Family Vacation at Tim's Ford State Park

I know, I know, it has been way too long since I last posted. My honey-do list has grown tremendously this last month. We decided to put down new carpet throughout our entire upstairs (long over due), but in order to do that, we have to paint 4 rooms first. OUCH!!!! I will update more on that in a later post.

Back to the vacation. We took our annual trip to Tim's Ford State Park in June and had a great time. It is not only our immediate family who goes, but Jennifer's extended family also. Jennifer's sister (Christy) & her family, her Mom & Dad (Peggy & Glen), Uncle Jimmy & his kids (with their families), and Aunt Judy & Uncle Bill (with Eric & Brandy). Her family has been doing this for 20+ years. They started with one cabin and now we are up to 4.

We also have special guests throughout the week. Both of Jenn's grandmothers (Memo & Edna) live in nearby Winchester and they come over for supper with us several nights. Uncle David (Glen's brother), who also lives in Winchester, comes out with Memo a couple of times during the week. Goose (family friend who let's us borrow his pontoon boat and fishes with us each year) stays and eats lunch with us several days after fishing, and Chico & Lynn came over for our fish fry.

Kelsey brought a friend (Catherine) with her this year who stayed with us until Thursday night.

We have a crew who go out each morning (Tuesday through Friday) to fish while another crew takes the kids to the swimming pool. Then we meet back at the cabin for lunch and we have another crew who takes the boats out to play in the afternoon. Then we meet back at the cabin for supper and either watch movies, play games, or play on the playground the rest of the night.

Several of the guys play golf at least one day and sometimes two. This year we played 2 days at a little 12 hole course in Winchester. That is usually the only time during the year that I get to play, so it is mostly hacking. :-) I did however, chip-in a shot for an eagle while playing with Eric on Saturday and played all 3 of my shots for a birdie on another hole. Just enough to make me want to go play again. The rest of my shots usually leave me wondering why I am playing. :-)

Wednesday night we went to the Drive-In theater in Estill Springs and watched Kung-Fu Panda and the new Indiana Jones movie. That was great fun, but it got quite cold that night.

On Saturday night, we have a fish fry and fix all the fish that was caught during the week (and some backup fish in case we didn't have good luck during the week) and make homemade ice cream.

This year was quite a mix of emotions and blessings. The first day we were there, our nephew Tanner rode his bicycle down the hill toward the cabin and couldn't stop before jumping a barrier in front of it and slamming into the cabin face first. Luckily, he turned his face as he went into the wall and only received a few cuts and a bruise on his face.

We had boat trouble early in the week and once it was fixed, we had wheel trouble with the trailer that was bringing it back. We were able to get the wheel fixed and get the boat back out on the lake later in the week.

On the positive side, this was Tori's (Christy's daughter) first lake vacation and it was Courtney's first time to get in the lake by herself (climbing in and out of the pontoon) and going under in the swimming pool.

Kelsey passed her test and received a license to allow her to drive a jet ski this year. She loved that and it helped us since she could take the kids riding while we were driving the other boats pulling "Big Bertha", the knee board, or skiing.

We had great weather all week and really enjoyed our time just relaxing with family. The staff at the Marina know us all and work great with us during the week (as they should with as much food, ice cream, and gas we buy there). We are already looking forward to our time there next year.

Well, that's it for now. I will post more later.

Courtney's 1st swimming lessons

Since this is the first summer that Courtney has neither had a trach nor had the trach hole open, we setup swimming lessons for her at a local swimming pool. The daughter of one of our friends from church has worked with special needs children before and worked very well with Courtney. Her first lesson was on Monday, June 9th. They lasted for about 45 minutes to an hour for 5 days.

Since we were leaving for the lake on the 16th, we wanted to make sure we got her used to the swimming pool and using a life jacket so that she could get into the lake by herself and know what to expect. Her last lesson was cancelled twice due to rain and she didn't actually take it until the morning of the 16th before we left for the lake.

