Potato soup ....

My momma always made the best potato soup

she always told us the secret was lots of butter, constantly

stirring with a wooden spoon as you added the milk

and she always emphasized the "constant stirring"

So I never attempted to make it...haha

Joanne Gaines has a potato soup recipe in her

new cookbook, Magnolia Table so I decided to try it

and dare I say it.....(momma don't listen) but it could

possibly be better than momma's.

and there was no constant stirring and no 

mega amounts of butter

chopped garlic, onions, celery and carrots

mmm, bacon

diced potatoes...

topped with cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon and fresh thyme

Delicious!

I will be making this a lot this winter

later....

Beach ....

One morning Jacquelyn, Bucky, Avery and I got up

before the sunrise and rode up to Corolla

we had been there before and had good luck with

some great shells and sea glass

It wasn't the case this time but we enjoyed

walking the beautiful beach and watching the sunrise

the whole week the water was so warm and clear...just

a wonderful time

later....

Beach days.....

Breakfast out and fun on the beach

playing with the camera filters while waiting for our breakfast

don't remember which night this was but Avery

enjoyed watching John Cash eat his cereal 

Declan is a pretty cool guy....sunglasses at breakfast! haha

corn hole on the beach

later.....

more vacation ....

After taking the kids out we met

up with the guys at another of our favorite places...

Tortuga's Lie for lunch

later...

NC

Jacquelyn, Kayce, Lynne and I took the kids to the

North Carolina Aquarium

It's a small one but nice and the kids really enjoyed it

sadly, I did not take many pictures....was too busy 

enjoying watching my grandkids :)

later.....

Beach vacation ....

We had rented a beach house back in January on the ocean front

with one of our daughters and her family

and her mother-in-law, as we do every year

Our son and his wife and our grandson came too

but they came and stayed at our home to take care 

of our dogs..... the #teddybearpack

We had not seen our newest grandchild, John Cash

since August so was great to be able to see him.

Avery and Declan were so excited to see him

the kids really enjoyed the pool

waiting for our table at Black Pelican....one of our fave places

to eat

Paradise....

later....