To celebrate, we took took a mini-vacation from the kids and stayed at a bed and breakfast on Lookout Mountain.
For dinner we took in a Murder Mystery, no pictures were allowed.
Then the next day we hung out at the Art Museum.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Celebrating our Anniversary
Its hard to believe, but AM and SD got married 17 years ago.
To celebrate, we took took a mini-vacation from the kids and stayed at a bed and breakfast on Lookout Mountain.
For dinner we took in a Murder Mystery, no pictures were allowed.
Then the next day we hung out at the Art Museum.
To celebrate, we took took a mini-vacation from the kids and stayed at a bed and breakfast on Lookout Mountain.
For dinner we took in a Murder Mystery, no pictures were allowed.
Then the next day we hung out at the Art Museum.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Happy Anniversary!!!
To my wonderful husband of 17 years. I can't believe we been married that long. Time sure flies by fast. We been through a lot and we have 3 adorable kids, a beautiful house and each other. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, SD!!!
WOW!!! I was so skinny then....years sure put some pounds on me(AM)
WOW!!! I was so skinny then....years sure put some pounds on me(AM)Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Farewell Party
These ladies are my wonderful friends. I have known them for a long time. I LOVE & ADORE THEM VERY MUCH!!
We had so many good friends leaving and pursuing other jobs. This party is for a family that we have known for 10 years. They are moving to Atlanta, Georgia for 2 years. We had yummy food, played frisbee, and chat with friends. We will sure miss them.
Playing Tennis
As a family we enjoy playing tennis. SD and I (AM) would play a tennis match and the kids would just play for the fun of it. EM also got her very own tennis racquet made for her age. Right now the best time to play tennis is at night. It's not as hot.
Weekend at Memphis
We were able to visit our very good friends near Memphis. As we were getting near their little town, our friend called our cell phone to warned us of a bad storm. We were driving in a very clear day and when we were approaching their town the sky was very dark and it started raining and it kept on raining very hard with lots of thunder and lightning. But we made it safely to their little town and the storm had passed. They took us to eat at a nearby southern restaurant to have dinner. Some houses and businesses did not have any electricity. The next day we went to the Memphis Zoo. They also took us to a wonderful rib place called RENDEZVOUS World Famous BBQ at downtown Memphis. After eating our delicious ribs, we went swimming at their in-laws swimming pool. Thank You Very Much to our Memphis friends. It was a fun weekend and we got the chance to see their newborn baby boy.
EM, AF and SF were busy reading the Zoo Map to decide which direction to go
A Beautiful landmark where the Panda Bears resides
Posing for a photo
Got to Stay in the shade...it's TOO HOT!!
EM and SF wearing the same style of shirts.....got to love Target
EM and AF posing like the Chinese White Jade Budai
EM, AF and SF were busy reading the Zoo Map to decide which direction to go
A Beautiful landmark where the Panda Bears resides
Posing for a photo
Got to Stay in the shade...it's TOO HOT!!
EM and SF wearing the same style of shirts.....got to love Target
EM and AF posing like the Chinese White Jade BudaiSunday, June 28, 2009
Shiloh
The young men in the ward went to Shiloh National Battlefield and I (SD) went with them.
OVERVIEW
Shiloh was the first truly bloody engagement of the Civil War, with more than 23,000 combined casualties (killed/wounded/missing). After the battle, all the bodies were thrown in a burial trench. Eventually, the Union dead were individually reinterred, although many bodies could not be identified. The rebel dead were left buried together in the trench.
THE BATTLE APRIL 6-7th, 1862
The battle arose when Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee moved by boat down the Cumberland river from Ft. Donelson, TN landed at Pittsburgh Landing, TN in preparation to attack Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston (yes, for those in Utah, that Johnston's army) Army of the Mississippi headquartered at Corinth, MI about 45 miles away. Grant was under orders to wait for Gen. Buell's army which was marching from Nashville, TN. It would take several weeks for Buell's troops to arrive. In the meantime, Johnston decided to attack before Buell could join with Grant . Despite the five days it took Johnston to get in place, due to rain and mud, Grant's army failed to detect the movements and failed to entrench.
Just before 5 am on the morning of April 6, 1862, a reconnaissance patrol led by Major John Wesley Powell (yes, for those in Utah, that John Wesley Powell), came under fire from charging Confederate troops and hurriedly put up a temporary battle line. After an hour of pitched fighting, these Union troops were driven from their position; however, their gallant effort allowed the unprepared Union main camp to organize into battle lines at a "sunken road" that extented for a mile or more.
