Oh Shenandoah!

Papa and I are back into "rambling mode" again and so we decided to take a little detour on our way to the Washington DC Temple for a special sealing.  I took off work on Friday (yipee!) and we left early in the morning so that we could visit the Route 11 Potato Chip Factory.  As all my family members know, I LOVE potato chips and they are a big downfall for me so it makes sense for me to to go to the factory doesn't it? it's like putting the fox in the hen house!  These chips are great and they use only Real Salt and the potatoes are usually picked the day before (right now they are coming from N.C.). They are a regional outfit and so they are a pretty small operation but they let you watch the whole process.  The day we were there they were making low salt chips and they were selling 3 bags for $6 because they didn't have dates on them and so , of course, we wanted to help out the local economy!  We resisted eating them until we were back in BV!  We got to try all of the varieties of the chips, even the super HOT ones called Mama Zuma's Revenge!  The Chesapeake crab were interesting but I really liked the low salt and the Dill pickle ones. Unfortunately we did not get a picture of us at the plant, but trust me, we were there!  As a matter of fact it was so much fun that the next weekend Emilie, Logan and the kids went back there with us.

Right near the chip factory is Shenandoah Caverns and an attraction called American Celebration and we went to visit both of them and had a great time!  The Cavern has an elevator to take you down so that was nice. Before we went down we ate in an original 1957 Cafe located in the gift shop.  They still use all of the old technology and had an original juke box.  The food was good but there were no .05 cherry coca colas!

Down in the cavern at Bridal Veil.  These structures were beautiful and the guide was very knowledgeable.  It was a small group so we were allowed to "linger" a bit at each site.  The colors reminded me of my first creation sphere and I felt humbled by the creation of the earth and all of the details that testify of divine design.

 They had formations called bacon and it was hard to get a good picture (they are above Dad's head), but trust me, they looked like bacon!

 

The tour lasted about 45 minutes and we then returned to the surface and visited the next attraction: 

Main Street of Yesteryear

 In the upstairs of the gift shop was a place called Main Street of yesteryear and it was full of old department store window animated figures.  These two bears were actually from a Rose Parade Float.

 Here's Cinderella from a bygone Day- Everyone dances.  These displays really brought back fond memories from my childhood and the windows in downtown Richmond at Christmas.

 They have their own brand of soda called Cavern Coolers so we needed to try those!

 At American Celebration they have LOTS of floats from past Rose Parades and Inaugurations.  Here we are on the King and Queen float from Mardi Gras.There were so many fun ones, we wished the kids were with us!

 Out front they had a huge Statue of Liberty..I remember when this was in the Macy's Parade!

Outside there were clowns and bugs and fun things to see.  The flag poles in the back were from the winter Olympics at Lake Placid in 1980.  They line the walkway on both sides that leads to the Cavern.

 We wandered back to 81 by route 11 and went through all of the small towns along the way picturing union and rebel soldiers along the way.  It was a beautiful day with sunshine and blue skies and NO humidity.  We rambled along the Shenandoah River passing through Woodstock, Strasburg and Toms Brook until we had to get back on the freeway to head to DC.

After checking into our hotel we headed over to Bethesda to an area we had briefly visited before.  It is full of outside cafe's, yummy smelling food and an important shop that John wanted to return to.  We ate at a little Italian  deli that had very unique subs and evidently a famous client or two.

We then went to the place we came to go to; Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar where it validated what Dad has always said, CHOCOLATE IS GOOD FOR YOU!

We had a wonderful time on our ramble and finished it off with a beautiful ceremony in the Temple for Emilie (Pearson) and John Hitchner.  We wish the temple were closer but we also have enjoyed many additional rambles because it is 3 hours away! We only wish we could share it with all of our friends and family!

A House Becomes a Home When there's love inside

I haven't blogged for along time but felt that I need to today. 17 years ago we purchased our beautiful property in Oregon and named it Old Hickory Farm. I had seen the property in a vision and we had looked at many places trying to find it.  When I stood on the land, I knew it was the right place and many miracles happened to make it ours. 

Yesterday we signed the papers to sell the house to a wonderful family that will love it and cherish it as the great gift it has been to us.  In 2008 I wrote about our home and I feel it is appropriate to "reprint" that today because the feelings are the same, maybe even deeper.   I have watched God weave this house through our lives and bless our family over and over, always knowing the end from the beginning. If he had listened to my pleadings on the time line we would have missed many blessings and the "right" people wouldn't have ended up in it.

These are my thoughts from 2008 that apply today.

"we have released our home to become someone else’s special place.  

The house that I expected to live in until I died and where I felt I might actually see the Savior come again.  The house that is just over the hill from where our precious son is buried. 

The house where Emilie and JJ grew up, dated, played on the roof and turned it into restaurants at Prom time. The house that God designed through personal revelation and where we found kittens in burn piles and dogs under the gas grill.

A place where we watched the stars fall and orange moons rise and where grandchildren learned to crawl and bake and swirl in a magic tub.  Where cousin sleepovers happened regularly and talks of God and Faith were common. Where chickens feared for their lives and other animals got over fed.

