Memaw Time

We missed the family wedding in North Carolina in June, but we were able to squeeze in some much needed DD and Memaw time after they got back.  We all met in Grand Saline for the day and had a great visit while catching fish, playing catch and swinging on the porch. 

Love you both!

Yeah...What She Said!

The Chaneys met us in Grand Saline and a great time was had by all!  Go check out Candace's blog for details!

6 Year Old Perks

As a 6 year old in the Hill family, you are awarded one perk for the year and only that year.  You get to climb up the laundry shoot at Grandmama's house in Grand Saline.  Even though Cavett had been running fever the previous day, he was dead set on going to Grand Saline on Saturday to do just that.  It was THE first thing he did as soon as we got out of the car. 

It's a big laundry shoot.  Fairly wide.  In fact, I think I could have stood in the middle of it and not felt too claustrophobic.  The unfortunate part was that Cavett was still a bit small for it.  Dad gave him a little help with one foot pushing him up, but he still wasn't quite able to make it.  He'll be able to try again about Spring Break, and maybe he'll have grown a bit by then.  

The biggest foul of the weekend was that diesel  was accidentally poured into the Pug.  Stephen suspected it, but didn't realize it until after it was loaded down with 2 cords of wood we had just split it the woods.  Stphen used the tractor to puch it out backwards until we got to the pasture.  Stephen also saved the day and siphoned it out.  He only got a little in his mouth........  :P

We also had many enjoyable moments in the big Catalpa tree reading.  Kendrick sat for at least 20 minutes reading whereas Cavett spent about an hour and a half total during the weekend up there reading. 

Precious times.  

Best Part of the Weekend

Not only did we enjoy great peanuty times this weekend, but there was much to be said for family time in the country as well. 

Between the nutty times we squeezed in some tractor-ing and wood splitting.  The boys absolutely loved pulling on the lever to move the wood splitter in and out.  Boys and thier power tools....   The adults did the majority of the heavy lifting.  This was especially fitting since this is one of the things I remember doing with my Dad quite often and it was his birthday.  He loved to chop, cut, split and burn wood.   If only I could get over the "don't get your clothes dirty, kids" part, but all the grease came out anyway. 

Then there was the long wait in between the spreading of the peanut butter and the laying of the top piece of bread when Stephen discovered that the Main Street boot shop, Mistletoe, is going out of business next month and they had their boots on sale and I mean big!  $10 for the boys and Stephen and I both got a pair for under $100 each--python and ostrich! 

There was the final All Saints service at church where Cavett went with Grandmama to put the rose on the alter to remember Uldene.  (We celebrated Gran last week in Shreveport, but the camera didn't make it with us.)

And of course there was great time with Uncle Austin, Aunt KK, Stanton and Grandmama.  At every chance they could get the boys wanted to be next to Uncle Austin and I couldn't agree anymore, he's a great guy!

At the end of it all we got a few great pictures to "boot."

Great American Peanut Butter Festival

We were headed to Grand Saline anyway this weekend, but when I found out that the first annual Peanut Butter Festival was being held there I was UBER-excited!  I teased with my dear friend, Adrianne about the whole deal, letting her know that it was not to be confused with the Peanut Festival in Grapeland, TX, of which she was the queen of one year. 

The mastermind behind the production was by Nutty's the local gormet peanut butter store on Main Street.  To be honest, it is a new store to Grand Saline, and I have yet to taste their peanut butter, but I've heard it is like no other.  When we got there, of course, they were sold out.  I hope to be hooked up with my own jar come Thanksgiving. 

For a girl who hates abhors crowds, this was the perfect one, only about 4,000 over the day as told by the GS police, but it didn't seem like that many. 

The headliner of the show was that they were trying to beat the world record of the World's Largest Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich.  The passed it with flying colors.  1,342 pounds.  710 pounds of bread with each slice being 8' X 11'.   129 pounds of jelly.  503 pounds of peanut butter.  Now, lest you worry about extravagant waste and starving people, it was also a fundraiser for the East Texas Food Bank. 

The best way to experience it is through pictures, so enjoy and come visit us next year!

Peanut Butter Pancakes

Buddy McNutty

Grand Saline HS Marching Band

Miss Texas

Peanut Butter Floats

4H

Pet Contest with the class traveling pet, Mr. Bumbles, entered in the "Most Unusual Pet"

Top piece of bread on the move by forklift

The Peanut Butter Queen

Mr. Bumbles--winner of the Most Unusual Pet

 Maybe this medium-large sized city girl needs to move to the country...

Fishing Day with the Men

We headed to Grand Saline for the day just for the heck of it.  Last weekend my men really cought the fishing bug, so that is what we did all day.  Only one fish was caught early in the morning by Grandmama and Kendrick, but it was a good size bass.

The rest of the day was filled with being scared of  chasing the massive amounts of grasshoppers and Cavett climbed "Raccoon Castle" for the first time all by himself.  Looks like he's getting ready for Grandmama's laundry shoot in January when he turns 6! 

More Grand Saline

Morgan, you ask and you shall receive. Here are a few more pictures from the day before (train bridge) and we did end up going to the Salt Palace the following day. Of course, Cavett had to lick the house just to make sure it was really made of salt. We also hit up the library twice that day and saw a train rumble by just a couple of feet away from the building.