It Was A Very Merry

The extended Waltrip Family has enjoyed a busy and fun-filled holiday. Family members from Santa Fe, Florida, New York and Williamsburg, as well as "special" friends from New Mexico (via Cleveland) gathered for Christmas Cocktails at the Adam Sharps, a bounteous Christmas Eve dinner at the Cullathers and a festive Christmas Day Brunch at the Sneads. The New Year is fast approaching and we are looking forward to a year of good health, prosperity and more family gatherings (and more family!). We miss those family members who are not with us this year...I'm sure Dad has been watching over the festivities and rejoicing with us in our blessings. We certainly miss those twinkling blue eyes.
For now, enjoy these photo memories of Christmas 2008 and stay as joyfully expectant for the future as you have been for this holiday. Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.

And back home in Roanoke

We are enjoying cold weather and snow flurries! I'm hoping for a Christmas movie in front of a roaring fire during this holiday. We have brought out the Christmas tree and hope Katie & Tracy will help decorate between football and turkey time. Gussie is enjoying all the activity - boxes and shiny stuff to explore!
Work is slow, but is enough to make me feel like I can't stay home alllll day! (just some of it).
Attention Cullathers & Martins: stay safe and drive carefully. I want my share of family at Christmas! Love and Happy Thanksgiving - the Sneads

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our week at Nags Head has finally arrived! We didn't get to the beach during the summer so this trip is long overdue. We got here Sunday afternoon. I can't believe it's already Tuesday. Jeannie, Danny, Vicki, Livi, Lynn, Kelly, Mary Fowler and Davis are here now. Adam arrives tonight and Brian comes tomorrow. We have a lovely view of the Atlantic and I fell asleep last night listening to the surf. We have made cookies and put together 2 jigsaw puzzles so far. That probably sounds boring but I love it. I hope you all have a friendly place to go for Thanksgiving and have at least a few things to be thankful for! I love you and am always grateful for all of you in our wonderful family. Have a safe and loving holiday! The address below will show you where we are staying. I don't know how to attach the actual link. ~V~

http://www.villagerealtyobx.com/OuterBanks/VacationRentals/NagsHead/Details/HeavenbytheSea/

It's November 4th! Do your civic duty & wish Livi Happy Birthday (and VOTE, of course)

Hospital Update

Due to some cardiac irregularities, Jeannie did not go home as anticipated on Saturday, but as of Sunday evening, she is back to normal and expects to be discharged today. Pacie will be her driver! Among the 3 daughters, we are going to keep close tabs on her this week to be sure she is okay. The knee surgery seems to have been without complications - hooray! and with Jeannie's disciplined approach to rehab, I know it will not be too long before she's back in action.
She has appreciated your phone calls and visits. Be sure to call when she gets home!

Mom's Already Up and Around

Mom's surgery went very well and she's already been up walking this (Friday) morning. She's in Roanoke Memorial Hospital, Room 909.

The phone number is (540) 266-5427.

OCTOBER IS MORE THAN HALLOWEEN!

Many happy returns to Danielle, Keith, Kevin, Katie and Pacie. Check out the music on the Oct. Birthdays sidebar!
This has been a busy month for me. I have been working on a big project at church and that event will be October 21st; a dinner with guest speaker for 100+ women! I am excited, but will be glad when it is done.

We got our mini-schnauzer puppy on last Saturday. Her name is Augusta (born in August!) and we call her "Gussie". Katie got a puppy from the same litter - she's Loretta (as in "Get back, Loretta!"). Needless to say, my time is no longer my own. I plan everything from my work schedule to my own bathroom breaks around the puppy. This weekend Katie & Tracy went to a football game in SC, so we are babysitting Lou - whew! is all I can say - thank goodness Ben is a really good puppy dad. Below are puppy pictures - including "Copper", Caleb & Eli's new puppy.
Enjoy.



