Aug

30

Melanie’s Birthday

Filed Under Events, Pictures | Leave a Comment

My parents and brothers came up last weekend to celebrate my birthday. This was the first time the boys have come and the longest my family stayed (Friday night through Sunday afternoon). We had a full house. My parents slept in our bedroom, Andrew and I slept on an air mattress in the extra bedroom, and the boys slept on air mattresses in the living room.

On Saturday we kept busy. In the morning we went over to school and looked around. My family kept wanting to go inside buildings, and I was surprised at how many of them were unlocked. We even went in several that I had never been in before! We were able to look inside one of the dorm rooms. All I have to say is that students at BJU have no right to complain. BJU’s dorm rooms are SO much nicer than this one that we saw. After lunch we took a long walk down to the river and went to some stores. I think most of us ended up taking a nap later in the day.

We celebrated my birthday Saturday night with ribs, salad, baked potatoes, green beans, and sourdough bread. I opened my presents and then we had cake that my mom made. It was yummy.

My family left soon after lunch on Sunday. I think we were all tired out, but we had a nice time together. I’m so thankful they were able to come visit.

Aug

13

Boone Family Vacation

Filed Under Events, Pictures, Travel | Leave a Comment

We had a wonderful time with my dad’s side of the family this past week in Green Mountain, NC, which is just north of Burnsville. We have a wonderful family. There are no fights; everyone willingly pitches in; and we can have fun without alcohol.

I’ll give the highlights of each day below, but there were some regular activites each day. A different crew cooked or cleaned up for every meal. Andrew and I cooked two meals and cleaned up three. It was great to not be in the kitchen for every meal. I know everyone else felt the same way. Another regular event was family devotions in the evening, just as we have done on every family vacation. This summer we sang some songs, had testimonies, and the “young” guys (Michael, Andrew, Nathan, and Brandon) gave a challenge. Each night was such a blessing.

Saturday
Uncle Dave and family took I-81 down from New Jersey, so we invited them to our apartment for lunch. After lunch Stephanie rode with us. We ended up taking NC-197 instead of the interstate. The road still got us there, but it took MUCH longer. We went up and down a mountain and ended up in a valley with several houses and a church or two. Then went up and down another mountain past some more houses and a church or two. This continued for several hours. We finally made it to the house. The driveway was almost worse than the road we had been on. It was steep and narrow, and the last section was all gravel. Brandon got his family’s van stuck on the first attempt. They had to unload some people to shift the weight to the front wheels. We were the last ones to arrive. One of the first things said to us was, “Don’t drink the water. It smells like sulfur!” Sure enough, the water had a strong stench of sulfur.

Sunday
My dad spoke for family devotions in the morning. He spoke longer than the rest of the guys (more like a church service). There was nothing planned for the rest of the day, but in the afternoon some people were going to the town of Green Mountain. I wanted to go along. Green Mountain was not very big. It consisted of a general store (which was closed), a post office, and a Presbyterian church. A few people drove by, but no one was around. My car then went into Burnsville to get more bottled water.

We celebrated Grandpa and Grandma’s 60th wedding anniversary after supper (the reason we all got together in the first place). Grandpa and Grandma, Sharon and Nathan, and Andrew and I played the newlywed game. Uncle Dave had collected questions from everyone to ask Grandpa and Grandma about their marriage. Then we watched a picture slide show and ate pound cake with mashed strawberries.

Monday Read more

Jul

15

Visit from family

Filed Under News, Pictures | Leave a Comment

This past weekend we had a wonderful visit with my mom and grandparents. They stopped in on their way from Michigan to Greenville. The original plan was for them to leave Michigan Saturday morning, but Friday morning they decided to leave that afternoon. They didn’t get in until 2am! The house was full with grandma and grandpa in my bedroom, mom on an air mattress in the extra bedroom, and Andrew and I on an air mattress in the living room.

After a short night of sleep we left mid-morning to go blueberry picking. My aunt Tricia wanted some blueberries, and my mom wanted “a lot.” Unlike last week when we picked, this time the sun was out and it was pretty warm. In about two hours we picked 32 pounds of blueberries! It was about lunch time when we finished, so we had a picnic lunch at the historic bridge nearby. On the way back home we took side trips to drive around Virginia Tech and point out my building at Radford. We were all pretty worn out when we got back, so we took showers and several people took naps.

The evening was a little more relaxing with a short walk, a demonstration of how I do therapy, and conversation. At one point in the conversation, I was accused of not having fruit in the house. I quickly pointed out that there were 32 pounds of blueberries in the fridge.

My mom wanted to leave for Greenville early Sunday afternoon, so after another late start of the day we had church at home and then ate lunch. During lunch we got a rainstorm, so the family didn’t leave until closer to 2pm. Even though the visit was short and it was the hottest few days we’ve had in awhile (which isn’t fun with lots of people in the house without air conditioning) we had a great time.

We enjoy company, so come visit if you get a chance!

Grandpa picking blueberries
Blueberries
Mel, Grandma, and Mom Boone

The blueberry pickers
At the historic bridge
View at the berry patch