It was a wonderful Summer day at Bailey and Max’s home. Claire was home from Medical school in Shreveport and Kosta & katy were home from their jobs with architecture firms in the Big Apple. Kosta getting ready to move to New Orleans for graduate school at Tulane for his masters in Architecture. Christian had moved home from her business marketing job in Colorado. It was a celebration of gathering the family together and love was in the air!

This will be our last get together until Thanksgiving. We missed having Ryan & Lauryn, and Jake with us this time. Ryan and Lauryn are working on driverless trucks in Pittsburg, and Jake is in his medical residency in South Dakota. Also missing is Gunner who is in New York having art openings for his work and curating art show for other artist. He will be going to Germany for an art residency next month. Anita was back in college at Wake Forest and Dennis is in his Sophomore year at De La Salle in New Orleans. That makes up my nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren and my grandchildren’s significant others. I am blessed!

The memories we make with our family is everything!

I moved to Poplarville, Mississippi about two years ago with my daughter Reneé and her husband Craig. Poplarville is a very special town. The population is 2,894 and it hosts an annual Blueberry Jubilee every year. It’s the county seat of Pearl River County. Poplarville has rolling hills and beautiful lakes and lots of people have weekend homes here.

Ginger is the lady wearing the “American Heart” shirt. It is very appropriate because I call her “Poplarville’s Ambassador.” I think Ginger know almost everyone that lives in Poplarville. She is a retired school teacher and can’t go anywhere that people don’t come over to speak with her. She took me under her wing and introduced me to all these ladies, two of which were not able to join us, Joan and Ann. Joan worked for Disney and National Geographic before returning to Poplarville to take care of her mother and brother. She started the Historic Society and the Poplarville Museum. She actually received volunteer of the year award in 2013 for starting the Museum. Ann is a retired school teacher and now an instructor at the Pearl River College in Poplarville. Kate in the white shirt is an international attorney working for the World Bank. Margaret in the green striped shirt was a secretary and book keeper for the Poplarville school system, she actually did everything. She is also a talented pianist and organist.

Myra and I are sitting together. Myra owned the only bed and breakfast in Poplarville. She also was a nurse at St.Tammany hospital and has a beautiful voice. She went to college on a voice scholarship. I owned a business for eleven years and retired two years ago. Now I enjoy life with family and friends!

This group of friends inspire me. They are talented, kind, generous, and supportive. They are all involved in the community and make it a very special place to live. Poplarville, I know, thanks God for having them!

Good friends are like stars you don’t always see them but you know they are there!

Stanford has a beautiful campus and one of the most iconic structures is the Hoover Tower. Hoover Tower is a 285 feet structure on the campus of Stanford University in Stanford, California. The tower houses the Hoover Institution Library and Archives, an archive collection founded by Herbert Hoover before he became President of the United States.

Gunner is standing in front of the Stanford Memorial Church which is at the center of the campus, and is the University’s architectural crown jewel. It was one of the earliest, and is still among the most prominent, interdenominational churches in the West. Jane Stanford built the church as a memorial to her husband, Leland. Together, Senator and Mrs. Stanford had constructed the University as a memorial to their son, Leland, Jr. Memorial Church seats 1,200 in a general admission format.

In the bottom three pictures of Gunner and his friends (from left to right) Nicko, Brian, Gunner, Terrell are standing in the Main Quad.

The 17-acre Main Quadrangle is the oldest part of campus and the hallmark of Stanford University. Renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted designed this architecturally innovative set of connected buildings.

The cornerstone of the Quad was laid on May 14, 1887, which would have marked Leland Stanford Jr.’s 19th birthday.

Gunner standing in line waiting to receive his diploma! Gunner says his four year at Stanford were incredible due to all the fantastic life long friends he made. Gunner loved the opportunity he had to learn, as well as teach art classes. He loved the camaraderie with fraternity brothers at Phi Kappa Psi. He received a minor degree in computer science engineering, which was indeed a challenge. It proved to be an intellectual pursuit that complimented his fine arts degree.

Gunner received his diploma for a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Art Practice with Honors, with a minor in Computer Science. He also received the Raina Giese Award in Painting from the Art Studio faculty. Gunner received his Diploma from one of his favorite professors, Jonathan Calm. Professor Calm is from Brooklyn, New York.

Gunner’s family had a great time at the graduation! The California weather did not disappoint and the exuberant atmosphere will be remembered as a perfect day!

At Stanford I spent time hanging out with friends, studying, and painting in my studio. Every weekend there was an event to go to: formals, special dinners, and hikes. With all the available opportunities it could be easy to feel over whelmed trying to deciding what to do. My best memories came from chill hangouts with close friends.

The four year I spent at Stanford were fantastic! I can’t wait to see what the future unfolds, and whatever it is I’ll be ready to rock and roll!

