These Are The Good Old Days!

We went for a vacation to Doc Holiday cottage recently with some of our family members. Before everyone arrived I walked through to take some updated pictures since I recently fluffed the cottage with new pillows, etc. My eye landed on this window art by the late Leonard Miller that designer Jane Coslick commissioned as a gift to us when we completed work on our first Tybee cottage, Coral Cottage.

The sentiment on the window speaks of special places. Special moments in time. As I studied it I realized that our family was getting ready to create some special moments together and now, weeks later, they are cherished memories. 

Our family has been going to Tybee Island (Savannah, Georgia's beach) for four generations! We have a rogue's gallery of pictures at Doc Holiday cottage. There are photos of our grandparents...

Husband's grandparents on top right and my grandmother on bottom right with me and my sisters.

Photos of my husband and I as children with our parents...

Top row: My parents, me and my mom, me with my two sisters

Bottom picture: My husband, about 1 year old, with his parents by the pier

Then there are wonderful pictures of our family--our four kids and their beautiful families.

There's even a picture of our very first stay at Doc Holiday in which some of the grandchildren were packed up and excited for a day on the beach! We stopped for a quick photo to commemorate the occasion...

There are more grandchildren now--even one more to come in September. The oldest boy in the photo above just got his driver's license! Time certainly doesn't stand still! Those were the good old days--but these are the good old days too.

Tybee vacation 2019

Our family takes sandcastle building very seriously.

This is a reminder to all of us--especially to me.... Make great memories with your loved ones! Make them as often as possible. Plan for them in the future. One day they will be treasures that we can enjoy whenever we want just by remembering.

This photo of us with Jordan, Sarah, and grand puppy, Rafael  was taken at The Sassy Seagull, our other cottage that is just down the street from Doc Holiday.

Ready to make your own magical "good old days"? Need a place to make them happen? There are still a few summer weeks left for rentals at our cottages, Doc Holiday and Sassy Seagull. You can find available weeks here:

Doc Holiday cottage information available at  https://www.tybeecottages.com/booking/doc-holiday-cottage-at-304-second-avenue/1008-76786

Sassy Seagull cottage information available at

https://www.tybeecottages.com/booking/sassy-seagull-at-809-second-avenue/1008-133756

Favorite Things!

 Look at this face...

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This is our granddaughter Piper who is celebrating her third birthday today!  And yes, she is quite the character who keeps us all on our toes and frequently in stitches with her 

lively personality.

Saturday we celebrated her at a "Piper's Favorite Things" birthday party. Her mama did a photo shoot featuring Piper and some her most favorite things and created a beautiful invitation...

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Couldn't resist sharing this little lady on her special day. Piper, you're one of my favorite things, sweet girl! Happy Birthday!

A Love Story

When I married my husband, I also got the best mother-in-law in the world!  She welcomed me into her heart and home completely and after 41 years of being married to her son, I cannot recall her ever criticizing me even though I am sure I have disappointed her at times.  She always chose to encourage, forgive, and love.

Last Thursday she went home to heaven and oh how she will be missed!

Let me tell you her story--it's a love story.

Hilda Gattmann Patton aka Mema was born to Fritz and Josephine Gattmann--the beloved baby girl in a family with five kids.

She grew up to be a beautiful young woman.

Hilda fell in love with Henry Murriel Patton, the boy next door.  As children they used to rendezvous and talk through the hole in the backyard fence.

  Right after high school graduation toward the end of World War II, Murriel enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was stationed across the country in California.  He flew home to take 

Hilda as his bride.

Hilda set up her first home in Navy housing, a quonset hut.  They were a happy couple.

After Murriel fulfilled his commitment to the Navy they went back home to settle in Savannah, Georgia.  Murriel began working for the telephone company and they started their family...

Henry, Jr., Eleanor, Jeffery...

and Anita and Dorothy...

Hilda and Murriel worked hard to provide for their family and theirs was a happy home.  The years passed and the kids grew up, married and then grandchildren began to arrive...

The heartbreak of Hilda's life came when her dear husband Murriel died.  She was a 

one-man woman and when asked if she would ever date again, she said that she didn't plan to...the only way she would consider dating again would be if she could date Murriel.

The family continued to grow and now there are 15 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren with 2 more due by the end of the year!

This picture of grands and great-grands was taken at Hilda's 80th birthday party in 2009.

The last few years Hilda has battled health problems.  Her family has been by her side through it all until last Thursday she left her earthly life for an everlasting one in heaven.  We trust that she received a joyful welcome from her parents, siblings, and especially from her beloved Murriel!  I feel sure she also heard "Well done, My good and faithful servant," from her God as her faith has now become sight.

We were blessed to have her for so long and we will, we do sorely miss her!  She lived a life of love--a great legacy.

Tips For Feeding A Crowd!

Our yearly family reunion was held at Tybee Island earlier in the summer.  Years ago when we began this traditional vacation there were six of us--now there are eighteen with one more on the way in a few months!  And this year my sister Crystal joined the party!

We wanted to have maximum fun...

...with minimum fuss.

These are some things we did that worked well for us...

