Cooking in COVID

COVID to be discussed in detail in other post, but I will say that for our family, it was a GREAT time. We slowed down, we laughed, we ate, we played, I cooked, we rested. It. Was. Nice. Truly. Of course, we have been blessed not to be affected physically or financially by the pandemic, but it definitely was an interesting and trying time for the world. 

Below was the day I cooked chicken and sausage gumbo for the very first time! Poppy helped over the phone from Biloxi with tips and Papa ate it at my house and approved! See, quarantine did bring out some good.:)

Ceci gets baptized!!

Ceci got baptized. Wow. Wow. Wow. What a SPECIAL and amazing day for her and all of us. Ceci has a heart of gold and is so soulful. She is intuitive and knows how you're feeling. She just knows. She is lovely in every single way. I love her to the ends of the earth.

Who do they say is "practically perfect in every way?" I'm sorry, Mary Poppins, but Ceci has you beat.

I cannot even describe how my heart feels when I see Ceci. When my mind flashes back to her birth and how far she has come, I can't help but feel overwhelmed with thanks be to God for her health, talent and beauty. He has surely blessed us with a gem. There aren't enough words or pages to describe our AMAZING girl. We are blessed by her.

LES' FIRST.... and SECOND DEER!!!!

What a special time for Les to kill not only his first but second deer with his Papa!!!!!

Anguilla!!

We went with the Hartels to Anguilla and WOW. Another FUN trip in the books.  

XII OAKS

Well.... we have a farm named XII Oaks in Columbia, MS about 5 miles away from Jonathan's office I should have included the information on it in "last year's" blog but just trying to keep my head afloat and finish these year after year for our kiddos!!! LOVE YOU, KIDDOS!!!!!!!!!!

Farm name created by Papa because he counted twelve live oak trees that are 100+ years old on the main property (the spot where we drive in and the house is located.) And logo custom done by Jonathan on his board at work (after my uber talented friend sent several options that we weren't completely in love with.) I considered it very special for Papa to create the name and for Jonathan to create the logo. God willing, the property will remain in our family for generations and be cherished by many.

Backing up.... I was a little suspect of the purchase initially, but it was been THE BEST investment for our family. We LOVE IT. And we couldn't do it without Papa!! He goes every day and is the MAN!!

The farm is blessed with pecans, muscadine grapes, pears among other beautifully God grown gifts, so Papa and Mamma initiated some homemade making of several things... muscadine wine, muscadine jelly, pralines (using farm pecans), and pear preserves! It really has been such a fun, memory making event.