The Arnold Family

Some of my favs

2011-12-30T07:34:00.001-05:00

STILL HERE!

2011-11-30T05:39:00.001-05:00

This is just RIDICULOUS! I'm here and have been, just busy or babysitting!!!
I'll post a HUGE post this weekend, when I'm home. All is well!!!!
Joan

Present and accounted for!

2011-10-22T11:31:00.002-04:00

I'm here! Just got ANOTHER new phone and I'm keeping this one. I LOVE the IPhone 4S!!!
Anyways....more news to come soon!!!!
All is well-
Joan

Video

2011-09-25T08:01:00.004-04:00

I'm adding this on here so HOPEFULLY, Ashley can see it on her boat. I emailed it to her and she couldn't receive it. I put it on Youtube, she couldn't view it. SOOO, lastly, I'm adding it here. WHO KNOWS! Maybe she can view it here. She can't get Facebook on her boat either. WOW!!!

ASHLEY! I hope you can view it because it's PRECIOUS!!!

We love and miss you!!!!

Infant and Tierras!

2011-09-23T19:38:00.001-04:00

Not really. I had the best time with her while Britt was at work! Tee hee!

Our Squishy Lily

2011-09-20T06:06:00.001-04:00

See!

I'm back...'cept I didn't go anywhere!

2011-09-19T08:51:00.003-04:00

But my brain did! I have been in total baby-bliss as I knew I would. Lily has completely, totally and happily taken over our entire universe. It's like a huge bubble has settled over our family and we are perfectly content to stay inside it, only to venture out to work or go to Wal-Mart. hee!!

Now, it's time to stretch the bubble out and poke my head thru and get back to reality. It's been nice tho!!

Let's see what all has happened during my sabbatical. Mom, after walking around in extreme pain for 3 weeks, learned that her hip was fractured. She had surgery and is now home recouping. Dad has been inspirational in his care for Mom. I have been SOOOO blessed to have him as a Dad and also my wonderful father-in-law in my life. It's a complete puzzlement to me how apples can fall so far from trees, but they do! Nuff said.

What else....MY BABY GIRL ASHLEY is doing SOOOOO good! She's happy, in love and happy. She's also very far from home. She will be home for a visit coming up and will be bringing "The One" home with her. "The One" is Jonathan. His family lives in Chicago and he has absolutely made my baby happier than I've ever seen her. I believe he is very happy too. We haven't met him...yet...and I hope he likes us! hee!! We are very southern, which should never be confused with ignorant. We are Southern in every sense of the word. Ash told me Jonathan went and bought a book on.... Southern etiquette. For one, I didn't know we had any. Or where it came from, cuz we don't know nothin' about it! HAAAAAAAAAAAA!! I hope he leaves his book at home. I will say, Britt's boyfriend and Court's fiance (more about that in a sec...) can't WAIT to spend some time with him. I think they've begun making plans. I don't ask any questions.

Britt (and I'm saving Court for last on purpose) is doing wonderful! She is a wonderful, beautiful Mom and Mike and I are beyond proud of her. The smiles that Lily has when she looks up at Britt says it all. I have never seen a baby look more like her mother, than Lily. And Summer's (cousin) daughter Alex to Summer. Anyways, Lily-Belles is a very happy, content, squishy baby! Her boyfriend Brandon has been like a miracle! He loves Britt and Lily and is so content to spend evening with them doing nothing but staring at Lily! His family has been so gracious to Britt and Lily and we are so SO lucky to witness their budding relationship!

Courtney, last Friday, became engaged to Dillon! If Mike and I could have hand-picked Courtney's life-mate, we couldn't have even come close to Dillon. He cherishes Courtney and she him. They aren't all sloppy with each other, but respectful, thoughtful and happy with each other. Dillon reminds me of Dad and also of my father-in-law. Quiet and content to let their women shine! hee

he also can pick a guitar, laugh, work, plan, console and sing! OK...I'm done gushing over Dilly-Bar (that's what I like to call him!!) They don't plan on marrying for a couple of years. Court's neck deep in her pursuit of a Radiology degree and Dillon is working at the Fire Department and getting settled in his new career.

Court's 20th birthday was Friday and of COURSE we had a party!

Yup! Both in the same day! My Aunt Aurelia made Court's cake and it was so cute and delicious!!

Ashley had ordered her a clock and she opened it at the party.

She got her and Dillon's favorite movie...(notice her engagement ring...)

and she got a laptop and much needed software for school...Dad captured her face as she first saw it!

HAAAAA!!!!!

Now, on to Lily.

Here is Lillie holding Lily...

I've never witnessed a relationship that Lillie (Grandma T.) has with Lily. Sr. loves Jr... Jr. loves Sr. Period.

look at Sr.'s face as I take over....

Pure worship!

I'm sure I've left out many events in our lives, but these are some of the highlights.

OHHHHHHHHH....I also became a convert and proud owner of....

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I love it! Mom got one too! Ashley will get one when she comes home so we can Facetalk!!!!

Gotta go feed Lily-O's!!!

More soon!

Joan and herd

Still here!

2011-09-15T15:13:00.001-04:00

I'll be posting a ton very soon! Don't give up!

Aunt Rheba

2011-08-14T09:38:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, Aunt Rheba and her daughter Lisa came down to visit and see Lily. We all had the best time and it was so SO wonderful seeing them!

We visited awhile, then we all went out to eat at Longhorn.

That's Mom, Aunt Rheba and Dad. Lisa sat beside me on one side and Brandon on the other with Britt and Lily on the other side of him. I didn't get any pics of them!

Here's Dad....

I want to say here that he made us all a Banana Pudding to take home and mine was the biggest and the bestest! It was SOOO good and a work of art!

This morning, before I sat down to blog this, I had laid Lily down to sleep. I HAD to take this picture of her asleep. She sleeps ALOT, so I don't have alot of pics of her awake yet.

We love her SO much!!!!

Also, Mike's Grandma Terry finally finished Lily's quilt. She hand embroidered it, mostly hand sewed it and hand quilted it.

The picture here looks nice, but to see it in person and really study it, you see how intricate her stitches are and appreciate the time she put into this.

It's a keepsake Lily will always have and will be treasured by all of us!

Here is a picture of Dillon and Brandon taken recently. I can't wait for Ashley to come home with her boyfriend so I can get a picture of the 3 of them!

Brandon's the one with his mouth full of DIP! whatev.

Welp, that's it for the moment. Let me go so I can see what else this day will hold and possibly get more pictures of!

More soon-

Joan

MY turn!

2011-08-02T08:24:00.002-04:00

Today, I'm off work, the girls have gone fishing with the boys and I'm loving up Lily!

She's asleep in her crib and I had to grab my camera for this picture...

HAVE YOU EVER IN YOUR LIFE! Her little hands just get me!

More soon!

Joan

Nashville 2011

2011-08-01T04:29:00.002-04:00

As I had mentioned earlier, Court, Dillon and Mike went to Nashville for Court to audition for The Voice. The audition was brief and didn't pan out. I'm not quite sure what they were looking for, but it wasn't quality!

It was Dillon's first time in Nashville and Mike really enjoyed showing him the highlights of the city.

After the audition, the three enjoyed all the sights and sounds that Nashville had to offer. Court even was able to sing around town and everyone loved her.

Here Court is headed to her audition at like, 5am.

Here Dillon is checking out "E" as his fans love to call him...

"E" was EVERYWHERE!

They went to Ernest Tubb's

went by Tootsie's

and the back alley that so many of the country stars used to get from the Ryman auditorium to Tootsie's back in the day...

Court left her mark in Nashville!

and got to sing with the band at Nashville Palace. Alot of the band members here play for some of the big stars during tour season.

They went to the Country Music Hall of Fame...

You can find all the pics here....

https://picasaweb.google.com/112298489614175847253/Nashville72011#

Even tho Court didn't make it onto The Voice, they had a great time and will DEFINITELY go back!

More soon!

Joan

The Tadpole for Grandma Terry's 93rd Birthday!!!

2011-08-01T04:24:00.003-04:00

Can you believe she's 93!

I lost count as to how many family showed up, but it was a bunch!

And of course, Lily!

I think everyone got to hold her.

It was a great evening and great food!

Here are all the pictures from that night...

https://picasaweb.google.com/112298489614175847253/Tadpole

More soon!

Joan

News.

2011-07-30T09:29:00.005-04:00

DON'T FORGET...if you want to keep viewing my blog, send me your email address so you can get an invite. A few more days and you won't be able to view it. I received a few address already.

Yesterday, Court auditioned for The Voice and didn't get in. Apparently, neither did ALOT of other fantastic singers. OH well, their loss. All I know is she handled it very well, and their isn't a parent alive more proud of her babies than this one!

SPEAKING of babies, I don't have any recent (the last day or two) pics to add on here because Mike took my big camera with them to Nashville. So, I'll put this on here...

I put one similar to this one on here a few days ago, but this picture is so stinking cute!

Britt is doing SOOO good and so is the baby.Ash is gone from Seattle to return back this fall. She's doing really good too, but is pretty homesick. NOT because of us, but for the baby. I know how hard it is on her and I will SOOO make up for it when she comes home. I'll feed her and smooch all over her till she can't MOVE! We love her beyond the moon and back!Welp, let me go. We're trying out cloth diapering and I need to refresh my memory as to how it works. I cloth diapered ours for periods of time....depending on how much money we had that pay period. Mike was in the Air Force and we was PO, baby! Poor but happy!

More soon!

Joan

An afternoon in the life of....

2011-07-26T10:11:00.003-04:00

It's time to get to business here. I am making my blog private for various reasons and I hate to do it. Anyways, if you want to view my blog, send me an email with your email address (gmail preferably) and I'll grant you access. Even if I don't personally know you and you've enjoyed my blog, PLEASE send me a request!

This blog started out to be for family and friends and other family's who related to us, to view and that's what it's still for. I don't think it's necessary for computer hackers in China, Taiwan and other countries to read about my family or what Ashley's doing in the Coast Guard.

My loyal readers, friends and family, PLEASE feel free to email me a request! My email address is JoanSC@charter.net.

I'll give it a couple weeks, then it's private!

NOWWWWWWWWWWWW.......

HAVE YOU EVER!

She is SOOOO YUMMY! SQUISHY! SMOOCHY! She has just captured our souls! Can you tell!

Yesterday, she decided to go to the bathroom as only baby's can do...

Not much left to say about THAT picture! hee

It's been so much fun to watch everyone interact with her. Even the dogs have gone crazy!

So, yesterday, Mike decided it was time for her to get a swing. I don't know WHY because she's perfectly happy in our arms or in her crib or pack and play. BUT, a swing she got.

Notice how happy and content she looks in it! NOT!! We all sat around it and watched her squirm and wiggle. She stayed in it MAYBE 3 minutes. To be held once again by....

She is certainly going to be a well socialized little girl!

SOOooo....what else is going on around here....

Ashley finally made it to land and we SKYPED last night! That has got to be the coolest program in the universe. She got to see all of us and we saw how beautiful she is as we talked in real time. This has become my most treasured program on my puter EVER! Her ship pulls back out today, but when she make land fall again and finds a WiFi spot, we SKYPING BABY!

I have been off work alot lately and I has discovered the hospital can indeed run just fine without me! WHAAA!!!!!! I think I like this!

Courtney, Mike and Dillon are leaving Thursday for Nashville where Courtney is auditioning for THE VOICE. They are so excited to go, but Mike has already started missing the baby. I'll keep y'all informed on how it goes out there.

That's about it unless you want me to add another 500 pics of the baby! ha

It's Granny Terry's 93rd birthday this week, so we're all going to the Tadpole tomorrow night for supper. It will be the baby's first outting and it's only fitting that it be to celebrate her namesakes birthday! YES, I will take loads of pics! : )

I go back to my guitar lesson today after 3 weeks off. I haven't picked my guitar up except to move it. I gotta get back on it!

More soon!

Joan

Happiness!

2011-07-22T08:46:00.002-04:00

Isn't she just beautiful! Britt is doing great and so is the baby!

Here are Lily's boots -

HAVE YOU EVER??!!

This is Lily getting bored...

and Lily when we showed her the bottle...

She had company yesterday...her cousins!

Here's Lauren with her...

and her "Uncle" Alex...

She sure is popular!

OH...I've decided to learn a lullibie on my guitar and play it for her! My creativity knows no bounds! It will be sweet!

That's it for this morning...more soon!

Joan

The BIG even has OCCURED!!!!!

2011-07-19T08:29:00.002-04:00

YUP! Little Lily Arnold has arrived and we've just lost our minds in her!

Mom and baby are doing great! Harley too!

Court has just fallen head over heels for her...

I don't have to tell you all how MUCH Grandma Terry (who Lily was named after) loves her!

Deanna does too!

Between Dad and I, we have taken well over 500 pictures and video! ha

Here we are headed across the street for some supper...

