GRADUATION AND CHRISTMAS 2009

Our son, Chad, has graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University and we are so very proud of him. Not only did he earn his Bachelor's degree, but he did it with honors. He graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 3.917 GPA. How great is that! We captured the moment for you to see.

Christmas was wonderful with the family. After graduation we got together at Sis and Jim's new house. It is sooo cute! We are very happy for them. We couldn't get everyone together for Christmas at the same time as the weather just wouldn't cooperate. Jeff, Shelly and the kids didn't arrive until after Chad, Penny and the kids left. We are just happy that everyone got to where they were going safe and sound. Glad we got the chance to see John and Bekki too.

Steve and I spent the night at Sis and Jim's house and then the 4 of us headed back to Plainfield for Chad's graduation party at Penny's grandparents house.

The next day we celebrated Chad's birthday with pizza and then Tuesday we had our Christmas with them before heading back to the island. It was a wonderful, but quick 5 days. We miss all of you already. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everyone!

Hurricane Bill Passes By

Hurricane Bill was a long way from us, but he managed to let us know he did pass by with some really rough waters. Here is the movie we took this morning.

Hey Kids,

Papaw caught this big crab on his fishing pole.

This gator went for an evening stroll!

Barr Family Annual Vacation

We were so happy to have the Barr family return for another vacation this year. With Steve and I working full time we didn't get to spend as much time with them as we would have liked, but it was great having them and we look forward to their annual trip next year!

Steve Catches the Big One!

Steve fought this big red fish for 45 minutes at Sea Pines. I braved the gators and snakes to net the fish for him. Of course we released him as he was over the legal limit to keep at 32 plus inches.


Dance of the Mullett

July 4th and Wright Family Vacation

What a wonderful 4th of July week we had! Chad, Penny, Zachary, Wesley and Kylie all came for a week long visit at Mamaw's and Papaw's. They even brought along their friends Tabatha, Curtis, Syndey, Nolan and Aubrey Jones. Everyone arrived Friday evening. The Jones family only got to stay a few days as they had to leave Tuesday morning, but our kids stayed until the following Saturday morning. We made the most of our time together with a lot of trips to the beach, to the swimming pool, fishing and crabbing, fireworks at Shelter Cove, and early Birthday party for Wesley, minature golf and so much more. Check out the video as Chad finally got to catch a big hammerhead shark!

Could this be America's Next Top Model?

The kids had such a great time at the beach!

Here's a spotted trout Steve caught before they arrived.

Memorial Day 2009

It finally stopped raining so we were able to get to the pier early this morning. Steve was hoping to catch a cobia, but there

weren't any to be found. He did manage to find two good size sharks that really wore him out. The second and largest really put up a fight. My catches weren't worth taking pictures of. I only caught one small black bass and 3 small sharks. The boys had been asking us when we were going to go crabbing so we did put the crab trap out for the boys, but we only caught one small crab with a claw missing. I did get a nice picture of a bird though.

Minnie the Moocher and a New Friend

Fishing yesterday was pretty good. Steve had the big one that got away. We don't know what it was, but it was big and raced to the ocean breaking Steve's line. We caught lots of sharks and I learned we had given the wrong name to one of the sharks. The picture posted last time for the hammerhead was a little incorrect. While it is in the hammerhead family, it is actually called a bonnet shark. Hey, give us a break we're still learning.

Today the fishing was slow, but we had a wonderful day anyway. Today it was my turn to have the big one get away. It didn't even warn me with a nibble. It just hit the line and snap! My 20 lb. test line was broken.

We did enjoy talking to Minnie the Moocher again, always waiting for a handout. And, our new friend Whistler stopped by. He was ready to take on the bonnet shark.

Minnie the Moocher wanted to make sure I got her good side.

Whistler just wanted to play, but I don't think this shark was in the mood.

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the women in my life. We have all done and some still doing well in raising our children. It has been a lot of hard work, but we all have children and adults to be proud of. Good job everyone!

I spent my Mother's Day doing what most guys want to do on Father's Day, I went fishing. It was a beautiful sunny day with just enough breeze to keep us cool. We went down to the bridge and watched the dolphins play while I fished. I had it made. Steve (still recovering from a bum knee) just sat in the chair and baited my hook. I caught a sand shark, a hammerhead shark, a dog fish, a porgie and a black sea bass. They were not biting too good, but we had a great day anyway. This was the first hammerhead shark we have ever caught and boy it's a good thing it was Mother's Day because he had a face only a mother could love.





