Christmas in Louisiana

This year we spent Christmas with our family in our "hometown" of Ruston, Louisiana. Fletcher and I grew up in Ruston, and so it is a family tradition that we gather there with our families each year at our parent's homes to celebrate Christmas. Our parents live about a mile apart, so there is always plenty of room for a big crowd and we go back and forth between their houses to eat, sleep, and visit. Since our children have grown up, we cannot always have everyone there, but most of us were able to be there this year. Jennifer and her fiance' Jarred drove in from Austin and College Station, Texas, and Amy and her boyfriend Josh drove in from Atlanta, Georgia, and we drove in from Bentonville, Arkansas. On Christmas Eve we attended the Annual Christmas Eve Candlelight Service at Temple Baptist Church in Ruston where both sets of our parents are members, and then we celebrated Christmas Eve at the Scott's home with one of Fletcher's brothers and his family. Then on Christmas Day we celebrated with my parents and my sister and her family at the Gullatt home. It was chaotic and crowded at times, but that's just part of Christmas. Being together with our families is the best part of Christmas, and we are so thankful that we can still make that trip to Ruston and spend time together as a family remembering the birth of Jesus our Lord. We are so thankful to have Christian parents that raised us in Christian homes and taught us to love the Lord Jesus with all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our strength, and all of our minds, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. The traditions we share as a family are based on the Biblical teachings of Christ, which is the basis of our Christian beliefs and the way we live out our daily lives. Thank you Mom and Dad for teaching us about this one special gift of Christ which lasts for all eternity, and for living Godly lives as Christian examples for all of us. We love you and appreciate you so much and all you do for us each year at Christmas time and the whole year too!

Here are a few photos taken during our family Christmas celebrations:

Jennifer and Jarred preparing a special dip.

Josh and Amy drove from Atlanta to be with us for Christmas.

This is my Daddy aka "Poppy"

Jennifer, Jarred, Josh, and Amy

Me and Fletcher

The table is set for Christmas Eve dinner at the Scott house.

Vernaughn's (aka "Grandma") beautifully decorated Christmas tree!

Amy and Josh going through the dinner line at

the Scott's house on Christmas Eve.

Amy is dipping into Grandma's cornbread dressing!

Fletcher in the dinner line on

Christmas Eve at the Scott house.

As you can see, there was plenty to eat!

A close-up of the tree and gifts at the Scott's.

Jennifer and Jarred just opened a gift from Dan and Kim who were not able to be with us

because they were in Georgetown, Texas this Christmas with Kim's family.

This piece of dinnerware is from Jennifer and Jarred's wedding registry.

They are getting married in January 2012. Dan and Kim, they loved the gift! 

This is Jennifer with her new puppy Bella at the Gullatt's house.

Bella had a great time with everyone!

This is a snapshot of Poppy and Memaw Gullatt opening their gifts.

Poppy and Memaw are all smiles!

Merry Christmas!

Jarred and Jennifer will be getting married in just about three weeks

in College Station, Texas on January 14, 2012.

Best Wishes to the happy couple for a lifetime of love and happiness!

Here is a photo of Dan and Kim taken at their home before Christmas. I got to visit with them while I was in Houston, Texas recently. We missed them at Christmas, but I know they enjoyed being with Kim's family in Georgetown, Texas and we'll see them soon at the wedding in January. Love you Dan and Kim! Thanks for all of the wonderful gifts!



Thanksgiving 2011

This year we celebrated Thanksgiving in a very different way, we traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to visit our youngest daughter Amy. We left Bentonville, Arkansas on the day before Thanksgiving and spent the first night of our journey in New Albany, Mississippi. That night we decided to have dinner at Kentucky Fried Chicken where there was advertised to be a "buffet," but when we arrived the buffet was out of chicken, so we decided to leave and go somewhere else. But just as we were walking out the door, we heard the manager call from behind the counter that he had suddenly discovered more chicken! Then, as we were paying for the chicken buffet dinner we noticed that five or six other people in the restaurant started moving toward the buffet line. (I guess they had been waiting for more chicken to come out on the buffet) So, it was a scramble to see who would get a piece! This was my first experience at the Kentucky Fried Chicken Buffet, and needless to say, it will be my last.

The next day we drove the rest of the way to Atlanta. We had Thanksgiving Dinner at Wendy's in Moody, Alabama. It was delicious! Wendy's is one of our favorite places to stop whenever we are on a roadtrip. We arrived in Atlanta around 4:00pm and went to the apartment where we would be staying. This apartment was leased by Community Coffee Company as a place for the employees to stay while they were working in Atlanta, but since this was a Holiday none of the others would be there, so I was able to stay there with Fletcher. This worked out great since Amy lives in a very small one bedroom apartment.

That evening we got to visit with Amy and Josh at her apartment and we also spent the next three days visiting with Amy and seeing and doing fun things in Atlanta. Here are a few photos taken during our visit:

Lunch on Friday at Mary Mac's Tea Room in Atlanta, GA

Located on Ponce de Leon

We had turkey and dressing and bread pudding for dessert.

It was delicious!

Saturday, we had lunch at The Flying Biscuit!

It was a cute restaurant in Buckhead.

Shopping at Phipps Mall in Buckhead on Saturday.

Amy's sweet and very patient dog, Bailey.

Amy's Christmas tree at her apartment on Peachtree Hills Circle.

The view from Amy's apartment balcony.

This is where Amy walks Bailey behind her apartment.

One of the highlights of our visit was on Sunday. We attended church with Amy at Passion City Church in Atlanta. This church is located just around the corner from Amy's apartment. The worship leader is Chris Tomlin and the pastor is Louie Giglio! It was one of the best worship services I have ever attended! I am a fan of both Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio, and I never thought I would see either of them in person. It was like attending a Passion Conference. The message brought by Louie Giglio was from John 10 - Jesus the Good Shepherd. It was just about the best sermon I've ever heard in my lifetime. Wow! I can't even imagine what it would be like to be able to go to church there every Sunday! They were both outstanding!

We are so thankful that we were able to visit Amy in Atlanta for Thanksgiving, and we enjoyed our time spent together with Amy and Josh. It was well worth the long drive. Amy will be moving to New York City in January, so we especially enjoyed getting to spend this special time just with her, and to be able to get to know Josh better. We have enjoyed all of our visits to Atlanta to see Amy for the last two and a half years. Atlanta, Georgia is a beautiful southern city!