the Sunday what Was

Two major things happened on Sunday.

First, we had a flat tire.

Second, we met our new cousins, twins Sarah and Shepherd Thomason.

It was like they both instinctively went to check
out the damage. It must be a man thing.

First things first. We got up and got ready for church. Not long after we'd left, though, we ran over a giant rock and blew out a tire, so we pulled over into this old motorcycle shop on Asheville Highway. Jones initially panicked - he'd never been through this before, at least not that he remembered - but he quickly calmed down, as Jeremy and I made arrangements to get the thing fixed.

He and Freddie tried to help. Without being told to or even having seen people begging for help on the side of the road, they started trying to flag down a car that could get us back on the go. Where in the world they got the idea to do that, I will never know.

After they checked out the damage,
they BOTH - without being told to -
tried to blow up the tire, as
if it were a balloon. This is
Freddie going after the nozzle.

Jones quickly found a reflective surface
in which he could watch himself.

After that, I noticed a VERY awesome doorway to the motorcycle shop. The lighting was perfect, too, and I just so happened to have my camera handy, so I bribed the boys, telling them if they'd smile, we'd go up to the Hot Spot to get a snack. Well, I didn't exactly get two smiles at the same time, but they did TRY to cooperate, and I am THRILLED with the lucky shots I got ... as Jeremy says all the time, "Even a blind squirrel can find an acorn sometimes."

As promised, we then walked up to the Hot Spot for a treat to kill some time. By the time we got back, Jeremy had gotten all of the junk out of the "way back" of the car and was trying to find the spare tire (which is a whole 'nother story).

To keep them out of the way - and out of the road - I told the boys to sit on the picnic blanket Jeremy had laid on the ground. I will have you know that those boys stayed on it for a good 45 minutes, just drinking their juice and playing with the toys found in the way-back.

I was SO, SO, SOOOOO proud of them.

As soon as we were on our way, it was clear that church was out of the question, so off we went to have lunch in downtown Waynesville. We went to Boojum's Barbecue, which was AWESOME.

While we were there, we encountered their Halloween decor. Now, Jones and Freddie love them some spooky stuff, but this clown - which looked like something that would sneak up on children at an apartment complex in South Carolina.



Later, back at the table, Freddie tried to scare Jones. It didn't work.

Then, we went home to rest up for part deux of our day - a visit to see Sarah and Shep.

Just as they'd done while waiting for our tire to get repaired, the boys did GREAT with the babies. Jones offered his standard, "Oh, he's so cute!" and they both held stuff Mickey and Minnies up to the babies faces for Eskimo kisses. The funniest part of the visit was when the boys found out the baby boy was named "Shepherd." Up until now, the only Shepherds they know of are our neighbors - so they both called Shep "Miss Shepherd's Baby" the entire time. It was so cute. 

The babies are almost a month old, but they still weigh less than six pounds, so it was almost just like holding a newborn Jones. I don't think that sunk in when I told him, "This is about how big you were when you were born!"

I am so thankful for these two little peanuts. Because of them, Jones and Freddie will grow up with some cousins who are close in age to both of them. That absolutely thrills me!