As you may know, Jeannie goes into the hospital for knee replacement on Thursday. She will be in the hospital until Saturday and then come home with lots of instructions. The daughters are planning on spending some extra time in Rocky Mount, and she will have some in-home therapy, plus a friend who will stay overnight a few days. Nevertheless, she will have a long recovery and I know phone calls and cards (and visits!) would be appreciated. She has said she just wants to be allowed to "enjoy" her convalescence.

Looking forward to hearing your news and also your holiday plans.

A Great Visit!

I finally remembered to ask Livi to help me download a picture - and here it is! Keith made a trip to VA in September. He got together with lots of family and friends in Williamsburg, borrowed a most wonderful car (thanks, Kevin!) and drove to Roanoke. We got as many relatives together as we could, had Keith cook for us, ate and drank. As Keith said, he was a great catalyst for a get-together. We were all sorry when he left Saturday, 9-20-08. So Keith, what are you doing for Christmas?

Happy Birthday Kelly!

Hey Kelly,

I just wanted to post a little (late)

Happy Birthday

wish for you! I hope it was a great one,

and I want us all to celebrate soon!!

Love,

Katie and the whole "Clan"

Is It Already July!?

Wow, the time has gone by so quickly and I feel bad that I haven't submitted a post...but, there is good news.
Katie owns a house! After lots of trials, tribulations and almost comical incidents, the deed has been recorded.

Ask me about being "Clapsaddled" and what a deluded architect does by way of home maintenance!! Her new address is : 2123 Berkley Avenue, Roanoke, VA 24015. She should be moving in around the first of August. We'll try to have a family housewarming soon after. The best features for me are the front porch, back deck and sleeping porch - I imagine cups of coffee during spring showers, summer thunderstorms and winter snows!!
Many thanks to Vicki for stepping up and taking care of our cousin, Carolyn Burns (from Arkansas), when she visited July 4th!! It was not the best time for me (leaving for vacation, getting Em at the GSO airport and generally packing) to entertain; but how lucky for Carolyn! We had an absolutely wonderful turkey dinner at Vicki's and she got to see all our children (including Lynn & Brian from Richmond and Emily from Santa Fe), plus Jeannie and Pacie. It couldn't have been planned better. And, Carolyn so enjoyed Vicki's hospitality that she stayed well into the day on Friday - how lucky for Vicki!
Meanwhile, we had a terrific vacation at Ocean Isle, NC. The ocean was a bit rough (due to Hurricane Bertha out at sea), but was super for body surfing and rafting (careful of the "undertoad"). The Snead family is well, and if you are inclined to see our beach pictures, just travel over to the SNEADREAD (my other family blog). We all made it except for John (Ben's brother); even David & Stephanie (George's younger son & wife) drove up from Florida for the occasion.

On a bittersweet note, Dad's birthday was July 9th, while we were at the beach. I sat on the upper deck in the wee hours of the morning and watched a fishing boat blink in and out of sight on the horizon. Couldn't help but remember all the boating adventures with Dad. I think he was there with me-happy & sad, I was thankful for his life and his presence in mine. I know that some of the Waltrip women went out to dinner at Montano's that night to celebrate him, as well.

Work is about as usual. Thankfully busier than in the winter months, but as a result of the Real Estate market, not as good as it should be. It does mean that I get a little more "flex" time (time to blog, shop and read!) and that's a good thing, Martha!!

I hope we get another chance to gather soon! Thanksgiving is too far away - maybe while Emily is here we can do a big cookout at the lake??? (maybe her latest, also George, will be visiting? a mother can only hope.)

My love to all. D.

Sum-Sum-Summertime

Well, once again it's HOT and WET and I'm already ready for FALL. And you know what that means.....Vicki is thinking Thanksgiving!!! Danny & I, Kelly, Livi's family and possibly Jeannie are heading for Nags Head. If anyone else is interested, please tell me. Actually, you don't even have to tell me now. You can wait until Thanksgiving week, or day, and if nothing better comes up, come to the beach. We are renting a house with room for people to come even for a day or two or three (fer free) since there will be all those "hidden" beds: chairs, sofas, floors, bathtubs, heck, be creative! And there is always too much food. And plenty of towels.
I know I always rush summer and start the holiday-talk early, but I love you guys and just want to be with you and the only way I know to insure this is to pressure you to be with me! So, think about waking up at the beach, hearing the surf, smelling the salty air and hearing your loving family call out "Oh my God, who was in this bathroom??!!"
Love you! ~V~

Tea, anyone?

