Christmas is almost here!

Finally - You can see a few of our Christmas decorations. Snowmen have found our house and love the kitchen and table! We also have them around the fireplace mantle. Two Christmas Trees this year - The one inside is blue and white with snowmen and snowflakes. Patrick decorated it this year and did a GREAT job! The second tree is all new ornaments this year. We wanted to put one on the screen porch. The ornaments all have an outdoor/woodsy theme. There is even a black bear climbing to the very top of the tree.

Here is wishing all of our friends and family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Have you been gobbled?

We were last night...


YOU’VE BEEN GOBBLED!!!

The Thanksgiving Turkey has come to town
To leave some goodies, I see you’ve found.
If you wish to make this a happier fall
Continue this greeting, this phantom fall.

First, post this Turkey where it can be seen,
And leave it there but don’t make a scene.
This will show other Phantoms who may happen to visit,
Be sure to participate, you don’t want to miss it.

Second, if able, make two treats & copy this poem.
Deliver them to two other homes.
Don’t let them see you, be sneaky, no doubt.
And make sure they put their Phantom Turkey out.

Leave it at doors where the Turkey hasn’t hit,
Deliver at dark when there isn’t much light,
Ring the doorbell and run and stay out of sight.

And last, but not least, come join in the season,
Don’t worry, be happy, you need no good reason.
This is all in good fun and we are just trying to say,
Have a wonderfully Happy Thanksgiving Day!











The above poem came with a turkey made out of a tracing of a hand on construction paper with a plate of goodies. Watch out! You may be next to be gobbled!!!!

Our 3rd Year Anniversary in Gatlinburg, TN

We have had a tradition every fall, right around our anniversary, to go to Gatlinburg, TN. It is such a beautiful place with lots of beautiful nature sights and shopping for good things and typical tourist things.

This year I had a conference to go to. So, we made this our annual trip. Our anniversary was October 14th, the last day of the conference. The conference finished at noon. We were going to hang out in Gatlinburg for a while before coming on. But it was pouring down rain! So, we came home and had a nice quiet evening. We had a wonderful dinner the night before at Cherokee Grill and Gatlinburg (highly recommend it). So our anniversary dinner was actually the night before. Our dinner the night of our anniversary was tomato soup. Nothing wrong with that on a cold rainy night!

While I was in my conference, Patrick was able to get out and explore some areas of Gatlinburg that he had not been to. He took some beautiful pictures. I want to go back when the weather cooperates and perhaps take a short hike. The Great Smoky Mountain National Park is full of wonderful hiking trails and places to enjoy the great creation that our heavenly father has given us to enjoy!

Thanks, Patrick, for a wonderful three years! Time flies when we are having fun! I am looking forward to many more years with you!

Our good friends

Stephanie used to work with Tamara and Mark at Advance Auto corporate offices in Roanoke, VA. Their younger son and Tamara were in our wedding. We have not seen them since we moved from VA two years ago! It was great to be able to visit with them last weekend! The boys have grown so much! Even though we don't see each other that often, we still consider them really special friends. Love you guys!

I LOVE CAKE

GOING TO THE TEMPLE

YOU ARE INVITED
TO ATTEND
OUR SEALING CEREMONY
TO BE SOLEMNIZED
AT 12:00PM
IN THE NASSHVILLE,TENNESSEE TEMPLE
JULY THE 25th

PLEASE ARRIVE
THIRTY MINUTES EARLY

TEMPLE ADDRESS
11O GRAY FOX LANE
FRANKLIN,TN 37069

NEARDY HOTEL
FRANKLIN MARRIOTT COOL SPRINGS
700 COOL SPRINGS BLVD
FRANKLIN,TN 37067
PHONE 615-261-6100

WE HOPE YOU WILL BE ABLE TO JOIN US.
STEPHANIE AND PATRICK

GETTING READY FOR SPRING

looking good

Stephanie loves this flower

More flowers have been planted since this picture. - Two more azaelea bushes and some paving stones were put in.

After taking a foot of dirt out and putting good dirt back in I was ready

to plant more flowers.

This was from last year; had a hard time growing flowers.

All the flowers wer taken out and new flowers were planted.

Birthday Weekend

Friday was the first day of Spring and my 44th birthday! I had a wonderful weekend!

On Thursday night, my visiting teacher came by and brought me Starbucks pumpkin bread. That was my birthday breakfast. At work, some of my co-workers gave me a $90 Kohl's gift card. Shopping time!!! Patrick came to my office and brought me a miniature rose plant. We are going to plant it in our flower garden. On Friday evening, Patrick gave me an exercise ball (at my request). Then we went to our neighbor's house and grilled steaks, had baked potatoes and fun fellowship.

On Saturday, my mother and her husband came over. We went to eat at a home cooking restaurant out in the country called The Cookie Jar Cafe. They have a collection of cookie jars - over 100 jars. Thus the name.

It was a great weekend! Perfect weather. We went to church on Sunday. We had not been in a few weeks, as Patrick was sick, I was sick, Patrick was in Arizona, and we were both in Nashville. It was great to see our friends in the ward!

Patrick is at home today working on the flower beds. We dug up all the old mulch and horrible "top soil" that was put down originally. We are getting some "black gold" - combination top soil, mulch and fertilizer. We should have some awesome looking plants later this Spring and Summer.

Hope everyone is doing well. Let us hear from you!

Spring Fever!

Well, I have almost accepted the fact that we are getting no snow here in Chattanooga. Just the few flurries and showers we have seen so far this winter. Today it is a BEAUTIFUL day outside! Patrick came to take me out for lunch. I don't often leave my office at lunch time. It was nice to get out in the sunshine today! But, now I want to be outside! Going for a walk by the river, or a hike somewhere near by.

