Family Ties

We were so excited to have my brother Darin and his family come and visit for a few days in early August! Our nephew Micah and niece Bekah just loved helping uncle Dave feed the chickens, check on the bees, take care of the horses and the goat, make smores over the bonfire, learn to spit watermelon seeds and all the other fabulous parts of country life that are miles away from Fort Worth, Texas. Here is a little taste of all the fun we had together . . .

The Northam's first trip into a real coal mine - they even were able to take home a lump of coal (hopefully not for their stockings :-).

We toured many different historic buildings, old houses, and an old school that were restored on the property as well. The kids couldn't help but sit down and start reading from the old school books.

We visited the beautiful New River Gorge bridge and uncle David showed everyone around the areas where he grew up. Unfortunately he also got stuck in both the outhouse and the dunce chair at the school.


We all relaxed on the porch while the kids played an old fashioned game of checkers (although I think it was really uncle David vs. Darin in the end).

After a picnic on the blue ridge parkway Uncle David had a good time showing the kids different types of trees and playing tickle time on the picnic blanket.

And we managed to sneak in plenty of snuggle time with our newest niece Jessye. She is such a doll and we loved watching her laugh and play. This picture gives you a little clue as to how big Aunt Bri is getting these days - even though people still are exclaiming how small they think I am, I really feel enormous. I think through all that visiting David has still made it through every family event without changing a diaper - we'll be changing that record very soon. We had a great time with family and wish from the bottom of our hearts we could visit like this much more often. - Love ya'll!!