5 States in 14 Days

After a long trip around the southeastern US, Kathryn is finally back home - well, for a few days, anyway. My parents and I first headed up to Asheville, NC to visit my grandparents. Although they live in Mississippi, they spend their summers in Asheville, and I hadn't had a chance to see much of them since Gary and I came to Greenwood. It was great few days. We had great weather, great food, and a great chance to catch up. Grandmom, Mom and I got to spend our last afternoon there visiting the Biltmore Estate. It was my first time to go there and I was very impressed!

We left Asheville to spend a few days with my Aunt Pat, Uncle Jim and cousin Claire at the Reserve on Lake Keowee. Susanne also joined us there for the last day. Again, great weather, great food, and great company. A couple of highlights of the trip were a day out on the lake and croquet and ping-pong tournaments at night. Claire and I also learned alot about the area by getting lost a few times. :-) We decided that we were doing everyone else a favor by figuring out the shortest routes to and from town. However, I'm not sure if anyone else saw it from our viewpoint.

While in the Carolinas, we made several trips to Camp Greystone to visit Susanne. The area was as beautiful as ever and it was good to go for a visit and see a few old friends. Susanne was in the Synchronized Swimming Water Show and was the Lieutenant of her team for the summer, so we got to see her in action. She had a great time and I know that she is sad that her summer break has almost come to an end.

From Lake Keowee, we left to go to St. Simons. Most of my dad's siblings were there with their families, and it is always great to spend time with them. As my generation of cousins has gotten older, it is becoming more and more difficult to get us all in the same place at the same time, so we really appreciate the time that we do have together. The weather was perfect, and there wasn't much downtime between the golf, tennis, and swimming. I did, however, have time to squeeze in a couple of books as well.

Finally, I left for Atlanta to celebrate my brother-in-law Jimmy's birthday. Nearly the entire Dyksterhouse clan was there - we were only missing my better half. For many of us, this was our first chance to meet Andy and Kelly's foster child, Hannah. She is adorable and a great addition to our family. Hannah makes the fifth grandchild, which certainly adds to the excitement around the house. Most of our time was spent at the pool, but there was also the birthday party (of course!) and games of ping-pong, shuffleboard, and touch football in the backyard. Although Jacob (aka "Big House") was a tough contender, the girls won by one touchdown with 3-year old Ainsley running in our final goal.

While I was busy playing, Gary was at home working in the 100 + temperatures. They are in the process of cutting their corn which has required many long and hot days. He is quickly becoming acquainted with the unmerciful heat of the Mississippi Delta. He is enjoying his time, but also looking forward to the end of the harvest season.

Please be in prayer for us as we are in the process of packing and moving our things in Atlanta and preparing the house in Greenwood. We are excited about finally getting settled into our new home, but are not particularly looking forward to the moving process. Pray that packing is as painless as possible and that things go smoothly at each of our closings. Hopefully by my next post, we will be able to say that we are official Mississippians!