Did you see how great Britt looks!

See!

Grandma Terry rocks her every second she gets...

Here is my Dad holding her....GREAT Grandpa! hee

Here all the Grandma's are...

Here is Mike's Mom and Grandma...

and Mike's Dad...

Here is 5 generations...

I'm wanting everyone to get purty'd up here soon so I can get a good picture of them. I will of course, be the photographer! ha

I'm going to be photographing Lily today. I want to get some creative pictures of her. She looks SOOO much like me, it's just phenomenal!

Sorry it took so long to post these! It's hard work helping take care of a baby AND her mother AND everything else!

More soon-

Joan

ZZzzzz.....

2011-07-11T04:56:00.002-04:00

STILL WAITING. One thing I'm not waiting on is my vacation to begin. I'm taking a couple weeks off work so spend with Britt and the baby. NO baby yet tho.

We DO have a new addition to our family and his name is Pep! Court officially became his Mommy over the weekend. He's the horse in the pics below. She's SOOO excited to start really working with him and whipping him into shape!

That's it for the moment. I know this is short, but I will have loads and LOADS of pics and news to put on here very soon!

Joan

NOOOO News. yet.

2011-06-28T10:13:00.004-04:00

We are anxiously on stand by for any sign of the impending birth. Nothing. Zippo. Yawn....ZZzzz....

Britt sneezed the other day and we all collectively jumped up and headed towards the door before we realized it was a sneeze. Geeeze.

So, what are we doing besides cooking and cleaning and preparing for the blessed event?

getting to know PEP!

If you scroll down a bit, you'll see I put him on here with Rhett leading him and Connie the Mule and Connie's Mama in a pasture. Well, Pep, is now at Dillon's ranch for a month or so while Court decides if she wants him. So far, so good!

See him smiling while he chews on straw while working out! A very VERY happy horse, of course! hee

We've also been staring at Britts ever expanding belly!

She has 14 days left. Of course, if she wants to come earlier than that, that's perfectly fine with all 35 of us waiting!

I also got me a bread machine and I've been whipping out some fanTABulous breads! What I've decided tho is it's MUCH cheaper to make your own quality bread than to buy it. Now, Wal-mart sells a loaf of white for .88 cents a loaf. I ain't talking about that. I'm talking about Panara Bread quality stuff. I gotta do something to pass the time!!!

Welp, that's about it. My lone 'mater plant is still kicking with a lone tomato on it. pitiful.

Gotta go!

More soon!

Joan

Remiss....

2011-06-20T05:30:00.002-04:00

SOOO sorry to everyone for not updating more often. Busy is no excuse! Thanks to Dad who has taken pics of everything we have done, I have pictures!

Here is a picture of Dillon's birthday party Courtney threw for him.

Court made him this cake from scratch using Connie's recipe. It was beyond fabulous...

HA!

Here is Courtney with her two favorite guys...

of course if there's a guitar sitting around, I gotta play....

and Dillon and his parents were AMAZED with my skills!

Then Silker and Courtney entertained...

Mom enjoyed....

ALSO...Brittany's boyfriend Brandon graduated and his family threw him a huge party at the Fire department where he works...

Here we are...that's me in the middle! hee

Here is Brandon with his Aunt, I believe...

Also, was Britt's birthday party. Here are a few pictures of the baby's stuff and family...

Awww....I LOVE her crib set!

Here are the family....

Dad didn't get any pics of Mom and him. I took some pictures too, but I haven't loaded them up yet.

Welllll, that's it for the moment. I have to get ready for work this morning. This week, I have my guitar lesson, Britt's OB appt., work and finalizing prep for the baby to come home. I hope to take some pictures of it! (at least I TRY!)

More soon-

Joan

HOT!

2011-06-06T05:35:00.002-04:00

The sun is TERRIBLE here in the south. My poor tomato plant is holding on, barely. I've been told to water it only in the late afternoons, which I've been doing. I'll take a picture of it tonight when I water it. It's still dark outside this morning. I'm gonna take my guitar outside and a lounge chair and then I'm going to pick it a tune to perk it up. I'll try anything. I MAY put an unbrella up over it to help shade it.

This weekend was spent not doing alot. TOO HOT. I still prefer the summer over our winters here in the south. Our winter temps. are cold and humid, so the coldness gets into your bone! REALLY!

Well, as you can tell, no pictures today. I just rechecked to see if maybe the girls added any to picasa, but they didn't either. I'll think of something creative to capture and share it!

More soon-

Joan

THE Horse part 2.

2011-05-31T07:51:00.005-04:00

Welp, due to circumstances, Court was unable to get the horse yesterday. Dillon's Mama was riding her horse, Peanut, Saturday in an "Extreme Competition" and Peanut accidentally threw her. She has a broken collarbone and bruised ribs. MISERY!!!! So, Court talked to her Uncle Rhett, and they're gonna wait a couple weeks to get the horse. I can't imagine the pain Angie is going through, but she's so driven with her horses, she'll be back together in no time at all!!

I'm finally off for a few days today. I had to work the entire Memorial Day weekend and I was beyond ready to get off work. Court sang at two separate events over the weekend... Let me add here that Dad took most of the pictures because I was at FREAKING WORK. The quality of his photos is improving somewhat.

The second event was held at a wall that our city put up to honor our veterans. Dad has his name on it too!

LARRY E. MCCAULEY.

He's a retired Navy submariner and yes he's heard every joke ever said about that! hee....like, "a hundred men go down in a sub., and 50 couples come back up"! tee hee. There's loads more, but I can't put them on here. : )

Here is a pic of Courtney singing there....

and here the fam is waiting on something...I wouldn't know because I was AT FREAKING WORK.

Here she is singing Sunday at another service. This isn't the most flattering picture of her, but I wanted to show the bagpipers in the background.

Notice her tan? She works at a tanning bed place.

WAIT! The dress she has on here is the one Ashley wore at Britt's baby shower! I just noticed that!! I can't believe Ashley didn't stuff it in her suit case before she flew back to Seattle! She must have forgot to.

That's about it from my neck of the woods. Everyone is good, happy and excited about the baby coming, Ashley coming home for Christmas and us getting to meet her boyfriend! hee!! He wears ARGYLE sweaters (hee hee) and goes to ballets and junk.

Dillon and Brandon can't WAIT to meet this boy!

They're gonna take him snipe hunting and teach him how to spit dip out a pick up truck window so it don't blow back in your face! Real important stuff....!!

More soon!

The Horse.

2011-05-26T11:29:00.004-04:00

After an extensive, exhaustive and exasperating search, we examined a horse this morning, expurgated those deemed execrable, and have found a horse. (whew)!

Court and Dillon's parents went to her Uncle Rhett's farm yesterday after Rhett called and said he had a horse he wanted her to look at. They went. They loved.

So, this morning, Court called Rhett and asked if I could go look at him too. We went. We loved.

Here is Rhett walking with THE horse and a few others and a mule named Connie (after Court's Aunt Connie. tee hee!!!)

I took my camera because I KNEW I would have photo ops galore and I did. The only thing was the horses thought my camera was food and my camera bag had feed in it! Me, not being horsey, didn't know if they were trying to eat ME or the CAMERA!

Here is Mama horse (the paint), Connie the Mule, and Mama horse's baby.

Mama horse is Mama to Connie and the other horse.

Here is PEP, the horse Court will most likely get. He's been extensively trained as a cow-horse and even went thru training with the Police Dept.

I am told the the hallmark of a well-bred horse is a big butt.

Hmmmm.....yup!

Here are all the pics I took from this morning. https://picasaweb.google.com/112298489614175847253/RhettSHorse#

Walking thru that tall grass has made me itchy.

I'm gonna make this short so I can go scratch.

Later.

GUITAR RECITAL~

2011-05-22T07:08:00.003-04:00

and I was AWESOME! Actually, I was terrible, but whatev. I had fun!

NO, that's not me singing...I'm trying to get my hands from shaking so badly. I don't know WHY I was so freaking NERVOUS!

Dad didn't perform this time. He had a Cardio Ablation on Thursday and is still very sore. It worked tho thank goodness, and his heart is now beating normally! I was worried if he tried to do the recital, he'd get so nervous, his heart would get back out of rhythm again. All is good!

So, what did everyone else do while I shook my brains out on the stage?

and....

They talked and giggled and talked and...TALKED.

Mom has met her match with Brandon (Britt's boyfriend). I'm not sure who can talk more. Britt, Court and Dillon held up the back row and were much more behaved.

Afterwards, we sat out in the restaurant part and watched Brandon consume a HUGE banana split in about 3 minutes. A-mazing.

Dad took all these pictures and will be giving me more today, so I'll be adding them on here as I get them. He took pictures of my fans MOBBING me after my performance... embarrassing, but I'm used to it. I'll put them on here too.

More soon!

Baby Shower Pics Part 2

2011-05-09T10:50:00.002-04:00

Dad finished up the pictures he took at the shower and I believe he took a picture of everyone. If not, it was because they ran!

Here are a few of my favs and then at the end of this post, I'll put a link to all the pictures.

This is a picture of the girls, Donna and Deanna....

One of them looks like her Mama, the other three don't! hee

Here is a GREAT GREAT pic...and Dad didn't even take it! It's GREAT because of the subject matter....MEEEEEEEEEEE! hee

here's a good one of Will...

Here is a good one of Mother, Son and Wife...

Darrell...here's a good one of your Ma...

Here's one of my Mother, Britt's boyfriend (Brandon), Court's boyfriend (Dillon), Donna and G'ma Terry.

There are over a hundred more here....

https://picasaweb.google.com/larry29662/BrittanySBabyShower7May2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCPaeqaPSodm0qAE#

Dad did a fantabulous job and his next assignment, which will cover many MANY years, will be capturing many more happy memories of family, new babies and whatever else we all do!

Thank-you to everyone who joined with us in preparing Brittany for her first arrival.

Hopefully the younger generation will continue these traditions and continue passing them down...with the help of Dad's pictures and more importantly, loads of family and friends!!!!

More soon!

Brittany's Baby Shower

2011-05-08T05:28:00.003-04:00

WHAT a day! Thanks to everyone who helped out, hauled, prepped, showed up and HELPED (did I already say that??), it was a HUGE success!

**I want to add a very special THANK YOU to my brother and his family who provided us with the beautiful venue to hold the shower, helping hands, beautiful smiles and all the other hundreds of ways they helped yesterday. You all made it the perfect day!

Dad, thankfully, was the camera man! He took above average pictures (I didn't take my camera because I had to schmooze), and they all turned out really good! I don't have all of them yet, so if you don't see a picture of someone who was there, it's coming!!!

Here are the girls!

Dad hasn't sent me all the pictures yet, so I don't hve pictures of everyone there, but the following are just a small sample..

Here are the girls with their cousins...

Let me just add here that I don't know what I would have done without Lauren and Alex yesterday. My gene's are just astounding and really need researching! REALLY!

Here is me with Deanna, who is equally beautiful! It's nice having her staying so close to us!!

Here is Mom with Brandon, Brittany's boyfriend. I just HAVE to say that I have NEVER met anyone who could equal my mother in talking, but he has equaled her, if not passed her. I asked him the other day, HOW does he catch so many fish when he talks so much! He replied back that he "never seen a fish that had ears!" HAAAAA!!! He is a WONderful boy and we all just feel SOOO lucky he is in our lives! That's his Mom and sister sitting behind Mom.

I don't have all Dad's pictures yet, but here is a group shot of some of the guests...

Darrell~~ You can see Will, Angie and Trish, Sandra and Summer and Summer's daughters Erin and Alex (whose head is in a bag). Dad will add more pics of the family today and I'll post them here for y'all!

Here is Britt and Moi EATING! Before the shower began, Dad went to McDonald's and got a bunch of hamburgers and fries to feed us. THANKFULLY he did, because it was all most of us ate until after the shower! THANKS DAD!

Also, before the shower, the girls all had time to get in a little volleyball...here is Ash and Deanna playing/posing...

and Court and Lauren...

Here is me, Ash and my brother, Larry jr.

I KNOW, I know...how did all the good looks go to me. I've asked myself that before.

Here are the girls and they're friend, Allston and Deanna...

I'll be adding more pics on here as Dad sends them to me.

Britt had a wonderful shower and was surrounded by very loving, caring and beautiful family and friends!

More soon~

Baby Shower Prep!

2011-05-06T08:16:00.002-04:00

Tomorrow is the BIG EVENT! Well, minor, Big Event. The shower! Alot of prep time has gone into this and it should be fantabulous! We're headed out today to get everything together, pick up the cake, table cloths etc....tomorrow, it will take all us with vehicles to pick everything up and get it to the shower. My Dad is taking pictures tomorrow, so although adequate, there will be pics. ha

No pictures to add today due to my not taking any! AND, I want to add here that my girls are getting more and more reluctant to even let me take their pictures! VERY frustrating.

