Christmas ties...

Christmas ties!

 I came across this picture recently and wanted to share with you how much and how little changes over time...  We have been known at times to put on our new Christmas duds and take pictures on Christmas day.  I am guessing Ryan is about 5 and Cordell is about 7 in this picture, which would be about 2006.

Ryan is nearly 12, Cordell is 14.

 Fast forward to 2012, six years later.  New Christmas ties again!

And all of us...

Posted by Pam

Carolyn's 80th Birthday Party

Beautiful Birthday Cake!

In August we celebrated my mother's 80th birthday at Cathy & Rick's lovely new lake home.  Aunt Frieda and Aunt Barbara made the long trip from Linton to be with us.  We were blessed to have a break from the intense heat of the summer and had a lovely summer afternoon.

Lovely sisters!

Mom still looks just as pretty as her picture on her cake!

My youngest sister, Valerie, with Mom.

 There are several lakes near Cathy's house, and one is even designated as "The Swimming Pond".  A thick foam mattress provided just the base needed from playing king of the hill, and other assorted games.  Tina brought her kayak, and those that felt ambitious enjoyed turns in the kayak and canoe.

 I think the idea is to make the other person fall off, but you aren't allowed to touch them.  Looked to me like they were having lots of fun, which doesn't surprise me out of these cousins!

Yes, even the big kids played!

Chelsea gives a thumbs up.  Wisdom teeth surgery isn't going to keep her down for long!

The old folks sitting by the pond watching the young'ins playing...


I believe the general consensus was that everyone was glad Mom had another birthday, thus giving us all this chance to get together and celebrate it!

~ Pam

Smoky Mountains Vacation!

In July we felt very blessed to vacation in the Smoky Mountains.  Highlights of the trip there were:  seeing a beautiful double rainbow - even its legs down to the ground, witnessing the widespread draught conditions in the Midwest, and visiting with the Massey family in Cookesville, TN. 

Hoop dancing - the hoops take the shape of various things - here it is the world.  Other shapes he created were a snake, butterfly, eagle, and Mickey Mouse!

We visited Cherokee, North Carolina, and watched a native dancer.  He pointed out to us that full blooded Cherokee dancers are dying out and few young people are interested in learning it.
    He told lots of jokes, such as:  Do you know why Cherokees are sure they are going to Heaven?  They have a reservation there.  

Eagle Dance

The whole gang!

This was actually a family vacation with Walter's mom, brothers, sister, and sister-in-law.  We felt very blessed to spend our week in this chalet in Gatlinburg.  I highly recommend it if you are ever looking for a great place to stay!  It had 3 levels, with 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and lots of space for hanging out.

Cordell and Ryan enjoying the hot tub.

 Birdsong, our chalet in Gatlinburg, was amazing!  Lots of privacy, high up a twisty steep road, and a perfect place to call home for a week.  I would love to go back someday!

 The views were amazing.  Our first morning there some of us were sitting on the deck and watched a black bear walk right down the road next to them.  I, (Pam) unfortunately, was not one of the priveleged ones to see the bear.

Jenny on the back deck.

Ryan looking suave.  Notice the jacket - It was actually cool enough to need it!

Cordell just shot the ball.

Walter had a winning streak!

Grandma even got in the action!

Hiking to Rainbow Falls

After being in the middle of the hot, dry weather with the brown, crunchy grass in Missouri, we couldn't get enough of the lush green forest in the Smoky Mountains.  Our family went for a 5.2 mile hike to Rainbow Falls.  It felt like being in a cool, damp rainforest with dozens of mountain creeks and waterfalls.

Beautiful!

Speckled green canopy.

Relaxing on the hike.  Or, more accurately, waiting on Mom to catch up!

The water was refreshing.

Green, green, and more green!

We hiked right by a small waterfall we could walk behind. 

Cordell brought home this souvenir from the hike when he slipped on the steep path.

Rainbow Falls!  Ryan, Jenny and Cordell are behind the 80' waterfall.

Looking through the waterfall.

We saw so many rivers like this.  I loved the moss covered rocks.

Dennis, Angel, Janice and Ryan riding in a wagon to the start point of a putt putt golf game.

Mike preparing for his putt.