Molly did a great job preparing Courtney for the waves in the lake and how to get water out of her mouth if she got any in it. She also worked with her on going under water in the pool, treading water, and the beginnings of how to use her arms to cup and pull water. We still have a long way to go, but WOW what a long way she has come thus far.

Here are a few pictures from her swim lessons:

HUMC Basketball Camp

Both girls participated in the HUMC basketball camp the week of June 2nd. Courtney participated as a camper and Kelsey was a student coach helping Coach Jim instruct about 90 campers. The camp lasted from 8:30 until 3:30 each day and they performed for all of the parents and special guests on Friday to show what they had learned.

During the week, they learned basic ball handling skills, shooting technique, played team games, played dribble tag, and had special drills for dribbling and shooting. Courtney had a really good time and has improved tremendously over the last several years. She has been going to the camp for the last 3 or 4 years (about the same time Kelsey started helping with the coaching).

Here are a couple of pictures from the camp (Courtney with Coach Jim and Courtney during one of her ball-handling drills):

Courtney is already looking forward to playing Upward basketball next January. She missed it last year due to recovering from her heart surgery.

Courtney's 1st Camping Trip

I apologize for not updating in awhile, but I will try to catch up on how things are going with our family. Over Memorial Day weekend, we went camping at Cedars of Lebanon State Park.

This was Courtney's 1st camping trip and the first time we have been able to tent camp as a family in quite a few years. The campground was full by Wednesday afternoon, but Jennifer had gone down early and reserved 2 sites (1 for us & 1 for Christy's family). We spent 4 nights there and had really nice weather.

Christy, Phillip, & their children came down Friday afternoon. Their school (Trinity Christian Academy - TCA) was playing in the softball state tournament in Murfreesboro, so we watched them Friday night and Saturday morning.

The kids had a great time riding bikes, playing on the playground, roasting hot dogs, making smores, swimming in the pool, and playing some games on the softball field and tennis courts. While Phillip kept Tori, the rest of us went on a guided horse trail ride. Courtney was not real excited about leading the way on her own horse at first, but once the guide was able to help lead her horse, she really enjoyed it.

Courtney was able to get into the pool by herself although she was still concerned about water getting up to her neck. I had to convince her that she did not have to worry about that anymore since the trach hole is now closed, but she was still hesitant. She eventually relaxed and enjoyed her time in the water.

It was a very relaxing time and we enjoyed getting to spend time with Phillip, Christy, Tanner, Trace, & Tori. We were able to get packed up and almost home before we ran into any rain (we always get rained on when we camp). We are looking forward to more camping trips, hopefully another one later this year.

Courtney Turns 11

I apologize to those of you who still look for updates on this site, but we have been extremely busy lately and I just have not found the time to logon and update. So here goes. :-)

We had a great time visiting with Jennifer's extended family on Sunday, May 4th. Everyone thought Courtney looked great and I gave an update on her progress and all the things going on in Kelsey's life these days. We are very proud of both of our girls. Kelsey was asked if she would provide some musical entertainment next year so that everyone can hear her beautiful voice.

We spent a lot of time the next week planning Courtney's 11th birthday party. It is hard to believe that she is now 11. We had her party at Hermitage Lanes and everyone had a great time. We got her a bowling ball so that we can start practicing more to get her ready for her Special Olympics events. She used bumpers this time, but didn't need them very much, and bowled her best game ever. She bowled a 99 with an 8 lb ball. We are going to help her work on strengthening her arm so that she can bowl more traditionally and without bumpers.

A couple of Courtney's teachers and Suzanne from school and a former teacher from church came with their kids, as well as, the Dodd family, our parents, my aunt Charlotte and niece Madison, Jenn's sister and her family, and Taylor. After bowling, the kids played in the arcade for awhile. Since it was Mother's Day and there were several mothers taking time away from their family to celebrate Courtney's birthday, we gave each Mother a single red rose to thank them and let them know how special they are also.

