Our Vacation (from Livi's point of view) The final entry

Can't forget Livi's 11th birthday! Dad came home one day before. It was a great present!



Livi hasn't had a bike of her own for four years, and was very happy to ride this baby around!




Madison visiting Virginia Tech. It is a beautiful campus!




We felt our hearts grow heavy but also felt the resilience of hope and Hokie pride at this memorial of the 32 students who were killed in last year's shooting.

I am so happy to be "40 and Sporty". Oops! One of the party guests took off her diapers!

Livi's journal:
On Saturday we drove all the way to Blacksburg. We stayed at a hotel and ate at Backstreet’s Pizza & Restaurant at the Virginia Tech Campus. On Sunday we took a long walk at Virginia Tech and then went to Church. We drove the rest of the way home and that was my vacation on 7-12-08 through 7-20-08. The end!

Our Vacation (from Livi's point of view) Part 4

Our visit to the Cherokee Indian Reservation - Eastern branch - very touristy and also interesting!

This river drew crowds of families swimming and tubing.

Went to see the bears

A tube made a good bed for Cecily!

Becca sporting the newest look in cowgirl wear.

Livi's journal continued...

Then we went tubing on the Cherokee river except for Mom and Cecily. Dad made me and Becca wear a life jacket when rocks were bumping me everywhere. I didn’t even need it because it was so shallow, but it was still fun. Then we got ice cream and went shopping at some cute stores. Me, Becca, Cecily, and Mom saw Bears: Black, Cinnamon, Asian, Grizzly, and Baby Bears. They seemed so sad with all the cement walls and water – that’s it! Then we went home and played Yahtzee.

Our Vacation (from Livi's point of view) - Part 3

We each dug our own pail of dirt the owners brought in from a creek bed nearby. The Rose Creek campground and mine are family owned and operated.



Becca was the first to find a large gem, and then became the "expert", offering her assistance to whomever needed help and assistance.



We all found gems = moonstones, topaz, garnets, sapphires, rubies, amethysts and lots and lots of rocks!

Cecily played on the swingset nearby

Cecily finds cuddling with Garrett is just what she needs before her nap. Back to you Livi......

On Thursday Garrett and I were still feeling a little sick so we stayed stayed home and watched movies while everybody else went to a gem museum and did a tiny bit of mining. When they came home I got 3 gems and a rock turtle necklace from Madison for my birthday. I named him Squirt and he is so cute. I went to bed feeling better but was a little dehydrated. On Friday I was ready! We went Gem Mining and I found a Ruby and Sapphire.

More Vacation (Part 2) Livi's point of view!

On Monday, Garrett, Dad, and Cecily went to Fontana Lake and went fishing. The rest of us went horseback riding. Becca’s horse was Mr. Hairy, Mine was Becky, Madison’s was Knee High and Mom’s was Bromby. We went on a long bumpy trail and it was scary when they went on the edge. After that, we ate lunch and swam at Fontana Lake. When we came home we played scripture charades, had a lesson, and toasted marshmallows in the fire pit for family night.
On Tuesday, we were going to go gem mining, but Becca got sick, so Garrett, Madison, Dad, and I went on a hike on the Deep Creek Trail. We hiked a lot – for maybe 3 or 4 hours and 5 or 6 miles. But we saw pretty waterfalls and ate lunch on a big rock in a creek that looked like a river. When we were almost done, I saw a huge light green moth and then blue, tiger swallowtail, and tiny butterflies on the ground. I picked up some of them and they stayed on my finger and then flew away. It was like a dream come true. When we came back, we went in the hot tub and then played “Bingo” and “Fact or Crap”. On Wednesday we went white water rafting on a river. It was scary and A LOT of fun. When we went home I got sick, then Garrett, then Mom, and then Dad. So the rest of the day was boring. I was the one who got sick the most.

Our Vacation (from Livi's point of view)

The View from our Cabin!



Cabin front porch.



Our first fire and smore fest!

Livi getting into reading the scriptures. She is "King Benjamin".

Hey, I just got back from our vacation and I’ll tell you all about it:
On Saturday, we drove a long time to Ashville and stayed at a place called Homewood Suites. It was really nice, but Madison got sick. The next day, we packed our things and went to Biltmore. It was huge and beautiful. Then we drove all the way to the Cabin called Fontana View 2. It was lovely and I got to sleep on the top bunk. Becca slept on the bottom bunk and right next to us was a cave in, that was our clubhouse which we called “Play Mart”. They had Foosball in that room too. Garrett and I played it and whoever won got to choose which bed they could sleep in. It also had a TV in the room but hardly worked. Mom and Dad left to get some groceries, so while they were gone, we just explored the cabin and watched TV. When they came back, we

read scriptures and then went in the hot tub.

4th of July Thoughts

This past week I've been sick - something that rarely happens to me with my healthy constitution. It was the can't lift your head off the pillow sick - the leave the cleaning supplies in the bathroom because you'll need them again in three minutes sick! I don't want to milk the sympathy card here - just to tell you that these kids really, really helped out! I rented "John Adams" from Netflix, and it came in three dvds - a seven part miniseries, so I watched most of that while I was sick. I really enjoyed it, and for me it really opened up my eyes and expanded my knowledge about this great founding father, and I could relate to the feelings of John and Abigail, who were separated so much even though they had a great love, and how their letters got them through. I look forward to reading their letters next!
We had great plans for the fourth - great plans for the week, and those plans changed, but not for the worse. Madison got up and dressed up in red, white and blue and asked everyone to do the same. Looking very patriotic, Madison drove the four oldest to the church pancake breakfast (in the van), then to a festival at George Washington's boyhood home, and then to the movie "Wal-e". I watched Nadal win in the semi finals watching Cecily play with blocks and duplos, singing to herself. It kills me to not be able to get up when I'm sick and help my children. It is hard to hear that they are bored, sad, tired, sick of being inside, etc. I wish every minute of their day could be filled with laughing and happiness, but I guess that is not realistic, and it doesn't help them be better people in the long run. I couldn't fold the clothes when I was sick to they had made quite a pile on the bedroom floor - I asked everyone to come up and help fold, and they did. The socks also had piled up. I said I'd give anyone a dime a pair, and they got them folded up really quick. Each child rearned about $1.50! I had no idea we'd let the socks go for so long. Our ward is great about helping out, and I have some friends I can call and I know they will be at our door at a moment's notice, but yesterday seemed very quiet. One thing I love about our neigborhood is the amount of illegal fireworks smuggled into our subdivision. You only have to sit on your lawn and get the same fireworks (although less concentrated) than the ones in town. We lit our little ones we got at the stand, like the screaming bee, the cactus, the snakes. Our kids were totally petrified of sparklers - what's up with that? I loved sitting on the lawn and watching it all, and watching our kids watch it all.
My good friend Sachiko was just diagnosed with lung cancer - we are having a ward fast for her tomorrow. She has been through so much adversity, and this just seems almost too much to bear. I asked her what I can do and after saying "pray, pray, pray", she just said "be positive, always be positive... that is the only way to heal.