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A little fishing and dreaming

We thought Wade was finally big enough to sit still in Dads boat so he got to try out his new fishing pole on the water. There are alligators at times in this pond so I don't want to have to jump in after him. Dad was the only one that caught anything. Good thing our favorite catfish place always has plenty (and you don't have to clean them). 

Mmmmm cheese grits and catfish!

I was about 8 or 10 when my Grandaddy Marshall had this pond built. My dream is for a tiny pond house to be built on the bank with a big screened in porch and my Singer featherweight set up and ready to sew. Because we moved a lot as kids, this place is as close to home as we have. So maybe that dream will become a reality someday. 

100th Birthday of the National Parks Service

No doubt I love visiting our National Parks. I can still remember the profound impact The Grand Tetons and Yellowstone had on me when I first saw them in fourth grade. So to mark the NPS 100th birthday (which was actually Thursday) we took Wade to the Blue Ridge Parkway to get his park passport stamped. We bought this passport for him on our trip to The Dry Tortugas National Park a few months before traveling to China. He has now stamped it in three parks!!

I can't wait until he is a little older so we can head West!  And there are still many parks on my list that I have never visited. 

We bought him a Jr Ranger hat and asked the park ranger if we could have a photo...but he said wait, I'll go get my hat too. 

And we took a short hike on the Tanawah trail so Wade could walk under the viaduct...and got this quick family photo by a passing hiker. I have to say, I love this home t-shirt on my little Chinese guy. China may be his country of birth....but NC, USA is his home.  I hope he grows to love visiting our nation's National Parks  too. He has already requested a trip to see hot lava....so I told him to ask Daddy when we could go back to Hawaii. And in just a few weeks he will get his fourth stamp when we visit Virgin Islands NP in St Johns. Who knew there was a US park there?

 

Try-athalon

I decided I will never be a triathlete, but a try athlete. This year's Ramblin Rose didn't get any easier I felt like I had about an extra thirty pounds on each ankle during the run. But as I was plodding along I was reminded that my Mom was already struggling with hip pain by the time she was my age. And lest we forget, they mark your calf .....

I hope to keep moving, and even though my time was a minute slower than last year it's ok. I am only racing against our family's history of arthritis and hoping to keep moving so I can keep up with Wade. 

Thanks Sam for doing it with me. This is our post event selfie. Not too glamorous but that's ok, our boys will hopefully see someday two Moms that wanted to stay healthy and strong for them. 

So even though Yoda said there is no try...do or do not....a try athlete I hope to be again next year. And if you want to join me ladies it's a wonderful supportive group. Ramblin Rose. 225 yard swim, 8 mile bike, 2 mile run (or mostly walk in my case today). 

July Happenings

Where has the month gone? We have stayed so busy, but made lots of good memories this month. 

After my college roomate's daughter got married (yes her kids are grown and I have a four year old) we headed to the beach!  Wade loves it. 

The following weekend he and another boy from church were ring bearers in our pastor's son Spencer's wedding. They did so good!

We had some awesome pictures made at the cabin. We reenacted our wedding photo with Wade....

Hard to believe it's been six years, we celebrated with a night at the Barnsley resort in NW Georgia while Aunt Kim kept Wade. 

The next weekend Max spent the night and the boys really played well together, they are so different in many ways but glad they have each other as they grow up China brothers. 

And we got to take Emma for a quick Krispy Kreme run while she was in Winston for Governor's school... she even turned on the hot light. I still remember driving to Raleigh to meet her as she and Paige got off the flight from China about 16 years ago. She laid the desire in my heart for a Chinese little one of my own. 

50 years on earth

Yes I just had my 49th birthday but it sank in that I had lived 50 years....sure doesn't feel like it. 

I will try to eat better and exercise a little more this year, because I would love nothing more than to see Wade fall in love and become a Daddy someday. If he waits as long as Mike did I will have to hit 100+ years. 

Marshall's Graduated

We didn't attend the actually ceremony in Atlanta but met the rest of the crew in Blueridge, GA for a few days of fun to celebrate.  Wade loved being with him, and being in the mountains. It doesn't seem like 19 years ago when I first held his little sub 5 lb self. He has certainly grown since then and is a 6 foot, blonde hunk of a nephew.

We all took a hike on Friday and Mike, Fad and I enjoyed the Adirondack chairs at a local winery under a big maple later that afternoon. 

From there we went down to Dads as Teen was finally home three weeks after her back surgery. Mike did some mowing and I did some cooking (to stock the freezer) and Wade got to make an eating tour...first peach ice cream in Barney, then catfish in Ray City. 

