For Elaine

In this land of dangers going here and there
Trusting in the blessed Savior's love;
Tho’ we may be strangers, in this world of care,
Looking for a city built above.

We’re looking for a city, where we’ll never die,
There the sainted millions, never say good-bye,
There we’ll meet our Savior, and our loved ones too,
Come O Holy Spirit, all our hopes renew.

~Looking for a City

This precious, old hymn is a favorite of my husband's family.  It seems we sing it every time a loved one goes home to Jesus.  It's not new, it's not contemporary, but like my MawMaw use to say... if it's new, it's not the Truth, cause the Truth ain't new. 

This blog post is about Barbara, my mother in law's baby sister and her husband, Bill.  Barbara will always have a special place in my heart because she played the music at our outdoor wedding, and because she and Bill were truly lovely people.

When I was in my early 20's, we went to visit Aunt Barbara in the hospital.  She was in the final stages of her battle with cancer and barely 40 years old. To most people I am sure that they would say that cancer won the fight, but it did not win the war.

I remember going in to the hospital room and seeing her husband crouched over his Bible, he barely acknowledged us as we entered the room, he was in deep battle. He was reading scripture out loud, I will never forget his voice, the look of determination on his face or what he was reading ... "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."  It bring tears to my eyes every time I think of that day. I had never seen that before, someone fighting a spiritual battle over a physical disease. I watched the two of them.....saints fighting an invisible, ferocious enemy, but they were not alone, and they both knew it, and they weren't afraid. Perhaps sad at the thought of being separated, but not afraid because they knew what awaited them, a city built above where we never say good-bye.

If I remember right, Bill eventually had to be hospitalized because he was a diabetic and had refused to eat,  but continually fasted and prayed.  His physical needs were not being met and his earthy body needed rest and food to continue, but he refused to stop. I wish I could adequately describe him to you, he was a big, mountain of a man, but with the face of a little boy who might even be up to a little mischief.  His countenance was kindness and grace and he always had a big, huge smile on his face. He was a gentle giant. At least, that's how I remember him. But on this day, he was a mighty warrior, a knight in shining armor boldly standing before the throne of Grace interceding for his lovely bride before our Holy and Merciful God. 

This was all new to me, I had certainly never seen that kind of suffering first hand, and I had never seen such faith.  These precious souls weren't weeping and wailing and blaming God.  They were worshiping a Risen Savior.  I was in total awe.  It's been more than 20 years since this happened and I still remember it like it was yesterday.  I sit here now with eyes closed vividly recalling that day.  I was in this hospital room watching this story of life and death unfold.  I remember feeling like I didn't belong there, what was happening around me was too intimate, too tender, too private, too holy, and I was not worthy to witness such grace. I was very new in my relationship with God, but I knew beyond a shadow of doubt that this was God fearing, Bible believing, mountain moving faith.  And I wanted some of it.  I was truly awe stuck at what I was seeing.  These dear ones were true Christians, the kind I hope to one day be.

Not long after that visit, God gently lead Barbara home.  Years later, Bill joined his beautiful bride in paradise.  The legacy of their love for their family and our God lives on through their children and grandchildren, and anyone that was fortunate enough to know them.  I am grateful to have known them, to call them family on earth and in heaven.  I am blessed to have married into such a precious Godly family, I only hope that some day, I measure up.

Blog Award

I've recieved my first blog award! How fun. Thank you to Jill-

Here's a link to her precious blog.

The Rules:

1. Post the award on your blog.

2. Link the person who has given out the reward.

3. Pass the reward to other blogs you have discovered.

4. Let these people know you have given them a reward!

The blogs I'm rewarding are...

The Holman's in Bolivia

The PWoods

I'm going on vacation!

And, I am so excited.  I am traveling on Sunday, which happens to be my birthday,
with some of my oldest and dearest friends in the world.  We are headed to sunny Florida 

and on Monday we'll hop aboard a cruise ship headed for Key West & the Bahamas.

To get into the spirit of the trip, we have all re-named ourselves with Spanish names....don't really know

why we picked Spanish?  I think Maria started that, yes it was Maria.  Any how, Maria, Consuela, Lupita

& myself, Sarita are so very excited.  I have only cruised once, back in November with 44 of my church pals, and the other senoritas haven't ever cruised before.  So, it is definitely the blind leading the blind.

