Where'd We Go!?

I'm sure some of you have been wondering where we've been and why the last post is now nearly a year old already! Firstly let me just say that the main reason for this blog originally was to keep our friends and family up-to-date with what we were doing. So why did we quit? Much of this had to do with Facebook. Secondly, it took lots of time to fix photos, write something interesting, etc. and when we rarely received any comments (some of our family never looked at it anyway) it just seemed like it wasn't worth the effort anymore.

So we joined Facebook and are now able to post our own individual photos, say what we want to say individually, and can monitor who gets to see this information! :)

So until we decide to quit using Facebook as our means of communication with our friends & family, this will probably be the last post on this blog.

See you on FB!

Happy Thanksgiving, 2008!

And a good feast was had by all, including Jane11's "office gerbils" who enjoyed tiny slices of pumpkin pie...

Sunday Project -- New Flowerbed

On Sunday we decided to finally start working on our latest home-improvement project -- a new flowerbed in the front yard.

This has been on our list for quite some time now and now that the weather is starting to get cooler we decided that there was no better time than the present.

Just a week ago we managed to get our old hand-me-down roto-tiller running for the first time. To test it out, Er!c decided to till the front part of our yard in preparation for the new flowerbed...

So after a long day of shoveling dirt, hauling 8 ft. 4x4 boards, cutting them to the appropriate length, hauling plants, potting soil, and digging holes for the new plants... we were exhausted and very sore! (Two days later and I am still limping around with aching muscles).

...but our front yard is starting to look MUCH nicer! :)

Fall Colors on the River

This Sabbath our friend David George called and asked if we wanted to join him out on his boat and take a trip down-river to look at the pretty fall colors. We of course said "yes". :)

It was a tad bit chilly at top speed, but the sky was clear and the sun warm, which also made for LOTS of good picture opportunities.

After returning once again to land, we decided to walk down the Riverwalk while we still had daylight. While at the Riverwalk we ran into Er!c's sister and family which was a fun surprise! The camera batteries were nearly dead so I was only able to get a couple pictures of the kids.

We were very hungry at this point and so decided to try out the new Red Robin (gourmet hamburgers -- you can make any burger on the menu veggie). T'was very good, but a bit pricey for a burger. Not bad though, and we may try it again sometime.

Biking at Raccoon Mountain

On Sabbath a group of us decided to go mountain biking on Raccoon Mountain (trail map). After a quick picnic lunch we hit the trails, only partially knowing where we were going... We happily explored the trails progressively advancing to more-difficult trails (they are marked the same as skiing/snowboarding trails -- green circle, blue box, black diamond, etc...) At about the 5 mile point we hit the "black diamond" part of the trail which was mostly up hill and fairly rocky for the final 3.5 miles!

Aside from one accident along the way (sorry Todd) we all had a great but tiring ride. The weather was perfect and the autumn colors were beautiful.

Family Extravaganza!

Several weeks ago we experienced somewhat of a family extravaganza when Mark & Kristin came up from Florida along with Kristin's parents who were visiting from Berlin. Uncle Dan also was in town that weekend, so throw in the rest of us who actually live here in town and you've got yourself a family reunion! Ha! :)

On Sabbath we all went for a walk along the Chattanooga Riverwalk, and walked several miles to the Art District and back. Here are some photos from the weekend.