Anyways...more to come after the shower!!!!

Also, it's SOOOOO good having Ashley home! She has just added what was needed to make our family complete!

More soon!

Easter and ASH IS HOME!

2011-05-02T05:03:00.004-04:00

What a great last few days! It started with Easter. We got up super early, everyone got all fru-fru'd up and we headed to church. I took pictures before we left out...

Britt is 7 months pregnant here. This is the dress she'll also wear at her baby shower.

You KNOW they have to clown around too...

Here is a good one of Court...she works at a tanning bed, so she is getting dark!

Britt is NOT tanned in any way, fashion or form...

Next was the Royal Wedding! YES, we were one of the BILLIONS that got up to watch the big event. We did it "Southern Style" complete with Krispy Kreme donuts, chocolate milk and a center piece...my mater plant.

Then, later on that day, ASHLEY CAME HOME for a few days!

Two car loads went to the airport to haul her home...

this is a bad picture, but notice her smile?

She was SOOOO happy! The two boys beside her are Britt and Court's boyfriends...

It's been fantabulous having her home!

SOOO, after that was Courtney's horse show.

We all loaded up and headed to it!

Court and Lady won two 1st Place ribbons!

Deanna went to her first horse show and got some love from Lady too....

Angie, who is Dillon's Mom, rode Peanut, who ALSO won several 1st place ribbons...

So, what did Ashley do during this you ask? What she does best...tanning and scoping out the hot guys on horseback...

and make faces...

Here I am with Ash and Lilly, Angie's new puppy...

Here Mom and I are...

and family...

Here Court and Angie are competing...I will neither confirm nor deny Dad taking any of these next few, average, adequate photos....

and more riding...

That's it for the moment! I'M OFF WORK FOR THE NEXT 13 DAYS. So, hopefully, I'll be taking loads of pics while my baby is home and Britt's baby shower, and Britt's 4D ultrasound and tons more stuff! We're all SOOOO excited!

More soon!

Spring has sprung!

2011-04-19T09:04:00.003-04:00

My back yard is so pretty! I wish it would stay that way all year long.

I have always put pics on here every spring of our flora. It's just such a switch from the bareness of winter!

What have we been up to? Well, these following pics I put on my Facebook, but I'll add them here too.

These pics were all taken from my old-school Blackberry Curve 8330 in PINK. This was my first Blackberry I ever owned and I still use it from time to time for nostalgia.

Britt received a pair of the CUTEST SPERRY's EVER for Lillie!

Here they are...

They're a size 3-6 month, so if she's born with Britt's HUGE feet, so could go home from the hospital in them! hee

Here is a pic I took the other night of Britt and Court...

I love that picture!

Here is a picture of Courtney playing Rook.

That's it! Not much happening around here lately, but that's about to all change!

ASHLEY IS COMING HOME! In 10 days. Yes, the tornado is headed this way and we've got to prepare! Actually, she's usually SO tired when she first gets home, it takes her like 6 hours to recharge her batterys then LOOK OUT! Time flys when she's home and we enjoy every nanosecond of it. I'm taking the whole 11 days off that she's home and I'm gonna take loads of pics. Britt's baby shower is during that time and she will be a huge help too. I think Britt's shower will be more of a reunion than a shower! We're so excited, we just can't hardly stand it!

As soon as the shower is over, Mike is starting on remodeling the bathroom. It will be a huge undertaking and I dread it. As long as my dual-flush, chrome-plated commode works, we'll manage.

Also, the Royal Wedding is next Friday and I will be up watching! SOO EXCITED!

I'll post more as it happens!

Joan

Nuttin' New

2011-04-11T05:09:00.003-04:00

I almost hated to post anything at all because it's been so normal and boring around here this past few days, which is WONDERFULLY refreshing!

Ash dyed her hair! She sent me a picture on my cell phone and I haven't sent it to my computer yet, but it looks...dark! It's actually black or close to it! She wanted to go back to her natural hair color before she flys home, but WHO KNOWS WHAT COLOR THAT IS! HAAAA!!!! I always thought blonde suited her best, being that she acts like one. Just sayin'.

hang on...let me see if I can put a pic on here...

There it is! That's one of her BFF's AND my Facebook BFF, Kori. She's from L.A., you know. That's Lower Alabama. BAHHHHHH-HAAAAAA! hee. Her hair color is normal.

Welp, that's it for this morning. I gotta work today, then I'm off for another 3 days. Somebody's gotta be off work, might as well be MEEEEE!!!

Later-

Joan

Registering for the baby!

2011-04-05T10:33:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, Britt wanted to go get the baby registered at the store. While we were planning out our day to add that to it, Mike called from work and was wondering what we were doing. I told him what we had planned. SOOO, he said, "Uh...Mmmm...well, I'm headed that way, so I'll meet you at the store". So, the three of us went baby regestering shopping.

Here they are, steady clicking away on various baby items!

Midway thru, we became STARVING...as usual. Mike and Britt decided they wanted to eat at the mall food court, their favorite. So, we left mid registering, and headed to the mall. Britt had chinese. 20 minutes later, she had a bout with heart burn. 2 hours after that, she had her scheduled Dr. apt. NEVER a dull moment.

last weekend, Court had another horse show. It went splendidly! hee

These are a mixture of Mike and Dad's pics taken there. WHERE was I at, you ask? FREAKIN' WORK!

Even Mikes family went!

My parents went too, but I don't have any pictures of that.

Here is Courtney getting judged in something. Not sure what since I WASN'T THERE!

Here the judges are checking them out!

Dillon's parents bought a couple blood hounds and even THEY GOT TO GO TO THE HORSE SHOW!

They had a great time, I heard. whatev.

Today, we're going to Walmart and we've GOT to clean this house. After that, I get to go dazzle my guitar teacher with my mad pickin' skills! hee

More soon!

My phone.

2011-03-25T07:06:00.005-04:00

This morning, I was sitting here looking thru the gallery on my phone and I thought geeeze, I've taken some pretty interesting pics lately! I think I'll share them! Actually, they are boring, which sums up the last few weeks here. We're all in a holding pattern awaiting May when Ash comes home and Britt's baby shower and July when the baby FINALLY gets here!

OHHH....last night Britt was laying on my bed and she said the baby was moving. SOOO, I figured I should start singing to her. So, I got real close to her belly and started singing the alphabet. LOUDLY. I got to..."Q R S..."and right after "S", she kicked the hardest she has yet! She loves me and my singing! Tonight, I think I'll get my guitar out and play Dueling Banjo's just for her!

Anyway...back to my boring pictures.

This pictures was taken after Ashley called me on Mike's birthday wondering if he received her card in the mail yet. I said, no, it hadn't come. SO, she asked if I was sure! SO, I took a picture of the mailbox and sent it to her cell phone.

Told you we're boring!

This next picture was taken at Mike's birthday party at his parents house across the street from our house.

His birthday is also St. Patricks Day, hence the decor.

He's 47. I'm 29.5.

This next picture I took at work the other morning. A co-worker brought in a sunflower she had bought for decor. I paired it with a cup of coffee and thought, how appropriate! Two happy things!

This next picture I took while sitting on a bench outside the hospital while I was on break.

I call it..."Spring Time in the Hospital Parking Lot". It looks empty, but we actually do have patients!

Last night, Court sang the Canadian and American Anthems at a hockey game last night. Britt, boys and friends all went too.

And lastly...I didn't take this next pic, but Ash sent it to me last night while I was at the hockey game. She was on duty.

I know you are wondering how is it possible for a mother and daughter to look SOOO much alike and I find it astounding as well. Wierd how genetics play out!

Welp, that's it for my current phone photos. After y'all finish yawning and scratching your heads, remember I said we were boring at the moment! At least I didn't post any Wal-Mart pics! ( I HAVE done that before!!!!)

Joan

Horse Show!!

2011-03-21T06:58:00.002-04:00

Saturday was Courtney's very first ever HORSE SHOW! her boyfriend, Dillon and his family have coached, groomed, trained and placed Court on one of their horses for the show. Court's been working with Dillon's Mom for awhile now and Angie felt Court was ready.

Ain't the horse just beautiful! hee

Court was actually NERVOUS! She looked incredible as did Lady, the horse.

The family was there showing support!

Here is Court and Dillon's Mom, Angie competing together in one of the events.

here's another...

and another...

Here's two of her three ribbons...

Everyone had a great time. Mom and Dad was there too, but Mike didn't get a pic. I was at work, so Mike took alot of these photo's and Dad took alot too.

Here's a link to Dad's pics...

https://picasaweb.google.com/larry29662/CourtneyRides19March2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCOz_mZGbkfy29wE#

Here's a link to Mike's...

https://picasaweb.google.com/112298489614175847253/HorseShow031911#

There will be alot of shows this summer, so stay tuned!

More soon-

Joan

Mike's Birthday today!

2011-03-17T11:13:00.003-04:00

AND, we're all going to the Tadpole tonight to eat suppppppper!!!! Darrell and Connie - we'll miss you!

I'll be taking pics there tonight and sharing with you tomorrow.

If you can tell, I've had very few posts lately. Most of that is due to how busy I've been, or lack of interesting material. But a part of that is I don't feel comfortable sharing Britt's pregnancy on here as I'm not sure who's reading it. Maybe NO ONE! hee!! But, it's really bothering me that I may be sharing dates, photos etc...that will be counter productive to her and eventually, the baby's privacy.

We, as a huge family, have "closed ranks" around her to protect her from the over-whelming stresses that comes along with her situation. The enormity of these stresses became too much for her recently, and we've had to restrict access to her....this is AT HER REQUEST.

My blog should be included too, since it is a way in.

So, I hate HATE to do this and I don't even know if it's necessary, but I will have to set my blog to invitation only to view it.

I've had my blog for years and have enjoyed it so much. I will be wanting to share photos, stories and our lives this year to everyone who wants to share with us. I DON'T want to have to worry what I'm posting and sharing to certain people who can find it just by a simple google search. I'm just grateful I have options over shutting it down.

SOO, soon, when you click on my blog you'll see a "invite" button to click on. CLICK ON IT!

I will be SOOO honored to add you to my peeps!

We're SOOO excited about allll the wonderful changes we'll all be having this year and I can't wait to add loads of pics!

Ashley is also coming home TWICE this year and I will be blabbing on and on about that too! ha

I hope you will join us!!!!

Joan

ZZZzzzz.....

2011-03-08T18:59:00.002-05:00

For those of you who regularly check my blog for breathtakingly interesting blog updates, I'm SORRY! We really haven't done a thing after returning from Myrtle Beach, except work and watch Britt's belly get bigger! ha

She's so happy and getting so excited. Mike is getting the fever too and will begin remodeling the bathroom soon. I wish his Uncle Sonny was here to help, but Mike will make due. He was a mason in the Air Force, so he can't wait to lay some tile! I will take before, during and after pics of his progress. It will be gorgeous and perfect!

I'm beginning to plan the baby shower. I'm looking for a bigger place to have it. Our house has held 50+ people, but we're anticipating way over that at her shower, plus Mike may be in bathroom mid-renovation. SOOooo, the hunt is on for a larger in-door place. We could have it outside at our house, but if it rained, we'd be in a huge hurt!

We're also SOO excited about Ashley coming home in May. O.M.G. How much excitement can a person take with all this to look forward too in one year!

That's about it for the moment. I'm sure i've left a bunch out. OHHHH....I'm going with my parents next Tuesday to get my little sister, Abby Grace. She's being flown to Charlotte from Minnesota or Michigan or one of them "M" states up yonder. Anyways, she's half Cocker Spaniel and half Poodle! WE CANNOT WAIT! I'm sure all this happiness and excitement is taxable! hee

I don't have any pictures because I haven't taken any. I guess I could take a picture of the inside of Home Depot or Wal-Mart again or the dogs, but I haven't! ha

Hopefully something blog-worthy soon!

Joan

MYRTLE BEACH 2011!!!

2011-02-27T20:19:00.003-05:00

We just returned from Myrtle Beach!!! That may not be a huge deal to most, but Mike HATES HATES the beach and for us to go was just amazing. We had the best time and had a blast!

So, it was just Mike, me, Britt and Court. Ash is on a cruise back to Seattle and sick as a dog! We hope she gets better soon!

OH...SHOUT OUT TO KORI on her boat! She's one my most fav. blog readers AND she's southern! WOOO-HOOOOOO!

Here are the girls posing...

that was taken at a place called Broadway on the Beach.

This next pic...hee hee...

Then I saw this in a store and took a pic of it....

reminded me of what Ashley is! haaaaaaaaaaaa

Here are some creepy fish that followed us around...they were HUNGRY and YES we fed them!

Finally, we went to the beach and it was SOOO foggy we couldn't see more than 20 feet in front of us.

These next few pics are very edited to lessen the fog...

