We all made it thru Christmas safe and happy. New Years is around the corner. Everyone will be surprised, but there are very few Christmas pictures for me to post. I simply forgot to take them. Besides all you would see is boxed and wrapping paper flying thru the air.

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Years!

So, for a first time photo shoot, let me know what you think..you should be able to double click on the pictures to enlarge them

Thanksgiving was a good weekend for us. It was just family.. Colby went to his dad's so he was missing...but no extras this year. Brandy, Chris and I all went hunting after we ate. No one saw anything, but we enjoyed ourselves. Friday night Hannah, Justin and I sat around the bonfire and listened to Franklin Co win a play off game. We play the for SouthState title this weekend (go dawgs!)

Chris and Bridget left heading back for Arizona Friday. I took Nick to the airport yesterday for his flight back to Arizona.

On my way back from Jackson, I stopped by Wes' to check on him and Tristan. Which I'm thinking was a good idea. Wes wasn't feeling real well and Tristan was running the house. So we got the baby dressed and away to McDonald's we went. Tristan ate and we rode to the park. We feed the geese and ducks at the park and just rode around for a while.

Wes has been shut up inside for 2 days and the walls were closing in on him. After we got back home, some friends rode up with their little girl and ate supper with us. They had fun.. with 2 the same age (like 4 mo apart), they played good for a little while and quickly got tired of each other. But before they did, I managed to get this picture of them in the toy box together! All in all, we had a good evening...when I left Tristan was waking up from his Power Nap. Needless to say, Wes wasn't thrilled.. So now everyone is up to date!

They made it... We've had a busy weekend already. Cheyenne & Cole are home also this week. I'll have plenty of pictures to post later this week...

Have a great week everyone!!

Count down....till ....Chris and Bridget come home for a visit

If all goes well and as scheduled, they'll be home on the 17th. And I can't wait!!

ONE COOL DUDE!!!

oh yea and me!!

I forgot to post about me!! Things are about the same. My turtle, dog and myself are enjoying life! Work and Fire Dept have me pretty busy...Daddy, myself & a few from the fire dept just finished a boater's safety class the last two nights.

It has turned cool this week, so the gas business is in full swing. I'm ready for the holidays!!

Family updates:

Brandy and kids are all well as you can tell in some of the pictures in earlier post. Cheyenne is doing good in school, she will be getting her braces before too much longer. Cole is all BOY! He's doing great...talking and if he could live outside that is where he would stay.

Chris, Bridget, Colby & Colten are doing good. I talked to Bridget last night. We are on the count down till they come home for Thanksgiving (24 more days!)...she said the temp there has been dropping so that should make work a little easier for Chris and Nick. She has been calling and leaving voicemails on my phone of Colten laughing and growling at me...they are too cute..

Mom and Dad are doing fine. Daddy is getting things ready for hunting season. Mom has been getting her stuff updated to drive a school bus again. She's getting tired of sitting at home. She enjoys it when the kids are home, but other than that she's got cabin fever.

Nick seems to be working out ok with Chris. He got hurt in a little car accident the other day. As Bridget told me this. I haven't actually talked to Nick. Bridget says he's made a good many friends there is Arizona. He will be home for Thanksgiving as well. He has chose to fly home rather than make the 24-29 hour drive with Chris, Bridget and boys. I love you guys, but I can't say that I blame him!

To those of you that know Junior, he is now engaged. As of Saturday night I thing. He is dating a girl from up around Jackson/Brandon. Seems to be a real sweet person, and has a very handsome little boy about 15 months old. I wish them the best of luck.

Everyone knows that Kevin is still included in the family.. His birthday was last week, so I gave him a call. He was in Montana on a hunting trip. He said he'd been doing fine. We hardly get to see Kev much anymore, but he stays in touch with Mom and he pops his head in here at my office every now and then...It's hard to believe his little girl just turned 11. Oh my gosh!!

So now all you Yankees are caught up with us Rednecks!!!

TOo cute not to post!

Franklinton Fair!!

Ain't no way in H*** you could have gotten me to do this...Sorry I kinda lost track of the seats for a moment....

I went to the Franklinton Fair this weekend with some friends. We had a really awsome time...something different to do...

The fair down there isn't like the fair here. We don't have any "for a $1 see a 75 lb rat"...or "snake woman for $1"...well as you can see the guys gave a $1 each for the 75 lb rat..which turned out to be an animal from another country with no tail.. but i gave into the snake thingy...yea..i paid my $1 didn't even let Wes pay my way on that stupid adventure...LIVE and Learn!

We enjoyed walking around looking at the crafts and we rode one ride...each getting off complaining of something...then of course had to have a footlong corndog, cotton candy, carmel apple and funnel cake...and no one had a belly ache for we sere smart...we shared so it wouldn't cost as much!!! YIKES the prices people charge for this stuff!

