Lunch with Friends :-)

What a special treat it was to spend time with Holly Fordham and Beth Barnard during our meetings in SC! We enjoyed lunch at a Mexican restaurant and talked and talked and talked! I really needed that time with them, and was sad for it to end!

Angry Birds

John Jr. loves all things Angry Birds, and now he's into Space Angry Birds. Here he is with his fruit snacks, t-shirt and pillow!

Strawberries in South Carolina!

It was wonderful to be in SC when the strawberries were first coming in! We got up Monday morning last week in Anderson and picked beautiful ripe red strawberries, then went home and made strawberry jam. It was fun and delicious!

Meeting up with a dear friend!

It was so special to meet my very good friend Christy Ingram in Cleveland, GA a few weeks ago! We got together for music, nails and lunch - what more could you ask for?? It was so special! Here we are getting our toe nails done. It was sad to say goodbye!

John Jr's special friend Josh

We had the privilege of Josh spending the night with us after John's birthday celebration. Josh has been such a special friend to John, Jr... kind of like a big brother. We are so grateful for this kind of friendship in John Jr.'s life!

John Turns 50!

It was a joy to celebrate John's 50th birthday at our house. We had friends over and enjoyed supper together. You can see a beautiful arrangement of fruit our friends Bill and Kim sent us! It was delicious and the huge hit of the night! A very special evening :-)

South Carolina Presidential Primary

We are in South Carolina this week. As you know, the SC primary is January 21. I was hoping we'd get to see some candidates while in the state. Tonight the SC GOP hosted a barbeque, featuring a forum with Speaker Newt Gingrich and Senator Rick Santorum. It was $30 per person, but worth every dollar spent! We enjoyed it so much. It was wonderful to shake hands and meet both Gingrich and Santorum. They and their wives were so gracious. Here are some pictures of our evening. (The Santorum picture was taken on my camera, and the Gingrich ones were taken on my phone because my camera batteries were dying. You can tell my camera takes better pictures!)

Lunch with the Lynch's

It was special to meet up with Mac and Beth Lynch for lunch yesterday in Brevard, NC. We're having meetings in the Asheville area, so we drove out there to meet them for a delicious lunch at the Hob Knob. It was a wonderful time for all of us!

Spending the week at MeMom's

I love taking pictures of John Jr. when he's sleeping. Here we are at my mom's (known as MeMom to her grandchildren). We stayed at Mom's while John was in Ireland. He slept on one couch, and I slept on another. He thought that was the coolest thing! Thankfully she has extremely comfortable couches. It was so much fun!

Lunch with my mom

If you want the best southern cooking in a restaurant, Cateran's in Greenville, SC is the place for you! I love that place, as you can tell by my loaded plate. Sorry for the bright window behind my mom. I highly recommend this place if you're ever in Greenville. But they don't take credit card, so come with cash! :-)

Visiting family in Spartanburg, SC

My brother-in-law, Bill Bethea, is married to my sister Kathryn. He pastors at Westgate Baptist Church in Spartanburg, SC, where we'll have revival meetings starting this Sunday. It was great to see them last week while John was in Ireland. Here they are with their son Will who is in Combat Control school with the Air Force. He's doing very well in the program! It was so good to see him while he was home for just a short time for Christmas.