A Quiet Wood

A Quiet Wood

Friday, June 22, 2007

VACATION!

Well, praise the Lord for a wireless connection. Dial-up makes me ...oooo don't get me started! :) Anyway, it's time. *drum roll* My blog about vacation. Written by "that girl [that] can write." (If you can't lick 'em, join 'em. See the God's Revivalist.) Actually, it is going to be more of a pictorial journey. My creative juices seem to be a bit clogged at the moment. I just don't feel "funny". I mean, I feel funny but not "funny" if you know what I mean.

After my mouse incident (by the way, I never saw him again), I left Cincinnati with my brother and headed to KY to spend some time with friends. Yay! It was so great to be with Derek and Tara and their wonderful family. We also got to see the rest of the Hollingsworth's on Sunday and partake of a LOVELY meal with them. (Go, Mrs. Hollingsworth!) Old friends are so special. (Not that they, themselves are old. Oh dear. I will stop while I'm ahead.)

Tara and I wanted to take a special picture for some mutual friends. You know who you are! This is for you.

OK, enough of that. Brent and I had lots of fun with the kids. I think Tara already posted some of these pics, but I'll repeat a few.

I feel a common bond with this young lady. We both enjoy a flair for the dramatic. :)


Some really fun kids!


Yay for friends!

And so, a great time was had by all, and we left KY with much weeping and rending of garments. We arrived in Tennessee to greet our parents (rent garments and all) and there was much rejoicing. We spent a week in a cabin in the smokies.
It was truly lovely. We enjoyed the sounds of birds singing, donkeys braying, and cows sneezing and blowing loudly from their noses. Weird. Besides our time in the country, we did manage to make time for:

Dollywood, Dixie Stampede, great restaurants in Pigeon Forge,



Cade's Cove,








Ripley's Aquarium






the sky lift in Gatlinburg (wooo),
and watching my brother and a friend (who was visiting with his family) get shot skyward in a bungee swingy thingy.

The heroes of the vacation were my parents (see photo below) who planned and saved and made a very special week for their kids. And, I'm assuming, themselves as well. They seemed to enjoy it. :)

I am now back in the hot, steamy south where the sun beats down and the humidity rises. *snicker* OK, I can't do it anymore. I was trying not to rub it in. But I love it here, and I'm having a wonderful time! *dance of joy* I am a blessed person indeed to have friends in many places, and a family that understands unconditional love. I also understand how unlovable we humans can be at times (especially me), and when I think about that, I feel even more blessed to be loved by some wonderful people. *warm fuzzies all around* Feel free to share in the warm fuzzies. There are plenty. I will continue to update as my adventures continue!

18 comments:

Tara said...

Yay for the Ale8 Bottling Company!

Yay for friends!

Yay for weeping and rending of garments....???

Yay for a young lady who can indeed write~

Yay for Uncle George and Aunt Ruthie

Yay for dramatic flair

Yay for rubbing it in when you get to be in the sun golden city....not Heaven, exactly, ...but celestial all the same:)

(and, might I add, since I'm on a chanting kick apparently: ESCHEW ALIENATION!)

Kimberly said...

I love your Dad in a hat:)
i'm jealous of the chair lift:(
Happy you blogged again!:) Love Ya!

Cindy said...

Ahhhhh (deep sigh of contentment.) That was worth the wait! So glad you had a great vacation...
Thanks for the call today. You're a sweetie. Can't wait to see you very soon!
Love ya...

Anonymous said...

Wow! I have the best friends in the world. Thanks. You move me, yea almost unto weeping. But I shall refrain. No...I'm refraining. Wait...no...I can do this. *sniff*

Philip Brown said...

Is that Daniel Hester? He was just a kid when we left SC... 5 years ago? So glad that you're back in steamy, muggy, hot FL! It was 65 here today....ahhhhhhhhh ;o) You do indeed have fabulous parents and are very blessed. Love,Marianne

Anonymous said...

Yes, Marianne, that is Daniel. He and Brent are pals, and Daniel's family happened to be visiting Gatlinburg at the same time we were. 65? That just doesn't seem right somehow. Ah well, enjoy it. :)

Josh said...

Yay for a great blog!
-Josh

emily said...

Hi Sonja!
I am delurking for a minute to say that I love your blog & am proud that as DOW at GBS you did not show any pictorial evidence of rending your garments.
I just wanted to say thanks also so much for taking such wonderful care of my 'lil Rachel all year...E.R. trip etc. She thinks the world of you. It has been fun having her home. Tonight she was crowned "Dauphin County Dairy Princess"...hmm...such a different world out here. I had never heard of such things in my experiences in the golden city.
Glad you all had a fun vacation. There is nothing like getting away with people you love.
Take care!
Emily

Truckin Teeds said...

You may not remember us from Hobe Sound, but we're great fans of your parents! They're WONDERFUL! Anyway, I'm enjoying your blog! Take care!

Tim and Sharron Teed

Sharlyn said...

Where does one get rented garments? heeheee! I'm glad you are enjoying your summer.

Anonymous said...

Hey, Josh! Welcome. :)

Emily,
Great to hear from you. Thanks for delurking. By the way, Rachel is wonderful. I think she is such a cool kid. I'm sure she deserves any honors she receives. :)

Hey, Sharron.
I do remember you! Thanks for visiting and for your kind comments.

Shar,
Rent garments are very hard to come by. Specialty stores mostly. :)

lauralavon said...

So enjoyed the pics and getting to see a little of your vacation! Tell your folks and Brent hello from the Fergusons!

kayla said...

Poor Harold! He had nightmares last night about all of our friends posting pictures of the Ale8 company.
I enjoyed all the laughs yesterday and can't wait to play Balderdash tonight. jab, jab

Kelly S said...

I was vacationing there at the same time! I actually saw your parents and we waved at each other across the street. Wasn't a good place to cross and when I finally did cross, I tried to find them. Was going to see if I could treat them to ice cream, but to no avail. They looked so sweet in that crowd - strolling hand in hand. I trust David and I can still be in love like that when we're their age. Wish I could have waved at you too! Would have bought you ice cream too:)

Marty said...

Love the pics!!!

GO ALE 8!!!

Making Memories 1999 said...

Enjoyed your vacation blog!! I think I saw you sitting by your dear mother on the archived version of Sunday night's installation of Bro. Wolf.

BTW, I love your blog and your humor!! Reminds me of your dear papa! Once when the church office needed coffee, he came down with a piece of paper. On it was scribbled something like this:

cauffee (crossed out)
kauffey (crossed out)
kaffey (crossed out)
coffy (crossed out)
BREW!!!

Julia said...

To: That girl that can write!

I know they had to clean the seat after GBV was done being SLUNG! Insane!

So glad you had a nice time with your fam.

I am however, disappointed in Tara. To take you to ALE 8 parking lot where the noxious gasses spewing forth from the place could worsen your heart condition.

Anonymous said...

Becca,
Thanks for the story about my dad. It sounds just like him! He is really enjoying his new role as the visitation pastor to our senior community. I think he's good at it!

Juwah,
GBV actually seemed to enjoy it. (I think the mess was small.) Not sure that his head is right. And my heart seemed to do OK after the Ale8 parking lot. I just felt slightly woozy. :)

Kelly,
My parents mentioned that they saw you. Hope you guys had a great time. Ice cream would have been nice.

Kayla,
Enjoyed Balderdash! Will post more shortly.