A Sleepover at Grandma & Grandpa's...

On Friday I picked up Ashleigh after school! She was coming to Grandma & Grandpa's for a sleepover! She couldn't wait! A quick trip to Wal-Mart (you have to take advantage of EVERY opportunity) and we were off! Of course, a trip to Wal-Mart wouldn't be complete without a "little" something! She picked up a "Junie B" book so we could read it at bedtime! A quick dinner, some computer games, a little t.v and it was time for bed!

Saturday morning we got up, had breakfast, showered and headed for the house! Ashleigh hasn't seen it for a little while so major changes were in store! Grandma showed her the neat "magnet" used to pick up nails! She had fun going around picking up the nails off the floor that the framers has dropped! She also "picked" out her bedroom! For some reason...she picked out the farthest one away from the master bedroom! :-) Earlier she picked out the furniture for "that" room! (We've purchased quite a bit of furniture. We just have to give them a delivery date)!

Grandma let her write her name on the floor...but also told her that this was the ONLY time it was o.k. to write on the floors, walls, etc.!!!

After spending some time at the house we had to head back to the motorhome for a quick lunch and then it was time to get our costume on and head over to Fairfield Bay (where Nanna lives). Fairfield Bay was having a special night for Halloween! Grandma wanted some time before to take some pictures. There are some beautiful spots around the "Bay" that are perfect for taking pictures!

We didn't have a lot of time, so we only took pictures in Ashleigh's costume. BTW she's NOT a genie, and NOT a princess! She's a BELLY DANCER! Her choice! :-) You can tell she's developing her own sense of style, especially this year with her costume! She had definite ideas on what she wanted to be and what it had to look like! We bought the pattern and material quite some time ago. Ashleigh didn't really "get" the concept that it didn't have to be exactly like the picture on the pattern as far as color, design on the material, etc.! With a little coaxing, I think she ended up liking what we got...especially the bead trim! :-) I didn't begin to work on it for some time and everytime she talked to me she would ask me, "Grandma, is my costume done yet"? Once I started working on it, she'd ask "how's it look"? I think she really liked it once she saw it! I thought it turned out pretty good, myself! :-)

Fall in Greers Ferry, AR

Thought I'd share with you a view of some of the fall colors around the lake. Along with the link to the latest house pictures! It's finally coming into shape! We almost have a roof, some of the doors are in (the garage...not quite in), and the windows have all arrived (with the exception of one we just ordered - Don was having a hard time not having a window in the "bath area" of our guest bathroom...even though both the contractor and I think it might look "out of place").

Check out the latest pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/vickileith The very latest pictures are under Emerald Isle, Greers Ferry, Part 3, with earlier ones at Emerald Isle, Greers Ferry, Part 2 and the first ones at Emerald Isle, Greers Ferry! I take pictures every day we go to the house! :-)

What the heck????

The past few months we have seen these signs that are obviously folded down, with an arrow pointing in different directions. Didn't know what they were until the other day when we were shocked to see what they said! What the heck? Everyone has told us that 1-3" of snow is about all this area gets. So my question is "if that's true, why do you need a snow route"? Do you think they're lying to us? Are they just joking? Do they know something we don't? (Well obviously they do!!) :-) Guess we will find out in the next few months! This year we will be here throughout the winter months while they are building our house, next year and those following we can head south if it gets to that point! BTW this picture is taken just in front of one of the entrances to Fairfield Bay. Fairfield Bay is a resort area here at Greers Ferry Lake. This is also where my mom just moved a few months ago!

In Memory...

The picture is a car in which my Aunt was a passenger. Her 94-year old friend, Leah, was driving them home on Monday when they had the accident. A few hours after the accident my Aunt Doris succumbed to her injuries. The friend is in stable condition, but now must live knowing that the accident killed my Aunt. Please keep my Aunt's family, as well as Leah in your prayers. I can't even imagine what it would be like to know that you caused someones death.

You can read the newspaper article about the accident here:
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-crash1009-cn,0,333354.story?coll=all_tab01_layout. There is another article here: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/police/all-5fatal.6084141oct10,0,18446.story.
The accident was also on the local news. You can see the video here:
http://www.wfmz.com/view/?id=160564.

I wasn't surprised to hear that my Aunt had passed away (she was 86), but I never thought it would be in such a tragic way and in that I was shocked. Aunt Doris had always been my favorite aunt! I hadn't seen her in quite a few years, and I'm sorry that we hadn't gotten back there to visit while she was still alive. This brings several good lessons... 1) you never know what tomorrow brings; 2) always let people know that you love them; 3) don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today. I'm sure there are others, but this is what comes to mind.