Courtney Goes on School Field Trip to LBL

Courtney took her first overnight field trip with the 4th grade class at her school. They left for Land Between the Lakes (Lake Barkley - Kentucky) on Wednesday morning by bus and returned Friday afternoon.

She did not have any family with her or a private nurse. Ms. Suzanne, her EA at school and Jessica's mom, went as her chaperone/aide. She had a great time fishing, roasting marshmallows, holding crawfish, seeing snakes, and playing with all her friends. Ms. Suzanne took pictures for us and I will post them once I get some of them.

We are headed to a family dinner tomorrow afternoon and then finish planning Courtney's 11th birthday party next weekend. She will celebrate her birthday again this year on Mother's Day (this year it actually is the same day again). We are having a High School Musical theme party at a local bowling alley. Courtney loves to bowl, in fact she has competed the last 2 years in a Special Olympics event for bowling. She got invited to the state competition last year, but her score didn't qualify because her lane had bumpers. We are going to work on bowling without the bumpers this year to see if we can get her qualified.

Continue to keep us in your prayers, as well as my friend Daniel and his family. I mentioned him in one of my previous blogs concerning his 4th child having complications at Vanderbilt. Well, Georgie passed away Wednesday morning and they had a memorial service for him today. They don't have a lot of family close by, so I am sure they would appreciate your prayers. Thank you.

Thoroughly Modern Millie was a big success

The DCA High School Spring Musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie" was wonderful. There were 50 cast members and 30 stage crew (@ 25% of the high school student body) who helped pull off this performance. It is amazing to see the amount of talent that is in such a small school and they keep doing it year after year.


DCA should be very proud of their Fine Arts students, teachers, and everyone else who participated in any way.

Kelsey really enjoyed the whole experience and did an excellent job (if I must say so myself). She is already looking forward to the next production she is involved with.

She has gotten numerous compliments on her performance and everyone really enjoyed the play. Now that the play is over, she will be able to get back to her voice lessons and start working on a duet with Carly (DCA Sr. who was also in the play) to sing at our church.

She has 2 more weeks of school before finals. This past week at the High School Awards Day, Kelsey received an All-Year Distinguished Scholar (President's List) award for making all A's her Freshman year. The Drama/Choir Banquet is Saturday night followed by a cast party at one of the seniors house. They are going to have a bonfire and watch a movie on a screen or sheet outside.

Kelsey also recently got an invitation to attend the Presidential Youth Inaugural Conference in Washington DC next January. She got the invitation due to being an alumnus of the National Young Leaders Conference that met here in Nashville last year. With the DCA trip to DC earlier this year and the trip to London, we had to really think about this, but decided this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. She will actually get to be at the inauguration, watch the parade, go to one of the balls, meet some of the candidates, & be part of some political debates. She has already started lining up babysitting jobs to help raise money for the trip.

She is growing up way too fast, but really is a mature young lady who I know will make a big impact someday in whatever she chooses to do.

Kelsey makes her debut in DCA Spring Musical

Kelsey is making her big debut tonight in the DCA Spring Musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie". They have a performance tonight at 7:00 and again tomorrow night at 7:00. We have a large group of family and friends coming for tomorrow night's performance (my Mom, Dad, Aunt Charlotte, my nephew JR, and niece Madison, Jennifer's parents, her sister & her family, and Kelsey's voice teacher).

She has been working hard for quite some time, but this week especially. It has been after 11:00 before they finished 3 nights this week. She is very excited and doesn't seem too nervous. I am sure she will do great. Courtney is still not very comfortable going to plays or anywhere when they turn off the lights, there is loud music, and she is unsure of what is going on, so she is not going to the play. However, Jennifer took her last night to a Dress Rehearsal and after she got past the first 10 minutes of lights going off, she really enjoyed it. They had to leave after the 1st act so Courtney could get ready for bed (school night) and she did not want to leave. :-) Kelsey was excited to hear that. Courtney is spending the night with Jessica again tonight.

In other news, Kelsey was selected by DCA to compete in a Math Olympics at Belmont University a few weeks ago.

