Papa and Grammy Visit Lexington

We were so excited to have Grammy and Papa come visit us for a few days last week. While they were here we did lots of fun things.

The plan was for them to arrive on Monday before noon and leave very early Wednesday morning, but on Saturday, they called to say they would be arriving at 2 AM on Sunday. We were excited to have them for more time, but I still had to finish my paper (see ealier post below).

On Sunday, after church whe went on a backroad driving tour on the way home. In the afternoon, I went to the library to finish my paper while Ashley, the girls, Grammy, and Papa had a big beautiful dinner. Later, they brought me some leftovers and I gave them a brief tour of my lawschool.

I ended up staying at the library all night and when I came home Monday at 7 AM, they were all still asleep. Grammy and Papa read my paper and gave suggestions before I turned it in at 9 AM. When they asked if I wanted to sleep, I said, "No way, I am pushing through and we are going sightseeing."

First, we went on a guided tour of Washington & Lee University. They really enjoyed seeing the historic colonnade, the upper campus and finding out more about the school.

After the tour, we stopped at the Reeves Center, and saw the collection of 4,000+ pieces of ceramic dishes(Grammy was impressed). We finished with a tour of Lee Chapel where we took a great picture with us and 'the General' and the flags of the south.

After going down to see Lee's crypt, we stopped at Traveller's grave (Lee's war horse) just outside Lee Chapel. On top of the grave there were tons of pennies all facing tails up. I went in to ask, "What's with the pennies?" The woman said that it is tradition for students to leave pennies for good luck in school. During exams, she said you will usually find carrots and apples as well. I asked why the pennies were all tails up and she said, "Well, you know who is on the other side of that penny right?" Then she grinned as if to say, "We really don't dislike Lincoln or the North, but it is fun to pretend like it."

After lunch and a nap, we went back out to do a longer driving tour of the area. We first stopped at Southern Virginia University in Buena Vista (pronounce Byoo - nah... don't get me started). SVU is a small, liberal arts school with a honor code similar to an LDS school; 96% of the 800 students are LDS. The main hall of the school is a beautiful historic building that was a hotel in early 1900s.

After SVU, we drove along the James River, stopping at an overlook with beautiful views of the river and valley. As you can see, everything is bright green at this time of year. Then we drove along the Blue Ridge Parkway stopping to see the gorgeous sunset over our valley.

When we got home from driving along the BRP, Ashley realized that her cell phone was no longer in the pocket on the strap of her diaper bag. At one point during the drive the girls were being fussy, so we pulled off the side of the road so I could get the diaper bag from the trunk to get the snacks out for the girls. We figured that it was at this point that the phone could have fallen out of the bag. By this time it was getting dark, but my dad and I headed back out to the BRP to try to find Ashley's phone (Ashley's note: I have an awesome husband. He went with no complaints). At the same time Ashley was on her knees praying because she really needs her phone and can't afford a new one, we found her phone lying in the gravel. Our home phone is programmed to ring differently when Ashley calls (it plays "Old MacDonald had a Farm"). When I called home from her cell phone, she was in the middle of her prayer, but by the sound of the ring she knew right away that I had found her phone. (Too bad this didn't happen when she lost her wedding ring).

On Tuesday, we started the day with a walking tour of historic downtown Lexington. After stopping at the Visitor's Center to see the promotional video and picking up a walking tour map, we were off. We had so much fun stopping in the shops and reading about the historical buildings that we completely forgot to take picture! (If you know us, that is a pretty big deal.)

Later, my dad and I played golf at Lexington Country Club. After golf, we met the girls at our favorite place, Boxerwood Gardens. We relaxed in the hammock, Leland played in the Bones Graveyard, I showed my parents the awesome NEWTS wastewater treatment system, and we took a walk through the beautiful gardens. It was very peaceful and gorgeous. The "popcorn" tree at the end of our walk was amazing. Of course, it wouldn't be a vacation with Grammy if we didn't get a picture of her on the phone.

That night we came home and played games (Ashley wants me to say how she won at "Hand & Foot" twice during their stay) and went to bed somewhat early because Grammy and Papa had to leave at 3 AM to make the early flight out of Washington, DC. With Amy's new job, they get to fly free, but on standby. We were glad that not only did they get on the direct flight to LA, but they were able to upgrade to first class for only $17!

Thanks for coming to visit us, Grammy and Papa!