Monday, October29

Captain Jack Sparrow

Captain Jack and the Skullarina (not sure what that is exactly)

Hurricane Sandy, also dubbed Frankenstorm, has made landfall has the distinction of causing the lowest barometric pressure ever.  The "mother of all storms" is expected to far exceed the "Perfect Storm" of 1991 in damage costs.  We have been keeping in touch with Trish and Chad to see how they are faring and so far all is good and they still have power.  This morning when I called Trish said schools were all cancelled and no one was to be driving on the highways.  This evening we facetimed with them and the kids were having a great time and Lily showed us her ballerina dance, which was comprised of her spinning in a circle until she fell down and Luke told us about his Halloween costume.  Sara, Evelyn and I went over to the Madison House this evening for Trick or Treat with Grandma Great.  All of the residents seemed to enjoy the nearly 250 children that came to their doors for candy treats.  Grandma Great especially enjoyed her special visitors, Asher, Lillie, Olive and Evelyn.

Lillie, Grandma Great, Asher and Olive

Our little Ewok

Pretty cute costume but it was way to hot to wear it very long at the Madison House

Saturday, October 20

Sitting her watching a pretty dismal display of Buckeye football.  The kids headed back down to Cincinnati.  Matt's niece, Olivia, had a soccer game today and they were going to  watch her play.  Right now I'm thinking that might be more enjoyable than watching Ohio State.  We have been keeping busy over the last few days, going to the zoo, making s'mores outside and yesterday we all went to Smokey Bones for lunch after a visit with Grandma-Great at the Madison House.  Sara and Matt have a lot to do so we are wishing them the best as they get settled in to civilian life.

A red-breasted nuthatch has been frequenting my feeder, a migrant from Canada

And I'm really excited to see this White-crowned Sparrow, I have only seen one other and that was in  California.

Four Generations and Grandma-great's first visit from Evelyn.

Shorty and Molly walking through the woods.

Evelyn just being cute!!

Thursday, October 18 Evelyn visits the Columbus Zoo

Who says polar bears can't climb trees??

Sara, Matt and Evelyn returned home on Tuesday.  They were delayed about an hour getting out of Honolulu because their plane from Guam came in late.  Then when they got to Chicago they learned that their connecting flight to Cincinnati had been cancelled but they eventually arrived in Cincy around 1:30 pm.  Yesterday, I went down and picked them up so are staying with us for a few days before they head back down to Cincy to start looking for a place to stay.  Today we decided to head up to the zoo since, weather wise, it looked like today might be the best for the rest of the week.  It was a little cool early, but it soon warmed up and turned out to be a very pretty day.  We visited the Sting Ray exhibit where Matt and I fed the rays.  We managed to cover the east half of the zoo and decided to do the other side next time we go. It is nice to be able to say "next time" and know that we won't have to wait 6-12 months for that to happen.

Evie's first visit to the #1 zoo in the country!

Having s'mores at home after the zoo.

Grandma, I think you forgot the chocolate and marshmallow on this s'more?!

Monday, October15 Random pics from my iPhone

Today I got caught up around the house.  We have 2 house guests, Shorty and Savannah, that arrived on Thursday from Hawaii.  Thanks to Sharon for going with Andy to pick them up at the airport.  Andy had to pet sit over the week end since I was in Georgia for the wedding but he said they were really good. Sara and Matt will be arriving in Cincinnati tomorrow morning and I will be going down first thing on Wednesday to see Evelyn and everyone else.  It is going to be really nice having them back within driving distance but I have to admit that I will miss going to Hawaii for visits. I just downloaded the photos from my phone so I am going to share a few random pics from the last week.

Evelyn, can't wait to get my arms wrapped around her

The new pronghorn fawns that I have been watching.  They are in with the herd now.  No more pronghorn kisses!

The river running through Nantahala Gorge in N.C.

The chopper I paid to get a picture of (donated to breast cancer)

One of the bridges on the Bear Hair Gap Trail.

Grandma, Andrew & Mommy

Amy with her brides maids following the wedding

Shorty and Molly taking a walk in the woods this afternoon

Sunday, October 14 Day after Wedding & Dahlonaga

A very appreciative Bryan with the wedding gift that Andy made and I painted.

Courtney and baby Andy before the wedding

Grandma doing her part to help before the wedding

The courthouse in the city square in Dahlonaga

The square was surrounded by quaint little shops and several antique stores that we enjoyed looking through

Sunday morning photo shoot before we all headed back home

Baby Andrew

My favorite sunset photo near the pavillion after the wedding

Sunday morning I could not believe that I slept until almost 9.  The wedding the night before had been picture perfect in every way.  We did stay to pick up some items that belonged to Amy and Bryan but we were home well before midnight.  So I really didn't feel I had much of an excuse for sleeping in.  We had breakfast at the cabin, some quiche and the Der Dutchman cinnamon rolls that were left.  Courney, Mike and baby Andrew came over and even Amy and Bryan made it over before we left so we were able to get some good family pics on the back deck.  My drive home was long, or so it seemed as I followed the Garmin and she took me back through the mountains again.  Different roads but same curves.  I finally got on I-75 in Sweetwater, Tennessee and the driving became easier. It took about 8 1/2 hours to make the trip back home.

Saturday, Oct. 13 -Amy & Bryan's Wedding Day

Wolf Mountain Vineyards

The reception will be here at the Wolf Mountain Cafe.

Here we are at the pavillion where the wedding ceremony will be performed

Today was the big day.  Wedding Day!!  After we had some breakfast we drove into Old Dahlonaga.  We walked around the various shops and we gravitated to several antique stores where we spent way too much time.  We also stopped at the vineyard and I purchased a bottle of wine and we made sure we knew where to go for the wedding.  The wedding was beautiful and everything seemed to go off without a hitch, at least as far as we could see.  The sunset was absolutely beautiful, setting right after the ceremony as photos were being taken and the reception was just as wonderful.  The newly weds looked so much in love and it was so good to be there to share in their special day.  I will let the pictures say the rest.

Amy with her brides maids

Amy and Bryan

Judy being seated by Matt

The vows

Bryan giving a sigh of relief

Sunset photos