This year 2021 was the second year for Thanksgiving at Tommy and Jete’s home in Grayton Beach, Florida. Grayton Beach is a quaint beach town away from the hustle and bustle of the bigger, brighter new areas of Santa Rosa Beach. The pace is slower and more relaxed and is a throwback to the way Florida beaches used to be. This year Jeté and Tommy hosted 30 guests!

Setting up for the dinner started early in the morning with the decorating staff Ryan, Lauren, Katy, Kosta, Claire, and Tommy. All the furniture that belonged on the porch was moved to the outside yard area which created this beautiful and intimate dining experience!

Tommy masterminded the design of the back yard area to be included in the scheme of the evening and to be enjoyed by the guest.

Parker’s Charcuterie Tray was a hit at the cocktail hour. He is getting to be known for his designs! Maybe this can be a sideline business during his Navy Flight training in Pensacola.

Thanksgiving guests! I wasn’t able to capture all of the guest individually but these I did and they certainly add to the flavor of this Blog in a big way!

Sheppy had the time of his life and was royally entertained before his daddy flew in from Austin and said, “Bailey and I can not stand to be away from Shep any longer” and father and son boarded the airplane back to Austin.

The last celebration we had was the “Bonfire Beach Party” Saturday night. We watched The Auburn vs Alabama football game on the beach and at Terri and Marshall condo. The young people held out on the beach the longest but regardless of the cold beach or warmth of the condo it was hard to say goodbye to this incredible group of people.

Gunner and Ryan join me in saying the Crosbys did an incredible job of hosting the 2021 Thanksgiving party! They could not have pulled it off in such a grand fashion without their dearest friends and family: Terri and Marshall, Tami and Les, Les, Sr., Renée and Craig, Sandi and Walt, Mike, Dawn and Erin, and me (Mimi).

All the siblings and significant others added the flare to the day: Ryan, Katy, Claire, Lauren, Kosta, Parker, Christian, Gunner, Ben, Elle, Heath, Kobi, Brelan, Brooke, Andrew, and the star of Thanksgivng “Sheppy”.

We wondered what this cute little boy was going to be when he grew up. I don’t think any of us would have thought he would be an artist Extraordinaire! No one in our family was an artist even though some were writers, inventors, dancers, musicians. There were many artistically inclined people in our family.

Gunner started carrying around a pencil when he was around three years old and he doodled on paper all the time. When he got to elementary school the teachers started comment on his talent for drawing and when he graduated from high school he was on his way to becoming a really talented artist and Art became his passion.

Stanford became the University of his choice and there in not one thing that he doesn’t love about going to school there. He loves his classes, his art studio, the fraternity, the art dorm he’s in charge of this year, the art classes he is able to teach, the art shows he is able to put on, the football games, his friends, Just everything!

Gunner has different sides to his personality. He likes to look inside himself to find ideas for his art. He told me once he doesn’t run out of ideas, he has a head full of them. He’s serious about his art, he gets to know his teachers especially those who he admires because of their art philosophy. He has no fear about creating art he just goes about creating, maybe that’s why he is always happy and comfortable in his own skin, so to speak. Gunner is most joyful when he is creating and loves to tell you about his art. But seriously I have never seen Gunner in a bad mood! Maybe we should all be artist? Pablo Picasso said ” Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up”. I don’t think Gunner will ever have this problem!

Gunner organized and curated a “1-night-only exhibition welcoming new and returning students to Stanford’s visual arts scene”. He will be following up this project by curating another open call exhibition next quarter. He hopes to encourages all artists to submit their works, and he hopes that the entire Stanford community will come see the show.

Matthew Kelly said, “Wherever you are and wherever you feel called to go, whatever you are doing and whatever you feel called to do next, choose something today that moves you in the direction of your dreams”. This quote sums up Gunner better than anything I could say about him because Gunner’s every decision moves him in the direction of his dream. His dream is to be an artist and to help others become an artist as well. He hasn’t even graduated and he’s accomplishing his dream as he moves forward. What a blessing to always be living your dream!

Gunner will graduate this coming May. I hope all your ambitions come true Gunner and that you never forget how to dream!

This blog will be a little different from the others because Claire is now a freshman at LSU Medical School in Shreveport, Louisiana and she says “I hardly has time to breathe.” So I’m going through all the pictures of Claire that I love and building my story around them. Claire is thoughtful, studious and serious. She loves knowledge and loves to study. When she graduates I want to be her 1st patient because I know she will be a perspicacious physician from day one.

Claire is also a ham! This is the side of her personality that makes me smile when I think of Claire. Her laughter is warm hearted and joyous and is one of her best attributes.

Claire is with her twin Katy and her brother Ryan. They love being home on holidays together. We’ll all be together for Thanksgiving along with their significant other, Katy with Kosta, Ryan with Lauren, and Claire with Jake!

