June 24th

Well it was a a busy full weekend. Filled with family, love, stories and wonderful food! Saturday found us busy working on some projects at JoJo's house. Dragging out books of pictures, talking about old friends and recipes.

Also the day were celebrating her birthday. Yes Dave's mom is going to be 93 next week, so we celebrated early since we were all together.

Gwen and Penn went above a beyond making a proper Southern Dinner. And shame on me I did not get a picture.

We started with drinks and homemade cheese straws! I have always loved them and these just took it to the next level. The table was set with her mom Silver and China in honor of her birthday. Just beautiful. And the peonies are right from Germs garden. I love a beautiful table, this was a favorite for sure.

There were mine of us.

Jo Jo, her Brother Uncle Bill and his wife Judy. Their daughter Karen and her husband Jeff. Dave's sister Gwen and her husband Penn. Dave and me.

We had a huge feast. Fried Chicken, lady peas with chow chow, heirloom tomatoes, cheese biscuits, squash casserole, marinated onion and cucumbers. Then we celebrated with a fabulous Chocolate cake.

The company was great and it was a lovely night.

I have to say Dave's mom did amazing. She used the walker to come in. There is a step up to the dining room. She told us all to get outta the way she had a plan and just did it herself!!

So nice to meet more of Dave's family.

Of course the stories were flowing and and we laughed. Funny food disasters, to where did we live when such n such happened. Some very funny stories.

We stayed up way to late.

Sunday found us searching through some old photos. Pictures of Dave and Gwen as kids. Picture of great grandparents, cool cars and the many houses they lived in. Pictures of Dave's kids and Gwen's daughter. So fun to see them all.

Penn had the ribs rubbed and curing in the fridge. Then cooked them in the oven...no I never cook them in the oven JoJo said, but as we were going through the recipes for Dave's favourites we going the proof. All in fun . She is the rib supervisor these days. Dave picked her up and brought her to the house. We sat outside on the patio while Penn finished them on the grill. Thank goodness for the huge fan he set up for us. It was beautiful out there and the made it comfortable to be outside. Had a nice drink before dinner with homemade cheese crisps.. Good thing Joan supervised the the ribs they were wonderful!

We added fresh coleslaw and tomatoes to the mix of leftovers from the night before. All just as good as the might before. The ribs and slaw were outstanding. Another great southern meal with a picture this time!

It seems like all we did is eat! We finished up left over dessert, fried ice cream, chocolate cake and coconut cake.

Just an amazing time to get to know everyone. We are already making planes to come back.

Family is a blessing. Dave is truly blessed. I am blessed to have been included. Grateful !

Monday came way to fast. We packed everything up and headed to our next stop. We might have a battery problem. We will check again in the morning to make sure. The fridge stayed cold so all is well

We took secondary highways to Missouri. So Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri today. Only 9 Dollar Generals! We saw tons of trains, Beautiful green countryside. trees and fields. Rice, corn and cotton. So many rivers, I stopped getting the Camara ready. I missed the shot of the man standing butt naked in the creek taking a bath. He was leaning over to rinse his hair!

Thank goodness all I got was the full moon.

The towns along the way we're rural and cute. Very small..

The further north we got the more cows we saw, like the photos on a book.

We are in Cabool, Missouri tonight and tomorrow. More about this visit tomorrow.

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Blessings. Hug your family. Call someone you've been meaning to call.

Thanks again Gwen and Penn for everything.🧡