Just in case you needed a laugh . . .

Sometimes . . .

it just seems so hard to be with yourself. Like maybe you are way harder than any other person in your life to deal with, but you're stuck with yourself, so you better just get used to it.

Here are my musings from yesterday on this particular issue (from a letter to a friend in SF). Please be advised that the language is not school appropriate. I would apologize, but it's exam week, and I have to conserve my apologies for other things. (laughs)

~


I keep wondering why I seem to have such trouble establishing a wider group of peer friendships, other than my laziness about being a social butterfly, which I will admit is an issue. I am a lazy butterfly. I am that one butterfly that just sits in its cocoon waiting for something else to try to eat it. So it doesn't have to work too hard to get loose. The kind of butterfly that figures: well, if I don't get eaten, I won't have to shove my way through these walls, and if I DO get eaten, then it'll work out, too, because then I won't have to pretend I have any desire to exercise my freedom to fly. Or exercise anything. That's what kind of butterfly I am.

O God. Seriously, when they were assigning people souls, I think I got the one with the bum wheel -- like that cart you always seem to wind up with on a long shopping mission because you enter the grocery store believing you have superhuman strength of purpose and that you are gonna be in and out of that store like a greased comet even though you haven't been to the store for five weeks and only have a plate of crusted-over pasta in your fridge at home, and you truly do believe that one bum wheel on a lousy shopping cart isn't going to get in the way of your superior musculature. So you take the bum-wheeled cart anyway, and halfway through the store you're panting and your neck is spasming, and you've already jammed your second toe on your right foot into the wheel like a jackass twice because it stopped moving just as you thought you were getting up to a decent speed past the vegetables and the wheel is trailing those ratty gray strings that break off the mops they use to clean the floors, and human hair, and a plastic sticker from a banana peel, and the other shoppers are eyeing you like you're a NUT JOB, and you can't say anything to them, even though you want to holler, "Mind your own beeswax, BONEhead," because you are out of breath from pushing the gimp-cart down the shopping aisle and trying not to let the metal ram into the glass cases of ice cream, but it's happening anyway, and everyone is staring at you like you're doing it on purpose, and a guy who is clearly not in line for a management position rushes over looking all superior and asks if there is something he can, uh, help you find, and you say, "Yeah, a better fucking cart, buddy," even though you feel guilty when he runs away from you; and then you have it. The epiphany. As you shove the cart like a disabled snowmobile toward the impossible line of smirking customers at front register number 4, giving up on collecting anything -even toilet paper which you really do need- between aisles 5 and 12 because you're too freakin' tired to do it and you have Kleenex left that you can use for a couple of days if you have to, and your left arm is showing signs of some kind of deep vein thrombosis from the pressure. You realize: I did this to myself.

It comes to you -- no one FORCED you to take this lame, sorry-ass, crap-wheeled, mental-complex cart that wants to be driven around like Miss Daisy as your passenger or perhaps CARRIED along with all the groceries to the front of the store . . . you choose it. You choose that cart.

Just like this soul.

I hope everyone there in Virginia is enjoying the summer and that your souls have all four wheels fully functional right now.

Congratulations on the house, Bop.

love!
(laughter)

emily

Meet Us At The Lake!

The Sneads, Hopkins and Cullathers met to assign weeks at the lake. The results:

June 1-8 Sneads
June 8-15 Cullathers
June 15-22 Cullathers
June 22-29 Open
June 29-July 6 Hopkins
July 6-13 Hopkins
July 13-20 Hopkins
July 20-27 Sneads
July 27-August 3 Cullathers
August 3-10 Sneads
August 10-17 Sneads
August 17-24 Hopkins
August 24-31 Cullathers

Let us know if you can come play with us during the summer, even if we're not at the lake. Of course, we would need to know asap when you're coming so we haven't already filled up the house! September is still warm and the lake is not busy, so consider that time too. Love to see you!

