Grand Ole Opry Date

David and I had a night away and decided to go to Nashville. It's just a nice little drive to get there and you feel like you've been away. We'd never been to the Opry, so that's where we decided to go. It was a treat.

The Grand Ole Opry is the longest running live radio broadcast ever. They have broadcast over 4,000 radio shows. It has 4 segments each hosted by someone different. The first segment was hosted by Bill Anderson. (These photos are of Jim Ed Brown and Dailey & Vincent) Dailey & Vincent were awesome. They were David's favorite.

The Grand Ole Opry house is located out by Opryland Hotel.

Since the flood in Nashville earlier this year, the Opry has been held at the old Ryman Theater. I had never been to the Ryman so that was a treat. The radio broadcast began on November 28,1925. It was called the WSM Barn Dance and in 1927 was renamed the Grand Ole Opry. The Opry went through a number of home in several parts of Nashville before settling, in 1943 at the Ryman Auditorium. The Ryman Auditorium was a former religious meeting house built in 1892 by a riverboat shipping magnate Captain Thomas Ryman for traveling evangelist, Reverend Samuel Jones.
We were greeted outside by Minnie Pearl and Porter Wagner. (great imposters!)I couldn't convince David to have his photo made with Minnie! Imagine that.

Jimmy C. Newman and Amber Digby.

Mark Wills...

There were many awesome fiddlers. Mike Snider among some of them. He also played "Be Thou My Vision" on the harmonica. It was beautiful. I love the old country music that incorporates gospel within it. Great.

Crystal Gayle...her hair swept the floor! She sang "Don't it make my brown eyes blue".

The Opry Square Dancers were really good.

Vince Gill is one of the regular hosts...

He was very entertaining. I was showing Cooper these pictures and he thought they were Donny A. There is some resemblence! Donny can ya sing like Vince?

I think you can see her hair better in this photo.

We will definantly be visiting the Grand Ole Opry again in the near future. Our children and grandchildren would enjoy it I believe.

Blessings

Memaw Barbie

Grandmothers

I have to say one of the greatest blessings I have experienced is being a grandmother. I can't begin to describe the feeling I get when one of my boys runs to me with open arms!! It is one of the best feelings in the world. I wish everyone could experience it. It's great to finally be popular!!!

I had one grandmother that I had a relationship with. My mom's mom. She was a tiny little wisp of a thing. She lived in Houston and we lived in Dallas, so it wasn't like we got to see her all the time, but when we did see her it was a real treat. Back in the 6o's when she would come to visit, she would come on the train. We would all load up in the station wagon and head for the train station. We couldn't wait to get home because she usually brought us each a gift. I don't remember what they were, but I do remember the excitement.

She raised 5 children pretty much on her own ( with the help of her mother ) and I'm sure she had a pretty difficult time when they were younger. I remember visiting her in Houston when we were pretty small. At one time she lived in a garage apartment. I think the outside was painted a blue sort of aqua color. I remember walking up the steps into her little apartment. It had a small den, bathroom, bedroom and I don't remember if it had a kitchen or not. We would make pallets on the floor to sleep, and love every minute of it. I remember she had a good friend named Leila. Granny would dig in her closets and drawers and find goodies for all of us. I remember a bar of soap that smelled like roses she gave me one time.

I love what my mother says about her mother in her autobiography....

"I think mom did pretty damn good for herself, considering her background and lack of opportunity. She had a lot of grit. I can't imagine having to raise five children by myself, or having to spend my entire life needy and with an uncertain future and, for the most part, alone. My greatest desire now is that she's with Jesus...at peace, loved beyond measure and in need of nothing...and that she knows how much I love her."

I didn't know my dad's mom as she died when he was a little boy. It is one of the reasons I hope we know one another when we die. I would like to know her. Her name was Emma Marie Randolph. One of my grandsons carries Randolph as his middle name. I love that.

One of my close friends gave me a sweet little book when I found out I was going to be a grandmother. I understand the little sayings in it now. Here are some of my favorites.

Grandmothers are the people who take delight in hearing babies breathing into the telephone.

Grandmothers are built to cuddle into, like a duvet.

Grandmothers eat anything you cook and say it is delicious-

even if it was a bit knobbly and sort of horribly greasy.

I think they have special stomachs.

Grandmas are good at sitting on the floor to play,

but they are terribly difficult to get upright again.

