PHOTOS OF OUR FAMILY DURING THE 50TH CELEBRATION

David, Suzi, Jeni and Katie

Morgan, Jeni and Katie

Collage of the gang
Mom and daughters in law

Holly and Suzi

Dad, David and Jonathan
Two tough guys
Just our family

Holly, Morgan and Jonathan

The whole gang

50th Anniversary on Saint Simons Island

Well, 50 years of marriage have come and gone. It seems just like yesterday we were going steady in high school. God has been good to us, has taken us through the tough spots, has taught us lots of things, and has literally made these retirement years ones of joy and peace. But enough of that. You want to see the photos of what we did to celebrate our 50th.

The most important thing that Cathy wanted to do was eat sea food until there was no more in the ocean. We went to Saint Simons Island just off the coast south of Savannah, Georgia. The pics above are of the nicest restaurant on the island. None of that "Hey, dear. Here is a nice cultural hometown location (and it's cheap, too)." Oh, yes, Bill rented a great car to tour the island. He got a great deal on it. It's the first picture.

The photos below are of our favorite "to do" things: wandering the beaches, watching the fishermen, viewing and climbing lighthouses, and looking at the sea creatures that have been washed up on shore.

We toured several museums, confederate cemetaries, etc. The lighthouse above had a special room dedicated to Eugenia Price who wrote all the historical novels based around Saint Simons and Savannah families. We also climbed to the top of the lighthouse: 129 steps = about 8 stories.

Now a few more photos which sort of speak for themselves--except maybe for the Christ's Church cemetary where Eugenia Price got her names for her novels.

We'll have another blog next week with pics of our three families celebrating our 50th as well as the 4th of July.

winter 2010 in Woodstock, Georgia

Our backyard: little waterfall and rose bushes and the bird feeders. It's a little tough for the birds to drink out of the frozen bird bath.




Our roads were not TOO slippery because the cold front moved in so quickly that it froze the water on the roads while the wind whipped it up. There are actually little hard needle-like icicles on the road creating traction.




We received three inches of snow here at our home. We measured it on the fence in four different places.

Why won't the little boy play with me?

Gulf Shores Trip

There are over 16,000 units to rent in Gulf Shores. From the skinny condos to the large hotel units. The property the skinny ones are on cost around a half million just for the property. I'm assuming that no one buys now since it would take about 15 years just to pay your loan off.

Notice how the buildings are build on stilts or with places underneath for the water to go through. With big storms and high water surges, there are very few ground level living areas. There must be room for the water to pass by/through without destroying your property. The lighthouse below was destroyed by such a surge so they rebuilt it farther back.









These sand dunes look like snow they are so white. Even Abbie loved romping through the sand.






We didn't get to see the Oyster shucking machine working, but Cathy certainly ate her share of oysters, clam strips, etc. I stuck with fish and chips. This particular town we stayed in was founded during the civil war era. It served as a transportation center for cotton, lumber and sponge. Later it became a fishing village and is that (and a tourist spot) today. Even today the water way is used for transportation. See the tug boat pushing the barge--somewhere. The gulf water was "cold."






These are pics of the quaint, 100 year old motel we stayed in. Rooms were pretty small, the wooden floors squeeked and the water splashed under the rooms. Yes, half the length of the room was build over the inlet water. Unfortunately, the walkway in front of our room was the exit for the restaurant and bar which was open until 2 am.

We'll end this post with some sunrise photos. Really pretty.

1000 miles in three days. It's good to be home.

SNOW IN GEORGIA

Here are some pictures of snow in Woodstock, right here in our own housing development. We tried taking pictures using different settings; that's why you see some odd things. We got a total of 2 1/2 inches in our back yard.