Wedding Bells for JW and Danna

Spring has sprung and it is time for JW and Danna's Wedding.  Christmas brought us news of the engagement and the April 17 wedding date.  The wedding was held at Carrie and Ernie's house, in their beautiful backyard.  It was a truly wonderful wedding.  The day could not have been more beautiful.  The ceremony was a real tribute to their love for God and each other.  We had a great celebration, but it was a small event.  So in order to accommodate all their friends, we had a second wedding reception on May 7 at the church.  Another great celebration. 

Chistmas 2010

Christmas brought us a little snow.  It also interrupted our plans.  Because of the 5 inches of snow, Patrick, Pegeen and their families did not make it for Christmas Day to Mom and Dad Calpin's house.  That made for a quieter Christmas.  James and his clan did come down and John was already in town, but with everyone in the house over the age of 13, it made for a more orderly Christmas day.  But still loads of fun.  We opened presents and ate an awesome dinner. 

On Monday, Kathleen and I met up with Karen and the girls and enjoyed an incredible display of ice.  We went to the Gaylord Hotel and saw incredible ice sculptures of The Grinch Who Stole Christmas and the Manger Scene.  The pictures do not do it justice.  It was awesome, but cold.  They keep it so cold in the place, they give you huge blue parkas to wear as you walk through the display.  What a Christmas treat.  Pegeen, Dave and the boys did make it up later in the week and we did enjoy visiting with them.

On New Years Eve, the Newton Clan met at our house to ring in the New Year and celebrate Christmas.  We also got to celebrate the fact that JW and Dana were now officially engaged.  What a joy to spend time together and celebrate new beginnings.

 





Thanksgiving 2010

What a year it's been.  What a great time to reflect and give thanks to our awesome God!  We celebrated with our usual clan, but in a new place.  Carrie and her family moved to a new house and we were excited to break it in.  It is on a beautiful creek, and has gorgeous views.  We had our normal incredible dinner and had a lot of fun catching up with the clan.  The rest of the weekend was filled with shopping, putting together the Christmas puzzle, playing Blokus, eating and napping.  A great Thanksgiving weekend.

 

Carrie's 50th Birthday Surprise Party

We really fooled her this time.  Carrie had no idea we were planning a party.  Well, actually she told everyone she wanted a party, she just didn't know any of the details.  She certainly didn't know how many people were so excited to celebrate her birthday.  It was awesome that her best pal, Erin, has a birthday close to Carrie's and they were both turning 50.  So Carrie's other best friend, Penny,  planned and schemed with all of us to put the party for the two of them together. 

It was an awesome celebration.  On top of the birthdays, we asked everyone to bring food for the food pantry and were able to bless them with a huge donation.  We danced, ate, and laughed until we couldn't go any longer.  What a great jubilee celebration.

Hunting 2010

We have had a great season this year.  I took my first crossbow deer on Oct 16.  It was a nice sized doe at about 30 yards at Provost in the new stand on the log road.

Keith took a nice 6 point buck with his muzzleloader on Nov 6 at Spring Hill in the stand near the powerline.  On Nov 27, Keith took a button buck with his .270 at his property in the low field.

December 18th was a great day in the snowy deer woods.  Mike and I each killed a deer walking to our stand first thing in the morning.  As we crested the knoll to go down the log road at Provost, Mike saw 2 deer at the edge of the field about 70 yards away.  Mike was very generous to let me have the first shot and my deer went straight down.  Mike had his sights on the other deer and his gun misfired.  He chambered another round and tried to shoot, but forgot to take the safety off.  When he was finally ready to shoot, the deer was still standing there and he made a great shot.  The rest of the day was filled with dogs running deer everywhere.  I shot at another deer and found blood, but tracked it until we were on the neighbor's property.  So I went to let them know we were looking for a deer and they said the deer ran by one of them and they shot it.  I'm just glad it was found.  One of the best days I've had in the woods.