Here they are feeding the birds too. Mike would throw Cheerios in the air and they would catch them in their beeks!

We just needed Ashley in this next pic to made it complete...almost! Except for Lillie too!

Ash...this is for you!

Here is Britt and Lillie...

and KORI...you asked for a belly shot!

Here is Britt at 20 weeks pregnant taken today!

haaaaaa!!!!

Here is a link to all the pics...

https://picasaweb.google.com/112298489614175847253/MyrtleBeach022011#

Gotta go! More soon!

Joan

A break....

2011-02-17T09:37:00.004-05:00

As you guys can tell, I took a long break from blogging for awhile. The day after my last post, Mike's Mom called and said that Harold had taken a turn for the worse. The four of us took off to Laurens Hospital and we shared with the family Harold's life as he passed. He suffered so much with his cancer. I remember hearing Art and others say that the cancer didn't kill him, it saved him. That's true! The family has taken comfort in the knowledge and deep belief that he lives in each of us now.

He is in our hearts, always there to talk to, and he will be there when it's our turn!

Here is a pic I took several years ago in our back yard...

and I found this one too...

I can't speak for the others, but Courtney took it especially hard within my family. I took her to the Dr. and she was given reassurances that she is fine. She has leaned on her deep faith and wonderful memories she has of Harold, and she has come out even more beautiful and special.

Britt also took it hard, but she talked things out with us and she seemed to be OK. I'm very thankful the girls went thru this with the family and grieved with them, laughed at memories with them and cryed with them. It's a powerful bonding that will be with them forever.

Ashley begged to come home and even had the Coast Guard's permission to fly home when they reached their next port, but by then, it would have all been over with. She was allowed to call home from her ship and talked to us, which I think helped her get thru it. She called later to talk to her Grandma and Gt. Grandma Terry, which helped too. She's a strong girl and thankfully she seems to have gotten thru it all too.

Also, Irene passed away the same day as Harold. She was a permanent fixture at the Oolenoy pickin's and singin's we went to. She was also my grandparents next door neighbor. She was a wonderful lady I'm glad me and my family knew.

Sooooo, after all that, it was back to whatever normal is. Britt's ever expanding belly is expanding, my work is crazy as ever, Court is loving college life and doing great, Ash is back stateside going thru alot of training. She seems happy!

In fact, a week ago, they were in Costa Rica and she went mule riding and zip-lining!

GORGEOUS mule! BAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Here she is zip-lining.

I think they had a great time!

Here are a few pics of her and her boat-mates that day...

Ash is center in gray tank-top.

here she is in the purple headed out with the girls...

here she is on the left. working.

and...

and here, she found a friend...

What a life!

The other night, we all went to Cheif's Wings place and Court did some karaoke singing. Britt went too and we had a pretty good time.

Well, apparently, TOO good a time because she wound up in the ER yesterday with fever, dehydration and just felt awful. I called her OB office and they said to take her in for IV fluids, which we did. After the second bag, she was feeling MUCH better. We got back home late last night and she went straight to bed. What a week so far!

Well, that's all the more interesting highlights from the last few weeks. We're all just emotionally drained and ready for this year to turn around and shine some happiness our way! Little Lillie will definitely be a huge part of that!

OH, Ash is coming home in May too for a few days! WOO-HOOO! We have missed her SO much and I know she has missed us. Maybe she'll be home to go to mine and Dad's semi-annual GUITAR RECITAL! HAAAAAAAAA!!!! I can't wait!

I'll post more regularly now that my break is over!

More soon!

Joan

Flowers and Veterans!

2011-01-30T08:44:00.003-05:00

What a combo!

Last weekend Ash emailed and said to have Britt on stand by at the house for something special. GUESS WHAT SHE SENT???

They are absolutely beautiful and Britt was beyond touched and happy! Here Britt and Court are...

They are on our dining room table now just as beautiful as the day they arrived!

I was SOO proud!

I'm so proud at how they have banded together in support for Britt and Little Lillie! This will be a good year for all of us! Ashley's card that came with the flowers was just beautiful and my heart was just flooded with pride!

It's SOOO hard on Ash right now being away from the family with Harold being so sick and all the excitement surrounding Britt. We're proud of Ash being so strong and supportive!

Yesterday, Court was honored by the Veteran's Service Corps. for her strong service and dedication to all Veterans. She was presented with a certificate and lapel pin. I don't know when she was more proud of herself, but that was one of the top moments.

It was special!

Dad's gonna kill me for taking such terrible pictures, but there was no where to stand to get better ones. I'll get better!!!!

We also went to monster truck last night for Court to do the national Anthem.

Here is a great shot taken by Britt with her Blackberry....

We had incredible seats and had dirt sprayed all over us when the trucks spun their tires in front of us. SOOOOO cool! Mike, who was working, moved us to better seats and we had an awesome time!

That's it for the moment. We're headed to Ryan's steakhouse for the "all-you-can-eat buffet bar" breakfast then off to Laurens to see Harold.

If ALLL the pain and suffering that goes with cancer is a marker of how many jewels will be in our crown in heaven, then Harold won't be able to hold his head up for all the jewels that will adorn his crown. He has handled it with such dignity and also patience. The family is an inspiration to me as to how each family member leans on each other and gladly carries each other. I'm very privileged to be a part of this family.

Have a good day everyone and enjoy the sunshine! : )

LILLIE ELIZABETH ARNOLD

2011-01-20T07:43:00.004-05:00

YES, she's having a girl! hee!!! When the ultrasound tech. double checked herself and announced her gender to us, we all just hollered! I couldn't have smiled and laughed any harder! After having 3 drama-filled, beautiful daughters, I just couldn't comprehend the thoughts of having a boy. Mike was probley even happier than me! He LOVES his girls!

So, the tech. gave us a CD filled with pics and a video of Lillie.

Here is Lillie pondering...."will I REALLY look just like my Grandma?"

Here is little Lillie twiddling her thumbs, wishing she had something to read to pass the time....

and here is Lillie sending us a message...

Yes, she is beautiful and DEFINITELY looks like ME! ha! Poor Brittany is already tired of me comparing her to me! Britt says she's gonna have blonde wavy hair. whatev.

I don't have any other photos to add because I haven't taken any!

Ash is doing really good! Her cutter seized and captured last month!

13th Coast Guard District Public Affairs

U.S. Coast Guard

News Release

Date: January 13, 2011

Contact: 13th District Public Affairs

(206) 220-7237

News Release: Coast Guard seizes cocaine, rescues suspected smugglers in Eastern Pacific Ocean

EASTERN PACIFIC – The Coast Guard Cutter Midgett seized approximately four kilograms of cocaine from the 35-foot vessel, Laurie Alena, over 450 miles off the coast of Guatemala, Dec. 16, 2010.

The Laurie Alena was intercepted due to suspicion of drug trafficking involvement. When the Midgett neared the vessel, the Laurie Alena began to sink forcing the crew to abandon ship and use debris for floatation.

Two crewmembers of the Laurie Alena were quickly pulled to safety aboard the cutter using life rings. The other was saved by the Midgett’s rescue swimmer.

Four approximately kilogram-sized packages, testing positive for cocaine, were recovered from the vessel’s wreckage.

The cutter Midgett is home ported in Seattle, Wash. and conducts missions in homeland security, search and rescue, maritime law enforcement, and drug and alien migrant interdiction operations in the Bering Sea and Central American waters.

For more information, contact Ensign Nasaria Valadez, via e-mail, at Nasaria.E.Valadez@uscg.mil.

VERY Proud of her and everyone on her boat/ship!

OH, I also wanted to share a quote I read this morning on Facebook by one of my BFF's...

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and

those that matter don't mind (dr. Seuss)

Welllll, I need to get going. Wal-Mart is a callin'! hee

Have a great day!

Court's First Day of College

2011-01-18T10:15:00.002-05:00

So, as I did last year, I captured the moment! Court's first day of something. Last year, it was her first day of her Senior year, now it's her first official day of college.

Awww....

She looks so cute and collegiate!

Another exciting bit of news, which will come this afternoon...we find out if Britt's having a GIRL or boy. Get that! GIRL.....or boy. hee

Britt has been craving SOUR SOUR SOUR and hot. She thinks boy, her Daddy and I think girl. We've had over 22 years of "drama queen" girls in the house and it's all we know. I will update this afternoon after we get back from the 4D ultrasound! SOOO excited!

Ash emailed me earlier and she's doing good! She says it's really hot where she is and on her boat...which, except for the berthing area, isn't AIR CONDITIONED! WHAAAAAAAAAA???

She said it's been around 95 degrees. Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks, they will be back in an area where we can talk and txt and junk! hee

We've been so busy lately. We went to Charlotte this past weekend for a wedding of epic proportions. It was fanTABulously beautiful, big and the food was great too. Court sang in her first Catholic wedding, which was a HUGE change in what she was used to. It was a definite learning experience, but a good one and everyone at the Catholic church was SO nice to her. She sang Ave Maria and 3 other songs and they were beautiful, if I do say so myself!!!! We were just glad to get back home and getting Court ready for school.

Britt had her first sewing class last night and made a GORgeous pillowcase. I will take a pic of her holding it up after she gets dressed. She did a great job.

That's it for the moment. Stay tuned!!!!

SNOW 2011!

2011-01-10T07:56:00.002-05:00

I want to give a shout out to all my Blog BFF's on the USCGC Midgett...HEYYYYY!!!!!! KORI- you're the best!!! Ashley - We LOVE YOU!

IT"S SNOWING! and alot too! Mike and I braved the back porch this morning to take a snow total picture. This was at 7:45am.

Mike wanted me to take his picture too....

Here is the back yard...

and Britt's truck...

It was cold and I was in my bedroom shoes, so I went back inside the house! hee

I'll take more pics soon and post them!

It's been a few days or more since I last posted. I didn't really take any pics recently, AND I had a terrible stomach virus AND I had to work some, so now I'm back to normal again! : )

I just took this picture of the dogs frolicking in the back yard, building a snowdog....

HAAAAAAA!!!! They wish!

Well, let me go look out the window some more. ASHLEY is calling home today, so I am beYOND happy!

More soon!

Stomach virus

2011-01-07T08:16:00.001-05:00

Down with it. More soon....

Stay TUNED!

2011-01-02T10:05:00.002-05:00

I BLINKED and the holidays are GONE! WHA???! We had a good Christmas, only to be GREAT next Christmas when Ash will be home and little Lillie or Baby Boy will be here too.

Yesterday was New Years Day and we ate Collards and Black Eyed Peas, of course. We'll see if we win the lottery or something! ha

Anyways, I'll be posting more pics and stories on Tuesday. I gotta work tomorrow and I need today to get all my pics together!!!

Have a good one and ASHLEY, if you're reading this.... if you lost my email address, I can always resend it to you! : )

Christmas 2010

2010-12-27T07:38:00.003-05:00

FINALLY, this Christmas is over! It was great, but Ashley wasn't here and it just wasn't the same. We're ALL looking forward to this coming Christmas. Ash will be home and we will have a new baby in our family. It will be fun watching Ash and Court competing for the baby's attention!! ha

We went to alot of Christmas partys and ate enTIRELY too much.

I already posted some pics of earlier parties we attended last week. Here is the Christmas party at my Aunt Aurelia's, in Travelers Rest.

First off, it started SNOWING while we were there! The first Christmas Day snow since 1963!

There was tons of food!

Mike and Court enjoyed it!

So did Britt!

and did Larry Jr. and Lauren.

When it started snowing like crazy, we left and headed back to Mike's parents house to get ready for the Christmas Day party there!

we atarted off there waiting for Donna and Mark to arrive from Virginia. The weather slowed them down, but they eventually arrived.

SO, we started without them!

Court and I entertained!

Harley even enjoyed it!

Then, Dillon and Court sang and picked...

Then we opened loads of presents...

Britt found $$ in her socks!

Silker and Papa enjoyed watching!

Everyone opened!

Court LOVED her show boots she got from Silker. She starts riding this spring in competitions on a horse and she'll wear these boots...

Court's boyfriend got a really neet cooler from us to take fishing...

Courtney also got a hat to wear in the competitions. Girls, from what I learned, wear straw hats, boys wear felt. Here is Grandma Terry wearing it...

Finally Donna and Mark arrived and we opened up MORE presents!

Here is Mark...

Deanna opened up tons too...

Britt was glad to open all night long!

It was a fantabulous day and Ashley was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO missed. All I know is this coming Christmas, she will be HOME and sitting right in the middle of the floor with her sister and cousin and NIECE! Imagine the pics that will be taken then!

Yesterday, I had to work, but that didn't stop the girls from playing out in the snow. Britt's BFF, Kristen who lives up the road, played with them, just like old times.

Here is Kristen, whom I think is beyond beautiful!

Harley had a "ball"! BAH-HAAAA

haaaaaaaaaa!!

ad did Cassie and Harley together...

