The first of October we went to see Micah's in their quaint duplex apartment.   It was a fun weekend!  Thanks, Micahs!!

Papa relaxed on the love seat at Micah's house.  Notice the floor lamp.  Micah said Kimberly was having fun painting things red.  :)  She must be a child of her mother.   Notice the horse shoe cup holder in front of the floor lamp.  Those cup stands are so nifty!

Micah surprised Kimberly with a sweater for her 25th birthday that she had been wishing for.  :)  It was really cute and had a hood down the back.  We were ready to leave for church and afterward we at lunch at Micah's parents place and then left for home.

I took the Amtrak to Maryland to visit Charlies and Doug's and had a great time!

I spent my time sewing.  In this photo I'm working on a trial dress for Esther, mother of the bride.  In the background hangs a partially finished dress for Cretora who was a bridesmaid at Robert & Becky's wedding.  All the bridesmaids were in white with colored shawls.  I had never seen that before but it was pretty.

I spent a couple evenings / meals at Doug's house.   Rahab gets a bedtime story by Papa.

while Israel gets dressed by Mommy.

After toys are picked up, the children get their evening milk cups.  Doug finishes a story book before having family devotions.  The children enjoy the singing too, making motions and clapping their hands.  All too soon it is time for bed.  Israel and Rahab talk to each other in the bedroom while "trying" to go to sleep.  It was kind of funny, at least to Grandma.  HA.

Charlie's children love to comb my hair when it is down. So do Elroy's children, for that matter.

Rahab had her 1st birthday while we were there.  Ernie, Elroy & Veronica came that in time for this party!  I was very happy to see my beloved!

Dinah cooked supper for ALL of us!   Rahab watches from her high chair.  (I love the antique chair. )  As well as the dolly sitting in the chair.  HA.

Time for cake!  Rahab looks at the burning candle.  Notice the couple standing by the stove.  That is William and Esther Smith who are Israel and Rahab's Maryland grandparents.   I think it's wonderful when other people can fill important roles in the life of a child.

Papa Doug encourages Rahab to "blow it out".

Camera time... Rahab enjoys her cake!

Time to open gifts!  Rahab gets scooted to Mommy's lap while Israel sits close by Papa's feet so he doesn't miss out on the action.  All the children got a balloon from Rahab's chair.  Cali is pulling hers off the ceiling.

Two of our sons.   It doesn't seem that long ago that we were snapping pictures of their 1st birthdays.  I know, people say that all the time.  I use to get tired of hearing older people say such trite things.  But it's true.  Life just goes POOF-BANG and it's over.  How did my baby boys get so big so fast?  Elroy is 27 and has 5 children.  Doug is 29 with 2 children and 1 coming in March.

A little blurry but this is Elroy bouncing his 5th child on his knee. 

Her mommy rocks her to sleep with her special bear.

All children love babies.  Cali got Marissa to go to sleep.  This is our oldest and youngest grandchildren.  Cali is 8 and Marissa is 5 months.  There are 10 other grands inbetween these two.   And one on the way.

Precious in His sight... both the babe and the girl.

Sunday morning.  I loved this tree in Charlie's front yard so Cali took a picture of us.

After the wedding, Cretora had a house full of Hilty's for Sunday dinner.

Douglas helps Israel with his food.

Charlie's "B" boys  (Bryce and Braden) enjoy the food.   The flower basket was what Cali carried at the wedding... real roses!   It was so pretty.

A long row of pies wait on the bar.  Plus leftover wedding cheese cake.  That's pumpkin, apple and peanut butter pies.  Actually thanks to Ben & Cindy, the peanut butter was left over from the rehearsal dinner.

Grandpa & Grandma Hilty left soon after Sunday dinner.

The day was absolutely gorgeous.  I couldn't resist taking some photos of the grands.  Cali gave up her bedroom for me while I was there. 

Charles is 7.  He is going to be tall like his dad.  He has extremely strong hands and gave me the best shoulder rubs.  I told him he'd make a good chiropractor some day.

Bryce is 5.   What would we do without him?  We had alot of fun going to Burger King together... he and Braden.   We had kids meals, sat in the Burger King car to eat, and then they played on the playground.  Every so often the "B" boys would pop out of the tower or slide to "check on Grandma", just making sure she was still sitting in the same spot, you know.

Braden is 3.  He's the lawyer of the family.   At least that's my name for him because he always has this wise little look on his face.  When we went to Burger King, I was unsure which way to turn at the intersesction to get to Walmart.  He told me to "go that way" and "it's not far away".  Sure enough, I made a right and immediately a left while Braden in the back seat says to me, "See I told you it's not far away".  

