Baby James (Part 3 Dec 15-21)

jimmy from kevin whitley on Vimeo.
Candace's Comment: After all those pit stops, Kristin, I bet you were happy to be finally in the hospital bed having James!
I love watching Silas talk!  Travis used to say "s" the same way.
Oh, we loved watching Part 2...little James' cross-eyed stare, his sweet yawn, and little sneezes.  :)
Meradeth putting the puzzle together...what a hoot!  She is Katie Junior if I ever saw one!
Part 3 ended w/two dirty diapers!  I love it!  :)

Baby James (Part 2 Dec 11-14)

James 1 from kevin whitley on Vimeo.

Baby James (Part 1 Dec 10)

baby James from kevin whitley on Vimeo.

Christmas Morning

Candace's Comment: You guys kept busy! You didn't need to go out to eat w/Mama's delicious cooking available. You had great weather also. Today is our first day w/no rain or snow since Kevin's vacation...a good day to get some work done on the farm. :)
Keep the pictures coming. I want to see a good picture of Mama ringing in 2013!

Jekyll Island Weekend

Daddy, Mama, Eric, and I had such a wonderful weekend at Jekyll Island.  We ate delicious stew and meatballs made by Mama; we played Pictionary and Rummikub; we went shopping in the Historic District; and we rode bikes all over the island and had a picnic by the ocean. It was all fantastic!!

Christmas Eve

Wish You Were Hair

 

Candace's Comment: Well, the pics are posted by Katie, but I sense Daddy's humor in the title.

Hahaha  :)  Very funny, guys!  You are having a great time together, I can tell. ;)

Allyson made Ms. Barbara the chain knot blue scarf, Kaleb made her the gold and green bell necklace around her neck, and Travis decorated a flower pot w/sucker flowers. We had alot of fun eating pizza, opening presents, playing games, and eating birthday day cake. Ms. Barbara will be 80 this Sunday on the 23rd!

James' Birthday

James from kevin whitley on Vimeo.

 
Comment: I made a mistake and deleted the last post; and so, your comments went w/them. Here they are again:
Katie - What a gorgeous tree...and it looks SO cozy in your living room with the hardwood floors and fireplace! My video didn't have any sound, is that right? Now that we've painted the living room and gotten rid of a ton of junk, we are actually going to be able to get a tree this year! I am so excited!
There is no sound to the video, Katie...it's a silent movie.  :)  I would LOVE to see pictures of newly re-done condo. (Candace)
Kristin - I remember Caleb went and cut a tree one year when we lived in Asheville and Mama hated it because it shed its needles so badly all over the living room floor. She made him put it right next to the front door so we could clean it everyday. Thats what is great about a tree like this....beside the fact that it is cheaper. Love the candy canes. Those are my favorite part of decorating. Now you guys need some presents! We will share a video when we put up our tree. Katie, make sure you take a video or pictures when you do yours. Mama and Daddy, you don't put on up do you?
The candy canes are fake...re-used every year.  Yes, the kids are eager for presents!  (Candace)
Mama - No, Kristin, no tree for us. I don't see any sense in it for two old folks and we are not going to be here for Christmas. Besides I am concerned about all of the trees cut down so everyone can have a live Christmas tree. I was very happy to see that Candace's is fake. With all of those live trees gone we will have more polluted air to breath w/an increase in global warming. I wouldn't want that on my conscience.
Well, that was an unusually droll comment, Mama (sounds as if you may have had Daddy's humorous help).  I think you two love birds are spending a little too much time locked away up in your tree house.  (Candace)

Thanksgiving Vaca

We had a full week of activities.  Monday, we had a family from church the Burkholder's over to our house.  Tuesday, Kevin took me out on a date to Ruth's Chris Steak House while Jean and Rich watched the children...and to their delight, took them to Chuck E. Cheeses!  Wednesday, we visited w/Ms Barbara before church.  Since she hasn't been able to come to church for a while, we thought it would be nice to sing some hymns together.  Thursday, we headed to Cumberland Gap and had great time exploring there.  Friday was an entire day at Dollywood!  Saturday, we went to a Holiday Inn, swam for hours, spent the night there, and then woke up to swim some more.  :)

Comment:
Yes, Dollywood is certainly a fun place.  We went to one of the shows...Dollywood's Christmas on Ice, preformed by skaters from Ice Theatre of New York City.  The kids were amazed.  The Christmas lights were outstanding!  That is one of my favorite things also, Meradeth.  :)
I never thought about you not knowing Kevin played the piano, hahaha.  We had a good time w/Barbara.  I'm thankful to live near her again.
The meal at Ruth's Chris was exceptional.  THE best!  I remember getting you a gift card there, Kristin;  it definitely didn't cover much of your meal, did it?  Hahaha!  Thank you for saying we looked nice.  You all are so sweet!  (Candace)

Yes, Grandaddy, I am tired. And you're right about driving back and forth, back and forth.  So I told Mama and Daddy, when are we gonna stop!?  We made four trips to Dollywood and Ms Barbara.  (Travis)

Fall

Afternoon

Early morning...the distant mountain looks fiery red

Back view

Our mountain

The peach colored leaves are my favorite.

