Friday Night Fun...

I went home to Newton this weekend-- first time home in a while.  At least the first time without a doctor's appointment, surgery scheduled or a pair of crutches accompanying me.  Its been a busy few weeks and work has been sorta crazy lately.  Right now, I am faced with some options about work and I needed to get away for a few days, and get some advice from my parents about what to do.  So I called my dad and let him know that Parker and I are headed home last Friday and he can take me to eat a birthday dinner at Zack's.  But on the way home, I get a better offer and was able to switch my birthday dinner to Saturday night.  I called a couple friends and we decided to go eat dinner.  A whole lot more fun than hanging with the parents. 

I headed over to my friend Sonji's house, arrving a bit late, as usual.  Now you readers have met the Rose family before, but I am in too much of a hurry to try to find any of those posts.  And you all know, they are one of my most favorite families.  Ever.  Like, I love this family.  Wish I could be adopted by them!  I kinda have been, but it would be nice to make it official.  Seriously, Sonji and Clay and I went to high school together and they have two fantastic kiddos and they let me come hang around, eat cake at birthdays, watch tv, laugh, be silly, etc.  I do feel like part of the family when I am around.  I'm just not around enough. 

I pulled up the driveway and parked, and as I was walking away from the vehicle, I automatically locked my doors with my key fob.  When I walked in the door, Sonji immediately said, "um, did you just LOCK your doors?  In my driveway?  In Hickory?"  And I deserved her ridicule- I don't know what I was thinking.  Her house and driveway are super secluded and super safe.  In fact, in the event of a zombiepocalyse, I am headed to their house.  Actually, I'm headed to North Alabama to our friend Adam's house, but my second stop would be the Rose house.  If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. 

We were meeting our friend Becky and her husband and step son for dinner.  Now, Becky is another one of those awesome people blessed with a couple great kiddos,  Anna and Triston.  Unfortunately for me, they weren't around this weekend.  Luckily for me, Gatlin and Bentley Rose were. 

We picked up the kids from their grandmother, Mrs. Barbara's house, and headed out to Beulah Hubbard to Nelda's.  Nelda's is a local favorite- in the middle of nowhere, a gas station/convenience store/restaurant mix.  With really good food.  We used to go there a lot in high school because some of my friends lived out that way but its literally been at least a decade since I've been. 


We had a great time on the ride to Nelda's-- the cute kids in the backseat just made my day.  We talked about school and favorite subjects and conduct grades.  Gatlin loves reading, which he obviously gets from his Aunt Jess cause she likes to read too! 

I mean, ADORABLE, right?  Gatlin and Bentley.  Couldn't love these kids anymore than I do!

Here we are at Nelda's.  It might not look like much but it was really good.  Becky and Chad had been at the cabin all day fishing.  Apparently they caught like 124 fish or something?  That seems like a whole lot to me, but what do I know about fishing? 

Chad's son Eli and Gatlin are big buddies (as my dad would say).  You can see the convenience store area of Nelda's in the back.  Its a one-stop shop, people. 

Good enough to eat the entire thing.  Bentley didn't believe me when I showed her how you can eat the tail. 
She was a bit distrusting of me. 

Got a spare business card?  Put one here!  A lot of places in Newton have these bulletin boards and when I was younger,
I used to love reading the cards.  I vowed to place my business card on every single bulletin board I could
when I was older.  Luckily for everyone, the State won't give me business cards!

We went to the Garvin's camphouse to hang out for a while after dinner.  There was all sorts of climbing ladders, throwing kickballs, shoes flying, screaming, dancing, etc.  And the kids were there, too. 

Tiredest babies!

Gatlin is the oldest child, and he is the sweetest, most precious kid you will EVER meet. Much like myself growing up. And he sometimes gets frustrated with his younger, funny, silly, crazy sister. Much like my life now. In the car, Gatlin got a bit frustrated with Bentley and had to vent a little bit. So we got to talking about crazy sisters', and I suggested we could trade for a while. You know, see how the other half lives. We discussed this for a while-- I let him know about the wedding, how we'd been planning it, and, if he were to trade with me, he'd have to be the Maid of Honor, wear a candy apple red dress (it could be tailored to fit him), and how he'd need to plan the upcoming Bachelorette Party. Which was perfect cause he'd just asked his momma to take him to the beach. Gatlin was seriously considering my offer but ultimately decided he'd keep his sister (the devil you know, I guess!). A few minutes later, Bentley did something or other to annoy Gatlin, and he looked straight at me, and said, very seriously, "What color did you say that dress was?".



Priceless. And Gatlin, if you ever do decide to trade, I'll give you a really good deal on a Big Brother as well.