Flashback Friday: Boone Or Bust

Here are the children in front of the App sign as you enter the campus.

I am standing in front of Doughton Hall, where I lived my first 2 years at ASU.

Just a sittin' in the palm of a hand.........

Drake poses with a mounted elk.

This is where we stayed for a few nights.

Boone, North Carolina, is one of my favorite destinatons. Sadly, since graduating from Appalachian State University, I can count on one hand the number of times I've returned. Boone is just a great town. It's not as quaint now as it was back in the day, but a wonderful place to visit, nonetheless. Some of my favorite places in Boone are the Mast General Store, Backyard Burgers, The Mountain House Restaurant, Howard's Knob, and Cornerstone Christian Bookstore. I also like to stop along the Blue Ridge Parkway and enjoy the views. And any trip to Boone must include traveling to nearby Blowing Rock for some ice cream at Kilwin's. These pictures are from late December of 2007. A generous couple from our church allowed us to use their mountain home for a few days, which was a great blessing. We browsed around the ASU campus and took a few pictures. It is my hope to return to Boone at least once this year. As the saying goes, "I'd just as soon be in Boone." Can't wait to get back up that hill!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

Corinna loves to have friends over to play. With Hayden and Drake in school, Corinna gets lonely by herself, as she is a very social child. Not too long ago, we had Laurel over for a "my middle name is Elizabeth" party. Corinna, Laurel, and I, all share the middle name Elizabeth. Sorry to any of my followers whose middle name is also Elizabeth. Let me know, and you can come to the next party. After taking a snapshot, I left the room with the camera at arm's length. Corinna tried her hand at photography, too. BTW, Corinna is at Laurel's house as I post this. I had a doctor's appointment in Greensboro this morning and Susan and Mark were kind enough to have Corinna over for a few hours. I'll be going to pick her up after lunch. Until then, I'll enjoy a little time to myself.

Children At Play

O.K., yet another mistake on my previous post, I forgot to give it a title. The title was supposed to be Men At Work. For the life of me, I could not figure out to add a title in the editing process. Now, on to the post that captures some children at play. Lauralyn's 4th birthday was celebrated on 1/17/09. We gathered at Central Carolina Gymnastics for a great afternoon of fun. Drake had a soccer game, so he couldn't attend. This is one of the few parties I've been to where you had to practically drag the children over for cake and ice cream. We had a blast. Hope you enjoy your 4th year of life, LL! We look forward to seeing you grow in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and man.

A few Saturday's ago, J.J. and Drake had a project to complete.....maintenance on our outside dog lot. In Mocha's elder years, it was seldom used. We would let Mocha roam the neighborhood if we had to be gone for a long time. But with a puppy, that is not an option. Yet, we can tell that Latte is jealous that many of the other neighborhood dogs are free to roam. If she could speak, I'm sure we'd hear, "That's not fair!" Maybe one day, girl. At any rate, updates to the outdoor kennel were necessary, and Drake and J.J. got it done. Here's a look at their project from start to finish. Later, a top covering will be added to protect Latte from rain and eventual heat. We have been leaving Latte out there several hours during the day. The other dogs often go visit her in her "cage"........whether that brings any comfort, I'm not so sure. (oops, I uploaded my pics backwards, so you're looking at the end result first, then progressively back to the beginning) Like I admitted from the get-go, this thing called blogging does not come naturally for someone who is technology-challenged.

Flashback Friday: Broken Arms

Our family has had our fair share of broken arms, thank you very much. While we were at the beach over Thanksgiving of 2006, Drake broke his left arm due to jumping on the bed. The bad thing was that I didn't think he was hurt that badly. He didn't go to the doctor until we got home from the beach. In late June of 2007, Corinna broke her left arm as a result of falling while on a trampoline. We were going to Hilton Head the day after she got her cast. Thankfully, the doctor applied a waterproof cast. In late May of 2008, Corinna broke her left arm again, by falling off a swingset ladder. We had just joined Lexington Swim Club and had been swimming once. The doctor we saw this time refused to put on a waterproof cast. However, he did introduce us to a waterproof contraption, which was used frequently in the weeks ahead. We're hoping that the third time is the charm when it comes to broken arms in the Cullens household!

Mocha & Latte Snow Pics

Here are some pictures of our lovely lady canines. I tried to attach some pics to my last post, but could not get the picture icon to work. I told you that I am learning (ever so slowly) as I go. I'm still trying to figure out how to publish multiple pictures with text underneath each one. Is anyone out there a blog tutor? Since we got a dusting of snow today, I am including a picture of Mocha with the children a few years ago, and one with Drake and Latte taken this morning. Too bad that there wasn't enough snow for sledding today. Maybe next time.

We Love Chocolate Labs!

