MERRY CHRISTMAS 2021

Merry Christmas  from Biltmore Estate,  12/14/21

 I hope and pray that ALL of you are having a fantastic Christmas.  The highlight this year for us was being with family on 3 different occasions recently,  plus our annual trip to Asheville, NC to experience "Christmas at Biltmore".  I hope that each of you can attend this event sometime...  It is breathtaking  (inside the house and outside on the grounds).  

As happy as we are now,  I can not forget those people who are struggling this year  for so many reasons (loss of loved one or special friend,  illness,  loneliness, etc.)    I hope that you will take time today to contact (phone, text, email, message) someone who is in this category --just to let them know you are thinking about them.  

Hope all are well -- and my prayers are for you and your loved ones as we share the joy of the Birth of Jesus Christ.   MERRY CHRISTMAS to YOU!!!

Much Love,

Betsy and George

Happy Thanksgiving to YOU!!!

Dear Blog Friends,   Just stopping by to say HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you and your loved ones.  George and I had our special Thanksgiving last Sunday with family ---so today,  we are just relaxing and thinking about all of our many blessings which include YOU... 

Hope you have a fabulous day ---and will keep Thanksgiving in your heart throughout the year.

God's Blessings on each of you and your families and loved one.

Love,

BETSY and GEORGE

Mark and Robin's Wedding 10/23/21

Hello Blog Friends,  As you can see from the title,  there was an awesome wedding this past Saturday.  Son Mark and Robin got married!!!  The wedding was absolutely beautiful.  It was held at the Red Gate Farm in Friendsville, Tennessee for about 40 guests, beginning at 4 pm.  This Mama of the Groom was SO excited --and it was one of best weddings I've ever been to in every respect... 

Both Mark and Robin are in their 50's --- so they wanted to have a wedding made perfect by and for them.  I call it a "Mark-Robin Wedding" in every respect.  It was informal (so many of the guests even wore cowboy boots, including the bride)!!

The setting was awesome.  It truly was  a gorgeous farm setting on an amazing Fall Day.  And the flowers/decorations/picture/posters made the setting even more beautiful, using the theme throughout with a color scheme of oranges and teals. I loved the sunflowers!!!

I have tons of pictures including many of the beautiful Fall setting,  and at the reception following the ceremony. The reception was a fantastic BBQ Dinner with all of the trimmings...Following that was the dance.  Most of us 'oldies' left a little early --but the dance went on!!!!

Today I picked out just a few pictures to share.. Hope you enjoy them!!!  My Joy was seeing all of the love and happiness in these two 'kids'...May they have many more years of this special love including many adventures together--while sitting by the campfire and eating S'mores (especially when Mom is there).

Meet Mr. and Mrs.  Mark Wilhite - October 23, 2021

An example of all of the beautiful posters throughout the venue

The Mother of the Groom --excited to be heading to the wedding

Another view showing the perfect setting for a wedding; See the water??? SO peaceful!

Anticipation!!!  Waiting for that beautiful woman to come down the isle!!

There she comes being escorted by her two handsome sons,  Joey and Zach.

I wonder if Pastor Justice is asking Robin if she is sure of this???  ha ha

Mark and Robin ALWAYS find time to laugh!!!!   Wonder what she said????

Robin and Mark wrote their own vows

Mark had a hard time getting through his vows. He is emotional --like his Mom!!!

He put a ring on her finger!

She put a ring on his finger!

Introducing  Mr. and Mrs.  Mark Wilhite

Now you may KISS the BRIDE

They did it!!!!!! 

Later,  after dinner,  we had the Mom/Son dance!  Mom is crying again!!

The Bride's Cake

The Groom's Cake

Read the quote!!!  NO EXPLANATION needed!!! ha ha

Mark and his Brothers, Jeff and Bert.  Best Friends Forever!!!

Another love of Mark's life,  one of his adorable Granddaughters,  Vivian Lee

Hope you enjoyed the pictures... It was truly a marvelous wedding!  I dedicate this post to Mark and Robin... I love you both so very much!!!

Hugs,

Betsy💝💛💚💕

Fall Blooms in our Yard 2021

 Dear Blog Friends,  Fall/Autumn is one of my favorite seasons...  Here in our area of the USA,  the changing colors and falling of leaves is happening very late this year.   In fact,  the Dogwoods (pictured below) are about the only Fall Colors we have so far... We've had a very warm Fall so far--and the trees need some colder weather to make those colors happen.  I told George that we'd be picking up leaves at Christmastime this year!!!!! ha    If and when we get some pretty colors like the picture in my header from another year,  I'll post again.

The warmer weather does keep the ROSES and our re-blooming IRISES showing off their colors  --along with some other blooms we are enjoying...SO--today I'll share with you some of these beauties...  The ROSES are looking pretty --but that will be another post.   ENJOY!!!

Our Pink Dogwood showing off its FALL COLORS

Gerbera DAISY

Immortality IRIS

My Friend Jonathan IRIS

Our Beautiful CLEMATIS

Another Gerbera DAISY

This amazing Fall Reblooming IRIS is named  Harvest of Memories.

IRIS named Anxious

Similar but different; Meet Clarence IRIS

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of the 'pretties' in our yard.  Most all of these pictures were taken in OCTOBER,  2021, with only a couple in late September. 

