This past weekend I attended a fencing meet at my alma mater Binghamton University and I have to say that I didn't perform as well as I think I could have. With that said, I still had a blast. There's something wonderful about spending time with people who share the same love for the sport of fencing. Fencing speaks to me on a primal level. It speaks to my senses. I love the sound of blades clashing and watching fencers in motion. I even love the smell of fencing equipment. Hold on. Let me re-phrase that. I love the smell of relatively clean fencing equipment. During the tournament, I sat down and chatted with a fellow fencer, named Tom who I hadn't seen since the Spring.  We started talking about how it is now to fence as opposed to when we were younger. Another friend of mine puts it best, "The body ain't like it used to was." We're not as fast or flexible as we used to be. Tom shared a real gem with me. He talked about his own personal fencing g

David Sampson Close up of an image courtesy of the New Bern-Craven County Public library. "Hey Andrea. Camp Bryan, isn't that where one of your ancestors was from or something? You have that picture, don't you? Or I've seen it somewhere on your blog or from your research?"  I peeked my head around the corner from the kitchen, pausing from making dinner. My husband was watching Antiques Roadshow and they were featuring items that were linked to Babe Ruth onscreen. One of the items happened to be a hunting picture. Babe Ruth posed leaning against a car with the animals he had killed resting on top of it. You'll can view the episode of Antiques Roadshow here . If you are new to my blog then I should explain that I have a distant connection to Babe Ruth. That connection is through my 2nd great grand uncle David Sampson of Riverdale, NC. You can read more about David in these posts: Dave Sampson a True Riverdale Character --Part one Dave Sampson a

Okay, so you might not have worded it that way, but if you've been by recently to visit you might have thought uhhh...Where's the genealogy?  Sigh. Life gets busy sometimes y'all. School starts. Kids get settled in with their sports and practice schedules. I've taken on more responsibility at the Fencing Club I'm a part of. Then there's the decluttering process with the house that still going on. Yadayadaya. Genealogy, I've had to put on pause.  However, it hasn't been a complete pause. With all this stuff going on, I've actually figured out a couple of DNA connections that are kind of exciting. Just have to find the time to write about them.  So if you can bear with me a little longer, I'll have some posts out soon. 

Okay let's face it. He's going to be taller than me by next year. Sigh. How did my little peanut turn into this handsome young man so fast. He started middle school this year. He was a little nervous which made me of course a little nervous but once I saw him emerge from the school bus on his return home from school, all my worries faded away.  And then there's this young lady. She is blooming. She's so much more confidant than she was last year. I think she's going to have a great year. My family is growing up. Okay, yes technically it is now Sunday but I started this post on Saturday so that counts for something.   :)

Sometimes, I like taking pictures of the family when they are unaware of me doing it. Very thankful to have had the chance to capture these pictures while we were away in July. If you missed Part One click here .