Corndogs $ 6.00 each

Cokes $2.00 for small

Carmel Apple $4.00

Cotton Candy $5.00

Funnel cake $6.00

Tickets for rides $23

FUN WITH FRIENDS AND A NIGHT TO REMEMBER PRICELESS

ok..so it was a no makeup and get up wash the hair and go kind of day!! I wasn't planning on any pictures, but Cole let me cut his hair which shocked the u know what out of me...so i thought we needed a picture!

Cole has figured out he can flip!

OK, so it's a little age difference between the two of them. But Aubbie has a boyfriend!

Aubbie is one of my best friends little girl. The guy holding her is Brian a member of our fire department and has become an awsome friend. Aubbie has come to love her some Brian!

Isn't it pretty?

This was taken on our way back from Arizona to as we call it "God's Country", home.

I will be the first one to admit it, I didn't really care for Arizona that much & everyone seems shocked. Let me explain...Chris lives like 5 minutes outside the city limits of Phoenix. Which is like living in Jackson, MS x 5. He has every eating joint he could imagine within 5 blocks of their apartment. You actually turn into the McDonald's parking lot to go to his apartment. There is no grass ANYWHERE around, no trees unless you count the "Sticky Trees" (cactus) as Colby referees to them. I'm sure once you get up into the hills & mountains, things might be a little prettier.

I think this picture of the rainbow was taken in western Texas or New Mexico...It was an amazing sight...Rainbows are hard to capture in a picture. The coloring of the rainbow has to be just right up again a dark sky. I think I about used half my memory card trying to take rainbow pictures. Every few miles during this little storm it was a different rainbow. We even saw a "Double Rainbow" which I couldn't get any good picture of.

This made me think...I say we were coming home to "God's Country", but just from the beauty I was seeing God create around me down that rainy road, I realized then I was just really coming "home". God's Country has it own beauty if it is the beautiful grass, and trees we have here in Mississippi, or the dry desert plains with a beautiful rainbow in the background. These few minutes that I saw this beauty reminded me of how lucky I am to be able to have my life and to be able to enjoy what is surrounding me. Blessed are those of us that have the ability to witness this!

The Double Rainbow is a symbol to our family. I know that Two very special sisters were looking down on Mom and Myself that trip home! One the good Lord blessed me with knowing for years...and the other one I never knew but would have loved as much as the other. I miss you Brandi!!

I thank the Lord everyday for "opening my eyes" and making me appreciate all that is here and all that has passed...blessing of the past, present, and future. I can't wait for what the Lord has in store! AMEN!!!

They all seem to be adjusting well! Bridget mailed me a disk with some pictures on it, but this seems to be my favorite. How weird does Chris look with a wedding band on his hand and a baby on his chest?!?! Anyone that knows Chris knows he never held a child until it was about 9 months old or so. Colten appears to have grown and grown since they've been gone.














Momma and I are going over there hopefully next week to see them and take some things to them. I can't wait!!

THEY MADE IT!

After a very crazy, nothing went right Tuesday, and a very tearfilled Wednesay, they got on the road Wednesday about noon. Bridget, Chris and colten in the truck with Nick and Colby in the car behind them. As a friend of mine and Chris' (Coach Tony Johnson..u are cruel by the way!) said, "we were big ole babies" and all cried and cried as they were leaving...bridget text me about 20 min later and said that in 2 month Chris would pay half the plane fare for Me and Mom to fly out there...THEY ALREADY MISSED US!!

Mom had to call and talk to Colten on Thurday to calm him down a little bit. Nick and Colby were jammin out on the way over there. Bridget said Colby got out singing "To the left to the left...to the right to the right...to the front to the front" so needless to say Bridget was scared of just what all they might have listened to! Oh yea and Nick ate all Colby's M&M's so he was STARVING...but obviously the 19 year old and 3 year old done just fine.

They arrived Friday about 3 pm or so. Got things unloaded and now they are working on sleeping arrangements. The 3 bedroom apt is full! Considering it is 5 grown ups and 2 kids, but they've been in tighter quarter before. It'll all work out!

I've got pictures of them leaving...thru my tears somehow! I'll post them later.

Making the most of the time we have!!

Chris dropped the bomb on us a few weeks ago that his work maybe taking him to Arizona...well, it happened. They are leaving Wednesday the 8th. And Nick (cousin) decided he wanted to go work with Chris too!

Now mind you, this is hard, but taking baby Colten from us is the hardest of all. I think Mom has offered to just keep him for them. Needless to say Bridget said "NO" quickly.