Liberty Mill Farm Corn Maze

On October 9, our table group from church went to Liberty Mill Farm Maze in Orange County.  What a fun day in the country.  Kathleen was not able to come because she was in CA visiting her brother, but we had fun without her.  You could not believe how big and intricate the maze was.  It took about 45 minutes to make it through.  We had a blast.  We definitely need to make this an annual fall tradition.

WEAG Golf Tournament

On September 20 the team of Mark Davis, Wayne Glascock, Billy, and I played in the WEAG Golf Tournament at The Hollows Golf Club.  We were definitely not the best team, but we did finish second in our flight.  We hit just enough good shots to finish 4 under par (captain's choice format).  What a great day of golf, food, and fellowship.

Labor Day at the Lake 2010

I can't believe it is time to say goodbye to summer already. Our last time playing in the water and the boat for the year. Mom and Dad, Carrie and her gang, and us had one last summer weekend. We had a great time tubing, boat riding, and fishing. We even spent a few hours at Striper Island exploring and Ernie spent a lot of time catching catfish. He caught a 14, two 12s, a 10, and a bunch of 1 and 2 pounders. We had over 25 pounds of fillets after we finished cleaning them. A great time with our wonderful family.

Lake with the Gang

This years trip was incredible.  August 14th, the Gang descended on Buggs Island lake for a weekend of fun and excitement.  The Newtons, Kaufholds, Rands, and this year the Turners played at the lake until exhausted.  We tubed, swam, ate, and played.  It was a great weekend.  We are blessed with great friends and family. 

 

Bear Creek Lake August 7, 2010

We were invited to spend the day at Bear Creek Lake in Cumberland Va. The Davis, the Rands, and the Brighams spent a beautiful Saturday enjoying all the State Park had to offer. The Davis and Brighams camped Friday and Saturday night, while the Rands and us just came for the day to play. Everyone enjoyed swimming, canoeing, or just relaxing in the shade. Dinner was a special treat. The Brighams started with a cheese and cracker appetizer followed by pork tenderloin, asparagus, and mashed potatoes. Not your normal camping fare. Maura is definitely the Martha Stewart of camping. We did not plan on staying for dinner, so Dave insisted on sending us home with a doggy bag. I have to tell you, that may have been the best pork I have ever had. What a great day to spend with great friends.

Old Home Week, Forest City PA

Old Home Week. One of my favorite summer trips. A taste of fall, in July. On Thursday, July 29 we headed up to northeast PA to Kathleen's Mom's hometown for Forest City's annual homecoming celebration. We ate awesome food, watched incredible fireworks, enjoyed great music and visited with family. The weather was perfect, with a crisp nip to the air. Believe it or not, you needed a jacket in the evening. And to top it off, Mom's cousin, Joe, was given the distinguished citizen award. We stayed with Aunt Mary in her new house and we had a very relaxing visit.

July 4 2010 at the Lake

Another great time at the lake. Tubing, swimming, boating and the July 4th picnic at Gary and Ellie's. It was a great time with Carrie and her family and Mom and Pop. And of course, a few gifts and cake for the birthday boy, me! It is so much fun to spend time in a beautiful place with people you love.

Memorial Day at the Lake 2010

The start of another great season at the lake. We met my parents, Carrie and all of her family at the lake for a great 3 day weekend. We had a blast. The weather was great. The water was plenty warm enough to swim and the boating was awesome. We has fun tubing, wakeboarding and eating. That pretty much summed up the weekend. Our neighbors had their annual pig cookout and it was great to see all the neighbors again. We are so blessed to have such great family. We just love being with them.

10 Wonderful Years

On April 29th we celebrated 10 fantastic years of wedded bliss. Well, maybe not bliss, but at least very happy years. We started our celebration by going out to dinner at one of our favorite places in Midlothian, Crab Louie's Seafood Tavern. Great food, great service, and a perfect way to celebrate the day.

Our celebration continued with a great trip to Charleston, SC. On Sat, May 22, we packed up and traveled south. We arrived at our hotel, The Mills House Inn, around 4:30 and spent the evening exploring. We walked a few blocks in each direction from our hotel and settled on The Noisy Oyster for dinner. A very cute place with large windows that opened to the street so you could enjoy the outside while inside.

