Most Recent Painting

Here is my most recent painting. I decided to try something other than landscape, because I don't seem to be much of a landscape painter. I thought this little chickadee turned out quite well for a first-time bird painting.

Somebody had a Birthday!

Delilah turned 3 on April 10. Here she is in one of her new dresses. She said she looked just like Belle (the princess from Beauty and the Beast).

Easter Egg Hunt

Sunday evening, we got together and hid some eggs for Delilah. Some of them had fun things inside, like stickers, ducky soaps and toys...even some jelly beans! She had fun finding them all and opening them up.

Visits

Here is a pic of us with Maggie, Bob and Oliver and Mom & Dale. Maggie and Bob came down for Easter. We had a spaghetti lunch and played some games (Apples to Apples and Swipe). Before that, we had a visit from our Carlson parents...unfortunately, Dave had to fly out to Germany the day after they got here, but he did get to see them a little.

Trip to MA

My last trip was to East Longmeadow Massachusettes for work. We flew from Asheville to Detroit and then to Hartford. One of the great lakes was frozen over. I went hiking on one of the weekends. It was snow covered and icy. That makes it more of a challenge. The mountains there aren't as high as ours but it was a nice view. We also were there when a snow storm came through. It snowed 10". My next trip is to Germany, maybe there will be snow there too.

My Floating Book Shelf

Here it is! I've been meaning to blog this for a while, but just haven't gotten around to it. This is my magical floating bookshelf. I made it myself. I used cat books because it was going in the dining room with all my little cat figurines. Neat-O, huh? It's UH-MAY-ZING!!

Rumbling Bald

Another trip to the cave last weekend. Last time I went was when before we were married. Larry, Brian, Greg and I went this time. I missed the trail to the entrance and it took a long time and a lot of climbing around on the outside to find it. Once inside, it opens up to a huge chamber. We camped overnight there once. Not a great idea to have a fire in this cave. Winding around and finding a new exit, we made it to the top and took the picture with the lake in the background. The bat is the only one we saw on this trip, and the were no cave bugs this time. We had fun and will probably go again. Next time I'm getting a different headlamp - the one I was using kept getting caught on rocks.

This Weekend

Saturday we drove down to Greenville to watch our niece, Kelly, compete in Bible Quizzing. She and her team did a great job! We forgot to take our camera with us, so unfortunately I don't have any pictures. :o(
After the quizzing, we went to lunch with everyone (that being Kelly, Jordan, Lisa, Mike, Brian and Christie). Then we did a little book and craft shopping. Leave it to me to be the only one that spent money! But I got 2 great cat books and some really neat soap molds, which I used that very night after we got home.
Then Sunday...we went to church, ran by the grocery store and then came home to prepare for our Superbowl gathering. Mom, Dale, Delilah and Aunt Sandy all came over to watch the game. We had too much food (including root beer floats!) and a lot of fun. We girls knitted and crocheted squares for Warm Up America during the game as part of DIY Network's "Knit-in". We got 8 done! You can see them on my knitting blog- the link is over there somewhere------>
Sometime during the evening, Super Dave flew through the living room in his red-checked cape, thus creating an instant sidekick! I am including a picture or three...

Last Weekend

Last weekend my sister, Maggie, came for a visit with her baby boy, Oliver. Mom and Dale and Sarah and Delilah came over and we had a fun time of visiting and playing games and eating tacos. The above pics are: Oliver with Aunt Sarah, Oliver with Maggie, and "Grandma" with her 2 little grand-chillins, Oliver and Delilah.

January

Well, here it is, nearly the end of January. We haven't really taken any pictures since Christmas, so I don't have one to post. We have been busy, however. It all started with a mission to clean out all the closets. Well, it turned into a huge project. We emptied the 2 closets in the guest room and computer room. A lot of stuff was thrown away, some was given away, and some was stored in rubbermaid containers to go in the garage. We now have 2 empty closets! As if that weren't wild n' crazy enough, we started moving furniture around too. Our living room is all rearranged, and now includes the computers. So, now we have one empty room just waiting for its true potential to be realized...ha ha ha. Can you tell I've been watching HGTV??
I guess that is the whole of our excitement for this month. Maggie is getting here today with little Oliver for a visit. That will end up the month nicely, then we'll have February...

