Some News

• It's been awhile since I posted here, well, actually a long time! I've been doing Insta Gram  cuz it is so much quicker and easier. {if you want to check it out, my account name is  walnut_and_vine.   I do miss blogging and will try to do better at posting! Time is going by so fast, I'm having a hard time keeping up! A lot has changed since I last posted. I broke my ankle March 3rd, I'm finally able to walk with minimum pain after a long 6 months, my daughter Kate is in her 2nd month of her third pregnancy, we don't know what she's, having yet but the 2 girls are really excited about having a new baby due in April!   The down side is she has  been horribly ill with morning sickness, she has the same thing that Princess Kate has had.  She's now been this way all 3 times.  We'd really hoped this time would be different but no such luck! She's already been to the emergency room once, we are hoping it's the last time!  Good news is that my middle son Aaron has proposed to his girlfriend of 4 years and a wedding will be coming in September of 2019!  We are all so excited, he couldn't have fallen in love with a more wonderful girl!  That's pretty much what's been happening here for now. Fall is my favorite time of year, now, if the weather would just cooperate and at least get down in the 70's instead of the high 80s and 90s, it would be great!  I'm gonna pretend we're having a perfect fall and show you some of my favorite fall and Halloween photos!

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 



 

Till next time,,,

Rebecca

 

Visiting New England

I can't believe how fast time is flying by, it's March already which means Spring is on the way!!  This weather in TN has been crazy, warm, cold, freezing, you just never know!  It's been a while since I've posted, I'm going to try to do better!  I recently joined instagram and have been having a lot of fun, it's a lot easier then blogging, just one little photo at a time.  There is a lot of inspiration, I've found so many great people and beautiful décor photos.  I also really enjoy following people in the show jumping world  and polo worlds.  One of my favorites is the New England sites, such beautiful photos, makes me think back on my trip 2 years ago in April. It was a dream trip, one I always wanted to do! So, here are some photos that I never posted, some of Plymouth and some random.


Loved this cute Inn sign

 

 

I really enjoyed Plymouth, we spent the night and toured

a couple of the historic places  there

 

 

 

This was our favorite restaurant in Plymouth! They

had the best breakfasts and the plates were huge!

 

 

 

After stuffing ourselves at the above restaurant, we visited the historic

Plymouth settlement.  This was not on my list of fun things to do, but

my sister had promised her 1st grade class she would go and report back

what it was like. Getting to the actual settlement site was something else!

You had to walk up about a 100 miles of  sloping steps (not really but 

it sure felt like it) to get out to the end of the peninsula where the town was built.

 

 

This lady and her adorable baby greeted us when we arrived. 

Everyone is in period dress and stay in character no matter what which

makes it fun.

 

 

 

 

 

The main street of the settlement

 

 

 

This was what the houses they lived in looked like.

It was amazing once you went inside how small they

were.  I couldn't get a photo to the inside because they

were so dark.  They were only about as big as my living room!

 Hard to believe that whole families lived in these tiny places!

 

 

 

This is their fire wood stack, it was taller then me and

they stacked it so that it was round, pretty amazing!

 

 

 

This was the only photo I got of the inside of one

of the houses with my sister and the "Pilgrim" who lived there

 

 

 

This is the main barn

 

 

 

I'm ending my tour of Plymouth settlement with a photo of

one of the bulls.  It was so fun, I'd highly recommend that if

you're ever in Plymouth, it's worth visiting!  They also have a

fabulous gift shop with lots of great stuff, can't turn down a

a chance to shop, right!

 

 

 

This is a replica of one of the 3 ships the Pilgrim's came

over from England on.  ( Sorry, it's been so long

I can't remember which one It is)!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The "Rock"

What do you think?

 

 

 

This is my Plymouth settlement story which cracked up me and my sister!

After my sister and I made the long trek out to the settlement, we went

into the first house.  As I walked into the dark space, there was

a bed facing the door.  I turned to my sister and said "thank goodness,

after that HIKE, I need to lay down!  Then a voice from the other side of

the room said, "I don't think his wife would like that"!  We burst out laughing,

there was a Pilgrim couple sitting on the other side of the room in front of the fire.

