Ok, so I have just realized how long it's been since I last posted. Travis put me to work, so we'll just blame him. Over the last six weeks or so we've had lots of excitement. Travis had a football reunion at Centre College in Danville, KY, so we went out to that and had a great time at the game and doing a little family history. Then a couple of weeks later we went to Manassa and spent about a week with grandma and grandpa. September was a busy month, but such fun.

So, first things first. We flew out to Louisville on Thursday night, and Travis was meeting an old buddy on Friday night, so we spent Friday wandering around and finding all sorts of things. This first picture is of the house that my great, great-grandparents lived in, Frederick Clawson Buddington and Mary Nellie Stites. The last time we were in Louisville, I didn't realize that they had lived there. This time we did a little homework before we went and we were able to find their house, their second son's house, and their gravesites.
1873 Rutherford Ave.

The home of Frederick Clawson Buddington and
Mary Nellie Stites.

This is the house right next door. I believe their second son, Lloyd Stites Buddington lived here with his wife, Mary. If not, then Mary lived here after Lloyd died.

Here we are at Resthaven Cemetery. It's quite a huge place, and when we got there we realized there was no way we were going to be able to just wander and look, so we went to the office and a very nice man looked the gravesites up for us and gave us a map. Turns out, we were right close to it. We were only expecting to find Frederick and Mary's graves, but we were surprised to find that on the back side of their headstone was Lloyd and his wife Mary, so they're both right there together. Notice how excited GraceAnn looks at being in the cemetery in the rain.

On Saturday we left Louisville and drove a couple of hours to Danville. After a stop at the bookstore (we had to get some new t-shirts for Travis and a shirt for GraceAnn and me-we were very school spirity at the game) we drove out to a little town called Paint Lick. This place was pretty teeny. The Terrill family were in this area back in the late 1700's and early 1800's before they left and went to Tennessee. George Terrill (our line) married a little gal named Patsy Stephenson, who supposedly killed an indian chief when she was a young girl. If you're interested in the story, let me know, I'll forward it. Anyway, her family's home was near the headwaters of Paint Lick Creek, which, as far as we could tell, was near the town of Paint Lick. So we drove over to see what we could see. We found this sign by the road, and decided that they probably lived near the fort, as most people would have. The fort was no where in sight, but we drove over the creek bridge and saw a little road that went up along the creek. The sign said no trespassing, so we thought best not follow it...you never know. But we did go up another road for about a mile until Travis chickened out and turned around. I pointed out all of the houses along the road, but he pointed back that they were trailers and they were probably all family and we needed to turn around. I think I called him a weenie as he drove back to the main road.

Here's the "No Trespassing" road.

Here's the creek from the bridge we drove across. We are assuming (because of the sign we read) the fort was just up the creek a little way and close to the bank. It's so pretty...can anyone say Deer Tick?

You know, the funny thing, I just realized that if I had done a little more research, I probably could have found Terrills that are still there. I'll bet they might have even been along the weenie road that Travis turned around on....next trip

As we were leaving the area, we remembered we had driven by an old church and decided to stop and look at the cemetery. The cemetery was actually an old cemetery that was up a side road, and it was at the site of the OLD church, which was a log cabin, which was no longer there. We did find several Terrill headstones, so I am going to assume that the Terrills went to that church, and probably the Stephenson's too. Look at how happy Travis and Gracie are. They love to walk through the cemetery with mom. The picture below this one is of the site of the old log church. I would love to go back and get a look at what life was like then.

Travis and GraceAnn at the ball game. We had such a good time, and it was fun for Travis to be back at his old school. I have to say that the cheerleaders had much improved since the last time we were there, and we were all grateful that the "dance team" didn't perform at halftime. The last time we were there they went out on the field and gyrated in their sports bras and leggings with their guts hanging out. It was really unattractive and quite disturbing.

On Sunday morning we checked out of our hotel and went up on campus before making our way back to Louisville. Here are Travis and GraceAnn in front of "Old Centre." It's such a beautiful old building. The whole campus is beautiful. I'm so glad we got a chance to go. In case anyone wants to check it out, here's the website:

http://www.centre.edu/

Here we are on the way home. GraceAnn was so good on the plane. On the way out she slept a little bit, and when she wasn't sleeping, she was busy watching the flight attendants in the back. On the way back, she was absolutely not going to sleep, I don't care what you say. I'm a big girl and I don't need a nap...so we gave her a bag of cookies so play with, and she played with them almost the whole way home. The cookies were crumbs by the time we landed, but hey, they kept her happy. I tried to be discreet while taking these pictures, because I didn't want to be that mom...you know, the one who takes pictures of her kids on the plane.....

We had such a good time...can't wait to go back. Next family history trip...Alabama. Who wants to go??

New Pictures

We took GraceAnn to get her 6 month pictures on Saturday. I can't belive it's been more than six months now. While she was having her bath I was thinking about how she used to fit across the tub. That didn't last long. Everyone told me it would go fast, but they didn't say how fast. It makes me so sad. Anyway, here are her pictures. Enjoy.

Lovin' the 'lympics

Is any one else as exhausted as I am? We have been up every night watching the Olympics on tv and are fairly sleep deprived now. Poor Travy, having to get up and be sharp for court every day. He has no idea how grateful I am and how much I admire him for "slaying the dragons" every day for Gracie and me.

Anyway...did anyone see the poor little Japanese guy on the rings tonight? I thought for sure he would land on his head. And now, here he goes on the vault. I hope he doesn't break his neck. That fall looked like it hurt. It brought back memories, and not good ones, of the time Travis dropped me on my head...in front of my family. (He's sitting next to me, pouting, for telling on him.)

Manassa Pioneer Days July 2008

The parade...that, as Travis always likes to point out, we saw four times.

