Mississippi

In July, Clara and I were able to go back to Mississippi to visit family while Jeff went to California for a visit with Steven and work training. Jeff is officially part of the Rotation program now as the rest of his class joined him in training and began work in July. Clara and I spent our first day in Jackson with the Rottmans/Shirleys. Clara and Tucker are only a few months apart and were both so different from the last time they were together.

Mary Frances arrived back in MS after a semester in Spain. It was so much fun to welcome her home! While our parents were off at a high school reunion, Mary Frances, Stephen, Clara, and I headed to Petal to visit the Kolvites who just moved back to MS. Sibling road trip! We haven’t been all together like that in a long time… Clara and I met our newest cousin/niece for the first time. Anna Ruth is a cutie and content just hanging out. It was great to finally meet her. We were even able to celebrate both Clara’s birthday and my birthday.

We spent the rest of our time at Nana and Pop’s just hanging out, picking blueberries, going fishing, and doing other fun things that you do in Mississippi. I was awed by all of the green during this trip. It’s beautiful! I think I miss green even more now after moving to Phoenix. We are mostly back in MS during the winter, so it was really fun to see everything green for a change. Clara was not a huge fan of the grass, but she did enjoy just being outside on the swing or in the pool or slip’n slide.

Thanks to Pops and his fishing wisdom, I caught the biggest fish that I ever have (or at least that I can remember). Since moving from Mississippi over six years ago, the fish in our lake have gotten HUGE. This one was over 5 lbs.

In my mind, Pops knows all about fishing. I still love going out to our land and spending time with him as we fish– even when we aren’t very successful. Our family has some great memories out on our lake! I am excited for Pops to teach Clara and share his love for fishing with her.