We really don't have much on our agenda, we want to visit Hemingway's house in Key West, 

do some people watching, read a book, giggle & laugh and act like we did in Jr. High.
Oh, it's going to be great!

Bon Voyage!

Sarita

We're getting our own boy!

This little fella is Brandon, isn't he adorable?  He and Violet are buddies, just like their mommies have been most of their lives.  Well, we found out on Wednesday, Violet's 3rd birthday that Jill is having a boy!  A boy!  Our very own BOY!  In case you didn't hear me the first 3 times............... WE'RE GETTING A BOY!  27 years and 5 girls later.... we are getting a boy!

He will not be spoiled.  I can promise you that, after all, Violet isn't spoiled either.  If you believe that,  let me see what else I can sell you.

To say the least, we are excited.  But, I was excited already at the idea of having another grandbaby around.  Everyone said, I bet you want a boy, don't you?  But, I had already decided that surely one of my girls would eventually have a son, so I was prepared to just sit back and enjoy the ride.  And even if I have only grandgirls I will be happy all the days of my life!  I just want happy, healthy grandbabies, that live their lives for Jesus.  Truly, that's all I want in the world.  My prayer for our baby boy is the same prayer I have prayed for Violet since she was in the womb.  That he would be happy and healthy, that God would write His name upon his heart, that he would follow Jesus and be found pure and righteous and holy in His sight.  A tall order to be sure, but isn't that what we all really want?  To find favor with God and honor Him all the days of our lives.  Amen.

ps - Violet is going to be the best big sister Ev-ah!

Violet is 3!

Violet Soleil
07.07.07

Dear God, thank you for choosing me to be her grandmother!

"You must really like that grandbaby"

I do, I do!

Recently at my class reunion, a classmate said that to me. She was referring to my facebook wall where I post quite a few of Violet's pictures and escapades.  It kind of bothered me.  I mean, of course I really like her.  I adore her.  In fact, Jeff and I are madly in love with her.  Aren't we suppose to be?  I mean we are her grandparents. At the time I wish I had some witty come-back to throw at her, but I didn't.  I just said "of course I do."

Later, I thought about what she had said to me and then I considered her facebook wall.  It has pictures of her dog all over it.  Her dog on the bed, her dog in a dress, her dog in the yard, you get the picture. It's a very nice dog, but it's a dog. It's not like she doesn't have children, because she does.  And it's not like I don't love Mr. Colby, because I do, but he's a dog.

I know, I know.... what if she sees this?  I am not too worried about that.  Because anyone that thinks their dog is better than my grandgirl doesn't care about what I think or even read my silly, little blog.

Violet's Gigi...

 

Little Garden

We have been so busy at home these days.  One of our many Summer projects was to build a garden.  Just one problem, Olive.  Olive likes to dig, she digs about 10 holes per day, but has slowed some because of the heat.  So, our solution... vintage gates.  We have over the past 7-8 years been collecting these vintage gates and not doing anything with them.  We knew we would think of something sooner or later, but truthfully I was beginning to have real doubt about them.  We were trying to find a spot for a little garden, I had an idea.  What if we only made the garden large enough to be surrounded by the gates?  A plan was born.

Jeff spent a good deal of time building boxes, having to terrace them on the side yard and making a path down the middle to service the rows.  And then he put the gates up, with .... zip ties.  That's right, the entire thing is attached with zip ties.  Southern ingenuity at it's finest.

We pretty much planted everything from seed, with the exception of the tomato plants, shown hanging in the baskets and in the vintage washing tub.

These pictures were taken about a month ago.  We have already harvested quite a bit of summer squash, tomatoes and enough cucumbers to make pickles. Our little garden has more than doubled in size.

Of course, we couldn't have done it with the help of our Violet girl!

She told her mommy, "I'm working!"  Gardening is hard work.  That's for sure, even when it's as small as a postage stamp.  We are amazed at all the bugs that have found our little garden already. 

Violet is taking very good care of her watermelon & cantaloupe plants.  Can't wait until they are ready..... Yum!

Happy Summer!



Update:  A few pics from today... see how our little garden has grown!

