Neighborhood Pond

Magical

Scott taking pictures on our way home from Church.

Evolution of Fall

Fall in Virginia!

After living 50 something years in California it has truly been so wonderful to see what fall looks like. The little branch of red was my first sign something was happening, that was the beginning of October.

Quiet Grove & Sunrise in Virginia

I guess Ive neglected this blog long enough. Now that fall is here I'm making a end of the year resolution to write more regularly on here. I haven't been able to upload (post pictures) in a long time and I just tried it and wow it worked. Obviously I'm no computer whiz. So a couple of days ago I woke up and this was the view out my kitchen window. Living here in this green peaceful place has made me feel more relaxed and peaceful. I think in California I was used to burning the candle at both ends and that can be dangerous if your holding the candle. As my life gets busier I hope can remember to take time to stop and smell the flowers. By the way I've noticed a whole different crop of wild flowers in the fall. I will miss the leaves after fall. This is a picture of the "quiet grove" I see on my morning walk.

Lesson #4

Lesson #4 I learned from my grandkids

"Music is an important and powerful part of life"

Addison who at age two sings with a vibrato, and loves the little mermaid. Mia's original song says you can be my friend if you want. Hey you can even be my cousin. Or you can be what ever you want. Hows that for inspired words!

Music can have a powerful influence for good.

Lesson #3

Lesson # 3 I have learned from my Grandkids

"Totally give into the feelings during difficult times, by surrendering to the pain rather than resisting it."

In this picture of four of our grandaughters I was trying to get them to all look at their flower but Mia's flower broke and she wouldn't pretend it didn't matter.

I always say as long as you are still breathing you are still going to experience trials in your life. Our joys will live along side of our sorrows. Children have a way of feeling deeply and then moving on with life.

My computer is still not letting me upload pictures but I uploaded some on Andrea's computer. I just spend a wonderful week in an unbelievably sunny Seattle with three of the cutest kids and one great mommy who is holding down the fort for 8 more weeks while Michael is in Afganistan.

Lesson #2

Lesson # 2 I learned from my grand kids!

"What we wear sends a message to the world of how we want them to perceive us!"

These cute cousins from left to right Brynlee, Isabel and Mia decided to have a girls day in their own salon. I guess you can never have too many hair products. They are exceptionally BEAUTIFUL, don't you think!!

So I need to be more aware of what message I am sending to the world.

Lesson #1

Lesson #1 I learned from my grand kids.

"We do not experience happiness because of what we get. We experience happiness because of how we live each moment."

On long road trips I don't always experience joy in the journey. Here we are at gas station and the girls realized that if you stand under the automatic hand dryers It blows your hair all over. They stood there quite a while squealing with laughter each time they moved under them.

Children are masters at creating happy moments. This is what makes each child so magical. They are totally present, totally alive in the moment.

So next time your in a public restroom remember what you've learned! :)

All I need to know about life I can learn from my Grandkids!

Sorry its been so long since my last writing. I was gone for three weeks and then have had some computer problems. During July I (Debbie) flew into southern Cali and drove up with Amber and the girls to Sarah and Jared's house because all of my grand kids were going to be in one place at the same time and I couldn't resist!

My Claim to FAME!

Saturday night we went to our potluck dinner Church Social. Thought it would be a good opportunity to meet and get to know people. The theme was Jello. Don't ask why, I have know idea. But it was fun. They had art contests out of jello an jello egg toss and cooking contests. I won 3rd place with my white cake with rasberry jello drizzle topped with cool whip. "There was some really cool ones so I was really surprized!" Really nice people, everyone made us feel welcome!

Early 4th of July!

In considering living back east the weather was a concern for me. Of course when we came to visit in April there was a couple of days of soft light rain. I thought "this is nice, this is sweet" I can handle this.

Fast forward to the end of June! The other night for over an hour (while Scott slept through it, there was the most scary and beautiful lightning and thunder storm! I was afraid it would hit the house! Of course Scott is sad he missed it!

Welcome!

Saturday we had our first offical visitors, "the Gibsons", Mark and Claudia. They drove down from the DC area. Mark and Scott have been friends since high school. They are the best! It was fun to see them, we drove into Port Royal our town 5 miles away, Population with us 206. There is one resturant called Hornes it also has an old fashioned soda fountain, gift shop, and gas station. We had lunch, it was actually pretty good! We were surpised!