This is one ugly shark! Make sure you click on the picture to enlarge.

This was my black sea bass.

We'll call this one, Minnie the Moocher. She was waiting for any handout whether it be fresh caught fish and unattended bait.

A Trip Home

We were blessed with the opportunity to go back to Indiana to see the family in April. We had promised Zachary to be home for his birthday April 2nd, but we were a few weeks late. Steve had to work the big Verizon Golf Classic that week and couldn't get off work so we didn't go until April 24th. What a whirlwind weekend that was! We got to see our family and some friends. It was a wonderful time even if we did get sick. Steve had to go to the emergency room on Sunday in Marion and I was at the doctors when we got back to Hilton Head. We are both still recovering, but it was worth it to see the kids and the rest of the family.

The boys were happy to see us!


Kylie is getting soooo big!

Saturday was for baseball. Zachary looked good as the catcher and his team won 22-10. Wesley worked hard at practice looking really sharp in yellow. We even got a chance to see our friend Darlene from Royal Center, IN. She came to Zachary's game so we could spend some time together.

Saturday night we had a sleep over at Sis and Jim's house. Then the rest of the family joined us on Sunday for a long overdue family cookout. Of course no trip would be complete without a trip to the ER. Steve got sick with his allergies so while everyone else was in church we were at the hospital.

Monday we took a trip to see VS Engineering's new building and visited with our friend Carol followed by a surprise visit to Zachary's school to have lunch with him. Then it was time to head to the airport where I became sick too (and am still sick a week later).

Well, we are both back to work, still recovering from our illness and counting the weeks until Chad, Penny and the kids will be here for July 4th. WE CAN'T WAIT!

HE IS RISEN!

Happy Easter everyone! We had planned on going to the sunrise service on the beach, but the alarm didn't go off in time. So, I fixed a breakfast style picnic of croissants, strawberries and cream, grapes, orange juice and coffee and we headed to the beach anyway. What a wonderful surprise when we got there and someone had written in huge letters "Jesus is Coming" in the sand. It was like having our own private sunrise service this Easter morning.

Okay, so I don't have long floppy ears....I'm still white and fluffy like an Easter bunny.

And the Fishing Begins!

Steve is one lucky guy! He has a wife that loves fishing as much as he does. We went last weekend in the rain and 30 mph winds. The weather was terrible, but I caught 6 fish and a stingray and Steve caught 0. To be fair, 2 of us really couldn't fish at once because of the high wind, so he just helped me out.

Today was a different story. I caught 1 small fish and a small stingray. But, Steve caught a nice size shark and a large stingray. I guess he was going for size rather than quantity.

Here's my stingray and Steve's shark.

Spring Is Here

Well, we survived our first full year in Hilton Head. We moved here December 29, 2007 and here it is March 2009. It is funny how the time as both flown by and dragged by at the same time. But, we have the first year behind us and those "firsts" are always the hardest. It has definitely been worth the move as Steve's allergies have improved to the point they are no longer an issue. And, our broken hearts are starting to mend. It will never be the same for us as we will always miss our family, friends and home, but Hilton Head is now starting to feel like home. Our goal this year is to make more trips back north so we can see the family more often. Our first trip is next month. We will be arriving April 24th for a long weekend, leaving on Monday. We will be on the go as we plan to make a trip on the 26th to Marion to see Sis and her family where we will have a duo birthday party....a belated one for Zachary and it will be Sis's birthday that day.

So, the cold winter is almost gone down here. It was a record breaking cold winter for Hilton Head and of course Steve and I got blamed for the cold weather. We were told more than once we "northerners" brought the cold to them. But, it has slowly been warming up and it was a beautiful day today. We got the railing on the second deck painted yesterday. We want to get all of the porch railings painted before the kids and their friends come down and June. Today we planted this beautiful Asiatic Lily in the backyard and put flower boxes on the porch rails.

Indiana Christmas and South Carolina New Years

Christmas was really different this year. Steve and I decided I would go home to be with the kids while he worked. It was so great to see the kids again, but I sure missed Steve. It was the first time in 33 years we didn't spend Christmas together. Sis and Jim helped to brighten things up for Steve by coming down for New Year's. They brought Brittany and Justin with them and we had a wonderful week (except for the 2 days I was sick with the flu....thanks a lot Indiana LOL). So here are some pictures of our Christmas and New Year.

OUR 2 TREES IN SOUTH CAROLINA

CHRISTMAS IN INDIANA

NEW YEARS ON HILTON HEAD ISLAND