Jamon just turned 1 in September.   He is like all one year olds and wouldn't stand still for his picture.  Charles got the idea to sit him in the truck and he stayed there long enough that I got several shots.   Good thinking, Charles!  Cali and Charles were my picture helpers, making sure Jamon smiled.

Israel and Rahab were already down for the Sunday naps when I took the other grands pics above.  This one was taken in Doug's living room.  I told him to say Hi to me.   He obliged.  btw ~ He loves hats.  :)  He turned 2 in August.

I enjoyed Charlie's beautiful yard. 

 It's about like living in a park.  Here Charlie's lawn crew blows leaves and clips the grass.

On the way home from MD, we enjoyed brilliant colors like this, all along the route home.  It was gorgeous!  Both ER and I enjoyed the drive very much.  Thanks Charlies and Dougs for your wonderful hospitality.   We love coming to your places.  It's kind of cool... they live in a duplex so when we go visit, we can visit both through the day.   Coffee at Charlie's in the morning, pancake breakfast at Dinah's a few minutes later, then back up to Charlies to get ready for church, Sunday dinner at Charlies....  Thanks Doug & Dinah for the use of your vehicle.   And to Charlies and Dougs both, it was great, like always!

The car keys have been found ~!!!  THANK YOU LORD.  They were actually right where I put them, in my Sunday purse that I took to the wedding.  I thought I had put them in my dress pocket.  I found them today when I took my purse along to the hospital.

We brought Dad home from the Tuscaloosa hospital today.  He had back surgery on Monday which ended up being a bit more than the Dr. first thought it would be.   They discovered two broken bones in his spine so the Dr. did bone grafting from his hip to fill in the gaps.  They removed a spur, put a wedge in between two vetebra, put in 2 rods on either side of the spine and four long screws on each rod.  It wasn't minor surgery!

Glenn & Maggie drove and we rode with them  on the way over, then Ernie drove the folks car coming home.  Glenn made a nice platform stool so Dad could get up in the van easier.   How very thoughtful!  Dad felt every bump in the road and was very glad to be home.   He couldn't wait to get into the hospital bed waiting for him in their dining room.  Dad was hungry and longed for some of Mom's tomato soup and crackers.  He wanted us and Glenn's to stay with them for supper.  Mom made cheese sandwiches to go with it.  Dad wanted to come to the table to eat but he couldn't sit there very long so Glenn and Ernie helped him back to bed as soon as he'd had a small bowl of soup.  Ernie will stay with them tonight just to help out if needed.  It's nice to be close at a time like this.

For you local people, Dad will enjoy company.  Go visit if you can.  The rest of you can call or write.  If you don't know the address you can message me.   Let's help his recovery go faster!

I am so disappointed.  I have lost my car keys.   For starters, my set had the remote lock/unlock on it.  Secondly I was using a leather keychain that my father had given to me 36 years ago... it had my name engraved in the leather.   If anyone sees a set of keys like that please snatch it up and save it for me.  I think I lost it at the church where Robert & Becky got married.  Could someone from Maryland please call that church and ask if a set of keys turned up?  In the meantime, I will pray for the return.

I have prayers answered.  Anytime I lose something I pray about it first and alot of times I have it returned.   Perhaps God will return my keys.  It's HIS choice though.  He has returned other things to me.  Example:

In June 2000, we flew to Alberqueque, NM and stayed in a hotel where upon leaving I left a brand new bottle of expensive Sunrider facial cream on the sink counter.  I clearly remember thinking I need to get it or I would forget.  I remembered that I forgot, about an hour after we had left.   I prayed for the return of that bottle because is was $$ and it was full.  I had used it twice.   TWO WEEKS LATER in Wisconsin ~ I was having a chat in our bedroom with one of our children when I needed to leave the room. I exited my chair and went to do whatever; when I returned that very same bottle was lying on the seat of the chair I had just been sitting on.  The room had an electric feel to it as if a Heavenly Being had just been there.  The reason I know it was the same bottle left in Alberqueque was because I had wrote my name on the bottle a certain way in black magic marker.

I once had a special green pillow case fall out of the van at a convenience store in the state of West Virginia and after praying about it, it was returned 8 MONTHS LATER to Wisconsin washed, ironed and folded lying in the linen closet.  I had just been organizing the linens and it was not there, turned around and presto there is was staring at me, neat as could be.  Thank you God!

