Mountain Musings

Happy Thanksgiving, Y'all!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our family, friends, and readers of the blog. We have a lot to be thankful for this year, as I'm sure all of you do.

Our most precious blessing this year was the birth of little Andrew. We praise the Lord that he's doing well and growing stronger each day. Many, many prayers have gone up for him from all across the country, and we thank everyone for your faithfulness to pray. Please continue!

Do you have a most precious blessing this year that stands out far above the others? I'd love to know if you'd like to share.

Enjoy Thanksgiving at your house! And we'll see you back here on the blog soon.

~Deb

NCFIC ~ Fear of God Conference

We sadly left Atlanta and adorable little Andrew and headed to Asheville's Ridgecrest Conference Center to check in for the Fear of God conference: The towering conference center looked majestic against the blue sky and is always one of the first pictures I take when we arrive each October for the conference: Here's part of the family headed back to the van after checking in and receiving our packet of name tags, programs, and keys to our room. First, we unpack and then scout around and see who else is arriving: We were looking forward to hearing the speakers at the conference. Here's one of the sessions with Ken Ham, founder of the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter, as a keynote speaker:And here's a view of part of the audience during the presentation: It wouldn't be the same without seeing this sweet family from Virginia. They always make an appearance on our blog. Hi, H family! It's always great to see y'all: We also enjoyed listening to some beautiful music before sessions: We took time out to visit the Vendor Hall and browsed books and other items between sessions. Here are some friends and first-time vendors, Lauren and Kate of Generational Goods. The key verse for their family business is found in Psalm 145:4..."One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts": The days were just beautiful for walking outside and chatting with friends during the conference. Here are Tom, Hannah, and Jonathan during a session break: And here I am with Tom outside the dining hall area: Landmark Events occupied a large vendor booth and advertised their many historical excursions families can take across the United States: The last day several of the speakers answered panel discussion questions to wrap up the conference. If you'd like to read the NCFIC blog recap of the conference, go here for Day 1, Day 2, and Day 3: Sunday morning and departure time arrived quickly. While we were at the conference and visiting in Atlanta, my sister had been taking care of Granny in SC. We rendezvoused that morning for the return trip home, and here's a picture of us with our friends in front of Ridgecrest: If you remember when I blogged about the conference last year, Sarah and Eric were with us and just a couple of weeks away from their approaching wedding. We missed having them with us this year, but we enjoyed being with the rest of Eric's family.

Here's Alex talking with Granny while we say our good-byes. Granny is everyone's favorite!:And here's Hannah posing with Aunt Bet before we leave: And finally, the mothers-in-law (aka Granny and Grandma) getting a picture together: I hope you enjoyed traveling along with us in the previous post to Atlanta and in this post to Asheville.

Did you travel anyplace this fall? Enjoy the rest of your beautiful fall weather!

~Deb

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Trip to Atlanta ~ To See Our New Grandson, Of Course!

Ever since our little grandson, Andrew, came home from the hospital after 132 days in the NICU, we had been wanting to go see him! He's now a little over six months old and getting cuter by the minute!

After giving the new parents time to settle in with taking care of Andrew's needs, the end of October found us headed to Atlanta to spend a few days with Eric, Sarah, and baby Andrew! What a wonderful and joyful time to finally get to hold Andrew at home and to visit with Eric and Sarah and see how they are managing their little family....even with oxygen tanks, feeding tubes, and the myriad doctors' appointments for Andrew. They are doing a terrific job!

Now I have the fun task of looking through a zillion (well, almost!) pictures of the little cutie and posting photos of each member of the family getting to interact with this little munchkin whom we all absolutely loved getting to know! You'll have to overlook any gushing. :)

Here's sweet Andrew eyeing the dinosaur we brought him from our trip to The Ark and The Creation Museum earlier this summer. I love his little face in this photo: Grampa making funny faces at smiling Andrew: Aunt Hannah gets a turn holding a sleepy Andrew, who is quite attached to his Wubbanub. He was so cute holding onto his little giraffe!Uncle Jonny...ooh, boy, crazy Uncle Jonny! He campaigned daily to make himself Andrew's favorite Uncle, although I think he'll have some competition from the other uncles! And since Granny Deb is writing this update, let's post another photo of Andrew's Granny holding him...sweet! Two sisters together....it was a wonderful few days for them to re-connect. We all miss Sarah so much around here! Even with feeding tubes, beeps from the monitor, and pulling the pole around to whomever was holding him next, Andrew made his way around to everyone with no problem!  And finally, a thought from the sweet baby:
Here are Andrew's sweet loving parents...what a joy to be in their home and witness the Lord's blessings on them: Well, too soon it was time to leave and head north to the annual NCFIC conference where we'd spend the next few days. Here, we're on the road headed towards the mountains of Asheville and Black Mountain, NC, where the conference is held each October: Stay tuned for the next post on our time at the NCFIC and the Fear of God Conference.

~ Deb

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Welcome, November!

Well, October came and went with nary a mention here on the blog...and I've heard from lots of you asking what's going on!

So...let's start off with an update on Granny since many of you always ask about her and have had her in your prayers during her recent surgery. Isn't she the most beautiful 88-year old?:The month of October was basically a month of round-the-clock care-giving and helping Granny get back on her feet after kyphoplasty for her compression fracture in September.

Home Health nurses and physical therapists were coming to the house to work with her, and she's doing much better now. She has some continuing pain, but overall she's faring better and able to do more on her own.

Once Granny was stabilized enough for me to leave her, I headed to South Carolina to be with my sister in the hospital while she was having minor surgery--just a change of patients for me!

After she recuperated a bit, we were ready for a little bit of fun in the midst of all this medical stuff! We stopped at a Mexican restaurant, explored some antique shops, and visited a NC Farmer's Market.

Here's Bet at La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant: And here I am at Burgerworx...my first time at both of these places:

The antique shops were many...here's a picture of the first one, Antiquities Antique Mall in Hendersonville, NC. My only purchase came from this mall, an antique teacup and saucer, which I eventually dropped and broke...so sad: The next antique barn was huge, and we enjoyed looking around. It was stuffed with everything imaginable, but it all stayed there!: This photo below isn't the sharpest, but it was one of my favorite places we shopped...a yarn shop in Asheville--Asheville Home Crafts. My sister brought home a beautiful knitted hat: Here's a wall of tubes full of colored buttons...all shapes and sizes. I loved picking one out for a knitted dish towel:My sister also took me to the NC Farmer's Market in Asheville...such a wonderful market! I loved this Mountains are calling and I must go sign... There were all sorts of vendors: fudge, beans, and cheese...not just veggies:Lots of pumpkins, mums, and apples. I purchased my first ever white pumpkin: We had a wonderful fall day out and about! Soon it was time to head back with our treasures.

On our way home to Greer, SC, through Saluda, NC, we stopped by The Gardner's Cottage, a favorite shop I've enjoyed visiting on other trips:The next day I drove the six hours home to Virginia...seeing hardly a need to unpack as in a few days we'd be driving 9 hours to Atlanta to see little Andrew, our first time to visit him at home since he was released from the NICU.

I was looking so forward to seeing our tiny grandson and was praying that Granny would feel well enough to ride to SC to stay with my sister while we continued on.

Yes! I did get to go with the family. The next post is about my second big trip in October...Trip to Atlanta!

Then stay tuned for our third trip in October...Trip to Asheville for the NCFIC Conference!

~Deb