A Craley Christmas

As usual, this is long overdue.

The Craley Clan came down to spend our first Christmas in our new house with us, and we did some pretty neat stuff! On Christmas night we went to the Bristol Motor Speedway which sponsors a light display to benefit children's charities. Naturally, most of the pics are blurry, but I'll post a couple to give you the idea. The best part of this is that you get to drive a lap on the speedway itself - the fastest half-mile in racing! It was very cool. The Craleys on the track...... There is a Christmas Village in the center (or pit area) of the track. We had funnel cake and hot chocolate and the kids bought a huge bag of popcorn which Tom and I are still eating. They had rides for little kids and a couple of fun houses with big slides at the end. You should have seen me....no, on second thought, it's better you didn't.

All of the displays were really neat, like this volcano and palm tree, which was right next to the dinosaur and just above the giant shopping cart, which was my favorite. Highly recommended! I'm sure we'll have to go every year just so Tom can drive on the track.

We all spent a lot of time in jammies, reading, and doing not much of anything. The girls are into the Twilight books by Stephanie Meyer, so one afternoon all the girls raced to Abingdon to see the movie. It was great, and I expect the highpoint of the whole trip for Lexi!

It was pretty nice while they were here, so we seized the opportunity to get Lexi on the swinging bridge across the Clinch River. Last summer when they were here, we encountered bees and only Cait, Mike and I made it up on the bridge that time. The scenery is not quite as pretty in the winter as in the summer, but it's fun crossing these old bridges any time.

Three generations of bridge walkers....

Another day we took a hike. I had wanted to try to find the house Aunt Doretta Peters lived in when she was young, so we parked at the switchback on Manville Road and walked down to the cemetery where Robert and Minerva Penley are buried. Their house is just down over the hill, so we visited that, and then hiked up the road to Aunt Doretta's house. That's another post -- but here's a picture from that day. The little orange dot is Caiti's hat.

I hope they had as much fun as I did!

Anderson Family Photo Shoot

Jen's husband, Matt, works at the York Daily Record newspaper in York, PA. Every Christmas one of the photographers does a photo shoot for employees and their families. Here are a few shots of Matt, Jen and the girls. Two smiles and two half-smiles. Not bad!

The littlest member of the family - Ella Nicole Anderson

A shot of Jen with Chloe, who got a little shy.....

I hope the bad photographer who made this little elf cry, got coal in his stocking. But I have to admit, it's a cute picture!

Gone to a Better Place

I'm sorry to report that John Fred Penley, son of John T. and Cynthia Jane "Jennie" Forbes Penley passed away on November 10, 2008. He had been a patient at Holston Manor Nursing and Rehab Center since April. He returned to Kingsport from Abbottstown, Pennsylvania after being diagnosed with cancer.

We all miss him. Above, Uncle Fred is pictured with Bertha Collins Forbes, who is the sister of Fred's late wife, Betty. She is the widow of Simon Fanning Forbes Jr., the youngest son of Simon and Margaret Morgan Forbes, and the half-brother of my grandmother, Jennie Forbes Penley. Bertha lives in Kingsport. This photo was taken in September 2008.

Sgt. John Fred Penley

A memorial service was held in the atrium at Holston Manor. A bluegrass band played a few songs, Tom Landis and Vicki Byington sang "You Are My Sunshine," and military honors were performed . Below, the flag is presented to Randy Penley.

An interesting coincidence....

Fred died on November 10, which is my birthday.

My Dad, Roy, died on December 25, which is the birthday of Fred's daughter and my cousin, Jane.

Gravely Road

Just wanted to share these two photos for anyone who is interested in the Penley family history. My cousin, Randy Penley, found this photo of my Dad, Roy J. Penley, in a box of old pictures that his Dad, J. Fred Penley, had. The photo was taken in front of the family home on Gravely Road, Kingsport, TN. In the spring, my Uncle Fred and I went to visit the same house. As you can see, it's been fixed up some, but is still easily recognizable. I was so thrilled to have this picture of Daddy in front of the house, so we can see just what it looked like when the Penleys lived there. Uncle Fred remembered when this house was built and told us about it. There is a previous post with more info.