Tennessee Vols 35 Georgia Bulldogs 14

Are you wondering why the title to our blog has the score for a football game? And one that we have no vested interest in at that? Might be because we were in the thick of all the fans today as we took a trip to the World's Fair Park in downtown Knoxville! We had a clue that a game was being played on Friday as we were driving into Knoxville! Lots of cars with flags, pom poms in their back window and even a few that had pom poms secured to the outside of the car! Orange prevailed everywhere you looked! Even the service guys in the Buddy Gregg facility! :-)

In doing a quick search on the internet, I saw that there was a "Sunsphere" in the World's Fair Park downtown. It had recently opened thier 4th floor observatory to the public so we decided to venture down there. Hadn't gone too far when the traffic slowed on the highway and a sign alongside was flashing "Urgent Message tune to am 1620". Quickly tuned in and found that they were advising traffic to avoid the downtown area. Not good for tourists who didn't have an area map, no GPS and only vague directions on how to get where they were going! :-) Since we are California natives, we decided that we wouldn't let the traffic detour us...and it didn't! Glad that we didn't try to go around or make the decision not to go see it! Traffic was nothing!! Oh yeah, it slowed a little, but nothing to write home about! It wasn't long before "game" traffic went one way and we went another! Actually, they should have followed us! We got off following downtown signs, and quickly realized that we were amongst a lot of game traffic and game parking! We found a parking area near the Park and told a very nice attendant that we only wanted to see the Sphere. He let us park right there and off we went! The park is really beautiful and had lots of water features! There was a fountain that the kids loved playing in and would have been great to cool off in - and I would have IF I had dry clothes and a towel! Found the Sphere and the elevator that would take us up to the 4th floor! There was also a big football bash going on up on the 6th floor...you could even hear the music on the 4th floor! There were some great views of the city from up there and a sea of orange all around! From our view we saw a parking lot with lots of canopies set up so we decided to walk and see what it was! What is was, was a lot of tailgate parties for both sides! Lots of orange AND red around! On every corner you could find people looking for tickets and selling tickets as well! The good thing about it...we were going in the opposite direction! Enjoyed walking around the World's Fair park, seeing the view from the sphere and seeing all the Vols and Bulldog fans!

Snow Geese!

The other day while we were at the house it was getting late when a flock of geese came flying overhead. I think they turned and went around in a circle because they came over the house again. They were so low (or our house is so high in the back) that we could actually hear the flapping of their wings! It was so weird! There was hundreds of them...it kind of reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" (remember that movie?) They weren't in a very organized formation, but then again...there were a LOT of them! I don't think I've ever seen that many birds flying at one time before!

This morning we left Shirley, AR (where we are parked while building the house) and headed towards Knoxville, TN. We are heading for Buddy Gregg's (a motorhome dealer and service) where we will have our annual service work done on our Aqua Hot (water heater/heating system in the motorhome) and a few other things. Tonight we stopped in Yuma, TN which is beween Memphis and Nashville. We should get into Knoxville tomorrow and will spend the weekend checking out the area while we wait for service on Monday. Originally our plans were to continue on to Urbanna, VA but our plans have changed. We were joining our friends, Rick & Joanne Stone at a Monaco America rally. Unfortunately, they have had to return home and we decided we would wait to go with them another time. They were the only ones we would have known at this rally. Not that that's a bad thing, but our contractor was a little disconcerted that we would be gone for three weeks or more (and I think my mom was a little bit too)! So it really was for the best that we will just take this "short" trip and head back to watch the progress of the house. Troy, our contractor thinks we will be "roughing" in the plumbing and electrical in the next two to three weeks, but I don't know! I hope so, but I'm not holding my breath!

Before we left, we did pick out our plumbing (faucets, tubs, shower, sinks, etc.). I almost forgot one of the best things! Last Saturday we went to a store in Marshall, AR called Roten's ("www.rotensfurniture.com"). Roten's has the absolute MOST moose things in one place than I've ever seen before! It was awesome! I saw so many things that I didn't have and of course, tons of things I MUST have! :-) They had some awesome furniture and tons, and tons of moose things to decorate with! I KNOW we will be going back before we move into the house! We've been to quite a few furniture stores in the past few months. We haven't purchased anything yet, since we have no place to put it, but we have definitely found our dining room and master bedroom furniture! I think we've also picked out our pool table as well! It's almost overwhelming to have to make all the choices for the house and also furniture as well!

Grandparent's Day!

Ashleigh was so excited that Grandparent's Day was coming up! She reminded me several times about the date! She called last night to remind us and wanted to remind me to "bring money for the book fair"! How smart was that for the school to have thier book fair AND Grandparent's Day at the same time? The school is brand new this year and can really use lots of things for the entire school, but the book fair is going to help the library with some much needed things! From the looks of things, they should have made a lot of money since there were a lot of Grandparents buying their grandkids books and other things!
For lunch we had chicken nuggets, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, pineapple tidbits and a roll. We also had our choice of milk, chocolate milk or tea (no tea for kids...just adults)! All for the price of $2.25! Sure can't eat for that at McDonald's! Yummy! The kids that didn't have Grandparent's got to eat their lunch in the gym and have a picnic! The kids that DID have Grandparent's didn't have to eat quite so fast and got to leisurely eat their lunch! Of course, most of them were so excited anyway...that it took longer to eat than normal!

