Snowing in Leiper's Fork

Although there was snow in the forecast, Becky and I headed to church yesterday and returned home to find a light dusting of snow on the ground.  Our Sunday School Christmas Party was at 6 pm so we enjoyed a leisurely afternoon watching the "light snow" forecasted by channel 4 weather getting heavier and heavier.  Just before we left for our 30 mile trek to Mt. Pleasant for the party, I called our elder, Jimmy, who assured us that the party was still on.  We drove two miles and could not see the road so drove back home and advised our host and hostess that we would not be able to attend.  We woke up this morning to 12 degrees and between 3 and 7 inches of snow on the ground and its officially not even winter.  We haven't heard much from Al Gore since last year.  I wonder why?

Picture from our front porch

Picture taken just after we returned from our failed trek to Mount Pleasant

Our home taken early this morning

Our dog, Belle, is in the middle of the picture

A Visit from Julianna

With twelve grandchildren (the 13th due in June), it is challenging to have one on one time with each of them but in October, Becky and I had a weekend visit from our granddaugher Julianna Warren (Katie and Matthew youngest child).  We had a great time with her and were reminded how precisous and truly a blessing children are from our Lord.

Julianna helping in Nonie's garden

Julianna is so proud of what she picked that she wanted a picture.  She is definitely a little country girl.

Having fun in the hay maze at Gentry's Pumpkin Farm

Julianna and Nonie (Becky).

Panama City Beach Trip 2010

Becky and I decided to do something in 2010 that we have not done in a very long time, and that is to take a vacation by ourselves.  So,  in October we headed to the white sandy beaches of Panama City Beach, FL and spent a week of swimming, walking, reading, eating and just plain relaxing. 

Becky and I on our evening walk with our condo in the background

We really had some amazing sunsets while we were there.

Becky after eating seven pounds of shrimp at Dirty Dicks Crab Shack.  The necklace was awarded to her for this outstanding accomplishment.

Becky enjoying life

We spent a lot of our time on the balcony just looking at the gulf.  We saw dolphins every morning and several stingrays. 

Sunflower Seeds

One of many lessons from this year's garden is the lack of waste we have experienced.  The garbage disposal is hardly used because of the compost pile and the leaves and grass clippings that had been driven to the landfill are now been added to the garden.  This year the garden yielded three volunteer sunflowers and Becky decided to harvest their seeds and now we have a bag of homegrown roasted sunflower seeds for the winter.  I just love living in the country.

The Last Rodeo - Brooks and Dunn

Shortly after moving to Middle Tennessee, Becky became a country music fan.  It was an amazing transformation to watch and even included a taste for beer.  My wife has become a country girl.  Last year, when she read that Brooks and Dunn were ending their 20 year career on September 2nd with their final concert in Nashville, I purchased tickets for this historic event.   We ate dinner downtown and were in our seats by 7:30 pm.  It was a great concert and Brooks and Dunn put on quite a show.  I normally can get bored at these types of events but not this one.  They sang one hit after another for three hours and when it was over, I thought it was intermission.  Reba McEntire was their guest and with them sang Cowgirls Don't Cry and they ended the evening singing Only in America with confetti and the U.S. Marines.  It doesn't get much better. 

Road Trip to in Charlottesville, VA

Becky and I drove to Charlottesville, VA this past weekend to visit Mimi Payne and enjoyed four great days of updating each other on our busy schedules.  We were able to worship at South Plains Presbyterian Church and see the evidence of their new building project.  Of course there was our traditional shopping day for groceries and a dinner out one evening but this visit had the added event of a PEO meeting that Becky and Mimi attended.  I was able to find a wifi connection in the upstairs library so caught up on email while they were attending the meeting.   Thanks Mom for a great visit.

Becky and Mimi ready for their PEO meeting

South Plains Presbyterian Church, Keswick, VA, Organized in 1819

The new construction project at South Plains Presbyterian Church

The sanctuary (my dad made the small Celtic cross)

My dad is buried in the South Plains Presbyterian Church cemetery behind the sanctuary

My Mom and I during dinner after worship

Labor Day at the Fish Lake House

Becky and I are enjoying our visit with Mimi Payne in Charlottesville, VA and will be driving home on Wednesday.  During Labor Day, we enjoyed our first stay at the Fish's Lake House at Center Hill Lake near Smithville, TN and had a great time boating and visiting.  Below are just a few pictures for a taste of our fun filled weekend.  Hopefully, later this week I will post some pictures of the Brooks and Dunn concert as well as our trip to VA.

Anna Blair



Mother of six showing her stuff

Leah and Josiah

Leah after showing us her knee boarding skills

Ruth showing her stuff (under protest)

Tim and Caleb showing the girls how knee boarding is supposed to be done.  Note: they wiped out shortly after this picture was taken.

The new Captain Fish

Tim on one ski.  His goal for the summer

The big room before the big sweep before our departure

Relaxing on the porch

The House on the hill

Nonie and Lydia