I lost an old watch that I enjoyed wearing in January of 2003 when I laid it on the hospital bed as I was dressing to go home and then forgot to put the watch on.  I figured the watch was gathered up with the bed linens and run through the hospital washers and I'd never see it again.  I prayed and God returned that watch 4 MONTHS LATER.  It was laying on top of newly folded socks in my daughter's dresser drawer, as if someone had purposely put it where it would be seen. 

The very first time I ever had something returned by God was when I lost the business checkbook after we moved to Wisconsin in December 1992.   I was weary from moving and disconcerted about this loss.   ONE WEEK LATER, I went to the grocery store and as I was checking out, I had my hand in the air above my purse, ready to reach in and pull out the personal checkbook, when I felt something BUMP the palm of my hand.  I looked and behold the business checkbook was hanging suspended in mid-air against my palm above it.  I was in shock.   The clerk asked me what was wrong and I stammered "nothing" as I closed my hand around the checkbook. Nothing but a God-moment!! 

I also lost my wedding dress in April 2004.  Our youngest daughter wanted to show someone my wedding dress so I dug it out of the closet and said that they could have fun trying it on.... just put it back when they were done.  They said they did, however it wasn't in my closet.  I never saw it again until it was returned 5 YEARS LATER in May 2009.  I figured this was gone long enough that I would never get it back but one day I found it in a very strange place, folded up without the usual padded hanger that I always kept it on.  

Do our earthly treasures mean anything to God?   Why would He care about our losses?  Does God bring things back just to increase our faith or also because He loves to give us good things?   What have you prayed about and God returned to you?   Share your stories!  I'd love to read them. 

And IF and WHEN God returns my leather keychain and car keys, I will let you know.  

 Continuing the tour of Brooksville, Mississippi

The old water tower is still in town.

A new water tower stands guard.

The Medical Clinic is very small but at least there not two entrances any more.  When we were married in 1976 I came to this clinic and went into the black entrance and sat down with the blacks.  I had no clue I was not suppose to do that.  In fact, I didn't even know that there were two entrances.  The receptionist told me I was in the wrong waiting room.  I said "what?"  She repeated her statement and then said, "never mind, come on back".   Being from the north, I was appalled.  It didn't make a hoot of sense to me that the waiting room was divided with separate outside doors but once the person went back to be seen, they saw the same Dr. the other side saw.

This is the pharmacy located at the other end of the clinic.

Directly across from the clinic and pharmacy is the only grocery store.   They are hometown friendly and you always get your groceries carried to your car, even if you are parked smack in front of the door.  I call this sheer luxury!

Again, I did not count churches but some day I would like to, especially considering the fact that Ernie is currently bidding on another church project for Brooksville.  This pastor said he has so many people coming to him and they have no meeting place.  I'm thinking "how can that be, with all the churches this little town has?"

This is the gorgeous church that was spoken about in the comments left on the last post. 

The Brooksville ball park.

Park sign announces the rules.

The nicest gas station in town.

The car wash usually has alot of activity.

Another church!  This one is operating in an abandoned store front.

Store front that is closed.

Fred's has a nice sign and some interesting items in the windows.  The store is closed but I did wonder who owns it as I would love to go inside and browse.  :)

Across street Bill's Dollar Store is closing.  I haven't been in there yet so maybe I should go to see if there are any discounted items.

Another church. And now, as promised, here are some pictures of the elite houses in Brooksville.

The day was gloomy so that's why the picture looks dreary.  The lovely house was sitting on a gravel street with a pot hole so large I couldn't go around it and was so deep that when I went through it,  the water sloshed and the bottom of the car scraped in the mud.

This is a pretty house on the main street.  Ernie and I were through this house when we were looking at buying.   It really needed alot of renovations inside and had some weird rooms in it.  This was an attorney's house and his office had a back entrance, with high ceilings and lots of bookshelves clear to the top.  I kind of liked that room.

 Another house on the main street.

Several houses have brick sidewalks.  Brick is my favorite!

I love the front porch of this house!  And of course... the brick sidewalk.

Same house as above.  Look at the huge tree limb.  This would be perfect for hanging a tree swing.

This was a pretty yard even though the tree appeared to be falling over.

This was neighbor to the previous house.  This tree seemed crooked to me too.   I notice crooked things and have this inner urge to straighten up the world.  sigh. :(  Lovely yard though, don't ya think?

This is a low slung house that looks dreary and gloomy to me.  I would not want to live here.