A whole lotta nuttin'

I know, I know....... I need to post something, but I just ain't feelin' it. I have begun 4 or 5 posts but haven't finished any of them. At least two of them involve photos which have been removed from my camera by one of my children and loaded onto a computer which I do not have the password to retrieve. Hmmm, whose bright idea was that?

We have been busy putting in a garden, planning and attending my 30th high school reunion and work, work, work. It was great to see old friends and I do mean old! Here is a pic of some of my oldest & dearest... then & now... life just wouldn't be the same without them.

Then... 1980

Now.... 2010

We are looking forward to a wonderful Summer, even if we haven't a clue what we shall do yet. We thought we were going to a family event, but they have pretty much 'priced' us out of it. Asking a family with 3 full time college students to take a 4 day trip to Colorado costing 5K is just too steep for us. Jeff and I were planning on taking a trip abroad for our anniversary, but we have decided to wait until 2011 since we will be welcoming a new grandbaby into the world before the end of the year. We will however be taking a few trips along the way.

We recently traveled to Kansas City for Baseball & BBQ. KC has a gorgeous downtown area and we enjoyed our trip immensely. Let me just say that Arthur Bryant's has the absolute best bbq. Here is my sandwich, there is not way I could eat all of it. Fries are their specialty, yum!

We have begun to make plans for a trip to Arkansas in July & Las Vegas in September with Tara and Darrell. We had such a great time on our last adventure we can't wait to do it again.

So, here's wishing you a wonderful Summer filled with great friends, old & new. Simple times like building a garden and exciting trips near & far.

We'll talk again soon, this time I promise it won't be so long.

Violet's Fairy Garden

Ok, so I posted a while back that I wanted to make a fairy garden with Violet.  Jeff got the entire 3 day weekend off and we decided to make the fairy garden on Easter Sunday while Violet was here.  We did most of our shopping on Friday and I picked up a few more things on Saturday.  And later in the day Jill and Violet made a surprise visit. So, even though Jeff was tilling up a section in the backyard for our new garden, he took time off to come and help with Violet's Fairy Garden.

First, we rounded up a container.  I had this very, very old galvanized wash tub that we had just taking up space in on the back porch.  Then we thought it needed to be up a bit higher, so we used the stand to a broken chiminea.  And voila',  perfect!

Next, we started planting.  We used Scottish moss and a low growing,creeping Thyme for the lawn.  A Rosemary tree, some spiney grass, and a fern for the bushes.  A few other small plants to finish it out.

Then we used pebbles and river rocks for the path around the pond.  Which was Violet's favorite part.

Then it was time for a popsicle break!  Gardening is hard work.

Then we needed to add a garden shed and water well.  Just the right size for fairies.

Violet loved tossing pebbles into the pond.  She said can we go swimming now?  Then she said the funniest thing... I fink I need a water fairy.  So, you know what happened then.  Gigi took off to Wal-mart to find some fairies.  I found a set of 5 including Tink (Violet's favorite) that are just the perfect size.  First thing, she took them all swimming in the pond!

We played and played until the evening bugs drove us inside.  So how much did this little project cost?
Plants:  $36 - Green's Produce
Container:  Free
Pebbles & Stones:  $3 - on sale @ Michael's
House, wheelbarrow & well:  $16 - Hobby Lobby
Fairies:  $10 - Wal-mart
I am sure I could have saved that $16 and made the house and such, but... I knew I didn't have time for that, so the convenience for me to go ahead and purchase the items was worth it.

First home improvement project:  A fence.  Made from twigs and a glue gun.We are now working on a toadstool and a very tiny garden gnome.

Violet's Fairy Garden!

We had soooo much fun creating this little garden for and with our precious grandgirl, who by the way is going to be a big sister! Some of my friends have started calling me Super G.  I love it.  That is my goal, to be the best Grandmother I could possibly be. I am very blessed.

He has called me by name, I am His

Isaiah 43:1-7

"But now, this is what the LORD says— he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:  "Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;  and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior;
I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead.
Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you,
I will give men in exchange for you, and people in exchange for your life.
Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east
and gather you from the west. I will say to the north, 'Give them up!'
and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.Bring my sons from afar
and my daughters from the ends of the earth-everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,  whom I formed and made."

