Carter and Ammon sang “Jesus Loves Me” today at church. It was awesome. All the children did great. I hope you all enjoy it, and I hope you all have a blessed upcoming week. Special thanks to Mrs. Bev and Mr. Neal!
Autumn 2012
Fixing on Jesus
Our Autumn Mantel is set. I couldn’t help but think of Dantes Paradiso XXIII 43-45
Then her eyes turned to the eternal Light
Into whose depth we may believe the eyes
45 Of no other creature penetrates more clearly.
When there are angelic figures or human figures on our mantel, I try to position them where their eyes are fixed on the Eternal Light, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Happy Autumn Everyone, and God bless you all.
Cousin Linda/Daddy’s Birthday
Daddy’s Birthday
Once again, thanks to Facebook, I’ve been able to meet a family member and do some good chatting…both online and phone. My 2nd cousin’s name is Linda Kirk. She is 8 years younger than my father, but she spent A LOT of time with Daddy, Nanny, & Granddaddy.
It’s such a treat to hear her perspective of Varnell, Georgia during the 1950s with my father. My father had a wonderful (no, nothing is ever perfect as we all know) childhood with Linda, her mother, Madeline, her father, Charles, and Linda’s brother, David. As has been told by Nanny Caylor and Linda, there was hardly a weekend that went by (for years and years mind you) when the Caylors and the Kirks were not together.
Well, today is Daddy’s birthday (he would have been 73), and I know that Linda is like me and filled with wonderful memories of a wonderful man, my father. However, I’m envious of her because she got to know him as her “big brother” cousin who knew each other as human beings so to speak. Knowing my father as a human being was something I only got to know for a little while, and it was still that “friendship/father” relationship. Linda and I each have our own set of blessings that came from knowing Oliver Haven Caylor….cousin to her…father to me. Happy birthday, Daddy!
Daddy would be 73 today!!
The only thing I want to add is that now Granddaddy would be 95! Every time I think of the love Grandmaw Stone had for her family, it makes me cry. What a woman!
September 10th (yesterday) would have been my
granddaddy’s 94th birthday. Once again, his name was Troy Dewitt
Caylor. He was born on September 10, 1917, and he died on March 29, 1979. He
was one of those grandfathers that could almost be an ideal cliché: He smoked a
pipe, he could do carpentry, was an excellent farmer, loved yard work, could
fix anything that had an engine, could make crafts and holiday sceneries, and
most of all, he loved his family. I was almost 13 when he died, but I have so
many cherished memories of that man. I loved him dearly, and he loved me. As I
have said before, he showed all of his grandchildren so much love. I have
someone else to add to my “Happy Birthday” to Granddaddy message. I simply know
her as Grandmaw Stone.
My granddaddy’s
family was hit hard by the…
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Preschool 2012-2013
First Day of 2012-2013 Preschool: September 11, 2012
Carter and Ammon had such a great Summer 2012: lots of good swimming (all the way across the pool & diving), an AWESOME Baltic Cruise with Germany, Czech Republic, and London mixed in, wonderful playing at home, Nana time, spending the nights at Mamaw’s house, and our trip to Las Vegas the first week of September.
We are ready for the school year! Please pray that all goes well….Update on how it’s going soon! Love to all.
Annette & Frank Margo/Schwerin, Germany
Annette & Frank Margo with Ammon and Carter: June 28, 2012
Astronomical Clock: Rostock Cathedral: Rostock, Germany
Outside Schwerin Castle
Schwerin Castle: June 28, 2012
When we started taking cruises in 2008, we had no idea we would meet such wonderful people. I am going to post my “Open Seas and Open Minds” article with this blog in case you all would like to read about some excellent people from around the world who really mean or have meant a lot to Carter, Ammon, Sean, and to me.
On our port-of-call in Warnemunde, Germany we found ourselves conversing and bonding with a couple from Texas named Annette and Frank Margo. They became new, honorary grandparentsfor Ammon and Carter, and, once again, our children and we have been blessed. After the cruise, we exchanged emails, and we have corresponded frequently since the cruise. Frank and Annette, we love you!!
