Happy 60th Anniversary!

Dedaddy and Memama (Russell's grandparents) will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary coming up in June. What an accomplishment and how bountifully the Lord has blessed them and He still continues. I am so thankful God allowed me to be a part of such a strong Christian family.

We had a little family celebration this past weekend at our church. I don't guess its really "little" when you consider there are 32 in their immediate family. Anyway, we had a great meal, lots of fellowship and watched two videos of the past years. Thanks to Mandi and Dave for all of their hard work on the newest one!

This is the whole crew! All 32 of them... Dedaddy, Memama, their 4 children, 9 grandchildren and spouses, and 7 great grandchildren. Uncle Pete and Aunt Shirley were also in this picture with us.
The Wiggins Crew... (Flemings, Reeves, and Orton)

Uncle Alan and Aunt Kathy with Dedaddy and Memama

Aunt Amy and her boys Dave (Mandi) and Chad (Sabrina)

Memama and Dedaddy's youngest daughter Jill and her family... John, Emily, Riley Ann and Jenny

Uncle Pete and Aunt Shirley (Helms) are some of their dear friends.

Happy 60th Anniversary Dedaddy and Memama. I love you both SO much!!

P.S. Russell and I were laughing the other day when we realized we'd have to live to be 89 to have a 60th anniversary... we're shooting for it though!!!

Our Girls...

Thank you Lord for letting me be a mother!!!

What an absolute blessing it is each and every day. Maggie Ruth (17 mo.)

Riley Grace (8)

My sweet girls!

Have you ever...

tried to get a picture of 7 children? I don't suggest it without some serious patience in tow! We had fun trying, but didn't have a lot of success!

All 7 grandkids posing in Heather's backyard. There was not a picture without hands flying, eyes closed, really funny smiles, etc.

Again, all 7...maybe a little better?
I did get several good ones of some of them by themselves. This is Jacob. He turned 2 in March.

If all else fails... give them suckers!!! Caroline, Jacob and Maggie Ruth enjoyed that part best!

Boogie Shoes

5,6,7,8...

I wanna' put on... my, my, my, my, my boogie shoes!

Riley Grace's dance recital was last night. The theme/name (I don't really know what you call it) was 5,6,7,8... She did such a good job. Man, she is WAY better at dancing than I ever was. She knew the dance and lots of the girls were watching her! I was always one of those girls that had to watch somebody the whole dance which meant I was usually a few beats behind everyone else. I know its had to tell which one is her because they all look a like but she's pretty much in the middle of the screen the whole time.

Extraordinary Women Conference

Last weekend some of the ladies and girls in our church traveled to Pensacola, FL (Olive Baptist Church) for an E-Women Conference (Extraordinary Women). We had some really cool speakers like Lisa Welchel (Blair from "The Facts of Life"), Shonda Pierce (Christian comedian), Karen Kingsbury (Christian fiction writer), Angela Thomas and several others. We also had some incredible entertainment. Charles Billingsly led most of the worship service music and he was SUPER, but we also had Mark Schultz, Mandesa (from the 5th season of American Idol- sorry, I didn't know who she was since I don't watch it), Micheal O'Brien (I think that was his name, I've sort of drawn a blank), and "The Children of the World." It was so fun to get away with friends and enjoy their company. I hope I can go every year!

Ashley, Beth, Shonna, Lyndsay and Amy before the conference started Friday night.

Mendy, Adrienne and me -Friday night

Shonna, Beth, me and Ashley Saturday during the conference. That is Olive Baptist Church in the background and we're sitting in about the middle portion of the balcony. That is one HUGE church!

"The Children of the World" concert was absolutely the most moving thing I've seen in a very long time. These are children from all over the world (mostly 3rd world countries) that have been left as orphans from parents who've died of AIDS. They could sing like NOTHING I've ever heard before. They also danced and played drums. It was beautiful!

"Tagged"

Well, as of last week I had no idea what "tagged" meant. But Ashley tagged me and here it goes...

