catch-up

wow it has been so long since i have written- just busy with all the Christmas stuff etc.--hope everyone had a great Christmas-

-we did get to do most of the things we had wanted to do this season-- we took our day trip downtown in the "slip"- we shopped a lot---- we really missed 2 of our grand-children's school things cause of 2 broken cars-- all fixed now--but got to see all the grand-kids and even baked a couple of times with some of them!--we also got to see santa with 2 of the grandkids! my side of the family thing, the thing my parents do with the barbecue from" perrin's" and all, got postponed because of the snow , but we did it at my house 2 days after Christmas- so all was well---


let's see what is new since i have written--our computer crashed and colin spent a week fixing it- thank you colin!--adrienne has a publisher reading her book, they requested more chapters- so we are waiting------she and dustin also had some great news---- they are expecting a baby in spring #5!!!

kelli's sister is getting married in june--

dustin has a california work trip coming up--his store is almost finished with the remodel--sorry this is so fragmented - i'm just telling ya stuff as i think of it-- if i had taken the time to plan anything i was going to write - i probably wouldn't have written today, or maybe ever!--- remember i warned ya how i write--refer back to my first post!

we are busy with robyn's dance and first competition coming up in d.c.-- should be fun -- and then 2 more over the next 2 months-

frank is still working 2 jobs- keep praying that will change- but for now he endures:)

my mom is doing about the same- we had dinner with them last night and stayed with her ,while daddy went to a church meeting-- he has resigned as chairman of the deacons--he still teaches and is a church trustee , still moderator of business meetings and more i can't remember- so he is still doing stuff he enjoys- am glad-

we are still visiting churches- it has been hard- we just haven't found our place yet- God knows our hearts, that we are willing to go wherever He sends us - so we are trying to listen and follow-

i was surprised that i hardly missed doing the children's Christmas play this year- one of my friends took it over - i had mixed emotions about her doing that - but i know that was selfish- just being human ya know, like i was kinda hoping they would not have the play this year-- and all be saying-- boy we sure miss lynn- she was soooo talented- just goes to show ya- everyone is replaceable in jobs- once you're gone, people move on pretty fast-----oh well, i digress--

ya know something funny--well years ago-- like 15 or so every weekend just about -- we took some of our time to ride around, with the dream of finding a neat old house-- we almost bought a couple of them- but always chickened out at the last minute---well when we finally gave that dream up, we were glad we had and decided that the Lord had saved us from ourselves(which He had)------well now that old bug is biting us again! i don't know if we will ever do it but it is kinda neat to think about it and maybe---when all the dance stuff is over---go looking again-

well i can't think of anything else right now- hope i haven't left out anything important--just wanted to say hi again and get my feet wet, writing again--hope you will keep checking-

reagan- our first grand-daughter

6 years ago today our first grand-daughter was born--

i remember when little reagan was born, her 2 older brothers were very sick - they even had to go to adrienne's mom and dad's to stay - so the baby wouldn't get sick--my son and adrienne were sick also--my son "t" had also been in the hospital just a few weeks before reagan arrived--yeah alot of sickness was going aroun

frank and i and our other kids at home went over to dustin's and adrienne's apartment and put up a christmas tree for them- we got to see reagan the night she came home from the hospital-she was a beautiful baby and is an even prettier young lady--she knows some of how special she is-- reagan loves to play bride--one day my daughter-in-law told me , she had over heard reagan playing bride --it was the end of the wedding ceremony --reagan playing all the parts, repeated the pastor's last words,"and now you may kiss the prize--she is <3

brennen's birthday

tomorrow will be my oldest grandchild's 11th birthday- yeah i was a very young grand-mother (haha)

he is such a neat kid- he's very very smart and very very very sweet-
he is very artistic and musical- much like both of his parents-

i remember the night after he was born , we went to the hospital to see him again and then went to look at Christmas lights- it was so magical- grand-kids are something else- i recommend them to everyone-

i hope he has a special day and new year of his young life- i hope he stays as eager to learn and innocent to the harder things of life as long as he can-- happy happy birthday first grandchild-we love ya <3

thanksgiving

hey everyone- hope all have a great day tomorrow--robyn and i just finished making some of our dishes early- robyn wanted to do it all by herself- but we managed to do it together- one day it can be all hers-

thought i would talk a little about some "special" thanksgivings-
one that comes to mind--if you remember my blog about janie, you will understand why this one was so special--we picked her up to come to our house, just for the day- we were still planning to adopt her at this point and some of our family was going to come over to meet her--i remember it was snowing that morning-- it was one of those snows that only covered the ground and trees, it was so very beautiful- we had a fire going all day and it was just a great day- a day that i knew as it was happening ,would long be a very special memory-

totally other aspect of thanksgiving- there was this one year-- our little boy, tommy had been in the hospital for a week- we came home the day before thanksgiving-- i told frank i wasn't up to the full blown day- but he assured me he would do it all and it would be fine- it wasn't- i ended up sending him to the "great american steak buffet"- he probably didn't care too much anyway--colin and kelli meet him there-- i feed the little kids- and we had lots of left-overs--frank even got the "senior discount" -which he wasn't old enough for- hahahaha

oh yeah - there was this one year, i decided to go back to making everything from scratch (i know) well i had just finished my huge pan of homemade stuffing- it was cooling on the counter- i left the room for something- i returned to find "luda" (our dog) eating the stuffing- she had almost eaten half of it--i just cut out the part where she might have licked it and served it anyway--funny the kinda same thing happened years before that- i had made my mother's famous mac and cheese- well it fell in the floor as i was pulling it out of the oven- i scooped the top layer back into the pan and called "hugo" (our dog then) in to lick up the rest-

i have lots of other fond memories, but i gotta go cook some more- happy cooking and just be thankful i didn't ask ya over my house this year- too bad i don't have a dog-

my first born

well i am afraid i have started something, with my post about my grand-daughters on their birthdays-

