Category: Tennessee (Sep 2004 – Dec 2010)

Labor Day WeekendGreetings from Tennessee,
Since my last update we enjoyed a very nice visit from family over Labor Day
weekend. Our first guests to arrive were my sister Sarah who traveled all the
way from Yemen, and my parents who came from California. Once they landed on
Friday afternoon we all went to Sam’s club and Walmart to finish up some food
shopping. Sabbath morning we headed to church where Brenda was in charge of
our Sabbath School study for the week. Before we got back from church Brooke,
Jeffrey, Elise and Zion arrived from Nashville. They came a bit early to take
advantage of our hot water for showers as theirs was not working. When we got
back from church we had a good lunch together and then spent the rest of the
day visiting and playing with the kids.
On Sunday after breakfast my grandparents joined us from McMinnville for
another day of visiting and playing with the kids. Sunday night we had 11
people in the house but managed just fine.
Monday morning
Cherohala Skyway OverlookBrooke, Jeffrey, Elise and Zion headed back to Nashville after
breakfast, and the rest of us went to an afternoon baseball game. It was the
last game of the season for the AA Chattanooga Lookouts and we had fun
visiting and watching them pull off a win against the Huntsville team.
On Tuesday Brenda had to go back to work but the rest of us had another day of
visiting and working on some travel details for our upcoming trip to South
America. My grandparents headed home late in the day but my parents and Sarah
stayed one more night before flying back to California bright and early
Wednesday morning. Overall we had a great time just relaxing and spending time
with family over the long weekend.
The next weekend we stayed in town as Brenda was helping with the 7th year
birthday party for our church. Although the church as a group has been around
for 7 years, we have only been in the new building for a little over 1 year.
After quite a string of busy weekends
Whigg Meadowat home we decided to get away for a
break the second weekend in September. We were originally considering a
camping trip, but Brenda was feeling a bit sick with what later turned out to
be strep throat, so we decided to rent a cabin in the mountains instead. We
found a nice log cabin with a small kitchen and it’s own hot tub just off the
Cherohala Skyway. The 36 mile skyway is named after the Cherokee and Nantahala
national forests and climbs from about 900 feet in Tennessee to a summit of
around 5400 feet in North Carolina. It is known as the most expensive road in
North Carolina with a price tag of $100 million and was completed in 1996.
After getting a good nights rest Friday, we headed out to do some exploring
and to search for wild blueberries at Whigg Meadow on Sabbath. The meadow is
located a couple of miles off the main skyway and is known for wild
blueberries, good views and bird banding. The high elevation and abundance of
berries make this area
Wild Blueberriesa popular stopping point for migratory birds.
Enthusiasts gather to watch the birds and also to capture them so that
tracking bands can be attached. I was more interested in the wild blueberries
though, so spent a couple of hours picking after we ate our picnic. After
berry picking we did some more exploring and ended up getting back to our
cabin using mostly gravel forest service roads. We found some good campsites
for future trips along the way and had a fun, relaxing day overall. On Sunday
we had a nice breakfast of wild blueberry pancakes and then took another
scenic route back to Chattanooga.
The third weekend in September I had organized a group to attend a Casting
Crowns concert but unfortunately the tickets sold out a few days before we
went to get them so that didn’t work out. We had a nice weekend anyway though
and got together with friends to play games on Saturday night instead of
attending the concert.
Last weekend we went camping at Foster F
Bald River Fallsalls with our young adults group. The
campground was just over an hour away near a waterfall and some good hiking
trails. The waterfall didn’t have much water flowing since it has been so dry
here, but a couple of us still went swimming in the pool below the falls which
was deep and quite cool. We also walked to the top of the falls but mostly
spent time visiting and hanging out around the campfire. On Sunday we took a
short hike and I twisted my foot badly enough that I couldn’t put weight on it
by the time we got home Sunday night. It has been healing quickly though and
I’m doing much better now.
This weekend we stayed in town and enjoyed potluck with our young adults group
on Sabbath. We then attended a get together with some of my coworkers later in
the day. Sunday morning I played sand volleyball and then spent the rest of
the day working on projects at home and getting ready for our trip to South
America. This coming Thursday we are scheduled to fly to Montevideo, Uruguay
where my aunt lives. From there we will travel with my parents over to Buenos
Aires and then fly south to El Calafate in the Patagonia region of Argentina.