Speaking of quickly, how quick can a new mommy pack a whole house and 2 boys up with very little help? Pretty quick. She turned her keys in to Mrs. Barbara yesterday. They have been staying at Mom and Dad's since they've packed everything up. This weekend, I think they are staying with me maybe until they leave.

So what do you do when you know your baby brother, your new best friend, your 2 nephews, and cousin (Nick is going too), are leaving for a year? You make the most of the time you have! I was scheduled to be on the road a few days this week, I rescheduled them for the end of next week. That way as soon as I get off I'm going to Mom and Dad's to get some "good baby" loves!! Chris will be home from Alabama this weekend, Nick, Brandy & kids will be home, so we plan on spending plenty of time together.

Aunt Chonda has already checked plane tickets!! about $220 round trip. So no one get offended when I say I can't do something that I'm broke...I'm just saving up for plane fair!! I figure I can fly over about every 2 months...They plan on coming home for Christmas. They know better than keeping the new baby away the first Christmas!!!

Please keep Chris, Bridget, the kids and my family in your prayers as we adjust to this change!!!

Colten- July 4th

Chris' version of "burping the baby". He can't seem to get him to burp any other way... Colten don't seem to mind.



















Chris and his boys! See how he's looking at Colby. I'm sure the little stink butt had done something..


These were tanken about 3 weeks ago

I'm still here!

Yes, I'm still here! I know I've not posted in a while. I've been pretty busy lately...I've got lots of pictures from the 4th of July and picture of baby Colten to post. My computer here at work is on the fritz, I don't have internet at home anymore, so I try to upload pictures during my lunchbreak. Which has been a task since I'm working on just a laptop right now at work. It's not the fastest thing in the world, but it gets my "work" stuff done without me having to go uproot someone else from their computer.

I'll try to day at luch to get some pictures going of some sort!

Take care everyone!!

Awwe...wee...ain't i a cutie??

Small town Blessings!


I have always loved being from a small town. Everyone knows who you are, and when you aren't sure of what you are doing, someone else knows! I never really stop to think about the small things until this past week. Living from a small town, the blessing are all around, you just have to take the time to see them.


I don't mean to sound selfish when I post this, and I hope the family doesn't mind, but I feel the need to post how I feel. Maybe someone will get something out of this also.


Small town blessings come in strange places, strange packages and strange ways. This week, a very close friend's grandfather passed away. I have atteneded high school with his grandsons, I am on the fire dept with one, & I hope I can say I feel close to his family, so I felt the need to go to the wake. Which is nothing out of the ordinary for us "small town people" to show our respect to the family. But for some reason, I felt the need to go to the funeral the next day. Oh, as sad as it was, it was a blessing. The gentleman that passed has had cancer for a while now. Which as bad as we hurt, we know it's a blessing he's with the Good Lord now.


I knew he was a retired trooper, retired veteran, but I didn't know he was a former POW. Which all this means, he was receiving a full military service from the 21 gun salute to the playing of Tapps. I had never attended a full military funeral and I now know it's a service that tears at your heart. And having family and friends in the service, this took on a whole different meaning to me.

For I know the children and grandchildren of this gentleman were dedicated to the caring of their father & grandfather. This was a man they looked up to considerably. And so did the community. In today's times, things aren't respected as they were years ago, and when you see two grandchildren of this man stand and salute their grandfather's flag that come off his casket, it warmed my heart to know that there is still respect in today's society. Sometimes it is hard to find. I still get teary eyed when I think about them saluting their grandfather. You could see the love and respect in the way they stood, their posture and the motions they put behind it.


Blessings--I'm blessed knowing that Mr. BT had a great family he's left behind that I can say I'm greatful to be associated with and a friend to.


I was blessed to see that there is still respect in today's society to those members that have served and are still serving our country.


I'm blessed simply because things seem a little clearer to me since Monday.


I hope that if any of Mr. BT's family reads this post, that I've done good in wording what I felt and the blessing that I received.

And my thoughts and prayers are with you always!

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ME?!?!?
Am I a Mommy..no..well not in one sense of the word...But I had these two wonderful plants and cards for me on Mother's Day...

Mom took Cheyenne, Cole and Colby shopping for Mother's Day gift and as they were walking off from getting Bridget & Brandy's gifts, Cheyenne said I had to have a plant also...don't laugh to hard at the next part... She said that I was a mommy to Chase, Copper and Paul (the dog, cat and turtle that I have). So that is where the aloe plant came into the picture. As for the homemade card in front of it..that's a story...They made Mike (Mom's catohoula curr) sit down and they traced his paw...which is on the back side of the card, but was too funny when I heard the whole story behind the reason for my plant and then the torment poor Mike had to go thru to make the card!

