It's BRISTOL BABY!!!!

For his 70th birthday, Krista, Elissa, Jenna and I gave John tickets to the NASCAR race in Bristol.  It is one of those bucket list things and I knew that he would love it and he did.  It is an evening race in August, still very hot but out seats were covered and it made for a hoot of an evening.  His GUY didn't win but he had a marvelous time.  Now he has ideas about wanting to do this every year!!!!!!
Happy Birthday Sweetie!!!

Nantucket with Jane

I think I have known Jane Hunter since I was about 14 years old but it seems like she has been a part of our family forever.  She and my mother were wonderful friends and I guess I picked up that friendship after my mother died.  Jane vacations on Nantucket for a month each summer and I have been fortunate enough to have been invited several times.  This year she needed someone to help her make the drive home and I volunteered.  It was just Jane and I and we had a wonderful week. Enjoy the photo journey!

The Boston Pops performs a concert - fund raiser every summer for the Nantucket Cottage Hospital and oh my goodness what a party.  It is held on Jetties beach and it was a simply glorious evening, fireworks and all. The concert is attended by many thousands of people from many walks of life but most are very well off and have spent a great deal of money to be there. As I sat there and took it all in I felt so incredibly fortunate and privileged and blessed.

We were doing a little shopping on this beautiful island that is filled with cute little shops and flowers everywhere.  What a lovely backdrop for a shot of a lovely lady!

Almost all of the houses have a widows walk on the roof top, which is an inviting place to get this amazing panoramic view.  The sky is clear and crisp and is especially glorious at night.  The evening before we left I went up to the widows walk before bed and the sky was like a planetarium filled with many thousands of stars. Absolutely incredible!!

                      
                        My bedroom for the week had just been redecorated and was just beautiful.
                                                     I felt like a princess for the week!!

As our ferry departed the island, the boats anchored in the bay provided an inviting image.....what wonderful memories and an invitation to return one day.  The legend is that if you throw a penny into the bay as you leave then you will come back and of course we threw our pennies.

A kind gentleman offered to take our picture and I am so glad we got a parting shot after a wonderful week together with great memories shared.

                                  
                                   Perhaps we will return one day but for now we have today!!

FRIENDS

We were gifted this summer with a visit from two Florida friends.  The first, Maureen, is a long time co-worker and friend of Johns and a new friend of mine.  She was wrapping up a 7 week tour of the east and mid west, visiting friends and family along the way.  We just happened to be along her route as she headed south so she stopped to spend a few days with us.  What a wonderful blessing for us to get to spend time with this incredibly loving, wise and passionate woman.

Secondly, friends from Solivita, new friends that we have gotten to know since we have been enjoying winters in Florida, were visiting the Carolinas and took time on their way home to stop and see us.  They are a very special couple and we are very blessed by their friendship!!  How wonderful it is to have these incredibly loving and supportive friends in our lives!!

The GIRLS are in town!!!

When Celia and Lily come to town for a week of fun and adventures with Nana and Papa, we do EVERYTHING.... and here are the highlights from our week.

One of MY goals for the week was to update the pictures of the girls on the family wall.  I enjoyed capturing their smiles and they probably have no idea how much joy these pictures bring to me!!!

Monday...Greenville Children's Museum, they love this place and ask for it every time they are in town.  The "crunches" are always their favorite.

Tuesday...swimming with Jack and Sam but sadly we didn't get any photos. But we went shopping that morning and this is one of the items that Lily picked out!

Wednesday... Otter Creek, or as Lily called it Beaver Park. By request, on Wednesday night we went to Sonic for dinner in the GTO....the girls love the attention that we get in that car.

Thursday...Pump it Up followed by Gravitopia.  Lost of high climbing and high flying.....and Celia took on some really BIG boys playing dodge-ball.

Friday...arts and crafts at the house, then jewelry making with Ms. Karla who was great with the girls.  They each made a necklace and matching earrings and I was so proud of their choices!!

On Saturday it was time to return them to their parents so we met Chip and Elissa in Statesville at Uncle Bubba's house.  We took advantage of the horse back riding opportunities and made one of Lily's dreams come true.  Many thanks to my sweet brother for making this a possibility.  We just love our week with the girls and are already planning for next year!!

Fifteen years and counting!!

 As of June 25th John and I have been married for 15 years, "and they said it wouldn't last".  Someone recently said that to us and we both chuckled because we knew better!!  It has been a wonderful 15, filled with relocations (3 moves) and job changes (7 for John and 6 for me) and deaths and weddings and babies and divorces and vacations and retirement.  There have been many more good times than bad, more laughter than tears and I would not want to go through the challenges of life with anyone other than John by my side.  Anyway, to celebrate this event we decided to go away for the weekend and we chose Chattanooga, Tennessee.  We hoped for cooler weather and found it in the way of liquid sunshine, so we enjoyed the sights underground at Ruby Falls....

enjoyed some incredible Bluegrass music...

and took a boat tour of Chattanooga.

It is always fun to get out of town with the one you love!!!

Just a Fun Family post

Krista

Elissa and Chip

Jenna

Me and the girls

Jack and Sam

Lily and Celia

Cousin sillies

Ice Cream Sundaes

Chip, Lily, Elissa, Jenna, Sam, Jack,

Sadie (Pope dog) Celia, Krista, Jonn

One lucky Nana and Papa

It is worth celebrating!!!

John celebrated a BIG birthday this year and in-spite of the fact that his idea of a birthday celebration is a birthday pie and a lovely dinner we celebrated in a BIG way!! Many thanks to everyone who responded to my invitation to "shower " him with cards.  He received almost 60 cards with lots of love, hugs, advice and entertaining messages. 

The family gathering began on Friday afternoon with the arrival of Chip, Elissa, Celia and Lily.  I have never seen the shocked look on his face when I walked into the office with our granddaughters. A family dinner followed as Krista, Jonn, Jenna, Jack and Sam join us.  Birthday pie, ice cream sundaes and good times!

The next day he knew that the girls and their families would be having lunch with us but was not expecting my brothers, wives and step-children, my nephew and his fiance and a dear family friend. The house was filled with good food, laughter and lots of love!

 

 The girls surprised him with a scroll listing seventy endearing qualities of 

The John we know in 70 Facts.  What an absolute hoot!!

Whenever I get the kids together I take a group photo to remember the day, the year, the event!  The grandchildren are growing so fast and time is flying......perhaps these photos will help us to remember how important we are to one another!!

Happy, Happy Birthday Papa!!