Remembering the Fallen

Savannah and I visiting the American Cemetery at Normandy, France 2009

* Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service.
* Memorial Day's origins go all the back to the Civil War. It was at the end of a brutal war, a war in which brother fought brother and the best of friends became the worst of enemies.
* During the first celebration of Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery.
* It is now celebrated in almost every State on the last Monday in May (passed by Congress with the National Holiday Act of 1971).
* It is the unofficial kick off to summer. To honor those Americans who died fighting for our freedom, we have parades, lay flowers on the graves of our lost Americans, we gather together with family and friends and barbecue to remember.
* Memorial Day was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic, and was first observed on 30 May 1868, when flowers were placed on the graves of Union and Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery. * The first state to officially recognize the holiday was New York in 1873. By 1890 it was recognized by all of the northern states.

A Cookie Fit For A Queen

Ok, you have GOT to go to this website and see these gorgeous cookies! They are so beautiful! And from what I hear, they are as delicious as beautiful. Check out the gorgeous detail!

www.QueenCityCookies.com

Nautilus Shell

The Baby Tree

the Nativity

Magazine Weakness

I have a weakness for British magazines. There are more articles, less silly advertisements and I hate to say it, but better written. Whenever we travel I try to pick up a local magazine. They include gifts in with the magazine that are amazing! Soap, nail polish, a drill bit kit, etc... and my daughter purchased a cute teen magazine one time in Windsor and it had a darling solid tangerine colored t-shirt in it. She still wears it. What a great incentive!

Every once in a while I will pick one up at Barnes & Noble or Borders, but they are usually too high, so I browse through it quickly. I do subscribe to 'Country Life' UK magazine and absolutely love it! Just getting the Christmas issue is totally worth it for the photographs alone. Does anybody else out there know what I mean?

Summer and travel. Two of my favorite words. School is letting out, families come back together and a holiday is usually in the making. We have arrived at my parents home for a visit and my car was so full that I even amazed myself at what I was able to put into it and how long it took for us to unload. One small piece of luggage held books alone. Don't you hate to be somewhere and all of a sudden you do not have a book just waiting for that right moment to read? Or a pillowcase you have been dying to embroider with that Queen Anne's lace flower? Or that clay pot that you made a divine dinner with that you just have to fix at your destination? Or those magazines that have piled up and you haven't had a chance to look at? Well, I don't have to worry about that, because I brought everything!

Yes, I brought everything. All of this plus one daughter and two miniature schnauzers in their car seats. Yes, car seats. They are able to see out the windows and double as beds at our destination. We like our own pillows...why can't they enjoy their own bed?

Anywho, our Summer has officially begun and I am ready for it!

Yuck! The Cicadas Are Coming!

May 8th is the dreaded date of the return of the cicadas after a 13 year break. Nashville's Anderson Design Group is gearing up for the craziness with their cicada survival gear. Isn't it fabulous?

I can remember in 1985 being in chapel, at college and a girl jumping up and screaming because a cicada had dive-bombed into her.

And I can remember years and years ago picking one of the empty cicada shells off a tree and putting it on my sister Leslie. She ran around the yard screaming, "Get it off! Get it off!" until I did. One of my happier childhood moments.