More Arkansas Christmas

 My Aunt Joyce and Uncle Bob's Christmas tree. It was a warm Christmas.

Their festive fireplace.

 

Aunt Joyce with her great granddaughter Dallas

 

Santa left us a baby with batteries included!

I didn't take a lot of photos while in Arkansas but here's a recap of what we did and who we saw.

We took a quick car ride to Memphis because my aunt and uncle do their shopping on Christmas Eve. I say short because the store was closed by the time we got there. But, the store was near Graceland so I got to see the huge manager scene on the lawn of Graceland.

I cooked a Christmas Eve dinner of prime rib, scalloped potatoes, and some really sweet corn on the cob. I just love Arkansas produce and I live in Florida! After dinner we discovered we were almost out of milk so at 7:45 we were searching stores in West Memphis trying to find something open where we could buy milk. Finally ended up finding a Walgreens and it was so busy that people were triple parked! They were leaving the store with carts full of product - I guess shopping at the last minute is a West Memphis area kind of thing.

The next morning I made breakfast of two quiches and a fruit salad. Mom slept late and we were all kinda lazy drinking coffee and watching Christmas movies so it was almost noon before we opened presents.

Midafternoon my cousins Vickie (aunt Joyce and uncle Bob's daughter) came over with her son, daughter in law, and granddaughter. They had prepared much of Christmas dinner at their house but finished cooking at my Aunt's. She smoked a fresh ham and it was delicious. After dinner there was napping and visiting.

Pretty low key and non stressful.

The day after Christmas Jerry, me, and my aunt and uncle took a drive to Lawrence County to the family cemetery so I could visit my dad and my Manning family. My mom got terrible news that a longtime family friend has a terminal illness so it was a somber drive home.

West Memphis, Arkansas

On our trip back from Arkansas we spent an afternoon and evening with my Aunt Joyce and Uncle Bob. We went to a local horse show with them and we took a drive to the levy where Aunt Joyce keeps her cows and donkey and my Cousin Vickie keeps her horses.


Aunt Joyce and Jerry at the concession stand. Uncle Bob & Vickie's son Justin were doing the cooking (hot dogs and hamburgers).

According to some horse-y friends, this kind of sign is typical at horse events.

Horse Winnebagos.

An event. I was too busy watching to take photos. I liked the barrell races.

Uncle Bob leaning on Justin's truck.

My cousin Vickie, her husband Jimmie, and son Justin had spent the whole day driving to Alabama, picking up this mare and foal, and then driving back with them. After that 9 hour trip they went to the horse show to help. Very active family.

This horse has a bit on his nose from my Aunt's new donkey. Humm....I wonder if she still has that donkey because it was not love at first sight ;)

Introducing Mohawk Donkey! lol Apparently he is mean to the cows and the horses so now he's sequestered.

Driving on the levy.

Aunt Joyce's herd. She has a bunch of cows and a couple bulls which means she has calfs each year ;)

Blondie? We met lots of horses but most of the photos weren't good. I need a new camera.

I love this photo Joyce & Bob's family room - where else would you see a computer on a roll top desk, next to a western sadle, next to a drum set?

Thank you Aunt Joyce and Uncle Bob for a nice visit. Love you!

Arkansas, Part 4

This will be the last installment of the photos I took while in Arkansas earlier this month. These are all from West Memphis where my aunt & uncle own a feed store.

Here's a shot of their store front. They have animal products, some tack, and western wear but the main business is feed.

Here's a shot inside the store. At one time they had several horses and I remember riding them as a youngster. I was kinda scared of them but I did it anyway. Nothing agaisnt horses but I prefer dogs :)

Another inside the store photo with Kunkle Bob on the left, mom in center, and Aunt Joyce on right sitting on stacks of dog food.

You can get a hat in any color you want as long as you want black or white. LOL I think these are for people who show horses. Funny, I was browsing around and saw horse treats. Now I buy dog treats but had no idea they had horse treats.

