Such Devoted Sisters

Hope once made the statement that the longest relationship you have is with your siblings so we should always make the effort to be close to our brothers and sisters.  I have often reflected on that statement and it was one of the driving forces that made me want to live on the east coast.  I have been away from my sisters most of my adult life and wanted the chance to get to know each other better and to be able to be with each other on a regular basis.  Since I have come back here we have really sought to get together as often as possible.  It doesn't really matter where you go or what you do as long as you are together and you get to talk!  All of our husbands agree that they don't really "need to be around"( really means don't want to be!) when we are together!
Last year we had a real scare with Kathy and it deepened our appreciation for each other and for the fragility of life and how much we mean to each other.  After she was better we were able to take our vacation to the Greenbrier and had a great time: (you can check out my blog entry of 3/5/2011 if you missed that one)

This summer we were able to see each other on several occasions with the last one being JJ's wedding reception:

 All of us have our own opinions on a whole variety of issues and we try to respect those differences. We have all had ups and downs, triumphs and tragedies that have shaped and molded our lives.  Some we have faced alone and some together but we have always known that we have the love and support of each other. Coming from the same background of kind parents we all have grown to appreciate what we had in our family.  We understand certain traits that we share (therapeutic shopping, the art of a good deal, intense loyalty, strong handshakes!) even when others don't!
 This year we got together to have our sister time and our "cardinal obsession" (we keep saying we will stop!) was taken to new levels!!  We had such fun with our PJ's, robes and slippers:

I thought I would include the first picture of us together as sisters in pajamas.  Oh to be that thin again! Our dad gave us these!

We even cooked together this time..note the cardinal shirts..

I bring along a mayonaise jar with our picture on it that is filled with questions to help us talk about things that matter and to allow us to get caught up on lost years with each other.  Everyone usually groans when I bring it out but it is always so interesting to see how each answers. I love hearing what they feel and to learn of insights I have never had. This time we discussed "who in the family inspired you the most" and "If you could change any decision in your life what would it be". Interesting things to ponder! I'm still thinking on what I would change..so many decisions that could look "wrong" led to so many things that would never have taken place that were good!
Now Connie faces serious health issues but she knows she has the love, support and prayers of her sisters and somehow we will all get through this together. My sisters are precious to me and I see a little of myself in each one and we all see our parents in each other.  What a marvelous blessing Heavenly Father has given us, each other! Treasure your siblings...It is probably the longest relationship you will have.
 For your enjoyment:

No tricks or treats

The world has changed a lot since  we used to go trick or treating back in "the day".  Whole neighborhoods dressed up and went house to house and everyone decorated in anticipation of the coming of the goblins.  Today it seems that safety and the ability to get more candy in a shorter distance have changed the way things are done.  Our house sits on a hill on a dead end street so why would anyone make the hike up for a piece of candy..maybe we need to up the ante.

Our ward" trunk or treat" turned into a quick "trick or treat a room in the chapel" when the weather didn't cooperate so we didn't even get to decorate our trunk. When we got home I got out our Halloween stuff  and began to show it to Tommy (he was spending the night) and it was so fun to see him delight in all the fun flashing objects.  He set them all over the room and even went to sleep with them lit.  I thought you might enjoy hearing him sing "gouls just want to have fun" along with my Avon Witch! Made my Halloween!!

Well,,,,no good excuse

It's pretty obvious I haven't added anything in a while. It's not that things haven't happened or that things are boring it is just that life has a way of getting away from me.  We've had a number of birthday's that I haven't posted, and our anniversary slipped by with no new pictures and last week we even went to the State Fair and the camera didn't work so here is my first little attempt at getting back into the swing of things.

 Today was Tommy's 4th birthday.  Talk about time flying!  JJ left 4 years ago to go on his mission to Brazil the day Tommy was born and now he has been back 2 years and is married!  4 years ago on Oct 11 I arrived in Virginia to help Emilie after Tommy's birth and and ended up never going back to Oregon to live!  Our lives have all changed drastically in these 4 short years and this little boy has brought so much joy to all of us.  So, for your enjoyment:  Tommy's Birthday song!

Two cute patriots and a couple of birthdays

 Once again I am trying to play catch up.  I couldn't let these cute photos not get posted so here you go.  On July 4 we(Papa, Emilie and I) took the kids to the VMI parade grounds for the Balloon festival in Lexington.  The Balloons were all gone because they had taken trips that morning and weren't back so that was a little disappointing but we wanted to go before it go too hot. John and I had purchased tri-corner hats for the boys on our ramble to Fredericksburg and beyond (see old posts).  Here they are, our little patriots!

Jack almost fell asleep on the way (6miles!) so he's a little drowsy here

Our cute little guys!

 and off we went to the festival. 
In the afternoon we traveled to Charlottesville to John Loy's birthday party.  For a long time Tommy and Jack were the only kids there.  It was supposed to be a barbeque but there was a huge cloudburst just before we arrived and everyone had crowded inside.  Tommy and Jack LOVED the rain and went out on the deck and splashed around. Papa stayed with them a supervised the fun!

Emilie and Logan always have a great time connecting with their cousins and catching up on all the latest. 

 

Shannon sharing about her store and how it is being moved to a new Larger location.  Yeah Shannon!

And of course, pictures of the birthday boy!

On the way back home......

Sorry Logan, but it was just so cute I couldn't resist!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then 21 days later it was Papa's 66th birthday.   He wanted Crepes for his birthday so he made his own meal since we all know he is the best crepe maker!
Emilie made  Dad's favorite, German Chocolate cake, for desert.  She got creative with the chocolate chips!