In addition, we saw three different cities this day: Warnemunde, Schwerin, and Rostock. We spent most of time in Schwerin. It is a quaint city, but Schwerin Castle is the only “real” thing to see there. It was definitely not a place to buy souvenirs because, frankly, there is very little artisanship there.
Copenhagen
The Little Mermaid, Ammon, & Haven: Copenhagen July 6, 2012
The Little Mermaid, Sean, & Carter: Copenhagen July 6, 2012
Tivoli Carousel
Tivoli Carousel: July 2, 2012
Early spring of 2012, Sean and I debated on several days in Copenhagen with a horrible itinerary flying back to the United States to home or making it to London, England with a very comfortable and accommodating itinerary home. Since we (Carter and Ammon included) enjoy London, we chose a one day tour in Copenhagen. Like several other places, guess what we’ve decided? You got it! We want to return to Copenhagen.
The Baltic Cruise was round trip out of Copenhagen. Both the embarkation and disembarkation days were cool and rainy: quite depressing. It was a shame that this lovely, seaside city looked so gray and dreary. However, like I said it is a pretty city.
Both Ammon and Carter thought it was cool to see the “original” Little Mermaid from Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale. We also visited a quaint cathedral, but the highlight of the excursion was Copenhagen’s famous Tivoli (a world-renowned amusement park). We did not have much time there, but Carter and Ammon got to ride a carousel (it’s kind of becoming their “thing” to ride carousels from around the world…LOL).
So, too quick of an excursion for such an interesting and pretty city. Lord willing, we will return.
Stockholm
Sweden’s colors are yellow and blue, but Sean and I were sporting our USA Independence Day Red, White, and Blues in Stockholm on July 4
Ammon and Carter the “Swedish Vikings” Sean & Haven outside the Royal Palace
Royal Guard Parade outside the palace
Narrow, medieval alleys in Stockholm
Stockholm: Old Town/Market Square
During July 2012 Sweden and the other Baltic countries were experiencing a heat wave. The temperatures were in the 90s, and only a fraction of the hotels, restaurants, or shops had air conditioning.
This year we were in Stockholm on July 4, 2012, and the temperatures were normal. It was also a breezy, sunny day, and it was gorgeous. In 2010, we had stayed in Stockholm about 5 days, and we got to know the city quite well, however, we did not have a tour guide help us with the city. On our 1 day 2012 tour, we decided to take a 3 hour walking tour of the medieval part of Stockholm. The area was very familiar, but our guide was informative and taught us things we did not know of its history. We also had a tour of the royal palace.
One of the best things about cruising is the new friends that we meet. Cedell Johnson is our new friend who we met and chatted with all morning in Stockholm. She is the one who took our family, Viking pictures. We love you, Cedell, and we are looking forward to years and years of friendship.
Watch out Coons!
Happy Cool Stuff: I bought a new coonhound night light!
I had my other one for 11 years. I am looking forward to frosty evenings and taking Carter and Ammon up on the mountain behind our house this fall/winter. The early nightfall makes it easy for us to get up on the mountain waaaaaaaay before bedtime. We have no intentions to shoot any raccoons, but enjoying nature at night will be so cool. I’ve already been acclimating Ammon and Carter to the hunting with some old Coonhound magazines. Happy Friday and Weekend everyone!
Helsinki, Finland
Sean, Ammon, Haven, & Carter: Near Porvoo, Finland July 3, 2012
Carter inside the Rock Church
Porvoo, Finland
Sibelius monument: July 3, 2012
It was our second time to Helsinki, Finland, and we decided to take a more rural tour of the area. We did not go to the bustling downtown area this time. Our tour guide was EXCELLENT, and she made this experience EXCELLENT (our tour guide from 2010 was a dud).
We started early near the water, traveled to a village named Porvoo, had lunch in a restaurant that had been converted from a dairy barn, saw the Sibelius (music composer) monument of tubes, visited the The Temppeliaukio Kirkko (Rock Church) hewn from inside a huge boulder, then back to the ship.
The day was nice and “laid back”, and it was wonderful to recharge after the intense touring of St. Petersburg the previous two days.
We highly recommend traveling to Helsinki.