A few years ago a friend of mine came to me and told me that God spoke to them regarding me.  She said that God told her that this scripture was for me, she said that God had never done that to her before.  At the time I was confused, I mean... that's kinda weird. Right?  So, I said thank you and went on.  A few weeks later things began to happen, and I was scared, desperate, depressed and felt I was without hope.  Then my friend came to see me and the minute I saw her I remembered what she had said.  God had given her scripture and said it was for me.  For me!  Before the dawn of time God spoke these words with me in mind, He thought of me. Me, poor, pitiful, pathetic, sinner, me.  Me!  It is still more than I can fathom, me.   When I am facing a crisis, feeling lonely or depressed, I read Isaiah 43, and I am reminded that God thought of me and knew that one day I was going to need to know I wasn't alone, that I was created with purpose and value. And the beautiful part is, He meant it for you too.

Be encouraged my friends, you are not alone.

I love you still

I awoke from a dream this morning, I was dreaming of you.  I dreamed that you had abandoned me... again.  Old hurts sometime remain, under the surface, I guess.  I didn't even realize that today was your birthday.  I know that last year it came and went before I remembered it.  I miss you. I might have forgotten your birthday, but I have never forgotten you.

Your hatred for me as a child is well known by many but, I loved you still.  You were my mother.  You did not protect your children, and as our mother you should have.  You spent my childhood blaming me for your mistake.  Openly saying you wish you had prevented my birth and that you hated me.  I have tried desperately to forget how you berated and abused me and in the end disowned me. I have come to realize that I have not walked in your shoes, not cried your tears, nor felt your loneliness or your heartache for lost love.  I forgive you Momma, I love you still. 

Some of my friends, and now anyone that would read this will know, that I do not remember my life before the age of 12.  God is gracious like that.  I have no desire to uncover those memories, He has cast them aside as far as the East is from the West.  I know bits and pieces as told to me by my 5 siblings, and that is enough.  And a hand full that return from the few photos I have.  Years ago during a counseling session, my therapist told me that as my children reached certain ages, it could trigger memories of me at that age, and yes it did.  Mostly unpleasant, but some were wonderful.  You taught me to make a skirt when I was only 6 years old, it even had a zipper.  I can sew and I can sew well, and that is because of you.  I love my family desperately, and that too is because of you.  I gave my life to Jesus and brought my children up to know Him, and that in a strange way is your doing too.  I ached and cried out in my soul to be different from you and that led me straight to Him.

And then you disowned me, October, 2001.  Why?  I saw you many times in stores around town, you would look straight at me and then turn away, like I was nothing, no one.  It broke my heart.   I saw you several years later at Jeremy's wedding, you looked unwell.  Teresa encouraged me to speak to you, I did.  I  told you how I missed you, how much I loved you, how I wanted us to not be at odds against each other any more.  You made a scene at the wedding, you told me you didn't want to have anything to do with me, that you hated me.  Why?  I remember a few months before you died, I saw you in Walmart in the check-out lane.  I remember I stood behind a display rack about 20 feet away and just watched you, listened to your voice as you spoke with the cashier, and the little girl inside me cried out to her mother, I love you still.

In December, 2005,  I received a phone call that you were gone.  I was devastated, no more time to make amends, no more second chances.  No more I love yous.  But, the caller was mistaken and you were indeed alive, but only barely.  When I got to the hospital as ill as you were you remembered that you were mad at me.  It was difficult, heart breaking.  But, as a few moments ticked by you softened towards me.  You told me you loved me and I you.  You told me you had always loved me and were very proud of me. .... and then you were gone.  I had waited 42 years to hear those words and then you were gone.  No more second chances, no happy ending...just gone, but you loved me still!

I think you had known Him for sometime, your sister told me as we were preparing for your funeral how you came to know Him.  What happened?  Why did you turn your back on Him?  I have over time thought about it, and I have an idea in my mind.  I think you were angry, so angry that you blamed yourself and you blamed Him.  And because of that you would not accept His love for you, you couldn't forgive yourself for what you had done and you couldn't forgive others, but He loved you still.

I know that I have not always treated you with respect, and many times I got what I deserved from you.  I was a smart mouth kid, but my children and I did nothing to deserve being disowned by you for 5 long years.  You cheated my girls out of a grandmother, and now that I am one, that is unacceptable.  But, also now that I am one, I realize that you suffered a greater loss by not knowing them.  I am grieved by that, but.... they love you still.

