide what to do next and you're ready to go.  So, to pass the time, Ashlynn and I would sing the Cinderella song.  If we sang it once.....we sang it a gazillion times.  Sometimes we'd sing it together.  Other times, we'd take turns or go back and forth.  We even walked down Broadway in Times Square singing it at the tops of our lungs.  Yep, the Cinderalla song can make anything a little bit more fun.

We can do it, we can do it

We can help our Cinderellie

We can make a dress so pretty

There's nothing to it really

We'll tie a sash around it

And put a ribbon through it

While dancing at the ball

She'll be more beautiful than all

We can make a lovely dress for Cinderellie.

Don't think I'll ever forget those words and honestly, I don't want to!

Mary Poppins

Night two had us at Mary Poppins.  Where the Lion King is full of special effects, Mary Poppins is just a good ol' musical.  The story-line is not like the Disney film.  It is based on the Mary Poppins books written by P.T. Travers.  And it is a much better story.  They do use all the Disney songs and more, so Ashlynn knew most of the songs and her feet were never still!  Every once in awhile she'd even try to keep up with all the arm movements while sitting in her seat.  She was SO CUTE to watch!  But when the actors did Step In Time with their tap shoes.....she just about couldn't contain herself.  This play was even more fun than Lion King!  

A spoonful of Sugar helps the medicine go down!

Our favorite: S-U-P-E-R-C-A-L-I-F-R-A-G-I-L-I-S-T-I-C-E-X-P-I-A-L-I-D-O-C-I-O-U-S.  I thought Ashlynn was going to jump out of her seat with this one!

Chim-chim-er-ree, chim-chim-er-ree......

Step in time!

Anything can happen if you let it.  Mary Poppins ends with her flying away above the audience with her umbrella.

You walk away from the play with such a song in your heart and a spring in your step.  It just makes you feel really good inside.  What a treat!

The Lion King

We had the opportunity to see two Broadway plays while in New York.  The Lion King holds a special place in my heart for several reasons.  First of all, it is the first show we ever saw on Broadway.  It was also the first show where we took our boys.  The Lion King was always one of the boys favorite movies growing up - we knew all the music by heart.  So, to see it played out on the stage was fascinating to us.  Second, two of the languages that they speak are Zulu and Ndebele, which are the languages that Wes grew up around while living in Africa.   Hearing those words again bring back such great memories for him. Third, just watching the special effects of this play will just blow you away.  You just keep asking yourself, "How do they do that?  How did they come up with that?" The creativity involved is spectacular.  And last, there are so many spiritual truths in it, that I've never gone and not have God talk to me.  So, I wanted to share all of these experiences with Ashlynn.  It was so fun watching her as she took in the life sized animals coming down the aisle and seeing her little feet dance and tap to the beat of all the songs.  

Here is the website to see the trailer to The Lion King:  http://www.lionking.com/about  When Rafiki comes and calls out to the other animals, a chill runs up and down my arms.  She is calling out that the new king has been born and to come see and worship.  Is that how the angels felt the night Jesus was born?  Knowing that the Savior had come to earth - what a experience for the angels and the shepherds.  Also, when the animals get up on stage, they start yelling in Zulu, "Thank you, Father God" over and over.  When all this started on stage, I just started to cry.  I could not believe that God had allowed me to bring my little girl to see this.  It was a dream come true. 

We sat through the show in awe.  Just unbelievable fun.  I will never forget it.  I hope Ashlynn doesn't either.

Rafiki.....she is my favorite.

 The animals are incredible.  You see the actors and yet you don't.  Creativity at it's finest.

Celebrating the new king.

Puumba and Timon - great comic relief.  Again, the actors are right there and yet, it's the animals you see.

New York City

The day finally arrived!  We were on our way to New York City.  We had such a great time and took a gazillion pictures, but here are a few of the highlights:

 Ashlynn and Uncle Brendon trying to wait patiently for our airplane to arrive.

This wasn't her first plane ride, but it's the first one she remembers.  She was VERY excited.

 Sam, our driver, met us at LaGuardia airport with her sign.

Riding on the ferris wheel at the Times Square Toys R Us.

 Brendon getting to meet Rupert Jee owner of the Hello Deli, made famous by David Letterman.

 Our first night we ate at Carmine's Restaurant.  Fabulous Italian food.  This was our dessert, known as the Titanic.  There were 6 of us and the Titanic won.

Ashlynn loved riding on the subway.  Why walk or take a cab when you could ride a train that was underground?

 Our adventure also lead us to FAO Schwatz.  Ashlynn got to make her own muppet.  She put it all together on paper and then they made her a real one.

  

 This is Nina....Ashlynn's creation.

 Playing on the Big Piano at FAO Schwarz.

 Nighttime in Times Square.  It was SO COLD that night!  But we still had a great time.

 The next day was so much warmer - still cold, but not unbearable!  We started by checking out Central Park.

 Horse drawn carriage rides are a great way to see the park.

 Just a fun way to watch all the people at the park.

Every princess needs pink shades while going on a carriage ride.

 Woo-Hoo!  Another family shot!  It's so hard to get all of us together at one time, so anytime we can get a picture of all of us - we grab it!

On top of a huge rock formation in Central Park.  A great place to let a 5 year old explore!