Pretty quick come back from Mrs. Pilgrim!

 

 

Here are some of the gorgeous house that we came across on our trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Look at this "fixer upper"  wouldn't it be fabulous
renovated?  There were actually people living in it!

 

 

 

Till next time.....

Rebecca

 

 

 

  

My Veterans

Serving in the military has been a long standing tradition in my family, starting with WWI and my grandfather who served in the Army.  My father also served in the Army in WWII.  My Uncle, (my Dad's sister's husband) served in the Air Force during WWII  as a pilot. Sadly, I don't know much about their time in the Military.  My husband's father retired from the Air Force after 20 years of service.  My husband was also in the Air Force and served in Vietnam as a Military Policeman, dog handler. My oldest son went into the Marines the summer after he graduated from High School, was in 5 years, as a avionics tech, working on the electronic systems of the CH 46 helicopters.  He was in Iraq twice, and finished out his tour working in the armory at the base outside of San Diego in California. While in, he also acquired the title of expert marksman.  While he was over seas, I was pretty comfortable because with his job, working on the helicopters, he was always on base.  Even though the base was routinely shelled, my worry level was pretty low.  Little did I know that near the end of his time there, since  he was a expert marksman, he was sent out on the choppers for his team as cover when they picked up wounded, delivered supplies etc.  This I didn't know till he came home. THANK GOODNESS!  My middle child, Aaron joined the Air Force for 4 years right out of High School also.  When you enlist in the Air Force, you take a test and depending on how high you score, you get to pick the job you want in that score category.  Aaron scored in the top 10%  so had his pick of the top jobs.  He choose crew chief on F 15s, which is the person who is in charge of the crew  making sure that the fighter jet he is assigned to is maintained in  pristine condition with  all systems, etcetera  ready to go.   His first tour of duty was a year in England which allowed him to do some traveling around Europe during his time off.  He was also sent on a short deployment to Iceland which he said was one of his favorite places, beautiful country, people wonderful and excellent beer!   He was then stationed outside Raleigh  NC.  Right before his time was up he was sent to Afghanistan but thankfully was only there for a few months before his company was sent back to his base in NC where he finished out his time in the Air Force.  Between them all, they racked up a lot of years in the Military, serving their country and I couldn't be prouder!  As you can probably guess, Veteran's Day is very meaningful to our family as I'm sure it is to all the Military families across our country.

In honor of my Military Men , I'm posting some photos of  them! 

Be prepared, for photo overload!

This is not the best ,pic of a pic but it's one of my favorites of Chris.
The color is off but in a way kind of apropos since his unit overseas
was called the Purple Foxes. The badge was the one he wore on his
uniform while he was in Iraq.

 

 

Aaron, Kate, and Chris, both made it home for Christmas

This was taken on a visit to CA, my brother-in-law's brother was a captain in the Marines and flew
heliopters in Desert Storm.  He took Chris, then 4 out to Camp Pendleton to see his helicopter.
Who knew that years later Chris would be stationed out there at the same base.

 

These are some of the copters Chris worked on while in Iraq

These next two are of him at the Marine ball
Good Times!

 

I thought this was such a beautiful shot

 

 

 

These next photos are of Aaron

 

Aaron and his sister at his graduation from AF boot came in

San Antonio, Texas

 

Aaron was in Afghanistan for Christmas
He's definitely my "goof ball"

One of the perks of being a crew chief is that you get to have your name
under your pilot's on his jet

  

This is their father in Viet Nam with his dog

Their Grandfather on their Dad's side

 

 

My Dad, My Grandfather and my Dad's best friend

 

My Uncle Lefty, (I was lucky enough to find his wings and dog tags after
my Aunt passed away and we were getting her house ready to sell)!

I had to add this pic of  my Aunt and Uncle because it is one of
my favorites.  This is my Dad's sister and our "fun" Aunt.  They
were unable to have kids so we filled in.  She was the one who
bought us the ''cool" clothes, took us "cruising" back in the day,
took us to the beach and had her bikini on (and looked amazing)
right along with us!  When I look back at the fun times growing
up, she was always there!

Till next time.........

Rebecca

 

This week I'll be joining these parties:

Tuesday

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