A house that was built to withstand earthquakes and windstorms, teenagers and toddlers and where there was enough food storage to sustain us all.

It was a home seen in a dream and built from the sadness of tragedy.  It was a fulfillment of prophecy and a gift from God.  It was a house full of energy and yet peace lived there.  It was a place where rainbows miraculously touched the ground as “signs from God” and many beloved pets were laid to rest.  

Snowstorms came and turned old roads into long sled rides and family and friends laughed and played together. 

Church events were held there..RS, Elders Quorum, High Priests, YM-YW and scouts.

It was home to married children and grandchildren where it tried to shelter them from the storms of life. 
It was a dream come true because it had a barn.

 It was a laboratory for wonderful plants and exotic animals. It blended east and west because plants were grown out of love. It produced yummy fruits and vegetables because someone cared so much. 

It was a home that kept secrets and comforted in times of pain.  The wind could always be felt on your face and somehow brush away the cares of the world.  The stars were always closer there and you could see satellites , space stations and meteor showers while sitting on the roof sipping hot chocolate.

 Wedding receptions were held in its’ comforting space filling the house with wonderful friends, music, and beautiful couples.

The inviting parlor was a sacred place filled with ancestors treasures and a special waterfall, and where many wonderful talks and beautiful blessings took place.

It was a home that briefly sheltered a celestial son and helped to soften his leaving us.

Now it is time to let go, polish the door knob and turn our faces east, leaving this wonderful place in the hands of God who so lovingly created it with many purposes in mind.  I will miss it but I will miss the feelings the most."

Over 30 years ago I was in a stake choir that sang in the Civic Auditorium in Portland Oregon and one of the songs we sang had this opening line," A House Becomes A Home When there's Love Inside".  I am so grateful that our house will once again have a loving family inside and it can continue to bless lives. It truly is what is inside that makes a house a home.  All of our memories there will always be in my heart.

Here are all the words to the song--some of you may remember it too.

A House Becomes a Home

A house becomes a home when there's love inside,
When you let your love be as a guide.
When there's joy and sweet understanding,
When you're handing out a compliment or two.
A house becomes a home when you do your part,
And when all your heart is wrapped in those around.
Life can be just like a symphony
When you see a house become a home.

A house becomes a home when its prayerful there,
When for everyone there is a care.
When each one is kind and forgiving,
When you're living for some happiness to share.
A house becomes a home when it's full of life,
When there is no strife among it's very own.
Life can be so sweet and heavenly
When you see a house become a home.

Oh What Do We Do In The Summertime!

Time sure flies by and before you know it you need to recap before you can stay current on posting! A few weeks ago I printed off my Nannasnotebook 2 for 2010 and it made me realize how important it is that I keep writing in my blog so that I have a record of all the wonderful things the Lord has done for me over the year.  After I get 2011 printed then I will be current so it would be nice to have some important things in that 2012 book! I have decided to briefly recap the summer.

Way back in May I attended a conference for VASFAA (Virginia Association of Financial Aid Advisors) in Norfolk and so I stayed with my sister Connie.  She is battling Pancreatic Cancer and it was so reassuring to see her positive attitude and spunk.  This is her Jane Fonda look as we went to celebrate her birthday with her sister in law. There was a book that she wanted signed by the author.  The woman wrote the book about her husbands struggle with pancreatic cancer.

We got together again for my second sister, Kathy's birthday just before Connie went to Baltimore for her surgery:

And here we are in August at our get-away beach trip to celebrate the fact that her surgery was successful!

It has been a strange health summer for all of us...but more of that later.''

Now, back to May. We have an Easter Egg Hunt each year at school so here are the pictures from this years event:

Jack is really good at this!

Papa, Jack, Logan and Anna

I am the Southern Virginia University Women's Society President this year so next spring this will be MY responsibility!  It's a great event that we put on for the children of the employees of SVU and we all know that means a lot of kids!

Anna had her first birthday!

She is such an adorable girly, girl and quite the climber!

Brittany and JJ had their first anniversary and moved into the apartment in Emilie and Logan's basement. (sorry no picture)
Tommy had his end of the year art show and we all went:

They sure grow up fast!  Emilie and Logan and their cute family:

The women's society adopted a room in Durham Hall and painted it.  It was a great bonding activity and the room looks great!

We have lots of events planned for this year starting with our welcome dinner in September.  I love this place, it is such a tight knit group of people all with the desire to help this great school.

In June our wonderful friends Sandi and Jerry Ramsey came to town for a visit.  They are taking this amazing trip all over the United States visiting Baseball Fields and Temples and we were blessed to get to go to the DC Temple with them.  The next day they came to see us in Buena Vista.  We took pictures on the porch of Main Hall:

And then we went on a buggy tour of Lexington:

And visited the overlook spot on the Blue Ridge Parkway.

  The old saying of" make new friends but keep the old for one is silver and the other is gold" is true.  I am thankful for facebook in that it makes it so much easier to keep in touch with, and feel connected to, old friends! I love it when you get together with people and it is like you have never been apart.  It is so heartwarming to see these two together and enjoying life so much!

