Odds (some VERY odd) and Ends

I suppose if I posted more often, they wouldn't be so long when I do ;>) Nothing exciting around here like trips, although we have been busy writing checks to repair people. It seems like everything around here has wanted to quit working....A/C, refrigerator, telephone, Mom ;>)

Some of the "odds" :

Our annual hiking trip up LeConte is coming up soon and at least one of us is extremely unprepared. We were in Dick's last night checking out hiking shoes and as I walked by the socks, I noticed a pair for $40. I couldn't believe it, so I got Mark to come see them before we left. They didn't seem like anything that special, but as we looked, we noticed a pair on the rack below for $80! And then, below that, was a pair for $160 !! $160 for a pair of socks ! I wouldn't even pay that for hiking shoes (which may be why I've lost my big toenails for the past few years...) For that much money, I would expect a pedicure and a lift to the top of the mountain ;>)

Samuel went with his friend, Will, to a party recently and someone brought in their very "interesting" house pet---a kangaroo ! Apparently, they raise them (along with camels, zebras, and monkeys) for petting zoos. The woman said she'd even had a baby camel in her kitchen before (fyi---I had to ask how big a baby camel is, but she said they're only about 100 lbs ;>)
There are pictures below. Samuel was, as usual, too timid to get very close.

My sister, her husband, and friends went to the Alabama game in Georgia a few weeks ago and she saw something she thought she never would. At Sunday morning services, a woman came in with a little lap dog. She put it on a blanket on the pew so it could sleep and fanned it during services. She and the dog were wearing matching hairbows (and the dog also had a dress on; of course, that would be expected at church services ;>). When the bell rang for classes to end, the dog barked. We were scratching our heads about these weird Georgia people. I remembered that I knew someone who attended there, so got the scoop from her----those folks were in town also for the Alabama game and they were from ALABAMA !! Uh oh! The acquaintance also reminded me about the verse in the Bible about not giving what is holy to the dogs ;>)



Could this be the "Future Inmates of America" club ???

The baby kangaroo

Amy actually got Will to pet the kangaroo.....

.....whereas Samuel was content to just watch from a distance and enjoy his chocolate cupcake !

Samuel in one of his favorite shirts----ELMO, of course !

Mark isn't as crazy about these next two pics as I am.....that's just like a Tennessee fan ;>)

Our sweet little Ben has started cooing and gooing all the time. He's also begun laughing in recent weeks. I know those must be the sweetest sounds in the world!

These next pics are with our adopted "Great (she really is great !) Grandma Robertson" :

She is 94 years young and Samuel adores her (as we all do) !

Ben loves his bath.

This is Ben with sweet little friend Micheal. Michael is 3 months older than Ben, but Ben weighs a little more than him! Ben was 3 months old last week and we weighed him at home and he was 15 lbs 2 oz. (May need to rethink this hiking business !!)

Micheal has started crawling recently and Ben makes the perfect thing to push up on !