Photos

Natural Tunnel State Park

There is a wonderful State Park on the border of VA and TN. It is called Natural Tunnel State Park. You can particpate in all of their activities for FREE on Labor Day. We took the opporunity to explore with Duane and Faye’s ward! It was an almost perfect day. The scenery is breathtaking!

The park dates back to the 1800’s when it was used as a place to stay for frontiersmen. They later discovered that the “Natural Tunnel” was a perfect place to lay the railroad tracks (its a shame if you ask me that they ruined the natural beauty with a train), but it adds to the mystique. All of the outlaying areas are still unharmed though, and it is a beautiful place. We all had a blast and even got some exercise with a glorious hike!

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Hey Judicial LG

Hey Jude!

Alrighty, Here is the long awaited video that LG was hoping I would forget about. Hit the “Hey Jude” link above. You should have seen LG’s face when he finished helping me post this on googlevideos. It was a three way tie between total fear, complete embarassment and ‘imsofunny”. You know I have to thank LG for two things: 1 -for acting like a complete dork and 2 – You know I couldn’t have uploaded this video without his help. It only took us five days to figure out how to do it. I hope it was worth the trouble.

As I saw the embarassed smirk on LG’s face, all I could say is, “At least it’s not YouTube, right?”I think that this is absolutely hillarious, if you didn’t already know that bymy laughter that drowns out LG as a star on the video. Those of you that know LG will really enjoy it. The rest of you, may just have to suffer.

One of the best parts of the video is Uncle Dirk’s comment at the very end…it is in the background very quietly…In Uncle Dirk’s best southern boss hogg accent, “There’s a trial lawyer in you yet, boy” or something like that.

LG was totally hamming it up at Claytor Lake with the family Karoake Bar. I LOVE Karaoke! Can you tell that LG was happy to have the Bar Exam finally completed! And of course, The Beatles bring out the best in him.

In The Clouds


While in the car on Saturday, I noticed this cloud on the bottom right. I saw an upside down pig that looks like he is cracking up after booting a football. I named the cloud pig on pig. (get it, they call a football pigskin) – perfect cloud for this time of year, huh? And, guess what, the Vols won later that day.

The other pic, I thought is a great catch of an obvious heart. The pictures above just 1 – of the beautiful southern sky with clouds and trees and 2- Sophia’s other piece of “in the cloud” artwork. A quadruple decker cracker and cheese sandwich….YUM! And, yes, I have to sidenote that this sandwich was made with her spreadable cheese, not the sliced kind. She really needed a bath before we hit the baptism we were heading to, but what do you do?

Cute, that later in the day, Sophia and Uncle Logan were at a neighbor picnic. They were laying in a hammock, observing the clouds. Sophia asked Uncle Logan if she could take pictures with his cell phone and then she proceeded to capture every available cloud and tell Uncle Log what she saw. Man, don’t ever forget that your children are always watching!

Take Me Home, Country Roads

I thought that you would all love a pic of me in my bathing suit! He he

Shown in pic. – Cousins Jarrett and Missy Gold, and their 3 adorable kids (Brighton, Aspen, and Rider) and us and two of the girls. I have no idea where Bella is, but I highly doubt she ran ahead. She may be coming up and over the hill, or hiding behind the vastness of my towel.

This is a pic that LG’s Uncle Dirk snapped when we were at Claytor Lake, VA over the 4th of July. I love the picture of all the green in the back. Behind us, over the small hilltop, is a massive lake…all the green is from behind the lake. There is at least a mile of lake between our backs and all those trees. Crazy, huh?

This is why they say, “Take me home, country roads.”

My next post is going to be our last trip to Claytor Lake over Labor Day. We paddled in the paddle boat and did Karaoke. If I can get the video to work, there is a funny one of LG singing like a sleezy lawyer….you have to try and catch it all from behind my laughter.

The Library

We love the library! We live in a country where we can pretty much get any book we want to read for free at our local library. It is too bad that more people don’t take advantage of the opportunity. If I were a perfect mother, I would take the kids every week to storytime, but I am not, nor will I ever be perfect.

I think I have done alright though….look at how engaged all three girls are by the story. They really do love to learn. That is what counts, I guess. There is nothing better than a child engaged in a children’s story.

Harry Golden, author of Only in America, said, “The library, I believe, is the last of our public institutions
to which you can go without credentials. You don’t even need the sticker on your windshield that you need to get into the public beach. All you need is the willingness to read.”

Welcome to the family Lily


Some of you know about LG’s sister, Amy, and her husband, Tyler. They have been trying for a very long time to start their family. Their opportunity finally came true with Lily. She came into our lives aproximatley 6 months ago.

We have all had our fingers crossed through the ups and downs of the adoption process, but we can finally all celebrate. Lily’s birth father finally signed the official papers.

I am sure that we cannot be more happy than Amy and Tyler, but it sure feels like nobody could be happier than I am right now.

Mayfield vs. Baskin Robbins



So, here in Tennessee, we have a delicacy called Mayfield ice-cream. The girls and I took a tour of Mayfield this summer. Here are the pictures of their HUGE single scoop cones. I hate to admit it, but even though I’ve lived in the south for the past four years, I still haven’t been able to force myself to convert to Mayfield.

A funny thing about Mayfield Dairy is that they package their milk in yellow gallon plastic containers. It really freaks Westerners out. They always think that the milk is orange juice. Mayfield claims that these darker containers keep their milk fresh longer. My girls drink their milk so fast that freshness is not a worry for me! But, I do thank Mayfield for the countless laughs I have gotten from visiting westerners wondering why I have 4 gallons of OJ and no milk in my fridge.

I am through and through a Baskin Robbins girl. I just can’t give up on that great 6 months of my life when I had all the ice-cream I could eat. Of course the flavors were almost endless.

I was recently reading an old stand up comic routine that I wrote. It was pretty weak, but the one good joke out of the bunch was in reference to the many odd jobs I have had in my life. I talked about what I learned working in the produce department and then UPS, and then I referred to Baskin Robbins. My words, “It was unfortunate, I had to quit; I just got sick of all 31 flavors”.

LG’s Graduation

I have recently been sent two e-mails from friends about thier new blogs. So, how coincidental…here I am….aproximatley a year later, making another entry! he he

Here is a pic, taken at the UT Law School back in May. Yes, LG finally made it. He has the JD and the MBA diplomas in his possession.

Now, we are waiting on the liscence. We should get the bar results on Oct 19th. ThiS could be really good or really bad. I am crossing my fingers for good. I have some faith.

I am not in a funny mood, just wanted to update with a pic.

Happy Fetchin’ Halloween

This was a photo worth showing to everyone. And it even got me to blog an entry. Here is my cool brother-in-law Logan dressed up for Halloween. As he walked into our Halloween party last night he received a standing ovation. Swwwwweeeet!

He is a good look alike, huh? Can you believe this is his real hair…so funny because he really has very straight hair. If you are living in the stone age and need a reference to Logan’s hero,Napoleon Dynamite just click here.

Have a great Halloween!