There are many similarities between our relationship and the one we share with God.  We abuse Him, mistreat and ignore Him, but He loves us still and He is always ready to forgive and give us a second chance.  I was not always that forgiving towards you, but I came to understand that through His forgiveness, I too must forgive.  I am ever grateful that your last words were that you knew Him, believed in Him and would see us again, You loved Him still!

Don't for one second believe that it was easy for me to write this or to learn to forgive my mother.  It has only been by the grace of God that I am able to do both and it has taken a long time to do so.  And to never share this part of my life would be to never share how God used it for the better.  I have always loved my mother and I know now that she has always loved me and because of God's grace, inspite of ourselves, HE LOVES US STILL.

I miss you more than words can say & love you still,




Him:  Jesus, our Savior & Redeemer

Chasing the KWS Band

Noah Hunt (lead vocal), Jeff, me, Kenny Wayne (world's greatest living blues guitarist!)

This past weekend, Jeff and I set out on another road trip.  Chasing the Kenny Wayne Sheperd Band to Antone's in Austin.  

It was a quick trip for us, leaving after work on Saturday around 3pm and return a mere 24 hours later on Sunday.  We arrived at the Hilton Austin just before 6pm, not leaving us very much time to change clothes, find something to eat and get to the venue.  We were lucky enough to get a hotel fairly close to Antone's which was on the same street about 5 blocks down.  That made it much easier.  So, once we walked down to the concert site and checked it out we knew it was safe to try to grab a bite to eat.  We ended up eating at a little deli a few doors down from Antone's, Hog Head Deli or something like that.  We shared a sandwich and cheese fries!  Yummo. The sandwich was a Caprese salad sandwich with a few slices of salami on it, it was light and refreshing and absolutely yummy.  (So yummy in fact,  that Jeff came home Sunday night and whipped us up a few for dinner.) 

Then we headed over to the concert, waited in line for about 30 more minutes and then we were let inside.  It was a sold out concert and no doubt many were turned away, but we had purchased our tickets online several weeks back.  There was an opening acting, someone called Shurman, but we really weren't interested.... we were waiting for the real deal.  Since we are members of the KWS fan club, we had passes to go 'back stage' so to speak and we spent that time waiting for our chance to meet with Kenny.  When we did.... we were a little star stuck, but luckily we weren't the only ones.  I am telling you that if you like blues music, you have absoutely got to see the KWS band in concert.  They put on a great show, and Kenny is just incredible.  The show Saturday had to be the best we have seen.  

We had a great time, after the concert around 12:15am we were starving, remember we shared a sandwich earlier.  So, Jeff drug me all over downtown looking for somewhere to eat,  he drug me over to 5th Street and after about 1 block I put my foot down and said I wasn't going any further.  Doesn't he know we are old?  Way too old to be on 5th Street on a Saturday night.  We headed back to the hotel and ordered room service, a toasted Ruben, fries and a bowl of tortilla soup.  Then we were out like a light,  missed the breakfast buffet the following morning.  We packed up and headed for the Green Mesquite and had some delicious BBQ and chicken fried steak.  A couple of funny things there... the back of our waitress' shirt read, "God knows if you don't tip" and a sign on the wall read "Horrifying Vegetarians Since 1988".  Pretty funny.  Highly recommend the Green Mesquite on Barton Springs.

As we drove around Austin with the windows down and the sunroof open, enjoying the 77 degree weather, we decided to make one more stop before heading home.  We drove down Congress and stopped at Hey Cupcake and shared a 24 Carrot stuffed with fresh whipped cream and listened to the guitar player who serenaded us in the sunshine.  The we jumped on 35 and headed home, of course making one more stop at West to buy some kolaches for the girls.  Whew!  We have had a busy couple of weeks, time for some rest.

Magic & Whimsy

Ok, I really don't believe in magic, but I that doesn't mean I don't think things need to be magical.  Like weddings, childhood & love stories.  We didn't have lots of money when our children were small (still don't for that matter), but I tried my best to make things special & maybe even magical for our girls.

I remember the first time Jill, Jordan & Justine saw Willie Wonka.  I bought each of them a giant chocolate bar and gave it to them and told them they couldn't open it until Charlie found the golden ticket.  They sat there anxiously awaiting the moment that Charlie found the golden ticket.  Their bars were beginning to melt because they held them so tightly.  With each bar that Charlie opened they would begin to tear theirs open only to be disappointed that he hadn't yet found the ticket.  Then when he did, their excitedly opened their bars.  They were so cute.