Boomer preferred to sniff out stray critters in the snow..

I think they all got cold fast!

That's about all I have time to put pictures on here for. Here is the link to ALL my pics...

http://picasaweb.google.com/112298489614175847253/Christmas2010#

I posted the link to the pics taken from Silkers Annual Christmas Party in a posting a couple days ago.

Hope everyone survived the snow, travel or not being able to be home this year.

We missed Ashley as I said above and it's SOO good to know she'll be home more this year and for Christmas.

Have a great day!

Christmas at Silkers House

2010-12-25T11:14:00.002-05:00

I wanted to put a link on here to the pictures we took at Silkers house at her party. We had a BLAST and we won't forget it anytime soon!

One of the games we played was, "Place a Cookie on your Forhead and Wiggle it in your Mouth". Grandma Terry excelled!

Harold was there, but was tired.

Silker directed the festivities...

there was alot of laughing too!

Here is a link to all of them.

DARRELL AND ASHLEY...we really missed y'all there and you were both on all our minds. If your ears were burning that night, it was because we were talking about y'all! ha

http://picasaweb.google.com/112298489614175847253/20101223#

Gotta go get ready to head to my Aunt Aurelia's house. More pics to follow! Then tonight, we're headed back to Silkers house to open MORE PRESENTS!!!! : )! More pics to follow of that too!

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Christmas at my parents

2010-12-22T19:18:00.008-05:00

Well, this week has just been a night mare with Court's truck broke down again, no Christmas shopping done, food still to be cooked and NO one in our family has any Christmas Spirit in us at all. I wonder if we have like, Post Tramatic Stress Disorder!

Today was Mom and Dad's annual Christmas Party and it was so nice. They really went thru alot of trouble "purdying" everything up for us and all the cooking and Dad's tree was gorgeous and his mantle was "Marty Gras" looking!

Here are SOME of the Grandkids...missing are Ashley, WHO WILL BE HERE NEXT YEAR, and Alex, who has pneumonia, so was home.

SO, here is LAST years picture complete with all Grandchildren...

Here is THIS years Christmas photo. Where each missing child was, sits their Christmas sacks!

That's last years Christmas picture in front of Lauren. That was all Dad's idea and they had fun making that picture.

Here they are opening presents...

Here is Dad's mantle.... : )

and tree....

Here is where he plays and practices...

and here is where the kids ate...

He had it all decorated up and we sure did enjoy and love all the trouble they went thru!!!!

Mike was in bed sick as a dog, so he was unable to go. He has an ear infection and Vertigo. I think the vertigo medicine made him worse. We made him a huge plate of food and took to him afterwards. He got up to eat that, but was miserable.

Well, that's it for the moment, I think. Court and Dillon have gone to see the newest, "Baby Fockers" movie, which Mike and I really want to see. Britt has gone to a friends birthday party, but will be home early.

One of the high-lights of our day was ASHLEY CALLED HOME! It was SOOOOOO wonderful hearing her voice. I swear she sounds so grown up sometimes. She sounded happy and I heard her smile, so all is well. That did my heart SOOOO good to hear from her. She emails pretty frequently and her friend, Kori email me toooooo, which I love! She's also one of my many blog readers! HEY KORI!!!! Did I just say it was WONDERFUL hearing from Ashley? Our Christmas is very much dimmer (and MUCH quieter) this year because she's not here. She is SOOO missed and everyone talks about her all the time. Some of it's good too! hee

All I know is next Christmas, Ashley will be home and we will have a baby in our lives. I have quit taking ANYthing for granted, because everything changes by the minute. We, no matter what we think, are NOT in control of one single thing. We can't predict our futures, because futures are changeable too. We can't count on material things, because they break down. alot. Even if we're riding in them.

I think I'll hang some rosary beads in Court's truck or something. I know! I'll put a picture of Grandma Terry in it, that'll scare away the bad Karma! BAH-HAAAAA! Scare away any car jackers too! ha

The only real, REAL thing we can count on is family. No matter how much they get on your last nerve, how much they never listen to a word you say, how much they make fun of your cooking, how many times they disappear whenever you need them to help around the house, how many times they take your only can of hair spray, wear your only pair of comfy bedroom shoes, eat your last frozen Snicker bar, or leave half a drop of gas in the truck for you...they really why we get up every morning, hunt our bedroom shoes down, make a HUGE pot of coffee, trip over their shoes, search for our hair spray and run out the door to work. Then they leave home and we can't stand it and want them to come back home. As fast as possible!!! Weird.

Here is the link to all the photos taken today!

http://picasaweb.google.com/larry29662/Christmas2010WithTheMcCauleyS?authkey=Gv1sRgCKHzzO7P88XLpAE#

I'm going to bed. more soon!

I'm here!

2010-12-20T05:58:00.003-05:00

A quick update to tell y'all I'm here just terribly busy!

I made TWO coconut cakes yesterday from scratch, shopped, washed and pet the dogs. Then, I forgot to cook supper last night! HAAAAAAA!!

Mike and Britt ate Fruity Pepples...hee!

Anyways, I'll make a big update tomorrow when I'm off work. Have a great day, everyone!

Whoop me!

2010-12-14T10:07:00.002-05:00

OK...I apologize for not posting anything in a few days. TRUST me, I've been very busy as you can imagine!

The other day, one of Ashley's ship BFF's emailed me the sweeeeetest email! I was at work when I received it and it just made my day. Well, last night, she sent me another email with two pics in it!

Here is the first one...

That's Ash and her friend, Kori. I don't know where she's from, but my guess would be from the south since she's SOOO nice! hee

This next pic was titled, "Burial at Sea". NOT sure what that meant, but since they're all smiling, I'm assuming it wasn't what one would imagine!

GLAD to see Ash finally remember to put her little boat thingy pin on (the one above her ribbons). I see she's also earned more ribbons. I'll have to enlarge the photo and check them out! I know she received some kind of weaponry ribbon and recently she received one for something she did on the last patrol. Some sort of commendation ribbon, I believe. She was very proud and so are we!

I still haven't done one moments Christmas shopping yet, except for Ashley's, which I mailed out last week. Just an FYI, the US Postal Service is MUUUUCHHHH cheaper when mailing to an FPO/APO address rather than UPS, which is my preferred method of shipping. I'm talking like $50. cheaper per box.

Anyways, no Christmas shopping done yet, but Mike and I will hit the stores up on Saturday. WHY? Because in the 24 years we've been married, I have FINALLY learned to TAKE him with me only when Christmas shopping. That way, I don't get 1001 questions about what, where, whom, how, how many, and WHY's of gift questions. I'd rather have a week's peace and quiet at the cost of 8 hours of pure misery I'll endure while shopping.

Nuff said.

Britt had another Dr.s appt. last week and all is well. They did another ultrasound and here SHE/he is...

SHE/he is lying on HER/his side, facing the camera. The two white sticky things are the arms. She was 9 weeks. here.

Court is enduring well. She begins school on Jan. 10th and MAN is she ready and so are we!

That's about it for the moment. Hope everyone is nearly done with their Christmas shopping and can sit down and enjoy the moment. I've heard of such, but have so far never experienced that.

Love to all!

So much to say, so little words!

2010-12-05T04:14:00.002-05:00

It's been over a week since my last post! That's mostly because I just have been weighed down with so much going on. You name it, we've dealt with it. BUT, we're all learning to come together as a family and stick together.

My first big family news is Brittany is pregnant. We found out in the Emergency room last week. I had Court at the Dr.s office with her broke foot when Britt called in tears saying she thought she had appendicitis. After fast driving, tests, adamant denial and more tests in the ER, we saw an ultrasound of the baby! She's 8 weeks along and I can't think of words to describe how each of us felt.. I will say that Mike took it the best out of all of us.

After every emotion you can think of, good and bad, at the end of the day (week) we have to remember we can't change anything, and as a family, we have to be there for each other, no matter how WE feel and the seemingly weakest among us could possibly be the strongest in ways we can't be. When we talk to and tell our kids 10 times a day that we love them no matter what, we have to walk the walk.

Second big family news, is Ashley's ship left out again for a few months, sniff sniff. She was actually very excited to go, especially to see sunshine again! Weather in the Pacific Northeast is dreary and she was SOOOOOOOO looking forward to some sunshine! She was in great spirits the last I talked to her!!!

Thirdly, mine and Dad's recital was yesterday and as last time, we drug Courtney up on the stage to sing so we could hide behind her vocals and play vewwwy quietly! HA

Mom took this picture, which explains the size of it...

Dad should be adding more photos on here today, so I'll post a couple more when he does.

yesterday was also the "Great Battle of Canebrake" Revolutionary War Memorial, which we participated in, once again. AND, as usual, it was FREAKING FREEZING.

YES, we even had a cute bagpiper! Britt said she was going to go tell him that her Mom said he had cute legs! BAH-HAAAA!

Court sang...

we listened, and shivered...

and Dad took pictures! Mike ran the sound.

That's about it for the moment. As I can definitely attest to, things are always, ALWAYS changing and I will get around to blogging about it!

have a great day!

Another Saturday and working...

2010-11-27T05:03:00.002-05:00

Don't have but a second to update!

Ashley sent me a couple of pics of her Thanksgiving meal she shared with her friends in Seattle. She was asked to bring something to contribute to the dinner....

Speghetti-O's.

She said it was a hit! GAG!

Then, her friend that went with her was asked to bring the DRESSING. So, he did!

He brought SALAD dressing. He didn't know. Geeeze.

They had a great time!!

Here is a pie Courtney baked...it's SUGAR FREE Apple Pie and it was wonderful!

Here is Boomer after Thanksgiving day left-overs...

HAAAAAA

We've had alot of news and pending changes coming up, but I'll save that for another morning when I don't have to be at work so early!

Have a great weekend!

Favorites

2010-11-21T15:15:00.003-05:00

I KNOW this is going to come as a surprise to all who read this and know me, but I have decided to go back to my Blackberry for awhile. Call it Android wear-down or whatever, but I canNOt stand the keyboard on a droid Incredible, and I much prefer the keyboard on my Blackberry, so BB it is! I am happy.

SO, the first thing I did when I got my NEW Blackberry ( a replacement FREE for my broken older one) was check out the pics on my old card in my old BB.

There were about 125 pics or so, most blurry or boring, but here are just a FEW of my favorites on there...

Here are the boys frolicking in the back yard...

whatever. It's all they do!

Here is Courtney being Courtney...

and Britt being Britt...

and Ash being Ash with Court...

and here is a pic of a carmeled apple made just for meeeee...

This next picture was taken at Table Rock State Park at the main cabin building there where all the pickin's and singings take place. Grandma Terry went one time and I walked out side there to find her ONLY to find this lady beside her SOUND ASLEEP. G'ma Terry was...I don't even KNOW!

HAAAAAA!!! I love that picture! hee

This last picture is a pic taken on Ashley's previous cutter, the USCGC Forward. I have no idea if I took it or Ash, but it was on my old phone card...

I like that picture...I could see where my baby girl worked/lived and all.

That's it for now. Tomorrow is the start of another week. It's actually one of my two favorite weeks of the month because I only work Monday's and Friday-Sunday. I'm off most of the week. The other two weeks out of the month, I work two days during the week. Weekends at a hospital are SOOOOOOOOOOOO much calmer.

Anyways, hope everyone has a good week! More soon-

All is well

2010-11-20T06:20:00.003-05:00

We're all plugging along! I was off work yesterday, so me, Britt and Court all went out to lunch with my parents and O.M.Geee, was it funny.

Their primary car finally gave up the ghost and crossed the Jordan the other day, so they had to get another. They ended up getting a car with ONSTAR.

B.I.G. mistake.

My mother calls Onstar just to say HEYYYY!!!!! So, while we were all in it riding to the restaurant, she calls Onstar just to tell them we're all going out to lunch. geeeze. The poor Onstar lady sounded excited for us. Then Mom made us all say "Heyyyy" to the lady. I glanced over at Britt and Court and they had this "deer in the head-lights" look. Court then covered her face and said something. not sure what. THEN, Mom asked the Onstar lady how was HER day and chit chatted with her for a few minutes. Finally, FINALLY, Mom told her we had to go and hung up.

Then, she had the car call Mike and say, "HEYYYY". Then, she called Britt...WHO IS IN THE BACK SEAT!

I can tell this ain't gonna be good.

Ash has been out shopping and stuff and found these. yup.

Notice the rain drops on her window? It does that alot there, she tells us. I'm thinking the sun glasses are for when she goes out on her next patrol.

That's it for the moment.

Court and I are headed to Clemson tonight for a Rodeo where she'll be singing the National Anthem. Mike and Britt are working and Ash is...who knows! ha

More soon and pics too after I take some tonight.

Happy Birthday, ART!!!

