Christmas Day

Spent Christmas Day with Dad and Wanda. They made a fabulous meal which we transferred across the street to share with Grammy and the rest of
the family. It was a great afternoon! Of course, my favorite part was watching Mackenzie unwrap gifts and play with Dora's Magic Castle...

Christmas Eve

I joined Mom and Jim for their traditional Christmas Eve dinner in Colonial Williamsburg. Mom's best friend Susan, her husband John, Cindy Ann and Big Mike came along as well. We had a great dinner and spent some time walking around after dinner. The pictures of the buildings came out a little dark, but I think you can get the general idea from them how beautiful things were. The building that looks more like a home is Christiana Campell's (where we had dinner). The other building is the Williamsburg Inn.

The Big Move

Mom and Jim are moving back to Northern Virginia! Their offer on a house in Alexandria was accepted last Friday and it looks like they are going to close November 21. Here is a pic of them with their house!

Pittman-McCrary Wedding

The big event was this past weekend at Grandfather Golf and Country Club in Linville, NC.
Both begin App alums, and this being their homecoming weekend, it was a perfect decision.
The ceremony was out on the golf course next to the water... Of course the guys all loved that.
We decided another weekend spent in the area is in order as soon as we can find the time!

Pittman's Bachelorette

While many pictures are not appropriate for online posting... We all had a great time! A friend of Mike and Rebecca's came over and made us fabulous food, we had a delicious cake from Ganache and a fun night out!

Cole and Kyle's First Day of School

This week I got pictures from the start of Cole and Kyle's school year. Cole is in second grade and Kyle has started kindergarten. It looks like they were both excited for the year to start!

Violent Femmes

I have been so excited about getting to see Violent Femmes in downtown Greensboro. Last night, Lindsay and I headed down there about 7:00. The band that was playing when we arrived were The Avett Brothers. We both enjoyed them. Then, we went to get something to eat while we waited for the big show. They took the stage around 10:30 and played everything that both Lindsay and I were hoping to hear. "Kiss Off" was the encore...just as things should be. It was a GREAT show!

The Big Surprise

I finally made it back from Montana about 10:30 on Tuesday morning. Because I was supposed to be back a little after 9:00 Monday night, this ticked me off a bit. However, everything happens for a reason. I assume the reason I got stranded at Dulles was because Cindy Ann and I have not been able to see each other for quite a while. At least it gave us a few hours together. Unfortunately, I had to go straight from the airport to school when I got back into town. Already being exhausted, I was not exactly happy to see how my office had been redecorated while I was on my trip...I think it would have been a lot funnier had I arrived back as scheduled.

Montana--Final Day

So, the last day in Montana was filled with all kinds of fun. The major celebration for the day was a Cowboy BBQ thrown by several of Kate's parents' friends. We had incredible pulled pork and grilled chicken. On top of that we had some incredibly decadent brownies! Kate's mom told a great story about her trip out to the great,wild west and everyone had a good laugh!


The BBQ Crew








The BBQ Crew had a stamp made with the Holley-Robinett brand. Kate's cousin Abby was fascinated by the stamp and many of us ended up with multiple brands.






Final big event for the weekend...Hanging out in the hottub with Wardo!

Montana--The Wedding

The wedding was incredibly fun! Won't waste time with words...see for yourself.

Montana- The Rehearsal and Ousel Falls

Last night was all about great food and great fun! The officiants got a little silly during the rehearsal...and I had a great view from my seat at the dinner.

This morning I went for a drive and found a hike of about 1 mile that led to Ousel Falls. It was a nice hike and a beautiful waterfall.

Now, I'm off to the wedding!

Montana Phase I

So, I've officially been here for over 24 hours! It is breathtakingly beautiful (check out the picture from my cabin's front porch). We went on a float trip down the Yellowstone River late yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, I did not take pictures on that excursion, as, knowing me, I was sure to drop my camera in the river. Kate and I hiked part of the Beehive Basin trail today and I did take pictures there. Now I'm ready to hang out in the hot tub, take a nap and head to the rehearsal.

The Rainey Renewal

This past weekend, I went to the Rainey's renewal of vows. They did the ceremony in a beautiful hotel in Winston Salem called the Brookstown Inn. Here are some pictures of the festivities!

The Happy Couple

The two little ones were the hit of the party!

This was a really cool idea! Eric and Stephanie had different kinds of cakes as the centerpieces at the tables. Then, when it was time to eat cake, everyone got up and mingled so they could try all the different kinds. My favorite was the banana cake. It had a banana pudding filling (with a great cooked custard, not Cool Whip!)

More Texas

I better get on the ball with posting some more of the Texas pics. Classes start on Monday and life as I know it will be over until my break during the first two weeks of October. Between classes, work and 3 weddings over the next month and a half, I don't expect to have much free time. So...more of Texas!

The Alamo was right across the street from the hotel we stayed in while in San Antonio. It was a little wild for something that you associate from history with being so remote to now be right across from a major hotel and shopping mall!


This is part of the fresco that was originally on the outside of the church at the San Jose mission. The building as a whole is all gray now, but imagine what it must have looked like with this covering the whole exterior!




While walking down Riverwalk in San Antonio we came across this Irish pub. It was one of those places Andy considers to be pretty authentic for an American "Irish" pub. We went in for a pint before we headed to dinner at a place called Pesca. Dinner was amazing! This seafood restaurant we went to actually had a selection of different kinds of oysters. I went with lightly steamed Chesapeake Bay oysters for an appetizer while Jim had fried Virginia oysters as his entree.


Here are Andy and I outside the Hill Country vineyard where we enjoyed a tasting. Some of the wines were not to our liking, but they did have an excellent Chardonnay. In addition, they had a rose called Black-White Spanish. Not very sweet at all, I have to say that it was a rose that I actually liked.



The first two nights in the hill country we stayed at the Gruene River Inn in Gruene, Texas. This was the view from our room's balcony. The Guadalupe River was so clear it was amazing. I really wish I had time to go for a swim, but our days were full of being tourists and golfers. We had a truly wonderful time!

Texas Part I

It has taken me a while, but I'm finally getting around to posting some pictures of the Texas trip.
These two pictures were taken at the Menger Hotel Bar. The bar's design was based on the House of Lords Pub in London. It is rumored that Teddy Roosevelt recruited some of his rough riders here.




















These pictures are from the San Jose Mission in San Antonio. Jim chose for us to visit this mission so we could see what the grounds around the Alamo would have been like before the city took them over. It was beautiful!