Claire and Jake are both medical students. Jake will be graduating this May and hoping to get an internship in Louisiana close to Claire. They both want to be Primary Care Doctors. Jake wants to specialize in Sports Medicine and Claire is thinking about Dermatology.

I love this beautiful grand-daughter. She’s my buddy at Sunday Mass. She’s always checking my face for peach fuzz and Clogged Pores. She always wants to drive me home when she thinks I had too much wine even though I was only going 1/2 mile away. She looks after me! She and Jake will be the doctors to see because they are both dedicated to excellence. Good luck to both of you!

Anita is my last grand-daughter to attend college! Her dad and I visited her at Wake Forest University this past weekend and she is loving it. It seems her favorite building is the library. She says if she’s not in class she’s studying in the library! Anita is driven by excellence in everything she does. She is a gifted student with an independent spirit. She also has an extraordinary talent for dance and acting.

Anita says she heads for the coffee shop for the best cup of Java on campus then finds a nook to study by herself or a reading room to study with friends! The library is very close to her dorm so she can pop over anytime day or night when she feels like studying, up until 1am at night.

Wake Forest is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Winston was named for Major Joseph Winston, a Revolutionary war hero. In 1910 Winston grew to three times the size of Salem due to wagons, a railroad, and Tobacco so they consolidated the two towns. Salem was founded by the Moravians in 1766. It was the quieter of the twin cities and the Moravians named it after the Hebrew word for peace, “Salem.” Winston-Salem was a town built on tobacco and is often referred to as the “Camel City” after the world-famous cigarette brand created by R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company.

Duke and I met Anita in her dorm in the “William Poteat House” and we met one of best friends Claire. After a brief visit Anita took us to tour the campus which is very impressive.

Wake Forest is also known as Deactown named by a 1924 graduate who referred to the football team as “Demon Deacons,” because of their “devilish” play and fighting spirit. Their mascot is a Demon Deacon and their colors are black and gold! The students can walk down a trail to “Reynola Village” to shop and have a bite to eat in one of the restaurants! According to U.S. News & World Report Wake Forest is one of the top 30 National Universities for the 25th consecutive year and is ranked #28 in National Universities.

Duke, Anita’s dad, took us to dinner along with her cousin Gerald. We had a good time listening to stories about their life at Wake Forest. They were both going back to the library to finish studying when we brought them back to campus. Mothers and Dads don’t have to worry about these two, they have it together!

Anita is going to major in Politics and International Affairs and Minor in Sociology and Communications. I bet you will also find her taking part in the Theatre. Oh a hummingbird just hovered by the window of my office where I’m writing about this special grand-daughter of mine. I looked up the biblical meaning of hummingbirds and it related to the bird’s ability to spread joy and playfulness. Folklore also suggest that they bring joy and good luck, so this is my wish for you Anita, the hummingbird said it for me!

Dennis goes to Christ School, a private college preparatory boarding and day school for boys in Arden, North Carolina, a suburb of Asheville. It was founded in 1900 by Father Thomas and Susan Allen Wetmore as a mission of the Episcopal church. Mrs. Wetmore’s family gave them four acres of hilltop land for the purpose of educating the rural mountain children.

Christ school has changed into a private boys school and grown to over 500 acres of academic and residential buildings, athletic fields, wooded trails, and green space. Currently it has over 290 boys in grades 8 through 12 and students come from all over the United States and across the globe.

Christ school is similar to a university with a first class facility as observed when walking around the campus and meeting the impressive young men attending the school. The goal of the school is for each student to mature into a better version of themselves in order for them to prepare for the next step in their lives. Last but not least the school offers the students the most important quality of all through religious instruction and regular participation in Chapel activities, each of the students learns the sustaining value of faith and spiritual growth throughout his life.

The school believes in developing a young man’s physical fitness and leadership skills as well as his respect for others regardless of a persons origin, culture, or beliefs. Athletics and after-school clubs are an important part of the day. The 24,000 square foot Athletic Center includes a practice facility for various sports teams, as well as a state of the art weight training facility. It is beautiful and very impressive and overlooks the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains.

Christ School is home to the the Greenies, a historic rivalry with Asheville School. “The Game” is the oldest prep school football rivalry in both North and South Carolina, dating back to 1911. The Fayssoux-Arbogast Trophy was created in 1971 for the football coaches at Christ School and Asheville Schools. Winning this trophy has come to represent the ultimate recognition between the two independent schools. Christ School won the game this weekend, October 30, 2021 by a score of 60 to 24.

