Remembering the Love That Makes Us a Family

It is very early Christmas morning (3:35 a.m.). As I think of the events that today will hold I feel dread, excitement, stress. Then I remember the writing on one of my favorite Christmas ornaments. 

"Celebrate the Love That Makes Us a Family"

This ornament hangs from the front of our tree each year accompanied with a pair of tiny white booties. They are there in memory of our first child, Robyn. Though Robyn is not here in body, the love that we feel for her, Kyle and Colton will forever make Christmas special. The gifts may be minimal and the money even less, but the love is always here and HIS grace is sufficient. Sufficient enough that ithas brought us this far and sufficient enough to see us through the challenges that we already know we will be facing over the next year. Though uncertainty abounds, so does love, and WE WILL OVERCOME!!!

To my children and my husband...

• May God bless you this Christmas and in the days to come. You are very special to me and I can't imagine facing the giants without you here.

To my JAG Family...

• To you I also pray for God's grace and blessings upon you and yours. You are an AWESOME bunch of folks and I count myself blessed to have friends like you.

To the remainder of  my readers...

• My wish for you is a  Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.
  

CHRISTmas

After attending another great JAG Event I want to write and once again wish all of the JAG family a very Merry CHRISTmas and may the New Year be filled with blessing and FTFs. :o)

Will the Time Come?

JimmyLogan and I have been talking about how much we miss caching and our friends at JAG. We really enjoyed the few caches we got on the way home from the JAG Campout, but life just seems to keep dealing out blows that interfere with our plans. Perhaps one day things will settle and we will be able to hit the trails again on the way to our 1K. For those who read this blog, please remember our family in your prayers as we are going through trial by fire at this time. We will be delivered, but things are hard now and we see no light at the end of tunnel. God's grace is all that will get us through now. It is completely out of anyone's hands.

As the holiday season approaches, they seem more depressing this year than ever before. The drama, the judgement by others, and the uncertainty of things. Perhaps joy will come in the morning....or one morning soon.

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving and a very 

Merry Christmas from Bashful & JL.

Vote For Capt'n Cutless the Cacher aka Dan Meyer

After narrowly missing the chance to advance to the America's Got Talent Finals last night, our own DAN MEYER is among a list of 8 wildcard performers out of over 50,000 who can be VOTED BACK onto the show by YOU, THE VIEWERS!!

The response has been overwhelming! But we need YOUR HELP!

NOW IS YOUR CHANCE TO VOTE DAN MEYER BACK ONTO AMERICA'S GOT TALENT!

To vote, go to:

http://www.nbc.com/Americas_Got_Talent/vote/register.shtml


You can VOTE up to 10x (TEN TIMES!) per person up to Friday, August 15th!

LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD!!

BRING BACK DAN!!

Happy Birthday Kyle

Man....time sure passes fast. My baby will be 17 on Friday and starting his senior year this year. Kyle has always been a very outgoing young man. Even as a little fella, he would talk to/go to almost anyone. He has always had a very dynamic personality. He loves music, hunting and like most guys his age ... just hanging out. I can't believe it is time for his Senior year. 

I used to remember all the firsts and now I keep thinking of the lasts. This is his last summer vacation. This will be his last year in the marching band. This will be the last time we buy school clothes and school supplies. Yes, I know, this will also start a new series of firsts also. He just got his first job (well, the first one he got all on his own). Soon, he will be getting to vote for the first time . He will be getting married, having his first child and then an entire series of firsts will start. I miss all the times when Kyle used to crawl up in the bed between Jimmy & me and when he would talk to Colton and say "It's ok Buddy!" and now they fight all the time. Ahhh...brotherly love. 

I love you Kyle and wish you all the happiness in the world. No matter what path you choose or who you choose to spend your life with, Mom will ALWAYS love you and be here for 

you.

Love you bud!!!!

No Caching for Now

Well, I had hoped things would slow down and we would be able to get back to caching, but I guess not. I had knee surgery on 7/7/08 and have an additional test scheduled for a what may lead to a second surgery. Between a gimpy leg and a dying gall bladder, this summer isn't shaping up very well. However, if I am not in the hospital, I do plan to attend the event at Chuck E. Cheese's. My kids are a bit old for the place and won't be attending, but we plan to go and see our friends for a while. The sport of geocaching is great, but the friends we have made have been awesome. If you are in the area on July 8th, stop by and meet some great cachers and maybe, just maybe we will be there too. :o)

Haven't Quit Forever ...just forced to stop for a while

We are  still talking caching, trying to keep up in the forums and thinking up hide ideas, but getting out in "the field" isn't something we have had the opportunity to do. 