• Divide and conquer.  There are lots of ways to divide up the work but after talking it over together, everyone in our group decided that each family (or team of two families) would be responsible for one meal--from grocery shopping, cooking, through to clean up.  Then they could relax and enjoy the other meals guilt-free when it was someone else's turn.  Crystal (my sister who joined us this year) is a great cook and she was in for helping out too.

• Plan ahead.  We discussed and settled on menus before leaving for vacation and decided on a schedule so everyone knew what to expect and could bring anything needed from home along with them--or research which restaurant to call!  This also helped us avoid duplicating each other's meal plans.

• Keep it simple.  Don't be overly ambitious.  Select an easy menu to prepare (unless you love to cook and don't mind spending the day in the kitchen.)  Disposable plates, cups, napkins and eating utensils make clean-up easy and you can be quite creative with all of the choices of colors and designs.  

• Frills only if it is fun. I love to decorate--for me it is part of the fun. I bought some red tablecloths (easy care inexpensive ones on Amazon) and changed out the toppers plus added a few inexpensive props to make our mealtimes together more festive--totally not important but it is fun for me.  Only do the "extras" that add to the fun for you--skip anything else that drains you of energy.    

• Assemble-it-your-way meals work well with large groups.  In our group we have vegetarians, meat-and-potatoes-only eaters, seafood lovers, seafood haters, gluten-free dieters, dairy-free dieters, Paleo dieters, etc.  Planning meals is pretty tough. We opted for meals such as a taco bar with a variety of options that allowed each person to customize.  Some other ideas:  Skewer your own shish kebobs offering meat and veggies as you like it or......Pasta night with sauce (meatballs option for meat lovers), salad, and bread---and yes, they make gluten-free pasta.

• Order take-out.  My husband is fond of saying that I cook the best take-out in town.  When our kids were growing up and had after-school activities that took me away from the house all afternoon we would sometimes (all right often times) resort to picking up all or part of the meal at a local restaurant.  Some of the kids chose to forgo cooking altogether when it was their turn and ordered take-out Chinese food or pizzas and salad--I guess it reminded them of mom's "home cooking"...ha! 

• Splurge for one fun evening in a restaurant.  If the budget permits, go out to eat and enjoy some of the local cuisine.  I like to factor this kind of a treat into the vacation budget when I am making plans.  In this case we walked to a nearby seafood spot that had land-lover options....not fancy but good.

Here are a few shots of our fun evenings.  Maybe they will be idea starters for you...

Mexican night hosted by Kristen, James and Crystal with chips, guacamole, and ingredients to build your own taco plus rice and beans.

I had sombreros in my party stash from a party I gave a while back.  They came in handy as a way to serve tortilla chips.

Chinese Take-out night hosted by Jonathan and Lisa and Tom and Meghan

I found this cool Chinese dragon on Amazon--it was inexpensive but looked like a million bucks in adding to the ambience!  

This dinner was also a celebration for Jonathan and Tyler who share a birthday....There was a delicious strawberry birthday cake and ice cream for dessert---Yum!

Memorial Day meal....Burgers and boiled shrimp with corn on the cob, 

baked beans, red rice, and coleslaw.

Same red tablecloths with red-checkered toppers and red, white, and blue all-American colors in honor of Memorial Day.  If you substitute white instead of blue napkins you would be ready for Italian night.

We were staying at three different cottages so each night we asked everyone to gather on the patio at Doc Holiday to visit until the final touches were put on the meal...this particular evening my brother Bill and his family joined us.

After we asked the blessing everyone served their plates and chowed down!  The beach always makes you hungry--why is that?

Toward the end of the week our numbers dwindled since some of our group had to leave early.  Jordan, Sarah, and Crystal found a pizza place at Tybee that had a gluten-free pizza option and they ordered delivery of several pizzas and salad according to the requests of  the remaining family.  We swam at the pool and ate informally on the screened porch--it was such fun and so relaxing that I forgot to take pictures!

How do you do things when you have to feed a crowd?  Any versatile menu suggestions?  Any do's or don't's that work for you?  Other pointers?  I'm up for ideas!  Please share. (Facebook friends please share here on the blog so everyone can benefit from your ideas.)

Family Reunion Time!

A few years ago when our kids were still under our care but living separate lives in different towns and at different schools and colleges we began planning a yearly vacation to get everyone together in one place so we could re-connect. 

As time passed our kids met sweethearts and got married...

Then precious babies began to join the family...

And that old saying became very true for us...the days are long but the years are short.

Eight grandchildren later and we're still making time at the beginning of each summer for this family ritual....it's more important now than ever that we continue the tradition of yearly family gatherings to facilitate family bonding.

Time to share thoughts...

Time to play and have fun together...

Time to make discoveries and share the wonders of nature...

To eat together...

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...and laugh together.

Time to make some fun memories that will keep everyone close when we 

part to go home...

And I ask you, how else are the children going to get to know crazy Uncle Jordan and Auntie Sarah who live several states away?

Time.  Yes, we need time.

But it is challenging to pull it all off once you grow from one family into five.  How do you plan for a lot of people and do it for a reasonable budget with the work shared?  I've been talking to friends to learn what they do and next time I'd like to share what we did.  

Do you do a family vacation?  If so, please share any tips you have for making it a good time.  I'm still learning.