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope all of you moms like rainy days (like me) and are having a great Mother's Day morning (also like me). So far I have had hugs and kisses from Mary Fowler & Danny. I got phone wishes from Livi, Lynn and Kelly, and Lynnie is on her way here for the day! I am one lucky mother! We'll be going to a beautiful brunch at Metro later today. Yesterday Jeannie, Debbie, Pacie, Katie, Kelly, Livi, Mary Fowler and I went to "High Tea" at a Petticoats & Petit Fours Tea House and had lots of fun - and tea! It was very girlie and lacy. Even the food was pretty. I think this would be a great Mother's Day tradition....
Well, everyone, I love you and look forward to hearing from or reading about you soon! ~V~

Waltrip Clan "Idol"

Thought everyone would enjoy seeing our very own Kelly performing at a local nightspot in Roanoke. Click here to catch her "act". Love you Kell!

hello from south florida,

I sent this photo to mom and thought you might all like to see it . It is my favorite picture of Dad,wow what a smile he has.I miss him as I know you all do,but this helps me get by.

love you all

keith

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRIAN!

Belated birthday wishes from the whole clan! Hope you had a wonderful day and that the next year is full of many happy events.

From Danielle...

“Have you got a minute?”
Gene Waltrip, my granddaddy, was an amazing husband, father, and above all person. I think that everyone will agree when I say he is so dear to us and will be greatly missed by all of his loved ones. I would now like to share with you all some stories that demonstrate how he lived and how he taught us to live.

Out of the many audacious stories Granddaddy has shared with me about his childhood over the years this one is without a doubt my favorite:

It begins when Granddaddy and his brother, Uncle Lewis were teenagers living in Williamsburg. One evening they both had dates. However, before they were allowed to go out they needed to take a cow to the neighbor’s to be breed. So to save time they decided to take the back seat out of their father’s brand new car and load the cow into the car! After the cow was in the car the boys went to ask their dad for his permission to borrow the car. Their dad kind of laughed it off and told them “That’s impossible.” They responded with “Dad, we’ve already done it!” Needless to say by the end of the night the car was no longer brand new.

Now aside from this story being completely comical it also shows Granddaddy’s ingenuity and persistence. Granddaddy has always been a hard worker and very early learned the value of a dollar.

A more recent story that is equally as comical is the story about Granddaddy’s hearing aid:

One Halloween when the family was gathered at Vicki’s my dad and Uncle Kevin were wondering why Granddaddy couldn’t hear them. Well finally dad came up to Kevin and said “You know why Dad can’t hear us? Because he has run his hearing aid through the wash but he’s gonna keep wearing it anyway because he paid good money for it.”

Well Granddad never did like to buy anything new. He’s mess around with things until they eventually worked again and if that didn’t work maybe he would have traded or swapped it for something else. (Usually ending up with the better end of the deal!)

A short but very touching story happened just this Easter when Kelley, Davis and Vicki had come to visit their grandparents:

On Good Friday Kelly, Vicki and Davis spent sometime with the grandparents. As they were leaving Granddaddy asked Davis to “give him five”. Davis slapped his hand and walked out with Kelley and Vikki. As they were leaving Davis blew Granddaddy kisses. He blew some back to Davis and said “I’ll give you five.” Referring to the five kisses.

