Weather

SNOW! Yes, it's pretty.  But when we moved here we were told...."if you get snow you won't be able to go anywhere but just wait until the next day and it will melt and be gone".  Perfect.  I get to enjoy the beauty of it and really not be concerned with it.  Well that lasted a few years, but not this year!  We've had more snow in one week than we usually get in an entire winter.  The poor kids lost a whole week of school before Christmas break and then another whole week after.  I know, I know it doesn't look like much, and it really isn't.  The problem is that the roads here have a few problems.  There are so many extremely steep grades along with the roads are sloped incorrectly, no shoulders, no guard rails and drop offs that are 100 to 150' down.  Match that with the fact that our county will only use gravel, no salt and that many of the roads don't get a lot of sun and you have us being stuck inside for a LONG time!  Now I do have to give credit, the mail lady made it here all but one day.   The UPS man on the other hand...grrrrrrr.  I had my embroidery machine and serger coming and it was on his truck all week, not arriving until Thursday.  Oh well, this too shall pass and in a few weeks when it starts to climb into the 50's again, we will have our coffee on the front porch and we will forget it ever bothered us this much. 

Illinois Family

 This is Fred's nephew Tim and his wife Cathi.  After we retired down here in Tennessee it was fun to learn that Tim and Cathi actually spent their honeymoon down here in the Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg area.  They love it down here and have bought a lot just a stone's throw across the lake from us (but about 30 minutes by car) to build on when they retire.  I wish they'd hurry up as we really miss them.  They are so much fun to be with.  Tim and Fred just harp (lovingly of course) on each other all day.  And Cathi is just a wonderful person and a good friend.  The guys can go fishin' and Cathi and I will go antiquing!  Shhhhhh don't tell Tim.     The picture below is of Fred, Tim and Tim's son.  Do you see any resemblance?  Hint....it's the hair, or lack of......

Wisconsin Family

This is my brother Bob and his wife, my very best friend in the whole entire world (other than Fred) JJ.  My brother passed away on December 14th quite unexpectedly.  It's just so unbelievable to imagine going up to Tomahawk to visit and not see my brother sitting in  his recliner watching Nascar and listening to his scanner.  We always teased my brother that we thought JJ was my sister and he was the "in-law" as JJ and I are so close and share so many of the same interests.  JJ is an exceptional seamstress and an avid Girl Scout leader.  JJ and I both love scrapbooking but we hardly ever get anything done unless we are scrappin' together.  Then you should see the pages we put out. 

Ruby and OC

This is Ruby our Boxer and OC our domestic long hair cat.  Both are rescues.  Ruby came to us several years ago as a companion both for us and our other Boxer, Amos.  Amos has sinced passed away.  Ruby is maybe 5 or 6 years old.  She looks and acts mean but really isn't.  She's a pushover.  Although she plays really well with Peanut she is scared to death of OC the cat.  She will take a wide berth when walking in the same vicinity as OC.   OC, which we assumed was for "Orange Cat" is best friends with Peanut.  They will sit and groom each other for a long time, curl up and sleep together or run around the house like crazy first Peanut chasing OC, then OC will turn and chase Peanut.  Faith calls OC a "she" because she says that OC is too pretty to be a boy.  I have to agree, don't you?

Tom

 This is my son Tom.  He lives in Knoxville with the love of his life, his Siberian Husky Ally that he rescued.  Tom loves bass fishing, shooting, paintball, watersports, snowboarding, mountain bike riding, motocross and most extreme sports.  He is currently working on training Ally.  He and his buddies at the shop are building a sled for her to pull and in February he and Ally are enrolled in a class to teach  him to teach her to pull the sled.  He was at Mary's house on Christmas and they hooked her up to the kids sled.  She could pull with ease and enjoyed it but as he has been training her not to pull on the leash she would stop pullling.  So they have to learn how to overcome that. 

Mary's Blog

It was too funny.  I sent Mary an email asking her to check out my blog and she called laughing because she just started one two days ago!  Check her blog out at dressageonthequarter.blogspot.com.  This is a picture of Mary and Chuck.  We are so tickled to have Chuck as a member of our family.  Not only does he treat the kids great and puts up with all of Mary's interests, he is simply just a great guy!  You can also check out Mary's website at tnhorsetrainer.com. 

Dwight, ALL BOY

Yes, Dwight is all boy.  He loves cars, trucks, trains,, building stuff, tearing stuff down, crashing trucks, cars and trains, fishing, shooting and baseball.  He was the Player of the Year (2010) for his Little League team.  He is proud of the fact that his coach would use him as an example to the other team members on how to do things.  He is also into Karate and has earned his second belt and is 2/3 of the way onto his third.  Yes, he is all boy but he can sure give his grandma great hugs and kisses.