Last weekend Jennifer's aunt Judy got us tickets to the Casting Crowns concert at the Sommet Center. We had a blast (me, Kelsey, Taylor, Christy & Tanner, and Caryn & Cayman (Jenn's cousin & her son)). It was a 3 hour praise and worship service that seemed like it was over in no time. Kelsey and I are still singing their songs in the car every chance we get. Here is a link to their website if you want to check out their music (http://www.castingcrowns.com/). There were also 2 other groups who sang (Leeland & John Waller). Kelsey liked Leeland so much, we bought one of their CDs.

Please keep my friend Daniel and his family in your prayers. He and his wife Mary have 4 children. The 4th child, who was just born this past week with complications, is having problems and is at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital now.

Courtney Competes in Nashville Special Olympics

On Thursday, April 10th, Courtney competed in her 3rd Nashville Special Olympics competition.

She competed in the same events this year as last year (50 meter run & standing long jump). She won both of her events last year, but had tougher competition this year and finished 3rd in both events.

Considering she had open heart surgery 4 months prior, we think she did remarkably well. Just seeing the smile on her face as she ran down the track and as she was jumping meant more to us than any 1st place ribbon ever could.

Jennifer's Mom & Dad were able to come again this year and we let Kelsey skip school to be there with her.

Courtney got to decide where we ate lunch and she chose Golden Corral. Kelsey tried to persuade her to pick O'Charley's, but Courtney had eaten at the Golden Corral with Ms. Suzanne & Jessica when she spent the night and she really liked it. Since it is a buffet, it is very good for Courtney because there are a lot of different options for her that she is able to eat.

Later that day, we (me, Kelsey, & Courtney) went to watch Taylor (Kelsey's boyfriend) play a JV baseball game at DCA against Goodpasture. Taylor pitched the first 3 or 4 innnings and had the lead when he came out. That was in part due to the grand slam he hit in the previous inning. Courtney was recording with her little Polaroid Pixie camcorder and actually filmed the home run. You can't see the ball go over the fence, but you can see the outfielder stop and see Taylor go into his homerun trot. She didn't follow him around the bases until I noticed where she had it pointed, but she got him as he got to the plate. At the time, we didn't have any idea how much of it she got or what it would look like. She did a very good job for a 10 year old with a low level camcorder and no tripod. We may have us a photographer in the making.

Thank you for reading and keep us in your prayers.

Losing a Loved One is Never Easy

On Friday, March 28th my Dad's brother Clyde passed away. He was 70 years old and had been in poor health for a while, but we are never quite ready to accept that he is no longer with us. He lived in Dalton, GA and ran a grocery store for the latter years of his life. His daughter, Aelana, has been working with him for many years and will now take over the store for him.

I didn't get to see him very much over the last 11 years or so due to Courtney's health conditions and our limited ability to travel. However, I would always get to see them around Christmas for the Queen family dinner and a few times over the 4th of July holiday. Kelsey still remembers the time we went down and she got to ride four wheelers in the back yard.

When I learned that his health was deteriorating quickly, I really started thinking about the fact that I didn't get to see him this year for Christmas. With Courtney being in the hospital for her surgery, we had scheduled the dinner for a different day and then it ended up being cancelled for the first time that I can remember due to illness in the family.

I also started thinking back to my childhood days and our visits. Clyde didn't say a whole lot, but when he did, it was something humorous or something you would remember. I will always remember the smile on his face and the fact that he would give you the shirt off his back if he thought you needed it. I remember many fun times at his house during the summer, at New Years' Eve get togethers and birthday parties. It really brought back a lot of memories looking at old pictures and being back in the house again.

Courtney spent the night with Jessica again on Saturday night so that Jennifer & Kelsey could go with me. We just weren't quite ready to have Courtney at a funeral just yet. In fact, this was Kelsey's first funeral. She has been to several visitations, but this was the first funeral. The service was real emotional for all of us. Since Clyde had been in the service, they presented Aileen with a flag that had been draped over his coffin and then they released several doves after the ceremony.