Teen will kill me is she sees this photo but here they are looking at pictures from the weekend. We pray she continues to heal and get stronger. 

I had my blog printed

I started this blog as a fun way to update friends and family but realized now what I have is the closest thing to a scrapbook or journal that I will ever create. 

When I saw a good coupon I rushed to get my blog printed. I didn't take any time to edit these books and they could be better from that aspect but just having the memories and photos in book form has been great. Wade loves to look at them with us too. 

I didn't opt to have all the comments printed but I may go back and manually print those for special times like our trip to China so Wase can read them someday. They ran from $35 to about $50 each but was so easy. You literally type in your blog address and password and it makes a book for you!  You can preview it bedore purchasing. 

So I need to do better about writing updates. I like so many have fallen into the quick and easy Facebook for sharing photos. (And yes you ca n print that too) but there is too much fringe subject matter there. 

So when I started this blog in 2007 Alden would have been about Wade's age and now he is headed off to High School!

High Rider Reunion

So when I pledged High Riders my freshman year at Texas Tech the group was 10 years old. This year they celebrated 40 years. How can that be right?  30 years since I was a freshman??

Wade and Mike had not been to Texas and I really wanted them to meet the Arterburns so we decided to all make the trip. Once my roommates all saw I was willing to come from NC they decided to make the trip too. Isn't it great when you are with old friends and you don't miss a beat?  God blessed me no doubt with life long friends who did and continue to enrich my life. 

Mr and Mrs Arterburn were surrogate parents to so many of us over the years. They met at Tech (Mr Art was a quarterback and Mrs Art a cheerleader I think) They both taught/worked at Tech so I made a long overdue gift of a quilt. They are now both in their 80's but still just as warm and welcoming as ever.  I am glad I got the chance to tell them again how much influence they had on me and that I loved them!

 Lubbock had changed a lot, this new bed and breakfast was just a block from where we lived...complete with a caboose in the back yard (Wade had fun staying in the train)

But the view of the engineering key from the bell tower still looked the same 

Katy Leanne is finishing up her freshman year at Tech but has decided to be a mountaineer next year. We got that school covered here too! Wade now can say Go Apps AND Get your guns up!

College for me was so much more than a degree....now granted that was the first goal and thankful for my parents financing....but it was the lessons I learned from High Riders that gave me the better planning/managing skills for both career and life. And I can't imagine having been there without Carissa, Cara, Tami and Amy. LoveY'all!!  (Oh and my real sister Kim for the last year 😍)

Going Green!

Krispy Kreme decided to turn all the doughnuts green today for St Patrick's Day. Wade said they still tasted yummy!

This has been a busy month, we are back in swimming lessons and will go visit Dad over Easter, then to Texas for a college reunion.  The warmer temps and daylight savings are helping us get a little more done. Alden and Landon helped with some yard clean up too. 

Circus

This was the last year Ringling brothers is traveling with elephants so we decided to get tickets. What a great show...Wade and his parents loved it!!

Cousin Time

We got to spend time with Landon on his birthday this year and with Marshall on his!!!  Wade loves his cousins....

Landon got a quilt made from the tshirt we brought him back from China almost three years ago. 

And we all went skiing on Marshall's birthday which fell on Presidents' Day this year. 

First snow of 2016

Wade sure enjoys playing in the snow a lot more now than his first Winter home. We will need to find a bigger sledding hill to give him a challenge. 

We had about 5 or 6 inches before it turned to sleet.  Mike was home today too as the maill did not arrive from the hub in Greensboro. 

And a nice finish to some sledding was a cup of hot chocolate (thanks again Miss Pat). 

We are supposed to get more overnight but so far this storm has been less impactful than the forecasters had us believe. That's ok, I like electricity and all its comforts. 

Throwing snow at Mommy Is always fun. 

My Christmas Treat

Dad always gives us a check for Christmas and as I get older I really look forward to getting to splurge on something I might not otherwise buy.

 This year I bought a really nice pot. I am trying to get away from Teflon and read up on several kinds before deciding to get a Staub. It's cast iron with an enamel finish. The interior isn't exactly like grandmothers cast iron as its been annondized for better non stick features. 

So with the new pot I got a Williams and Sonoma cookbook called "one pot of the day" which literally has 365 recipes and they follow what is in season during the year. 

Tonight I am trying the porter braised chicken with root vegetables. The picture looks like this:

Wish me luck

All while Mike and Wade are working very hard on homework. Pretty awesome