New Year's Eve Party

Dwayne & I hosted a New Year's Eve party.

There were 18 of us who got together to celebrate.

Trent & Renee joined us.

Some of our tasty snacks.


It was 25 degrees when we went outside to make noise at midnight. Brrr!

Devin, Derrik, Heath & Shane Holladay (second cousins)

Sandra West and her daughter Brittany who now lives in California.

Dirt Bikes

The boys got told by a cop that they're not allowed to ride their dirt bikes on the undeveloped property next to ours, so now they're relegated to the yard. Actually, Derrik isn't able to ride yet because of his knee. His dad makes sure that his dirt bike gets ran a little.

We do have helmets, however, Dwayne doesn't insist on them while they're in the yard at a relatively slow speed.

Derrik is Walking

Derrik got his full leg brace and one crutch taken away in mid-December. Over the holiday he started walking again with no crutches. I was sneaky and called him in order to capture this video of him walking. He's getting faster and smoother with each day.

Pellet Guns

Devin set this soda bottle in the crook of a tree and shot into the neck and out through the bottom from a distance of about 30 yards. Not too bad shooting!

The men, boys and even I had a little fun shooting at seed pods in the pond and a sign by the driveway.

Christmas

Margaret Ann had a big crew to cook for. There were sixteen of us for breakfast and dinner. It was all superb and now my $10 is seriously at stake that I put in the pot at Curves to not gain any weight over the holidays.

Rocky loves Christmas as much as the kids.








Dwayne is enjoying his coffee and watching the kids.



Christmas morning, the kids have to pose on the basement steps before running to see what's waiting for them. The little blonde girl is Brooke Riley, Kay's niece.

Devin got a bag of coal in the gift game we played. Once he dumped out the coal he found a $10 gift card to Target, but at first he wasn't sure if there was going to be anything else in the bag.

Striper Fishing

Dwayne & Darrell took the three kids with good legs fishing out on the Potomac River one cold, wintry day. A few days later, they took Butch & Larry Riley to the Chesapeake Bay for some night fishing. Devin went along, too. This is the catch they could keep from the night of fishing. They caught more, but the fish have to be within a certain size to be kept. They left here at 4:00 pm and returned home at 4:00 am. The biggest fish is Devin's! It weighed 10 1/2 lbs.

Bowling, Franklin & Co. Christmas Party

Our annual office Christmas party is held at a co-worker's home who really goes all out with the Christmas decorations and has plenty of space for 30-40 guests.

This is Jimmy & Karen who we went to the beach with in the fall.

These are our two new employees for 2008. Trey, with his new wife, Jen graduated from college and came straight to work for us.

Gail, with her husband, Tom started with us in the fall after her previous employer died suddenly.

This is the couple whose home we all invade--Bill & Stacye. (and no, I didn't spell her name wrong)

Dwayne & I enjoying another night of delicious food -- ham, prime rib, roasted sweet potatoes, green beans...mmm!

Dinner in the Rotunda at UVA

It is a special event to have dinner in the historical Rotunda on the UVA grounds. The students in the McIntire School of Business and a date had a Christmas dinner there during their December class session.

Dwayne is in the back and to the left of the lady in red.

Kurt Hockaday & Dwayne are both in the program. Christy gave me a ride down and back, which made the trip much more fun.

The meal was tasty! We had ham, cherry-glazed duck, fruit, salads, bread and more.

Wii Bit of Fun

We had a few Wii challenges. We mostly stuck to bowling & golf, but there were a few cattle races and tennis & boxing matches.

We also had a round of fitness. Devin's Wii age was 23. Dwayne's Wii age was 34. I gave it a go and got a 60 something! The real kicker was when my dad took a turn at it and got age 45.

We even got Grandma & Auntie Frances competing. Frances had a great time, but I think Grandma was just appeasing us.

Yearbook Photos

Do you recognize these faces with the new hairdos? We had fun with this website, but it's now closed until the summer of 2009.

Corbin's 10th Birthday

Corbin is now in the double digits. All the family came to celebrate with a supper of hamburgers, hot dogs and ice cream cake the weekend after his birthday.

Family Visits

My parents and grandma came to spend Thanksgiving with us. We enjoyed lots of family time playing games and laughing hysterically.

Dad, Dwayne & Devin played their own version of Jenga, which is a bit challenging.

Grandma stayed at Auntie Frances' house. They met at our wedding 20 years ago and became fast friends.

The boys & Rocky with both sets of grandparents.

Dad & Devin had many chess games.

Grandma & I freezing our tails off outside. Brrr! We are having an exceptionally cold fall in this area.

Garden of Lights

When Mom & Dad visited in the spring, we toured the Lewis Ginter Gardens. We decided to go back again and see it in a new "light".

We took Grandma & Frances with us too. They especially enjoyed the trains in the atrium and the doll houses in the library.

Thanksgiving

We had a smaller group for dinner this year than usual, but the meal was still magnificent and the guests weren't too bad either. :) Everyone brings a side dish & dessert, which is very helpful.

Deer Hunt

Dwayne went to Montana with his parents for a deer hunt on my aunt & uncle's ranch. He shot a few deer with the camera, but never found the one he shot with his bow. He was not happy about that!
Farley got this nice buck.

Dwayne did bring home the buck he shot there last year.

Basement Progress

Mom & Dad helped us get the basement a little more presentable. We hung some of the boys' artwork, made the bathroom more user friendly and arranged the furniture in a more functional manner.

The ping pong table got a fair bit of use during their visit. That was the first time Dad had attempted to play since his stroke and he surprised himself by still being a reasonably good player.

The foosball table sits in the area near the pantry and bathroom.

Putting up the deer heads in Dwayne's office was a bit tricky. The end result looks pretty good. Now he just needs time to sort through the clutter on his floor.