We didn't want a blaze so we had one candle...to be truthful, I forgot to buy candles and improvised!

Papa and Anna!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How grateful I am for the blessings of family! 

A walk down memory lane

Since we didn't have to work on the 2nd we decided to take a 2 day journey down memory lane.  I have never gone to Fredericksburg Virginia just to explore the city I was born in.  I have looked around it a couple of times or driven through it and when Kathy was in college we would take her there but I really didn't know that much about it so we decided to make it our destination for Friday.
We drove there by way of Charlottesville driving past many gorgeous horse farms and through the Wilderness Battlefield where we stopped to look and then stopped again at Chancellorsville. We will be going back to see these places in more detail at a later date I am sure!

  We made reservations at the Marriott that is right downtown so we could walk around town and sink back into history.  Fredericksburg claims to be the Most Historic American City ranging from times prior to and during the Revolutionary war and the Civil War.  Thomas Jefferson wrote The Virginia Act for Establishing Religion while staying in Fredericksburg and, most important of all, I was born in Fredericksburg!
We took a trolley tour that lasted 75 minutes and took us all over town pointing out history on all sides:

 and walked all over town after that

We asked where the "old" JC Penney store used to be (where my Dad worked when I was born) and a fellow told us it was here:

It didn't "feel" right to me but I thought maybe he knew better. I then asked at another store and got a different answer so we went there but it definitely didn't look like a Penney Store (we used to visit them on our vacations and they all had a certain feel about them.) While standing on a corner we discovered from a placard that the first place used to be the F.W. Woolworth store where sit ins occurred during the 60's. Then as we went around the corner from the second place we found it.  It looked right and felt right and when I looked up I could see the faint outline of the letters J and C!  Today it is an Irish Store and a women's store.  My dad used to come here each day and  his manager slept with his pants at the bottom of his bed so that he could come and get my mom to take her to the hospital as soon as she went in to labor because my parents didn't have a car.  Because of his excellent work he was made an assistant manager of the Silver Spring Maryland store which eventually led to his being made the manager of the first J.C. Penney store in Richmond Virginia.  I sure wish that people could still have the same feelings and loyalties to their companies as they did back then.  We were part of the Penney Family! How he loved that company...and he rose from working in the stock room!

Next we went to find the "old" hospital.  My mother used to always tell me that I was born in that awful "old" hospital and the visitor center people were able to tell us right where it was.  Today it is condominiums.  The trolley driver told us that there is a man living there that was born there when it was a hospital.  It is the same building, just re-done.  The original entrance still has the hospital name over it!

For dinner we ate in the old train station at a great restaurant called the Bavarian Chef.  We had amazing authentic German food and could barely waddle out of the restaurant.  We really need to go back again some day!Even though the station is no longer needed the train still stops there and many people commute to DC from there.

On Saturday before we headed out we toured the Battlefield which is just up the hill from the town.  The visitor center was opened before I was born so this would have been there when my parents were here.

We saw the Sunken Road which had a stone wall all along it which made for great cover for the confederate troops as they took the high ground in the city.  The park service bought the road back a few years ago and put it back just the way it was in those days. Part of the wall is original, part was rebuilt in the 30's and the rest more recently. 

There is a huge cemetery for the Union Soldiers that is a federal cemetery.  Most of the graves mark unknown soldiers.  There is a separate, non federal, cemetery for the confederates.  Most confederate deaths were caused by friendly fire from above them on the hill.
This is the spot where one of the pontoon bridges came across.  For a very historically accurate account of the battle of Fredericksburg watch the movie Gods and Generals.

Across the Rapahanock river from here is Ferry Farm where George Washington used to live.  He used this road when he would come into town to shop or go to school and even when he helped move his mother off of the farm and into the city.  These are the original cobblestones!

We then drove down the Northern Neck of Virginia headed towards the home my father built and retired to and where my mother lived for most of the last 20 years of her life.
We found a great family fruit farm and stopped to buy peaches and to have a red, white and blue sundae:

 We stopped at George Washington's birthplace and even got some tri cornered hats for Tommy and Jack to wear on the 4th of July. This is a replica of the house but it wasn't this big when he lived in it and they discovered that they built it in the wrong place....they now have an outline on the ground of where it should be.

This guy was really interesting and told people way more than they probably wanted to know but I loved it!

As we got closer to Wicomico church we were pretty sure we could find Mom's house.  Wicomico Church only has one road coming into it from the River side and we knew we should look for the fertilizer tanks and we would know where to turn.  Well, the fertilizer tanks are no longer there!  After wondering around for awhile we stopped at the only store in town to seek directions.  I wished that I had googled it or at least had an address with me so I could put in the GPS!  The large road map we had didn't have Barrett Creek on it!(imagine that!)  The gentleman in the store had a local map and after a little searching he found it.  As we pulled up to the house I was surprised by the flood of emotion that I had.  Fortunately Connie called right at that moment and I was able to pull myself back together.  John had hopped out of the car and the owner came out to see what he wanted.  It turns out it is still the same person that bought it from my Mom and she was happy to show us around.  For those of you that have been to Mom's here is how it looks today:

Expanded Porch, Trek Dek

More porch, new door

Look at the length of the dock! Creek is more shallow now

Whew!

New additon

Mom would love this!

The 7 C's

 We then went to Hug Harbor for a great seafood dinner.

 Two very nostalgic and relaxing days in my beautiful home state of Virginia!