At the "Sunken Road", the Union troops held back repeated Confederate assaults until the very late afternoon. To give the young men some sense of the difficulty of infantry charges, We timed JD and one of the other young men running across the open field from the Confederate position to the fence line of the Union defensive perimeter. It took him 38 seconds. Which would have been sufficient time for a cannon firing cannister (shrapnel loaded cannon shots that annilated infantry soliders) to fire 4 times.
On the far left of the Sunken road defensive perimeter was a Peach orchard which had a small pond. During the battle, the pond's water turned bloody from wounded men and horses. (We joked that the fish in the pond turned carnivorous because they followed our movements around the pond.)
It was in this area that A.S. Johnston was killed, mortally wounded by a bullet most likely fired by Confederate solider. For many Southerners, they believe that the loss of Johnston here resulted in the loss of the civil war, as Gen. Beauregard,( the second in command who had been reluctant to attack in the first place), did not continue the attack after the late afternoon and instead waited for morning. By their reasoning, continuing the attack would have destroyed the Army of the Tennessee and therefore eliminated the major threat to the South. (Most historian agree that the Civil War was won/lost in the Western theater, but whether a better general than Beauregard would have succeeded in crushing Grant's army on the evening of 6th is not so apparent.)
(STAY TUNED FOR MOVIE OF CANNONS FIRING)
The center of the Union defense was finally broken when the Confederate troops assembled more than 500 cannon on the slope facing down to the sunken road in order to bombard the Union center. It was at this battery position that reenactors from the Alabama regiment (CSA) demonstrated firing a Civil War cannon. (According to the reenactors, in actual battle, most of the safety precautions the rennactors employed such as double mopping the cannon, bringing charges from the rear, letting the cannon muzzle cool, etc... were dropped.)
After their demonstration, the rennactors returned to their camp near the battery and we had a chance to talk with them about why they pursued it as a hobby. Many of them took spend about a third of their weekends a year doing it.
When the the Union lines were finally broken, they were able to retreat into strong defensive positions around Pittsburgh Landing and were reinforced during the night by the advanced forces of Buell's Army. The next day, they counterattacked and drove the Confederates back over the ground they had gained the previous day. At the end of the day, the Confederate army was in full retreat and eventually marched back to Corinth in defeat.
The number of American (both USA and CSA) casualities from this battle was more than from all American wars combined up to that time. While Shiloh resulted in large territorial gains for the Union army, the enormity of the casualities eclipsed much of the political advantage that might have otherwise derived. The thought that the war would end quickly vanished. Grant is later said to have realized after Shiloh that there would be no way to save the Union without complete conquest of the South.
INDIAN MOUNDS
Shiloh National Battlefield also by chance preserved indian mounds from what was once a large Mississippian Indian settlement. So we explored these as well.
OVERVIEW
Shiloh was the first truly bloody engagement of the Civil War, with more than 23,000 combined casualties (killed/wounded/missing). After the battle, all the bodies were thrown in a burial trench. Eventually, the Union dead were individually reinterred, although many bodies could not be identified. The rebel dead were left buried together in the trench.
THE BATTLE APRIL 6-7th, 1862
The battle arose when Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's Army of the Tennessee moved by boat down the Cumberland river from Ft. Donelson, TN landed at Pittsburgh Landing, TN in preparation to attack Confederate Gen. Albert Sidney Johnston (yes, for those in Utah, that Johnston's army) Army of the Mississippi headquartered at Corinth, MI about 45 miles away. Grant was under orders to wait for Gen. Buell's army which was marching from Nashville, TN. It would take several weeks for Buell's troops to arrive. In the meantime, Johnston decided to attack before Buell could join with Grant . Despite the five days it took Johnston to get in place, due to rain and mud, Grant's army failed to detect the movements and failed to entrench.
Just before 5 am on the morning of April 6, 1862, a reconnaissance patrol led by Major John Wesley Powell (yes, for those in Utah, that John Wesley Powell), came under fire from charging Confederate troops and hurriedly put up a temporary battle line. After an hour of pitched fighting, these Union troops were driven from their position; however, their gallant effort allowed the unprepared Union main camp to organize into battle lines at a "sunken road" that extented for a mile or more.
At the "Sunken Road", the Union troops held back repeated Confederate assaults until the very late afternoon. To give the young men some sense of the difficulty of infantry charges, We timed JD and one of the other young men running across the open field from the Confederate position to the fence line of the Union defensive perimeter. It took him 38 seconds. Which would have been sufficient time for a cannon firing cannister (shrapnel loaded cannon shots that annilated infantry soliders) to fire 4 times.