With less than ten finds in the past two months we are definitely missing geocaching and MORE THAN THAT, all of our geocaching friends. Life has been dealing some pretty tough blows the past couple of months, but hopefully things will be better soon and we will be back out and about once again.

Keep on caching and we will see you on the trails again very soon...

I HOPE!!!

A Year Already??!!??!!??!!??!!??

On March 15th, 2008 Catfish Cabin in Jackson Tennessee played host to a great group of folks...The Jackson Area Geocachers aka JAG. The back room of the establishment was filled with cachers of all ages and from all walks of life (40+ members, family  & friends). Everyone was laughing and having a great time as they shared their caching adventures. There were those there with thousands of finds and years of experience and they were just as eager to hear the new cacher's story as the new cacher was to hear tales and tricks from the seasoned cacher.

That is just one of the things that makes this group so great. Everyone is open and willing to help. Sharing is in abundance. Sharing stories, techniques, tactics and even down to sharing each others burdens. You can count on the folks in this group.

After dinner and the trail tales came the "First Annual JAGGY Awards" The winners were:

Favorite Micro Cache--Dalls
Evil Park Widget GC11PX2

Favorite Traditional Cache--Yogi & Dolphin
Not a Charter Member GC12BAN

Favorite Location/Journey/Experience--Team Bluff
BWA-Welcome to the Bluff GC11NYJ

Favorite Event Cache--BigDaddyD
JAG JAG JAG JAG JAG JAG JAG Campout GC168TV


Then it was outside to pose for our traditional group photo.

See you at the next JAG event.

  JAG's 2008 CITO at Pickwick

The JAG Philoso....Photographer  

 

JAG Leaps Around Jackson

Well, another awesome JAG event in now down in the record books. On "Leap Day" we completed our first multi stage event. The night started with appetizers at TGIF. Then it was off to Buffalo Wilds WIngs for the main course. Dessert was two more stages. Beverages came from Starbucks and the pastries from Cinnabon.

We had many that were able to make all 4 stages of the event with our largest turn out being at BWW for the main course. That was an interesting session. The service left a GREAT deal to be desired, but the company and conversation more than made up for it. When we did finally (and hour and five minutes after ordering) get our food here is what happened. Yep that's right she dumped the entire tray. Most of the wings on the table went to the floor too but after over an hour JL figured he might as well take the food anyway he could get it. (No, not reeeeeeeally.)

Everyone seemed to have a great time here despite the minor set backs. We certainly had our little area of the place packed. The kids played the adults talked and the JAG Nation had another knock out event.

Hope to see you in a couple of weeks at our big birthday blowout. Make plans to attend. As with all other JAG events, I know this one will be another doozie.

JAG Anniversary Bash March 15th, 2008

JAG Leaps Around Jackson

More Than Just a Reviewer

To many throughout the geocaching community, MaxCacher was more than just a reviewer. He was also a cacher, JoGPS and a friend...Joe. Today, Joe announced that he was resigning from his position as a volunteer reviewer for the state of Tennessee. It is with sad hearts that we see Joe leave this area of the caching community. Joe has been a strong force in geocaching in Tennessee. He has hidden, hunted, reviewed and given council on more caches than I can even begin to imagine. He has always been willing to help the newbie and advise the seasoned cacher.

As with anyone in a position to make decisions, Joe met those that opposed him. I will say only one thing about this...whether you like his decision or not, Joe made his decision based on the guidelines set forth by GC.com. If that worked for your cache...great, if not, it was still his decision and he stood by it. I totally respect that. It is not always easy to do what is right, but it is still ALWAYS right.

To Joe, I say happy retirement. I feel quite sure you won't miss the stress of the "volunteer job" you have worked so hard at for so many years. Know that you will be missed as a reviewer, but we certainly hope this will free up some of your time so you can hit the trails more and make more of those awesome JAG campouts.

Best Wishes friend.

Yard Pass Granted, Ammo Can Awarded

After several months in the making, we were finally able to have Volnut's 1K Shindig.

There were both new and seasoned cachers in attendance. The Snappy's Pizza Crew was awesome and so was the pizza. The entire Volnut family was there and of course the other two Bluff Boys. It was great to see the JAG friends we hadn't seen since Christmas and we are looking forward to our next JAG Event.

Also, our One Year Anniversary celebration is just around the corner. That is one thing about this group, if you are forced to miss an event, just sit tight, there will be another one soon.

I have added some new pics from the 1K Event. Hope you enjoy.