2010-11-16T07:05:00.002-05:00

So, Sunday, was Art's birthday and so, a party was had. Where was I? AT WORK, where I am EVERY time there's a get-together. I'm surprised I'm off work for my own get-togethers! ha

Anyways, Mike was there to capture the moments, hence, the quality of the photos or lack of. I apologize for that.

Let me add here that I edited these photos, saving them.

OK...back to the party that I wasn't there for...

Harold and Caren was there, I saw....

as was Will....I heard a DAY later....

and Grandma Terry had a great time....it looks like....

Here are most of the family, except for two brothers, who are in California. They missed the party too. Did I mention I was at work and NOT there?

When I saw this next photo, I thought, OMGee. It's GENETIC!

ha! They even tune alike!

I would have tuned my guitar too,

but I wasn't there,

as usual.

Britt and Silker had a great time too, I reckon....

Of course, Grandma Terry has to supervise all party happenings...

Darrell, I know you want to see all the photos, so here is the link to them all. KNOW that I didn't take any of them, because I WASN'T THERE.

http://picasaweb.google.com/112298489614175847253/ArtsBirthdayParty1110#

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Did I already mention I was at WORK and didn't even KNOW ABOUT THE PARTY till yesterday?

What else news is there....OH. Took Boomer to the vet yesterday for a check up, and he had his ears washed out and his Thyroid medicine adjusted. He lost an additional 5 pounds the past two months. He's now down to 48.3 pounds! What a big baby!

Here is Court taking a nap on Boomer....

Well, that's it for the moment! Have a great day everyone!!!

Happy Veteran's Day!

2010-11-11T06:20:00.003-05:00

Also, my "Catch-y'all Up" post.

I didn't forget yesterday, I have another eye infection, so I had to go to the eye-dr.'s and then to Wal-Mart, then to my Guitar lesson (of which I dazzled my instructor!!!) : )

I LOVE the Quote of the Day on this page.... Dan Quayle is so special!!

Funny Quote of the Day

For NASA, space is still a high priority.
Dan Quayle

So, as you ALL know, my baby came home for a few days and it was SOOO wonderful hearing her run around the house, kiss on the dogs, eat my cooking and all the other million things she does that we miss.

One thing she did that was wonderful was, when I went to wake her up to go with me somewhere one morning, before her eyes even opened, before her brain turned on, she grinned real big. She's always done that...smiling before she even wakes up! Her sister's DEFINITELY don't do that! ha

So, we had a dinner at our house during last week with alot of family over.

Here is Ash in front of the Coast Guard Flag we fly while she's home...

Here Ash and Britt are on the front porch with"Freaking Harley" (that's what Harley thinks his name is...)

Here are the girls...

Here are the girls with my brother's babies...

I promise y'all those two grow everytime I see them, and Lauren get's more beautiful by the minute and Alex gets more handsomer! (Is that even a word?) I attribute that to excellent genes, of which over-floweth in my family. We're all real purdy! hee

Speaking of real purdy, here is a picture with Mike's Grandma in it, Courtney's boyfriend, Dillon, Mike's Mom and Mike.

OH....Big ASHlEY NEWS....

Yesterday, she called and told me she was awarded/presented with another RIBBON! WOO-HOO!!!

She was awarded the "Coast Guard Meritorious Team Commendation". She sent me an email with her Commendation letter attached and I just can't fathom what all she and her team did to receive that. They are all awesome and I am proud of them all!!!

I asked her what color is the ribbon, but she didn't know yet. I was thinking something in a Pink-Cammo perhaps?? hee With that ribbon, it brings her total to 6 ribbons! TOO PROUD!

Britt is still doing really well in getting ready to join the Air Force. She has to lose just a few more pounds!

Courtney BROKE HER FOOT last week! She was running and twisted her foot. It didn't start really hurting till an hour later, then it was unbearable for her....so, off to the emergency room we go...

Here she is singing at Guadalajara's...

Here she is singing at a Veteran's Day service...

Just so y'all know...and Dad won't pout...HE TOOK THAT PICTURE.

I like this next picture too of her.

That's about it....!!!!

Hope everyone had as great a week as I did.

More soon-

Haven't abondoned y'all!

2010-11-09T05:42:00.002-05:00

I have to work today, but tomorrow I'm posting my big update with tons of pictures from when Ash was home, Court's broke foot and Veteran Day celebrations. I may even have a pic of Britt or two!!!

Stay tuned and I hope everyone is doing well!

Broke-Back Hill

2010-11-03T09:21:00.003-04:00

HAAA!

So, last night we went horse back riding at Dillon's family ranch. Britt and Ash had never ridden a horse before and it was hilARIOUS watching them!

Here is Ash on her horse...

Here is Britt on hers...

and Court on hers...

and here are the 3 of them...

awww.....the horses are beautiful! hee

Here is Ashley and Fred...

and Ash and Mike...

and Britt learning to ride...

we had a wonderful time. I took a ton of pictures and I have to get them all on the web albums so you can see them all.

Here is the link to all the horse pictures....http://picasaweb.google.com/112298489614175847253/HorseRiding11210#

This afternoon, we are having everyone over for supper. We'll be taking loads of photo's and eating a ton of good food!

More soon!

Happy Election Day!

2010-11-02T10:25:00.002-04:00

I want to wish my cousin, Kenny MUCH MUCH luck in today's Cheyenne Wyoming's House District 8 election. This is like, HUGE family news!!

ASHLEY came home yesterday and words cannot describe how happy we all are, most especially ME! hee

Last night we went to Silkers house and while there, the girls "shared" with Grandma Terry an extremely SOUR candy...

Here is a video of her trying it out!

HAAAAAAA!!!!

So, today, everyone is sort of doing their own thing and catching up with people. Tonight, after supper, everyone is headed to Dillon's family's ranch, where the girls are supposed to go horse back riding. We'll see. I will photo all things horsey.

That's it for the moment...more soon!

I HEART LIFE!

2010-10-28T07:33:00.003-04:00

Today is SUCH a great day! Ashley comes home Monday for a whole entire week! I've taken the week off work, so I can enjoy every second of every moment my whole family will be together.

She put this picture on her Facebook the other day, which I LOVE...

She's smiling with her eyes!

We're debating on whether to put the Christmas Tree up or not. Not sure...I REALLY don't want to look at it for another 2 months. Last year, we kept it up till late February waiting on Ash to come home so we could have Christmas. We could do that again too...we'll see.

OH...we got a new "Throne" yesterday....it's PUSH BUTTON!

Have you EVER!

Anyways, it works, doesn't leak and is shiny!

I also want to put a plug in for my Cousin that's running for a House seat in Cheyenne, Wy.

If ya'll live there, go vote for him!

What else is making me be in a great mood this morning....OH...I get to go back to Wal-Mart today..that ALWAYS makes me happy! I like Big Lots too, but Wal-Mart is like home to me! (sad, I know!)

Courtney has been loving all things horsey! Dillon's family has several horses and have a ranch with an arena and all kinds of horse stuff. (I don't know ANYthing about horses, except they have 4 legs and Mr. Ed could talk.) Anyways, Court loves going over there and having Dillon's poor Mama teach her all about them.

I don't have any pictures I've taken of Britt lately since her Halloween party the other night. She HATES having her picture taken when she's not fixed up. Since she's been living at the gym lately trying to lose those few more pounds, she's not fixed up alot...but still beautiful!!!

That's it for the moment...you KNOW I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel for something to blog about when I put pictures of the commode on here! ha

Have a great day!!!

Sunday!

2010-10-24T18:26:00.002-04:00

Last night Britt went to a costume party and was she EVER dressed up!

She looked fantastic!

She finally let me take a pic of her! She is SOO beautiful!

So, today, Courtney went "Sorting". It's something you do on a horse OR mule and it involves cows or something. Not sure.

Here she is doing it tho...

That's just amazing to me!

Anyways, gotta go cook supper....

have a wonderful afternoon-

Joan

SATURDAY!!!

2010-10-23T07:45:00.003-04:00

I know I had promised to update yesterday, but I awoke to Courtney informing me I had to go to a 3-4 hour long orientation at our local college. It ended up taking almost all day, then I went to the mall with Britt so she could get some MAC make-up, then went with Court to get some supper. OMG.

So, today is MY DAY. Well, maybe. It's just me and Court home today since Mike and Britt are both working. It's ALways scarey when Court and I are home together. She hates to go anywhere alone, so I'm usually her side-kick when all else fails. That's bad news for any house work getting done. : )

So...since I posted last, we have been back to Hiawassee!

Here is Court performing with Showtime International.

Here is another...

Here is Court singing with Kari and Taylor...

Here she is signing autographs....

Here is Mike doing a sound check with Court's mic...

and lastly...here is Dad entertaining the crowd before the show!

HAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

That's it for that! We had a great time, Court met tons of new fans and she can't WAIT to get back up there in July!

Sooo...yesterday, i went with Court to the orientation, as I mentioned before and ya'll KNOW I had to sneak a pic in of her doing something...

here she is REGISTERING FOR HER FIRST COLLEGE CLASSES....EVER!!!!

She was sooo proud of herself and we are very proud of her. She plans to go into Radiology. I think that's great and the pay is fantabulous!

And...i do have a few more pics of Ashley....

Here she is (left) with her room-mate in their apartment...WITH Courtney's belt on, I am told.

Here was one of her Facebook profile pics she used, which is totally her. See how she smiles with her eyes too! We miss her like crazy!

That's about it for today. I don't have one single pic of Britt to add because she either won't let me take her pic, or wasn't there for me to get a picture. She's working today, so I can't get a pic, but I'm SURE Court will!

Have a great day everyone! More soon!

joan

more Friday

2010-10-19T05:39:00.003-04:00

Dad pointed out to me yesterday that I haven't updated in a few day on here. We have been so incredibly busy these past two weeks, it's just mind-altering!

We've been back to Hiawassee twice, had the house re-roofed and I've worked every single day we weren't away. Our house was re-roofed last Wednesday and I've only seen it in the daylight for 3 minutes!

OHHHHH...Ashley comes home the first week of November for a whole 5 days!!!!! WOOOO-HOOOOO! i asked her last night what did she want to eat while she's home and she said PINTO'S AND CORNBREAD! That's my girl!!!!!

Anyways...i'm FINALLY OFF WORK ON FRIDAY! So, I'll post then.

I have a guitar lesson today and I haven't TOUCHED my guitar since last week!

Have a great, un-eventful day everyone!

Joan

Pawn Shop

2010-10-09T12:29:00.002-04:00

We finally got to the pawn shop today and it's JUST like stepping back in time to about 50 years ago.

Here is Court sitting and picking with the guy that owns it...

then a few more people came in, picked up guitars and started....

I changed the effects to sepia because it just fits.

More soon!

Joan

Georgia Mountain Festival 2010

2010-10-09T09:09:00.002-04:00

We're here! It's soooo pretty here and the leaves are just beginning to change. In another couple of weeks, they'll be gorgeous!

Last night, we went to the fair grounds and saw T.G. Sheppard, Janie Fricky (or however you spell it) and John Connelly. It was a good show. Court also sang!

and so was Elvis!!!

Court sang with the incredible house band....

I've posted all my pics from last night here...

http://picasaweb.google.com/108807920401714329726/HiawasseeFall2010#

I'll be taking alot more other-than-concert pics today.

Hope everyone is having a good start to the weekend!!!

Joan

Georgia BOUND!

2010-10-08T09:11:00.002-04:00

Today, we're headed to Hiawassee, Ga for the weekend and Dad, I will be posting LOADS of photos, so stay tuned!

Darrell.... Silker and Papa won't be going so they can be nearer Harold and Caren, in case they can help. He's doing good tho! Your brothers and sisters are the best!

Court's taking her laptop, so I can post photos!

More soon from God's Country!!

Joan

Nutter Update

2010-10-05T09:09:00.002-04:00

Welp! I haven't updated in a few days because I have nothing to post, except more of the same! Actually, I do have a few pictures to post taken by the girls.

Everyone is doing fine and I also want to say here that Harold, who was hospitalized recently, is doing much better. I don't have any pictures to add of him here, because I haven't seen him. BUT, my Granny-in-law assures me he looked good and still has his sense of humor!

SOOOO...Court has taken a few pictures lately of stuff....

Here is Court and Dillon's Bassett, Fred...

Here is Court riding, which Dillon's Mother has been so wonderful teaching her how to do...

Court will be performing in Hiawassee, Georgia next week with her old group, Showtime International. Here is a pic of her practicing with them (dress rehersal)...

This next pic is a possible publicity photo for the show...not sure yet...

and here is my most FAVORITE picture taken of her. Actually, it was a group shot, but with my superior, creative eye, i spotted it immediately!

She looks EXACTLY like her MOTHERRRRRRRRRRRRRR! ha

I have absolutely NO pics of Britt to put on here! She hasn't taken any of herself, I haven't taken any of her or Mike. She is currently in a mad dash to lose just a few more pounds to get started with the Air Force process. She looks fantabulous and i will sneak a pic of her today. She HATES her picture being taken!

