Arkansas Day 1

We got in late Wednesday night / Thursday morning around 1am and ended up talking to Billy until about 4:30am. It was great catching up with him. Jacki made the comment the next morning that she and I haven't laughed so hard in such a long time. That's my brother!

We got up around 9am, and Billy and I took Carly to school in Horatio. Once back at the house I was able to see all the dogs Billy is raising. Everything from hunting dogs, to Jack Russell terriers and other house dogs. I was most impressed with the beautiful Chesapeake Retrievers. We took one named Dixie to the pond to train for retrieving. Billy could have Dixie sit, he threw the dummy, and then he would tell after it hit the water to fetch. It was pretty cool to see such an obedient dog. I took some great pictures of Dixie leaping off the bank to retrieve. Shelby, Trey, and Jacki also came down to the pond. Shelby fished and Trey roamed the pond in the boat.

We took the clan including Jacki, Darian, Shelby, Morgan and Trey into De Queen for lunch at Sonic and then a group of us went to see my Aunt Shirley in the afternoon. When we got to her house Earl, Shirley's husband, and my cousin Kristy greeted us. Kristy's little one Katie was there as well. Shelby and Katie ended up playing while Jacki and I visited with everybody. Shelby and Katie played so well together.

Shirley looked good and was in good spirits. It was great to see her and Kristy. We ate lasagna for dinner at Shirley's and got back to Billy's around 8:30pm. They pulled out an old Rubik's cube and put me up to the challenge. I was able to solve it several times but I definitely don't have the touch like I used to.

It's been a great visit so far and I'm kicking myself for not coming up sooner. Shirley made the comment to me about how close our family is even though we hardly see one another. That is so true. At one point I feel hesitant about showing up here thinking no one will know me but once I get here all I feel is love from my family.

Tomorrow Lisa should be arriving. This will be the first time she and I have been here at the same time in probably 10 years. We have two more full days here before I have to return back to reality.