Boy Have I Been Slacking !!!!!!!!

It's been quite some time since I last made a post to my Blog............sad to say. On a good note, I had an awesome summer. It was full of adventures. It was such a blessing to have had the entire summer off from work. My family and I made the most of it. We enjoyed a family trip to Tennessee for 8 days. We rented an awesome cabin there in the mountains of Pigeon Forge. Logan, Mom and I went on a helicopter tour that was a lot of fun. It was great to see Logan wanting to overcome his fear of flying. Then................we went to King's Dominion and Logan braved the Skyflyer (sort of like sky diving). He also went to Florida for ten days WITHOUT ME. Needless to say, it was a summer that my little man truly faced new adventures.

Having had two and a half months off from work really spoiled me. I have been back to work now for two weeks. Things are going very well. I have four new students and two returning students at the start of a new school year. They seem to be a sweet little group of children. My work is almost always FUN. Now, I will admit, I have had times where I needed to step outside just for a moment.......hasn't every teacher had a few of those moments? I adore those precious little children.

Be sure to look for some pics soon of my family summer vacation.

How about some ladder ball and corn hole?

What an enjoyable day.......ladder ball and grilled food with family and friends. You gotta love Spring!

Family, food and fun!

There's nothing like making smores and enjoying the campfire with friends....

The latest addition to our family

Camping and fishing are always fun!

LET'S GO CAMPING !!!

We are so ready to do some camping now. We have bought a nice camper (30 feet long) and are ready to enjoy the great outdoors. My family is looking forward to fishing, hiking, tubing, swimming and of course, grilling. There's nothing like the taste of food cooked on a grill. It tastes even better when we can sit by a cozy campfire.

Our journey started when I mentioned the fact that I wanted to purchase a pop-up camper, just something inexpensive. A place where we wouldn't have to sleep on the ground. That "tent" camping is hard on us old people. And besides, I must have A/C . Eddy and Logan said to me that I would not be happy with a pop-up. They were right, I don't know what I was thinking. Anyways, we searched Craig's List daily for a nice, gently used camper. Eddy faithfully bought the Bulletin Board newspaper to me every Thursday, to search for the perfect camper. After weeks of searching and 500 miles of traveling to view campers, north and south of here, we found the perfect one!

I thank The Lord that He allowed us to be able to make this purchase and ask that He grant us many fun family camping adventures.

Logan is preparing for "HIGH SCHOOL" . OH MY GOSH!!!

Eddy and I attended a meeting with Logan this week to set his schedule for his freshman classes! I can not believe that my Little Man (I can't call him that anymore), is preparing for his first year of high school. It seems like last year that we were sending him to preschool. As I have taken this journey of being a mother, I have truly learned to appreciate"the moment". Life just seems to zip past us so very fast. Logan is such a wonderful person and I pray that he will continue to be.

I ask that each of you pray for me to be able to make this transition. I feel that Logan will do just fine, but as for myself, it's hard to face this milestone. I often think of college or work and a family taking Logan away from home........away from me. It's hard to bare the thought! He is truly my life.

SPRING BREAK

I kept thinking this week would never get here..........after the long winter days filled with much snow. Finally, Spring Break week arrived! It's a bummer that mine and Logan's spring break had to hit on different weeks, but Eddy and I have made plans to take off from work some next week to do something fun with Logan for his spring break. We plan to rent a cabin and get outdoors for some hiking, cooking on the grill.........just some fun family time together.

Another accomplishment I have achieved this week is to make reservations for our summer vacation. Logan found this awesome cabin rental in the Smoky Mountains loaded with all the extras (hot tub on the deck over looking the mountains, pool table, foosball, three jacuzzi tubs .........three story log cabin, room enough for the entire family). It's a mansion.....wish we could afford to stay longer than 1 week. Needless to say, we are pretty excited about our vacation and hope to be able to have my mom, brothers and sisters and their families join us.

To add to the fun for this week, I plan to do some shopping with my mom and my sister. I am going to Chuckie Cheese tomorrow with some friends.......a place where a kid can be a kid.

Communion

As I sat in church today during Communion, I found myself counting my many blessings. In celebrating Communion, it takes us back to the life of Christ and what He did for us. My heart was again touched to think of the many blessings that I have in this life.

