Camera # 2

We used the new camera, a FujiFilm, S1000 to take the following photos on Sunday. M & D Burton joined our church during the Sunday morning service. This is a milestone for us as we have been in the ministry for 30 years and this is the first time we've had family members as church members.

After church we went to Cootie Brown's for lunch. The atmosphere in this restaurant is eclectic at it's best! They have old flatware and kitchen equipment hanging from very traditional chandeliers. I don't know if you can tell from these photos?

The outside windows are garage doors. The weather was perfect and they were raised for fresh air. It was refreshing. Of course, the bee that decided to join us for lunch was a very unwelcomed guest!

The border you see on the wall behind us is old pieces of broken china.

Beautiful!

The food was tasty too! DH had the best fried shrimp! He shared one and then generously gave me another. YUM! Our table also had a chicken salad, vegetable plate, and grilled chicken sandwiches. No one left the table hungry!

What do you think of the new camera? I think it may be a keeper.

I am praying you are having a wonderful week in your neck of the woods.

XOXO

Theresa

Happy September!

I have a new camera! I love it! Actually, I have two new cameras. One for school and one for home. Kodak Z1285 took the pictures below.

I thought you might like to see a picture of Nikki, the cat. She moved in with us three weeks ago tonight. She has adjusted well to her new surroundings. She loves it on Wednesday nights when the kids come home for supper after a "bowling" class in Kingsport. They get in the floor and play. Here she is showing love.
Mom and Dad Burton helping me celebrate my birthday.

Yes, I had a birthday this week.

My beautiful daughter and her sweet boyfriend brought me this "pretty in pink" cake. It not only looks pretty, it was very tasty. Thank you all so much. I love you!

The flowers below were sent to my by my sweet sisters. It was a nice surprise waiting for me when I came home from school. I can't remember the last time I received flowers. Thank you all for remembering me!

I also received several cards with well wishes. I had so much fun opening the cards and reading the precious words. I felt loved. Thanks!

I hope you have a wonderful fall weekend.

XOXO

Theresa

Thankful Friday

What are you thankful for?

I am thankful for a husband that is committed to our marriage, for children that not only make me proud to be called mom but are an example to their peers in their Christian faith. I am thankful for parents that loved me and gave me a childhood that was "perfect" for me! I am thankful for the parents that I acquired at the age of 19 when I became a wife. I am thankful for sisters that inspire me, for a niece and great-nephew, I love to brag about them!

I am thankful for friends that have encouraged me to continue on the journey, even if the road is bumpy and full of pot holes!

I am thankful for a career that allows me to earn money doing what I truly love.

I am thankful for the educators that prepared my lessons, even when they felt unappreciated. I am thankful for colleagues that are committed to the philosophy "all children can learn". I am thankful for an administration that offers encouraging words after I have fumbled the task before me. I am thankful for the young people in my life that are willing to tackle any challenge I throw their way. I am thankful for each and every name that is on in my roll book. I am thankful for the young man in my class who encourages me with his strength. He is 17 years old and taking chemotherapy.

I am most thankful for a God above who loved me enough to send His one and only Son to save me from my sin.

What are YOU thankful for?

Safe and Sound!

I am happy to report, "Mom and Dad" Burton have arrived safe and sound! Nikki(cat) seems to be adjusting well. Greg and two men from our church drove to Louisville on Thursday to load up the truck. They arrived in TN around 5:30 on Friday evening. We've had a fun day shopping for new bedroom furniture for them . Luckily the furniture store was able to deliver the things this afternoon. The bed's been made, the computer set up, once we find our bedclothes all will be good! LOL

I am so sad to not be able to show photos of our new adventure. My camera went on a trip to Israel and did not survive the trip. Thank goodness the humans did. Of course, when I discovered the demise of my camera they almost came to an end. Hopefully, I will be able to replace it soon. Sometimes good things come to those who wait.

I hope and pray you are enjoying this Labor Day weekend.

