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| Extended Family with Grinch |
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| Willow & Papa |
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| Cousins |
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| Annie the Dog |
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| Beautiful Girls with Santa |
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| Beautiful Girl in HMS gym after school |
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| Mallory Garver Carson & baby Jacob |
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| Jimbo's with Granny while parents celebrate their birthdays |
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| A warm December day! |
December includes birthdays…markers of time passing. Angela &
Kristina both turned 39 and Brock turned 44.Unfortunately December included 3
nights in the hospital in Mobile with my Mother. I drove back to Birmingham New
Year’s Eve in the dark and rain, which I don’t want to do again. But
fortunately the year ended without me spending a night in the hospital as an
in-patient; although it did include a recent day in the emergency room. We had
a wonderful family trip to Opryland Hotel which was perfect--other than dealing
with horrible traffic and the challenge of not getting lost in the huge hotel.
It is such a joy to see Lyla and Willow enjoy being a part of our extended
family of Stuedemans, Greens & Browns. (It still delights me that Kristina
went from Green to Brown.) Lyla went with us to Shari & Eric’s beautiful
home to celebrate Kristina’s birthday. It was a lot of fun. We enjoyed
Breakfast with the Grinch & a family-only boat ride & a circus as well
as a private group dinner. The Rotter family came to our house on Christmas Eve
Day to open presents and eat pizza. Everything Willow got was associated with
her currently “best buddy” Peppa Pig. And Lyla got a lot of little collectable
things she likes. They were both happy with their gifts and it was a fun visit.
Angela had to work Christmas Day and Wayne and I had a relaxing day at home. I
truly enjoyed having a “low stress” Christmas Day. The day after Christmas
Wayne & I went out to a movie, Vice, which was about former vice-president
Dick Chaney; a reminder that politics has almost always been full of vice. I’ve
been fortunate that Wayne and I agree on politics. And I often have to caution
him to remember the Mobile-branch of the family is not like-minded. I can
remember on our first trip to Mobile in 1992 when Bill Clinton was running for
president. Wayne did not get a good response to his enthusiasm for the
soon-to-be president. Enough rambling…this blog is supposed to be about my time
with Lyla and Willow. It is such a joy to be part of their lives. They are
growing up so quickly. Their school is so convenient and such a special place
of friends and learning. There are plans for them to move in the relatively
near future, but they will always be alumni of Hilltop Montessorri School. It’s
hard to believe in 2020 Jacob will be graduating from high school and Jackson
will have his Bar Mitzvah. But right now it’s 2019, the year my mother will turn 99 in April and the newest family member Jacob Carson will turn one in October. Life goes on…and I’m
glad to be a part of the lives of people I love.