MY DEAR SWEET FRIEND

Thanks Cheryl for taking time out of your busy schedule to allow us to visit on such short notice. Next time I come down to Georgia, I promise to inform you in advance. I always enjoy our time together (until you start reminiscing about the stupid things we did when we were 21). I love ya girl!

Isn't This A Lovely Picture???

Eddy and I took Logan to see Jason Aldean in concert. Jason is Logan's favorite country singer (and my favorite now--LOL). We had great seats and were able to get nice close up pictures. It was an awesome show.

A big thanks to some of our family for helping to celebrate Logan's birthday! Granny, you wouldn't miss it, I know. Angie, thanks for swelling Logan's head by always telling him he is your favorite nephew. And Tara (my beautiful, God daughter), we were so glad you could join us. We love you guys!

Yesterday was an extra special day here at the McKemy's. It was Logan's 14th Birthday!!! I am saddened to think that my little man has grown up soooooooo fast. On the flip side, I am grateful to God that He allowed us the opportunity to become parents of such a wonderful child. I count my blessings daily and Logan is always there at the top of my list.

An extra special thanks to our family and friends as they helped us to make Logan's birthday a joy! We love you guys!

Proud Parents We Are !!!

Every day I think of how proud we are of our precious son, Logan. He is truly a wonderful person. I thank God each and every day for blessing us with this wonderful child. I wanted to share with my family and friends, the latest that has made Eddy and I more proud. I'm sure you have heard of Class Superlatives. Well, Logan was voted by the 8th grade class as the student who has the best personality!!!! I always thought that he had a lovely personality and when he was voted by his classmates, well, I was so delighted. He says to me, "it's no big deal mom", but to me, it is a huge deal. I always pray that Logan will remain a good person and always be kind to others and treat people with respect.

I hope I didn't bore you by "bragging" on Logan, but you know what they say. It ain't bragging if it's the truth! I am sure all of you mothers out there truly understand how I must feel. Yep, I am PROUD!!!

Valentine's Day

A special thanks to my thoughtful husband and son for sending me these beautiful flowers. I greatly appreciate it.

We had a fun day in Roanoke celebrating Valentines Day. We went to the mall (Eddy and Logan hate shopping), I know they only agreed to go on my behalf. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner together and enjoyed each others presence. Eddy and Logan, you two are my dear sweethearts!!! I love you both.

LOGAN WITH THE BIG BUCK

This deer had a 16 inch spread and 9 inch tines. Its only a 5 pointer but its HUGE! Although Logan is sitting with the deer....he didn't kill it...his dad did.

What a fun time I had at the annual Pajama Jam with my mom, sisters and nieces. The Pajama Jam is an annual event to raise money for Cancer Awareness. We enjoyed seeing Jake Owen (whew, he's a hottie), Josh Thompson and James Otto, all country singers that are seen on CMT. The event was held at Hotel Roanoke and there were 900 women attending, all wearing pajamas! My pajamas were the coolest of all ( UVA ) and not to mention, I was in " VA TECH country."

I know you all are familiar with the amount of snow that has fallen here in Lexington in the past month. This picture was taken in mid December when we got over two feet of snow. Eddy had to actually shovel his way out of the house, the snow was so deep on our deck.
In hearing on the news today, there has been a total of 39 inches of snow that has fallen in Rockbridge County since December 2009. If you think that is a lot, back in 1987 there was a total of 75 inches that had fallen that winter! Now ask yourself, has there been a lot of snow here lately?

When going to visit my brother, Charlie, in West Virginia, we took a trip to see the Black Water Falls. The water rolling off the falls really is black. It occurs from acid from the surrounding trees. Included in the picture with us, are my mom and my brother.

I wanted to share with you all, one of my many favorite pictures of Logan. He was truly into the moment. I wonder what he was thinking? It could have been that he was in search of a deer, maybe.

Yet another family picture of us in the mountains. This was taken at Lindy Point Overlook in the beautiful mountains of West Virginia. As I stood there admiring the awesome work of God, it brought a tear to my eyes. When I am fortunate enough to visit sights such as this, I always take the time to thank the Lord for all of his miraculous creations!

What better way to start my family blog and to share a picture of us in the mountains. This picture was taken on the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway, which we are so blessed to live close by. Eddy, Logan and I absolutely love the mountains.