This was the float that won Sweepstakes this year. Ramona said she wasn't going to do much of a float this year. Even when she doesn't try, she still does a fabulous job.

GraceAnn and her Mama at the parade. She had a good time, but didn't like having her ears covered when the firetrucks went by.

GraceAnn and her Daddy at the parade.

GraceAnn, Travis and Grandma at the parade.

GraceAnn and her first sucker. She loved it.


GraceAnn and Grandpa having her first sucker. He gave her lots of goodies that weekend. A sucker, caramel popcorn, home made rootbeer...and that's only what I know about. She loved it, though. She had a great time eating on that sucker.

At the carnival.

After the parade we took GraceAnn to the carnival to ride the rides. The first day Travis and I took her with mom and dad, and the second day we went with Cynthia, Andy and the kids. She had a great time. Here she is on the merry-go-round. She liked the up and down and would kind of junp everytime the horse went up. Then she tried to suck on the bar. Gross, Grace.

The second day Jackson took Gracie on the little train, with Tatelyn, while Madison took Triton and I rode with them. We had a good time laughing and playing on that little train. It was fun to go with the kids.

At the rodeo. She wasn't really into the rodeo, and I guess we weren't either. It wasn't the best rodeo we've seen, unfortunately.

She seemed to enjoy the demolition derby much more, although she slept through a lot of it.

KariAnn and GraceAnn's Trip Home

KariAnn and GraceAnn went to Manassa to see Grandma and Grandpa and Uncle Brett. What a fun time we had! Gracie loved it there, especially going outside every morning. When we got up I would take her out in the front to look at the fields and trees and look for deer. She would get so excited when I opened the front door. She just squealed and wiggled and squirmed. And then when Oreo and Maggie came to say good morning, she would get so excited. What a girl. She loves to be outside.

On the Friday before the celebration we went up to Platoro to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's home away from home. It was so nice up there. Dad went fishing with A.D. and Mom, Brett, Gracie and I went to visit with Mertie. She just adored GraceAnn and had her just a giggling.

Gracie and Grandma in the camper.

Mertie had a whole bunch of little hummingbirds around her camper. She had one that would sit at the feeders and watch for the other birds to come around and then he would chase them off! Brett and I decided that mom and dad needed one, too, so we went over to the store and bought a hummingbird feeder and hung it up. Brett spent the next hour taking pictures of hummingbirds. This is a picture of Mertie holding one on her finger.

Brett took this picture. Sunset up at Platoro. It was such a nice night, but lots of mosquitoes.

One day Mom and I went over to Cynthia's to take pictures of Gracie. She didn't like the grass on her bare legs, and the sun was really bright, but I managed to get a couple of good pictures.

Once I took of her dress, she was really happy. We found some shade and took a picture with the kids. She had such a good time with them. And Tatelyn was so funny. She kept bringing out toys for Gracie to play with.

GraceAnn had such a fun time with Grandpa. He had her going one night. And we wonder where she learned to wrinkle up her nose.

The Brick House.

The evening we rode down to get a picture of the Brick House it rained. After the rain stopped, and as we were driving down to the Brick House, we noticed all of these frogs in the bar pit. There were tons of them! As we drove by the little tiny ones would jump in the water, so there was a ripple of jumping frogs as we went by. And the big ones were content just to sit in the water.

Lonely Dad

Dad's girls have been gone for almost a week and dad misses them. They went to see Grandma and Grandpa Jackson. I hope they took a lot of pictures. I am going to see them on thursday. They drove and I get to fly. I have been working long hours and getting a lot done. Business is good. I am very busy. That is the only thing that makes it bearable to miss my girls.

Here's a video of Gracie rolling over. It wasn't her first time, but it was the same day. She hasn't done it since. She just cries until someone moves her.

5 Months Old

Gracie was five months old on June 26. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. It seems like yesterday I was walking through Taipan Trading, looking for a birthday present for Kim, when my water broke. Kim said she wanted me to have Gracie on her birthday, which would be fitting seeing as how she flew with me to LA for one of my appointments and the girl hadn't flown for fourteen years. She was scared to death. But, I had her a few hours too late and she was born on the 26th. That's okay, though. She needs her own day.

Anyway, five months. Everyday is better. GraceAnn is so much fun, although she's a little spoiled. She's definitely an attention hog.

Today I took her up to girl's camp at Kolob to see Travis and relay some messages to him. She was so excited to be outside in the sun and the breeze with the birds chirping and the leaves rustling in the trees. She just screamed and laughed and wiggled. It was so funny to watch her. She loves to be in the mountains, so she can be Grandpa's goin' to the mountains buddy. I think I win that one. She's a mountain goat! She's her Grandpa's girl!

Here are some five month pictures of our girl. And, there are also some videos that we've taken over the past few weeks that I'm adding. One is of GraceAnn and Travis opening his Father's Day present, one is of her first attempt at holding a bottle, and the other is of her and her Uncle Trey, whom she just loves. She wiggles and screams when he comes over. She loves to see him.

Looking Back

This week GraceAnn and I have been working for daddy while Connie is out of town. I don't think Gracie is too thrilled about having to go to the office everyday. She gets a little fussy. You see, it's not all about her at the office. So, we are taking a break this afternoon and we'll go back later.

During our break I've been working on Gracie's scrapbook. It's only been about five months since she was born and I'm finally getting around to her book. Oh well, at least it's getting done. I have three pages done so far and it's been fun looking back at the pictures of her when she was so tiny and remembering how I felt when she was born. I don't think words can ever express how much we love this little girl and how grateful we are for her. Sometimes I can't believe she's here. She's such a joy in our lives and she's just so much fun. All her little quirks and noises she makes are so precious. We just love her so much!