Then there was the first time we took them to Disney World.  I remember asking Jeff, if I can make enough money can we go to Disney World for New Years?  It was late September at the time.  He said sure, I mean seriously... I didn't have a real job, only my little craft business, so there really wasn't much chance I could do it.  I don't even think we even knew anyone personally who had ever been to Disney World, it seemed like such a far off dream.  But, I worked hard, planned and scrimped and on a shoestring budget of $1200, we took 6 people for 6 days to WDW and stayed in a Disney park!  I remember watching Justine at the tender age of 5 staring up at Minnie in the Light Parade, her eyes as big as saucers... "I love you Minnie", she said. Jill & Jordan watched wide-eyed as Beauty danced with the Beast and of course Jaley toddling along mostly afraid of every character, but the trip was precious & priceless & magical.

One year my brother, dressed as Saint Nick banged on their window and they screamed with excitement and that visit convinced them to believe for several more years.  There are lots of little memories including birthdays and picnics and many of the magical moments moments are the ones the girls created for us and each other. 

What started this whole magic post?  I found this little blog it has directions for making a magical fairy garden.

It reminded me of the time  Jordan made and painted a fairy door for Jaley.  She wanted to put it in her room.  It was so cute and magical and full of whimsy.   I think I am definitely going to have to make one for Violet.  I am excited to share fun times with her and then she can be my little partner when more grandbabies are added to the family.  My goal:  to be the world's best, funnest and most magical GiGi!  Sounds kinda selfish when I put it like that.... doesn't it?  It's all about making magic and whimsy and happiness for those same four little red head girls....and their children!  So really, not much has changed.

1226 miles and 3 days later!

Ok, once again we have survived a road trip.  I think I am really getting to old for this.  We

filled our cupboards and frig with food, told our children to not leave the house and then .... headed out on our road trip in the snow!

We spent the night in Bossier City.  Already totally wiped out after what should have been a 3 hour drive but turned into a 5 hour drive because of the weather.  Here we are the next morning getting ready to drive another 6.5 hours.

We ran into trouble in this snow because the freeways & overpasses were closed and we had to drive around Bossier City and make a big loop to get back on 49.  We saw a lot of crazy drivers and quite a few wrecks along the way. We had planned to be in New Orleans by lunch, but after way too many hours on the road we made a pit stop at Race Trac for hot dogs and finally made it to the New Orleans Hard Rock at about 3pm.  Here we are with the staff of HRC New Orleans.

Then we made our way on to Biloxi. Where we checked in to another hotel, changed our clothes and headed over to Hard Rock Hotel/Casino/Cafe' Biloxi for the concert.

Heart put on an awesome show and we were about 15 feet from Nancy & Ann!  Here is Nancy belting out Barracuda!

Then we headed over to the cafe' and had a later dinner.  We had a great time and I think Darrell has turned Jeff into a HR groupie like himself!  Here we are with the staff at HRC Biloxi.

 

When we got up Saturday morning in Biloxi, we were exhausted.  We couldn't believe we had to do that drive all over again.  I mean... seriously, what were we thinking?   We are definitely too old for this.  We drove back through New Orleans as Saturday was the first day of the Mardi Gras parades.  The town was a mad house.  We stopped and ate lunch at one of Jeff's favorite places, Frank's and had muffelatta sandwiches.  The walked around the square for a little bit.  We walked down Bourbon Street for about two blocks and decided we were just not part of that crowd, if you know what I mean.  We quickly detoured and headed toward Cafe du Monde for biegnets.

 As we began to head home from New Orleans at 4pm on Saturday we quickly realized that we did not want to make the long trek of 8 hours home that day.  We finally found a hotel in Alexandria and spent the night.  We we began making plans for this trip we had no idea that we would be hitting New Orleans during Mardi Gras and thus making every hotel from Biloxi to Baton Rouge booked up and even Shreveport/Bossier was full for Saturday night because of Valentine's Day.  We finally arrive home about 4pm on Sunday, exhausted but content.... and ready to plan our next adventure!  But next time.... if it's more than about 3 hours, we're flying!