Cookout in Covington

On Saturday we had a cookout at our house! We actually made the decision to have a get-together at our house because we had to miss the last get-together that my Nanny had for the Garrison side of the family. Sometimes it just doesn't work out for us to be at every family function (another reason we're hoping to move home to Barnesville sooner rather than later) and it's always kind of disappointing... so this time we decided to do a little cookout at our house. We started by mentioning it to my parents and sister and then invited all of my grandparents (Granny, PawPaw, and Nanny). Then we invited my dad's brothers and their families and decided we would wait to see if they could come before inviting anyone else. When we were planning this, Terrell sweetly reminded me that there's a reason both sides (my mom's and my dad's) of my family only get together once a year (Thanksgiving). We just have a really big family and only my parents are brave enough to gather 30 plus men, women and children under one roof. =) Anyway, when it looked as though at least one set of aunt/uncle/cousins could make it we decided to stop our invitation there and wait to plan a completely separate gathering for the Piper side of the family. So we planned our menu and cleaned house all week in preparation for our get-together. We finally got to put the leaves in our semi-new dining room table and set the table for 12. The table was huge. It filled up our entire dining room but was perfect for everyone being able to sit together. I had to use 2 different sets of place-mats just so I would have one at every seat.


My parents arrived first with my Granny and PawPaw around 3:45. They came in and got right to work. I told Terrell later that they were the reason I never stressed out while preparing the food... my mom and Granny were so busy helping me that I never had a chance to feel overwhelmed. They just jumped right in and made everything easy! After we got the hamburgers prepared and seasoned, the guys headed outside to do the grilling.... with the little man in tow. He loves being outside and he definitely wasn't going to miss out on the opportunity for some guy time outside.

Garrison also decided to check on things inside too... but made it clear that he preferred to be on the other side of the door. He did not want to come in.

Terrell grilled 21 hamburgers and 8 hotdogs (a new record for us) while the guys talked and the little man played. While he was grilling, Anna, my Nanny, Chip, Christy, and Laney arrived. Chip, Christy and Laney had never seen our house so it was fun to give them the tour and catch up.

When everything was almost ready, I decided to go outside to check on Garrison and get ready to bring him in to wash his hands so he'd be ready to eat. Not only was he soaked in sweat (Terrell was too... grilling 21 hamburgers can heat everything up fast), but he was flithy from playing. His shirt, face, arms, and hands were black and gray from dirt and who knows what else. After carrying him inside crying, I decided to take his shirt off and clean him up in the bathroom the best I could. So Garrison ended up wearing khaki shorts with no shirt for the rest of the evening. Thankfully everyone was understanding and thought he was just as cute without his little polo shirt on.

While he waited for supper to get ready, he spent time with AnAn and drank some "juice" (sweet tea). It was decaf and he didn't have too much so I think it was fine. =)

Once the hamburgers, hotdogs, baked beans, salad, corn, chips and dip were ready we finally sat down to eat. Everything was really good and all of our guests seemed to enjoy themselves. Yay! We had brownies with vanilla ice cream, hot fudge, and cool whip for dessert. Garrison loved everything and would hardly let me finish a bite without begging for some of mine. For the rest of the evening we watched college football and the Braves game while catching up and talking, plus playing with the little man.

After supper, Garrison picked out some books for AnAn to read. And she got to read the same 3 books about 5 times. =)

We had a great time with family on Saturday and were very thankful for how well everything went. It was also really nice that Garrison's great grandparents had some quality time with him. Sometimes it can be really challenging to see them while we're in Barnesville because our time is already planned out and divided up so much when we're there. So it was great that Garrison could see them and spend time with them this weekend. And we're definitely looking forward to more family gatherings in the future.


Fast forward to Sunday after church: The little man went to bed a little later than normal Saturday night (not extremely late, just later than his usual bedtime) and then woke up around midnight. He had a little bit of a hard time getting settled again so he could go back to sleep, but finally got okay and slept the rest of the night. When we got home after church on Sunday, he had a MAJOR meltdown. Terrell and I couldn't remember him being so upset before. I couldn't even tell you what set him off. He was just so irritable and cried and cried and cried while we made lunch. Nothing made him feel better. He calmed down a little for lunch and eventually ate a little, but lunch ended in another meltdown. He was extremely ill... and tired we decided, so naptime couldn't come fast enough. The moral of the story, in the words of my husband, "Garrison doesn't get to stay up late again." Here's my sweet, exhausted baby before naptime. After naptime, he was all better.

Okay, I had to include this funny story too. (Sorry this is SO long.) Friday around supper time Garrison had been asking for a cracker, but I kept telling him that we were about to eat. I was on the phone with Terrell, who was almost home from work, so my full attention wasn't focused on Garrison. I heard a rustling sound behind me and turned around to find my starving child eating from the Cheez-It box. It was soo funny. He had actually taken the box off the shelf in the pantry, opened it up, and helped himself. Terrell got home just in time to see everything for himself. All we could do was laugh. He probably ate 8-10 before I took them away from him.

After finishing his crackers you could still see the evidence on his shirt. =)