Granddaddy always said when his children called him for help with their little ones “You’ve just gotta love’em.” Granddaddy always gave lots of love to everyone. And when that was all he had to give he always had plenty.
Speaking of love…. Granddaddy was a man of many pastimes. He loved solving puzzles, like the peg board puzzle and playing family games like Balderdash, “socc- -the- logger -butch.” At our gatherings by the lake he and “the boys” would play horseshoes. He loved to dance the night away to Bill Haley and Glen Miller. He constantly trained and played with his black and tan coonhounds. He loved to email his family and watch baseball on his beloved laptop. He also loved boats and the water. My fondest memory of Granddaddy was when he visited Florida and he, dad and I all went out on a boat. He was so pleased to be out at sea. He also loved to share his experience by teaching his children. He would give my dad driving lessons and no matter what the weather was, snow, sleet, drizzle, he would always say “Whatever you do, don’t hit the brakes.” He loved to call Grandma “Possum Ears”. But most of all I think he loved to love.

He taught many people how to live and love with his huge, pure heart.

This quote described Granddaddy well:
“I will not wish the riches, nor the glow of greatness, but that wherever thou go, some weary heart shall gladden at thy smile, or shadowed life know sunshine for awhile. And so thy path shall be a track of light, like angel’s footsteps passing through the night.”
Just to end on a personal note-
Whenever I looked into granddaddy’s clear blue eyes, I knew I was home.

In Memoriam

When I was a little girl, I thought my dad was the handsomest, smartest, nicest man in the world. As an adult, I still think so. My dad could fix anything - including dinner!- and if he couldn't physically get in there to fix it himself, he could sure tell YOU how to do it. He just understood how things worked. That was such a gift.
He was a silver-tongued salesman. Selling furniture, insurance and his ideas. He could cajole you into mowing his field (or buying a campground) (or cleaning his sailboat!) and have you believe it was more fun than anything else you could be doing.
He loved to play games and he wanted to win. The score-keeper better keep on her toes! Of course, we all knew Balderdash was his favorite. He could bluff and keep a straight face with the best of them (but we pretty much always knew which definition was his!).
A true sailor at heart (though he served in the Army), he always owned a boat of some sort - from "Gene's Dream" to the little sailboat that sits in the sideyard today. Some of my most memorable and fondest memories are of boating excursions. I especially remember the trip from Powhatan Creek down the inland water ways to Manteo, N.C. When we had to cross Hampton Roads (an international thoroughfare) and encountered waves that towered over our little 25-foot cabin cruiser, Dad instructed us to go below, put on our life jackets and sit tight. I can still see him as I looked up from the galley...calmly steering us through those dangerous waters and whistling as tho' he had no doubt that all would be fine.
I remember the creek, the little green house, Five Forks, Saluda, horses, the campground, brunswick stew & barbeques and dancing!
Lately, Dad enjoyed quieter activities - watching the deer graze in his backyard and the hummingbirds sip nectar from feeders at the kitchen window; and rooting for his baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles (who, by the way, have a winning streak as I write this!), watching the game on his laptop; and being with the family to celebrate someone's birthday or anniversary or holiday, or just supper at the Fisherman's Galley. I know he was so proud of his family.
But, I will most remember Dad for his infinite optimism. Call it faith, if you will, but I truly believe he didn't think anything bad could happen if you went at a thing with the right attitude. And, his attitude was one of love and trust. He expected good things. He expected to like you and you couldn't help liking him back. His motto "I love everybody and I hope it stays that way" was so Daddy. Arms open wide to pull you in close, you could find great comfort, love and hope in that hug! Always, always a smile...how we will miss that smile and the twinkle in those beautiful blue eyes.
I'll always treasure being able to speak with him at the hospital the day before he passed away - and well remember his last words to me: "Deb, I think that nurse wants ya'll to go home!"
We did, and so, I believe, has Dad.
Love you. Deb

HAPPY BIRTHDAY VICKI

Hi Vicki,

We just wanted to wish you a happy birthday. I hope everyone made it home safely. Take care.

Love,

Kevin, Jennie, Caleb and Eli

What a Sad, Sad Day

Oh Grandaddy, whatever will we do without you here on Earth with us?

As sad as we all are, I am hoping that getting together with the family will be a little silver lining.

While I know everyone is busy because there is so much to do, I would love to start the process of gathering some (old and new) pictures together because I would love to do a special memory album... something that we could look at and read through when we are missing him most.

