Vacation... Part 1 of 2

Our whole family recently took a vacation to South Carolina to visit my mom and step dad.

It was also my mother's 50th Birthday!

Yes, my mother is only 50... She had me when she was 15...
Yes, that makes me 35 :)

For years my mother and I had a very strained relationship. She was very young and had to work all the time and I was a lost selfish brat. BUT through God's gracious gift of salvation we have mended our relationship and are working on becoming best friends!

Here are some pics for you to enjoy...

Wendy (her daughter-in-law), Chance (Wendy's daughter), Mom, Luke, Me, and Lacy

The girls wrote her letters...

And I forgot to take pictures of the gifts...oops!

But she was very happy to receive 2 full disks of pictures of the kids taken by Emily Elizabeth...Thank you Miss Emily :)

We also gave her a lovely matching bracelet and brioche, and then we spent the whole week shopping and exploring together...

We had a great time!

The boys helped cook that night...

The next day we toured (on golf cart) the property (20acres) and picked 2 gallons of wild plums and blackberries...

I think Luke ate more than he picked :)

Then we took a day and went shopping in all the antique stores...

There are a lot of antique stores South Carolina!!!

Look at this lovely antique wedding dress...

I wish you could see the lace better...it was really beautiful!



I love old books! Anything written before 1900...especially HisStory!

The Reformation and the Civil War are two of my favorites.

This set was on the Civil War and gives both the Union and Confederate accounts of certain battles. Very interesting! Our current President would do well to have an accurate account of our nation's history...especially the Civil War!

Hopefully, one day soon I'll post more on my love for the Confederates and their desire for religious freedom, states rights, self-government, etc...

I immediately thought of the Feldman children when I saw this lovely two-way bench.

It looks like something they would have thought to create, plus it would fit nicely in their dining area :)

This very versatile bench was once used at an old train station for passengers waiting to board the train. After the south bound passengers would board they would flip the back of the bench over to accept north bound passengers! How creative!

Inexpensive (at the time) too...note the 3 chair bottoms as the legs...today it will run you a cool $1200

Wheat mill...

Corn mill...

Bread maker...

Baby bassinet...

Old photo...

A stark reminder of how blind our culture has become to what is "feminine".

I would truly dress like this everyday if I were able! I love the styles of the 17 & 1800's...

This was my absolute favorite find of the day!

Every lady should have a tea set...

And this particular set is dated from 1840 and costs $1100.

I am not a frivolous spender by any means, but if I had a spare (haha) $1100, this would've been mine! Just look at the detail and coloring...it is breath-taking!

Well, that's all for now...hopefully I can give you part 2 tomorrow :)