Grandma and the guys

Logan, Adam, and Grandma

Light Years Away

Have you ever been in a conversation and you weren't even sure you were all speaking the same language? Tonight I was in the middle of conversation like that. Adrian and Adam were discussing sound waves, light particles, and the like, and one would say something and the other one would know what he was talking about and say something like, "Yes, and then there's....." and the other one would go, "Right, and have you thought about...." and so on and so forth. Who else but Adam and Adrian would know such details?! Well, they were certainly on the same wave length, but I was light years away!

Tragedy at the Jarrell Farm

Adam and Logan spent at least a couple of hours reinforcing the chicken pens yesterday and Adrian had gotten some of the materials for an electric fence to put up. Adrian set a couple of traps and we had all been down there trying to make the area secure for our chickens, but evidently we are no match for the vicious nighttime marauders! It seems that we have at least another raccoon, and maybe several. This morning as Adrian was getting ready for work and Adam and I were getting ready to leave for Winston for his appointment with the oral surgeon to have his wisdom teeth removed, the guys went to the chicken pens and found several chickens dead and a raccoon still in the pen! While Adam tried to get to the house to get a gun, the critter managed to get away. I am just heartsick over the loss of Princess, Captain Jack, Roofer, Chicken Little, and our big Rooster. To some they probably just seem like a bunch of chickens, but they had names and personalities and we enjoyed hearing them cackle and crow and watch them scratch about and do all their chicken stuff. Adrian has taken great care to watch over them and learn about raising chickens so we could have fresh eggs and be more self-sufficient. We all feel bad to lose so many of our chickens this week. We are now trying again to put our heads together and see if we can outsmart these raccoons! Logan has been working on some ideas this morning which include barbed wire, paintball guns, and BB guns....so we'll see what happens!

The Bandit

Something got into our chicken pen and got three of our chickens, then another night, one more disappeared. Adrian set traps to try and catch the bandit. Last night the creature got one more chicken and got caught! We had wondered if it would be a raccon, weasil, or maybe a fox...turns out, it was a raccoon. He shouldn't have killed our chickens, but he was only doing what raccoons do, so Adrian did the humane thing and took him about 5 miles away and released him into the woods. He looked really scared in the trap, so I'm glad he's free (and away from our chickens so they will be safe) and I hope he will lead a reformed life and stay away from chickens! I asked Adrian if he thought the raccoon selected his prey because he got three of the little banty (bantam) hens the first night and they are small, or if he thought the raccoon went after his prey at random. Adrian said he didn't know the mind of the raccoon, but offered that we might check out a raccoon profiler to answer that question! :)

Mother's Day Activities

We enjoyed a Mother's Day dinner prepared by Adrian. Grandma Delia and Grandma Jarrell ate with us (Adrian and I, and Adam and Logan) along with Trula and Verna. We visited outside on the deck and opened presents.

Adrian and Trula enjoyed a trip to see the chickens.

Doesn't everyone shoot firearms as part of their Mother's Day activities?!

Adrian and Adam take aim.

Trampoline Time, Mission Prep., Guitar Heroes, Birthday Celebrations

What would a trip to Kristen and Cory's be like without some time on the trampoline?!

Adam beginning the process of getting his papers ready for his mission.

Our very own guitar heroes!

Celebrating Kristen's birthday!

In the country...

Old McDonald

We enjoyed a nice visit with Kristen, Cory, Elise, Ian, and Merry Grace this weekend. On Sunday after our birthday dinner for Adrian, I decided to take Mama a plate since she wasn't feeling well and didn't get to come eat with us. Ian was eager to go with me, so we got into the van and headed out. He was so cute talking about things as we rode along, but one of the cutest things was on the way home...we were riding along, listening to the rain pouring down on the roof of the van, and then all of a sudden he burst into singing "Old McDonald Had a Farm" and so I joined in with him. It was just so cute! Ian is such a neat little fellow and just a real pleasure to be around, always full of adventure and fun!

The grandkids were all just cute as could be and it was a pleasure to be with them. Merry Grace loves to come up to me to be held and it just makes my day. She is so sweet and cute and cuddley. Sometimes she just puts her head against my shoulder and snuggles up and it is just so sweet. Elise is growing up so fast and staying such a good example and a wonderful helper in her family. It's fun to talk to her - she always sounds so grown up and expresses herself so well to be only 5.

