Carrie & Joe came to visit!!

We had Carrie & Joe come up this evening to have a weenie and marshmallow roast! Here, Mark, Joe, and Creston are hunting sticks and sharpening them for the roast! Here's....................Carrie!!
Sun's still out!

Roast those weenies!!!

Carrie & Joe!

Carrie & Mackie!

Mackie is inspecting the Basket with the 'smores stuff in it!

He's really excited about the chok-late!!

Sittin' around the fire pit!

Carrie and her Marshmallows!

Yup! We like them burned!!!!!

Mark took this one if us "Roasting the weenies!" He forgot to get a picture with the weenies in it, though! So much for staging pictures!!!!!

This is a good one of all three of us holding the sticks!!

Daddy roasting marshmallows for Creston! He's not so sure about the thing being on fire!! (Put it OUT, Dad!!!)

Joe, Creston, Carrie, & Mackie!!!

We had a GREAT evening! Thanks you guys for coming up to hang out with us!!!!!

Look what we now have in Boone!!!!!

Looky here! Far in the distance!!! What is it???? It's Boone's SECOND ever windmill!!!! Apparently, Boone had one back in the late 70's????? From NASA......didn't work much at all....cost a LOT of $$$$........gave windmill power a bad rap......However,.... THIS one seems to be actually working and spins when the wind blows!!! It sits behind the Broyhill Inn on the ASU Campus in Boone!!!

Kinda neat, isn't it???

Maybe a bit Spooky???

But......all in all........quite neat to see!!!!

Take a picture, or eat some worms? Hmmmm....

Here are the pictures I FORCED my husband to take to Mark our 8th Anniversary! Poor man! You'd think I had asked him to eat worms or something???? This first one is the best.....(it was the LAST one taken!!) Our beautiful wedded feet!!!

Mark said to "Do this one Old 'Timey" I was smirking....

Not sure about this......

OR This.......

We were BOTH tickeled here!!!

Thus the conclusion of our Anniversary! Very interesting this year! Maybe next year will be a bit more "Normal".......Doubt it!!!!!! :o)

Our 8th Anniversary!

Today is the 8th anniversary of our Marriage! I'm at home with the boys today and Mark is on duty at the Fire Department with Jimmy! I told Mark as he left this morning to make sure to take Jimmy somewhere nice for lunch....to hold his hand and to stare into his eyes and tell him how much he LOVES him!!! :o) Not so sure he found that to be funny!

Mark has almost been with Boone Fire for 2 years now! It will be 2 years the first of August! Time goes so fast! In the time that he's been with the Deaprtment, he's had to work most all of the holidays and our birthdays...no one does this to him on purpose, it's just the way his shifts fall! So......it was his turn to work on our Anniversary this year! That's o.k., though. We got to see each other this morning, and he'll be home tomorrow morning! We're planning a quick get-away in the next week, so we'll celebrate then! Don't have any pictures of us to post other than a Wedding pic. I meant to get our picture taken together on Father's Day, but that went out the window!! I'll try to get some of just him and me done sometime soon! Since he quit working at the high school, we don't get to go to the Prom anymore and get our picture made there every year!

It has been 8 years full of fun, laughter, tears, sadness, children, and Love. Most of all there has been Love. To have found someone who loves me and whom I can love is a rare thing in these days. To be married for 8 years is becomming a long marriage anymore. I only hope that we can weather this thing called life and continue to love each other and stick together through the good AND the bad, and hopefully celebrate MANY more Anniversaries in the years to come! I Love you, Markie-Poo! Happy Anniversary!

Father's Day

Today was a good day. We went to Church with Mack & Dorothy and Mack got a flower for being the oldest Dad there. (He's a good Father to Mark and a good Paw-Paw to the boys!!! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!) We then decided to come down to Eliz. to eat lunch with Mack & Dorothy at the Mayflower. It was really good! The Mayflower was good before, but it closed, and changed owners and it's now even better than before! The prices are still really low too and you get a TON of food!!!

After the Mayflower, we went up to the Cemetary where my Daddy is burried. I wanted to get a picture of me and the boys with Daddy's headstone. I've never done that before. Daddy would have absolutely LOVED my two little boys. He always loved it when little kids were rambunchous! He always said that meant they had "Lots of Character!" He loved Character! He was such a funny little man! I miss my Daddy. I miss him every day, but on days where we remember them most especially, it makes me sad that he is not still here with us, watching his grandsons grow....teaching them all of the things that he knew about. He was such a smart man. He loved to learn and read everything that he could get his hands on. He died just after I turned 19...little did I know just how much I really would miss him and all of the "stories" that he would try to tell me, but that I wouldn't have time for...I just never thought that I would lose my Daddy quite so soon...I was a teenager who was more interested in other things, and that is something that I will always regret. I loved my Daddy, though, and he loved me too. For that, I am truly grateful and will always be glad that I had a Father who loved me enough to let me be me and to want to keep me safe. I love you, Daddy!
Now....on to my Husband! He is actually a lot like my Father......sometimes it's a bit scary!! They say that girls will look for someone like their Fathers to marry, so maybe it's not too scary after all!! Mark is such a strong person who also is incredibly smart and has such a wealth of knowledge in that ole' noggin of his! It really amazes me sometimes how smart he is and how he can remember so many things that he heard or read "in passing". I kid him that he MUST have a photographic memory! He says that he doesn't. I say "Whatever it is, I hope that the boys get it because I don't have a memory like that!!!" I am very blessed to have a husband who loves me and our children and who works hard to allow me to be at home with the kids. The boys have a good Daddy to look up to and they want to be just like him when they get big! A Firefighter!!! (They will probably be Policemen or Tapdancers when it's all said and done, though!) I love you, Mark! We love you, Daddy!!!!!!!