Oh well, guess I should get back to work. There will be a nice weekend soon that will allow for those activities!

This picture is on the Tennessee Riverpark. You can access the park behind my office. What can you do along the Riverpark? Fish, boat, bike, walk, jog, skate, or just people watch. With 13 miles of trails and 150 acres of Riverpark, there's enough room for everyone to pursue a pastime, solo or together. I plan to be hitting the trails when the weather warms up!

Hope everyone is doing well and has a great Valentine's Weekend! Do something nice for your loved ones.

His Turn has Come...

Patrick will NOT like me posting this, but sometimes things should be known by others!

We have been active in the church since July (actually a little before then). But as you know, I was baptized in July by Marty! And Dave, Allison, Heidi, Katie, Nathan, Spencer, and Paige were all there to participate and celebrate on a very special occasion! Of course, Patrick was there, too!
Two weeks ago the second counselor assigned Patrick a Sacrament Meeting talk topic. He is speaking on Sunday, February 22nd. I am so excited for him and proud of him for giving a talk and his testimony. I will be sure to let you know how he does. I am sure he will be just fine!

I received a special set of scriptures from Jan, Allison, Jeannine, Paige, and Heather. We have gained so much from scripture study and reading together. I gave Patrick a Book of Mormon that "Dad" (Al) had given me when we were in Arizona for me to learn more about the Book of Mormon and the LDS church.

We are both on the Activities Committee at church and will be helping with a Valentine's Dinner on Friday, Feb 13th. We will have a great time!

Patrick wants me to listen to his talk. I will most more later. Hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day!

CORRECTION - Patrick reminded me, his talk is this Sunday - February 15th!

Christmas Decorations 2008

I know it is late, but here are a few decorations from Christmas 2008. We are still finding the best way to decorate in our new house. Next year we want to do much more!

Don't worry - the decorations are not still out!

At Last

Another post, finally - And I will do the tag that I received from Jan!

8 THINGS ABOUT ME: Here are the Rules
:1)Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the six '8' items
3) Let each person know by leaving them a comment:PS these are not in order.
8 FAVORITE TV SHOWS
1. Jeopardy (I know that is crazy!)
2. Law and Order, SVU
3. CSI
4. Lost - Patrick's fault!
5. Anything not on Sci-Fi - Again, Patrick's fault!
6.
7.
8.
8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY
1. Got up
2. Went to work
3. Had a grilled cheese sandwich for lunch
4. Had new home teachers over
5. Came home
6. Took care of Patrick
7. Went to Outback with neighbors for Dale's birthday
8. Went to bed early
8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO
1. Spring time! It is apparent we are not getting a good snow!
2. Hopefully going to Bagpipe Camp this summer
3. A vacation
4. Organizing all of my papers - Have not done that since we moved.
5. Catching up on projects that have been all boxed up since we left Virginia
6. Working in the yard this Spring
7. Sitting in my swing on the front porch when the weather warms up (can you tell I am tired of cold weather???)
8. Having a great year!
8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
1. Abuelo's
2. Olive Garden
3. Taco Bell - That one is for Patrick!
4. The Cheesecake Factory - Even though we don't get to go often!
5. Longhorn
6. P F Chang's
7.
8.
8 THINGS ON MY WISH-LIST
1. A happy and healthy 2009
2. Losing weight
3. Sticking to my diet!
4. Enough money to do what we want.
5. My house to be paid off.
6. Cars being paid off
7. More time to travel the country
8. Motivation to exercise more regularly
8 PEOPLE I TAG
1. Katie
2. Courtney
3. Kendra
4. Keera
5. Skyler
6. Al
7. ??
8. ??

RAIN RAIN

Some of the worst flooding since May of 2003 will occur over the next 24hours along a few of our area rivers and creeks. Numerous Road and low spots continue to be water covered with several reports of trees and power lines down in the viewing area.

In Chattanooga, since Monday Night, we have received 4.30” of rain. This will cause the S. Chickamauga River to overflow its banks later today and cause Moderate Flooding around Brainerd, Airport, and Mack Smith Roads. A crest of 22’ will occur by Thursday morning. In May of 2003, a record of 29.29” was set. The flood stage is 18’

Here is the list from Monday Night through Early Today:

Scottsboro, AL: 6.07”

Trenton, GA: 5.70”

Ft. Payne, AL: 5.21”

Henegar, AL: 5.16”

Cleveland, TN: 4.87”

Blue Ridge, GA: 4.87”

Ringgold, GA: 4.81”

McDonald, TN: 4.59”

Chickamauga, GA: 4.49”

Chattanooga, TN: 4.47”

Murphy, NC: 4.36”

LaFayette, GA: 4.36”

Dalton, GA: 4.21”

Athens, TN: 4.19”

Ooltewah, TN: 4.17”

Summerville, GA: 4.09”-1 day total

Etowah, TN: 3.95”

Copperhill, TN: 3.88”

Raccoon Mountain, TN: 3.59”

Sweetwater, GA: 3.54”

Harrison, TN: 3.51”

Red Bank, TN: 3.36”

Decatur, TN: 3.07”

Dunlap, TN: 2.29” Several more between 1-2”
http://wdef.com/video/heavy_rain_le...

NEW YEARS PIZZA

This post deserves a slight explanation. Patrick is very particular about who he lets cook in his kitchen. Notice I said HIS kitchen! He does not even like letting me cook, but I do anyway!

For New Year's eve, he let the Sister Missionaries make homemade pizza in the kitchen. They are some special girls! I love spending time with them. They were so excited to be able to cook a meal for us and to let Patrick know it is ok for someone else to be in HIS kitchen!