This looks like government housing to me.  A bunch are grouped together in a cul-de-sac.

A prettier house on the main street of town.

This house is directly across from Tem's Grocery.  We looked at buying this house too.  It was large, roomy and I liked it alot.  It also has a large beautiful yard to the left side and around the back!

This house sits smack beside Tem's and across the road from the one above. 

This house boasts a jacuzzi on the front porch.  It sits right beside the house above.

Around the corner is probably my favorite house in the whole town, another brick sidewalk!

Another view of my favorite house.  :)

And across the road from the above house is this one.  We were invited to dinner one Sunday in this house and ate off of the most gorgeous china dishes.  Each place setting was different and I enjoyed the lunch AND the dishes very much.   I also liked the inside of this house.... very homey and had that southern charm to it.  Oh, yes, I enjoyed the people in this house too.  :)

The people that live in this house are good ol' friendly folks too.

I was wondering the roads taking pictures when suddenly I came upon...

A large silver trailer sitting along the road that looked familiar.  I thought "that looks like our work trailer" and sure enough two of our guys were on a job at this house.  They got called off one job to come over and look at this repair job.

Directly across the street was this lovely "pasture" or "orchard".  It looked like a child's paradise to me.  I could imagine all kinds of outdoor games to be played among the trees.

Sad sidewalks

The tennis court has a huge tree down across the fence of the court.  It looked like it had been laying there a long time.  Obviously no one plays tennis.

The wood teeter totters were sitting silent as well.  I noticed they didn't have handles.

Some of the town appears rural.  Here is a barn smack in the "elite" section of town.

The Dr's house was the largest house I found in town.

The south side of town has bright colored houses.  I thought the pink flowers matched the house. 

These people loved blue.

This package store sat right beside the railroad tracks. I saw one man walking tipsy down the road with a brown sack in his hands.  Probably more of the tipsy stuff inside, I would guess.

Is this what is called a Salt Box house?   I think so, but I'm not sure.  I think it has a certain charm to it, but definitely needs some landscaping. 

I love the tall pines.

The water treatment area.

And the AT & T phone building.  It looks like they are in an old church house.

City gravel and sand pit

The all-new Dollare General store located across the road from the sand pit.   When I went to check out the black lady said, "Didn't I see you at Walmart?" meaning in the town of Columbus about 25 miles north.  I said, "I don't know... do you work there?"   I'm thinking maybe she has two jobs.  "No", she said, "but I helped you put your soda bottles on the counter."  Then I remembered some lady had helped me the day I took back wedding items that we didn' t use.    She seemed pleased with herself that she got the right lady in mind.  She was a beautiful lady... I often will remember exceptionally beautiful black women, but I didn't recall her face. 

Apartments in town

The Church of God in Christ Mennonite Church on the edge of Brooksville.   (Holdermans)

And this is Philip Knepps' gazebo business located close to the Holderman church.

Brooksville is really making progress... they have their very own rehabilitation center.  Brand new since we're here.  Looks like somebody was already trashing their parking lot. 

House on the main street of town.

My brother use to own this house.  He remodeled and fixed it up real nice.  It looks trashed now compared to how it looked when he lived here many years ago.

Country living right in town.

A small place that someone calls home.

I took this one for the trucks.  I like old trucks.

This house sits beside the tracks.  Notice rails to the right in photo.

Notice the large Magnolia tree to the left.

Another small spot for someone to lay their head at night.

This building is on the end of the same block as the City Hall.

Red brick building sits next to City Hall.

Several houses are ranch homes.

Alot of places in Brooksville have large yards.  Just as if they were in the country.

And last of all, here is the place that has "put Brooksville on the map".   This is a hot spot 6 days a week.  People come from all over to visit this bakery.

When you come to Brooksville, be sure to stop here.  Rocking chairs on the front porch are indicative of southern hospitality...  If you want some country life, be sure to come visit us at.....

4050 Baldwyn Road.  Here Grandpa milks while Son and Grandson look on.  Our farm sits between Brooksville and Macon so sometime I'll take you on a tour of Macon.    That's all for today folks.

Oh, btw  ~ I was informed that the rusty Wright Dairy sign in the previous post that I said was no longer in business, is still in business. operating out of someone's garage.  Little did I know.   

This post is for a few special people in my life in North Dakota, Oregon, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Missouri, Minnesota and last but not least, Mississippi.  They all know who they are!!   smile.  :)

Brooksville, Mississippi, here we come!

