Trip to Pigeon Forge

Having fun in Pigeon Forge TN one weekend with three of my children from the east coast and Utah the next weekend with three of my children from the west! Life is Great!
Melinda, Kimberly and I met Eric 1/2 way to enjoy a weekend in Pigeon Forge. Some of our highlights were... going to the Comedy Barn for some down home comedy - it's amazing how much one can laugh over stupid little things, touring the Aquarium and seeing some amazing underwater creatures, and feeling young racing on the track.We enjoyed a favorite game, Ticket to Ride, good food and hanging out. Thanks for the memories.



The Comedy Barn

Trip to Utah

I'm excited to announce the birth of my 13th grandchild. I am enjoying a trip to Utah to be here for the birth of Rylan David Nielsen, Stacey and Kyle's first child. I also have the blessing of visiting my two other children in Utah, Tim and Christy, and Brittany (Tim's wife) as well as each of their four children. Utah is keeping all my grandchildren! But I'm grateful I've had the opportunity to have fun with all of them during my visit! Enjoy some of my treasured pictures!

Grammy and New Baby Rylan! Welcome to our family!



Grammy's 13th Grandchild - RYLAN DAVID NIELSEN, Born August 6, 2009, 7 lbs. 3 oz. 19 inches long

Virginia Girls Weekend Out

In October the girls here in Virginia decided to cash in on all the men's golf days and have a "girl's weekend out"! We decided to go to Pigeon Forge TN. It is about four hours away. We got very lost trying to find the cabin following the GPS and the mapquest. Finally we arrived to a beautiful log cabin dream home in the mountains. The scenery was beautiful with the autumn leaves surrounding us.
We enjoyed the peace and quiet of nature. We also enjoyed several activities such as a ride up the mountain on a large tram in Gatlinburg, a ride up a ski slope to take the Alpine Slide down the mountain, and an experience at Dolly's Dinner Theater, the Dixie Stampeed. And, what would a girls weekend be like unless we managed to find time for a late night shopping spree. And of course, there were lots of goodies to eat.
Sunday, Debbie gave a lesson on "Joy in the Journey" as we shared feelings about how we can each enjoy the different journeys that our wide range of ages and life's experiences are dealing with. We made plaques out of floor tiles that said "Joy in the Journey" to take home, as a reminder.
It was a wonderful weekend. I wish my girls in Utah could have joined us, but you were in my thoughts!
We are ready to make this an annual tradition. Last year we went to the Women Conference put on by Deseret Book. This year was Pigeon Forge...next year will be a new adventure...Let's make it good girls!

Happy Father's Day

Debbie and Jennifer took our dad out for Father's Day Saturday. We remember growing up and going on occasional daddy daughter dates. We decided for our Father's Day Present that we wanted to give some quality time.
We wanted him to show us how to hit golf balls. He wasn't sure if we could handle that but he was patient with us. He was very complimentary as usual weather we did good or not. But we were surprised we hit the balls as many times as we did! Then we went to Long John Silvers to eat dinner. Then we went bowling, an old time favorite with dad. Jennifer won.
It was wonderful spending time with dad, so we are posting this pictures of our date.

(on the slide show...hit the "x" in the right corner to view, if needed)

Father's Day Date

Mom's New Wheels

I really liked my Ford Five Hundred, but I needed better gas mileage commuting to and from work. This gets about 10 more miles to the gallon. Thanks to Tommy's association with Ford Company I got a decent deal. I haven't had a red car since being a teenager, but it was the only one left. Wow, it's bright and a little sporty. Kim actually said she would like to drive this car - it's not to mommy looking. It's not as comfortable as the five hundred but it will do. It's fun to zip around in.

KIM GRADUATED!!!!

Kimberly graduated from Salem High School on June 13, 2008. I am very proud of her. She also graduated from 4 years of Seminary last Sunday! The last year of seminary was home study which meant a lot of reading and writing. She is very excited to be done with both. I am very excited to have raised six children who are done with high school and seminary! That's one of the reasons we took the cruise to celebrate. She celebrated being done and I celebrated being done also! Way to go mom!
Kim will go to Virginia Western College in September. She will be studying Commercial Art. Way to go Kim! Keep moving forward!