Ashley, on the other hand, LOVES her picture being taken.

Here is Ash and her room-boat-mate, Sarah...

When Ash came back last week from her latest patrol, this is how her truck greeted her...

A load of her friend boys came over and took care of it and her!

Here is a picture of her and Sarah doing who knows what...

This next pic was taken on her boat. It's Ash and some of her friend girls on her ship...

There are tons and tons more pics, but I can't put them all on here. I'm trying to get her to put all her photo's in one spot IN HER SPARE TIME. right.

That's all for he moment! Guitar lesson day, so I gotta go practice!

More soon-

Joan

ASHLEY's BACK

2010-09-29T06:00:00.004-04:00

Well, not home, but back in Seattle, and I, for one, am thrilled! Verizon isn't! They LOVE it when she heads out of the country and fires up her cell phone!

She put some pics on her facebook of her working and here are a few...

Ash is on the left here....

Here are some of her boat-mates and her (she's the tall one in the middle)..

and I'm not sure what they were doing here, but they look cold!

Here is Ash and friends singing karaoke at an eating establishment...

When she returned and finally got to her apartment and truck, she had a major flat tire and a dead battery. She figured her tire was going to be flat as it was losing air before she left. Her daddy TOLD her to unhook her truck battery before leaving out, but she forgot.

Thankfully, some of her guy buddys took her tire off her truck for her and took it to Good Year for them to fix and then put it back on her truck for her. They charged up her battery and it seems to be doing OK, so far. THANK YOU GUY BUDDY'S!!

ANYways, she's back there and should be coming home the first week of November. We canNOT wait.

OH...I mailed her birthday box to her the middle of July and she's FINALLY getting it this morning! Nearly 3 months later! HAAAAAAAAAA!!!! Gotta love it. I MAY go ahead and mail her Christmas box to her next week and MAYBE she'll get it by Christmas!

Everyone else is doing great, even the dogs!

More later!

Joan

: )

2010-09-25T07:06:00.003-04:00

For the 2nd time in two years, i was call OFF work today! Our patient load is so small this weekend, THEY DON'T NEED MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! (HAPPY DANCE)! it's SO nice to not be needed! hee

Sooo, last night, we went to this music/singing that was going on in Easley, SC. Thepeople there were really, REALLY friendly and just loved us! I think that's because we were the youngest people there, but it was really nice!

Court did her singing thing and the band, to be such a small place, was fantastic! The steel player has traveled all over with Goerge Morgan and other "oldies"! I was very happy to meet him!

That's called a "Lap Steel" he's playing there. He said it's more portable and he can make it sound like a big fancy one.

Here's The Court doing her thang...

Y'all know I can't get more than one picture of her with her eyes open!

The band really was good and they love that a young person LOVES the older "real" country!

That's it for last night!

OH...while there last night, a lady came up to MEEEEE and told meeeee I did a great job! ME! She must have remembered me from another one of my many great performances, because I didn't pick last night. (Court wouldn't let me, but whatev.)

I told Court, I just can't go ANYwhere without being recognized. It's such a encumbrance, nay, challenging BURDEN, to go out into the public and remain humble.

sigh.....

Mom and Dad have gone to Hurricane Mills, TN

to Loretta Lynn's Dude Ranch.

ZZZzzzz.....

They're there for the entire weekend. ZZZzzz......

O.M.G. ZZZzzzzz.......yawn.

I have nothing else to add to that!

Have a great day everyone, I KNOW I am!

OH, tomorrow, we'll be churching it all day.

Harold has asked us all to go to a Church of God of Prophecy church in Gray Court, SC to sing. I'm SURE he didn't mean for ME to sing, but I'll go anyways! hee! Then, after that, a Church of God of Prophecy church in Conesttee, SC has called and asked us (Court) to go there to for their revival. They better be glad they don't know about my mad guitar skills, or Courtney would be history! : )

WORKING Today...ZZzzz.......

2010-09-23T04:58:00.003-04:00

I have become accustomed to NOT working lately. My schedule has spoiled me!

Nothing new here. Ash is headed back to her home port today, which I'm glad for. Her boat just went thru a grueling inspection that lasted for two days and I think everyone there is exhausted.

They'll only be in port for a short time before they head back out for MONTHS. She is coming home during this brief towards the end of October! HAPPY DANCE!!!

We bought a new COMMODE last night! YUP! Our current one has 1958 stamped on the inside tank. I think it's time! : )

That's it! have a great day!

joan

Hump day!

2010-09-22T07:00:00.003-04:00

After a super exciting night of watching GLEE, I awoke this morning to a msg. on my phone from Ashley with a picture! I thought she forgot how to send pictures!

Ash is in white with the large brown belt. Court said Ash stoled that trendy, fashion idea from her! ha

The caption under the picture said, "Going out on the town". I feel sorry for the town! hee The two girls on either side of her are on her boat. I don't know who the girl on the far left is. They all look happy!

Not much else happening today. I had an awesome guitar lesson yesterday! I'm moving on to my 3rd book!

Have a great day everyone!

Joan

Nuttin' New

2010-09-21T07:43:00.003-04:00

We're actually boring this week! No one is doing anything blog-worthy, not even the dogs! That's great tho, I like boring!

Britt is steady losing weight so she can join the Air Force...she only has a few pounds to go!!!!

Ash is in California this week and headed to her home port later this week. She's VERY excited about being able to come home the end of next month. We are TOOOO!!!!

Court is busy being Courtney. She has been practicing to go back to Hiawassee, Ga next month. She's also very excited about starting school back up in january.

The dogs are busy being human...or as human as they know how to be! Boom accidentally ate half a Oreo Blast from Sonic last night. : ) Really!!!

That's it for the moment. I have one camera sitting on my sideboard, one on the computer table and one on my cell phone WAITING to capture SOMETHING. When I do, I will post it on here!

More soon!

Joan

HAPPY 19th BIRTHDAY, COURTNEY

2010-09-16T07:51:00.002-04:00

The baby is 19! WOWWW!

Last night we went out to a japanese restaurant to celebrate. She wanted to go there, so we did!

Mom and dad were there too...

Here is Court opening her presents from my parents...

The t-shirt that was in it was SO cute...it had southern slang all over it! HA

She also got a purse that I want!

Here's a good one i took of my Dad...

Here's a good one I took of Mike's Mom, Dad and Britt....

ha!

Then the waitress and cook came out and Court, Dillon and Grandma Terry did the Chicken Dance! It was HILAROUS!

The waitress laughed so hard at Grandma Terry, she started crying!

Afterwards, we went to Mike's parents house for cake and ice cream. My parents were tired, so they went home.

Here most of us are...

Here is Grandma Terry threatening Dillon with her cane. I forget why...she does that alot!

in addition to everything else she got, Mike's parents got Court the neatest record player. It also plays CD's, cassettes, and best of all, it will record a record to a CD...or cassette to CD! VERY nice and it's beautiful too. It will look fantabulous in her old fashioned bedroom!

I have posted all the pictures from last night here...

http://picasaweb.google.com/joansc29662/Courts19theBirthdayParty#

I haven't seen the pictures Dad took yet, but that's OK. Mine are the far superior ones and the most blogworthy! hee

love to all-

Joan

Picture of Ashley

2010-09-14T08:04:00.002-04:00

I forgot to post this the other day.

She put this picture on her facebook and I love it! Doesn't she look happy! I'm sure she's thinking of me! HAAAAAAAAA

Today, I have my guitar lesson and I am ready. My fingers are too! ha !! I sometimes feel sorry for my guitar teacher. He gets me on Tuesdays and Dad on Wednesdays. He did tell me the other week that he has started going back to church regularly... ???

Work has been pretty good lately too. We don't have alot of patients, so my job is not as stressful. I have to take my annual telemetry (heart monitor) test this month, which I'm ALWAYS glad to get that out of the way!

That's it for the moment.

OH, Ashley should be calling home is a few days now. I'm ALWAYS glad when her feet (and cell phone towers) are in this country! She called me over the weekend FROM HER CELL PHONE IN ANOTHER COUNTRY. WHAAAA????!!!!! My head spun around 12 times as I answered the phone. Then I thought something was wrong. Got my heart to pounding there for a second. Anyways, she told me she was at a mall, sitting in a Chile's restaurant eating. I asked if she was aware that it was extremely long distance to be calling and telling me this (she is a blonde, afterall). She said it was cheap to call home, so she was. hmmm....I called Verizon and it was, so all is well!

Have a great day everyone and more from me soon!

Joan

Harold's Benefit

2010-09-13T06:01:00.002-04:00

Pelham Church of God of Prophecy held a benefit for Harold last night. We went and there was alot of singing going on!

I forgot to take my big camera and so I was stuck with my cell phone, so the quality isn't there and besides that, Mike's Grandma didn't want me taking ANY pictures inside the church. I did manage to take these tho.

That's Court on the left, Art beside her, Will, Harold and Silker.

Harold did sing one song and it was beautiful.

That's it for the moment.

I have to work today so I have to get.

have a great day everyone!!!

Joan

FREEDOM!!

2010-09-07T07:17:00.003-04:00

I'm FINALLY off work after a 3 day whirlwind at the hospital. We have alot of elderly patients right now and I am SO glad to be off work for a couple days.

I LOVE old people, especially happy, old people. Those are few and far between, which is why I enjoy those that are!

I have learned one thing. The happiest elderly people are those that have lots of family around and get better faster. Those that don't, are usually miserable and grumpy. Just my observation.

Speaking of elderly, Buddy has to go to the Spa today to get his mani and pedi. He usually doesn't mind going, but we are thinking he has lost most of his vision lately, so I don't know how he will do today. The Spa he goes to is uaually pretty quick with him and they call me as they are finishing up with him so I can be there when he's finished.

Everything else around here is just moving forward!

OH...I'm ALWAYS searching for great pics to use as my background on my cell phone.

I thought about this one....

I did use this one for a coupld days, but soon grew bored with it.

So, I used this one for a couple days....

and was VERY bored with that one.

So, then, I thought...what/who do I like to look at?

YUP! My new background pic on my phone! hee

Have a fantabulous day!

Joan

GOODBYE EARL........

2010-09-02T08:09:00.005-04:00

Not that it's going to come near us, but the hurricaine is headed straight to Virginia...where Ashley is!

I knew this wasn't going to be a "good" huricaine when I heard it's name. EARL.

Y'all know that Dixie Chicks song! ha!!

It's also Grandpa, Dad, Larry Jr. and BUDDY's (yes, the dog has a middle name) - middle name!

If you remember, Ash is in C-School there until the middle of this month. She told me they may EVACUATE outta there! I told her to keep her cell phone charged!

Everything else around here is doing great! I don't have any pics to add because I've been working, but I will take some today of something! You know it's bad when the DOGS run when they see a camera! HAAAAAAAA

Have a great day!

Joan

Singing, picking and talking

2010-08-30T05:38:00.003-04:00

This past weekend was filled with all of the above!

Court doing her thang!

Britt and Mom doing their thang....

and everyone doing their thang....

It was alot of fun in Owings, SC and we hope to go back!

Court sang at a church last night in Woodruff, SC. OH what talent was there! It was good to see alot of the guys I used to work with!

Well, this is short and sweet...gotta work today! WHA???!

Here is the link to some of the pics I took. Realize I was trying to capture a more rustic look, but failed. They were mostly blurry, but that's how you learn!

http://picasaweb.google.com/joansc29662/CourtOwingsSC#

Dad is still working on his masterpieces, so you'll just have to wait!

More soon-

Joan

Connie's Peanut Butter Cake!

2010-08-29T14:09:00.004-04:00

So, Britt was feeling like baking a cake, so her and Mike decided to make Connie's Peanut Butter Cake!

WHO AM I TO SAY NO!

Soooo......

Grandma Terry has to make sure we ain't breaking any "Cake Baking" laws!

They were trying to remember if Connie make a two or a three layer cake. They decided on two...but now that's it's all said and done, we think she makes her's a 3.

Layer one!

Court and Mike take a turn in iceing, WHICH took longer than imaginable!

The finished cake...

and here is another angle...

awwww.....the chefs!

AND....

EXACTLY 45 SECONDS LATER....

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! No, I'm not kidding either.

Here is my smallish piece ...... compared to Silkers ....

We all have to say, this was the best cake ever baked by my family!

Thank you Connie for sharing your recipes with Britt. She carrys them in a 3 ringed binder encased in plastic sleeves. She treasures them...and SO DO WE!

Love to all-

Joan

DARRELL

2010-08-24T07:35:00.004-04:00

Today's blog posting is dedicated to YOU!

Yesterday, your Mom made pintos!!!!!!

We talked about you as we ate (and ate)!

So, this picture is for you!

ha!

