JANUARY
We began the year making memories and having a great time at the
Charity Ball fundraiser that benefits the
Crisis Pregnancy Center.
Sheridan loved dancing with Elliott.
We celebrated a raw milk herdshare victory at Bruster's
after the hearing at the General Assembly.
The guys are sweet to choose Sheridan as their valentine.
A much anticipated milestone,
the eleventh birthday,
when the girls could
have their ears pierced.
Done!
Happy birthday, sweet Sheridan!
Sheridan chose Texas Roadhouse for her birthday dinner.
Pajama Day at Bruster's - our favorite ice cream store
MARCH
A trip to Disney's Wilderness Lodge Resort
We schedule our day around the s'mores each evening.
A rainy day gave us lots of time for relaxing
and playing games inside.
We love taking the boat over to Disney Springs or The Boardwalk
for so much evening fun and entertainment.
We enjoyed dinner one night at our favorite pizza place - Giordano's.
It takes about 45 minutes for the pizza to bake
so we came prepared with a card game.
We bought this fixer-upper and began work right away.
It was just a plain, neglected ranch in need of love.
Sullivan worked on electrical issues.
Harrison built window boxes to complement
the new windows and shutters.
There was an ugly well in the front yard so we spruced things up with a
landscaping boulder and flowerbed.
The "boulder" not only became the centerpiece of the yard
but also the focus of many discussions as it turned out to be a piece of junk concrete.
The kitchen cabinets were in disrepair so we ripped them out.
The kitchen walls were covered in wallpaper and clumps of hardened glue.
Sheridan worked so hard to sand the walls smooth.
The fireplace was dated and the woodstove rusted.
So we tried a German smear on it.
Sheridan painted rockers for the front porch.
Sullivan laid carpet tiles in the entertainment room.
Seeing cane chairs were becoming popular,
we found some at a thrift store, recovered the cushions and painted the frames.
Celebrating with a pizza lunch after the deck was finished.
Staging the house to sell - the funnest part!
It's hard, but really rewarding work to take something in disrepair and breathe life back into it. Thanks, kids, for making it a good memory.
MAY
Oliver and Michelle's wedding
May 13, 2018
Tampa, Florida
We were so blessed to be joined by all our family for the wedding.
The wedding and reception were beautiful. It was great visiting with family
that we don't often get to see.
The party continued when the newlyweds left for their honeymoon
but the rest of us enjoyed more time together back home.
May 13, 2018
Tampa, Florida
We were so blessed to be joined by all our family for the wedding.
The wedding and reception were beautiful. It was great visiting with family
that we don't often get to see.
The party continued when the newlyweds left for their honeymoon
but the rest of us enjoyed more time together back home.
A great day at church with Meredith's family in town.
The girls and their Lilly dresses.
The uncles love these little nieces and nephew.
Church is exhausting for young and old alike.
Our fantastic neighbors let us swim in their pool and we just love it!
JUNE
An early 34th wedding anniversary cruise to the Caribbean and stay at Saratoga Springs Resort.
The most anticipated part of going on a cruise -
walking through the gangway tunnel from the port onto the ship.
This means we really made it! We're really going on a cruise!
Oh...the amazing crepes they make each evening.
A favorite port is the cruise line's private island
where they bring all the food on shore and we feast under the palm trees
with the ship in the distance.
Ahh...to return to a nice, clean room
after a sandy day at the beach.
If you can't decide which dessert to choose, take several!
The breakfasts...I insist I'll be more creative when I get home
and offer something besides cereal and yogurt after enjoying
a week of such delicious morning feasts.
After the cruise we spent several days at Saratoga Springs.
Walking around Disney's beyond-amazing resort town
in the evenings is always enjoyable.
Are you surprised he works at Disney?!
(See his name tag.)
We love the challenge to find the newest ice cream store in town.
This one has to be the BEST one ever!
That's quite an incredible ice cream sundae!
It's sort of sad to do s'mores without the kids or grandbabies,
but we do it anyway.
Happy 17th birthday, Harrison!
Welcome baby William Scott Alexander!
Elliott and Bethany's precious baby born June 29, 2018.
What a sweet memory of both sets of grandparents gathering together
at the farm to celebrate William's arrival.
JULY
Saying goodbye to our much-appreciated worship leader and his wife.
A quick trip to Nags Head
with a card game and pretzel pieces adding to the fun.