See you soon!

Who Needs the Easter Bunny?

What a great Easter Dinner we had at the Snead house yesterday! Debbie & Ben & Katie, we all thank you so much for letting us meet at your beautiful home. Everyone contributed delicious food and drinks and I ate some of each item - yum,yum(burp), although it's a good thing I had all that nourishment because at 6:30 this morning, Danny & I were awakened by a weird cracking, screeching, horrible sound somewhere outside. Sounded like from above, but we couldn't really tell because it was loud and then gone. We looked outside and found that one of our huge, old oak trees had simply fallen over...over Rosalind Avenue! The tree had splintered at a point about 4-5 feet from the ground and the rest of it's 50 ft fell perfectly straight across our street. The branches (about 15ft of the 50) fell into the yards of our two very kind, elderly neighbors. Not sure what to do, we called 911 and the police came quickly and...put up a sign in front of the tree stating "STREET CLOSED." That helped not at all since the cars were 2 feet away from the tree when they were able to read it...here's your sign...
Oh well, after many phone calls to the city, a crew did come out and clear the street, but we are left with lots of huge branches in our yard & our 2 neighbors' yards, and thousands of little branches everywhere! Also, somewhere under a branch across the street, are a mangled wrought iron railing and some crushed shrubs. If anyone has any ideas how to deal with this, please let us know. It's mostly upsetting because, except for us, all our neighbors have nicely landscaped lawns. I suppose we just need to ask them what they want us to replace. $$$$$$$$$hi_!!!!!
I guess now we will be forced to deal with the giant trees that are left and maybe we'll even do some landscaping ourselves! Yeah, that $ound$ nice! In the meantime, Danny & I will be outside with our chainsaw & rake, hoping the neighbors think we're the Asplunde men so they won't ask any questions like "why didn't you have that big ole dead tree cut down before it fell?"

What Time Is It?

I hope all of you are adjusting to Daylight Saving Time. Except for staying up till 2am and then sleeping till 10 am, I'm doing fine...Hopefully I'll be used to it soon because Saturday I'm heading to Richmond to help Lynn & Brian move into their new house. I am anxious to see them and see the house again.
Kelly is having her wisdom teeth (luckily, she only has 2) removed Thursday, so I'll be spending some quality time with her Thurs & Fri - right, because she won't be able to get away from!
I'll be home from Richmond Tuesday, just enough time to wash and pack for a nice relaxing week at Atlantic Beach with Danny.
Soooo, that's my fun 2 week plan, then I'm back home to reality, working on my taxes and trying to make my house look like I have spent at least a little time cleaning it-don't count on it, there's always something much better to do: play with Davis and Mary Fowler or have coffee with the girls. Those are my favorites.
Well, keep track of the new time and remember we love you! ~V~

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LYNNIE!

Happy, Belated Birthday! Wish we could share some cake & kisses with you!

Love,

Your "Extended" Family

It was a very good time!

We celebrated Dad & Jeanie's 42nd Anniversary in style at the Red Clay Restaurant in downtown Rocky Mount. What a lovely restaurant! and we had great service. I thoroughly enjoyed coconut curry chicken with cranberry chutney (doesn't it sound wonderful) and could tell the rest of the family enjoyed their choices as well. Dad looked good and got around pretty well. There were balloons, a bride/groom centerpiece and a rather primitively decorated anniversary cake! Sorry everyone couldn't be there - we'll try another family evening in March.
Ben & I have booked our trip to Santa Fe. We leave on April 1 out of Greensboro and return on April 7th. It should be lovely there and we are so looking forward to seeing Emily. Any special requests??
Appreciated hearing from Jennie that she and the "3" boys are doing well. Would love to have you post a picture of Caleb in his alligator slippers!
Looking forward to a possible wintry weather event tonight/tomorrow. One good snow is all I want, then I'm ready for Spring! Love. D.