XOXO

Theresa

Blessings

God is beginning a new journey in the Burton Family.

After many hours of persuasion and prayer, the dear people below have graciously agreed to leave familiar surroundings and join us in TN. Please keep them in your prayers as they make this journey. We are overjoyed with the opportunity for us to spend quality time with them, no traveling required!

In order to make this transition as easy as possible, the attic space in our bonus room is being converted into a walk in closet. I am putting all pride aside when I show you the "before" photos. When we moved into this house, I'm afraid we were in a hurry to get settled and "dumped" the things we had no idea what to do with in this space. UGH!

This shot was taken as you first walk into the space and to the right.

This photo gives you an idea of the left side of the attic.

There are a lot of memories in this space. See that "My Size" Barbie? I can remember the Christmas Santa brought that doll. She really was the same size as the little girl that received her. Where has all the time gone? (I realize I ask this question a lot. ) That same little girl will be going back for her 2nd year of college life in just a few weeks.

Two very gifted and generous men in our church family( C., A's boyfriend, & his grandfather) began the tedious work this morning of turning that attic space into a closet.

I will show you those pictures later. They began at 9:00 this morning and didn't stop until after 6:00 this evening. I am worn out and all I did was make them a peach pie!

This story will continue for several days/weeks. We are hoping to have the major portion of the renovations completed before DH and Middle Son leave for Israel on a mission trip. Say a prayer! Pray for the people that are working, for God to give them good health, energy and strength. A million (ok, I'm exaggerating) trips have to be made up and down the staircase in order for the project to come together. I'm hoping that counts as exercise. LOL

Sending

XOXO

Theresa

Wonderful, Wonderful Vacation

We're home! I wish you had been with me this week. It really was the most wonderful vacation. Several years ago, my DH went to a minister's conference on Daufuskie Island.

He came back and shared how beautiful this place was and that we both were going the next year. I did, fell in love with it and we have made an effort to return each summer for rest and relaxation.

One of the cool things about this Island, which is just off the South Carolina Coast from Hilton Head Island, you can't drive to it. You park your car at HH and then ride a ferry for about 45 minutes.

My handsome husband on the ferry ride to the island. Once you sit down in that ferry you begin to automatically relax. You can see dolphins swimming in the water on this ride. We arrived on Monday evening, on Tuesday, the two beautiful people below came over.
We swam, the guys played golf, I read two books, I'll tell you about them later, and basically, relaxed. It was WONDERFUL!
They had to catch the trolly to catch the ferry on Thursday evening. DH and I didn't leave until Friday morning.

Did I mention how wonderful this was?

A and C are still in HH with his family and will be coming back tomorrow. She has her camera which has most of the photos we took.

I'm back on the homefront. I have a few days left before school begins. They are already filled with things to do, but that's another story.

God Bless,

XOXO

Theresa

Happy Birthday America!

I hope you are celebrating America's birthday in a fun, relaxing way.

The best gift we could have been given for this birthday party was rain!

Rain it did!

Thank you God for this beautiful gift.

My sweet DH decided we should have an interesting view from the kitchen window.

Feed the birds!

He brought a shepherd's hook home and hung the bird food from it, thinking the squirrels wouldn't be able to climb it. Well, I'm not sure if they climbed it or jumped up, either way, the squirrels ate the birds food.

Silly squirrels!

When my Dad was here he suggested we feed the squirrels and they would leave the bird food alone. We now have another shepherd's hook, this one placed more towards the back of the yard. I'm looking forward to watching how the squirrels respond to their own food source, or if they, like many of us, think the "grass" is greener on the other side.

Wishing you a Blessed Day.

XOXO

Theresa

Summer Sewing

I hope you are enjoying this beautiful summer! I know I am.

I always set sewing goals for myself for the summer time.

This is a project I began a few months ago. Unfortunately, as with a lot of my "projects" it got put on the back burner.