We are really looking forward to spending time with family and to seeing lots
of mountains and glaciers on this trip.
Until next time,
Andrew

Grove Park InnGreetings,
Since I last wrote we have of course stayed busy. In April we drove to Asheville, North Carolina where we attended the Ambassadors of Hope weekend put on by The Quiet Hour. We enjoyed hearing the various mission reports and also got to spend some time with my parents. On Sabbath afternoon we visited the North Carolina Arboretum and on Sunday we had lunch at the historic Grove Park Inn.
In May we had a visit from my cousin Brooke and her kids but missed seeing her husband as he was on call for the weekend. It was fun to play with the kids and visit with Brooke though. At the end of the month we flew out to California for the weekend to attend Ben & Marta’s wedding. We stayed busy helping with wedding preparations but also got to visit with friends and family while we were there. After the wedding I flew back to Tennessee but Brenda stayed in California for the rest of the week.
On Friday we both flew to Denver where we met up to celebrate our 1 year wedding anniversary. Unfortunately my flight was delayed several
Bear Lake, Rocky Mountain National Parkhours so it was after midnight by the time we got to our Bed & Breakfast near Rocky Mountain National Park. We stayed in a 75 year old log lodge in the country without any cell phone coverage and enjoyed good food and friendly conversation around the breakfast table. After breakfast on Sabbath we did some exploring by car with stops along the way for short hikes and to picnic by a rushing mountain stream. Back at the lodge we took a relaxing dip in the hot tub before heading to bed early to catch up on our sleep. Sunday morning after breakfast we went on a 6.1 mile hike to the top of Estes Cone. From the 11,006 foot summit we enjoyed panoramic views of the surrounding valleys and mountains. We didn’t stay too long though since it was pretty cold and even snowed on us a li
Elkttle at the top. After the hike we did some more driving through Rocky Mountain National Park although Trail Ridge Road was closed due to snow so we weren’t able to go as far as we had intended. In the evening we headed back to Denver and checked in to our hotel. I attended a work related class during the week and Brenda did some exploring around Denver and also took a day trip to Colorado Springs. We enjoyed spending time together in the evenings after my classes and even drove to the top of Mt. Evans one night. It was cold and very windy at the top though so Brenda stayed in the car while I hiked the short distance from the parking lot to the 14,264 summit. The views were excellent and on our way back to Denver we got to watch the sun set above an alpine lake.
On Friday
Pasque Flower after my class finished we drove up to Buena Vista to visit Pat & Elvin. I always enjoy visiting them and this was no exception. We had fun hiking, spotting wildflowers, and visiting on Sabbath and then had to leave too soon on Sunday morning for our trip back to Tennessee. The next week we hosted a wedding shower for our friends Ray & Yormary and then went to their wedding in Georgia on the weekend. We were in charge of coordinating the ceremony so kept busy but had a fun time.
For the 4th of July weekend we drove down to the Atlanta area to visit the Gallant family. We had fun playing with the four kids and also got to visit the new Atlanta Aquarium. It was fun to see the beluga whales and the whale sharks although it was very crowded due to the holiday. The next weekend I took Friday off from work and we drove up to Michigan on Thursday. We spent the next couple of days visiting with Johanna, Keenan, Michael and Amelia. We had fun hanging out, playing games, going to the beach and eating Michigan blueberries together. Brenda, Johanna and Keenan started driving west on Saturday night and arrived safely in Wenatchee, Washington Monday evening. I on the other hand spent Sunday morning picking raspberries and a few peaches with Michael and Amelia. I also purchased some more
Hiking with Pat & ElvinMichigan blueberries to put in the freezer at home and got a few cherries and apricots to enjoy fresh. While I was back in Chattanooga, Brenda had a nice visit with her family in Washington state. It would have been nice to join her, but unfortunately I had to be at work. I did drive up to McMinnville to pick blueberries after work on Friday and then spent Sabbath with my grandparents while Brenda was in Wenatchee. On Sunday I headed back to Chattanooga to go rafting on the Ocoee river with our young adults group. We had a good trip down the river with a group of nearly 25 people.
After being gone for 7 out of 8 weekends in June & July we have been staying closer to home for the month of August. On the first
Georgia Aquariumweekend we hosted young adults potluck and then in the evening we had a surprise birthday party for me which Brenda had planned. My grandparents and the Colburns even came down and stayed the night after the party so I had a fun filled birthday weekend with family, friends and blueberry pie.