Sunday was a day to get our bearings. We started with a stroll through The City Market. A very large farmers type market, but without the fruits and vegetables. Merchants lined their jewelry, crafts, food, trinkets, and sweetgrass baskets on tables. This went on for about 4 blocks. A lot of stuff. Kathleen was in heaven. We grabbed a pastry and juice at one of the vendors and then headed a few blocks east to Waterfront Park. A real treasure. This beautiful park, located right along the Cooper River was a great place to rest and enjoy the view out to Ft Sumter. Next we went on a Carriage ride through the city. The best way to learn your way around. The 2 mules pulled the cart at a great pace while the guide gave us even more info than we could take in. What a great way to see Charleston up close. We left our mule team and headed to lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. We looked everywhere for Tom Hanks but only saw him on the TV's and posters on the wall. But the meal was delicious. We headed back to the room, freshened up and went to the 1st floor terrace and had drinks on the patio and read. What a great time to relax in the beautiful weather we enjoyed. After some more relaxing in our room, we went to dinner at Hyman's Seafood. What a place. It must have been almost a whole block long and 2 stories. The food was awesome and the people were so nice. Nothing fancy about it, but you just felt good to be there. This was a great ending to day one.

Monday we got up and went and had breakfast at Toast. A home style, diner type of restaurant. The food was good and the service was fast. We then hiked south to White Point Gardens Park at The Battery. This is the far southern end of the city where the mansions are. The homes are beautiful and the view out in the harbor are spectacular. We then head back north and toured the Calhoun Mansion. A beautiful home that has been restored. The present owner is a art collector and has filled this home with all of his pieces. The home and gardens were a treat to see. We had lunch at Poogan's Porch, which was right next door to our hotel. In fact our room looked out over this restaurant. We enjoyed a low country meal of She Crab soup and Grilled Pimento Cheese Sandwich with Sweet Potato Fries. A real southern treat. To walk off some of our lunch we walked west to Colonial Lake Park. Not quite as pretty as The Waterfront Park, but the walk back to the hotel along Broad St was amazing. The homes and churches were incredible. Even the woodwork in the US Post Office was amazing. We cleaned up and then went to visit Ernie's Aunt Deannie who lives about 30 minutes outside the city. What an awesome lady and great visit. Another great day.

On Tues, it was another trip to Toast for breakfast and then off to Ft. Sumter. We drove just a few miles north to the dock where the boat would take us to the Fort. What a great tour. The boat ride was informative and the scenery beautiful. Once we got to the Fort, we got a brief history and then we had about an hour to explore. What a neat piece of history. The ride back included more information about the city and harbor. What a great way to spend the afternoon. We went back to the room and dressed up a little for dinner. We decided to splurge and go to a very nice restaurant called Magnolia's. What a place. The food was spectacular. After dinner, we walked down to Waterfront Park and watched the sunset while swinging on a huge porch swing by the river. What a wonderful evening.

Wednesday was our last full day. We decided to take a tour of Magnolia Garden Plantation. But first, our favorite breakfast place, Toast. Around 11 am we boarded the tour bus to go to the plantation. What a beautiful place. We got to tour the house, the gardens, and most of the estate. The plantation was a former rice plantation and the former rice fields were now natural havens for birds, ducks, and alligators. And we got to see plenty of alligators. Really neat. What a nice tour. Back in the city, it was time for dinner. We ate at Jesteen's Kitchen. A real hole in the wall that cooks some fantastic food. After dinner we took a stroll to Washington Park and then back to our hotel to eat our dessert we got to go.

Thursday was the day to leave. But our vacation was not over. It was north to Wilmington, NC to tour the Battleship USS North Carolina. The ship was huge, but the inside was cramped. I gained a ton of respect for the Navy folks. I am short, and I bumped my head half a dozen times. I don't know how they lived on it. The tour was fantastic. You got to go in every part of the ship. And the signs explained how everything worked. Very interesting. We had a late lunch and then continued north to home. It was a fantastic trip. A great adventure and a joy to spend with my wonderful wife.