 Also in June we got to go to see Mitt Romney in person in Roanoke.  It was a thrill for me to be that close to him.  I wish they would quit saying how un personable he is because he is not.  He is very warm to the crowd and loves to get down and shake hands with all that he can reach and he speaks with respect and dignity. I got a burn on my chest from standing in the sun for so long and now I proudly wear my Romney Tan!

Brittany held my I Pad over her head to get the shots.

He spoke at a place that makes the large equipment that is used in coal mining.

On the 4th of July John and I thought it was about time we did a good ramble so we headed over to Lynchburg to be tourists for the day.  Lynchburg is where the railroads and the river converged and so it was a very strategic place for the south during the Civil War ( war of northern aggression if you are from here!) We visited the cemetery where many of the dead were buried and saw the small Dr's office where clean hygiene practices were begun that saved many lives.

Description of the cemetery

The doctors office and  medicinal herb garden

Rows and rows of graves

The oldest part of the cemetery is behind John

A Dove House but none live there

A prayerful friend

this was also where they kept horses that needed to go to the front.  So many of them were dying that they asked the Dr who was saving so many soldiers to come and find out why the horses were dying...same thing needed, clean surroundings. More horses died than made it to the battlefield.

A swing in the cemetery.  

We also toured the downtown:

Plaza before the hill down to Main Street

John ready to fight!

Courthouse museum

We ate dinner at a restaurant that was in an old shoe factory that has been made into a fancy hotel

We then traveled to Bedford to the D Day Memorial to watch the fireworks.  Bedford lost more of their young sons in WWII per capita than any other town in the US (if any of you have seen the movie The Majestic it is like that town).

John made friends with the locals!

Interesting thing about the fireworks:  They set off at least 6 ground fires and so they did the finale early so the firetrucks   could came in to stop the fires! There was one truck there at the beginning but they needed more!

It was a fun fourth and next year we would like to take the kids to see them!

We took the boys overnight in August so that Emilie and Logan could go away to celebrate their anniversary.  Brittany and JJ watched Anna and then had the boys the second night.  They love coming to our little cottage and are still trying to get it all straight as to why it is our house now and not theirs.

I thought this was too cute not to include!

On Saturday we took them on a little ramble to Saunders and then up on the parkway:

They really got into the rhythm of things this time!

If you come visit we will take your picture here too!

We also attended the Rockbridge County Fair again this year.  We had high hopes that it was going to be improved because they promised more animals and better kids rides but it wasn't all that good.  We bought bracelets for the boys and went on one ride before the heavens opened up.  We went inside to a quilt show but soon ran out of things to see and ended up leaving.  Oh well, gotta love those summer rain storms!

The one ride we got to go on..he let Emilie and I ride for free

In the exhibit hall

Anna took a few steps!

the rain finally won

MEMORIES ARE MADE OF THIS? Sorry this is so long!

On fast Sunday August 5th we were in Sacrament meeting and I went up at the end to bear my testimony.  People tell me it was a good & spiritual one but I don't remember because after sitting down and singing the closing song and listening to the closing prayer I no longer knew what I was doing. I talked to people but did not remember that I was supposed to go and do sharing time or that I was even in the Primary Presidency.  I didn't know the Bishop was our Bishop and I thought we still lived in our last house.  After receiving a blessing John took me to the emergency room at the hospital and, after some tests I was diagnosed with Transient Global Amnesia .  It took about 3 hours before I began to come out of it.  I remember John saying to Emilie, JJ and Brittany "ask her anything but she won't remember it".  I opened my eyes and saw my children and began to come back.  It was a very frightening experience for me and my confidence in my memory is still weak. I still have no memory of those several hours and even though they say it is rare for it to happen again I am still nervous.  They say it happens more often than you would think and people have told me stories of others that they have known that it happened to.  Maybe the old brain was just too full and needed to dump some things out?  They say that it is usually caused by a bump on the head (didn't happen in church!) or stress so I guess with go with the stress.
Last weekend (the first of the month again!) I began to have some bumps that I thought were bug bites.  I had spent the whole month going to doctors for various tests and all had come up showing nothing wrong so I was confident that it was a random thing and that I was really in pretty good health.  The bumps really hurt and I thought that odd but it was labor day weekend and I didn't want to go to the emergency room.  On Tuesday I went to my doctor and she recognized right away that I had Shingles!  Guess what causes shingles?  Usually a stressful experience or low immune system.  My immune system had just been tested so quess what is left!  The really fun part is that I had just gotten back from a vacation with my sisters where I had truly relaxed ( I think).  I have now missed  4 days of work right at the busiest time of year and I need to de-stress!  Easier said than done.

The pain is similar to really strong contractions in labor but there is no reward of a baby at the end!  Clothing hurts and sleep is difficult but I am beginning to improve.  This morning I was staring at my picture of Emma Smith on my wall and thinking of all she endured both physically and emotionally and realized that my ailments are nothing compared to what some have to go through.  My sister has just finished 6 rounds of chemo and a very complex operation and still faces more treatment.  How can I complain when others burdens are much greater than mine?
I am grateful that the Lord has seen me through all of this and I know he will sustain me with whatever is next for me.
 I learned yesterday that when I am feeling well enough the Stake President wants to talk to me.........