This house needs some TCL ~ who wants a remodel job?  House is located one block from downtown Brooksville.

Old gravestone is broken and sagging to the ground.  This is located at the far end of the Brooksville cemetary.

Flowers still adorn the old graves.

Part of the cemetary sits on higher ground and is well kept.

There are many churches in the little town of Brooksville!  I should have counted them but I didn't.  It's a lot though.  You can tell you are in the Bible Belt of the south.

This is the road in front of the pretty white church.

This is the school that Ernie went to when his family first moved to Mississippi in the 1960's. 

It sits prominently facing the main highway 45.  Broken windows and shaggy grass surround the building.

This is the Brooksville "mall".  The two stores on the left are no longer in business.

Brooksville City Hall - notice the jail prisoners lounging on the corner.  They are probably resting from day duty.

Cattle in a field about two blocks from the City Hall.

Water hydrant and sagging sidewalk have been carefully mowed around.

This water hydrant sits along the walking track in Brooksville.  Many water hydrants are falling over in this town.

Rusty too.

This house faces the walking track, one block away from City Hall. 

Abandoned store fronts are concealed with paper.

Some closed store fronts still have a few dusty items in the windows.

Parkers went out of business just since we moved.  I was sad about that.

The Parker's CLOSED sign dangles every day in the window.

This accounting business is the only store open on this street. 

Two men from the local jail load up the garbage truck behind the grocery store. 

This little convenience store is operating.

And you can still get gas here.

The up and coming B & B Mart sits close to Highway 45.  You can buy good pizza here - made while you wait.

This is the entrance to the Industrial Park.  You can't read it but the sign declares it to be so.  Another signs warns you to Keep Out.

The City Dump also warns you to Keep Out.

 This house sits directly across the road from the public school.

This house is a neighbor to the one previous.

This is the playground for the elementary school.  It is encircled with woven fence and topped with three strands of barbed wire. 

Some houses have been carefully painted.  Parts of the south love bright colors. 

As I said, there are many churches in Brooksville.

People are very friendly.  This group of people were doing what residents do best in Brooksville, relaxing and enjoying the bright sunny day.  The gentleman on the right wanted to know if I got paid for my pictures and I assured him I did not.  They all replied with an enthusiastic YES when I asked if I could take their picture. 

After I snapped this photo, the lady in the white blouse to the left waved at me and said "take another one and be sure to get the big tree on".  There was a huge tree in the yard so I took another one with the tree but it turned out blurry. They all smiled and waved as I drove off.

A very old sign swings rusty in the wind.  The business has been long gone, years and years ago.

This store on the main corner of town has sat empty for years as well.

People rest in the shade.  No one gets in a hurry.

A school bus waits beside the driver's house.

Residental house

Perhaps a city building but I couldn't find a sign.

J & K Restaurant sits on the main corner of town.  It's closed.

The bank in Brooksville, across the street from the has-been restaurant.

Another beautiful church on the same street corner.

This is across the road from the church above.  You can see how Brooksville has it's beauty and it's dumps.

I wonder if this was the Brooksville Motel turned into apartments?  Or maybe it was apartments in the beginning?  It looks like only two of them are occupied.

These fellows were happy to have their picture taken. They work for the city and were resting by the fence when I came by.

Tree trimming.

Road crews work in the heart of Brooksville's residential section.  The three men pictured above were watching the guys in the buckets, resting against the fence to the right.

Little store sits in the residential section.

Almost every house has chairs clustered in the yard.  Everyone enjoys "just sittin".

More chairs wait under the tree for occupants.

These fellows wanted to know if I was a Mennonite.  They smiled big smiles and said "shore nuff" when I asked to take their picture.  The blue striped shirt fellow smiled and nodded his "go 'head" when I asked to take their photo but he quick went back to working on his car.  The other fellows under the tree were laughing at him.

This young man asked that I take his picture beside his car.  He was with the fellows under the tree (above) but he said, "I want mine taken over here" and he proceeded to take his rag and diligently work at shining up his car.  Then he waved at me and flashed a pleased white smile.

in the heart of the residential section

This photo is right in the middle the residential section.  These folks are probably fortunate to own a little extra land.

Brooksville declares that Jesus is Lord on an operating store front.

A dilapilated park bench sits by the edge of the road inviting you to "sit a spell". 

Someone asked if there is a zoo in Brooksville or a Coffee Shop or can a person go window shopping?   We just did.    Maybe I can post some photos of the elite houses of Brooksville next time.  Remind me later.