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.

JW Says Goodbye to ODU

With diploma in hand, JW waved goodbye to the ODU campus. On May 8, JW graduated with honors with a BS in Business Administration - Management. It was a great honor that he gave Kathleen and me 2 of the very cherished tickets to the ceremony. We are so proud of him. He has become a wonderful man and God truly has blessed him. He now moves on to his next adventure, the ministry. JW has the whole world ahead of him, and we can't wait to see his next triumphs.

Abby Comes Home

January brought us a new family member. Abby is a very cute, little shepherd mix that needed a home. She came and visited for week and now she calls the Newton Ranch home. After losing our Ranger Boy in Dec 2008, we are so excited to have a new fur ball to snuggle with. She is 8 years old, but still acts like a puppy when she gets a treat or we get the leash for a walk. Abby is so sweet and is truly making herself right at home.

Christmas 2009

Christmas was awesome. We had a great time with family and friends. What a great way to celebrate God's greatest gift, his Son.
Christmas celebration started by spending Christmas Eve with Kathleen's family. The celebration continued on Christmas day with Kathleen's Mom's throwing another tremendous party. We had breakfast, snacks, and at 2:00 pm we had a true feast. Prime Rib and all the fixins. We only paused long enough to open the avalanche of presents that had descended on the living room. What a great day.

Christmas continued on Sunday when the Newtons came to my house to party. It wasn't quite Kathleen's Mom's spread, but we did chow down on some good food. It was great to visit and share gifts.

We stretched Christmas a little longer when we met with the Manns, Kaufholds, and Rands at the Mann's house on New Year's eve. Another great time of celebration and fellowship. Christmas came and went too fast again, but it was a great time with wonderful people.

Thanksgiving 2009

It truly is a time to give thanks. It has been a tremendous year for Kathleen and I. We celebrated by spending a few days at my sister's house. It was a great weekend. Food, fun, and more food.

Thanksgiving day had our newest tradition of fried turkey. And we are happy to report that no injuries or calls to 911 were needed. Friday was a day of recuperation or shopping, your choice. And the weekend was basically eat leftovers and nap. Sunday was a great day the was highlighted by my sister sharing her testimony at church. God certainly is good and is blessing the Pollock family in a mighty way.

Our New Marine

My nephew, Ricky Pollock, graduated from Marine Bootcamp on October 16 2009. It was great to finally see him. After weeks of no communication other than a few letters, it was great to finally see and speak to him. The ceremony was a little short, due to moving inside because of the rain, but it was a nice way to wrap up his training. Parris Island is located in beautiful Bueford, SC and we stayed in a beautiful rental home on the intercoastal waterway.

We are so proud of all he has accomplished and know he will do great things. Congratulations, PFC Pollock.

Dennehotso Arizona Mission Trip 9/26-10/4

I was so blessed to be able to take part in a short term (1 week) mission trip with a group from our church. We were going to the Navajo Reservation in upstate Arizona to do some repair work on the Sunday School classrooms at the local church. We would be putting down snap together hardwood floors, painting, and a little ceramic tile work.

The group met at 5 am Sat morning and flew out of Richmond on the way to Dallas and then on to Phoenix, Az. It was then a 6 hour drive north to Dennehotso. We met the local Missionaries, RW and Reba Sanders, at the Sam's Club in Flagstaff and purchased our groceries for the week. By the time we arrived at the church, unpacked our gear and groceries, settled in and got in bed, we had been up 24 hours. It was a long day. But we were glad to be there and we were glad the next day was Sunday and we could recuperate a little before we started work on Monday.

Sunday started with a great church service followed by a sight seeing tour of the Navajo National Monument. The Monument had beautiful views and ruins of the ancient Anahatu people. We spent most of the day meeting our new local friends and getting to know each other. We learned that the drought over the last few years had really hurt the local people. Since most of the people were farmers or raised livestock, the drought had driven a lot of folks to search for work outside the Reservation. The folks that still lived there had to deal with very high alcohol and drug abuse rates. There as a lot of work for the church to do and it was the goal of the church to become the center of the community.

Mon, Tues, and Wed were pretty similar. After breakfast we worked on the flooring, painting, etc. most of the day. Roy Armstrong did a great job leading the trip. He told us what needed to be done, let us take ownership of a few tasks, and let us work. On Tues and Wed the sand was blowing pretty hard.

One of the things that kept me going on the trip was the note that Kath had written me for each and every day. As great as it was to talk to her everyday, there was something special about a handwritten note that touched my heart.

Thursday we worked until lunch and then a took a trip to Monument Valley. It was amazing.

Friday we finished our work just after lunch and got ready for the celebration. The locals we making dinner for us to celebrate what God has accomplished while we were here. They served us Navajo Tacos (very, very good) and then we sang and Pastor Gill played the wooden flute for us.

Saturday was our day to leave. A sad time to leave new friends, but an exciting time because we were going to the Grand Canyon. It was incredible. After the Grand Canyon, our next stop was Sedona and then on to Phoenix for our flight the next day.

Sunday was basically the previous Saturday flight travel, in reverse and home to see Kathleen. The trip was so much more than I could have dreamed of. Seeing the incredible landcape and meeting the incredilbe people who live there. Spending time and working with people who love and trust in God. I learned so much. It is incredible what God can accomplish when people are willing to get out of their comfort zone and put in a little elbow grease.

Labor Day at the Lake

We had a lot of fun at the Lake over the Holiday Weekend. We pretty much ran wide open the whole time. Dad and I caught a few fish. Ernie brought a new tube, so now I think that brings the total up to 6. And of course we pulled them all behind the boat at one time. Since Ricky P could not be there with us (he was at Boot Camp), we had to do the extreme tubing. The gang made pyramids, towers, and jumped from tube to tube. We had great weather and had a great weekend. A fantastic end to a terrific summer. It was sad to leave.