Monday, December 20, 2010

News About My Daddy


This weekend, when Kim turned her back for a second, Daddy went down the stairs to the basement looking for crushed ice. Then today, he walked up the stairs outside and up the hill to the mailbox before Mother knew he was gone. And, when I was talking to him on the phone a couple of days ago, he mentioned that he might just jump in the car to go pick up a gift for Mother.

It's hard to believe that it's been less than two weeks since he had his heart attack and was in critical condition for several days! We are so thankful to see him being stubborn and pushing the limits!

Thanks so much to all who have prayed, called, sent notes and helped out in other ways. I look forward to future posts of all the things he's trying to get into!

Thanksgiving 2010 at Steve and Lisa's Home


We all met at Steve and Lisa's this year for Thanksgiving.


Lisa had everything looking beautiful, including a Thanksgiving tree!


The cousins loved spending time together!


And the food tasted as good as it looked! Everything was delicious! (I'm pretty sure Steve put the oven mitt on when I got the camera out)


Isaac and Pawpaw


Uncle Randy & Copper with all the nieces and nephew.


Now, don't we look happy? We were so ready for Alabama to put Auburn in their place.


The first half of the game was so exciting...for all but Dylan.



It got so bad that she decided to watch from a distance.

Oops. I must have misplaced the camera. I have no pictures from the second half. We'll just hold on to those first 30 minutes of good memories.

Thanksgiving Weekend with Cindy's Family

The kids love their cousins and always have so much fun with them!


Family Game Night!


Kim's attempt to win.


Mother taking it to a new level!


And Justin thinks he's Vanna White! hahaha


Katherine & Meagan



Isaac & Kaili


Mother and Daddy's November Visit

We had a great visit with Mother and Daddy when they came to see us in early November.


One of the highlights of their visit was our trip to nearby Cleveland, NC where my daddy's family lived when his great-great grandfather was alive. Cleveland is a beautiful little town (think Mayberry). Daddy is standing in front of the school here.


We found the family grave site at Third Creek Presbyterian Church Cemetery.


Marlin family


I believe this was the grave of daddy's great-great grandfather. I'll have to ask my Uncle Rick to be sure. He has collected all the information. (Maybe he'll come visit one day soon.)


Marlin family member, Revolutionary War Patriot


Daddy with the kids


Daddy and Scott looking around. The cemetery had some amazing history.


Daddy, Mother and Isaac


There was an old iron gate at the entrance.





Third Creek Presbyterian is a beautiful old church in a quiet, peaceful setting.


We also found some time to play. While the kids got a history lesson from their granddaddy, they in turn gave a Wii lesson to their grandparents.


Daddy caught on pretty fast!


We walked around Davidson, NC where there's a beautiful college and some neat shops.



Of course, no trip to North Carolina would be complete without sampling the great barbecue here! We're looking forward to their next visit where we'll have to do some more exploring!

Katherine's 11th!

It seems like we just celebrated Katherine entering the double-digits, and now she's 11! Time flies when you're having fun, and she does bring the fun! Full of life, full of laughs, and full of fun...that's our Katherine. She's had a great year. She remains close to her sweet friends in NJ, and she's added some wonderfully sweet and fun NC girls to her friend list. Such a sweet and extremely loved blessing to our family!



Katherine's birthday on the 17th fell on a Wednesday, so we celebrated as a family with her favorites: tacos and chocolate cake.


On Friday, she celebrated with friends. She planned a special pasta bar dinner and lots of sleepover games, and her second favorite dessert, ice cream cake.


Scott entertained Isaac and Ian with lots of Wii games to give the girls a break!


Fun girls!


Silly girls!


Sweet girls!



"Getting-ready-to-stay-up-all-night-girls"!