On the far left of the Sunken road defensive perimeter was a Peach orchard which had a small pond. During the battle, the pond's water turned bloody from wounded men and horses. (We joked that the fish in the pond turned carnivorous because they followed our movements around the pond.)
It was in this area that A.S. Johnston was killed, mortally wounded by a bullet most likely fired by Confederate solider. For many Southerners, they believe that the loss of Johnston here resulted in the loss of the civil war, as Gen. Beauregard,( the second in command who had been reluctant to attack in the first place), did not continue the attack after the late afternoon and instead waited for morning. By their reasoning, continuing the attack would have destroyed the Army of the Tennessee and therefore eliminated the major threat to the South. (Most historian agree that the Civil War was won/lost in the Western theater, but whether a better general than Beauregard would have succeeded in crushing Grant's army on the evening of 6th is not so apparent.)
(STAY TUNED FOR MOVIE OF CANNONS FIRING)The center of the Union defense was finally broken when the Confederate troops assembled more than 500 cannon on the slope facing down to the sunken road in order to bombard the Union center. It was at this battery position that reenactors from the Alabama regiment (CSA) demonstrated firing a Civil War cannon. (According to the reenactors, in actual battle, most of the safety precautions the rennactors employed such as double mopping the cannon, bringing charges from the rear, letting the cannon muzzle cool, etc... were dropped.)
After their demonstration, the rennactors returned to their camp near the battery and we had a chance to talk with them about why they pursued it as a hobby. Many of them took spend about a third of their weekends a year doing it.
When the the Union lines were finally broken, they were able to retreat into strong defensive positions around Pittsburgh Landing and were reinforced during the night by the advanced forces of Buell's Army. The next day, they counterattacked and drove the Confederates back over the ground they had gained the previous day. At the end of the day, the Confederate army was in full retreat and eventually marched back to Corinth in defeat.
The number of American (both USA and CSA) casualities from this battle was more than from all American wars combined up to that time. While Shiloh resulted in large territorial gains for the Union army, the enormity of the casualities eclipsed much of the political advantage that might have otherwise derived. The thought that the war would end quickly vanished. Grant is later said to have realized after Shiloh that there would be no way to save the Union without complete conquest of the South.
INDIAN MOUNDS
Shiloh National Battlefield also by chance preserved indian mounds from what was once a large Mississippian Indian settlement. So we explored these as well.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Youth Pioneer Trek
On the 11th-13th of June I (jd) had a chance to go on a youth trek. The trek took place on a large area of land out in rural Tennessee. Our ward had a family of 12. On the trek we had to wear our period style clothes (which meant long sleeved shirts, pants, and a pair of suspenders).
Day 1
Upon arrival at the base we put together our handcarts. Before we could load our stuff a huge storm let loose heavy rains and winds, forcing all of us into the mess hall. We ate a meager lunch and heard some stories from our leaders while we waited out the storm. When the storm let up we finished loading our carts and started off, with two people at the bar, two in the back and the rest pulling on rope attached to the front . Because of mechanical problems our group was delayed to the end of the train. Shortly after it started to rain again and the wind picked up. There were many hills and creek crossings. That day we covered about 4.5 miles. We made camp in a clearing in the woods. Our shelter was just a large tarp over the cart and tied to the ground. That night another big storm came in almost worst than the first. We all had trouble sleeping, what with the wind howling, the rain pelting our tarp, and lightning lighting up the skies. Luckily our family stayed dry. The same could not be said for some of the other families. One family's tarp had collapsed from the weight of the water. Several families had set up shop in a perfect draining ditch.
Day 2
After a breakfast of piping hot oatmeal we broke camp and headed out. Because of the previous night's drenching the trails were muddy and messy. We made several more water crossings followed by steep uphills. In all we covered about 9.5 miles. With 0.75 miles to go, all of the young men were pulled out for the "Mormon Battalion", which turned out to be service projects (there was much disappointment for the lack of firearms). For the service project we cleared two primitive camp sights. After that we marched back and made camp.
Day 3
After another breakfast of oatmeal we had a testimonial meeting. We then had an easy 1 mile trip back to base camp. After disassembling the carts we had the feast. There were ribs, chicken, corn, potatoes, beans, cobbler, and best of all, soda. After eating till we were full and a little more some of us went on a short hike to a magnificent bluff with a great view of the valley. It was a great experience.
