After detouring off into Doctor World on Wednesday, I am steering the blog back into Florida Territory today.
I’ll start today’s post with a picture of two handsome fellas. (I have no clue why my iPhone decided to totally wash them out but, oh well!)
They were about to head out to rehearsal for the morning service at Nathan and Meagan’s church.
Whenever we visit Florida, the regular bass player at their church is always gracious to step aside and let Steve play. One of Nathan and Steve’s great joys in life is to play music together and since they don’t get to do it often, it’s always a big deal whenever it happens.
Here they are in action with Meagan and John, Nathan’s brother-in-law. They always do such an amazing job.
When Monday morning dawned, Nathan and Steve traded in their festive duds for their oldest work clothes as they installed a whole house water filtration system. If you know anything at all about that job, you know that it is not a simple task, requiring plumbing, wiring, ditch digging and myriad other mysterious and complex activities.
Somehow I neglected to get photos of them in their actual work mode so I took these after the work was all done and they were showing it off to all of us admiring females.
Nathan is demonstrating the High Tech Filtration-Device Covering Unit that he and Steve had created. And if it looks to you like it’s a cheap plastic wastebasket with a hole cut out, well . . . you’re right!
But when you want to keep big Floridian rains and small Floridian fingers off a piece of important equipment, you sometimes have to use a little creativity to accomplish that task. (They actually got the idea from a Lowes salesman and it worked perfectly.)
Since Nathan is just starting to build his own tool collection, Steve presented him with a screwdriver set for Christmas. He was trying to give a thorough, technical explanation of the screwdriver sizes; however, it is hard to take a person’s words seriously when he has Christmas bows sprouting from his face.
Madison was quite fascinated with the whole attachment process.
The family watched a child-friendly video of the Christmas story before opening our gifts.
Good times!
One evening during our visit I happened to be in Noah’s room and spotted a special stuffed animal named Dawdie. Dawdie earned Special Stuffed Animal Status by being given to Nathan by his Great-Grandpa Smith when Nathan was just a toddler. Nathan loved Dawdie and dragged him everywhere his little toddler feet took him. Thankfully, Dawdie survived all the todlleresque dragging and still has an honored place in Nathan’s life.
Can you tell Dawdie is well-loved?
Noah, of course, has his own special animals but he still keeps Dawdie in his room, a rare gift touched by the hands–and the love– of his great-great grandpa.
It was such a treat to go into Noah’s room in the evening . . .
and witness the bedtime story routine. (Sometimes Nathan reads, sometimes Meagan does, and sometimes they both do.)
Love these shots–love these guys.
Sarah enjoyed hanging out with Noah and Madison, too. When she wasn’t playing with them, she and I spent some time helping Meagan with all the tasks that tend to pile up when one has just gone through a move into a new house while working full time and juggling two small children.
I did grocery shopping and some cooking while Sarah did laundry . . .
and folded and hung lots of nephew/niece clothes.
In the meantime, Madison roamed the premises and applied her diligent little self to vast explorations and the creation of even more laundry for Aunt Sarah. Toddlers are so helpful like that!
All too soon, our visit with our children and our children’s children was over and we walked out this cute front door for the last time–for this particular visit, at least.
(And yes, those poinsettias are real!)
Meagan wanted me to get a photo of them with the Sold sign. A first house is such a big deal and a moment never to be forgotten. (I should be able to photos of the inside of the house posted next week.)
We all got in a circle and prayed and the Smith Sibs said their goodbyes.
And then we were headed down the road, leaving behind our hearts–those people we love more than we could ever put into words.
We were so blessed by this foursome and so thankful for a chance to get to spend precious moments together. They sent us off with smiles mixed with a few goodbye-tears. Already counting down the months and looking forward to our next time together.
What about you?
Did you or your child have a “Dawdie” in your life?
What was its name?
Why was it so special?
All right, I’ll confess…I’m almost 52 years old and still sleep with my Powwies. These are two small (mostly flat now) pillows that I’ve had since I was a baby. Whenever I would go on overnight trips for work, I’d always pull them out right away and tell whatever co-worker was rooming with me to go ahead and laugh, but I had to have my Powwies. My son is twelve and still sleeps with Duck, his favorite stuffed animal. Poor Duck is almost as flat and faded as Powwies.
Melissa,
Thank you so much for admitting that you still sleep with your Powwies.That is too funny, especially taking them on trips with your co-workers.
