A Night of Fun with The Moulds...

Jason and I had our friends, Mike and Sara Mould, over for dinner and LOTS of Rook on Sunday night, 6/22/08! We had a blast with them and beat them in 3 hands of Rook - sorry - had to throw that in there, guys!! Mike introduced us to his new toy - his Mac Laptop - and we LOVED it. Here are some fun pictures we took with the computer....

I look like Beetlejuice!

Look at that forehead!
We won't even go there, Jason...
I love this one!!
Wow - my future?
I think Mike has a goiter in this one...
Possible inbreeding...
I call this one...shark!
I think I'll mary him!
And...last but not least...BUBBY!! ZOW!!

Suz and Dakota travel to Tennessee!

Jason and I were very excited to welcome Suz and Dakota to Tennessee on 6/10/08!! We had a great visit with them which included trips to Boone, NC; Blowing Rock, NC; Big Stone Gap and Abingdon, VA; and the Tri-Cities area. We had lots of fun, staying up really late and attempting to beat Jason at Monopoly and Risk. Enjoy the pictures!!

This is Dakota with Goose :)

And Dakota with Brinkley...

On Sunday, we visited Jason's mom and Greg for a bruch...
Just the girls...
We miss you guys already...come back soon!!!

TREE!!

Well, I'm really late posting all of these pictures, but wanted to show you all what happened to Jason and I on June 9, 2008. It was a lovely evening when a little thunderstorm blew in. As we were eating, we realized that the storm was not really as little as it seemed and began getting TV messages warning of 65 mph winds. 65 mph...right. Next thing we know, we hear a huge crack and our prettiest, biggest, 40 foot cherry tree in our front yard is DOWN. It actually fell between our two cars, but mostly ON Jason's car. Couldn't it have fallen on my junky old car? NO! Had to be the new hybrid!!! Anyway...moving on...we were able to reach a man with Don's Tree Service in Johnson City who agreed to be there in 1 hour to remove the tree, as we were unable to move our cars. He arived sometime after midnight and no joke...cut the tree up and dragged the entire thing into our front yard. Jason asked him if he would haul it away and he said, "No one around here does that." Needless to say, after paying Don's Tree Service $500, we had to find another service to haul it away the next day. Since I'm writing this email 2 weeks later, the car is fixed. There were several cracks on the roof of the car as well as a dent in the hood and the passenger side view mirror was taken out. But thankfully we have really good auto insurance and the car was taken care of in 3 days! Did I mention that this happened the day before my Aunt Sue and cousin Dakota were flying into town to stay with us for a few days? It was a MESS! Anyway - enjoy the pictures!

You can't see Jason's car in this picture because it's UNDER the tree...

This is the side view mirror

This is our poor cherry tree while it was still standing :(
The view from the street...so sad...PS - do you like our new roof? :)
And finally...the dent in the hood...

Nashville for a Weekend

After a rough week at home, Jason and I decided to get out of town for the weekend. His mom and stepfather invited us to Nashville with them to stay at the Opryland Hotel and attend a Nascar race. We had a great time and took lots of pictures - not sure if you all have been to the hotel, but it's AMAZING. And I have to say that my first Nascar race was actually a lot of fun!

They are all pictures from the inside of the hotel. It is beautiful in there. TONS of gardens. The one with the head phones is obviously from the race :) Enjoy!

Nick's Graduation

Jason and I attended his brother, Nick's high school graduation on May 23, 2008. (I know I'm really late posting this...I've been busy :) Anyway - we are very proud of Nick as he was the salutatorian of his high school, Powell Valley High School, in Big Stone Gap, Virginia. Congratulations, Nick - we're so proud of you!

Our Weekend In Gatlinburg

Jason and I decided to trek down to The Burg for a weekend of fun...in celebration of his birthday, of course! We stayed in a really cool log cabin resort right outside of Gatlinburg. It was beautiful and I think we were the first people to ever stay in that room - it was so nice and new!! Enjoy the pictures!

Thursday night (Jason's actual birthday) we celebrated with his Mom, Greg, and his grandmother. We had dinner and birthday cake!

On Saturday Jason and I decided to go hiking all day...well, okay - I decided that it would be a great idea - and we had a blast. This is us at the trailhead of Laurel Falls in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park...this hike was about 3 miles, roundtrip, and very easy.

We later took a trip to Elkmont campground - this is us on the bridge over the creek.

After our hike, we drove into town for some lunch and stopped by the winery. Jason got some blackberry wine and I got some white muskadine wine for Suzie's visit next month!

Later, we drove toward Townsend and stopped along the way at Campbell's Overlook - this picture's for you, Dave and Jen!!

Next we hiked only half a mile up to Clingman's Dome. Only half a mile that almost kicked our butts! It was straight up and it's the highest point in Tennessee at 6,645 feet, so the air is a little bit thinner. Needless to say, I LOVED IT! Great hike! This is us at the top of the dome.

We hope you enjoyed! Until next time...

Jason's Birthday!

As most of you, who know Jason, know...he LOVES fish and aquariums. Well, I decided a few months ago that I would give him an aquarium of his very own for his birthday :) For those of you who have set up aquariums in the past, you know it is not an easy thing. So I decided I would take a day off of work and get all the supplies and set it up myself. Needless to say - that was TOUGH! Anyway - I got it all set up and when Jason came home from work Monday, May 5th - he got a HUGE surprise. I made him call me when he was in the driveway and then I made him wear a blindfold to walk into the house. I set the ambiance by playing Margaritaville, by Jimmy Buffet, in the background. It was awesome. And if you guys could have seen the look on his face! WOW! He was SHOCKED! He LOVED it! I was so happy - it's the best gift I've ever given anyone! Anyway - here are some pictures of it. I decided to go with fresh water for our first tank because of the expense and difficulty in keeping a salt water tank. We are going to keep it fresh for at least a year and then we might convert it to salt. It's a 50 gallon tank and it stands "upright" so it's tall. I went with this style because I knew it would fit better in the house and it also looks cooler - I think :) Anyway - when you see it - imagine little me carrying the tank, and stand up the stairs of the house to get in the front door - NOT pretty. But I did it. AND it was the first tank I've ever set up - and nothing broke and no one got shocked or dismembered - so YEA ME!!

Ok - check it out! Oh - and that's a ship wreck and a coral reef in the bottom - and some random plants. I got the ship wreck because Jason and I are Lost fanatics and that ship represents "The Black Rock" for those of you who follow the show. Also - the coral reef reminded me of a reef Jason and I snorkled over in Aruba on our honeymoon :)

And, of course, we had to get our "signature shot" with the tank in the background!