Over the next couple of weeks I helped arrange some appointments for my Australian friend Ross who lives in Cambodia. Ross has been in Cambodia for 10 years and started Healthland there which includes a food industry. The industry employs disadvantaged young people so that they can earn enough money to attend school while also learning valuable job skills. If you want to learn more about Healthland you can watch a short video on their new web site at http://www.healthlandcambodia.com. Ross was sponsored to attend the ASI convention in Tampa this year so he came to stay with us for about a week after the convention and gave several presentations about his work in Cambodia. On Sunday while Ross was here we went up to the Hiwassee river with our young adults group. We were planning to go tubing down the river but when we arrived we found out that one of the hydro power
Blueberry Birthday Piegenerators was not running and therefore the river was only at about half of it’s regular water level. We decided to hike to a swimming hole instead and had fun exploring and jumping off a 15 foot cliff into the water.
On Monday of last week I took Ross on a driving tour around the Chattanooga area with stops at Point Park on Lookout Mountain and at the Chickamauga battle fields. Thursday morning I dropped Ross off at the airport and then on Friday I said goodbye to Brenda for the weekend as she and some friends went to Kentucky for a girls weekend. Sabbath after church I organized a river tubing trip with a couple of friends. The river turned out to be quite slow moving and we misjudged the distance so ended up walking the second
Elise & Zionhalf of the trip. We still had fun though and I enjoyed exploring and being out in nature. Sunday I played sand volleyball for about 3 hours in the morning and then watched the closing ceremonies of the Olympics in the evening.
This coming weekend Sarah will be visiting from Yemen and my parents will also be coming so I am looking forward to that. Well that’s about all the news from here for now so I’ll stop writing and start choosing some pictures to go with this update.
Until next time,
Andrew

Joyce Kilmer Memorial ForestGreetings from Chattanooga,
Well, it has been too long since my last update and we have been busy. Married life is good and we are getting settled in to our house and life together. It’s hard to believe that we have already been married for over 10 months.
Well, the last update concluded as we arrived back in Chattanooga from our honeymoon on July 1. After getting back I returned to work the following day. On my way to work though Brenda and I met Rich & Melissa from Maryland for breakfast. They were just passing through town but it was nice to see them briefly and meet their new son. Our first Sabbath after we got back our church met in our new building which we are really enjoying. Also in July My parents came for a long weekend visit over my dad’s birthday. We celebrated by riding the incline railroad to the top of Lookout Mountain. My grandparents also joined us from McMinnville. The last weekend of the month we enjoyed a getaway to Cherokee, NC in the Smoky Mountains to celebrate my birthday. We stayed in a cabin and went to see Unto These Hills which is a dramatic performanc
Edwards Point View of Chattanoogae about the history of the Cherokee people. It is put on in an outdoor theater and was very well done. We got rained on a bit but it wasn’t heavy enough to stop the show. We also explored the first few miles of the Blue Ridge Parkway and visited several Native American craft stores. On the way home we hiked in the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest and then drove on the scenic Cherohala Skyway which winds through the hills of North Carolina and Tennessee. The route climbs to 5,390 feet and we were pleasantly surprised to find wild blueberries along the way. Most of what I picked did not make it into our gladware “bucket”, but we still managed to bring home about a quart of berries to enjoy over the next week.
In August we warmed our house by hosting our young adults group for potluck and then visited my grandparents on
Lake Michigan Beach another weekend. Brenda’s brother and his family also arrived to stay several weeks with us while they kept a busy schedule meeting with people and doing presentations in the area about their mission work. Although they were busy, we still got to spend some quality time with them and enjoyed having them here.
Over labor day weekend we drove up to Maryland for my cousin Summer’s wedding. We had a fun but busy time hanging out with family and helping with the wedding. The ceremony was beautiful in an outdoor setting with a fun picnic reception afterwards. On the way home we met up with family again for a birthday celebration at a fun park. We played miniature golf and several other games before driving back to Chattanooga. After a couple of weekends at home we then drove down to Birmingham, AL to meet my cousins
Thanksgiving in Wenatchee at my uncle’s house where we enjoyed visiting and playing games for the weekend.
