Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Annie Roots' Back Flaps


Our trip to visit family was so lovely. I thought I'd start out with one of the major highlights - checking out all the new water pipes! These above are from my grandparents' house (Andrew calls my Nana "Aji," the Indian word for grandmother, so as to distinguish her from "Nina" and "Nannie"). I think he was especially pleased that he could so easily sit in the cabinet while "watching the water go down."

Aren't my grandparents beautiful? My Papa is somewhere in his mid-nineties now and is still full of health and humor. He doesn't even wear glasses except to read. My Nana keeps her days full leading Bible studies, e-mailing friends and family and traveling all over the world. I've already bombed out in the eye-sight arena, but I'm still daring to hope that just maybe I've inherited their skin.


I loved seeing Andrew get so comfortable with them. One of my favorite moments was watching Andrew and my Papa eat their grapes together at lunch, Andrew commenting with every bite that he was doing it "just like Papa" and each of them announcing grandly when they were "all done!" (Sorry Papa Mobley, I wasn't able to come up with another name for my grandfather fast enough, so we have two Papa's ... I think Precious will be able to sort it out)

My college suitemate, Georgia, was able to swing by for a visit with her sweet Spartacus*. Bonus!


They were especially adorable playing outside together with sticks in the bird bath. Ahhh! I could barely stand it. What's better than little boys running free outside together with sticks to splash in water filled with bird poops?! It's the way things should be.


Before we knew it, we were back in the car heading for the glories of Fountain Place - loving family, delicious food, and ... ah, yes! ... new plumbing!


When Uncle Mark saw how insanely enamored this little guy was with water pipes, he rooted around until he found some old ones for Andrew to have and to hold from this day forward.


Bathtime has never been this awesome. How long was he in the tub that night, Ashton? Forty-five minutes? Even then it was a sad moment when it was time to drag his wrinkled little body out.


Afternoon tea was greatly anticipated every day, The Precious taking his with cream and sugar in a boot. He doesn't look especially pleased in this shot, but trust me, a couple of ginger-lemon creams and a boot full of tea along side his Ashton made for one happy lad. (Could my extended family be any more good-looking? Seriously.)


Auntie's cooking is something to write home about. Nibblet loaded up with pot roast, lemon rosemary chicken, and baby back ribs, whose sauce recipe, I kid you not, required creating some sort of bacon-wrapped-around-fresh-herbs aparatus. Should you ever attempt such a feat, I must warn you that jute is NOT an acceptable alternative to kitchen string.

Here's Himself helping his Auntie peel potatoes.


I saved the most fabulous picture for the end. A kiss goodbye for his beloved cousin Ashton. Look at those lips!


In heaven I'm going to live a whole lot closer to my dear family. They are the best.

On a totally unrelated note, my dearest, darling husband recently checked into his San Francisco hotel, making it 2 trips to the west coast in less than a week. Blah. My lonely evening was, however, brightened mere moments ago by this text from him:


So I went to Chipotle and got it to go...
I neglected to get a fork when I left.
So, I'm eating it with my (washed with soap and hot water) comb.


I adore this man.

8 comments:

Dave, Ami, Hadleigh Claire, Annelise, and True said...

with a comb...hilarious!

jane said...

i'll have to rememeber the comb in a pinch! so funny!

e has two papas as well... it works- i think... hard to tell when he is but 20 months

Anonymous said...

You're making me laugh out loud at work; which I think is probably illegal.

Georgia Girl said...

That's a riot - eating with a comb! It's much too quiet in my office to be laughing as loud as I am.

Pictures are precious! I love the one of your grandparents and Andrew. How special!

I also adore the fascination with water pipes and the use of them in the tub. I bet Sparticus would really enjoy that as well! Hmmm...who needs to buy fancy toys anyway.

Georgia Girl said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

Those pipes look so fun! My mom would be freaking out if she saw birdbath playing (I let Rhianwen do this when she goes to their house, and all I hear non-stop is about how if she comes down with something, it's because she played in poopy birdbaths).

Ditto on the comb story.

The Elliotts said...

OK, my dear friend. I must say that reading your blogs have made me miss our talks and hanging out with you. You make me laugh every time...and I'm enveous of your way with words. I wish I could be so poetic.
The two highlights I had when reading your blog were Andrew playing in the tub with his pipes...TOO CUTE! And Phil eating dinner with his comb. Poor Phil. Gosh I miss you guys so much!
Much love!

Heather Iverson said...

Andrew's continued fascination with the water pipes is so cute.

Ha! Love the text about eating with a comb. I once ate my lunch with a tongue depresser (unused of course) that Ken had left in my car. You do what you gotta do. :o)