4th of July was a blast

We enjoyed an awesome 4th of July this year. Brian and I started off our day by sitting by the pool in the morning just talking and watching the birds and the water. Then Brian and Ryan decided to drive Brian's Dad's old car in the annual 4th of July parade. So they sprayed it off, found a flag and put it in the back and they headed out to get in line. I loaded up my camera and headed out to meet my friends so we could all enjoy the festivities and I could get a good spot to take pics. The parade was great this year and I've never seen so many people show up for it before. After the parade we headed to Whitney's house for the big cookout and fireworks party. We had a great time playing horseshoes, badminton, partaking of good food and socializing with friends. After the sun went down the fireworks started and I have to say that my husband really out did himself this year. He had an unbelievable array of fireworks and Whitney even put on her own show with the Roman candles. It was a 4th of July to remember for sure.

Noah's First Trip to the Zoo

Friday was a very exciting day. We got up early and headed to Knoxville to meet up with Amber, Ed, Taylor and Noah for his very first trip to the zoo. I couldn't wait to see Noah's reaction to the animals because he loves them. The weather was perfect and everyone had a blast. Taylor even rode the camels. I especially enjoyed the new baby chimp "George"...he was soooooo cute! We all enjoyed riding the carousel in the kids corner the newest part of the zoo. It was definately a time to remember.

Looking forward to July 4th weekend

I am really looking forward to the upcoming weekend. I love the 4th of July. I love all of the cookouts, parades, and celebrating this awesome country that we live in. We have 4 days off so Friday we are going to take Noah, Amber & Ed to the zoo, also going to Whitney's on the 4th for a fabulously fun time and fireworks extravaganza with all of our friends, and then Sunday we will be going to a huge family gathering to celebrate Brian's grandmother turning 90 years old. Wouldn't miss any of this for the world. We've made plans to go back out to the lake on Monday and enjoy mine and Brian's favorite past time, boating. I'm sure we will have plenty of pictures to post next week. Everyone be safe and responsible out there whether you are on the roads, the lakes, or just around the house letting off fireworks.

Summertime & Feelin' good

Well the family is finally over this debilitating virus that we were all plagued with. Last weekend we were all in bed unable to function at all. This weekend however we enjoyed Friday after work remodeling the house next door that we've purchased and then Saturday night enjoying refreshments on the porch with our good buddy Pat. Today we celebrated the 4th of July service at Steele Creek Park with our church family. It was a beautiful day, wonderful service, even Ryan and Billy and Ronnie entertained us with some good old gospel music.

Good times!

Last Sunday was very eventful. Not only did Cheri and I go on a photo shoot but that night our friends, Daniel, Whitney, and Bo showed up for an impromptu concert by Ryan...Daniel joined in on drums but was quickly shut down by Bo who only wanted to hear Ryan play. We had a lot of fun with our buddies.

COrman Takes the Best Pics

Just sharing some fun pics that my buddy Cheri took last Sunday when we visited the old Bristol Cemetery for a photo shoot. She takes the best pics and has a great eye. We had a lot of fun. Hopefully whenever I'm over this virus she and I will make a trek to Etown to take some pics of the Covered Bridge and old houses there. Visit her blog http://justmyphotosandjunk.blogspot.com for more examples of her work it always shows up as a link on the side of my page.

Randomness

Just some random happenings in my world this week. Jerry here at work was kind enough to share some trailcam pics of this doe and her brand new babies. If you click on the pics and enlarge them you can see them alot better...anyway...I have been slacking on putting up my deer cam lately...I need to take care of that this afternoon...I love getting the pics of the does with their little ones.

Amber, Taylor and I went for a walk near their house in Elizabethton yesterday and we stumbled across the historic cemetary there. This was yet another neat old cemetery...they had graves dating back to the Revolutionary War and a Col. in the War of 1812. The picture above is of a new headstone the city erected for the founder of Elizabethon.

The last picture...well what can I say...let me start by explaining that Brian's parents and us have purchased the house and land next to ours. It is an older house and we have a lot of work to do. Anyway...we took Whitney up to show her the inside the other day and among a few boxes of random stuff that was left behind by the previous owners we found this brand new, bright blue, fuzzy robe (this pic doesn't do the colors justice it was taken with Whit's camera phone). Whitney convinced Brian to try it on...why you ask, because we are just crazy like that! We got a big kick out of him in this ridiculous thing. Thank you Brian for entertaining us that day.

Summertime at our house.

I am declaring it officially summer time at our house! Yay! We love it...Brian catching fish on the lake, me sunning on the back of the boat, Noah floating in the pool, Ryan jamming with the band every day cause they are out of school. It's been a fun week.

Giddy up!

Check out little Tex here! Showin' off in Ryan's old cowboy hat. Taylor was all smiles too...we had a great time at Aunt Ashley's house last night.

Struttin' in the Ruts Mud Bog in Mt. Carmel Tennessee

Last night Brian and I made the 45 minute drive from our house to the Mt. Carmel or Carter's Valley part of Tennessee to check out the Struttin' in the Ruts Mud Bog that is held every Saturday night. We got a late start but arrived just in time to watch some of the ATV's run and then the final run of the big trucks in the big mud pit. There were about 10 entries and 3 managed to finally push their way through the deep soupy mud and make it all the way through. It was really exciting. The pit has changed since last summer and seems to be a bit longer and the mud is deeper. We love it. If you get a chance one Saturday night you really should go check it out. Take some chairs and back your vehicle up to the fence that runs alongside the big pit. You will really enjoy it I'm sure! Last year Brian took home the first place money in his class...I don't know if he can do it this year or not...the mud is THICK AND DEEPER now. Stay tuned.