In October Brenda had a fall break which she spent in Michigan visiting her cousins and also her brother and his family who were there for training at the time. I was able to join her for two weekends although I had some flight troubles so ended up spending more time traveling than I actually got to spend there the second weekend. It was still worth it though and on the way home we were able to stock up on frozen berries for the winter. We also got to spend some time on the beach at Lake Michigan and had fun playing games a couple of evenings. Over the last weekend of the month we went camping at Fall Creek Falls with our young adults group and also did some hiking in the park.
We stayed home for a couple of weekends in November and
Family Christmas Picturethen drove up to my grandparents house on a Friday after work. We spent Sabbath in Nashville with my cousins for Zion’s baby dedication and a 2nd birthday party for Elise. The following Wednesday we flew out to Wenatchee, WA to spend Thanksgiving with Brenda’s parents. We also got to see some of her other relatives in the area and on Sabbath we had a wedding reception during potluck. We showed pictures, visited with friends who couldn’t make it to our wedding and even had flowers and a cake. We enjoyed our visit in Wenatchee although it seemed too short as always.
We started off December by going to a local Christmas Parade and attending my work Christmas party which was held after the parade. We then visited my cousins in Nashville and watched their kids overnight while they celebrated their anniversary at a be
Smoky Mountain National Parkd and breakfast. We took the kids with us to the Spaghetti Factory where we met up with our young adults group. After supper we went to see the decorations at the Opryland Hotel before taking the kids home and getting them to bed. We had a fun time but also had some challenges with cold weather, rain and diaper issues. The following week my family arrived to spend the Christmas holidays with us. We had fun visiting with everyone and doing a few projects around the house while they were here. We all headed up to my grandparents house for several days as well, where we spent Christmas together with more family.
In January Brenda and I spent the long weekend MLK holiday at a cozy cabin in Gatlinburg. We had fun relaxing and t
Portland Head Lighthouse in Mainehen got to enjoy some snow in Smoky Mountain National Park on the way home. We also came home via a scenic route which we later learned is known as the Tail of the Dragon. The road is extremely curvy and is a destination for motorcycle and sports car enthusiasts from all over. We were there in the winter late on a Monday though, so did not see many other vehicles. It was a scenic drive for sure, with good views of the river and several dams including the one filmed in Harrison Ford’s movie The Fugitive.
We traveled to Boston to visit Graham & Amber for a long weekend over Presidents Day in February. After spending a night with them in Boston and attending church together we drove up to Graham’s parents house in Maine. The snow banks at their house were probably around 12 feet high and there were still several feet of snow on the ground as well. On Sunday we went cross country skiing for a couple of hours and enjoyed blue skies and sunshine. After skiing Graham and I then went sledding before joining our wives back at the house. On Monday we headed back to Boston with stops at the
Late Snow in Chattanooga 3/8/2008L. L. Bean factory store and a couple of lighthouses on the Maine coast. We had a fun time seeing everyone and also enjoyed getting a taste of real winter in Maine. The following weekend we had a visit from Brooke, Jeffrey & family and had fun visiting and playing with the kids. On Sunday we all went to the Chattanooga Aquarium where Elise especially enjoyed seeing all of the “fishies”.
In March Brenda’s parents came to visit for a week during her spring break. I was also able to take some time off so we headed up to Gatlinburg for a couple of days. While there we had beautiful weather and enjoyed riding the Ober Gatlinburg tram and going down the alpine slide. We also visited Cades Cove where we enjoyed the views and saw lots of deer and some wild turkeys. On the way home we hiked on the Appalachian Trail and a
Cades Covelso stopped in Cherokee, NC to visit some craft stores. On Sabbath we attended our regular church and then went to the Sonrise Easter pageant put on by Southern Adventist University. The pageant is a large production complete with live animals, a Jerusalem market place and dramatizations depicting the last events of Jesus’ life on earth.
This month we have been at home so far but have been keeping busy. Brenda is in the midst of standardized testing at work which is always a busy time and I have been extra busy with several technical projects at our church. My work has also been busy as we are gearing up to offer residential phone, internet and TV service over a new fiber optic network. Currently we provide phone and internet services just to area businesses, so the additional residential services will be a big change.
Well, I think that about covers what we’ve been up to for the past 10 months. Do keep in touch and look us up if you will be in the Chattanooga area.
Bye for now,
Andrew
PS As usual, more pictures are in our gallery.