One of our favorite memories of the trip occurred during our game of putt-putt golf.  A thunderstorm started brewing on the 5th hole, but we had to abandon the game on the 11th hole when the rain started pouring.  Grandma ended up getting a rather wild, wet ride in the wheel chair as Walter pushed her through the maze of the golf course trying to seek shelter in one of the shacks!

Wet, but still having fun!  Actually, another of our favorite sayings came from Dennis.  We found this to be applicable on a several of our adventures during the week:

"It's all fun and games until the Fruit of the Looms get wet!"  ~  Dennis Williams

Posted by Pam

Another highlight of the vacation was white water rafting on class 3 & 4 rapids.  Everyone enjoyed it and Walter and the kids even went for a swim, or they fell out.  Accounts vary.   At any rate, they had a great time!

Hanging out with Abe...

Our favorite stop during our "mini vacation" was at the Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, Illinois. This was a fascinating journey with not only a very interesting person, but how his decisions impacted our country during the very critical time of the Civil War as well. I really appreciated how the museum was arranged and how it used high tech means to make you feel almost as though "you were there". In the photo above John Wilkes Booth cuts a dashing figure as a high society actor, hanging out just outside the White House.

Since we were only allowed to take photos in the atrium, we couldn't resist posing with the First Family.

If you ever have a chance to visit this museum I would highly recommend it. Take some tissues with you though.

Posted by Pam

That's our Ryan!

While skimming through these pictures I noticed we have a tendancy to pick on Ryan. Not sure why.... It's just fun I suppose. Saving a choking victim? Just giving a friendly choking? You decide!

Posted by Pam

Summer is here....

It has been nearly 3 weeks since we have updated our blog - our apologies about that! Excuses range from we've been out of town, no access to a computer, and the computer we do have has been acting up... Yep, sounds like a bunch of excuses.

Following our very nice trip to Fort Wayne, we tried to finish up our school year, and got pretty close to being done. I (Pam) spent another week with my mom and my sister, Liz, following the death of my dad. Even though it was a sad occasion that brought us together, it was still a pretty neat week. We spent a lot of time going through old pictures, letters, even diaries from the 1940's and 1950's, which was a real treat.

My family spent a few days vacationing after the funeral. We went to The Creation Museum, in Petersburg, OH, and the Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield, IL. They were both pretty neat in their own unique ways, and I'm glad we had a chance to visit them. I will try to post more about them later - when our computer is straightened out!

Since we have been home Jenny has been busy with lifeguarding at LPBC - our nearby church camp, and volunteering two mornings a week at the hospital. Walter has started cutting hay and we will be doing that as the weather allows over the next week or so, or until we get it done.

Our house building project is moving forward. We have selected a builder and are scheduled to begin this fall. We also have started working with an architect to draw up better house plans that will be easier for the builder to follow. We were pleased with the ideas he had for us, and it is getting easier to start feeling good about this process!

We have 3 new additions to our family - kittens! Chloe the calico, Dixie the gray tiger striped, and Rika, the orange tiger striped. They are so much fun to watch.

It has been a lot of fun to watch the activities on the lake this spring and summer. The most boats we have counted at one time have been 7, and our favorites are the kayaks and sailboats. There are also a lot of people who just fish from the edges, or just come to eat a picnic lunch it seems. It is really a beautiful lake to live near, and we feel blessed to have such nice views out the front porch.

That pretty much sums it up here. Will try to get some pictures posted soon.
Posted by Pam

Hmmm, this one's hard to explain...

Hi everyone,

One of the things I love about my family is their ability to spontaneously have fun with each other, and with various props that come their way.

Case in point.

Last week Walter bought a motorcycle. (More about the bike in another post...) Along with it came such neat accessories as a biker dude helmet and leather jackets. Naturally, we couldn't resist!

We surprised Walter with a style show.

Ryan was able to pull off a "cool" look with little effort.

Cordell has an interesting hand thing going on, not sure if he is thinking in a cool way, or what.

I was pretty much a "fail" at achieving the cool look. Couldn't seem to stop smirking!

So not cool!

Have you ever heard of father - daughter look alike contests?

How about this one?

I know, the resemblence is just SHOCKING!Well, I'm sure that now that you have seen for yourself what influences bringing home a motorcycle can make, you will be fully warned before doing this with your own family!

Posted by Pam