8bol rides again

8bol, being the cute little dog he is, quickly responded to Adrian's invitation to "Come on, 8bol, let's take a ride!" Logan came along, too, and they all made a quick trip to take off our trash. 8bol must have had a great time, because when they got back, he continued to sit by the van and whine. He walked from one door to the other and then to the back. He put his paws on the back bumper and cried some more. Evidently, he really likes to ride! He is a good traveler when we go to Kristen's (and he rides in his pet carrier), but I'd never seen that kind of response to a trip! Maybe he liked being held by Logan in the seat and looking out the window this time. I don't know....but he was sure ready to go again!

More at Sunset

The colors of the sunset just fascinate me. I just love the way the sun sets over the mountains and the colors in the sky.

This is near sunset, too, this afternoon. It has been a cloudy, rainy day, but with a little clearning as you can see. Yesterday is was 85 and quite warm. The forsythia are blooming, along with the redbuds, bradford pears, tulips, etc. Just a warm and beautiful day. Today was much cooler, in the 50's. But no snow like Ethan and Adam had in Utah yesterday!

Annie Get Your Gun!

This is me rifle shooting, but skeet shooting with the shotgun is still my favorite. Yesterday I tried some from a different angle and it was more challenging, but I hit some. The best is when you shatter them, instead of just shooting off a piece.

Guns and a new hobby...

I've never been too excited about guns. Adrian encouraged me to practice with a handgun about once every year or so, so I would know how to shoot one if I ever needed it. I'm still not real excited about the whole gun thing, I mean they still scare me, but I have found that I do kind of enjoy skeet shooting. This is how it happened... One day Adrian asked me to throw some clay pigeons for him, but I had difficulty with the thrower...so he threw them for me and I used the shotgun to try to hit them. I don't think I even hit any, but it captured my attention and I thought it was challenging, and I thought maybe guns might be a little bit fun. So, it wasn't long before I wanted to try it again and so for FHE activity about a week ago, we went up into the woods and used the thrower and went skeet shooting and I actually hit some! I think perhaps this qualifies as a sport. There is the timing of things, aiming, hitting a moving target in the air, etc., and I have to admit, I liked it. I guess Adrian thought maybe we were on a roll and he'd see what else I might enjoy, so over the weekend we tried rifle shooting and a different handgun than the one I usually use, and they were okay, but my favorite is the...let me see if I can get this right...the Browning pump action 12 gauge shotgun. So, there you have it! I think I might have found a new hobby!

8bol running

8bol is so cute running and jumping!

Nature and Chickens

Sunset near Pilot Mountain

I love the colors of sunsets and sunrises! Here is a sunset looking from our yard, just below the chicken pens.

This is a good shot of Roofer and Captain Jack, two of our roosters.

Here is one of our favorite chickens, Princess.

Family Pic's

Logan playing basketball during the stake youth basketball tournament.

Merry Grace playing on the deck in her backyard.

Elise and Ian in their back yard. I thought they were cute walking along holding hands.

Logan in our circle with Lucy and 8bol.

Kristen and Logan at the Raleigh airport after flying in from Utah and their visit with Ethan and Adam.

Ian and Merry Grace - ready for church!

Elise beside some beautiful artwork!

Computer Dependent

There was some construction going on between a couple of buildings on campus today, a retaining wall or something, and a wire was cut that no one knew was there. So, I was sitting in my office minding my own business, responding to an email about a committee I'm on and was almost ready to hit send, when everything went down! The outage was partial in our building, but eventually the power was shut off completely to repair the damage to the line. It's amazing how quiet it is with no electrical things running. My computers were silent, my printer, the fax machine, the two-way radio, telephone...all quiet. A co-worker stepped into my doorway and commented that this would not have mattered 200 years ago. He's right. We do so many things with all our electronic devices that when we don't have them, we're almost paralyzed. It's like, "Well, what do I do now? What can I do?" I was desperate to use something electronic, so I got on my cell phone and texted my family (except Logan, who I knew was in school - I didn't want his cell phone to get taken away). Not that I have to have a reason like that to text my family, but I did miss all the instant communication we are so accustomed to. And it was a good reason to take a minute to say hello to everyone. As we all adapted to our circumstances, it was interesting to look around at the ways we made the best of things as some moved into the lobby area underneath the skylight and people started using cell phones for the all-important communication we have to do. It's sort of like when it snows (which we haven't really had any to speak of this year) and we have a power outage. It is inconvenient, but it is peaceful and quiet and for a little while the world slows down - and that part is nice.

I knew this was coming...

