Monday, December 27, 2010

White Christmas

We never imagined having our first Christmas in Oxford would mean having a White Christmas. It was certainly a first for Lauchlin and her family. Central Mississippi snows tend to occur less frequently and never when you would expect or desire snow (like Easter, for instance). Olivia, on the other hand, remembers at least one other snowy Christmas morning from childhood in SnO-Town. It was still a nice surprise for this year.

Here we are amidst the blanket of white Santa brought us....


It was quite a beautiful Winter Wonderland...



And, we even had flurries on our way home Christmas afternoon and the next day in Clinton. It's almost enough to make anyone believe in Christmas miracles!


-- Post From My iPhone

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Shades of Christmas Vacation

"She wrapped the damn cat!"


Merry Christmas from Santa's Last-minute Wrap Station!

-- Post From My iPhone

Friday, December 17, 2010

Slumber Party!

May and Ellen spent the night with us this week while their parents had a one-night getaway to New Orleans to see "Spamalot."
We had so much fun with those girls! Here they are after bathtime modeling their jammies...





-- Post From My iPhone

Friday, December 10, 2010

River Kids




Olivia has been helping with River Kids, an art program after school, since the beginning of the school year. Thursday was the "exhibit" where parents could walk through, browse, and collect their child's artwork for the year. Below is Olivia's favorite student with her "football" bird.


May created an alias for herself early in the program. At art, Olivia called her by her "art name."



Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Gobble, Gobble!

As we look forward to all the food and family...and food...that's in store this Thursday, we realize we've actually had a string of Thursday gatherings of good food and good company leading up to the food fest that's before us.
Last Thursday, we participated in the return of Delta Diners, a group of Vicksburg friends that travels to eateries in or near the Delta to try the local fare. It's more than the food, although that's often the best part. It's always an adventure getting there (like, when we almost hit a deer on Highway 22 this time). And, of course, we love catching up with people we don't see often. We aren't always able to make these adventures, so it was a rare treat for us. This month's destination: Flora for the Blue Rooster. It was a great Delta dining experience!
Here's the group (photos courtesy of Mary Beth):



The Thursday prior was spent on the Ferris Farm visiting with Lauchlin's childhood friend, Martha Magnuson, who just moved to Port Gibson. We were invited to dine with Martha; her finace´, Mott Roland; and her grandmother, Shelby Ferris.

The Ferris Farm is where Lauchlin and Martha would get together during Martha's summer visits to her grandmother's house from her home in Austin. It's been about 20 years since one of those visits was documented. The crimped hair and Converse hi-tops are a dead giveaway!

Here's a much-needed updated photo...

We are certainly thankful for our friends — old and new — and for having something to look forward to each week.

Now, if only we can keep up these fun Thursday gatherings after the holiday!

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Flashback: Special Visitor

We have been adjusting back into our boring life (cracking out on our favorite TV shows and going to bed embarrassingly early), so we haven't had much to blog lately. When life was busier, we missed a few bloggable moments. So, we thought we'd bring a few out of the vault.
Olivia's mom, sister-in-law and niece (and lookalike), Maria, came to visit for Olivia's second Rocky Horror Show weekend. We had a great time showing this future star around our town:


We toured the town and hit a few of Vicksburg's hot-spots, which included Riverfront Park...


We think she, like her aunt, enjoyed the "stage" more than the tour. Here she is rocking out to her favorite, Lady Gaga...


Two peas in a pod...

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Let's Do the Time Warp...Again!

"Rocky Horror" was a huge success for Vicksburg. All five performances last weekend were sold out. They have even decided to add three shows over New Year's weekend. So, if you didn't get to see Janet on stage (or, even if you did), be sure to get tickets before they sell out...again.
We nabbed some photos from Facebook that show Olivia's spot-on performance...







Sunday, October 31, 2010

Snuggle time





Desmond spent some time with us on Saturday. We had so much fun, that we all wore ourselves out. Katie snapped this pic when she came to collect him.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Antici.......pation!

Olivia's debut weekend of "Rocky Horror" went off without a hitch. Now, we're gearing up for Round Two, which begins Thursday night and ends with the midnight show on Halloween night. Thursday will be Lauchlin's first time to see her star on stage! To make up for missing opening night (it was a work trip, after all), she sent the star these....

With this note...

Plenty of friends came out to see "Janet" do her thing, though, and all with rave reviews. The production was such a hit, they had to add an extra show Saturday night.
We watched this week's "Glee" to get in the "Rocky Horror" spirit. Here's a clip...

We hope to see everybody out doing the Time Warp this weekend, if you haven't already!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Mum's the Word

We spent our anniversary weekend doing some much needed yardwork to rid our beds and planters of the very unhappy tomato plants, dying daisies and tall weeds.
The fruits of our labor presented both good and bad results.
The good: our beautiful, fall scenery...



The bad: a very painful sting by an unknown creature that caused an allergic reaction on Olivia's right leg...



And, the ugly: a weird reaction to poison ivy on Lauchlin's right leg...


We're focusing on the good...



-- Post From My iPhone

Friday, October 8, 2010

Believe It or Not...

Today marks 10 whole years that we've been together!
Here we are at the ripe ages of 19 and 21 fresh on the trail...

Back on Oct. 8, 2000, the only significance of "10" for us was Eli Manning's jersey number. We never could have imagined, back then, that we would be here now. But, it's been a great ride!

More photos from the early days...


Here's to many more decades together.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Impressions

Clementine and Lauchlin have been hard at work on the upcoming issue of Vicksburg Impressions.


Above: Clemmie attempts to leave her impression in the laptop bag....


and here one can see an attempt to coax Lauchlin into giving her a double byline.

What to look for in this next issue: Old Town Vicksburg (a look at a uniquely American neighborhood), Tara Wildlife, and Rocky Springs!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Lucky Morning

We love to go camping at Rocky Springs.



Our rain fly proved effective although it wasn't quite perfectly applied.


Mmm... Coffee and Bacon


And a double yolk!

Friday, September 24, 2010

Happy Homecoming


Olivia baked brownies for VHS Homecoming and returned with an empty cake carrier. Success!



Saturday, September 11, 2010

Patriot Day

Below: your Vicksburg National Military Park adorned with three thousand American flags