The Hermitage

This is Andrew Jackson's home, The Hermitage, in northeast Nashville. He was the 7th US president. I don't have a good picture of the front of the home. This version of the house was completed in 1836. It was fun to play in the cotton field. The garden looks bad in winter but I can imagine how beautiful it would be in the summer in full bloom. Paige will post some more pics when they get home.

Christmas at Emily's

We just spent a delightful couple of days at Emily's over Christmas. I think the kids were pleased with their haul and we enjoyed our visit with everyone. Thankfully our drive up and back only consisted of rain and no snow or ice.

Beautiful and Strange Sunsets

Actually, I think this was all the same sunset. Bizarre colors near the end of it. Kind of creepy almost.

Sunrises

Our Turn for the Big Snow

The same snow storm that hit Scott and Paige in Texas on Wed. struck us with a vengeance Thursday afternoon around 4:30. I called Jim at work to let him know it was coming down hard, starting to build up, and he better start for home right away. Since our neighborhood is very hilly I was extra nervous because he'd left his cell phone at home (this is not uncommon) and he was driving a pickup!! I thought I was going to have to go find him since he hadn't arrived home 30 minutes after leaving the office. (It usually takes him less than 15.) I was just one block away from our house when I saw him coming over the hill. I was relieved because it was really treacherous. We were unable to get either the van or the pickup back up our driveway. Turns out leaving them on the street was a good idea since the driveway was very icy next morning. There were accidents and cars blocking roads all over the place. One pregnant lady from Jim's work had to walk 2 miles to get home that night.
Three days later we still have a lot of snow on the ground and our roofs. It's very beautiful-like a Currier and Ives Christmas card- and the dogs didn't mind it a bit.

Galveston after Ike

There was a lot of damage on the part of Galveston Island we visited with Scott and Paige. This was not even the parts that really got wiped out. It was getting dark so we didn't take a lot of pictures. There were still piles of wood and debris heaped up on curbs.

Scott at Optometry School

While in Houston Scott showed us around his optometry building at the University of Houston. I was impressed with that eye chart because it was an old one from Fredericksburg. I was also impressed with all the microwaves in the lunch room. My how times change. That art sculpture with Paige and Scott inside is what Scott could have been looking at from his vantage point. The Optometry school building was very nice. Scott will have his picture on the wall there some day along with his father-in-law's which hangs there now as part of the class of 19?? Paige, can you fill that in? I forgot.

Snow?

Wow! I haven't lived where it snows with some regularity since we lived in Illinois in 1987. It snowed all morning but didn't stick. Quite beautiful. Sonic and Penny didn't mind it a bit. Here's Penny showcasing some fine flakes against her black
"saddle."