Fish count Scott 2 Debbie 1

So after a dry spell of about 40 years we decided to try our hand at fishing off our dock. It was fun!! Scott was doing better than I because I realized it wasn't till I took the bobber off and let my bait sink to the bottom that I caught a catfish. There is something so peaceful about sitting by water with the breeze blowing your hair. We are going to try the pond next.

Race ya for Pink Slips!

Scotty got new wheels a Toyota Tacoma prerunner. So at least we don't have to drive around in the uhaul truck anymore. We were over it!

Meeting President & Sister Wixsom

We heard Aarons mission President and his wife were going to be at the building on Monday so we stopped in to meet them since we were in town. They are so awsome! We thanked them for all they did. They are going home in two weeks after serving 3 years! President Wixsom pulled Scott into a room and said it was right here I said to your Son "Put all you have into the work" He said he did, he really did!! He gave 110% He said that he loved Aaron and the wonderful young man he is. It was a proud moment.

Church was great!

We went to our regular ward Sunday! Everyone was really nice. It was about the size of a small ward in California. We left to drive there at 8:10am and sat down at about 8:57am. So it obviously reminded me of how spoiled we were in Cali getting to the building in under 2 minutes! But we didn't mind because the drive was beautiful!

Thanks neighbor!

We don't have a lawnmower (ride on) yet so one of our neighbors who just happens to be 85years old asked if he could cut our two acres! Scott didn't hesitate to say help yourself. They say if you stay active you live longer. So I guess in a way we are helping him out! Super nice though!

Sunday afternoon stroll!

The laptop is our only way of connecting with the outside world at the moment!

Time for a little nap!

Imagine walking down your street and literally almost every person coming out to greet and meet you! Well that's what happened when we took a walk Sunday afternoon to check out the river and dock area. Everyone knows everyone here in our little community of about 60 houses that sit on the edge of the Rappahannock River! They all look out for each other.

Sunday our day of rest!

The road home from Church!

So because we are closer to the this little branch we went to church there. Its was held in the cutest brand new little building I've ever seen! I counted 8 rows in the Chapel. Everyone was super friendly and welcoming. Next week we will drive 15 miles further to the ward we are assigned. Scott thinks someday we will be attending the branch. There was about 50-60 people in Sacrament meeting. I believe we met every single person!

Super Saturday!

This is the road to the Grocery Store!

Saturday was a busy day unpacking and a little trip to the grocery store. We had the garage door open for just a little while and a little friend tried to move in with us.

The grass is GREENER on the other side!

It felt great to sleep in our own bed! When we opened our eyes in the morning this is what we saw! What a beautiful peaceful feeling!

Home Sweet Home!!

Well its been an adventure to say the least. We finally arrived Friday just before dark to move in. We opened the back of the Truck and this is what it looked like after 2600+miles! Luckily we haven't found anything to be broken.

Our sweet neighbors next door came over to help (Tom and Pat) and our awesome real estate agent, and new friend (DYNA- Moe)(coined by Scott) Moe Mathews and his wonderful family came to help unload the truck. We felt very welcomed.

Nearing the end of our Journey!

Thursday we drove the rest of the way, this is some of the scenery we saw along the way. It struck me as interesting they mow the fwy middle and sides. Virginia is a beautiful state with many woods and meadows rivers and streams. We arrived in Richmond to finish up last minute details on our house.

Wet Welcome!

We were welcomed to Virginia (also known as) Scottysville as we crossed the border late Wednesday by some crazy wet weather we westerners are not use, to with rain, hail not the little wimpy stuff, thunder and lightning.

On the road to Nashville

We left this morning, Tuesday at 2:30am from Ark Can Sass! We crossed the border into Tennessee and across the great Mississippi river at 6 am into Memphis. What a awesome sight, the sun was just rising!

We stopped for gas and all the pumps had these stickers on them. If you pump your gas and don't pay they will take away your license. Obviously these are old pumps and the only choice is to pump then pay.That guy in the picture is enough to scare me into paying.

Tennessee is Amazing! As we have traveled across the US it has progressively gotten greener and the trees thicker and taller. Today was truly beautiful!