31 years ago i gave birth to my first child- november 20-

he was a very large baby 10lb 4oz-- he looked so big- he was

he's the one i blogged about before - ya know the one "gatoring" on the table at school- good times-
he's also the one who thought he would love to stay a week in the mountains, with his wife and 4 small children-

i hope he is always safe and happy- he is also the actor- so i guess a wish for him to be able to still find the time to act or whatever he wants to do in that direction

we are very proud of the man he has become- there are many stories i could tell about him - i will spare him- for now

i hope he will always find the time to be with his family and take life as it comes- with much joy and contentment- if i could i would keep anything from ever hurting him as all mothers would do if they could , for all of our children-

i am so thankful he has found the perfect partner in life- i pray they will continue to grow closer and closer-

much good wishes and love go out to him and his sweet sweet family

happy birthday son <3

The Writer

Hi I'm Robyn, daughter of your usual blogger. I'll be blogging on something very exciting and interesting that has happened in my life recently..........meeting Earl Hamner Jr!
For those of you who aren't familiar with the name I'll give you a quick summary of him. Earl Hamner Jr. is a writer, but what he is most famous for is the beloved show from the 70s "The Waltons". It was based on his life growing up in the Blue Ridge Mountains during the Great Depression. The eldest boy "John-boy" was based on him and portrayed by Richard Thomas and toward the end of the series by Robert Wrightman. Earl has written books such as "Spencer's Mountain", "The Homecoming", and "You Can't Get There From Here". He wrote scripts for "The Twilight Zone" and "Falcon Crest" which he also created and co-produced. He has written various others scripts but that would take far too long to name them all!
Well back to my story! Daddy, Mama and I went to the Blue Ridge Mountains for the weekend. The first thing we did when we got there was visit this little country store that we visit every year. The man who owns the store is a close friend of the Hamner family(the basis for the characters of "The Waltons"). He told us that Earl was there sitting in the original house and that if we wanted to see him to just walk right in. Mama was too shy to just walk in so Daddy and I walked up to the porch and opened the door. At first we thought it was just family, so I started to walk away so I wouldn't appear nosey but before Daddy was going to close the door someone came to the door to greet us. I quickly apologized and told him I didn't want to intrude but he said we were welcome to come in and meet Earl. We stepped inside and walked into the kitchen where he was sitting on the same type of table they had on the show, a long wooden table with a long wooden bench on each side. He turned around and asked what my name was I said Robyn, of course and Daddy introduced himself. He was just like I thought he would be! Kind, charming, funny, and has hardly aged a bit! He signed my postcard I got in the store. His sister Audrey was there, she was the inspiration for Erin Walton. He said that I had her hair. She signed ,my postcard also! He talked about the time when he lived in Richmond. At that time he was attending Boatwright University(now known as University of Richmond) and living with his aunt. He was a member of St.Stephen's Church at that time. I even got my picture taken with him! Which is now my facebook profile picture.
And when I am older and am looking back on the things in my life that will be certainly one of the most thrilling experiences of my life! Earl Hamner Jr. is a person who will be remembered long after he's gone.

november 2

hi- it's been awhile- i guess i'm not a very disciplined writer lately-

well there hasn't been too much going on- my mother is getting a lot worse- some days she doesn't even know me when i call-

i've been thinking about how strange it is , when people change- when life changes- things ya think will always be the same - will always be there- go -people get sick- people have accidents- people die-
i remember my mother as such a strong person and funny- sometimes she is funny now but mostly she is just sad-

i've had to question myself as to why i have not been very sad- at times i am but most of the time, i just accept it as a part of life- recently i have been praying more for her to be healed- i mean why not - why wouldn't God decide to heal her-i think God can do anything He wants- i think we are commanded to pray for healing- not losing faith when the healing doesn't look like we thought it would-

we haven't been to church the last 2 Sundays- something important for our daughter to attend kept us away yesterday and the week before we went to see "timmy"- it had rained on saturday - that kind of visit does him little good- he loves to go outside--
even though we didn't plan to stay away from church ,to step back and think and pray - it has given us some new insights - we still want to serve God of course and we want a youth group for robyn- but we don't want to rush God -he will lead us where He wants us to be-

i have found myself becoming more and more healed about the bad things that were done and said about us at our last church- it's like who cares- i mean i have had children die- how much could any of this garbage hurt-

life is all about change and if ya don't change with it and embrace it you are the big loser- beauty is all around us if we choose to see it- maybe that is why, sometimes when i see my once strong busy mother, shuffling along ,barely knowing where she is- i see a beauty in her that was never there before and i smile at her memory-