Let's Hear It For the Boys

I posted lots of pictures of girls, and the boys have got to be feeling neglected. My niece, Sarah, sent a photo of her two boys, Aidan and Kieran, in a Christmas card, and I was struck by how much Aidan looks like my Dad, his great-grandfather, Roy J. Penley. So I pulled a few pictures of Daddy, and you can compare them to Sarah's photo at the bottom.

I don't know who this girl is.....if anybody else knows, please send an email and let me know!

Aidan and Keiran Christmas, sons of Sarah and Geoff Christmas. Sarah is the daughter of Connie Rebecca Penley (she now goes by Rebecca Forbes), and granddaughter of Roy and Zella (Peters) Penley.

Growing Up

I just wanted to post a few of my favorite photos from my visit to Pennsylvania in October. I hadn't seen Chloe since April, and then she wouldn't even let anyone hold her, except for Matt and Jen. But they grow so fast those first few years, and six months makes a lot of difference.
Now she lets everybody hold her....well, she did in October. Now that she's really walking, I don't think she sits still long enough for anybody to hold her. We were reading books and she grabbed my glasses off my face and put them on. Yes, she really did that all by herself. And Matt got the shot. Hats off to Matt! This is one of my most favorite favorites!

In the shot above, Chloe is really just beginning to fuss, but you can't really tell. Poor Jen looks so tired....and she probably will for a little while longer, as Ella is not a good sleeper. Hang in there, Jen!

Chloe loves books - though lately she's not been sitting still for those either, according to Jen's blog. But, here she did.

She was a little late walking, and when I was there she was just learning to push this toy around and walk with it by herself. Doesn't she look proud?

Is there anything cuter than a baby in the bath? I don't think so. Here are two shots of Chloe all snuggly and warm after her bath.

And, here's the one her Mom will use to keep her in line when she's 16. "Shape up kiddo, or the boyfriend sees the Mohawk!"

Hee, hee!!

Girls, Girls, Girls

I'm really a bad blogger. Don't post a thing for months at a time, and then go into overdrive.
Anyway, I promised pictures of our fourth, and newest granddaughter, Ella, and never did post them. So here they are, a little late, but we'll catch up.
This is Jennie and Ella about a week to 10 days after she was born. I made a quick trip to Pennsylvania just to see her, and Chloe, and Jennie and Matt.

Nadja came over with Lexi and Cait while I was there so luckily, I got some photos of all four granddaughters together. Below are the oldest, Lexi, who'll be 15 (Holy Cow - 15!) in April, and the youngest, Ella, about 2 weeks old here. She was born September 19, so will soon be four months old.

And here we have Cait, and Chloe, and Lexi, and Ella.

And here are all six of our beautiful, beautiful girls - Jennie, Ella, Cait, Lexi, Nadja, and Chloe.

You can read all about the crazy goings-on at the Anderson house by visiting Jen's blog at www.lullabyeleague.spaces.live.com At least, I think that's it. I'll check.

Do You Think His Tractor's Sexy?

You'll like this. You will laugh and shake your head and say, "They're crazy." And you won't be wrong.

We moved from Aunt Monnie's to our new house using only the jeep and the van. You know, Tom's the kind of guy who likes to do things himself. So, that's what we did. We did have some help from my cousin, Randy, and his wife, Linda, thank goodness, on the Saturday we moved the biggest furniture. Unfortunately, it started to snow, and we got just enough to coat the roads, but that's another story.....

So, anyway, how do you move a lawn tractor with a jeep or a minivan? Might have been tough. So, Tom decided to simply drive the tractor home. It's about six miles. Took him about an hour, or a little longer. Mostly, uphill.

I followed him for the first couple of miles, just to make sure, the Deere (and my dear) were up to it. Of course, they were.

Because - here it comes - Nothing runs like a Deere.
Leaving Aunt Monnie's....

Acting goofy....

Crossing the Creek.....

Up past Manville School....

And since, I'm out here, might as well mow a little....

Just another little adventure in the mountains of Scott County.....

