Garrett, Nathan and Corbin

For almost 5 years we lived in a very small town in Mississippi. We were involved with a tightly knit church family while there and became friends with lots of different people. Our church family took care of us in many different ways and was always ready to lend a helping hand. Some of our closest friends to this day are people from Grenada, Mississippi. The Hill family has a special place in our hearts. Ted became one of my closest friends and his wife, Monica, became a special friend to Benay as well during our time in Mississippi. It's a relationship that even though 5-6,000 miles separate us and we only get to see each other every other year, it feels like we were just with them yesterday. They are special to our family.

Garrett's BEST friends are the ones he made Mississippi. He has tons of great friends here but he still talks about 2 boys from Grenada that are his best buddies. It's funny, but we moved away from Mississippi when Garrett was only 4 years old and have been back for very short visits since then but he has never forgotten his buddies Nathan and Corbin.

Here is a photo of them when we (Corbin's dad Jason) and I took them to a Memphis Grizzlies NBA game in 2002. From left to right is Corbin, Nathan and Garrett.

And a photo of them after the game. I'm assuming we took them on St. Patrick's day as noted by the transformation into leprachauns.

Here is a photo of Garrett and Nathan last year on our furlough. Corbin has since moved to another state and so it has become harder and harder to get to see him.

Here is Benay with Monica.

Me and Ted.

When my parents were here in January, Garrett sent a package back with them to be sent to Nathan. It was filled with Brasilian goodies.

A couple of weeks ago Nathan returned the favor and sent Garrett a package. You need to understand that when Benay and I get something from the states it is a really good day. When the kids get something just for them......it's Christmas. The opening dragged on a little bit as Garrett wanted to savor every moment as he got the package as soon as he got home from school. He began the process in the kitchen:

But then moved to the den and asked for some knife help to open the package.

The first thing he got was a hand written note from Nathan.Unfortunately we had to take a break and go eat lunch (kids only go to school a half day here). It was one of the fastest lunches Garrett ever ate and he was soon back to opening the box. He got a Tennessee Vols cap.
Some flavored marshmallows............and some Dr. Pepper (now it's Christmas for me!). I think Ted put this in for me as a special "remember the good ole days" present. Ted and I used to work together. We used to go jogging and sometimes rode bikes together. I think the exercise was an excuse to feed our other habit.......drink Dr. Pepper together. Some mornings we would start our day off with Dr. Pepper and biscuits, honey buns, or insert your favorite artery clogging food here. Some days we had to stay late to see patients or work on paper work and we, of course, used Dr. Pepper to help us cope with the late hours. Anyway, as you can tell from his face in the picture, Garrett has inherited his dad's love for DP. We were all happy with Garrett's presents. I said earlier that Garrett's BEST friends are the ones he made in Mississippi. I don't think our family as a whole has any better friends than these. We love you guys!(most of our family with the Hill family - Ted, Monica, Cody, Nathan and Erin)