Gabby & Ramey

Two summers ago Gabby & I came to Tennessee to visit for 6 weeks. During that time Gabby made friends with Ramey. When we got back to California she named a bouncy ball Ramey and took it with her everywhere for a few months. Now that we are back in Knoxville, I have set up a few play dates with the real Ramey. I think she's more fun to play with, even if she doesn't bounce very high.

And the results are in...

So it's the moment you all have been waiting for... Tim got his bar results... and he didn't fail miserably after all, in fact he passed! And he has decided to work with Charles Poole in Sevierville. He will be commuting there for a few months, then once we have a little money saved up (hopefully around the first of the year), we will start looking for a place out that way.

Bowling

In Knox County, every year the school kids sell coupon books for $10 that are filled with discounts for local shops and entertainment. This year they had a free game of bowling down at the UT campus student center. So Tim & I took Torri & Gabby for an afternoon. Gabby was bored after two frames but the rest of us had fun.

Gabby's Bike

Despite how these photos may appear, Gabby has no love for her new bike. She liked it the first week, then she scraped her knee. Now whenever we ask her if she wants to go for a bike ride she says "no thanks". I'm hoping she will get over it, but she hasn't yet

When It Rains... It Pours...

It's true about a lot of things in our life right now. For one it has literally rained (and flooded) this past week in Knoxville. Yesterday I took Torri out with me to do some errands and we had to walk through about 2 inches of water outside Old Navy. We also saw lots of flooding on the sides of the road. But what I really wanted to tell you all about is this... Tim has finally gotten a job offer, and probably two more. It's hard to believe that you can go almost six months with out a single job offer, then get three at once.

The position he was officially offered is in Sevierville (it's in the Smokey Mountains, near Dollywood) to be an associate. It is contingent on him passing the bar, but Tim gets his results in about three weeks. And then he could start work immediately after. He would paid per case, and if he puts in lots of work, he could make a lot of money there.

The second is also an associate position in Johnson City. Tim is one of two people being considered and has a final interview with the firm in early October. This is the one I would love. It's far enough away from family to have our own lives, but close enough to see them at least once a month. The pay is 10% more then the one in Sevierville, along with having a boss who agrees that family should come before work. But again he would have to work long hard hours.

The third firm considering him is also in Sevierville. They are looking for an associate to do mostly paperwork. At that one he would not be doing many cases on his own, so unlike the other two positions it is salaried, not per case.

So we have a lot of choices ahead of us and some rain in the forecast tomorrow...

Family Night

So my mom got it in her head that she thinks we should have a family home evening together. Since we played games and ate, instead of having a spiritual lesson, I'm pretty sure it was more like game night, but at least we had fun. Tim & I tried to teach my mom & Torri how to play pinochle, then we played dominoes. Gabby started playing with us by making shapes and castles out of dominoes, then she just started sticking them down her shirt.

Gabby's Wild Party

Gabby & her friends had so much fun at the zoo; they got to see lots of animals, pet some animals, watch the bird show, pretend to run their own zoo, eat cupcakes, open presents, splash in the water, and ride in the wagon when they were tired. Gabby & Ramey even got into some of the presents.

Since Gabby was only getting clothes & bedding for her birthday presents, we had her open them at home with just us.