Our New House

This is our new house on Manville Road, about nine miles outside Gate City, Virginia. See the big porch on the side? I love that! There's room for a swing, chairs, maybe a little table, possibly even a hammock. If you call from April to October and don't get an answer, it's because I'm outside on the porch. Where no phones are allowed...... This is Tom's garage....hey, there's Tom, too! The garage is actually bigger than it looks. Plenty of room for the boat and a workshop. Cars? In the garage? Do you mean, can we park the cars actually inside the garage? Well, uh, no, I don't think so.....We park down beside the house. In the mud. Which reminds me.....gotta call about getting some stone in there....

Here is Tom on settlement day, at his new front door. Now that's a happy man.

This is the kitchen, which before we moved in was brown. Anyone who saw our kitchen in PA will recognize the color scheme. I love blue and yellow in the kitchen. So cheery. We just about killed ourselves trying to get this done before we moved in. Thankfully, cousin Barbara came over and stayed a few days to help! We did manage to get the cupboard doors on before the Christmas party, but just barely. We still have to paint one baseboard (hey Tom, hint, hint) and put up a border above the cupboards. Then we're done. At least for now.

This is one shot of the living room. See that door, it leads out to the PORCH! Y'all come sit.

We have a big picture window at the front, the better to watch the roosters on the hill, and the dogs sleeping in the road. Yep, the dogs sleep in the road here. That's how much traffic we have. Mostly the traffic is just those of us who live here, so we know to keep an eye out for napping dogs. Minnie and Chotti have enormous fun standing on the couch and barking at the dogs moseying by. Thankfully, the dogs outside just ignore the dogs going crazy inside.

Now, this is where it gets interesting! The reason we really, really bought this house is the fact that there is a little mother-in-law apartment in the basement. It's nothing fancy, but it does have a little kitchen, a bedroom and a sitting/dining area, and as soon as we buy a fancy new toilet, it will have it's own full bath. (A pipe collapsed, and we are going to get a toilet with a pump to join the existing line, and (sound of snapping fingers, here) presto, we'll have a second bath. ) I know, that's more than you really needed to know. As Jennie would say, too much information! Still, I wanted all you prospective visitors to see that you'll really have your own space. With your own fridge, your own microwave, and soon, your own bath. Pets welcome.

This is the bedroom downstairs. We put three beds in it for the Craleys.

Mike camped out in the sitting room with Tucker and the Christmas tree.

You can just get a glimpse of the woodstove here, which does work, and adds a nice country ambiance. The Craleys used two little electric heaters, which kept them nice and toasty warm.

Upstairs there are three bedrooms, but I'm using one as an office/sewing room/toy box. That's where I am now. But we will also have a guest room upstairs for single visitors or those who don't want to do steps.

We're going to like it here!

Room With a View

I know it's been months since I posted anything at all. I'll try to catch up over the next couple of weeks, because lots has happened...

...I made a trip to PA to meet our newest granddaughter, Ella. Lots more pictures to post there!

...We bought a house further up Manville Road. It was sad to leave Aunt Monnie's, but it is good to have a place big enough to have company, and to do genealogy, and make doll clothes. And Tom has an enormous garage to "work" (read "play") in, and the doggies don't have to go up and down slippery steps in the rain. They hated that.

...We had a little Christmas party for the Peters clan. Not too many people came, but I hope those who did enjoyed themselves. This is going to be an annual event and hopefully, more folks will be able to make it next year. Mark your calendars now - second Sunday in December!

...Nadja, Mike, Lexi, and Cait came for Christmas and we had lots of fun. Drove on the track at Bristol Speedway, road the chairlift in the dark at Natural Tunnel, and all the girls went to see the Twilight movie. All we can say about that is: WOW!

So, we've been busy.....and still, I've been spending most of my time just looking out of windows, trying to believe that we're really here. With views like this, it's hard not to look.

Yes, this was the view from the back of our house on Thursday, when we had a few snow showers come through. It had mostly melted by mid-day and the cows were back on the hillside soaking up the sun.

You have to admit, it's prettier than a computer screen.