Happy Birthday Ed

I just wanted to give a shout out to my brother-in-law James Edward Holsclaw "ED" who is turning 50 years young today!!! Happy Birthday Ed!!!

Kitchen Renovation Complete!!!!

Ok...after 2 weeks of non-stop work by Brian, myself, Junior, Daniel, John and Joe the floor guy we finally completed the overhaul of the kitchen. This was a wonderful birthday present for me because I always hated the way my kitchen looked and the old appliances. This was no easy task because as most of you know when redoing anything in an old house...nothing is square and you always run into something unexpected...but we did it! Just a few finishing touches and we're done! We installed a new overhead light, painted the ceiling, installed lights under the cabinets and over the sink, got a new sink, ripped up the old floors and put new down, cut bead board and installed it behind the new countertops for a backsplash and ran it all the way around the room half way up the wall, painted, painted and painted, then installed all new appliances...cut the cabinets for the dishwasher (yes!!! I now have a dishwasher), also cut the cabinets above the refrigerator because the new one is taller, new microwave and stove, new trim and crown moulding all around. I love it! What a difference it made in my kitchen! Thanks to my friends who helped and thanks to a lot of Budweiser.

Back on the Lake! Whoohoo!

It was a gorgeous day at the lake today! Its boating time again and I love it! There is nothing more peaceful than a quiet early spring day when the sun is shining and the ducks are swimming and the boat is running good. Thank you Lord for this day.

The only big news around here this week so far is that Ryan is on Spring Break from school, and Brian plowed up our garden area yesterday...Check out Farmer Brian...We are ready for spring now. I guess it's time for me to start reading the online edition of the Farmer's Alamanac again to find out what are the best days for certain activities. I also managed to get a picture of the neighbors fruit trees in bloom...I love this picture. The weather is warm today with a slight breeze...Brian wants to take the boat to the lake and try to fish after work so maybe I will have some pictures from the lake to share again.

It was fun!

We had a little gathering at the house yesterday after work to help Robin celebrate her Bday...even though her big party is scheduled for April 5th we couldn't let the day go by without slamming back a few in her honor. Those in attendance were, Pat, Junior, Brian, Ryan, Daniel, Whitney, and Me. Robin introduced me to Yingling Light Lager beer...I highly recommend it. Very good beer!

Brian and I also made a trip to the local Dick's Sporting Goods Store and Brian racked up on fishing equipment. I hope it pays off. Hopefully he will win some tournaments and we can recoup some of that money we spent yesterday. Keep your fingers crossed. Good luck Brian!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Kiss me I'm Irish!

Kid Rock Concert!!!

We took Ryan to his first rock concert for his 15th birthday to see Kid Rock, Rev Run and Dickey Bettes, what an awesome concert! On event Ryan will never forget I'm sure. Maybe one day that will be him up there on stage! Happy 15th Ryan.

Awww...aren't they sweet! Just thought these were great pics to share on my blog. Maybe someday they will be famous!

It's hard to believe Ryan will be 15 on Friday. It seems like just yesterday he was as small as Noah is in this picture. We are taking him to his first rock concert to see Kid Rock. He is really looking forward to it. Daniel and Whitney are going with us so it should be a fun night! On Thursday we are having a small get together at his grandparents house for pizza and cake.

Not much has been going on since my last post. We spent last week helping John put carpet in his new boat. We had fun doing it. We met some new friends that own a boat dealership and repair business and they let us use their facility to do it. They were a blast to hang out with. John was thrilled with the way his boat looked with the new carpet. Now he and Brian are ready for the warmer weather so they can enter the fishing tournaments. I am ready for the days of cruising up and down the lake in the sun!

Robin's birthday will be coming up after that and we are planning a big party at her boyfriend's house...it should be a blast. I will have some pics from that to post. They should be interesting...stay tuned.

Yay! I bought a New Boat!

Well I went and did it again...wasn't planning on it but my General Manager made me a deal of a lifetime on a boat so now I've got two. I love this one! Its soooooooooo pretty! All shiny and new inside and out...well, it's not new but completely refurbished to be like new. So I guess I've got my old reliable boat for sale. If anyone wants it I'll make you a sweet deal! I can't wait till it gets a little warmer so I can take it out on the lake. I think I've got a picture of Noah in the boat also I will try to add that to the blog. If anyone wants to go for a ride give me a call!

LET IT SNOW!!!!!!!

I woke up to 3 inches of snow this morning!!! Yay!!! Finally! Got to try out the 4wheel drive on my Xterra too...works great! Can't wait to get off work and play in it some more...hopefully the rain and sleet won't wash it away.

