Homeschool in Asheville and more

We found a house for us. I'm excited to have a home for us to live in that is not a flip!!! We are both dreaming about having some gardens and maybe a few chickens. The house is really cool! I'll post more about it later.

To keep us busy (when we're not house hunting)we have been getting involved with some of the homeschool activities. They offer soooo many classes, trips and activities that we'll have to pick and choose! There is no way to do it all! We try to pick the free/ cheap ones. Last wk we went to homeschool skate day, which was packed! We were all surprised at how many families were there. Another day we went to tour a small farm and the kids made butter, we drank hot cider, it was a good time. Then Sat night we got tickets to a Operetta/ play, Pirates of Penzance. The kids all got FREE tickets and Steve and mine were half price and we even got to pick what area to sit in. This was a very upscale event. Everyone was dressed up really fancy. I'm glad we wore church clothes or we would of felt way out of place! It was the theaters 75th b-day so it was a big deal. The show was great, even Steve enjoyed it! After the show they had pirates handing out gold treasure (chocolates) at the doors as everyone left. I was a bit worried about bringing Winston, but nobody gave us bad looks or anything and one lady said how great it was that we expose our children to the theater at such young ages. I did have to take Winston out for part of the second act, but all in all it was a wonderful night!

Last wk we also hit the huge farmers market and bought some boiled (and roasted for Steve) peanuts and heirloom tomatoes and those wonderful grapes that we used to pick at Grandmom's blue house and Uncle Garth's (I forget what they are called, Nancy told me, but I forgot again). We also went to Aunt Shirley's and Uncle Bahnson's house and went on a scenic drive on part of the Blue Ridge Parkway with Nancy and Josh.

When we're not off on some other adventure, we enjoy our campground. It really is beautiful!! There is 2 rivers and a small lake. Lots of trees that are all turning colors. We've gone on a couple family bike rides and we rented paddle boats on the lake.

Today is a rainy down day for us. I gave Winston a hair cut. He looks like suck a big boy now! I am a bit sad that all his curls are gone. Lincoln also got a trim, much to his dismay! Conner is looking pretty shaggy, but he wants his long so we'll let it grow for now. Tomorrow we have a (free) nature class for the kids Tuesday and a home inspection. Wed, Isabelle has Activity Days and Thursday we head off to West Virginia to visit Bahnson and Joyce for the wk end. We'll get back to Asheville Mon afternoon to do a final walk through on Cedar Ln (our flip), then close Tuesday.

I think I'll bake some pumpkin bread.......yummm!

Love & Peace!!

Hello

Hello from North Carolina. It is late Friday night and every one is now asleep. We have traveled many miles since we have been back in the Carolina's. We have looked at lots of houses in a large area of West North Carolina. We are looking for a house for our family to settle down in for the next few years. We thought we had nailed it with a few choices, but have not yet found that picture perfect place to call home. So for now we are calling Asheville's East KOA camp ground home in our travel trailer. We are enjoying the beautiful blue sky 80+ temps each day. We are hoping to see a few houses on Saturday morning, hopefully we will find what we are looking for. Conner will be turning 8 on the 30th of this month. This means he will be getting baptized the first week end in November. We would love to invite all that could come. I know its short notice, but I know every one is ready for a trip back East. The colors in the hills are starting to change, its beautiful looking. I give the trees another 2-3 weeks to be in full fall color. Well not much happening with our family, but house searching. Hope all is well
Love steve and Julie and Kids

Lake Powell and more!

We had a great wk at Lake Powell, how can you not!! This is our 6th yr going. It was colder this yr then any other yr we've been, so we spent less time in the water, but still had a wonderful time! We rode wave runners, hike up to cool indian ruins dated back to the 1200's and went on a day cruise south of Bullfrog. Lincoln (4) got up kneeboarding for the first time and did great! Isabelle was not interested in being pulled behind the boat til the last day when she finally tried kneeboarding and loved it! . Conner mastered kneeboarding and even got up surfing!! I did a little wakeboarding and tried surfing for the first time, which I loved!! My brother inlaws were great at helping me and the kids!! Thanks Scott and Jim!! Steve was wanting to do some surfing, but since his last back surgury, that's a no go. He did love the wave runners and Winston (and all the kids) loved it too! Steve and I slept out under the amazing stars most nights on the top deck of the house boat. It was the perfect vacation from our never ending vacation. It was so nice to not have to ride in our car for a whole wk!
We spent last Sat night at Steve's parents and had a nice visit with them. It was sooo nice to have a real shower after a wk of lake water showers. Sunday evening we had dinner with our good friends Matt & Anna (and Fisher and Mason). Wonderful people that have traveled the world and have the pottery to prove it! Monday, Isabelle was able to go to her old Girl Scout troop and have a sleep over with her best friend Margaret. I had a great time visiting with my very good friends Karen and Tammy. Monday night Steve and I celebrated our 11th anniversary. We had a great dinner dropped in on our friends Tara and Billy (they love that...haha) then spent the night at a B&B. It was sooo nice to have some alone time since we have been with the kiddos 24/7 for the last 5 wks. We are missing date nights. Tuesday we went to pick up Isabelle and had a nice visit with Karen. Tuesday night we had dinner with our friends Patrica & Sam and my kids loved playing with Bracken and Portland again. I'm not sure our little ones (Choncy and Winston)loved it so much as they are in that age where they don't like to share and Winston wanted to take all of Choncy's toys. Isabelle got to sneak in a playdate with another good friend, Becka, that night too. Wed we got up early and headed out to Timp Cave, but when we got up there we found out it was booked up with school groups. So we hung out with Steve's sister June's family. It was a nice visit and we even were blessed with a Matt sighting...LOL! Wed afternoon I was able to have an afternoon at a spa. I have never done that, but it may have to be a new habbit!! It was soooo nice! Today (Thurs) we get our U-haul and start loading up. We plan to leave first thing tomorrow to head back to NC!
Love & Peace!!