Thanksgiving With The Smiths

The "Chandler family" and the "Fall family" gathered tonight at my mom's house for our family Thanksgiving dinner. We ate way too much and visited and looked at old pictures and played with Olivia and had a good time together. Those in attendance were Mom and Lee (our hosts), Suzanne and Mike and Jasmine and Braeden, Natalie and Darrell and Olivia, Franklin and Tracy, Janette and her Aunt Louise, Mam-ma Polly, me and Greg and his mother... and of course, Spot!

Mike and Braeden left before I got their picture (I almost forgot to take any!) Olivia is in a stage where she doesn't want her picture taken, so she makes "faces" for the camera!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

I hope you have had a good day with family and/or friends. We stayed home, built a fire, enjoyed the valley view and all of the birds scurrying around the feeders for something to fill their bellies this cold holiday. Greg's mother came for lunch, and then we took a short walk toward Mossy Bluff Trail. Of course, we stopped at the overlook for pictures!













We came back home for pie, then drove down to the fish hatchery on the other side of the river to see if we could spot our house. We would have been able to, but the sun was just setting beside it, creating a bright "blind spot!" So we will have to go back some morning or cloudy day. Being down below does give one a perspective of how high the bluff really is, and a new respect for the "cliff" on which we live!

We will go to my mom's house Sunday night for a Thanksgiving dinner with the "Chandler" side of the house.






















The moon is bright and we are expecting a very cold night here! I hope you and yours are safe and warm and full of turkey and pie!

Happy Birthday, Mam-ma Polly!

Monday, November 5th, my Mam-ma Polly will be 95 years young. We celebrated today with cake and coffee and a memory box I made for her. I asked family and friends to send their memories of Polly, and I put them all in a box for her. It was FULL!!! She has days and days of memories to relive, and I'm sure she will enjoy the box all winter. However, this week she is off to Branson for a couple of days with my her friend Ruby and my mom, so the memories will have to wait!

November 1, 2007

Happy November! I know it's been awhile since I've posted... we have been busy getting settled and getting the finishing touches done... and we're still not finished, but it's getting there. We cut trees under the bluff a little over a week ago, and that cleared the view quite a bit for us. With the beautiful fall color and a cloudy day this morning, the valley to the south and the dam/lake to the north were really pretty.

Catching Up!

I know, I know... it's been awhile since the last update! We've been busy, to say the least. We're still working on the house and unpacking, and our #1 goal lately was getting all of the boxes open and sorted and all of the "junk" out for a yard sale. We had the big sale last weekend at Greg's mother's house, and we took the last of the leftovers to the thrift shop today... YEA!!! We sold quite a bit, so there wasn't all that much left for charity. But hopefully we will keep things a little more "junk-free" from now on... yeah, right!

















One day last week, I looked up and white ribbons of water were spilling over the side of the dam. We think they were doing routine maintenance, as the next day Greg saw men going over the side in a "cherry-picker" truck bucket. But it was exciting to see that water spilling from the gates of the dam! Each gate was opened and then closed... at one point 2 were open at once, and that was a LOT of water!!!













Saturday was my cousin Olivia's 4th birthday. I made her Halloween overalls and shoes. I talked to her tonight and she likes them. I can't wait to see her in them! She also got a "jumpoline" - aka trampoline. She loves that, too. But her big news today was that they got a new swing set at school, and she said, "I just swinged and swinged!" Makes you wish you were four, doesn't it?!













We got a leather sectional for our living room, and Mabel absolutely LOVES it! She claimed it almost immediately, and you will find her there or on the new ottoman much of each day!













Saturday, we got a yard! You can see the "before and after" shots here... and it HAS made a huge difference in the look of the house. We should have everything done inside soon, and I will take more interior shots. We will be getting the trees cleared in the back yard this week (hopefully) and I will take shots of "the view" to share, too!