Carolina on my mind

I just got back from visiting family in North Carolina. I've learned a thing or two about my family. Let me give you the rundown...

Asheville

This is my Grandma Dougherty...
She and Grandpa Dougherty were visiting Aunt Monica and Uncle Dave in Asheville at the same time we were. Grandma Dougherty will let me get away with anything... case in point with the drool running down her arm. However she seems to have this quality that makes people want to tease her. I don't know... maybe it's the fact that she turns a peaceful hike in the woods into a comedy routine where there are special "Margie" traps around every corner that everyone else seems immune to...

This is my Grandpa Dougherty...
He likes Afghanistan and speaks Farsi. He has lots of friends who are refugees from Afghanistan. Here's his blog if you want to check it out. He also likes to say funny words like "blinkadator" and "bumbershoot." I'm not sure what bumbershoot means, but I think I did it in my diaper.

This is my Aunt Monica...
She's a free spirit. She cares much more about stopping and smelling the roses than completing daily tasks like,... oh... moving into a new house. That can wait. There are hikes to go on, rhododendrons to find and waterfalls to slide down. She's an ER nurse and has all kinds of crazy stories about the ways people hurt themselves. She's traveled all over the world and speaks Thai, Russian and kitchen spanish. And she doesn't like authority. She gives me lots of kisses.

This is my Uncle Dave...
He talks a lot. And he's very sentimental. I guess he can't get rid of his old t-shirts until they literally fall off because he values all the memories he's had while wearing them. And even then, he can't throw them away. He retires them to a box. I guess sometimes he visits the box and talks with his t-shirts about their days following the Greatful Dead and Phish when he looked like the unibomber.

This is Sakhi...
Sakhi is Grandma and Grandpa Dougherty's exchange student from Afghanistan. Here he just got done sliding down a waterfall with Daddy when this picture was taken. Sakhi likes soccer. He likes all sports, really, but he really likes soccer. Sakhi just went back to Afghanistan. I hope I get to see him again. He was fun to be around.



Durham

This is my Grandma Gensic...
She loves me lots and lots but I don't get to see her very much. She just got her gallbladdder out and is getting a much deserved chance to rest while recovering. (Her boss works her like a dog.) She took me to the ocean. More on that later. Grandma likes flowers, but especially irises. Grandma Rohrs says she's a dare-devil when on a tube at the lake.

This is Grandpa Gensic...
He is an artiste. He's funny and comes up with all sorts of silly ideas. He likes riding his motorcycle and he likes going to breakfast. So needless to say he likes riding his motorcycle to breakfast. Here he is with one of his paintings. Anyone want to buy some? He's looking to sell... Here are a couple more.

This is my sweet Aunt Katy...
She's really cool and amazingly gifted. She came home with us from North Carolina, so I get to see her a lot right now. I'm glad about that because she's going to be done with high school in a year and then who knows what she'll do or where she'll go. She went water skiing the other day with us at the lake and got up on her first try! I love my Aunt Katy.

I'm still waiting for Grandma to send me a photo of me and Najia.
Najia is from Afghanistan and has been in the US two years now. It would be very dangerous for Najia if she were to return to Afghanistan. Najia really likes me and I like her, too. She was teaching me how to say hello and count to 5 in Farsi while I was with her. I hope I get to see her a lot more.