They also had pictures for $5.00/each! Now how can you resist that? Of course, I would have taken my own , in fact, I asked the photographer if he would take one for me. He did, kind of relucantly! I did buy one before I even asked him to take the picture so I didn't feel too bad asking him to use my camera as well! When I asked...no one was waiting in line!

After lunch and taking pictures, Ashleigh got to take us to her classroom and show us around! Since she was one of the last ones back, we didn't stay too long but got to see her desk and where she sits! She was very excited to show a couple of her friends the books that Grandma & Grandpa had bought for her! It was so funny to see the interaction! Her teacher spent a few moments talking to us. She was also very proud to tell us that Ashleigh had just moved up in her reading group...she's in level 8 already and after 4 weeks of school, her teacher told us that they expected them to be at level 4! Way to go Ashleigh! Ashleigh has always loved to have you read to her and one of her favorite things to do is to have a "read along book". Of course, her mom and Grandma have always loved to read!!

We had a fun time today and wish we had the opportunity to do it with all of our grandchildren! It's so hard to think that this year Ashleigh is in 1st grade, Allison is in 2nd, Shae is in 3rd...and it won't be long before Justisse and Brian are starting school as well! Before we know it, we'll be attending our first graduation from high school! Man these kids grow FAST!

The lumber pile is growing smaller!

It's getting pretty exciting as the walls and now the sheeting on the roof are going up! It's so much easier to visualize the house with the exception of all the lumber "inside" the house! It will eventually come out when the roof is all sheeted. The guys have been working hard this week to get the front done so the bricklayer can begin laying the brick on the front. We've been told that it will still be a few weeks before they are done getting the roof "stick" built and get the "paper" on. I hope it's soon that the inside is covered so it doesn't get wet it's already been wet a few times and there are a few ponds after a rain, but mostly because the wood nailed to the floor is holding it there! The garage(s) and the great room were able to have joists because of the long "runs" and the slope of the great room but the rest will be built by hand and therefore take longer. It's been fun to be able to watch the guys and I am amazed at how they can easily walk along the beams or work up in the air!

Do you see the picture with the equipment raised in the air (not sure what the "equipment" is called, except that it goes up a LONG way!)Well, actually there's someone inside the bin, but isn't the bird flying next to it kind of cool? I thought it was, but then, I'm easily entertained! :-)

And finally, Don took a picture of me for a change! I'm not behind the camera! I'm in the great room! :-)

As always, lots of pictures of the progress in our Picasa Web album, it's here...

From California to Arkansas and on to Indiana!

Don and I left California on Tuesday morning, Aug. 28 at 8:30 a.m. We didn't intend to do it, but we ended up driving all through the night! Guess I should mention that although we flew there we ended up driving back in Earl's Cadillac. Earl loved that car! Don decided that since we were building the house and now only had one car that we needed another car. Since you never get what it's worth, he decided to keep his dad's car. We weren't sure it would make it or if we would be buying a car in New Mexico or other parts unknown! We already had to have it towed one of the first days Don used it, but it made it and so did we! At 12:00 noon on Wednesday we pulled into Cabot, Arkansas to pick up Tess from Kim & Tim!! That's 25-1/2 hours only stopping for gas, potty breaks and food! Have to mention that Tess wasn't that excited to see us! I think she had a wonderful time playing with Bandit and Missy, being able to run in the yard and being able to go outside whenever she wanted! Once we got home, she even slept in her crate with her back to us! Not her normal!

Spent some time trying to get my mom unpacked since I had basically left right after her furniture and stuff had arrived! Kim & Tim had gone over while we were gone and helped tremendously where I had to leave off! I knew that we were due to leave again, so I tried to at least get the boxes out of her house!

Took off on Friday heading to Wakarusa, IN to have some things worked on in the motorhome. We had some warranty work done earlier and they still weren't working or fixed properly. Left fairly early in the morning and drove to Stanton, Missouri! It had been raining off and on since we left Arkansas and had let up by the time we stopped. Stopped at the first park, I went to pay and found out that it was the "honor system" (you pick your spot and then pay using an envelope put into a box). We started around a corner and quickly got buried in mud! Don tried a time or two getting out and finally we decided to unhook the car and back out a ways. Tried twice backing up but got stuck once we tried going forward again! A simple solution really...we backed right out of the park! Hooked the car back up and on down the road we went! Decided that we really didn't want to chance getting REALLY stuck! We would have had to unhook the car anyway and the chance of getting satellite was pretty slim! Although we don't generally like staying at KOA (Keep on Adding) parks, that's where we ended up!

