Georgia Trip

We decided to get the kids carry-on luggage for Christmas (along with announcing our trip to Georgia).

They were all very excited. I'm sure we were quite the sight at the airport. Actually, I've never felt like we had a lot of kids until we stepped off the plane in Florida. People seemed to stare. We could see them counting in their heads: one, two, three, four "Are they all yours?"
I wonder what the reaction is for people with more than 4 kids....

The flight was really fun. Each kid had their backpack full of fun things to do (they had packed and unpacked their backpacks for 1 month prior in anticipation of this exciting event). Hyrum, who still dreams of being a pilot was thrilled to meet our pilot. He had many questions about the airplane and wanted the scientific explanation for things. (Before this trip he announced to his kindergarten teacher that he didn't want to be an astronaut anymore because he found out the Black Holes were real...now he just wants to be a pilot)

St Augustine, Florida was an amazing place. "The Oldest City in America". We took tours of the historic sites (Emma and Eve loved the history!) We have a greater appreciation for real pirates and early settlers of the United States. We found out that Ponce de Leon was only 4' 9" (as tall as Eve). Height doesn't determine a great leader (Napoleon and others)

This fort 'Castillo de San Marcos' is more than 400 years old.

The walls were made with rocks made of tiny sea shells. It was remarkable!

Ben captured my amazement of the lighthouse
He thought it was a funny picture.

Hyrum ran all the way to the top of the light house without stopping (13 flights of stairs). I tried to catch him because I didn't know what was at the top...was it safe for a 6 year old boy to be up there alone? I should've known that there would be a guide at the top to help him not to do something foolish.

In St. Augustine we saw old cemeteries, the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum, and a Pirate Museum where the kids got to fire real cannons, listen to pirate stories (Eve and Mari chickened out half way through the story), took a tour on a red train around the city. We really wanted to take a Ghost Tour at night, but Hyrum was too freaked out by the oddities he saw at the Ripley's Museum that he was shaking and frozen in fear. We were so surprised at Hyrum's reaction that right away we sent Christie a text to find out if the Ghost Tours would indeed be too much for him. Christie sent us a text back (I'm sure she was laughing) saying that next time we go, he needs to go with her boys so he will be brave enough...she said he's been around girls too long. Hear hear!

Finally, the purpose of our trip. Visiting with our beloved Grandmother!

Grandmother made sure she had all of our favorite treats: Peanut M&M's for me, Peanut Brittle for Ben.

A visit to the Homecoming restaurant was a must: Fried Catfish, Grits, and Slaw

Georgia was beautiful!

We loved looking at Grandmother's scrapbooks and hearing stories.

Our Happy Driver. Thank you Ben!

Here is the famous Magnolia tree in Moultrie. We learned that it was planted in 1860.

Uncle Butch and Aunt Edris were very good to us. We enjoyed spending time with them!

Uncle Butch showed us his cool catfish pond! We fed the fish!

We helped Grandmother in her yard...always a pleasure, truly!

Aunt Edris surprised the girls with a shopping trip to buy HATS!

Uncle Butch took Hyrum and Ben to Hyrum's favorite place: Taco Bell

He had many fun things for Hyrum to look at.

One of the most relaxing parts of the trips was spending time on Grandmothers Deck.

Grandmother was always up for a game...and a table full of treats.

We visited Grandfather and Brenda's grave.

We are very proud of our Grandparents for helping to establish the Church in southern Georgia.
This is the church that Grandfather helped to build.

We were special guests in Grandmothers primary class (teaching Emma's age). Grandmother is a very good teacher. Eve and Hyrum went to their own classes. Mari went to nursery. Emma loved going to Young Women's in Georgia. We loved being there for Testimony Meeting. Ben and Emma bore their testimonies. Emma commented that no matter where in the world you go, there is always a family of saints in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We have a home where ever we go!