Saturday, May 11, 2013

A Few of my Favorite Things...



These are some random pictures of some of my most favorite things...
Camping
The Chimney Tops
John, having fun
HULA HOOPIN'
Lazy lake days




Dragonflies
Just a walkin' in the MC woods
Blue skies are good for the soul

....So are silly dogs...
fat dog in a little sweater
Smoky
Smiling faces are contagious
Master Caden
This picture makes me smile
Shredding with Gracie

Hiking with my husband

Friends!

Mommy & Gracie Go Shredding!

One of my goals is to become fully capable guiding our shredder myself.  I have learned a lot from John about reading the water and controlling a boat, he is a great teacher. We decided to test my abilities a few months ago, Gracie and I in the shredder and John in his creek boat paddled down the Little River to the Y.  We had a blast!! Here are some pictures from our day...

Fishing


When grace was around three or four years old I started taking her fishing.  With crickets or worms for bait we would drive to the farm and fish from canoes.  Never catching much didn't bother us...  She enjoyed the process and I enjoyed witnessing her patience.  Holding the fishing pole with a deadly tight grip and a determined stare she would sit as still as she could for as long as she could.
Over the years our fishing trips have gotten a little more involved as Gracie has gotten older.  This past fall we put some solid time in on Watts Bar Lake looking for Striper... Gracie's uncle Jeff is a Mad Fisherman, he was our guide in our search for "the big one"  See evidence below:

Gracie's 20lb Striper





Wednesday, October 10, 2012

Master Caden & Isaiah-Godzilla...

Around about the time school began the days started to fly by... Every weekend seemed to fill up with plans before we knew it.  Grace was pressing us to see her cousins, Master Caden and Isaiah-Godzilla, it had been since January, before our move, that they have spent any time together, well, time that wasn't between computer screens.  A weekend finally presented itself with the opportunity for us to pack up and drive to West Tennessee to visit the Brocks.
The drive is just over five hours but it goes pretty quick.  The boys had a few presents in our car from our grandparents, my grandpa handmade a wooden dump truck for Caden and a wooden wheel barrel for Isaiah, they were so cool, beautifully finished.  Perfect for little boys.  In addition we had gotten the boys, and Grace, matching t-shirts while we lived in New Zealand, so they each got a red t-shirt with a lego-kiwi bird on the front.  The kids took the presents inside and before the door was shut they were on their way back out all wearing the t-shirts and carrying their new toys... They were like a little army of short people stomping about.  They built train tracks, flying things, lego things, forts and played games till after 10pm both nights.  Poor Cassius, he was a nervous wreck all weekend.   Periodically, without warning, Cassius would suddenly feel the small, squeaky wheels of a yellow dump truck wheeling up the middle of his spine... He held it together quite well if you ask me. 
Saturday morning Michelle and I took the kids to breakfast at the local donut shop and then to the park.  Saturday night the adults suffered through the TN v FL game.  Sunday on our way home we stopped by Wes's grandparent's farm, the kids ran all over as usual.  Wes, Michelle and I picked some veggies, John played with Isaiah.  Cassius harassed the horses by jumping back and forth, barking and running around them, we were surprised he didn't get kicked... 
Here are some pictures from the weekend:



Saturday, September 8, 2012

One very nice thing about East Tennessee is the lake house in Rockwood...  We have taken full advantage and spent a few weekends out there enjoying Watts Bar Lake and the company of our families. Family reunions and zip lines are just a few of the highlights from these trips, here are a few pictures from our weekends in Rockwood.
ZIP LINE!!!!
Snoop
zip line... almost not high enough for adults
The Hogan cousins


Briefly...

It has been months since my last post... But I guess an international family move will put a halt to that sort of thing.  So, after returning back to East Tennessee we have gotten ourselves settled and back into some form of a groove.
Grace began third grade back in August and extra-curricular activities are at a full swing.  She has joined the Sam Houston Singers, a club that meets after school and performs at various school and community functions.  She has been singing her way around the past few days, it is nice.
She has also decided to join a year-round swim team, BLAST, she practices three times a week learning everything from stroke technique and flip turns to how to effectively play sharks and minnows.  
That is a short summary of our summer in East Tennessee so far...