One life ends, Another begins...

This was the last picture I took with Pop
when I last saw him in 2007.

It is with a bittersweet tone that I say good-bye to my amazing great-grandfather Pop. He lived to be one hundred and five years old. He lived a grand life and saw many great things in our country from the span of 1905 to 2010. It's amazing that he passed away on Jesus's birthday too! I feel so blessed to have known him for so much of my life. I will never forget how he helped me with my high school history project. He spent more than an hour giving me the exact lineage as to my relation to Stone Wall Jackson himself. I will also never forget how he called me a hottie over the phone when he said that Matthew should take care of me since he was with a "hottie." I love you Pop. You will be dearly missed, but I know you are now resting with the Great One in heaven!

It is with great joy that I announce the birth of my

nephew, Easton Kelly Shans! He arrived two days before Christmas surprising us all by his early arrival. He is healthy and wonderful while his parents are trying to adjust to his magnificent gaseous tendencies. It's crazy that something so loud and odorous could come out of someone so small.

In any event, Matthew and I had a wonderful time visiting family, holding sweet baby Easton, and checking out the city of Louisville during our extended Christmas holiday. It really seems like Jesus's birthday lasts longer every year. I'm not complaining though!

I can't wait to see Easton in just another week or so down here in Atlanta. Maybe the gas will have subsided a bit by then. :)