A great-great day

Today Honey and I took the boys on a very special road trip to Huntsville to visit Tennie, their 98-year-old great-great-grandmother (Memaw's mom).

Generations 1 and 5: Tennie with Grant (L) and Reid R

We visited for awhile and the boys showed her a few of their tricks. Tennie hadn't seen them since they were 7 weeks old, and she kept remarking how big they are and how smart they seem... just like any good grandparent would. Here's a photo from her visit in late February:

Grant L, Reid R

We got an extra treat when the boys' great-great-uncle Charles stopped by to meet them for the first time.

The last time I saw Charles was at Thanksgiving, and today he couldn't help but remark--several times--about how I was the biggest pregnant person he had ever seen (and that was still 6 weeks before the boys were born). At this point I'm going to just wear that like a badge of honor.

Grant got a special treat--his first picture in a Stetson:

You'll notice the hat really wasn't all that big, either.

In keeping with the theme, this trip was also their first time to see this fellow, who any Texan worth his boot leather will recognize as Sam Houston.

Big Sam stands 67 feet tall on a 10-foot base. If you click on the picture to enlarge it and look closely at the one on the left, you can see people standing around the base, which gives you a better sense of the enormity. He is visible from the south for 6.5 miles.

And finally, just a funny story that my family will appreciate: As soon as we parked the car and were starting to unload the boys, the sweet lady who pulled in next to us said "Ohhhhh, are you here to see Tennie? These must be those great-great-grandbabies she has told us so much about." And then she added: "We just adore Tennie. She knows all the games." Truer words were never spoken.

But really, how many people are fortunate enough to have a great-great-grandparent in their lives? I want to make sure these boys never forget just how blessed they are to have such a large extended family that thinks they hung the moon.