Monday, November 12, 2007

Happy Veteran's Day, Running for Dad and more....

The last two weeks have been very good at the Griner's house.
Last weekend we went to Sam and Dave's house to help them and G-mama with some yard work. G- Mama decided she wanted to move some very big rocks, so it gave us all a little workout. Especially the son in laws who were great sports and very helpful getting it all done pretty quickly. They had even gone mountain biking that morning, so they really had a good workout. Landon LOVED helping pick up all the rocks and loved seeing the "magic tree" that had a face! We named the tree Fred and Landon liked it but did not want to go too close.
After yardwork, we then went and saw Exit 352 perform at a youth gathering near the river house. It was John's first time using his new guitar and he had an awesome time. They sounded really good and as ususal, we were very proud!
This week I took John and 5 of his friends to a Christian rock concert in Knoxville. It was Switchfoot and Reliant K and it was really fun. It was so fun to watch John and his friends, and the bands were really good. They sounded so good live and were really entertaining too. It was a very late night!!!
On Saturday Mike and the little kids and I went furniture shopping all day (the older kids were on their church fall retreat all weekend). We were successfull and found some new furniture for our family room. I am really excited! It had to be special ordered so we won't have it for about 6 weeks, but I will post pics when it comes.
On Saturday night Mom and Randi Kelly stopped by for dinner on their way to the river house. We had such a nice visit, even though it was kind of quick. They came into town to run the Buddy's Race for Cancer Research 5K on Sunday afternoon. It was so much fun!!! Everyone did very well and increased their time from our last run. All those running were G-mama, Randi, Sam, Dave, Andi and Me. Mike brought John, and the little ones to be there at the finishe line! It was the first time that Andi ran the whole race. I was so proud of her and we crossed the finish line together. It was great to do a cancer race. It is the first one I have done since Dad's death and it felt really special. We all had in memory of Dad on the back of our shirts. It was great! The race was huge and the human spirit was alive there so encouraging! I look forward to doing another one!!
This morning Kingston had a Veteran's Day ceremony at the downtown courthouse. John played in the band and Andi sang the National Anthem. The band sounded great, as usual, and Andi did a wonderful job! She sang the anthem with such confidence and respect for all the veterans that were in attendance. It can be a difficult song to sing, so she was a little nervous. I got so many compliments on her and have a feeling she will be asked to do it again. We were so proud of them both. I have such cool kids!!!

Dad's memory sign that I wore on my back during the race! I was proud to be running for him and all others affected by cancer.


John playing his new guitar for the first time at Exit 352's concert! What a stud!!


Everyone working hard at G-Mama's river house! Even Landon got in on the fun and he loved it!!! The yard ended up looking really nice making all the hard work worth it!



The "magic tree" that we named Fred! Landon was not too sure about it at first but then kept walking up to it and telling me to come and look at it. So funny!


The Roane County highschool band playing at the Veteran's Day Ceremony at the courthouse in Kingston. They sounded fabulous!


Andi before she sang the National Anthem for everyone. We were so proud and she did beautifully!


Landon and Addi giving eachother a little hug while waiting for the Veteran's Day festivities to begin! I thought the following 3 pictures turned out so cute of them. It is rare I can get the little ones to be still long enough for even one picture!


Get ready for a little kiss!


Wow! They are both looking at the camera at the same time. Maybe next time they will both be smiling! Silly Landon!

8 comments:

David, Samantha and Kaori said...

Pretty busy post! You guys are always getting so much done. The pictures you posted were really cute! I am glad you posted your sign for Dad. Love you lots.

Jodi Brinkley said...

You do have a cool family. You guys are always doing fantastic things. You have every right to be very proud of all the kids. They are turning out so beautifully inside and out.

Ryan said...

What a wonderful post!!! I'm so proud of my neices and nephews...they are so much like their aunt. I love the picture of Addi leaning on Landon...she looks so much older. I think the tree face is pretty creepy...I'm with Landon, admire from a distance.

Mom said...

I agree. Your family is wonderful and I am so proud of you and Mike and of course, my grandchildren! I'm glad Andi "warmed up" before she sang. Thanks again for all the help with the stone wall. It looks great and I will always remember the hands and backs that helped build it! Love, Mom

Heather said...

What great pics! The little ones are so cute laughing together! Looks like another eventful weekend for you all. :)

The Slatton Family said...

Love the pictures of Landon and Addi. Those are sweet. Sounds like you all are busy as always! Miss you!

Courtney said...

Oops, I thought I had already commented, but I haven't! I am glad you guys had a good weekend. My mom said she had a really good time!!!

Mandy said...

I'm glad you all had fun at the race. John's guitar looks awesome and I love the pics of Addi and Landon together! Tell Andi congrats on running the entire race! Happy Thanksgiving!!!