Another Grandchild. Carson Kern on right and Courtney Kern on left. Carson was born May 1st.

We thought that we would never have Grandkids and then two years ago, Courtney was born to Todd and Kristen. Paige got married and inherited two and then last year had another. Carson Kern was born this year and now we have five.

April 1, 2009 was James Randall Dukes Day

James Randall Dukes was born to Paige and Jonathan Dukes on April 1, 2009. Although they have two other children, James is the first between them. Nana and Papa were there to share James 1st day.

A New Grandbaby

April 1st was filled with excitement as James Randall Dukes was born to Paige and Jonathan Dukes. Although they have two other children, James is their child together. Nana and James get to know one another quite well on this day.

Courtney Climbing Stairs

Courtney is 1

Making two trips to Mississippi in two weeks was rough enough for me but for Jimmie it was tough. Jimmie had to have a bone marrow aspiration (Her 17th). However, I was able to hold Courtney and spend some time with the Kern's. Courtney smiles most of the time. She is really a happy baby. The only disadvantage to living in North Carolina is that we are so far from all our children.

Biltmore Flower Carpet

There is always something going on at nearby Biltmore. The Flower Carpet is a tapestry of flowers. It began yesterday and will last for most of September. We ate at the Bistro on Friday night. I attended the Asheville Tourist Baseball Game on Saturday night, boiled shrimp out on the burner Sunday night and plan to do some sightseeing on Labor Day. The fall leaves are just beginning to turn. In a few weeks, we will see lots of color from our deck. It has been dry here. We are in a drought.

The Fruits of our efforts...........

The fruits of our efforts don't always show immediate results. It is through effort, then patience until the final enjoyment. These peonies were planted last year. I bought and planted them. We had seen some beautiful ones in Maine at the Wyeth Museum. We want some, so we bought them, planted them, watered them. This year, our efforts were rewarded with this beautiful flower. Now, we have a whole row of them. In this year of instant gradification, it is nice to know that patience pays off.

Lilli Phillips Came to live with us

Lilli came to live with us in 2007. She is full of live and so active. She entertains herself and us too. She is a loving dog and much different that our other dogs which had to be put to sleep.

New Baby

It has been an eventful year. We lost two dogs to old age in June. We bought a new
dog in July. We became Grandparents in November. Courtney Elizabeth is beautiful.
She evidently loves Jimmie. She is a beautiful baby. Too bad we live 10 hours away.