Easter Weekend - 2012

All the Knoxville families were here for Easter Dinner, except Trey, who was still at BYU.  But we  added my sister, Kathy, who was visiting from Seattle, WA.  :)

 Dinning Room table setting...................................

The DR table was full, the kitchen table was full, so Claire and Lydia got to have their very own table at the end of the island.

 Sorting out the money from the candy

 Lined up right before the Easter Egg Hunt began

 Josh's baptism on April 7, 2012

Sisters - Kathy visits from Seattle, WA

Barnsley Gardens getaway---celebrating Julie's 40th

I was lucky enough to be the mother of a daughter turning 40 who chose for her birthday gift from her husband to be a girls’ getaway to Barnsley Gardens in Georgia.  Julie is my third-born child and just turned 40.  Her husband, Allen, generously gave Julie an over-night getaway with her sisters and me.  Can’t thank Allen and Julie enough for a fantastic trip.  How often does one get to share in such a special gift?  Here are a few pictures.  The weather was perfect and Barnsley’s is gorgeous.  Good weather, good food, good company, and a beautiful setting. THANK YOU, Julie and Allen! Happy 40th Birthday Julie.

 Leaving for Barnsley Gardens

Our manicures and pedicures

 

On our way to dinner at the Woodland Restaurant

........................My beautiful daughters..............................

Julie's 40th Birthday

               

                                   Our walks included these beautiful views plus many others.

The Barnsley Ruins

More give away winners!

Congratulations to the Kentucky Wildcats!  They are the champs.  We had three people guess they would win, so three Target gift cards are being sent to:

Sydney

Lisa

Joel

Congratulations to all the winners, and may your favorite team win next year.  (In case you missed it, Lisa won the grand prize from the give away drawing)

WINNER of the March Madness Give Away!!

Drum roll, please………………….and the winner is Lisa!  Here’s Lisa’s comment: 

“Actually that was Sydney who posted...But she knows basketball pretty well so I'll agree with her and say Kentucky.
Mom, the kids loved having you guys come to so many of their games. It's my favorite kid sport to watch too!” 

Congratulations to Lisa.  Your Papa John’s gift card will be delivered soon.  I decided to add a 2^nd part to this giveaway.  I will send out a small gift to anyone who guessed correctly the National Championship team.  For those who put down more than one team, the first team you listed is the one I will use. You’ll know if you win or not after Monday’s game, but I’ll list it here anyway.  Good luck!

March Madness

At our home, it’s been a little bit different kind of March Madness.  I know you’re thinking NCAA and NIT.  But I’m going to talk about the CLS. Yes, CLS = Cruze/Langford/Sexton.  During the month of March Russ and I found ourselves attending a bunch, a bunch of grandchildren basketball games.  Josh Cruze played in the Westside Y league---first year. Tanner Sexton played on the LDS team in the intra-church league, along with Carter and Jared Langford.  Then Sydney played in the Presbyterian basketball league.  Jared and Carter also played on a second team(s) in the Presbyterian league. And finally Allie played on the LDS team in the intra-church league.  Whew!  That’s a lot of games each week.  We could possibly go to a game on Tuesday night, Thursday night, and three games on Saturday.  Russ had some conflicts, but I would go without him, as this is my favorite sport to watch the grandchildren play. They all did great with Allie’s team winning the tournament, and the other teams doing almost as well in their league play.  Those games have come to an end, but it’s been a fun ride.  I wish I had taken more pictures, but I do have one of the oldest grandchild and youngest grandchild playing here in Knoxville.

Josh  is ready to play ball!

Attending Allie's basketball game







Now, in honor of our grandchildren’s stellar basketball season, I’m having a giveaway.  Do kids like anything better than pizza?  The winner of this giveaway will receive a gift certificate to Papa John’s Pizza.  However, if you win and don’t have a Papa John’s, then I’ll substitute a Domino’s, etc.— something equivalent. 

This contest ends on March 30, Friday, at 11 p.m. Eastern Time -- before the Final Four starts.  Leave a comment telling me who you think will win the NCAA. BTW, all children who played on a basketball team this winter are welcome to enter, too.

Romney for President

My last post was Feb 1 and Russ has been nagging me to please put something else up.  He wasn’t particular fond of that post.  So since today two states do their Republican primary voting, I’ll do a post on Campaigning for Mitt Romney.

Russ and I have a Romney yard sign in our yard, and Russ has placed 21 other yard signs.  We also had 2,000 copies printed of a flier we made up.  We single-handedly handed out most of those.

We also make phone calls almost daily.  And when I say “we,” I mean Russ.  He calls daily.  I’ve only called once, but I did enjoy it. I do enjoy visiting with people. We've made over 2,000 calls.

On Feb. 15, we did early voting.  It was with great pleasure that I voted for Russ.  Yes, Russ!  He is running in the 2^nd Congressional District to be a Romney delegate.  

On Feb 20, we attended a Mitt Romney rally at Boyd’s Jig and Reel in the Old City of downtown Knoxville. After the event, a reporter asked if he could interview us.  He miked us and we each spent about 1-2 minutes telling “why” we supported Romney. Then the reporter asked us if we thought Tennessee was important in the primaries.  I answered briefly, and that’s all that showed up on the news, which was broadcast on WBIR, channel 9, at 11 p.m.  It’s about three words worth, but we are seen sitting at a table earlier. You can check it out here: http://www.wbir.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=206886

I belong to two FB Groups supporting Mitt Romney for President.  I wanted to share two pictures that members of the group designed.  The first one is by Sal Velluto.  I promised him I would mention his fund raiser when I shared his picture.  Go here to see more about his fund raiser: http://mittfitts.com/support-mitt-romney-purchase-the-original-art/

Dan Barker made up a mosaic using FB pictures of many of the members of our FB Group, “I Stand With Mitt Romney.”  If you enlarge the pix and then use a magnifying glass, you can see pix of me and Russ.  It’s not our current FB pix, but the one before. We're on the left side of Mitt's face as you look at it - by his chin.

The very first picture in this blog is one of us with Mitt Romney taken back in May of 2011.  It was the very beginning.  Even before he had declared his intention to run for office.  We’ve stood with him ever since.  Go Mitt Romney -- all the way to the White House.

Where's the snow?

January is over, and I miss the snow. Where is the snow?  Oh, yes, I remember, it’s in Seattle, WA, Oregon, Utah, and other states.  From my previous posts, it’s evident that I LOVE SNOW.  I’m beginning to worry that I won’t see any in my yard this winter.  I prefer my snow in January, but I’ll take it right up to April. So come on snow, show yourself.

My daffodils are 8" tall and almost in bloom! 

 Even my tulips think it's spring.