our family tree is getting ready to grow. my nephew and his girlfriend are expecting a baby girl the end of october and another cousin had a baby last may. these are the fun ones to add to the tree knowing that someday all the information i have found will be passed on to them and their families. i mean in the end isnt that what it is all about? i am very excited to finally have a baby girl to spoil. all the other babies in the family right now are boys and while they are fun they are not princesses in the making. i only wish my mom could be here to see her when she comes and give her all the love she shared with my son and my nephew. but i know she is watching over all of us and making sure that we are all ok. story for today - when i was little i was a complete tomboy. i climbed trees, i caught critters, i played sports ... but my mom wanted her little girl. so i was made to wear dresses - especially on school picture day! so this one day - it was either a picture day or a church day not sure which since i was only 6 - i am in this white dress, and i ask my pop-pop (my grandpa) what that is growing in the tree. so he told me that they were black walnuts. why do they call them black walnuts? i dont know laura, why dont you climb up and get some and we will find out. now as an adult looking back, i know he knew. but as a child who idolized her pop-pop i was all over that. so up i climbed - still in the white dress - and i sat on a branch and picked probably 6 or 8 walnuts. and to get down i stored them in the skirt of my dress tucked up into the sash. needless to say, as i hit the ground my grandma and mom came around the house. and when they saw my dress it was oh my oh my look at that dress it is ruined and david whitehouse what were you thinking? and all i could focus on was pop-pop can we open the nuts and see if they are black? at six i didnt realize that it was the black tar like substance on the outside that gave them their name and it was now all over my dress and yes it was indeed ruined. one less dress i had to wear!

hope y'all enjoyed the story today,

peace and luv,

laura