Please keep Aunt Aileen, Aelana, Kelly, Will and their families in your thoughts and prayers. Also remember my Dad and his 2 sisters (Barbara & Bernice) . They also lost a younger brother in 2006 and I know they would appreciate your prayers also.

While the cat's away......

Well, in my last blog I told you about Jenn & Kelsey's trip to London, so now I will tell you what Courtney and I did while they were gone. I took off Monday and Good Friday and worked the rest of the week. Since Courtney was out of school, we had to decide what to do with her while I worked.

So, Monday I spent the day with her - (Opry Mills for lunch, Glow Golf, & a carousel ride), errands, and playing Wii at home. Later that day, I drove her to McMinnville (ate supper with Glen & Peggy, worked on Peggy's laptop) and left Courtney there for the week. I expected some anxiety or apprehension when I left, but she kept asking me when I was leaving. :-( She is growing up and getting independent on me. That is the first time she has spent the night at Grandmama & Grandpapa's without one of us there (4 nights without us). I got back home around 10 PM and off to work the next morning.

Courtney actually spent the night with a friend from school (Jessica - who is in her class & her mother is Courtney's Educational Assistant) earlier in March and Jessica has spent a night with Courtney also.

Tuesday night I went to a Predators game. They lost 4 - 2 to the Washington Capitals (we kept Ovechkin in check from scoring until he got an empty net goal at the end, but he had assists on 2 of the other goals). Wednesday night my cousin Greg and his son Brad came over from Greenback TN and spent Wednesday and Thursday nights with me. Brad is going to be attending Austin Peay next year and he went for a visit on Thursday. They went with me to a Tennessee Tech MBA Alumni social Thursday night and then to the Predators - Red Wings game. We lost again 6 - 3 and it was beginning to look like we would miss the playoffs (lost 5 of the last 6 home games at that point). Greg and Brad left Friday morning and took a tour of The Hermitage before going home.

I left during the UT - American NCAA basketball tournament game and listened to it on the radio on my way back to McMinnville. I didn't think it would be much of a game, but it was close until the last few minutes and UT pulled away and won by 15. We had an Easter get together with some friends Friday night (the kids colored Easter eggs & played games).

Peggy's family came over Saturday afternoon for their annual Easter dinner and everyone had a good time. Phillip & me took Courtney, Tanner, & Trace to see Horton Hears a Who. Trace thought it was "amazing"and Courtney & Tanner kept repeating "a person is a person no matter how small". It was a cute movie. When we got back to the house, the Easter Bunny had come early and left baskets on the back porch for the kids. They were way excited.

We got up early Sunday morning and went to a Sunrise service at their church, ate breakfast in their fellowship hall, and then stayed for the early service. Since we were back early, we decided to pack up and we left early to get back home in time to watch the UT - Butler game. UT barely pulled that one also, but made it to the Sweet 16. Then we picked up Jenn & Kelsey at the airport (they got in about 5:10 or so). We were really glad to see them, but we didn't get to hear too many stories that day because they were so tired.

Well, that is a little bit more information for you, I will try to update more tomorrow. It is midnight and time for me to get in bed.

Jennifer & Kelsey visit London England

Jennifer & Kelsey left for London on Sunday, March 16th with the DCA choir & Drama class. They arrived in London Monday morning (UK time) and arrived back in Nashville Sunday, March 23rd (Easter) about 5:00 PM (US CDT). They had an incredible time while they were there.

They got to see 5 different plays while there (Wicked, Lord of the Rings, Much Ado about Nothing, Into the Hoods, & Les Miserables). They both said that the special effects/production of Lord of the Rings was incredible, but the acting was not good. Kelsey loved Wicked and her new favorite play is Les Mis.