Tuesday Celebration Reminder

Hello Family! Just wanted to remind everyone that Tuesday, Feb. 19th is the big Four-Two anniversary for Gene & Jean! Please try to meet us at Red Clay restaurant in Rocky Mount at 6pm for the big event. Please comment to this post so we can make reservations. Kevin, will you be in town? Hope to see lots of you there!
Love, ~V~

Happy Valentine's Day

Let me be the first to wish all the clan HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

It's hard to believe it's already mid-February, 2008! Why, we're already 1/6th of the way through the year.
We had a good time Superbowl Sunday. Got to meet the fellow Katie has been dating - Tracy. He's a really nice guy. We were all disappointed in the result...how could the Patriots lose!? Oh, well, as I kept insisting all season, it's only a game!
Nevertheless, I was very sorry to have missed the family get-together on Sunday. Thanks for organizing the Christmas gift exchange (Mary Fowler was instrumental I hear - lol).
We feel lucky not to have been affected by the severe winds of yesterday. Friends and co-workers have experienced damage to houses, and power outages. No one affected by the brush/electrical fires, but one of the gals at the office could see the fire at Hollins "too close for comfort" from her back deck. Hope none of you had any damage or problems.
Finally, here's a little toast to share with your Valentine:
May we never forget what is worth remembering or remember what is best forgotten.

Out of the Mouth of Babes...........

My Daddy has lint in his belly button!

Christmas 2008

Since Pacie and Mike have already begun their Christmas shopping (I'm jealous of your organization!) here is the family name-drawing list!

Happy shopping!

GENE GIVES TO BRIAN
JEAN GIVES TO EMILY
BEN GIVES TO JENNIE
DEBBIE GIVES TO DANNY
EMILY GIVES TO LYNN
KATIE GIVES TO KEITH
VICKI GIVES TO JEAN
DANNY GIVES TO ADAM
LIVI GIVES TO DEBBIE
ADAM GIVES TO BEN
LYNN GIVES TO MIKE
BRIAN GIVES TO KEVIN
KELLY GIVES TO DANIELLE
KEITH GIVES TO GENE
DANIELLE GIVES TO KELLY
PACIE GIVES TO VICKI
MIKE GIVES TO KATIE
KEVIN GIVES TO LIVI
JENNIE GIVES TO PACIE

February's Special Dates

2-14-08 Valentine's Day
2-15-08 Mary Fowler's 5th Birthday
2-16-08 Dan & Vicki's 34th Anniversary
2-19-08 Gene & Jean's 42nd Anniversary
2-??-08 I'm sure I forgot something

Busy month! Let's simplify and join Gene & Jeannie on 2-19-08 at Red Clay to celebrate all these fun dates. We'll let them pick the time and as soon as we know it we'll post it. Please make an effort to come. Love you all! ~V~

You Ought To Be In Pictures

OLDIES, GOODIES & FUNNIES!
I just went through all my albums and created this slideshow. Some are as old as 2004! Hope you enjoy. I will replace the permanent slideshow with this one after we have enjoyed the larger pictures. Hope they bring happy memories and make you look forward to lake time, Christmas and family gatherings. D.

I really need to get back to uploading and organizing my pictures on kodakgallery.com but, until then, isn't this a pretty picture!

Overheard:

Mary Fowler: "I love Kiki SOOOO much! She just can't tell me 'no'"

January is not Boring...

If you're bored this week, you should plan a little visit to Adam's Wellington house. Livi is hosting an Orient Expressed (children's clothing) party there. You do NOT have to buy anything - but this house is so absolutely gorgeous you just need to see it before it gets sold. It's really the biggest house I've ever been in. Livi & I will be there to chat with you, although we hope to be writing up lots of orders from the little mommys she's invited. Also there might be wine :-) See? This week isn't so boring after all! The house is open 7pm-9pm Thursday (1/24), Friday 9:30am-12:30pm, and Saturday 10am-1pm . The Wellington subdivision is right off of Yellow Mountain Road. Adam's house is at the end of the street you turn onto when entering the subdivision. Good thing I'm only "helping" Livi with this since I can't be bothered with details. Hope you get a chance to see the house - and us! ~V~

P.S.