The Chocolate Labrador Retriever is our favorite breed of dog. Guess that is why we've chosen to have one as our family pet. Latte entered our family on December 14th. We got her only two days after our loving dog, Mocha, had to be put to sleep. Mocha was a wonderful, loyal and smart dog. She had just turned ten a few weeks before she left us. Mocha liked to go bird hunting, swimming, and enjoyed riding in the van or in the back of the truck. She was trained to get our newspaper out of the box, and bring it right to my hand. However, she did get lazy in her later years. Yet, even in her last days, Moke was on the move when J.J. got a gun out of the closet. The day after Mocha died, J.J. and I saw an add in the local paper for lab puppies. The next day, after church, we brought our little Latte home. She's not so little anymore......over 25 pounds. Latte is growing fast. She's doing well in her training sessions with J.J. She brings joy to our family, except when we have to confiscate a toy, sock, dryer sheet, etc. I'm sure you'll see her as she grows into an adult dog. We hope to have at least ten years with the newest addition to our family, Latte.

Flashback Friday: Crim Court

Since this is the first year of my blogging adventure, there have been many events in our lives that weren't shared as we experienced them. Therefore, every Friday (for the time being), I will offer a flashback from the past. For my first Flashback Friday entry, I want to share an important moment in the lives of the Crim family (my maiden name). Last January, my father, Coach Kent Crim, was recognized at a special ceremony. The West Davidson basketball court was named in his honor. He was the boys' varsity coach at West for many years, leading the 1984 team to the State 2A championship game, where they were runners-up. In October of 2007, my dad was inducted into the Davidson County Sports Hall of Fame. My dad was an excellent coach, teacher, and guidance counselor, but an even better father. The Dragon boys won their inaugural game on Crim Court, in a last second shot from beyond the half court line. What a remarkable end to a memorable night! Reminisce with me.

Spotlight On The Children.....Corinna

Corinna is a drama queen most days. She has a great personality and is quite smart. She can successfully operate a computer and use the telephone herself. She knows J.J.'s mom's home phone and cell phone numbers by heart (he doesn't even know them), and calls her Ma Ma numerous times daily. She is anxiously awaiting the day when she can go to Kindergarten. Watch out Southwood, this coming August!

Spotlight On The Children.....Drake

Drake is our athlete. He is a wonderful soccer player, having played on the X-treme since he was four. He also likes going deer hunting and fishing with J.J. He is naturally a helper and enjoys completing jobs, especially if they are outside. Drake has lots of friends. He takes good care of our dog. He has a sweet tooth, and unfortunately a few cavities have had to be filled!

Spotlight On The Children.....Hayden

Hayden likes to sing. He can learn all the lines from a movie in a flash. He enjoys handling a remote, especially the pause button. He likes to read and is a very fabulous speller. Hayden eats at least one apple a day, and loves sweet potatoes, too. He likes sticking to a schedule.

How We Met

By God's providence, J.J. and I met in September of 1997 in the parking lot of Meadowview Presbyterian Church. He had just moved to North Carolina from Georgia to begin working at a family owned furniture manufacturing plant. He was looking for a P.C.A. church.......he found one and he found me! At the time, our church had a singles group and we hung out together. The first time we had a "date", he joined me as I took care of children for one of our church's small group Bible studies. I remember noting that evening how wonderful he was with children. That continues to this day, as J.J. is a wonderful father. On a side note, several of the girls that I babysat that night now babysit our children every Monday night, when our TLC group meets. J.J. and I got married on September 12, 1998. This past September, we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary.

A Glance At Gravediggers Part 2

Hayden was cast as a gravedigger's apprentice in Lexington Youth Theatre's production of A Christmas Carol. The play was presented at the Lexington Civic Center on November 13th-16th of 2008. Here's Hayden with fellow cast members backstage. He was also a caroler, so I've included a picture of him singing his heart out for your viewing pleasure.

A Glance At Gravediggers Part 1

Here is a clip of one of the most popular Monster Trucks, Gravedigger, in action on Saturday night.

We Be Jammin'

We attended the the Monster Jam on Saturday night (1/10) at the Greensboro Colisuem. We had some trouble getting there as I85 has been rerouted somewhat to feed into the new I4o loop. We got there late, paid our 1o bucks to park, and joined in with the other rednecks. We remembered to bring earplugs, but it was still LOUD. Dirt was flyin' and the trucks were jumpin', spinnin' and even flippin'. Here are some pics just in case you missed the annual event.

A New Year = A New Blog

Normally I don't make New Year's resolutions, but this year I did. I resolved to begin a blog. So, here I go. I have enjoyed reading the blogs of others over the past few years and thought there may be a few people who would like to keep up with the happenenings of our family. I am computer challenged, so this will be a work in progress. I plan to improve as the year goes on. My goal is to submit about two posts per week, on average. Join us when you can and read The Cullens Chronicle, a record of the history of J.J., Buffie, Hayden, Drake and Corinna, and our dog Latte.