Things I like about Mississippi

Fall

The weather turned cold a bit ago with a couple of mornings of frost. That frost triggered the turning of the leaves. It's been quite a change to have all the color around...instead of all the 'plain' green! I took a drive and tried to catch the beauty of the colors but I don't think my pictures do it justice. I loved the Fall in Utah, but most of the real color was up on the mountain, and that didn't last very long. There were some trees in the valley that turned but nothing like out here. Mom called the other day and asked if we had "color"...YEP! The weather didn't stay cold, it was just a cold snap and we've been enjoying absolutely wonderful "Fall" weather.

Houses

Everywhere I drive I find houses that I LOVE. Most of the time I find it hard to keep my eyes on the road because I want to look at the houses. One of my favorite things to do, even now, is to go out for a drive to "look at houses". We're forever finding new neighborhoods filled with darling ones. I love the country feel of living here, houses that sit on several well kept acres, ponds and the occasional horse or two.
Gas Prices

Need I say more?

Rewind

Finally downloaded pictures from Chelsey's camera onto my computer so I can "rewind" and catch you all up on past happenings. So here goes.
Clint's visit
Clint flew in for Chelsey's birthday back in October and we picked him up on a beautiful Saturday afternoon down in New Orleans. Naturally we went to the French Quarter, then walked over to the Mississippi River, drove by the 'above ground' cemetaries, showed him the big old oak trees at City Park and drove around the still devastated areas from Katrina. We stopped for seafood on the way home. I think it was a lot for him to take in all at once...he was a good sport..."hey, look at that cool house, look over here at this cool architecture, look at this, look at that". We were so anxious to show him all sorts of stuff that we were amazed with when we first moved here. I think he was mostly just looking at Chelsey!!! Anyway, I think they had a good time roaming around town and seeing all the places that Chelsey's been talking about. He got a chance to meet a pair of our ward missionaries, which was cool...since that's what he's gonna be pretty soon!! He and Chelsey went on a double date with Natalie and Rob to the Mississippi State Fair, which the girls said was a 'blast'. Chelsey said it was the best birthday EVER. I'm so glad!! We really enjoyed having Clint here and wished his visit could have been longer.

Halloween

Since this was the last Halloween the girls planned on having at home, we had to get real pumpkins to carve. They went out late the afternoon of Halloween and bought probably the last two 'good' pumpkins around. Then they set up and started carving! I was anxious that no one cut off their finger...so I supervised!! They had a great time deciding their faces, looking on the internet for inspiration. Nattie saved the seeds for Ken to roast (the whole time Chelsey kept saying "Riley loved to save the seeds" "Riley loved eating pumpkin seeds"). We missed you Riley!!! The girls answered the door for all the Trick-or-treaters because I teach most of the kids around here and I just didn't want them to know where I lived!! We bought 4 huge bags of candy thinking that would be enough...well, we didn't know that we live in "THE" neighborhood for trick or treating cause we ran out in less than an hour and a half! Oh, because of all the High School football games on Friday night, the community changed Halloween to Thursday...Yes, they CHANGED Halloween because of football!! Southerners LOVE their football!!!

He's BAAACCCKKK!!

Who would have believed it??? Gus is BACK!!! There'd been sightings by neighbors but we'd never actually seen him. Once when mom and dad were here we thought we caught a glimpse of him...but nothing. Then the other day, on my way home from work, an orange cat ran across the road ahead of my car...and it had a crooked tail...it was GUS! I stopped and jumped out, he ran under a parked truck. I called his name, knelt down and talked to him. Then he came out meowing and walked right up to me. He was very skittish, but eventually rubbed up against my leg and actually let me pick him up and hold him. I started to put him in the car when another cat ran out from under my car and they started hissing at each other and Gus went nuts and jumped out of my arms. I called the girls to hurry and bring food and help me 'capture' him. Well, after about an hour of coaxing, feeding, petting etc...we couldn't grab hold of him to get him into the car to get him home. So we left. The very next day, Chelsey was driving through the neighborhood and saw Gus sitting out in the same area he'd been the day before. She got out, he came up to her, she grabbed him and put him in the car. Natalie joined her and they were able to get him in the house!! It was surreal. He acts like he remembers stuff...like napping on Natalie's bed, sitting on top of the boxes, and right where to get food. Amazing!! He's been gone exactly 5 months!!! He's very skinny, but other than that...the same ole Gus. Gracie is NOT happy he's back and hisses at him but we're hoping they'll get accustomed to each other. So far, no cat fights!