In an uncertain, upside down world, it is truly wonderful that you and your son have Powwies and Duck that always stay the same. 🙂
My kids had Barney stuffed animals….absolutely loved them… we still have them and .my son still has his “bankie” that I put away for future days….
Dale,
You are a wise woman to hold on to those precious items for future days! There is no way to replace belongings that have so many memories attached to them!
No special animal that I can remember. Having lived in Tampa for 13 years, I understand the need for the water system. I went through two in my time there. Very hard water without it. I was surprised to see that Nathan’s house was brick, seems like stucco is the norm in Florida. I can imagine how hard it is to have them so far away.
Phyllis,
Yes, a water treatment system is a great thing to have–although not the easiest thing to put in!
great looking home for a great looking family!
When I was a fairly little kid, the Easter Bunny hid a black poodle (not actually a live one) behind the couch.
I named him Fru Fru. Fru Fru went with me to all my high school exams; and he went to college, too. BUT..Where is he, and what happened to him? It is quite a mystery. I love stuffed animals, and if you come to my house today, chances are you will be sharing a chair with one, or holding one on your lap.
Mrs. Pam,
I am happy that Fru Fru was in your life so long but somewhat dismayed that he has been lost!
(Love that name, by the way.) 🙂
That is a great idea with the wastebasket! My neighbors gas meter needs a cover and I think something like that would work perfectly since the usual covers are pretty expensive.
Megan and Nathan’s new home and neighborhood look lovely. I have never been to FL and I was surprised to see so many trees and plants. The lamppost is a great accent! Curious about the roof – they don’t use shingles? It kind of looks like the roof was made for diverting water.
So nice they had all of you there for the first Christmas in their new home!
Kari,
Yes, that wastebasket IS a great idea!
Nathan and Meagan’s roof is metal. I would imagine it would divert water well.
And yes, Florida has a rich variety of plants and trees that vary quite a bit from place to place in the state.
Nice house and so happy for them. Pictures are so special of the family. Glad you could spend time with them their first Christmas in their first home. God is good.
Ann,
Yes, it was special to get to celebrate their first Christmas in their new home with them; I hadn’t even thought of the signifigance of that!
My grandson has adopted my teddy bear that my very young son gave to me so I would have someone to sleep with … Boo-kee. It’s a national disaster if we can’t find him at bedtime! Not sure he’ll last another generation! Precious memories!
Guerrina,
I love how those stuffed animals end up with such interesting nicknames. Boo-kee is a great one! 🙂
the goodbye’s made me tear up so I can just imagine you all telling them goodbye. love their house. PS – you must get someone to take some pix of you with the children – as I was the pix taker over the years it looks like I was never there
Becky,
You are so right about getting other people to take pictures so that I can be in a few. I think of that every time we get together and then always forget to bring it up. I did make sure they got a couple of me at Legoland so that was good. 🙂
I didn’t have a Dawdie but my brother did. It was a stuffed chimpanzee about 2-1/2 feet long named Bim. Lol! And it was well loved and worn but Bim went everywhere with Steve and played everything Steve did. I wonder if he still has it? I’m definitely going to ask him!
Nathan and Meagan’s house looks nice and I really LOVE ranch style homes! I can’t wait to see the inside photos. 🙂
Happy New Year!
LeeAnne,
Two and a half feet long is a BIG stuffed animal!! At least there wasn’t much danger of losing Bim. 🙂
Great photos! My favorite is of the Smith Sibs 🙂 I see a little more of his mama in Noah as he grows. It is so exciting for them to be settling into a new house, so many memories will be made there.
I just have one little ‘bunny’ story. My younger son was given a good sized benjamin bunny by his grandma when he was a baby. He carried it everywhere and loved on it constantly while he sucked his thumb. After a couple years, it was coming apart and I figured that I could just replace it. Hahahahahahahahahahahna (I had no clue) So I bought another just like it and swapped them out. I handed him the new bunny pretending it was his cherished lovey. He took it by the tip of the ear, examined it quietly, turned it around and finally blurted out “This is a stupid bunny” and drop kicked it a couple feet. OMG, it was funny but sad. He did go on to accept the new bunny and it is in almost every picture of my son over the many following years. Eventually, it was used as his pillow. Right now it’s in my closet, waiting for the day he has children and asks me where it is. Because he WILL ask 🙂
Lesley,
Oh my. I could just totally picture the drop kicking of the poor prtend bunny. 🙂 Kids are NOT impressed with imposters!
Good for you for holding on to Bunny for the next generation!