"The Carolina House"

Carter and Jackson were thrilled this summer when Mimi and Didi invited them to come and spend a couple of weeks with them at "the Carolina House" as Carter affectionately calls it! All summer long Carter kept asking when he was going to get to go and live at the Carolina House with Mimi and Didi! When I told him that he would be leaving the following day to go there, he could hardly sleep. He could not wait to get to his Mimi and Didi! The boys had a blast while they were there! They swam with Didi, went to a nearby park almost every night, spent most of Didi's paychecks at Chuck E. Cheese and frequented Wal-Mart with Mimi! Needless to say, they were spoiled rotten when they got home! While they were there, though, they had the chance to get together with some of Todd's relatives. Aunt Mabel (Todd's grandmother's sister) lives in Goldsboro, which is the town right next to Mt. Olive where mama and daddy are. Aunt Mabel's son James and his wife Gretchen live nearby as well. Mama and Daddy have known James and Gretchen for years. James works for Georgia Pacific-the company my dad worked for from the time he was 18 until I was about 7 or 8. Not long after I was born, we moved to Goldsboro, where Daddy first met James. Of course when Todd and I started dating, we had no clue about the connection. What a small world we live in! At any rate, James still works at the same GP plant and my dad is doing Industrial Contracting work for them. Periodically they all get together to eat and fellowship. When Gretchen found out that they boys were coming, she suggested that they all get together for a cook out. Aunt Mabel was really excited to see the boys as she has not done so since they were babies. They took flowers to her and to Gretchen (thanks Mimi for doing this) which melted their hearts! They had the chance to visit and to play with Davis, James and Gretchen's grandson. It was a wonderful day-one that I will always cherish. Even though Todd and I were not there, the pictures we have from the day are priceless! Mimi and Didi-thanks so much for wonderful memories that you have made for Carter and Jackson-we love you! We have several pictures from their trip so look for those in upcoming posts! Here are pictures from their cookout with Aunt Mabel:

Jackson and Carter loved playing with Davis-he reminded them of Cooper!

Aunt Mabel enjoyed getting on the floor and playing with the boys! She and Carter had a big time together!

Here they take some time out from playing to take a quick picture!