Today, Courtney is singing at a church. Some kind of monthly get together the church people have and they wanted entertainment. I probley won't take any pictures there of Court singing, but who knows what happens between here and there!

Britt is steady exercising to lose the fina 15 lbs. to join the Air Force. She has done SOOO good and is nearly there!

Ash is doing really good in her class and has met a bunch of friends already. I put this on her wall posting on her facebook yesterday...

.. .-.. --- ...- . -.-- --- ..-

I will let y'all figure that out and put the answer to it on here tomorrow. (hint..google morse translater and copy and paste the above in there!)

More tomorrow!

Joan

HAPPY BIRTHDAY !!!

2010-08-23T08:05:00.002-04:00

This past week was SOOO crazy! It was mine, Ashley and Harley's Birthdays! AND, ASHLEY CAME HOME FOR A FEW DAYS!

(I'm the one on the right, in case you couldn't tell)! BAH-HAAAAA

Anyways, picking her up at the airport was crazy enuff!

Ash is in green HIDING behind the family in front of her. I wonder if us hollering and camera flashes going off may have embarassed her? hee

Her boyfriend, Jeremy went with us!

Then we had to go out to IHOP to eat...

Then next day was MY birthday, so we all went out to eat and later, had ice cream...

This is my favorite picture taken, i think...

Saturday was our joint birthday parties! We all went out to eat at the Tadpole, then back to our house for cake and ice cream and music.

Grandma Terry was there too...she never misses out on a party!

we had PRESENTS!

Actually, we mailed Ash out her birthday box July 12th and she STILL hasn't received it on her boat yet! Maybe it will be there when she gets back next month.

Buddy made an appearance!

Art was there too!

Now, she's gone on to Yorktown, Va. to go to Visual Communication school. She has to learn MORSE CODE! I just can't imagine anything MORE boring than having to learn that!! BUT, she is excited about it. She flys back to her boat on Sept. 11th. She hopes to go to Boarding Officer school in Charleston, SC in October, which would be fanTABulous for all of us! We'll just keep our fingers crossed!!!

I have TONS more pics here if you want to see more...

http://picasaweb.google.com/joansc29662/AshHome810#

I will reveal Mike's birthday present to me after i get it photo-ready....stay tuned!

Have a great day!

Joan

**ASHLEY'S HOMEEE!!!!"

2010-08-18T07:24:00.005-04:00

AND, we are beyond happy! Recently, while on patrol on her boat, she got the opportunity to go to school for 3 weeks in Va., so, she took a weeks leave and came home for a few days! WOOOOO!

Here Court was trying to take a picture of herself....

HAAAAAAAAAAA! I love that picture! hee

After her schooling, she has to fly directly back to her boat. Sad, but true, but we are sooo happy for the few days we get with her. She's like a cyclone really, so a few days home for her, is like 2 weeks for normal people! ha

I'll have loads more photo's today to add. I'm still not fully functional!

While we were gone to pick up Ash, Mike and Britt stayed behind. Britt helped Mike do some things, including, puttingsome guitar holders up on Court/Ash's room and hung Courtney's guitars...

and her other stringed instruments...

We think it looks great and Court was SOOO thrilled!

It was so cute when Ash got out of the truck. Mike and Britt was sitting outside waiting for us with the dogs. Boomer went straight up to her and was SOOO happy to see her. She kneeled down and they just slobbered all over each other. She sure does love him and he loves her!

Today, I have GOT to go to the grocery store and then I have a guitar lesson this afternoon. Dad took my spot yesterday and I'm sure Wayne (my teacher) was just so dissappointed it wasn't me. BUT, I'll bedazzzle him with my madd skills today! HA...he actually needs to take a valium before I get there so I don't rattle his nerves so badly! HAAAAAAAAAA!! He did tell me one time that I can make sounds come out my guitar he ain't ever heard before! That's at least SOMETHING!

Gotta get to Wal-mart and get some groceries!

You know life is good when all your chickens are home under one roof and you're fixing to go to Wal-Mart! ; )

Joan

ASHLEY NEWS

2010-08-15T07:48:00.003-04:00

I awoke this morning with an email on my phone from ASHLEY!!!! She said they had swim call on her boat yesterday! Her friend on her boat took a pic of her and Ash and emailed it to her family and Ash, who forwarded it to me...here is part of that email...

ME and Ashley........

They call this "Still Beach"...after all of this a day of swimming, they fished then the Chiefs cooked us dinner then they had a display of desserts!

AWWW....don't they look just beautiful!!!

AND....I have MORE great news! She is going to school in Virginia starting Aug. 23rd for two weeks! Some kind of communications school. MY BABY IS COMING HOME!

This is just the best news I've heard in a long time and I plan on enjoying whatever time I get to spend with her with a huge smile on my face and my nose in her hair (it smells like her!! ha)!!

That's it for the moment.

OH...for Darrell in California, Harold is doing pretty good. Caren has been keeping us all up to date on Facebook, which I know you have too. We're just all anxiously awaiting news on how the cat scan went last week. I guess they're all going to church today, so I'll get more info this afternoon.

Have a great day!!

Joan

HAPPPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLEY

2010-08-14T08:44:00.003-04:00

21 years ago, the clouds parted and Ashley decended on this earth with a huge, loud, giggly, blonde thud and thus begins her story............

She looks so much like me, i may need to spank her when she comes home! BAH-HAAAA!

Long time, no decent post! ha!! But that's the truth. I worked a ton last week and when I do that, there isn't time for much else. I even got behind on my news watching...so I NEARLY missed Lindsey Lohan's mother's interview....(eyes rolling). I also think it was incredible that 3 tweens bought tickets and flew to Nashville to go to Dollywood....WITHOUT THEIR PARENTS! I saw where their parents were upset with the airlines...uh....where were THEY at?

Court has practice today for a show she'll be doing in Hiawassee, Ga. this October. She'll be performing with a group she used to perform with years ago, and she is SOOOOO excited! She has always loved performing with them. They're sort of like a show you would see in Dollywood or someplace, really fun to be in and to watch!

I don't have any more new photo/videos to share, unless you count the pic i took of Grandma Terry's meatloaf she made the other day. OOOOO.MMMMMM.GGGGEEEEEEEEE, was it the best ever and I deemed it photo-worthy! Maybe I will put it on here, I gotta see what it looks like on here, I don't want none of ya'll trying to eat your monitors! BAH-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

More soon!

Joan

Monday nite!

2010-08-09T19:55:00.002-04:00

Quick update to add one more video....here is Court singing my favorite fast song she does, "Two More Bottles of Wine".

I love that song! And the band was fantastic too!

Well, I'm off work the next couple of days, thank goodness, so now it's time to CLEAN MY HOUSE!

Everyone is doing great...Mike's dad is just about back to normal again and he feels much MUCH better. G'ma Terry is doing pretty well too as is Mike's Mom.

Have a great evening!

Joan

"Nuther Video"

2010-08-06T05:28:00.002-04:00

As I said the other day, I would put another video on here and I am...just a day or two late!

Mike's Dad had a heart cath the other day and he has a few tiny blockages, but not worth fixin', which was wonderful news!

It WAS discovered tho that his heart rate is low...REALLY low...like, around 27-40 bpm. SO, they put a pacemaker in him yesterday and it went well. He looks fantastic, and feels so much better. He said his mind seems clearer! He will finally come home today and Cujo (the dog) will be SOOOO HAPPY! ha! So will we!

I have become so spoiled with my work schedule that whenever I have to work an extra day or something, it throws me out of whack, which is what I will be by Tuesday. I normally work Friday-Sunday every other weekend, but this week, it's Friday-Monday and I am POUTING. OH well, the weather is supposed to be so hot this weekend, I might as well work. HOPEFULLY we won't have alot of patients and our weekend will be smooth.

Here is the video. It's of Courtney singing Vince Gill's "Pocket Full of Gold". She performed this in Hiawassee, Ga last week with a really great band.

Hope everyone has a great weekend and keep cool!

Joan

LONG awaited update

2010-08-04T07:15:00.002-04:00

We're back enjoying the Carolina heat...which seems to be hotter than the Hiawassee heat. maybe that's because we don't have a gorgeous clear lake to stick our feet in, or tons of oak trees, maples and pines to walk under. sigh............I really REALLY enjoyed it there and I want to go back.

SOOoooo...today Hiawassee will be just a memory. Mike's Dad is having a heart cath this morning. I would be there too, and probley will be after I go get some blood drawn as part of my employment benefits at the hospital where I work. I would skip out on it, but doing certain things takes $$ off our health insurance premiums. This is one of them and it's the last day of the year to do it. NOTHING like procrastination. I will try to get in early so Britt and I can head to the other hospital to see how he's doing.

I have a few pics to put on here of our trip...these are just a couple of my favorites...

This is one that I took and I love it. ***DAD***- with your new computer and awesome software, can you get this pic and take the microphone out??? PUL-EEEEZE?

Dad always does an awesome job of photo editing. I don't so much because I don't usually have a need to! BAHHHHHHHH-HAAAAAAA!!! Anyways, there wasn't anywhere I could go to get away from all the mics on that stage, so I figured they'd have to be edited out.

I love this next pic because Britt wasn't posing, it shows off her weight loss and she looks so grown up here...

I love this next pic because Court sought me out of the crowd to look at me!

Court did alot of singing and i do have video, of which i'm getting her youtube acct. straightened out now, but here is one of my 3 fav. songs she did. It's, "I'm Not Lisa"...

I LOVE that song. She did more, and I'll include them on here tomorrow after I work on converting .vob to .wmv to then put on youtube.

I'll keep ya'll posted on how Mike's dad is...he isn't nervous at all, Silker is enough for everyone!

Grandma Terry is staying at Will's house, Darrell, in case you are wondering.

More soon!

Joan

Hiawassee Update

2010-07-31T12:41:00.002-04:00

Well, we're all here in Hiawassee, Ga and I have a ton of pics, most of which I haven't uploaded yet. I did upload a few the other night and put a couple on the laptop taken from my Droid X.

Court has been singing herself silly here and you can really tell it here...

Jim Ed Brown, whom she opened for, came out while she was opening and sang a song with her, much to her shockness!

Upon closer inspection of her attire, I realized she forgot to put her heels on!

Hair shot...

At the house we rented, is a huge lake, with a covered boat dock. The water is SOOOO clear...

Here is Court swimming...

Well...I have tons of pics of Britt too, I just gotta download them. Give me a few hours and I'll do that too!

Here's a link to all the unedited pics from Wednesday nights pics...http://picasaweb.google.com/joansc29662/CourtHiawassee710#

We're all having a ball and missing the dogs!

More very soon!

Joan

VAcATioN

2010-07-26T16:59:00.002-04:00

Wanted to let everyone know we are leaving out in the morning for the Georgia mountains. I'm taking every camera we have in the house PLUS my guitar and nail polish! ha

We're also taking laptops and cell phones, so NOTHING will get by us!

Have a great week and I'll be posting some on Sunday night when we get back.

BYEEEEE-

Joan

wedding pics

2010-07-23T07:29:00.003-04:00

I finally have some of the pictures Dad took at the wedding! Here is just a few of the well over 100 pics Dad took. I'll just show y'all a few so as not to bore you with expertly captured wedding pics of people you don't even know! I would have taken pictures, but I didn't want to show the wedding photographer up by out-shooting her!

Here is Mike, Britt and Court, Brenda, Lauren and Alex.

Here is Court and Mom...

The fam...

Me and one of my favorite Aunts, Aunt Rheba who was grandmother of the Bride...

We had a great time and wish Maghan the best!

Next, we have coming up, our trip to Hiawassee, Ga next week! WOOO-HOOOOOO!

I have my camera battery charged, my guitar polished up and a can of coffee already packed! Dad is going too with his camera, but my pictures will be THE ones to watch out for! ha

I've heard from Ash since she's been on patrol and she's doing good. The ship apparently doesn't have air conditioning except the berthing area, so they are a little on the warm side. She should be calling home next week sometime, so I am SOOO excited to hear from my gurly!!!

Gotta go, I have to work the next 3 days, so that leaves today for packing, washing clothes, cleaning the house, getting the boys food and toys together. They are spending the week at their Grandma's house across the street. Donna will be dog sitting the boys for us over there as well as sitting with Grandma Terry. I bet they'll play hours of cards!

Have a great day!

Joan

WORk..ZZzzzz.......

2010-07-21T05:23:00.003-04:00

I haven't posted anything because I have been at work for the past few days. I do have pictures to add, but that will have to wait until at least tomorrow!

We've been really busy getting ready for our vacation (Hiawassee, Ga) next week!!! Mike said he wants a "drama free" week...I told him, with 3 daughters, WHATS THAT???

Ash won't be with us, of course, but hopefully when we go there again this fall, she will be! She did email me and tell me that she will be calling us next Friday when her ship makes land fall! Can't wait to hear her voice!!!

That's it for now, more tomorrow!

Joan