Ryan Messing Around on His Guitar

Here's another video of Ryan messing around on his guitar and new amp.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! I can't believe it's 2008. WOW! Believe it or not I wrote a huge post last week explaining all that had happened since my last post...and when I was almost done our power went off and cut the computer off. I was so mad that I didn't go back and type it all over again. I just got back from WVa Saturday night. Had a nice visit with my mom and Grandma, Aunts & Uncles. The pic above is of my gorgeous Grandma, me, my mom, my sister & my neice Taylor. It was nice to go back home and reconnect with my WVa family. I miss them. It wasn't such a happy time though...my uncle Jerry passed away so my mom and everyone were sad due to that circumstance. It's a shame that it takes something like that to get everyone together.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year! I can't believe it has been since July that I last updated my blogger page. Alot has happened since then. In August Taylor turned 14, we had a nice party at my sister's house. In October Noah enjoyed his first Halloween that he could actually go trick or treating. My sister dressed him up as a monkey...it was the cutest costume I've ever seen (see picture above). Not long after that Brian killed his first buck...he was so happy. He's spent 2 years trying and finally got one. Congrats to Brian! (See pic above) Hunting season ends today and I am glad. Now maybe I will see him more on the weekends and evenings after work.

I had a nice Thanksgiving year. It was a lot of fun. Christmas was wonderful! I bought Brian a laser range finder and some clothes, Ryan got a huge new Marshall fullstack amp and he is rattling the windows with it. He got a lot of other nice gifts as well. I got a new digital camera, a new slow cooker, a digital picture frame, clothes, jewelry and money. Loved everything. We spent Christmas Eve at my Mother & Father-in-law's house and then my Dad's.

Brian and I celebrated our wedding anniversary on New Year's Eve. This year I bought him a scope for his muzzleloader. He loved it! We went out to eat and spent the evening at home watching the ball drop and letting off fireworks. This was the first year we hadn't had a big party or went to one. It was nice just to have some quiet time alone.

This is my son playing AC/DC's Thunderstruck intro with one hand.

Summer Trip

We just got back from a week in Pigeon Forge, TN. We had a blast. My dad set up his RV at a really nice park there (campsite pic above) and we Loved IT! We went to the Blackbear Jamboree Show, Magic Beyond Belief Show and The Fiddler's Feast show. They were all great. We also got to go to Douglas Lake one day, we also drove over to Cherokee, NC through the Great Smokey Mountains National Forest. I brought back a wild indian (pic above). It was a wonderful trip. My little sis also got to come down and enjoy a few days with us (picture above). For her birthday I booked her a jacuzzi suite at a hotel near our RV park...she loved it. We sat around the campfire everynight, grilled out, socialized with our neighbors from WVa. Three nights while we were there they had concerts on the hill above us and we got to hear Lori Morgan, Charlie Daniels, John Michael Montgomery and Terri Clark. It was great. The park was full of teenagers and my son was in heaven. He met a ton of new friends and especially the "hotties" as he calls the girls. A great time was had by all.

I guess the only big news here is that Dad is still in Europe...he has one more week before coming home. So far he has visited Rome and Venice in Italy the even got to go to the Vatican, they have been to Zurich and another place in Switzerland, they went to the top of Mt. Titlus in the alps & now they are in Amsterdam, next week they will end up in Paris and then fly home. He has been over there for a month taking high speed trains (that move over 200mph) to all of his destinations. He is having the time of his life. This was a special trip for he and my stepmom because they are celebrating 25 years of marriage this year. What a nice anniversary present.

My new car

I finally did it!!! After driving a Toyota Corolla since I was 16 and after having driven the same little Maroon Toyota Corolla for 7 years I finally broke down and bought something different yesterday and I love it!!!!!!!!!!! It is sooooooooo roomy and comfortable to ride in. I love my Nissan Xterra!

Our boat floats!!!

Doesn't Brian look happy cruising along the lake in his fish and ski boat! We took it out for a couple of hours yesterday for the first time. It did great! We really enjoyed ourselves. The weather was perfect around 83 degrees the water was clear...there were quite a few boats but not too crowded. Brian enjoyed himself and so did I.

Noah is walking now!!

Our little Noah is now WALKING!!!!!! Not in this picture...he is swinging here but Amber brought him over this week and he is really getting around. It is a scarry thing to watch but so cool at the same time. He will be one year old on May 5th, less than 30 days away. We can't wait for the big party!

Friends?

These two look like good friends...I just liked this little picture and thought I'd share it.