Thank You for your kind words in my last couple of posts... It's wonderful to hear from you --and thank you for continuing to  visit my Blog even though I haven't posted much lately due to my accident...

I'm doing good.  My wrist is healing nicely.  I do finally have an appointment with an ENT Doctor this coming Thursday (TWO  MONTHS after our accident)....  I still have hearing loss due to the airbags --but am not sure what they can do to help me..  We shall see!!!!!

I'm still waiting to hear from my referral to see a Neurologist --and am waiting to hear back from them with an appointment....???????

I'll keep you posted -so please continue to pray for me through all of the waiting...

God's Blessings.

Hugs,

Betsy💝💛💚💕

Septembers Through the Years!

Dear Blog Friends,    It's been awhile since I wrote...If  you read my last post,  you'll know that we had a car accident on August 15.    I broke my right wrist and jammed some fingers in my right hand.  That has prevented me from doing much writing or typing... I've tried to use Siri but she doesn't understand my southern drawl!!!  ha...  

If you are on Facebook then you have kept up with my progress...  Overall,  I am NOW doing well except for some problems with my hearing (due to the airbags), and also some neuropathy problems.  My wrist is mending nicely.  I only had to wear the hard cast for 5 weeks and a velcro brace for 1-2 weeks.  I still wear it off and on --and am doing my exercises to strengthen that wrist.  

I will admit that I had a hard time for a couple of weeks,  mostly emotionally.   BUT--with the love, attention and help from God, George, Family and many Friends,  I pulled myself together and have been back to my old 'positive' self again.

The next step for me is to see an ENT doctor to check my ears/hearing...  I have that appointment now--scheduled finally for Oct. 14.... BABY STEPS!!!! PATIENCE, Betsy!!!!!! ha

I can now type again ---so I'M BACK!!!!!    Today's Post is one I had a great time working on.  I was looking back at past Septembers to see what we did!!!!  I had fun-fun-fun choosing some of our favorite trips/pictures to share with you today...   George and I have been blessed with quite a lot of traveling for the past 15+ years... I hope you enjoy seeing some of these great memories.. 

 

From the lodge at Pine Mountain State Park,  KENTUCKY  --September 2010

Train Ride at Cass Railroad,  WEST VIRGINIA -- September 2011

Mount Rushmore in SOUTH DAKOTA-- September 2012

                        A Ride on the Schooner Alliance,  Yorktown, VIRGINIA--  September 2013

We hiked to the top of Sharp Top Mountain,  Peaks of Otter,  VIRGINIA--September 2016

Beautiful ZION National Park,  UTAH  ---Sept.  2017

Lower Falls of the Yellowstone; Yellowstone National Park,  WYOMING --Sept. 2012

We drove over Beartooth Mountain,  MONTANA-- Sept 2018

Schwaubacher Landing, Grand Teton National Park,  WYOMING --Sept 2018

Looking toward Pikes Peak, near Colorado Springs, COLORADO in the Rocky Mountains-- Sept 2012

Oh the memories!!!!   I tried to pull out pictures from several different states...  Someone asked me:  What are your favorite places on this list???   Well--that's hard since I loved them all.   However,  the places I would love to visit again (over and over) are:  the TETONS and Cass Railroad.   George would love to go on the Schooner Alliance in Yorktown since he LOVES "Tall Ships".....

My advice to all of you:  Get out now when you can and TRAVEL.... I'm so blessed to have been to all of these places --and many more!!!!

Hugs,

Betsy💝💛💚💕

 

A Great 79th Birthday in 2021

Dear Blog Friends,   How are you doing during this VERY HOT mid-August weather???  We are both doing as 'good' as possible at our ages!!!! ha ha... We were lucky during my Birthday week to have some less humid/less hot weather for a few days.. That was nice and made our trip so enjoyable.

 We spent several days along the Blue Ridge Parkway and Skyline Drive in Virginia.  We visited Peaks of Otter. the National D-Day Memorial,  Point of Honor Home, Skyland Resort, Belle Grove Plantation, and the Cedar Creek Battlefield. 

Then the family came to visit on 8/8/21 (after we got home from our trip). It was a wonderful Birthday week. Hope you enjoy the pictures.Explanations are on each picture.

Well, as you can see,  I had another wonderful Birthday week this year... Thanks be to God for my fabulous husband, family and you--my friends... 

*****************  AND THEN THIS HAPPENED:

After I wrote this post, George and I visited his daughter in Lebanon, Tennessee on Sunday (8/15/21). On the way home, we were in a terrible automobile accident. We were in the left lane on I-40 with several cars in front/back of us. Someone apparently changed lanes and then stopped, causing a three or four vehicle chain reaction pile-up.  We were the 3rd  car in that big wreck so we got hit both back and front.  God and our airbags took care of us and saved our lives. Our pretty little car was totaled  George escaped with soreness, aches and pains, but I was taken by ambulance to the ER. After X Rays, I found out that I broke my right wrist. They put a soft cast on my arm but it is very big and bulky and heavy. I have really struggled with it this week. I see the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow (8/20/21). Hopefully I will get a smaller cast.

As I told my Facebook friends, George and I were very lucky. It could've been much worse. Neither one of us have ever been in a wreck before so this is all brand new. It is definitely something I do not want to ever go through again. But we are thanking God that we are alive. 

PRAYERS for us please. This is going to take some time. And I need patience.

Hugs,

Betsy💝💛💚💕