The next other plant and card brought tears to my eyes...which many of you know I only do when I'm extremely upset, really sad or really really happy. For you see Bridget is about the only girl Chris has dated that I get along with and she gets along with me. We both say what we think and that's the end of the discussion. She has her opinion and I have mine. Bridget not only is my sister-in-law, she is becoming one of my best friends. Which she's carrying my my baby brother's baby, my nephew which isn't here and this means the world to me...Along with the neice and 2 newphews I already have!... But anyways, Colten sent me a little message per his Mommy on Mother's Day. I have made a picture of the card, I hope you can read it ok..if not it says

Dear Aunt Chonda
Thank you for being there for my Mom while I was in her Belly. I was wondering if you would be my God Mother and be there for me like you are my mom
I love you
Colten

I still get teary eyed reading it! So the second plant and card was for me in honor of Mother's Day since I'm a God Mommy!!! Or will be shortly when he decides the time is right for him to grace us with his lovely little self... I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE HIM!!!

Bridget, Thank you for allowing me to be more of Colten's life that just his Aunt.

I love you!

I love Mother's Day..for a few different reasons...but the flowers are always in full bloom at Mom's on Mother's Day. These are just a few of the ones I took

A VERY COLORFUL WEDDING!!!!

The Bride -Breann and her girls
THe girls being silly--as per the camera lady's request!

They remind me of "Men in Black"!

I had the opportunity to help with a friend's wedding 2 weeks ago. As you can tell it was a very colorful wedding. This was a pretty good group to work with. I've done a couple of weddings before, but never one this large and colorful!! I had a blast. The girls even enjoyed a little bit of bowling the night before..

I even managed to get a "short" camping trip out of the deal! That's a different post in itself!

Breann & Josh,

I wish you the best of luck!!

Quiet at home

Things have been oddly quiet lately...I'll prob eat those words today! Nothing much going on.

Got my water leak fixed..if any of you see Archie Campbell tell him to forget about coming to my house, but he must have already done that!! Gotta love him!

Bridget and Colby should be traveling home today or tomorrow from Texas. She's been with Chris out there for almost a week now. Brandy, Cole & Cheyenne are doing fine. In fact the kids were at Mom & Dad's this weekend. I spent the weekend loafing around here at the house or w/ Jay, Jennifer & Aubbie.

Like i said, oddly quiet!

June 13th

That's the day the dr. says Colten will be get to see us all! Well, that is unless the Good Lord says he wants him to see us sooner!

Bridget had her dr apt yesterday and was told she was ok to travel...so off to Texas she and Colby went this morning to spend some time with Chris who is in his last year of his lineman whatever it is.

According to the dr. Colten is the size of a 31 week baby. Bridget is only 30 weeks so he's gonna be a little "chunk" as the dr. told her. But everything looks good! So we are all in the final phases of gettin stuff ready... pray that everything gets done before Colten arrives...

Easter, Chris Birthday & a Crawfish Boil

We had all 3 of these on Saturday. Chris' b-day is this week and he left Sunday heading to Texas to work for 4 weeks so, we had an all in one kind of day..and it was a COLD day! We had our Easter snap that the propane business has been wanting! We were all huddled around the crawfish pot...kids hunted Easter eggs with stocking hats on...what's wrong with that?!?!?

hot dang...i'm getting smart at this stuff...well nevermind..it tells me step by step how to do these pictures...these are just a few from Easter

Nick's Action Shot....

This year was Nick's (my cousin) senior year at Bogue Chitto. I have a previous post of his Senior Night during football seaon. I was unable to "capture" any good football pictures, but I'm still learning with my camera and I was able to catch this action shot. Nick has the gold/tan shirt on. This was a game against West Lincoln.

Nick is a very serious sportsman, being it baseball, football or hunting, he takes what he does very serious. I see a lot of Chris' habits in Nick. It was almost like watching Chris on the field again!

Nick- I love you & I'm proud of the person you are turning out to be...but you're still not getting my truck for prom!!!

SUMMERTIME!!! I think we skipped springtime!!

First trip to the creek of '07!Today Bridget & I took Colby & Chase (the dog) to the creek at Low Water bridge. The creek was still a little too cool to just sit in and play. Colby and Chase would go in just a few feet and come back up on the sandbar. The sun was nice today, not too hot. I know in the business that I'm in, we should ask for more COLD weather, but I've had plenty of that this year (sorry Nana). I'm ready for weekends at the river or creek, and some vacation time!!

Bridget even let the baby belly get some sun. I've got a few pictures of that too, but she's got to ok the ones I put on the internet...I could just stick some up here and let her see them afterwards, but I do want to be alive when my little nephew gets here, so I'll just wait for her ok.. Maybe they'll be up in the next day or two!