Early start the next morning and headed out! Driving through Gray Summit, Pacific and St. Louis brought back lots of memories of when Kim, Nathan and I lived there for a few years in the early 80's! Again we had rain off and on but nothing like the rain we had as we were driving through Indiana north of Indianapolis! Shortly after the radio had an emergency broadcast siren warning of flash floods, flooding, etc. Decided we really wanted to get to Elkhart Saturday so we could have Sunday free. After all the rain and being gone, the coach needed some cleaning inside and out! Ended up getting to Elkhart about 5:00. We found a campsite at Camp Monaco, Elkhart with no problems. Lots of empty spaces on Saturday evening but by Sunday night we were glad that we had gotten there when we did! Sunday was spent cleaning the coach! Don did a nice job shining it up outside and getting all the dust, road grime and muck off!

Monday morning Don was up early and headed into the Monaco lobby to sign us up. They told him that we were in the wrong place! We were supposed to be 8 miles down the road at the Wakrusa facility! Since we were already "ready" to go into the service bay, it was no problem heading out and driving to the other facility! We decided that once we got here...we really like the Elkhart Service Center better! This Service Center has no hook-ups, there is only a dedicated parking lot. The lounge leaves a lot to be desired...in fact, Don and I were the only ones in there almost the entire day on Monday! In Elkhart, a local RV dealer brings donuts on Monday and Wednesday...nothing in Wakarusa! That really ticked me off...I missed the donuts! :-)

Don and I took a journey over to a couple of the Amish furniture stores nearby! Lots of beautiful furniture but right now we have no place to put it if we did get anything! Not to mention that at the rate the house is going...no telling when it might be ready to move into!!

Today is Tess' 3rd birthday! To help her celebrate we took off for a few hours and went to Shipshewana to the Farmer's Market/Flea Market that they have on Tuesday and Wednesday! I wasn't too impressed with the flea market so Don and I went into some of the shops. Found a few things that I couldn't live without and found an awesome bed, dresser and nightstands! The only bad thing is that since it's Amish owned...there is no website! :-(

Thought that we might finished today, but I told Don that more than likely we would be. Sure enough, once we got back...we weren't done! Won't be leaving on Wednesday morning! Might be afternoon, but it won't be in the morning! We can't get back to Shirley (RV Park) before Sunday anyway! The park is having a big "bash" this coming weekend, and they had already told us they would be packed! So there you have it...not sure when we'll head back for Arkansas and might stop off to "see" some things we haven't seen before!

The pictures on this post...lots of Amish around the area! I wanted a picture of one of the buggys driving around and lucked out with four in one! The horse on the end was very small! When I went to take "his" picture...found out there were a few kids inside! The horses must be very used to getting their pictures taken! They looked right at the camera and stood still!

A floor, walls (and a wacko dog)!

Haven't done much updating lately, but you can watch the progress on our house at http://picasaweb.google.com/vickileith/EmeraldIsleGreersFerry. Took Tess over one day when they had put some of the floor joists up. Now there is NOTHING under these...except the ground which was 6 feet or so below! They are spaced something like 16" apart (or whatever they are supposed to be) and Tess is trying to walk on them! Of course, we didn't let her get too far because more than likely one of us would have had to go "rescue" her! We took her down more than once, but she kept on trying to cross them! The good thing was she didn't see the guys walking on them or she would have really been trying to walk across them!

I think it was the same day when she got "trapped" underneath! She was so funny! Barking and barking because she couldn't find the "door" to get out! The sides are still open above the block so she could see out, but she wouldn't jump out that way! She could see us up above, but couldn't figure how to get out of there! I finally had to go down and show her where the doorway was!

We left for California shortly after the first picture was taken. To say that we were disappointed when we returned is an understatement since very little had been accomplished. We were gone for two weeks and all that was done was the floor was laid and the walls were marked on the floor. Once we got home, however they started working on the house again. Not sure how long that will last since we left for Elkhart, IN on Friday! Before we left though...they had begun putting up some walls! It was pretty exciting to see the walls going up! Sure makes it seem more "real"! Don "helped" with standing up two of the walls! I told him that they were going to end up charging

us more when he was in there offering his help! :-)

Between the time that we got back to Greers Ferry and left for Elkhart we spent a day on the lake with Kim, Tim and Ashleigh - in OUR boat!! After more than two years out of the water and a few $$ making sure everything worked right we had a fun day out on the

water! Of course, you always have your doubts if it will run or even start, and after Don fired it up it seemed a little rough, but soon it was just like it always was! Ashleigh and I had a great time in the water! At first she kept telling me "don't let go" but after a little while she was swimming between Tim and I and didn't want anyone holding on to her at all! The water is so clear and felt so good! :-)