Saturday, January 15, 2011

Mother and son...The afore mentioned eating of oranges. :) And visiting.
Abbi, that's your color...beautiful!!
Two amazing ladies..NicholasNorma, Marty and Grace (love those girls...)
Lady Dee (munching citrus)
Sir Noah (looking quizzical)
An enchanting assortment of little girls....and various pieces of porch art. Gotta love the junk!


All that porch needs is several dogs.

(I have been lamenting the lack of canines on our farm of late. We so need another beastie! A huge, massive one, with no drool. And also, a little beagle, named Dixie. With brown eyes. And the larger hound should be named Oglethorpe. He can be any color, only very large...)Gabriella
Amanda (oh cool-Martha and 'Manda's clothes make an opposite quilt!)
Edgar, Cleveland and Noah, three wonderful brothers! The lighting in this shot is really cool, too...
And then Monday was Martha's 18th birthday-here she is, our amazing Martha Harriet, enjoying some beautiful flowers the Campanas got for her. We love you, Marth!

Happy Birthday!

Some folks headed home Saturday, some on Sunday-we were glad that the Campanas and Davis' were able to stay some on Monday, too-it helps to ease the sad departures when all your dear friends leave gradually, instead of departing in one huge, sad caravan...

Well, 'till later, my dears-it was a wonderful time with y'all!

Much love,

Adeline Grace

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

The Calathora New Year's Costume Ball Extravaganza 2010

Good afternoon, yon readerlings!

How are you? We miss all y'all so bad!

Oh mercy. It is COLD here. I am sitting here drinking some hot chocolate that Katie brought over in the cold for us, (what a dear!) and I'm listening to "The Hallelujah Chorus" (and learning how to spell "hallelujah" at the same time :D) Wow, that is such an incredible song! Praise God...
I can hear the clink of dishes (such little brothers have I!), smell the wonderful smell of soap (I just washed my hands with "Amazing Grace" soap and it is fabulous), and am wearing my favorite red coat. Bliss!

So: with out further verbiage, is our deluge of pictures from New Years!! Hope you enjoy them. The quantity and quality is sad, but the subjects delightful ;D so here they are, offered with a heart full of precious memories, missings, gratefulness, and a hug and a kiss from all we Mortons to all of you!

Happily,

Adeline

And so begins, the weekend!!! (you'd never know how excited we get as the time get closer...)Our darling guests began arriving Wednesday a little after noon, and, as always, few pictures were taken, :) but, as always, good times were had in abundance. Here's a few of my favorite people in the world, gathered around one of my favorite places in the world, The Island. ("My island-hahaah!")Some of the men helped Michael Jr. build on he and Kressy's house Thursday. Oh, I can hardly wait to show y'all more pictures from that! It is AWESOME!! We're so very excited about it. And now, fast forward to Friday afternoon. A million last minute trips to town. Last minute hair do's and sewing, cooking and decorations. It's hilariously delightful, because allot of the folks coming to the party are there all weekend, so there's no stress to "have it ready" by a certain time-they help you do it! :) The Body of Christ is wonderful!! It's such a delight to be a part of.

Above, Andrew and Byron with a group of laughing observers gather as they head up making "Dorothy's Absence" (they were dears and were helping us with our hors d'oeuvre. They named it that themselves.) Later at the ball, Edgar tasted one and, after a choking swallow, was like,
"Whew-stay away from those, Cleve."
"Edgar-we brought those."

Haha...that made us all roll when Cleve told us over supper a few nights later...
After being blessed by every one's introductions, (there were some incredible stories this year) book signing, munching, hugging and visiting was the order of the evening.
Mariah Campana stops for a moment above.
And, then, dancing afterwords!! I just love it. Oh, and this is one of my favorites from the weekend- (photogenically in need of help, but) Absolutely precious! Little girls are a delight.Dr. Joseph Lister (they named the mouthwash after him) and Joshua Gianavel meet. Uncle Marc and Byron visiting...
Tom and Emily! (Emily, that dress is a piece of art...)
Dancing...
Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Daniel DeShazer
Michael Jr and Kressant (who came as Mrs. Sarah McDowell, the wife Ephraim McDowell, who pioneered abdominal surgery)Randomness, glorious randomness!
(Wesley and Rachel came as) General and Mrs. Priestly. Their story is an incredible, and mostly unknown story that can be read about in The American Twins of the Revolution. Along with a particular silver tea set, the account of the events of 1777 were passed down through the Priestly family until being recounted by Sally’s (the Priestley's daughter) great-granddaughter to the author, Lucy Fitch Perkins.
This made me laugh. Not exactly the things they carried around then.
Mr. Daniel came as his Great+ Grandfather, and Daddy represented Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson. What an amazing heritage we're blessed with.
Lovely Ladies Joshua "a la Ham" Smith :) with some of the Hagen clan... John Wright Houston (our great, great, great grandfather and the nephew of Sam Houston) and Joshua Gianavel. (I love my guys-they're fully awesome!)
Two of the most precious young ladies I know...
Mr. Lister meets a fan.
Dakota and Willi, another wonderful duo...
I know it's only half a picture, but I adore this picture of Abigail Rose. I just love it when you catch your sister laughing...And your pearls are perfect.
Mr. Mike Smith, another Confederate Father.
Some of the beautiful Dan S. ladies-we were so glad y'all could make it this time!
Senior Samuel Que Atonta Siempre
50's Beauties
Las Señoras jovenes: Bethany La Maravilla y el Alyssa La Caída De La Quijada, pose for a slight moment. Hoss Cartwright. :D
Twirling!
Mrs. Priestly
Nina W., a beautiful girl inside and out... Thanks to some generous friends, there was an abundance of fresh Brewster's ice cream for all to enjoy! It was wonderful, and very refreshing. (It was quite warm in the barn, believe it or not)Sweet Lauren! It was such a joy to have y'all. (lovely dress!)
Another beautiful W. girl! She makes me smile...
So does this. :) (I loved the rose in your hair, 'Lyssa!)
That's my sister down there, The New Mama! (I get so excited thinking about Dorothy being a mother. Wow...Praise the Lord!)
Mrs. D., The Beauty With Faithful Nikon in Paw
Observing
Talking
Johnny Appleseed calls the chaos to order.
(Cuties!) Mr. and Mrs. Cromwell
The 50's Brothers, in Ponderment.
In Laughs
The music goes on... Brother and Sister, Danny and McKinny
Father and Daughter, Rick and Sarah
Brother and Sister, Cleveland and Adeline
Man and Wife, Fritz and Conley
The "Ginger" ;) Reel starts...
John Rogers was there.

"A little before his burning, his pardon was brought, if he would have recanted; but he utterly refused it. He was the first martyr of all the blessed company that suffered in Queen Mary's time that gave the first adventure upon the fire. His wife and children, being eleven in number, ten able to go, and one sucking at her breast, met him by the way, as he went towards Smithfield. This sorrowful sight of his own flesh and blood could nothing move him, but that he constantly and cheerfully took his death with wonderful patience, in the defence and quarrel of the Gospel of Christ."
-Foxe's Book of Martyrs
Mr. Vanderbilt and his lovely daughter
General and Mrs. Thomas Jackson. Ah, I love my parents...
There was a line of small children that wanted to get their picture taken with Johnny Appleseed. Here's Ashburn's. (He was even handing out seeds, signed. ;)
Visiting...
And more...
Uncle Tim and Aunt Wendi lookin' adorable!Captain Mitsuo Fuchida and Jacob DeShazer. Please read their miraculous story
here.
Mr. and Mrs. John Alden (He was fond of her barley cakes, as shown above)

On to page two...