First Basketball Game

For years, Grandpa Edds has looked forward to taking his grandsons to basketball games. Last season he took Cousin Levi and both had a great time. He has been talking about taking the twins to a game this season, and when the opportunity presented itself this afternoon, we decided to give it a try. Pa has been a Kentucky Wesleyan College basketball season ticket holder for many years and he currently has floor seats on the second row. Knowing the twins had missed their afternoon nap we were prepared to leave if a meltdown occurred. Instead, they drank in the activity and atmosphere of college basketball. They watched the players’ movements intensely and mimicked the crowd’s cheers, clapping and three-point signs. Without a single incident, both boys watched the entire game, danced to the pep band’s music and charmed the cheerleaders. Grandpa’s friends came by with compliments for the well-behaved twins that swelled his chest with pride.

Look whose coming to breakfast

Trey Davey and Benji’s confused expressions are well placed. Ever since the Ice Storm hit 11 days ago, their regular routine has been completely disrupted. After being gone a week they thought that perhaps things would settle down to normal when we returned home, but not yet. Grandma and Grandpa Edds still do not have power at their house and are staying with us. This sleep-over is exceptionally fun for boys and Grands alike and a great opportunity for closer bonding, which has apparently happened with Grandma Ondra. Never an early riser by choice, Grandma made the exceptional effort to get up early so she could feed the boys their cereal and bananas for breakfast. Both generations enjoyed the breakfast surprise.

Birthday Benchmark Photo – 14 months

Fourteen months old is nothing to a man that’s 551 months old, like Daddy Dave, but these boys have accumulated an impressive number of adventures in their brief lifetime. Already they’ve lived through an earthquake, tornado, hurricane and ice storm, and they’ll likely soon see major flooding in our part of the country. They’ve been to nine states; Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, and Tennessee, and they’ve stayed in ten different hotels in seven different states missing only Illinois and Kansas. Benji and Trey Davey love these adventures and look for every opportunity to explore new places and make new friends.

Home Sweet Home

At 9:00 am our next door neighbor Wes Roberts called to say the lights were on in our house. Sandy worked that morning while I packed the minivan. After lunch we headed north for home. We were so fortunate to find the house no worse off than when we left except for the food that had spoiled in the refrigerator. Trey Davey and Benji were delighted to be home and squealed with glee when they saw their play room and toys. And even better, Grandma and Grandpa Edds came over after dinner to spend the night since their house still didn’t yet have power restored.

Tennessee Cousins

Waiting in a distant hotel room for the utility company to repair your home’s power after a natural disaster can be really boring, if you let it. Instead, the boys and I adopted the motto “Carpe Diem” (seize the day). Since we were near the boy’s great grandmother Edds’ birthplace, we decided to continue the search for her father’s grave. We called Granddaddy’s cousin, Bessie Marie Horrell in Murfreesboro. She is almost 90 years old but still of good mind and body. She directed us to Milton, Tennessee where her parents were buried. The boys and I drove to the far edge of Rutherford County and found the tiny community and its cemetery. We found Great, Great Aunt Vera and Uncle Jim Allen along with a few other distant cousins. It’s possible that Great Grandmother may have lived near Milton, and her father may be buried near by. We’ll keep looking.

UK Game on Groundhog Day

With high-speed internet service, Sandy has the ability to work from anywhere, so she returned to work on Monday. Daddy and the boys had breakfast in the hotel lobby and watched Punxsutawney Phil predict six more weeks of winter. We hoped we could go home before then. While Mommy worked, Daddy took the boys for a minivan ride. We returned to the Murphysboro Evergreen Cemetery that we had visited a month earlier with a list of Tennessee ancestors. The office attendant confirmed that, unfortunately, no one from my list rested there. That evening we went to the Bell’s house to watch the University of Kentucky basketball game. Lisa and Al laid out lots of fun toys on a soft sleeping bag for the boys. Davey particularly enjoyed a rocking horse that had been Al’s and quickly figured out how to make it rock by shifting his weight.

Our Little Super Bowl Party

Our boys are very charming and make friends easily. Several of the Hampton Inn staff members adopted us and went out of their way to make our stay better. By our third day they had observed that the boys were restless from their confinement. Our friend Valorie offered us use of their conference room to play and watch the Super Bowl. This was a great idea. She moved all the chairs and tables aside to create a big wide open floor. We brought down all the boys’ toys, and they attempted to spread them over every square foot of the conference room. There were very few guests in the hotel that night, and we moved our party to the lobby for the second half and enjoyed the exciting finish with the hotel’s evening crew.