What was I doing 10 years ago... I was just about to finish up my college years at Auburn. Shoot, I wish I could go back and do those 4 years all over again, but a whole lot differently! I was interning with my own former 2nd grade teacher (Karen Eiland) in Alex City, AL. I was enjoying the last few days as a college student.

5 things on my to do list today...(tomorrow) since its 9:30 p.m.
1-a little more laundry...got most of it done today
2-clean out RG's closet of clothes that are too small and put them in the attic
3-Riley Grace's dance practice from 4:30-5:15
4-Try to see Matthew and Caleb's baseball games
5-Cook supper!

5 snacks I enjoy...
1-ham w/ cream cheese and olives
2-string cheese
3-cashews
4-beef jerky
5-cool ranch doritios (occasionally)

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire...
1-sponsor as many "Children of the world" as I could
2-I LOVE MY HOUSE but since this is fiction anyway, I would tear it down and build MY house on top of where it is now, because I wouldn't want to change where I live
3-Move my Aunt Doris and Uncle B to Alabama or Destin which ever they would rather
4- Give my family all that they ever needed to live comfortably and never worry about money again
5-NEVER, EVER, EVER balance my check book again...I'd hire somebody to do it!

5 bad habits...
1-drinking too many softdrinks
2-going too long without balancing my checkbook (I just hate it so much)
3-being short and snappy with my parents
4-not keeping up with laundry (and cleaning, and dishes, and...shall I go on)
5-letting my car get completely empty before I fill it up...it goes hand in hand w/ balancing the checkbook...

5 places I've lived...
1-Lindsey Bridge Road (for the first 3 years of my life), Andalusia
2-904 Waterford Rd (the house I grew up in and my parents still live in), Andalusia
3-two dorms at Auburn, Dowdell in the Quad and Hollifield on the Hill
4-Starr Trailer Park in Auburn
5-609 &215 Sanford Rd, 101 Rouseau St., 121 McRainey Loop, 12178 Wiggins Farm Rd. -Andalusia

5 jobs I've had...
1-lifeguard at Andalusia Country Club pool
2-Ansley Place and Town & Country
3-Beverage Cart- RTJ Golf Course in Opelika
4- Beverage Cart-Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort
5- Teacher...K,1st,2nd,6th-12th, Title I, Gifted

I want to more about...(a nice way of saying I'm tagging you)
1-Mendy Clark
2-Mandi Clark
3-Kim
4-Ashely Powell
5-Samantha Russell

Lions and Tigers and Bears...

AND PEOPLE!!!! You would've thought that Maggie Ruth had never left the house until Saturday! Russell and I took the girls to the Montgomery Zoo this past Saturday and I don't believe Maggie cared about one single animal there. She was far too busy trying to figure out how she was going to wave and say "Hi" to every PERSON there! She is a social butterfly if there ever was one. She would walk up to every baby stroller and try to touch the baby's face, put her finger in their mouth, touch their eyeballs, you get the picture. Most of my day was spent on Maggie's coat tails as I pulled her away from most every human, kicking and screaming... Sound like fun? Well, we actually had a blast! The weather was so perfect and it was even better to be with my family. Riley Grace kept saying, "I'm so glad just the 4 of us are going somewhere together!" We hardly ever travel without an entourage.

The train ride was fun and relaxing...

Russell and the girls stopped for a photo at the monkeys...could've just left Maggie Ruth there with her kin folks! (just kidding)

Riley Grace wanted Maggie Ruth to like the animals so bad, but she just wanted to see how high she could climb up on the rails before one of us would snatch her down. Riley Grace on the other hand, was taking it all in. She's an animal lover!

I sort of missed the animal in this picture. There was a Condor a bit higher up in the cage, but apparently I didn't notice he wasn't in the picture.

Spring Break is over, but thank goodness Spring isn't! I plan on enjoying it even more. Riley Grace and I are off to the Gulfarium tomorrow for the 2nd grade field trip. Then we're going to hang out and play with Joy and Conner... can't wait! Gulfarium post coming soon!

You will have to forgive the sad layout of this post but I'm so tired I feel cross-eyed, so I'm not going to take the time to change it!