Evening

Barrel of fun

Honey's winter coat.  Pretty folige in the background.

Recently got a plow for the tractor

Finished product

 

For some reason, which I am trying to figure out, the blog is not allowing me to write comments on posts.  So, I'm going to add my comment below:

The fall colors were in full spectrum this year which makes picture taking exciting.
Daddy, that barrel provided an entire day of entertainment for the kids.  Like Kevin and I say, it doesn't take alot of money to make a kid happy.

And yes, Katie, I would like to see creative pictures of palm trees.  :)  ---cmh

Cades Cove, TN

Iowa and Tennessee

While Kevin, Allyson, and Kaleb were in Iowa visiting Grandma and playing w/cousins, Travis and I held down the fort here at home.  We went to the zoo, Chuck E Cheese's, played w/puppies at Puppy Zone, visited w/Ms Barbara, a fun HEDGE meeting at church, and a full fantastic day at Dollywood.

Hello from Silas

Silas' pose for his West Coast and Northern relatives

Silas' pose for his Southern relatives

My three gifts on Sunday + one more...

 

Orchids from Kevin...I love their orange color.



One pound of chocolate from Cathy.
The best chocolate I've ever eaten!

Beef tamales - homemade by Jack Owens. They were DE-licious



Last night, Jean gave me this yummy, guilt-free snack.
A light dark chocolate taste around a healthy almond.

Field trip to KY

Yesterday, the Cumberland Gap visitor center had live demonstrations of the pioneer's way of life - their food and how they prepared and cooked it, games, doll making, blacksmithing, toys, music and storying-telling.

Juicing :)

Juicing from kevin whitley on Vimeo.

Cooking Class

Breakfast from kevin whitley on Vimeo.

First day of Kindergarten 8/20/2012

Kindergarten from kevin whitley on Vimeo.

What's for Dinner?

 

Katie's Dinner:
1/4 cup of red potato soup
4-greens salad, organic tomoatoes, organic peppers, avocado - oil/vinegar dressing
Water to drink

Eric's Dinner:
1 large BBQ chicken pizza
Melted garlic butter for dipping
Dr. Pepper to drink

Client Payment

This is what a client brought me as a thank you for being so helpful during his case. 
Seven packs of gum and six candy bars! HAHA!

Weekend Excursion

Why can't I go on vacation?



Checked in

Outside our villa

Laying on the beach

Walking on the beach

The "historic distric" with a few shops

Stopping for a snack and soda

Relaxing by the pool

As you can see the pool is very crowded ☺

Things on this video:
Travis putting together his over 700 piece Lego police station; his birthday gift from Aunt Katie & Uncle Eric, Uncle Caleb, Aunt Kristin & Uncle Kevin.
At Cracker Barrel opening birthday cards.
At Hoskins Drug Store having a milkshake.
Travis dressed in his Spiderman costume; his birthday gift from Grandma.  Travis shooting his Spiderman web-shooter; his birthday gift from Aunt Kim and Uncle Jim.
Travis playing w/the paddle ball games; his birthday gift from Grandaddy and Grandmother
Travis riding his new birthday bike from Daddy and Mama.

Our dear friend

Before church tonight, we visited w/Mrs. Barbara and brought her supper. She is feeling better but is not able to be up on her feet for very long. I can't wait until we are all in heaven...happy and healthy...and we can see Mr. Denton again!

Orange Park Police Department

Orange Park Police Deparment
(all officers, dispatchers, and admin)

Sergeants
John Jock, Ed Kaczkowski, Arvid Nelson, Randy Case

All officers below the Sergeants

Eric's squad

Ally playin' and Kaleb singin'

We feasted on plenty of delicious corn on the cob from our garden this season...we harvested over 250 ears.
I am using zucchini from our garden and making zucchini bread...the kids devour it as soon as it cools from the oven.
Kaleb has the best Sunday school class, taught by a husband and wife in our church.  The two Sunday School songs he sings are my favorite.
In the next video I post, Travis wants to whistle some songs for everyone, which he is very good at actually.

Silas saying his sounds

                                            Meradeth's new haircut and style from Grammie

A short-term addition to the farm

Allyson named our Hereford steer "A1"

Governor, if I had foreseen the use those people designed to make of their victory, there would have been no surrender at Appomattox Court House; no, sir, not by me. Had I foreseen these results of subjugation, I would have preferred to die at Appomattox with my brave men, my sword in this right hand.

(General Lee to Governor Stockdale in August 1870)

Oh...yeah... :)

Better late than never...

I think she has been ready for a while now, because it only took two or three times of pushing for her to get her balance. But Meradeth has been very apprehensive about taking her training wheels off. She is a pro at her scooter, but hasn't made the connection with her bike.

Please Welcome.........

James Boone Bentley Whitley. He is healthy and growing well.