(The discussion with Mom wasn't because Aunt Vicki is a cereal slurper! It was because at Aunt Vicki's house we got to sleep in and avoid school sometimes, as opposed to Debbie's house, where order reigned supreme!)

Thank You!

You guys are so sweet. I have loved ALL of the wonderful Christmas and birthday cards I've received at my apartment, and I wanted to say "thank you" for thinking of me! Livi wrote a touching memory of my cereal slurping (ha ha) on her most recent card. This memory prompted a discussion with Mom (Debbie) as to whether or not Livi and I were actually switched at birth. (laughs). I also have on my refrigerator all the fun Christmas and wedding photos from the Cullather side of the family. Kelli's dog is adorable, especially compared to Kiere, who is having to wear one of those lampshade collars so that she will stop licking the fur off her front paws.

I miss you guys! Aunt Vicki & Uncle Danny, thank you so much for the birthday gift, and I can't wait to see everyone soon!

Emily

The "Crud"

That's really what it's called! and I have had it for about the past week. Unfortunately, it was at it's height on Sunday and Monday and I missed the family BBQ outing...doggone it! I heard that ya'll had a good time. I hope someone will organize a February (Valentine's Day?) get-together and I'll be able to come.
This little bug was mostly a chest cough episode for me, and my ribs are so sore, I feel really "beat up". But, I am so much better now.
I don't have any real news to report. Ben and I are going to the Carrie Underwood/Keith Urban concert in February! I hope the seats are decent ('cause the tickets were darn expensive!). Will let you know.
Thanks to everyone for birthday wishes for Emily & Ben. We celebrated while Emily was still here for the holidays.
By the way, I need Brian Jalbert's birthdate...Lynnie?

Wanted: Seersucker Tablecloths

Vicki and Lynn,

One of my blog readers (a cute bride) has searched and searched for seersucker tablecloths and can't find them anywhere! Imagine that!!?? Would this be okay? If so, where are they?

Love you!!

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday!!!

Could we meet at VA BBQ at 2pm on SUNDAY in Rocky Mount?

Let's Get Together, Yeah- Yeah- Yeah!

It's January birthday time!

We want to get together Saturday around 2pm in Rocky Mount. Should we meet out at a restaurant or just meet at Pacie and Mike's house? Hee hee!

Somebody take the bull by the horns and tell us what the plan is.

Love you!

2008!!

Hard to believe we are already 10 days into this new year - I'm still having trouble writing 2008 on my papers! But, I think this is going to be a wonderful year for our family, so bring it on!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADAM, EMILY AND BEN! I will be thinking about each of you on your special day.
Christmas was just the best! I enjoyed all of our get-togethers from the Christmas Eve Soup/Salad lunch, to the Brunch and movie after, to the game "afternoon" at Rocky Mount. It was wonderful to have so many of the family in one place - Kevin & family were lovely houseguests, and getting to travel to Livi's beautifully decorated home and Dad & Jean's for different events was fun-sort of a "progressive" Christmas holiday!
I'm trying to work on a new slide show for the blog, but have so much end of year work right now that it is taking me longer than I had expected.
We are planning a trip to Santa Fe in April to visit Emily, and are thoroughly enjoying having Katie with us while she settles into her new job. We actually do get along pretty well...Katie is very considerate of her old parents! (She goes out a lot, too)
Hope you all are having a smooth transition into 2008. So glad we're family. D.

Happy New Year!

Danny & I just had our New Year's kiss (don't gag...) and want to wish a Happy 2008 to all of you. Christmas was the best ever, according to every one of you that gave me an opinion. Was it because we had the holiday planned down to the minute and didn't miss an opportunity to get together, or were we all more relaxed, or because we got to see more of Emily & Katie :) or were we all already happier this year? Whatever the reason, I had a great holiday and want to thank you all for your part in making it wonderful for me! I hope this year brings you at least some of your wishes. Stay healthy, take care of each other and remember we love you very much. ~V~