They had numerous walking tours around different parts of London, took a bus ride to tour Stratford on Avon (saw Shakespeare's birthplace), toured the British Museum, went to Harrod's (didn't buy much there - Kelsey saw a purse she liked for about $1,200). They also saw the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace (tour guide got them a great view), visited Westminster Abbey and St. Paul's Cathedral, Big Ben, the Tower of London, Hyde Park, Trafalgar Square, and the Tower bridge (London Bridge - it wasn't falling down thankfully), and had many other great experiences (riding the Tube, the red phone booths, etc). They packed in about as much as they could while they were there.

They also toured Shakespeare's Globe Theater and the choir actually got to perform there. They were told that they were the first choral group to ever sing in the theater. The tour guide had asked about them singing and they asked for an audition tape They liked what they heard and invited them to sing. They were part of the tour (sang in the area where everyone waited for the tour to start). There were groups of students from France who recorded them singing, other student tours who didn't want to leave because they wanted to listen, and even a father who sent his family on and said he would catch the next tour so he could continue listening to them. Jennifer said that they sang for about 500 - 1,000 people and did a great job. I am sure that Mrs. Cook and DCA are really proud of them.

It was very hard communicating with them while they were gone. We purchased a pre-paid international calling card, but they couldn't get it to work from over there. We finally figured out that I could use the card and call them, but since they were gone from early morning til 11:00 PM every day, it was hard catching them. We had to schedule our calls down to the minutes. :-)

Here are some of the pictures they took:

Kelsey goes to Washington, DC

The 8th and 9th grade classes at DCA went to Washington, DC March 10th - 12th. Kelsey had a good time and really enjoyed seeing sites in person that she had heard us talk about or seen pictures of the last few years.

Our trip to Jackson to see "Tori and the Boys"

It has been awhile since I last updated the blog and I have had many people ask me about it. I have many updates so, I will do several to catch everyone up on the Queen family.

In February, we went to Jackson, TN to visit with Christy, Phillip, Tanner, Trace, and little baby Tori. She was still very tiny and cute and as you can tell from the pictures very much loved. I did get my share of holding her and spending time with her, but as usual, noone used our camera to get my picture with her. I think Christy or Phillip's Mom took some, so I will have to get copies from them. :-)

On another exciting note, we got to be present for Tanner's baptism on Sunday morning at their church. Since Phillip is an ordained minister, he actually performed the baptism. What a blessing for him to have a new baby born and baptize his own son in the same week.

On a more somber note, Phillip drove me around Jackson to some of the neighborhoods where the tornadoes came through. TV coverage does not do justice to the devastation that took place there. It is still amazing to me to see a house standing with only minimal damage right beside or in front of a house that was completely destroyed. There were some houses where nothing was left but a foundation.

Please keep those families in your thoughts and prayers.

We had a great trip and enjoyed our time with them.

New Addition to the Family

Phillip & Christy (Jennifer's sister) Robinson are proud to announce the birth of Tori Christine Robinson, born February 20, 2008 at 5:19 AM in Jackson, TN. She weighed in at 6 lbs. 10 oz. and 19 inches.

Both sets of grandparents are there and everyone is doing well. They hope to go home Thursday. Everyone seems to think she looks just like Tanner and Trace (big brothers) when they were born.



Here are a couple of pictures taken on their camera phone early this morning. I will add more once Phillip is able to send them to me. Courtney and Kelsey can't wait to see their new cousin.

We will probably be leaving early Saturday morning. DCA finished in 3rd place in the District Tournament and have to travel to York Institute (Jamestown) Friday night. The odds are stacked against us winning, but if we do, we will play Monday night in the 2nd round of the Regional tournament (being hosted by DCA). Basketball is winding down and Kelsey will be working hard preparing for the Spring Musical. She has decided not to play softball this year to devote more time to the musical, DCA Choir, & voice lessons. The choir will be going to London during Spring Break (Jennifer is going also) and the 9th grade is going to Washington, DC the week before.

Courtney has been doing really well in school. Jenn & I went to her Valentine's Day party at school last week. She went on a field trip to the Schermerhorn Symphony Center in Nashville yesterday. She has been twice now and I have yet to go. :-)

Keep all of us in your thoughts and prayers as we heat up the roads the next few days.

Randy