South Holston 2019

First of all, before we could camp, Terry had to fix the camper where water had entered and rotted the floor.

There were also a lot of logistics to navigate with this year's camping trip.  Joseph and Caleb needed to get off of work (Terry did, too, but he's self-employed, so that's a little easier), Nathan and Meredith both wanted to take the NCLEX first, Noah needed to be on break from the summer semester at Lee, and I needed to be off a few days from my therapist training in Nashville.  So we ended up with just three days with all of us to make it work.  

Joseph and Rebecca had their own campsite and also hosted his mom when she came up for a few days.  Meredith camped in our trailer with us - her first camping trip!

Since I've talked about South Holston so much in earlier posts, I'll just let the photos speak for themselves.  Except for this first photo.  I think we could say that Little Oak Campground on S. Holston Lake is our WHEELHOUSE.  

West HIlls

Terry and I have been trying to get more involved in the neighborhood.  To that end, I signed us up for the West Hills wiffleball team, which basically involved a few practices in a neighbor's backyard and then playing in a tournament with other Knoxville neighborhoods.  It brought me back to my grade school days when this was one of my favorite sports.  Turns out I can still hit the ball!  But when we were on defense, I just stood at the ready and prayed the ball would go to someone else. And it always did.  LOL.  Our team had a 2-2 record, up from last year when we were apparently
0-4.  Go West Hills!

Another thing I've gotten involved in is a program called Walking School Bus.  We meet the kids at the end of the school day at West Hills Elementary, and then walk with them to the gazebo near the West Hills Y where their parents pick them up.  It has been a lot of fun chatting with the kids!

Last, but not least, I've finally gotten in the habit of going to work out at the West Hills Y.  I've made friends with several ladies there, and they even have a book club I've joined.  Here I am with some of my friends in spin class on the day of the Kentucky Derby.  Our creative instructor assigned us all names of horses, and some gals even wore hats.  All the songs on the playlist were about going fast or money!

  

New Boats and Old Boats

Our new boat is beautiful!  I love the red and black color scheme - reminds me of the Razorbacks.  LOL.  Terry is loving getting to do so much skiing with Scott!

Getting a new boat meant saying goodbye to our old boat.  Here it is with the new owners.

Here's a picture of our family on this well-loved boat.  We will miss it!

And just for reference, here is our family on the day we sold the previous boat:

And here are Terry and I with our first boat (one Terry owned before we married).  I learned to slalom behind this boat.  

Nathan Graduates

This was a wonderful day of celebration, made sweeter by the fact that there was a time when it seemed it wouldn't happen.  In the fall of his junior year, Nathan was discouraged and thought of quitting nursing entirely (turns out this is fairly common in for nursing majors, as it is quite demanding).  He considered changing majors and met with a career counselor for some guidance.  He told me he was going to stick with it until at least the end of the semester, but he guaranteed he would be making several C's.

Well, I am happy to report that Nathan graduated without a single C!  His career counseling also led him to realize that this is a great career fit for him.  He graduated with a job lined up in the Trauma Critical Care unit at UT Medical Center (his first choice).  We are so proud of him!

Proud parents

Three generations of UT grads

All the UT grads in the family

Nathan and one of his favorite clinical instructors

We finished the evening with some ice cream downtown.  Maybe not the wisest choice with all the crowds, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Goodbye to Gloria

When my Dad married again at age 81, my sisters and I weren’t quite sure what to think.  Gloria seemed sweet, though, and we tried to be supportive of Dad - knowing that’s what Mom would have wanted.

Well, Gloria was a good companion to my Dad and brought out a more emotional, affectionate side to him that I had not seen previously.  We worried when she was diagnosed with cancer and also showed signs of dementia that my Dad would be in for the heartache of losing another spouse.

Instead, he died after a very quick battle with pancreatic cancer, and Gloria was left to widowhood again.  This spring, just about a year after Dad died, she succumbed to her liver cancer and died as well.  

Gloria’s life was a testimony of how God pursues us,  She thought she was a believer, but it turns out she never understood the gospel until after she married Dad and started attending UBC.  She was baptized about a year later.  She remarked to me that she wondered if one of the main reasons God had her meet my father was so that she could know Jesus before she died.  It would seem so.

In preparation for her funeral, we hung out with Gloria’s two stepsons and remarked how we had always wanted brothers!  We also have loved getting to know Brad's wife, Missy (who I already knew from our homeschooling days in Johnson City).  Gloria and her husband Paul are both buried in the National Cemetery in Fayetteville, same as our mom and dad.