Of course, ice cream at Jockey's Ridge...
and some candy from the fudge store.
The beach was windy but great.
A hotel room inexpensive supper of microwave-made nachos.
Chicken processing day back at the farm
We love Chick-fil-A day so much and bring the farm interns along
with us each year to join in on the fun.
Happy 19th birthday, Sullivan!
We celebrated at Red Robin with
bottomless root beer floats,
burgers and fries.
AUGUST
Our very best day of the week at the very best church ever.
Every parent's joy -
children who enjoy volunteering in ministry.
Sheridan was super excited to meet one of our pastor's close friends, Sam Kenoly, the son of a man who has impacted our family for years. Ron Kenoly, Sam's dad, has ushered in our Easter celebration for more than 30 years through his album "Jesus Is Alive."
A big, family feast as we prepared to say goodbye to
Elliott, Bethany, and William who were moving to Atlanta.
Oh, how terribly Sheridan will miss Elliott.
What a wonderful big brother he has been to her,
always taking time to swing her when she was little
and listen attentively to her as she grew older.
We enjoyed a pizza party at Elliott and Bethany's after all
their furniture was loaded up and ready to go.
Everyone wanted one last chance to hold the baby.
We will miss them so much.
SEPTEMBER
Baby William got to spend a weekend with us while Elliott and Bethany attended a wedding.
He was the sweetest boy ever as he accompanied us to the annual Lilly Pulitzer sale. Long lines, lots of clothes-trying-on, and yet he was as content as ever as we took turns strolling him.
We loved taking William to church with us.
Sheridan is learning to drive the cars around the farm
to to help out with the farm work.
Sheridan has also become our reluctant push-behind mower operator this year.
We had to cut the grass often at the fixer upper we had on the market.
What a fun night as our church hosts events to form community groups.
Sullivan joined this young adult group and will do life with them for the next year or so.
Oliver and Michelle are young married adult community group facilitators.
We love seeing them involved in the church's mission.
Saying goodbye to Bo, our church's youth leader.
What a great feeling after reading Marie Kondo's book "Tidying Up" and getting rid of stuff we just don't need anymore. These were huge pictures in even huger frames. I took a pic of them so I could remember them without having to store them as dust collectors anymore.
Another pic to remember without having to keep it any longer...
I bought this clock within a few weeks of getting married 34 years ago.
It has always been a part of us, even after the chimes stopped working and the glass broke.
But it's no longer sparking joy so a pic to remember it will do just fine.
OCTOBER
We enjoyed a quick trip to Ohio to spend time with Meredith
and the sweet, sweet grandbabies while Stephen was away on business.
The last cutting of the season for Sullivan's Tractor Service.
Because the older kids are grown and gone and the younger ones are working hard on the farm and too young to mobilize such big equipment, Tim and Joy are the primary lot cutters.
This is as good as tractor service gets - some great ice cream to push us to the finish line.
Another season done!
NOVEMBER
We were so blessed to have all the kids and grandbabies come to town for the
annual barn dance and to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Eleanor loves to have Farmerdaddy
read her a story.
We stopped for a family picture before heading to
Granddaddy and Grandma Lou's for their Thanksgiving feast.
Granddaddy and Grandma Lou are such great hosts (and cooks) and
convert their garage to a banquet hall for the event.
The kids make such great memories playing with all the cousins each year.
Here's our super helper, John, blowing away the leaves to prepare for the barn dance.
The log splitting contest moderated by Elliott. So many great memories have been made
through the years as we've enjoyed having fun with our friends.
through the years as we've enjoyed having fun with our friends.
Tamesis (our farm intern from Puerto Rico), Sheridan and Chessie work so hard for
the farm every day. It's great to see them having fun together at the barn dance.
Bethany so sweetly taught Margaret the dances.
Sheridan prepared this card and cake to celebrate my (Joy's) birthday.
What a thoughtful girl she is!
A fun evening of playing charades while Elliott and Bethany were in town.
On Christmas Day, it was just the five of us so we decided to go to a movie and dinner.
Our former farm intern, Renee, got married just after Christmas. It was wonderful celebrating with her at the beautiful wedding and fun reception.
The Charity Ball was held at the very end of December this year.
Always a great evening for all of us.
Another year...God has been so good to our family. Laughter, happiness, hope - all ours because of Christ. These are good years and we're so very thankful for them.
