We're back from the 'Sip.

Yes, we're back from the 'Sip! (I don't have any pictures to share b/c my camera disappeared...it's waiting for me in the church Lost & Found). I'll do my best to give a vivid description of an absolutely WONDERFUL visit home.

We headed straight to Lawrence County to visit the Wallace's (8 hour drive from Nashville)then we wrapped up with a couple of nights in Starkville with the Walton's.

When Jay said, he'd rather visit Mississippi a hundred times before going to Disney World.....it summed it up. You see you get all of the following on this trip:

REMOTE- LC is very rural in southwest Mississippi. Our cell phone reception is sketchy and email is only possible if you ride into town. No sense in having Internet access out in the country b/c you can't get a cable connection and the satellite connection just doesn't cut it (so I hear)...so we get a chance to truly disconnect

RELAXED Country living- I'm not so sure it's very relaxed for mama and daddy since we unleash our kids, kick back while they treat us like the prodigal son welcoming us home with wonderful food and celebrations (all while the work at the Sheriff's Dept keeps brewing); and mom washes our clothes just like the old days

CULTURAL experiences- some of you know that my mom basically runs the Sheriff's office (she can keep most any group straight). Daddy is the under sheriff (which a term I had never heard of until two terms ago...2nd to the Sheriff). Basically, they do a heap of work around there which gives us insight into the a world we know nothing about. Alot of this world is very sad, but it does provide some thought provoking insight into how economics and education can affect generation after generation. Alot of the folks there do not have alot of opportunity. The only way that their lives can possibly escape such a cycle in my opinion is through the love of Christ....I'm very proud of mama and daddy for being the hands/feet of Christ in the everyday situations they face. Jay insists on shadowing daddy every year for at least of day of Sheriff work. I'll let Jay share some of those stories with you over dinner. (Thanks, Daddy, for for letting your favorite son-in-law tag along when he comes to town.)

FRIED food--that includes fried catfish and fried hushpuppies. I probably gained at least 5 pounds. Going to the "fish house" is a must for me when I visit. We were in "a fix" though b/c fish houses are only open Thurs/Fri/Sat nights. (We didn't have a Thurs night and we camped on Friday/Saturday so what to do????) We opted for catfish at lunch and drove 20 miles to the Country Fisherman in the next county....worth every minute of such a commute. I should go ahead and mention that our last meal before heading home was at Little Dooey's in Starkville where we enjoyed BBQ and fried green tomatoes, fried egg plant, fried pickles, and fried onions (you got it...the sampler). My favorite? Besides catfish.....fried pickles hands down.

WATER PLAY- I previously alluded to this trip being "hot as hell..." Well, it wasn't so bad. It was hot but we kept ourselves wet or in the AC. When we camped, we tubed and knee boarded with family friends and Steven, Charity & Reagan. Jetskiis were Willie's favorite. Later in the week, we had a picnic on Tilton's creek at Mr. Clayton's camphouse which included a spring-fed creek that was ice cold. Then we took our annual swims at Uncle Joel's which might be one of the most beautiful settings I can imagine....the sky literally meets the grass with no obstructions from the poolview. Palm trees surround the pool and sometimes the cows come up to the fence and look in....I'm a country girl at heart.

BIKE TRAINING- Jay helped Willie work on his biking. Of course, Reagan (my nephew) wanted his training wheels off too....so Jay took on the challenge and in no time Reagan had his balance on the bike too. We will have those memories and good laughs forever.

SIDE TRIPS- Some might think that Lawrence County is in the middle of no where...maybe so but not if it becomes home (I didn't grow up there but my daddy did.) Also Hattiesburg is only an hour a way so we drove over to meet Russell (teammate of Jay's). We love catching up with them, checking out how much the kids have grown and reminiscing about the glory days including one unbelievable run to the Final Four. Then New Orleans is a couple hours away. Jay planned yet another wonderful time together for just the two of us in the Big Easy. Our goal was to eat 3meals of yet another favorite cuisine and hear some good music. We easily accomplished both. We enjoyed gumbo, po-boys, shrimp & grits, shrimp creole, and, of course, beignets. I bought a cute dress for our dinner only after getting another dress stuck on my sticky sweaty body resulting my arms started cramping from being so sore from knee boarding which then resulted in me calling Jay into the dressing room to extricate me before I went into a full-scale panic......Of course, all worth a cute dress.

STARKVILLE- We are loving having Jay's parents closer to us in Starkville. We wrapped up a very eventful week with a restful and peaceful visit in Starkville.It's so cool to get to visit our college hometown much more often now. We enjoyed family meals (where the Walton's still religiously serve us fresh Gulf Coast boiled shrimp) and riding bikes a slow-traffic neighborhood. Willie really mastered the bike in Starkville. Jeff, Jay and I took Willie to ride on the drill field at State which was a surreal sight for me.....to see Willie riding and Ruby running around on the drill field that I shared with my college boyfriend (jay) just dreaming and hoping for such a future. Oh, there was a pick-up game of cricket going on with some guys from Sri Lanka. Willie walked up to them and entered himself in the game. Evidently, he cannot resist a pick-up game of any kind.

FAMILY and FRIENDS- Lace all of this stuff with Love and you beat Disney. We never get to see everyone we want too, but we grateful for visits with grandparents, aunts/uncles, great-grandparents, brothers, nephews, parents and friends.

Thank God for the 'Sip.