Grandmothers have bottomless handbags.

Gramdmas bring flowers when you pet dies. And sit and cry with you.

Grandmas are the best at keeping secrets.

Grandmothers come to call carrying shopping bags with Very Interesting Bulges

Grandmothers are about twenty inside...sometimes six.

Grandmas sing crooked but nice.

Grandmas are really truly interested in your dead frog.

Grandmas give you the cherry off the top.

A grandmother pretends you can give her a cup of tea down the telephone.

and my very favorite....

Gramdmas don't just say "that's nice"

-they reel back and roll their eyes

and throw up their hands and smile.

You get your money's worth out of grandmas.

Everyone needs a grandma

Blessings from this grandma

Memaw Barbie

I spent a wonderful weekend with some of my favorite people in the whole world. My mom, both of my sisters and my two best friends and their mom and sisters. We spent a short weekend at the lake. Julie gave each of us a book, "Hugs for Friends", and this inspirational message is taken from that book.

The wonderful, miraculous thing about friendship is, anyone can participate. Each of us has the power to partner with another and, in so doing, change the world one heart at a time. You, as a friend, have that power. Your companionship can bring peace and joy to another.

Companionship does require an investment. It takes time to build. You'll have to share your pain and loss, even reveal your weaknesses. but the rewards are worth it, because companionship means not only bearing one another's burdens but also sharing in victories, in healing, in joy. And in a world fueled by greed, selfishness, and hatred, friendship-companionship-may be the only way to make a difference.

The Crye girls The Peete girls

The Ray girls

Thank you dear friends for taking the time to make a difference. I love each and everyone of you.

Blessings

Memaw Barbie

Summertime Celebrations

One of the things I most enjoy in the summer is being outside. With family...friends...and children. My mom has a new toy. The Golf Cart! We LOVE the golf cart. We like it more than the go-cart. We enjoy swimming. This was Baby Abby's first time to play in Memaw's backyard. She loved it.

Nanny, Poppy and Whitney were here to celebrate Lorie's birthday.

Ben and his family were here, and Laura and her children came as well.

We caught lightning bugs.

Mike and Nicholas celebrated with us.

We ate popsicles from the ice cream truck. Thank you Uncle Ben.

Best friends forever.

Chase, Ashley and Ryder were here as well. Ashley and her children came also. I think the pictures I took of them are on Ashley's camera. I will post them when I get them.
Blessings Memaw Barbie

Another great family day...

We enjoyed a wonderful meal with Ben and his family on Sunday evening. They went to Texas for the Thanksgiving holiday, so we celebrated a few days early with them. It was wonderful. Mamas cooked her first Thanksgiving meal. Her dressing was really good. It was quite a feast.

Today after our meal Jason and his cousin Jamie had a little target practice out back. They also poured over the sales ads for tomorrow. I think they might get up and go shopping EARLY!!

David, Sandy and I worked on lunch then. We had a small meal, just the three of us. It was quite nice.

Laura, Jason and their boys, Dave, Sandy and I, and Jason's cousin and his wife (they just got married last Saturday!) had breakfast with us. We had sausage, country ham, bacon, little smokies, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, biscuits, strawberries (that Dave and I had froze this past spring) milk gravy, and tomato gravy. It was delicious. It was the first time I have had tomato gravy. I will be making it very soon. Misty (Jamie's wife) taught me how.

Dave loves to cook.

We had fresh oranges and banana bread too.

...then we played outside. It was really windy and very cool.

This is the spot where your house will be mom and daddy.

Blessings Memaw Barbie

Dallas for the weekend....

David and I had a very quick weekend at Mom and Daddy's. We got there Friday evening and came home on Tuesday. It is never enough time. How much is enough when you are with the ones you love and the ones who love you? I am thankful for any time, but do want more.

We were all together (5 of us) but neglected to get a picture of all of us. I don't think we were ever at mommas at the same time. We missed Laura in this photo.
always a pleasure to be with Nicki. She lives in Chicago.

Nicki is the baby of the family, although there are only 8 years from the youngest to the oldest. That's really close!!

Daddy was up alot this time....he watched tv, sat outside some, read his Bible. What a great memory.

Mom and Daddy. Can't wait to get back. Hopefully in 4 weeks if not sooner. Blessings Memaw Barbie