Dennis is loving Christ School! He is excelling and getting praise from his teachers. He enjoyed his birthday with his parents this weekend, for the freshman parent weekend. Pam, Duke, and Dennis participated in a parent /son dinner with the other parent and students in his freshman class and he was able to spend personal time with both parents. It seems as though all is good in Dennis’s world! Dennis is my last grandson to grow up and make his way in the world. My prediction is that Dennis will be as scripture describes in Matthew 19:30, “So the last shall be first, and the first last: for many be called, but few chosen.” I do think Dennis is chosen!

Sadly we say goodbye to Bailey, Max, and Shepard. Max’s company said they could live in San Francisco, Atlanta, New York, or Austin because next year all employees will be going back into an office some of the time. Bailey and Max lived in San Francisco and did not want to move back there. They wanted a city that they felt was best for raising a family. They decided Austin was the best place to raise their family.

This was Shep when he found out he was going to be a big brother. In the second picture, Shep is telling his assistant gym teacher, who he loves, that he is going to be a big brother. This last picture Shep is listening to his mother telling him how important it is to share his toys with the new baby when he/she gets to be his age. Bailey and Max don’t treat Shep like a baby. They treat him as a person who will grow to be wise, loving, thoughtful, independent and responsible.

Bailey and Max love living in Austin. Their home is very near the park on Lake Austin where they take Bear, Teddy and Shep to play and launch the boat for a play day. Max is creating an office in the back yard, as so many young executives are doing who find themselves working from home. His office in the house is becoming the new baby’s nursery and the guest bedroom will becoming the au pair bedroom. She’ll arrive the first of December from the Netherlands.

The Au Pair I think will be very surprised at this little boy she’ll be in charge of because he will steal her heart. He’s so inquistive and wants to know everything about this great big world he looks at every day. As a baby, he pointed and looked at you until you gave him a name of what he was looking at. When he started to talk and pointed, some of his first words were, “what it is”.

Bailey and Max are great parents. From day one, Shepard became their primary interest and responsibility. They always make plans around his schedule of meal time and sleep time. They read stories to him at bedtime and sing “Winnie the Poo” to put him to sleep. They rigged up a way for him to wash his hands and dishes in his wooden kitchen sink and he cuts up fruit for his afternoon snack which he puts in and gets from his refrigerator. I could sit and watch Shep all day long running from one activity to another. He doesn’t walk, he runs everywhere like if he does’t he’ll miss something. He loves cars and trucks! As we drove around the Austin, he called out when he saw a white car, “Mimi car”, black trucks were, “Dad Dad’s truck”. One day he actually had me driving a white Lamborghini. Yeh Shep! He can point out a backhoe, bull dozer, dump truck, etc. The funniest thing is his favorite, an excavator, which he can’t pronounce so he call it an “Ackibar” and is so excited when he sees one.

Bailey has started a new business! Shs is already having to find staff to help with her growing business

https://www.baileyroseevents.com

Shep will be two years old on November 17th, The new baby will be born any time from now until November 6th. I can’t wait to see if it will be a girl or a boy! Shep and I think it is a “girl” I’ll let you know so keep tuning in. Life is sooooo good for those who choose to live it wisely!

Not me, but my granddaughter, “Katy” has gone to New York. She is a talented, vivacious, beautiful shooting star! She got her “dream job” with the Morris Adjimi Architecture and Interior Design firm in New York. The firm works in commercial, hotel, luxury residential, museum, and landmarks. She is pictures here, with whom I think, is her “dream Man” Kosta. He is also in Architecture working for Piero Lissoni who has offices in Milan and New York and develops projects worldwide in the fields of architecture, product design, graphics and visual communication; whatever that means. 

Katy and Kosta are enjoying being in the same city and having jobs they love. They love riding bikes, shopping, and the wonderful restaurants; they simply love this city. Katy is living in a very unique development called Stuytown. It’s located between East Village and Gramercy running from 14th street to 23rd street. On Manhattan’s East Side it runs between 1st & Ave. C. This is the greener side of downtown and Katy says it is simply the best place to be living. **See pictures below.

“Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village, sometimes shortened to Stuytown is a very unique place in the middle of New York City. The complex consists of 110 red brick apartment buildings on an 80 Acres tract of outdoor space and is a large post-World War II private residential development. In Stuyvesant Town there are a lot of bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and parks and is patrolled by the 13th Precinct of the New York City Police Department. The complex has its own public safety force of 40 officers. They patrol the property in specialized vehicles. The community has its own newspaper, “Town & Village”, also known as “the T&V”. These are a few interesting facts about Stuytown. Oh it’s also rent controlled!

Jete’ and Tommy moved Katy and had her furniture delivered to New York. They got her settled in her apartment, spent a little time shopping where they discovered a store named “13 Crosby” in Soho.

Interesting food, beautiful flowers, and architecture are some of Katy’s favorite things. She will have the time of her life in New York and I’m sure she will also be successful in pursuing her career. Take a big bite of that “APPLE” Katy!