A sweet baby was born in our church this past spring. I wanted to make her an outfit. When I saw the lady bug fabric I knew this was IT. Hopefully, you can tell from the bottom photo, the top is a halter, type. Instead of using a button to keep it in place, I chose to use red ribbon. I love red ribbon on babies!

I had forgotten how much fun it is to sew for babies. Actually, it is a lot more fun now, I don't have to sew while the babies are sleeping. LOL

I think I am going to invest in ribbon tags.

I've been using the fabric paper that you run through your computer printer and then iron onto your projects. While these have served the purpose, I think I'm ready to invest in my new adventure.

I have several projects I need to finish.

It will be time for school to start before I know it!

God Bless!

OXOX

Theresa

YUM!

Do you remember this?

Approximately 10 weeks ago my wonderful hubby built and planted this small garden.

In no time, those small plants began to grow. I know this photo is blurry, it was misting rain the day I took this photo.

Yesterday, I walked into the kitchen to see these lying on my table.

My sweet hubby had been in the garden.

Aren't they beautiful?

I had one for supper last night and one for breakfast.

They are so tasty.

There is something about a tomato from the garden. Thank you God for giving us fresh vegetables.

Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so.

Genesis 1:11

May God Bless you on this beautiful summer day.

XOXO's

Theresa

Summer Fun!

Cumberland Falls, KY.

If you haven't had a chance to stop by there, I highly recommend you find the time.

Absolutely gorgeous!

DH and I had an awesome time with five, recent HS graduates.

Our first night was spent here.

The five young people below are heading to college this fall. They are obviously, the cream of the crop! Two of the young ladies will be playing college basketball this next year. The other is majoring in Physical Therapy. One of the young men is planning on the mission field in sports ministry and the other is planning a career in medicine. How blessed those college campuses will be to have them. It is exciting to see what God has planned for their lives!

God Bless all of you!

Moonbow!

Have you ever heard of such a thing?

There are only two places in the world this phenomenon occurs, one is in Africa, the other, Cumberland Falls, KY.

If you read the information on the board below, you realize that conditions must be perfect in order for this to occur. Yes, it happened while we were there!

We were told by the waitress to go around 11:15 p.m. We thought that was a little late, but nonetheless we decided it would be a small sacrifice. The moon didn't arrive until after midnight. It was almost 12:30 a.m. before the bow appeared.

While the moonbow was amazing, I was more amazed with how many people were there to see it. I saw people with strollers, walkers and canes. I estimate there were over 200 people gathered around that falls in the darkest of the night, waiting for the moon to come over the mountain. Yes, I took a picture, then accidently deleted it. UGH!

Oh well. See it I did.

We were too close to the original KFC to not stop for lunch.

This is now a national historic site.

On Tuesday, we went to Roan Mountain.

Notice the beautiful flowers? They are rhododendrons and grow naturally on Roan Mountain.

Each year they have a festival to showcase the beautiful mountain. The picture does not do it justice.

Dad and P.

We had so much fun! It was nice to be with them.

Dad and DH trucked up a mountain to see the opening of an ore mine. P. and I enjoyed the rocking chairs on the porch upon meeting a lady hiker who informed us that it was a very rough trail. We chose wisely! LOL
I hope you are enjoying your summer days!

XOXO

Theresa

TV Chest

I thought you might enjoy seeing what the TV is now sitting on. This is the chest the mirror belongs to. With the doors open we have the perfect place for the video equipment. With them closed it looks like a nice cabinet. Not bad for a bargain hunter.

Mirror Continued

Do you have any idea how hard it is to photograph a mirror without your mug or the flash being seen? It is not easy!

I do love the detail on this mirror.

I found this embroidery piece at the same store where I found the blackberries.

I think it is beautiful!

Technology

In case you can't tell, DH is holding a DVD recorder in his hand. We are trying to become technology savy at our house. LOL

This is no easy task.

DVD's are so much more compact than video tapes. I thought...... I'll get hubby a DVD recorder for Father's Day and he will be so thrilled to learn new tech skills, he will transfer all our old family videos to DVD's.