Stacks of feed in the back room. They had all kinds of stuff including food for koi fish.

I wasn't even sure what some of this was. I guess I am a city girl. Nah, more like a small town girl that has traveled tot he big city a time or two. LOL

Joyce & Bob's daughter Vickie Lynn. Guess who she was named after ;) She is a dog groomer and, like me, has gone back to college as an adult. I wish her all the luck in the world because I know how difficult it is. I would explain why there is a star coming out of her head but sher might kill me if I posted that her Christmas tree was still up. Oops! Did I say that outloud?!?!?!? LOL Seriously though, that made me feel good because I tend to leave mine up what other people would call too long.

Uncle Bob's big rig. He drives this to go pick up feed from the mills. Vickie Lynn's son Justin has helped his grandpa do a lot of customizing inside the truck. It has two beds in there and lots of chrome. When I was up there the truck was running and making lots of noise doing so and it scared me. Felt like that truck wa going to lunge and go at anytime so I made my tour quick!

Handsome young man and good kid. Likes spending time with his grandpa and grandma.

Arkansas, Part 3

Crossing the Mississippi at Memphis. Couldn't take my eyes off the road to snap a photo of the muddy water.

Bypass near Hardy Arkansas. The town road is so narrow that large trucks were knocking the side mirrors off cars so they blasted through the moutains to make this road to bypass the little town. The town is a shopping Mecca - full of antiques and quaint stores.

The school where my mom and her siblings went to school in Paul's Switch near Bono Arkansas. I couldn't get close enough to get a photo where you can read the name etched in the arch above the door opening - it was just too muddy. My Aunt Joyce said there are three different rooms in the school. (Paul's Switch is not to be confused with Ponder Switch which the area where my Dad grew up. LOL)

This used to be Knight's grocery store at the end of the road where my mom's family lived in Paul's Switch. My dad's parent's owned a similar store up the road a piece near Ponder Switch.

I saw this bumper sticker more than once. There were many more photo opportunities that I missed that would have spoken to the local culture.

Cool old house in Imboden that my mom and I want to restore after we win the lottery, LOL.

I couldn't believe how many abandoned, run down houses I saw on my trip. This one was in Mountain Home. I just want to go in there with a crew from HGTV and fix em up!

Love old barnes. I used to see more near the road but on this trip I would have had to get out in the mud and snow to get photos and I just didn't have the right footware for that.

Old water wheel somewhere in the Ozarks. One of the few photo ops with a safe place to pull over. Remember, these are mountain roads curving up and down through the hills all the while snowing. Wasn't willing to pull over in an unsafe spot for a good photo.

How Time Flies

Back when I looked like this:

I was crazy about my Aunt Joyce and Kunkle Bob (mom's sister & hubby):

I hear tell that when I was really little he came over to take her on their very first date and he sat on the couch beside her and I slapped his leg away from her and scooted in between them.
Apparently after they left for their date I cried and cried so my mom and dad drove me around in the car to get me to fall asleep. After that night, I went on all Aunt Joyce's and Kunkle Bob's dates with them :)

How time flies! A few months ago they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. And, they have a daughter named Vickie! We spent the night with them last night and I scanned the three photos in this post. Aunt Joyce was nice enough to help me by doing the fingernail-breaking job of getting photos out of frames they have been in for forty years! LOL

We are going to be heading back to Florida today from Memphis. First we will stop at Aunt Joyce's busines in West Memphis to say our goodbyes (they left for work and cattle feeding already) and then we will return out fancy rental car (Mercedes C300, more about that later) before settling in at the airport and eating a Memphis BBQ lunch.

Although this was a short trip, and I have lots to report, it feels longer and longer everytime I leave home now. Can't wait to see Jerry and my doggies. Also can't wait to get into some warmer weather. It's been in the twenties and I don't even own a winter coat anymore :)