When we got home, Mrs. Jan and Mr. Tom and Daddy and Mama had this huge July 4th lunch waiting-it was fabulous! Above is Andrew's hat, that I love.
Dear Lise
Prentiss's beautiful arrangements!

A dearly loved big brother...and a dearly loved little brother.....Edwin, you are so cute. I love you and thanks for the tea. :)"Napkins, anyone?" Prentiss, you are a blessing! (we miss you!) R. Cakes!! I don't know if I have ever seen a more friendly baby.

Precious People
Dinner together...
... the 'little' boys got to go up the mountain with Lise for a ride later that afternoon...

And then Corn Cakes!!! I mean corn hole-however that goes-anyway, then of course we had a massive tournament that afternoon. There are soo many special pictures of people in mid toss I laughed so hard sorting through the pictures. :)
I...
....love...
...these...
....boys!!
Cleve tossin'.
Daddy doing the same...he was so good. Mama just always looks so elegant!! I love her so. Christiana, your expression makes me laugh.
Paul's driving prowess was, until then, unknown.
(No, no, he didn't drive. :D Doesn't he look great, though?)

And above is Hunter and Chandler, a wonderful duo. (they are seen here whispering strategy to each other as they pretend to gather bags. (It was painfully obvious) ;D

Dear Prentiss bringing in some of the beautiful produce she had raised!
Another elegant lady!!
Aww, you're so sweet. It was nothing, really. I just snapped, and it just, turned out incredible. Notice the slight blurring of the bag in motion, the focus on the black hole. The still figures in the back ground, blurred but greatly adding to the overall effect of the photograph. The variety of blues in the foreground and back...

This is such a fun picture...
Dr. and Mrs. K.-gracious hosts and dear Christian friends.
The crowds observe with fascination.
Chandler holds The List.
I just love it when you catch everyone in their thoughtful expression. (I especially love mine. It is disturbing enough that it causes any opponents to be distracted to failure. Keep a serious face during stare. Repeat if necessary.)
This one amuses me as well...
A baby acorn Sam found-isn't it so cute!? :) I love little things.
Ah, how beautiful families are!
....and father and soon-to-be son-in-law :)
I think I rung the chimney on that one...
Beautiful, beautiful flag...
"What's that......!!??" (to have a brother's all-the-way laugh in a picture is one of my favorite things)
Sweet Christiana
The dog acted as umpire for a while...
HA! John, you are hilarious. I know you look disappointed in that toss, but you still look cute. :D
All Mr. Tom needs is a toga.
There's something so beautiful about fathers and their daughters.... :)

And then we all threw knives. That was allot of fun, and Marth and I could hardly stop laughing. Nearly swallowed our hankies. I'm proud of all of us, doing our best. :D It was hilarious.

Here, Hunter demonstrates the Stick Into method. No need to throw or aim. Just place into desired target and add force. It works every time. For him. (*mischievous laugh*) Y'all are just pure delight!

We waved, hollered and hugged goodbye Monday around noon after a lovely lunch at their local Mexican diner, and then headed for Georgia! We had an incredible time, dearest K.s. Thank you, from the bottom of our full and happy hearts.

What car ride is complete without a frappicino? Daddy is too sweet. :D

Oh, but before we got home, we stopped by this amazing restaurant in middle GA. It was THE best food with the most fabulous atmosphere, friendly service and gorgeous grounds.
The waiter was a dear and took our picture for us.
After supper we enjoyed the little lakelet and yard.
Dragonfly

One of my 'bestest' friends.
Wrought iron fences and Dark green magnolia leaves just go together...


And....after we left there, we had one of the most amazing experiences our family has ever had.

Daddy had spotted a Morton, Georgia on the map, so we thought we would stop by and look around. When we arrived, there was only an old barn with a J. H. Morton's name on it.

...so, we got out, stretched and enjoyed the lovely evening. We had noticed a gentleman who was mowing around the old barn earlier and had driven over to his house across the street, so Daddy went over to introduce himself and to ask about the town.

Come to find out, his wife's maiden name was Morton, and they are genealogy buffs. We also found out we have the same linage, and that she and her family have traced our family line all the way back to-

OH my goodness-a quick breath-this is so amazing: all the way back to 800.

800!!!!

We are totally awed. My grandmother and Daddy, and really all of our family, have a love for genealogy, and Daddy has been able to trace us back to Ireland on one side, but that is as far as we have been able to go-and on Mama's side, too, Grand Mama traced her side all the way to England. So, our family is just ecstatic.

They were so hospitable and welcomed us into their home, where she pulled out a huge folder with pictures, stories, Bible records, quotes, and even the name to two or three books written by relations of ours about our family linage. We asked her questions for quite a while, and also enjoyed looking at her husband's amazing bottle collection. We are hoping to go see them and learn more about our family, maybe photo copy her scrapbook, and see if we can find those books.

Oh, and we are related to William the Conqueror. Have not studied him, but ...mmmmm :D And we have allot of French in us, too! (Rozenn, we could be related!! ;)

So. Praise the Lord. We are very thrilled.

And we took a few pictures, too, whilst at the old barn. Above: Paul Man!

Two incredible siblings...

He looks like a soldier from WWII. Wonderful boy.

And another wonderful young man!The gentleman and his collection! 'Twas amazing.Awww...I thought this baby one was adorable.Hearing about the people that we came from. The Morton coat of arms. I can hardly wait to read more about it.

So, thus ends our incredible July vacation. What a blessing it has been, in so many huge ways.

Thank You, Lord!

Much love to you all,

Adeline Grace