The boys got this little figurine for Daddy for his big day! It's a little boy in a little Fire Pedal Car. Mom & Ron got Creston a little Fire Pedal Car when he was smaller, and this little boy is blonde headed and brown-eyed just like Creston! I tried to find a figurine of a little Blonde haired/blue-eyed boy on a 4-wheeler (for Mackie to give to him), but no luck!!!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DADDY!!!!!!!!!!!

I also want to tell my Step-Father that I appreciate how good he has been to my Mother and to me these last 8 years and how good he's been to the boys these last 41/2 and 2 years!! Thanks for being so thoughtful! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!!!!

To all the other men out there, I hope that you all have a GREAT Day today!!!! You deserve it!!

This and That...

This past Thursday, we went with Mack & Dorothy to Winston-Salem to visit a family member who just had surgery this past week. Thankfully, we found her in pretty good spirits considering how sore she was from the surgery. We were able to visit for a good little while (maybe longer than she was up for), and Mark got her to laughing a little...which made her hurt even more from the laughing! So sorry!!!!! They boys got fidget-y and sleepy, so it was time to head back home! Before going out of town, Mark made a pit-stop at the closest Krispy Kreme!!!!!! Winston Salem is the Headquarters for KK!!!!!!!!! Don't know WHY IN THE WORLD JOHNSON CITY GOT RID OF THEIR KK!!!!??????!!!!!! CRAZY!!!!!!

OOOOOhhhhhhhh Boy!!!!!!! We got a dozen for each household and (to tell ya the truth, we had them eaten by the next morning!!!) YUMMY!!!!!!!

Creston fell asleep on the way home, and I just had to take this picture!!!

Yesterday, Creston lined up all of his "Fire Gear", came and got me out of the shower to tell me that he wanted me to take a picture to put on the 'puter so everyone could see all of his gear!

Went to Boone today to do some errands via Valley Crucis!! (I love to go that way when I can!)This is the new playground behind Valley Crucis Elementary School!!! Looks like we'll have to plan a big group outing there sometime soon to break it in!!!!!! :o) Mark showed me this park the other day. It's up behind the Library in Boone. It's a little park, and it's surrounded by shade trees, but it's really quaint! It's got 2 slides and several swings, a tire swing, and several things to clinb on! It's even got a merry-go-round! I haven't seen one of those in ages!!!!! Creston asked to have his picture made here too! (Hmmmm....I see a trend forming!)

After coming home from Boone this evening, it STORMED like crazy!!!!! I went to our room and the wind was blowing the trees around like they were going to break off at any time (if you've been to our house or seen pictures, we are SURRONDED by GIANT Pine trees and other trees!!! SURROUNDED!! Scared me a bit.......I went to the kitchen (Other side of the house), opened the door, and the rain had stopped, the wind had stopped and all was well with the world! I just need to go get in the bed and cover up my head and not come out till the morning!!!

Happy Birthday to my Sister Julie!!!

Happy, Happy 56th Birthday to my Sister Julie!

I hope that it was a GREAT one!

May there be many, many more to come!!!

Carrie & Joe!!

One of my best friends is GETTING MARRIED!!!

Carrie Ann VanDyke
&
Joseph Chiply Harrison
They will be Married on August 8, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada!!!

The Wedding Reception will be held at the

Roan Mountain Conference Center, August 22, 2009.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Congratulations, Carrie & Joe!! We are so very happy for you!

We wish you nothing but health and happiness!!!

Megan's 19th Birthday!!!

HAPPY Birthday, Megan! I hope that you have a GREAT day and eat LOTS of cake!!!Yes! I have my ways of getting pictures of you!!! :o)

Ron's 63rd Birthday!

My Step-Father's 63rd Birthday was yesterday and we got to come down to Eliz. and celebrate it with him and mom tonight! I baked him a cake (that fell) and we ate dinner with them! Mom whipped out the ice cream and then we all went outside to play and visit! It was a really good time! Thanks for letting us share it with you, Ron!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Ron is quite the cut-up!

Mom & Ron!

The fallen cake! It's supposed to say "63".

Blow out those candles!!

We ALMOST got this picture taken before Mackie broke down, but I wasn't quite fast enough!

The men playing ball outside with Creston!
This is a little Kill-Deer??? Birdie that loves to stay at Mom and Ron's. Thye lay their eggs on the ground and then sit there on them, guarding them from wild and crazy children....apparently, this bird likes mom and Ron's hours away!