I predicted it would be soon! I told Kristen not long ago that I was beginning to feel comfortable with finding their house and knowing my way around a little (I'm so terrible on directions!), so.... I knew they would be moving soon! It always happens! As soon as I get the hang of where they live and how to get there and get around a little - they move! So, I was not surprised to hear they bought a new house and would be moving in a couple of weeks! Hmmm.... is this number....5? in 7 years? and 4 towns/cities? and 4 wards? How exciting!

A little snow

We finally had a little snow. There wasn't much and it didn't last long, but it was pretty.

Provo vs Mount Airy Weather

Today we have a few windows open in the house and the high is supposed to be right at 60 degrees. We have a sunny, blue sky and it is quite pleasant. When I check my favorite weather websites, I sometimes type in the zip for Ethan and Adam to see what their weather is like. It is rare that I check it and see many, if any, temperatures above freezing for the week! Hard to imagine!

My Personal Space

I must be clautrophobic or something, but I usually want a little personal space between myself and particularly strangers. People I'm close to are great (you know, family & friends), but when a complete stranger invades my space, I'm uncomfortable. Yesterday in Wal-Mart, I was waiting in line to pick up a perscription for Grandma, when someone got in line behind me. I mean right behind me. I moved up a little, but didn't want to crowd the person in front of me, so there was really nowhere to go, unless I wanted to leave the line, and she moved up, too. Anyway, it was a fairly long line, so we continued to move up and with each move, she was just right there, breathing on my neck, well, almost. It wasn't unnverving exactly, just uncomfortable. I just wanted to say, "Hey, just give me a little space here! You're going to get to the check out in the same place in line, just don't crowd me!" And I won't even go into the cell phone conversation I overheard!

24

Okay...I'm pretty much addicted! We used some coupons, etc. from Blockbuster and have been watching season 5 of 24 and are planning to watch the final episode tonight! It is so interesting and exciting! I almost hate to watch the last one, because then it will be over! ...until season 6!

And the Season is....

Who can tell? It's the middle of January and last night we slept with the windows open! The weather has been so mild lately that it doesn't even feel like winter! It has been pleasant and I have enjoyed being able to get outside and do things, but it's hard to tell which season we're in sometimes! I mean we do have snow in NC...so where is it this year?! I guess we've got to have some below freezing temps first!

So Many Good Times

I posted a few of my over 500 pictures (I filled up a 1G card...hard to believe...well maybe not too hard if you've been around me much!) I tried to hit some of the highlights in pictures, but well, there were so many memories, it was just hard to capture it all! I should mention our tradition of Adrian reading a Christmas story during December and our service activity we enjoy doing as a family and our special home evening together. Just so many good times! I guess when we live far apart, we just try to squeeze all the fun, celebration, laughter, love, and memories we can into a couple of weeks together! It was all fun and special, from the games and movies, to watching the kids and grandkids, to walks and talks, to good food, to all the thoughtful gifts and expressions - it was all just great! I am so thankful for a wonderful family! And I'm thankful for blogs, email, cell phones, web cams, texting, IMing, etc, that shorten the miles! And I can't wait for the next time to get this great crowd together!

An end and a beginning

Adam and Ethan packed up to go back to college and we left Mount Airy again, headed off to Kristen's in Raleigh on Thursday for a meal together, blessings, and our goodbyes. Kristen took them to the airport on Friday and it was a long day of traveling and then for Ethan and Adam a long weekend of moving and getting settled in their apartment and ready for classes on Monday. I guess back to the routine and looking ahead to the next time we get together!
Adam gave Ian and Elise his stuffed snake, so here we are with the famous snake that had been hanging from the ceiling in the boys bedroom for quite a few years.



A good holiday season! We had a wonderful Christmas and New Year's together and loved spending time together and celebrating the season! It is one of the hap-happiest times of the year! 

Happy New Year

Kristen, Cory and family packed up to go home for New Years and we followed close behind. Here we are at Kristen's getting ready for church.
On New Year's Eve we got out the table cloth and began writing our memories of 2006. We also read our predictions and made some new ones for 2007!

On New Year's Day, we drove to Winston to go ice skating and then to use the tickets Kristen and Cory gave us for the Wake Forest basketball game!

On our last night in Mount Airy, Grandma was so kind to take us all out to dinner.
 

More...

A picture of part of the group after an outing.
It was chilly, but that didn't stop us from roasting hot dogs outside in the fire pit one night!

And who could forget watching ball games at Grandma Delia's house and a wild night of games!

The kids enjoyed getting outside and playing in the yard, kicking balls, riding down the hill, seeing Papa's chickens, and all that fun stuff!