Christmas at Home

Christmas Day was spent at our house with Mom, Dale, Sarah, Greg and Delilah. Firstly, we had a great time cooking. We had a hearty breakfast of Dave's apple pancakes, Sarah's delicious breakfast roll, and Mom's homemade hashbrowns- YUM! Then we opened presents! We tried to choose thoughtful and useful gifts this year, and it was great seeing the reactions as they were opened. Among other things, Dave got some new tools he didn't have...an automatic adjustable wrench, some 2 foot long screwdrivers (!) and some clamps he can use to finish up our coffee table. I got a new Bolitho book, a lovely new shadow box, and various girly/bath stuff. And Dave, who is very supportive of my creative tendencies, gave me a very nice painting set- easel and all (I'll put more about that later...). After we all oohed and aahed and played with our new things for a bit, we got out the bongos! We took turns playing until our hands were sore from the clapping...then we put in Dance, Dance Revolution. In this game, you stand on a pad and have to step forward, backward, left or right as the game directs. It gets faster and faster and we got a pretty good workout!! Which was a good thing because then we cooked and ate a big 'ol dinner, including turkey, mashed potatoes, etc. It was a great day, but tiring, and we went to bed early after everyone headed home. 

Pre-Christmas Gathering...

Pictures from the Harriman Family Annual Holiday gathering (Dec 23&24)! Two full days of fun and excitement! Dave and I both participated in the Cribbage Tournament (won by my grandfather) and the Dart Tournament (won by Uncle Gary). Seeing everyone was lots of fun, especially the little ones, Delilah, Marshall and Mackenzie. We all visited and played games and ATE and did our yearly gift exchange. It was fun seeing everyone's reaction to their gifts- and there was a good practical joke in one of them! Though tiring, they were a fun couple of days. 

Still Newlyweds!

Today is our four year Wedding Anniversary! This is a picture from our honeymoon in Bermuda four years ago. We still feel like newlyweds.
These past four years have been the best, and it seems like each year is better than the last. We are thankful to the Lord for bringing us together, and for showering us with His love, that we can in turn share with one another. Praise God for four wonderful years! 

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas...

Last night, we had Mom and Dale and Sarah and Greg and Delilah over to help decorate our Christmas tree. We got kind of a skinny one this year. The lisgths went on nicely and everyone had fun putting on the ornaments.
I even got Dave IN FRONT of the camera once...
Here we all are with the finished product. Doesn't it look Bee-oot-ee-full?? 

The Drink of the Warrior

I'm sure most of you know that I am a Trekkie. I am also currently serving as Chief Recreation Officer for the USS Alaric (Asheville Chapter of Starfleet International Fan Club). Per that title, it fell to me to plan the Alaric Christmas party this year. Above is pictured one of the prizes- a bottle of Klingon Blood Wine!!(OK, so it is actually blueberry pomegranate Italian soda...) But the color of the contents is just perfect and my label turned out great, so I had to show it off. The smaller label on the top is a Klingon saying. It says "Drinking fake ale is better than drinking water." Special thanks to whoever out there created that Klingon Font. -Rachael 

Aunt Wilma

Here is Aunt Wilma when she spoke to the Asheville Alliance Sunday School class about their ministry in Russia. Very interesting.

Thanksgiving

We all gathered in Orlando again this year for Thanksgiving. Thanks to all who made it possible. It was a great time to see everybody and attempt to get caught up. Here are some pictures, Please share you photos with me because I had some camera issues and didn't get as many as I usually do. We had a small birthday party with Grampy Kelly. Here we are singing Amazing Grace together.

Thanksgiving 2006

Uncle Ron and Aunt Wilma

Ron and Wilma visited us on the way down to Florida. They spoke at the Asheville church on Sunday. Here is uncle Ron. I'll have to get Wilma's on here later.

Ooooh, Pretty!

This is one of the paintings Dave brought back from China. Isn't it beautiful? It matches our living room perfectly- the colors are just right. He did a great job!
This is a decorative plate he got. He said they put layer after layer of paint on the plate, and then carve the design into the paint.
And this is a silk robe. Very nice. Surprisingly, it is also very warm. He got to see how they get the silk from the silkworms while he was there. It is amazing that a little bug can make something strong enough to be woven into clothes and such. 

Look! Christmas is Coming!!

Look! Christmas is Coming! How did November get here so fast? And it's already a third of the way gone. Only 45 days until Christmas. Well, first of all, we'll be traveling for Thanksgiving. We'll be off to Florida on the 21st for nearly a week of family gatherings with Dave's clan. Then, December 2nd is the Alaric Christmas Party (That's my Starfleet group- the brave crew of the USS Alaric). I'm in charge of activities for that and I have some fun things planned. Dec 16th is the Normac Christmas party...that's usually a fancy affair. I've got to find something really nice to wear. Then, Dec 23/24 will be festivities with the Harriman clan here in Asheville. This includes the dart tournament, the cribbage tournament and other various activities. Christmas day will be spent with my Mom and Dale and Sarah and Delilah...and Maggie, Bob and Oliver if they decide to travel. Then, after that, we're off to St.Louis for a week or so to spend some time with the Carlsons and Croteaus. I think that's all we have planned- I'm sure something else will pop up!