Our Utah sons visit Franklin

During the months of November and December, we were treated by a visit from our two Utah sons.  Joel came out on Halloween and stayed through to watch BYU beat MTSU in Murfreesboro on Nov. 1.  Brad came two days after Christmas and stayed to welcome in the New Year with us. Each came all by himself and that was actually a special treat – having that alone time with them. Thank you Jenica and Susan for letting your spouses take leave and visit us.

 

Joel's visit: October 31 to November 3, 2014

 

Joel and Russ at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville

Attending the BYU/MTSU Football Game. BYU won 27-7

Dinner at Chick-fil-A to celebrate the win

The Carter House tour tells of the Battle of Franklin

Carter House Tour

Sharlene and Joel saying goodbye after a great visit



Joel's last day with us in our Frankin Home

 

 

 

Brad's visit: December 27, 2014 to January 1, 2015 



Opening our Christmas gift from Brad, "Every Knee shall Bow," by J. Kirk Richards

Dinner at "Tupelo Honey Cafe" in downtown Knoxville

Posing with Moe and Trey after dinner

A great day at the Nashville Temple with Brad

A "day-early" New Year's Eve dinner at "Puckett's" in downtown Franklin

Making Grandma Thorpe's Christmas fudge on New Year's Eve

A walk to the neighborhood park is a "must-do" when visiting us in Franklin
This beautiful picture was taken by Brad

THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES, JOEL AND BRAD!  IT WAS GREAT!

Kathy goes to Franklin, TN

 



My missionary sister, Kathy, flew down to visit us during the time the Washington DC Temple was closed for repairs.  I didn’t get a picture of us playing board games, but we managed to do that several times almost every single day.  Frozen yogurt was another favorite on our list. We also learned all about the Battle of Franklin, one of the bloodiest battle of the Civil War.  Thanks for the visit, Kathy.

 

The Hermitage, home of President Andrew Jackson ~ me and my sister

A day at the Nashville Temple

Touring the Carter House, situated in the middle of the Battle of Franklin

Bullet holes remain on the backside of the outdoor kitchen to the Carter House

Russ and Kathy at the Carnton Plantation Confederate Cemetery

My good friend, Fran, let us tour her beautiful home filled with art. This one is by Kirk Richards, "Song of the Heart"

We celebrated three October birthdays: Kathy, Allen, & Ben

Cousins enjoy the birthday treats

Six Months in Franklin, TN

We moved into our new home in Franklin on October 31, 2013.  It's been a wonderful adventure and now at six months----here are some pictures of a few things that have taken place in Franklin 

Welcome Flowers from Langfords

Welcome flowers from Smiths



Our very first guests were the Cruzes - all
seven of them - Lori, Scott, Emma, Ben,
Josh, Lydia and Afton - on November 1,
2013, but we didn't get one single
picture, sadly - thanks for coming

Brad Barber sent us our very first
postal mail in Franklin

Calls from our sons and their families
were most welcome.

 



Our new home

 

Our First Day at the temple as Temple President and Matron



Our Temple presidency - Allens and Rickards

Sextons visit on December 19, 2013 - Sydney, Tanner, Connor

Outdoor Christmas lights - very humble

Indoor Christmas Decor



Langfords visit December 28, 2013 - Carter, Claire, & Jared

Nativity outside our temple - December, 2013

Doing genealogy

Brunch

We met and enjoy spending time with our second cousin, Susie Brown


It was a cold winter!

All winter Sharlene swept leaves away from the front door

Sharlene's first birthday in Franklin - flowers from Troy and Dan

Birthday cards mark the day

The one tiny snow we had all winter

Celebrating Lisa's birthday in Franklin - David, Lisa, Connor, & Tanner

Love our temple



Mother-Daughters annual Book Club - in Franklin

New place to eat - Wall Street Pizzeria

Found an old favorite in old-town Franklin



Afton, Lydia, Sydney & Claire count money and candy



First-ever Easter Egg Hunt in Franklin - We love these grandchildren - thanks for visiting!! 

Table setting for Assistant Recorder and Wives Dinner in our home here in Franklin

We continue to discover new things to do in and around Franklin.  Next post, we'll share some links for those places and some more pictures.  Meanwhile, the past six months have been grand. Thanks to our Knoxville children and their families for their constant love and support.  Such a blessing to serve and such a blessing to have support from our family.


My amazing sister, Cara

I have a very unusual situation.  And by “situation,” I mean family relation.  I have two older sisters and two younger brothers. My mother had many miscarriages, so I always felt very blessed that I got to grow up in a family of five children. And I love each one of them. 

But what I didn’t expect is that I would get the wonderful surprise of another sister many years after my mother died. My father remarried Jean and to them was born my younger sister, Cara. Cara is much younger than me and much younger than my children. We always laugh when we talk about her being the aunt to my much older children.

My sister is amazing. Cara is wife to the wonderful Will Dahlquist and mother to three darling boys.  The oldest, Lincoln will soon turn 4, next comes Spencer who just turned two, and baby Connor is about 6 ½ months.  Cara not only takes care of her three little boys, but she also is a professional photographer (go to her web site here), trained in HypnoBirthing and works at HypnoBirthing Utah. She’s also an advocate of Empowering Fearless Birth and was a speaker at this year’s conference.  Did I also mention that she is an artist?   She is multi-talented. She throws the most marvelous parties and is a fantastic cook.  There is so much more I could say about Cara, but I mostly just want to say that I love her and am so very proud of her.  I stand all amazed at her maturity and talent. And she’s just a really nice, nice person and friend to all.

Not only is Cara a loving wife and great mother, but she has weathered some pretty difficult trials in her very young life.  For instance, the birth of her first baby:  Lincoln spent the first 6 weeks of his life in hospitals starting with his birth at Orem Community, then to Primary Children’s, and finally to Lucile Packard Children's in Palo Alto, California.  Instead of Cara bringing home her first born baby, he was air-lifted to California, with Cara and Will traveling there shortly after.  She was amazing during this time!  If you want to read Cara’s story of Lincoln’s journey go here. And I could tell you the story of when her husband Will had a car fall on him and the long struggle with his recovery.  But Cara and Will are resilient and they managed these challenges with grace. So I’ll stop talking and share some pictures. I have more of when Cara was younger, but I was too lazy to scan them, but I’ve included a few.

 

A very young Cara



Cara with Brad and Lori



Cara and Lori

And then she grew up................................................

Lincoln's Open Heart Surgery shortly after he was born

The Great Smoky Mountains in Tennessee

Watching General Conference - Oct. 5, 2013

Cara's four boys!  :)

Cara is simply amazing!!!!