What was I thinking?

It is GOLF season!

The weather is beautiful, the golf clubs are ready to go, and the DVD recorder is still in it's packaging. Oh well, it will sit patiently in that box until someone remembers that it is there.

I am trying to learn the new software program that DH gave me for Mother's Day. You see an example of it in the picture above and below. I love that white soft border around photos. Of course, it required one 18 year old (C) to leave me step by step instructions that I have taped to my computer screen in order to do this. I almost have that skill down. If I could figure out how to get those adjusted photos to a folder on the computer that will easily allow me to place them on this blog, I would be in tech heaven.

Unfortunately, I only know one way, so, in order for you to see the mirror I told you about, I am posting twice today.

Before:

After:
A

Close up, under the "pagan" tree.

Missed Birthdays

The dear lady in this photo had a birthday last week. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I hope it was wonderful. I wish I had been there. We will celebrate in a few days when she makes a trip to TN.

It is amazing to me how quickly time goes by.

I know, I know, I keep saying this, but truly,

it seems like just last month that I was in KY holding this adorable, 6 week old baby boy.

He was born with all of that hair! He is the sweetest most adorable baby.

Last Tuesday this adorable, beautiful, baby boy turned

1!

Oh, I wish I would have been there! Hopefully, we will be able to visit soon.

I have it on good authority that he is the smartest child!

Honestly, he is blessed to have amazing Christian parents.

Keep up the good work!

Love and kisses,

Theresa

Time Flies!

It stands to reason, I should have more projects finished. School is out!

NOT!

I am teaching summer school. I love summer school. It is the time to teach in a relaxed setting.

I only have one more week.

Hopefully, I will begin to get caught up on a few things. Number one project I want to get caught up on is pictured below.

Before

We purchased this TV three years ago, Father's Day weekend when we moved into this house.

We love the TV but have struggled with something to sit it on. For a couple of years it sat on a Wal-Mart tv stand(it is not the chest you see above). While that served the purpose, aesthetically speaking, it left a lot to be desired.

We decided at Christmas we would look for an antique chest or sideboard for this purpose. A friend mentioned we should attend the auctions on Tuesday nights. He knew we would find just what we wanted, for a very reasonable price. Several Tuesdays, my DH attended the auctions, only to be out bid on every item by local antique dealers. This became very frustrating.

We brought down the cedar chest above, from AMB's room. Our TV has been sitting on that since just after Christmas. Memorial Day weekend, while listening to the radio I heard an advertisement of a furniture store going out of business. If you have any idea of my history with furniture stores you would probably begin laughing at this very moment.

Sure enough, we go to the store, I knew the minute I saw the chest, "This is it!" It had scratches on it, which was ok with me. The price was a little below what we had budgeted for the item, and I knew it would have a few scratches living in my house. When DH and CM went to the store to pick up the chest, they were told they had to go to the warehouse. DH told the lady, this chest has our name on it, she agreed, but said, he was still to pick one up from the warehouse. They bring home two huge boxes of furniture. One has a chest in it, the other the mirror that goes on the back of the chest. I really didn't need nor want the mirror.

When they opened the chest box, it was not the one I had picked out. It is beautiful, has no scratches and by all who had seen the one that was chosen, this one was a step up, quality wise. You see the efforts of DH and CM putting it all together.

CM came to the rescue. He not only has a great head on his shoulders, he also has a grandfather with a truck full of the correct tools. Within no time, they had cut a whole in the back of the chest for all the cords to go through. It took a little longer to get the surround sound hooked up, but CM stayed with the task until it was done!

THANK YOU!

I wasn't going to post these pictures until I had the after photos but due to my school schedule and a 4 day trip to Gatlinburg for a conference, I have not had a chance to get the new piece of furniture photo worthy. LOL

Part 2 of this story is the absolutely beautiful mirror that came with this chest.

You will have to keep checking back for that story.

XOXO

Theresa