The Last Sunday in January

The 29th of January was a busy day.  Several weeks prior, Joe received an invitation from the Murfreesboro youth to speak in their combined meeting.  Gretchen is the YW prez and Nancy serves with her, too.  Joe said "yes" -- of course.  His reward:  An invitation for us to have lunch with Nancy!  (Good things come to those who serve).  A short while after that, he received an invitation to speak in the M'boro Ward Sacrament Meeting, also.  

Anyway, we enjoyed our time in the ward.  It was good to see some old friends while we were there and meet some new ones.  Lori's fam had their records moved from Blackman to M'boro the first of the year, and it was their first Sunday to attend there  because of :  the holidays, being here for Mandy's visit, and medical things with both Will & Jack.

Joe filled his assignments well and then we headed to Nancy's. She had prepared a nice lunch and we really enjoyed being with her.  She gave us a tour of her beautiful new house and it was fun to hear about her "new" life.  After visiting with her, we headed to Smyrna to visit with Matthew's family.  It was good to see all of them, as well.  From there, we hurried home because Joe had a home teaching appointment with the Weeters, our next door neighbors.  When he came back from his visit he said, "I've done my first Utah home teaching.  I walked!"  He's driven lots of miles and spent lots of time driving all over several counties for lots of years fulfilling home teaching assignments.  Walking to the Weeter's house was definitely a red letter event.  Lest anyone think he is growing soft in his advanced years, he had two home teaching visits in Smithville and Alexandria the day before ;-)

While Mandy and the kiddos were here . . .

. . . we had a nice dinner here at the house on Saturday night.  Lori's & Bryce's families joined us, too, and it was so nice to have them all here.

On Sunday, we took lunch to Grandma Miller's house and had another nice visit there.  Bryce's fam wasn't able to join us (he had guard duty), but Blake was able to come (Brett had to work).  Brett sent one of his guitars to Layla, and that was a real attention getter for the kids.

See Jack?  See Jack's boo-boo's?  One broken leg and one broken arm.  He didn't let that stop him from having some fun, though.

Porter was perfectly content to be around so many "strangers" - as long as either his mommy or his sisters were in sight.  I got to feed him several times and I think he likes his Nonna's cooking :)

On Monday, Olivia helped Pa Joe feed the bees.  He learned at one of his beekeeper meetings that honeybees like clearance-priced-candy-canes.  Olivia was more than happy to "suit up" -- she looked like a cross between a beekeeper, a hazmat worker, and the flying nun (it was pretty windy)!!!

And, of course, we couldn't let the sort-of-nice-afternoon go by without a trip to Rocky River . . .

And then, all too soon, it was time to say goodbye.  First, here at Shangri La.  Then, in M'boro. And lastly, at the airport.

An Olivia story:  The last night they were here, I had helped Liv get ready for bed, which included a bubble bath for her in the big tub and a change of clothes for me afterward!  I read her some funny poems and was going to stay with her until she fell asleep (she was in one of the twin beds upstairs).  I sat on the side of her bed and in just a few minutes, she asked, "Nonna, why are you looking at me?"  I told her that I just loved her so much that I didn't want to take my eyes off her.  She said, "Well, could you sit at the end of the bed?  You're freakin' me out!"  Stinker.

Snow Day!

Snow was in the forecast for Thursday night (12th), so Joe and I decided to spend that night and the following night at Rocky River.  Since we didn't get as much snow as we had thought we would, we spent much of Friday exploring the area.  The picture above is made from Rocky River Vista, a development on top of Baker Mountain.  If you enlarge it and look closely, you can see the road and the river.  Bob & Sheila's house is visible in the lower left quadrant.  Little House is across the road, hidden by the trees. 

From there, we went to Fall Creek Falls.  We saw so many deer.  Joe said we saw a blue million.  I say he exaggerates.  We did see a lot, though.  It doesn't seem to matter how many times I see them, I still thrill at the sight.  I love to see them run and jump.  It looks so effortless.  We didn't see  much of that, though.  They seemed to be as interested in us as we were in them.  

 It was very cold and blustery -- and a day well spent.

After enjoying our salads and several bowls of hot soup,

I made this pic through the dining area window of FCF Inn.

The George Hole Swinging Bridge

The George Hole

The swinging bridge below the Nature Center

The lower walkway to The Cascades

The Cascades

After we left the park, we stopped and had a nice visit with Grandma Moffitt and Glenn before we headed back to Little House.  The next morning after we left Rocky River, we went to Mom's to check on her.  She wasn't feeling very well at all, so we stayed with her until we helped her get the things done that needed doing and she was feeling a little bit better. 

2012 has begun!

Lori & her family and Janel & her family were with us on the morning of the first day of January (Sunday) and went to church with us.  Janel's family headed back to MI after Sacrament Meeting and the Jones Fam stayed.  When we got home from church, we had what has become for us the traditional meal of Pot Luck Peas, Cornbread, Creamed Potatoes, and Cracker Barrel Country Ham.  That last item is new.  Usually, we have Hog Jowl.  Too much ham leftover to not eat it, though.  It was all yummy. 

Blake and Lauren stopped on their way back from MO having visited Lauren's dad and spent the night with us.  We all enjoyed a special brunch the next morning that included Cinnamon Toast Pudding.  I had seen the recipe demonstrated on GMA and had bookmarked it to try sometime.  I was not disappointed.  We all liked it very much. 

We all enjoyed the day together and then that evening, everyone loaded up and left.  But Blake & Lauren came back.  We were all surprised to learn that the road to Crossville became increasingly worse as they climbed in altitude.  Going to Cookeville and traveling on I-40 was not an option, either.  Ice and a bad wreck had shut that route down for about 15 miles both directions from Cookeville.  Oh well, we were glad to have them back with us and very glad that they made it safely.  They left the next morning.-- after Blake's request of oatmeal and sausage biscuits for breakfast.  He says that no one can make oatmeal like me.  Joe must feel the same way.  He makes his own :)

I took Mom to Dr. Webb's for more skin cancer treatments on the 4th.  I did quite a bit of shopping for her and some odd jobs at the house.  We had a nice day together.

Lori and the boys came back on Thursday night (5th) to stay through the weekend.  Patrick joined them the next night.  They had workers at their house redoing their ceilings.  Bryce's fam came for a while on Friday night, too.  It was good to have all of them here.

Other than that, Joe has had some lily orders that have kept him busy and I've been trying to get organized and prepared to begin our advertising campaign for Shangri La Farm and Little House on the River.  We hope it will be a good year!

 

William & Lauren
know there is no better way
to start a new year
than by reading good books!

Jack, checking out the "choices" :)