CheriasChatter.com

Christmas is one of our favorite times of the year, mostly because we celebrate the birth of Christ and also because it is a time our families get together and enjoy visiting.  One of the traditions that we continue is visiting our Moms and this past Christmas was no different.  This picture was taken at my Mom’s and I think Olivia and Madison were having a great time opening gifts and enjoying the visit.  Those two sure are growing up fast, but memories are one thing that will never be gone.

Tami and Rob got all dressed up for a special date alone for Valentine Day, so Rick and I kept the girls, Olivia and Madison for them.  Of course I had to grab the camera and this is the resulting photo.  Turned out pretty good, I must say.  Don’t I have the best looking family?

Maybe I can get a new one of Amy and Gene before long to share with you.  It is a little harder to get them dressed any way except to go jump out of a plane, but I will certainly try.

Here we go again…snowing.  This has been a winter wonderland for certain.  So much so that everyone has begun to complain about it.   I have been one of the complainers, but I suppose we should all just hush and let God do His work, because He knows best.  Yesterday began as a pretty day, but then the snowflakes begun to fall and later in the evening it became heavy snowfall and I took this picture just a few minutes after it started and the ground was covered.

It has now been three years since Houdini came to live with the Rouse family and he seems extremely pleased to be here.  These are the pictures I took of him at our local animal shelter where he had been picked up along side the road by one of our Animal Control Officers.  He had been there several days and it  just so happened he had only one day left to be available for adoption.

Rick and I had been going by the shelter each week to take pictures of the animals and put them on www.petfinder.com, and when they brought Houdini around the corner the first thing he did was plant those big paws of his up on my chest.  It was “love at first sight” for both of us.  Rick wasn’t as fast to fall in love with this big white furball.  We did not take him home with us that day, but we were there when the shelter opened the next day and as they say…”the rest is history”.

Memories are great, but sometimes they just get to you and those tears begin.  Well, this was one of those times, when back in 2006, Rick, Olivia and I decided to walk from Aunt Eleanor’s to what we refer to as “down in the holler”, which is where the ole house is located that I visited often as a child. 

It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon and I had not been there for several years, and Rick and Olivia had never been there, but they had heard a lot about it.  As you can see, I got rather emotional, but that is just me (I think that is another thing I inherited from the Cook family).  Granny and Granddad Cook lived there and later so did  Uncle Herbert with Aunt June and Uncle Clayton with Aunt Mabel and then much later Uncle Clayton alone.  Wow…what memories!!!

The second picture  is of  the old bridge that we had to cross to get to the house and because a lot of the wood was missing and mostly rotten it was not safe to cross it.  We were also afraid to cross through the tall weeds because we had already encountered a few snakes, so we just stayed back and I remembered the ‘good ole times’ .  We will go back again before too long and I’m certain there will be more tears, but very happy ones.

Rick and I love taking pictures of all kinds…Rick loves landscapes and I favor people…which gives us a lot of enjoyment.  This particular picture was taken as I was watching Rick trying to get a good angle on a scene outside the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Va.  I took this picture back in 2006 and I think we have improved somewhat since then.  Since my camera died we are now just a one camera couple and sharing sometimes isn’t easy but we make do.  Maybe soon I will get to replace mine and then he can keep his to himself.

I have been looking through all the pictures we have and there are thousands of them.  This site is all about family and friends and I love sharing my thoughts with you visitors here and I believe most of you enjoy meeting my family through these pictures. 

I found this one and it was taken in July 2006 at Rick’s family reunion.  This is me and three of his cousins entertaining the crowd with our karoke.  We had a great time and no one left, but I’m sure some of them were thinking we probably wouldn’t be heading to Nashville anytime soon.

I have been looking through a bunch of pictures that my Aunt Eleanor has that belonged to Granny Cook, and finding this one sure brought back some great memories.  This is the very first pet I remember having and I was probably around 4-5 years old in this picture.  The big rough looking dog was Bozo and one of the most gentle pets anyone would ever want.  He was a Chow and I loved him very much…we were the best of friends.

I remember that Granny didn’t like dogs in the house, but sometimes the door would get opened (Hmmm wonder how?) and Bozo would come walking inside and lots of times the two of us would be found underneath the dining table with Bozo sleeping and me sleeping on his back. 

I think maybe Madison got her love of dogs from me, although my Mom didn’t encourage that love very much, because she was always afraid I would get bitten.  Bozo was the only dog I really could call a pet while I was growing up and he certainly was a great pet.  He has been gone a very long time and my Uncle Clayton and Aunt Mabel were the ones to bring him to Granny and Granddad’s and I believe he is walking around on those streets of gold with them and they are all having a great time.  See ya again Bozo my friend.