The Nolden Family » Family Stuff http://nolden9.com Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:51:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Nolden Christmas 2011 http://nolden9.com/2012/01/nolden-christmas-2011/ http://nolden9.com/2012/01/nolden-christmas-2011/#comments Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:38:05 +0000 Shayne http://nolden9.com/?p=2056 We were SO excited to have Cody & Whitney home with us for Christmas this year.  I wish I had gotten a bunch more pictures!  They were here for a week, but it flew by so fast.

]]> http://nolden9.com/2012/01/nolden-christmas-2011/feed/ 0 2011 Summer MISC – 1 http://nolden9.com/2011/11/2011-summer-misc-1/ http://nolden9.com/2011/11/2011-summer-misc-1/#comments Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:02:27 +0000 Shayne http://nolden9.com/?p=1983 Here’s a hodge-podge of Summer Fun:

 

Above: Megan Knee-Boarding

Above: Ashley Knee-Boarding

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a video of Mikayla Knee-Boarding…

]]> http://nolden9.com/2011/11/2011-summer-misc-1/feed/ 0 2011 Summer MISC – 2 http://nolden9.com/2011/11/2011-summer-misc-2/ http://nolden9.com/2011/11/2011-summer-misc-2/#comments Mon, 21 Nov 2011 04:01:52 +0000 Shayne http://nolden9.com/?p=1989 Here’s ANOTHER hodge-podge of summer fun…there was too much fun to fit in just one post!

The first several pictures are from the first day of school…we can put that in the Summer post, since school starts the first week of August where we live in GA!

]]> http://nolden9.com/2011/11/2011-summer-misc-2/feed/ 0 CHATTANOOGA (1) – Ruby Falls!! http://nolden9.com/2011/10/chattanooga-1-ruby-falls/ http://nolden9.com/2011/10/chattanooga-1-ruby-falls/#comments Fri, 07 Oct 2011 02:46:32 +0000 Shayne http://nolden9.com/?p=1901 We just took a FUN trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee!!!  We just stayed one night, but we fit a lot in and were surprised how much fun you can have there.  It is only about 2.5 hours from our home and we heard about a few fun things to do there.  So, we decided to go check it out during our Fall Break.  Unfortunately, Liz had work and school, so she wasn’t able to go with us.

The coolest part of our trip was being on the local Fox station.  We were checking out a park by the waterfront (Tennessee River flows through town), and we just happened to come across a news crew that was getting info about a BLUE RHINOCEROS (of all things).  The city of Chattanooga had made a deal 2 years prior that they would, in 2 years, pay $32,500 for this piece of artwork that has been on display for about 18 months.  It was a huge controversy in town that the government would spend that much money on a BLUE RHINOCEROS…so the film crew was getting opinions prior to the meeting of the city council that evening.  The story was on the 10:00 news that night…the top story.  We were so excited to see ourselves on the news…it was a highlight of the trip :-) .  Check out the video (there is a commercial first):

 

Above: Noldens on the news (notice…they spelled our name incorrectly)…

Other than being on the news, we were able to check out Ruby Falls and Rock City…both come highly recommended by our family.

Below you will see some pictures of our adventures at Ruby Falls.  This is a waterfall in the middle of Lookout Mountain.  There is no natural path into the waterfall…it simply existed inside this huge rock.    It was discovered when some people digging access to an existing cave felt a rush of air come from a hole they had just made.  Some explorers went in and didn’t emerge for 17 hours…when they came back they told everyone about this amazing waterfall inside the rock.  See the history HERE.

Be sure to go to the next two entries to see the rest of our trip to Chattanooga…  CHATTANOOGA CITY and ROCK CITY

]]> http://nolden9.com/2011/10/chattanooga-1-ruby-falls/feed/ 4 CHATTANOOGA (2) – Downtown!! http://nolden9.com/2011/10/chattanooga-2-downtown/ http://nolden9.com/2011/10/chattanooga-2-downtown/#comments Fri, 07 Oct 2011 02:46:02 +0000 Shayne http://nolden9.com/?p=1917 After we went to Ruby Falls, we checked out our hotel in downtown Chattanooga.  We really liked the little city…it was clean and very pleasant.


Above: The family taking a walk along the waterfront in Chattanooga…


Above: We were mesmerized by flocks of birds going crazy outside our window. At first we thought they were bats since it was dusk and that is usually when they come out to eat insects…be we realized they were birds. It was quite a sight. I tried to go outside to keep taping, but it was over by the time I got downstairs.

]]> http://nolden9.com/2011/10/chattanooga-2-downtown/feed/ 2 Stuck Lawn Truck! 3/2011 http://nolden9.com/2011/09/struck-lawn-truck-32011/ http://nolden9.com/2011/09/struck-lawn-truck-32011/#comments Sun, 25 Sep 2011 01:47:07 +0000 Shayne http://nolden9.com/?p=1706 Through last winter our lawn was having issues…it just seems to not be doing well – and getting worse and worse.  So, we decided to change lawn care companies.  We gave Tru**Green a shot.

A week or so after we established a relationship with the company, I came home and it appeared that they had visited our home for the first time for a treatment.  As I first started down the driveway, I could see that the truck was there…but I was a little distressed by the fact that it was parked in the middle of the front lawn!

I guess he hadn’t wanted to back out of our driveway…that’s the only way out, really.  It CAN be tricky and many a car has gotten off the driveway and messed up our lawn and/or plants at the top of the driveway.  A few have turned around by driving onto the lawn near the house and then backing up so they are facing forward to go out….each time leaving ruts or damaging the fragile grass (we have a lot of shade and it doesn’t do too well).  Well, this guy decided to just make a big swing through the whole yard….and he got STUCK!    Not only did he get stuck, but he proceeded to start digging himself out (messing up the grass even more).  Oh, did I mention we had had torrential rains for days before this…so the ground was saturated.

When I got there he had been stuck for about 2 hours…gauging by the time written on the receipt they leave.  He hadn’t called anyone to come help him out.  After an evaluation of the situation, I called the company.  A supervisor came out to assess and they ended up having to have a tow truck come pull him out.  The towtruck went off the driveway getting out too and messed up some rocks and ground cover up by the road.

So, they did end up sending someone out to patch up the lawn and put some sod down (after a few weeks and several phone calls).  It took all summer, however, for it to totally blend in and look like nothing had happened.  Our lawn, I am happy to say, is looking quite good these days.  Not so much due to Tru** Green…although we did get a free aeration out of it too…but because we have taken many steps to get it back to healthy.  One thing we did was scatter river sand all over the front lawn in late Spring.  We were told that that would give the Bermuda a chance to lay roots as it sends its shoots out across the lawn – it is a forgiving variety of grass and will heal itself if given the proper environment.  We also did some reseeding and had to sod several areas that were too far gone.  But it’s looking pretty good now :-) .

]]> http://nolden9.com/2011/09/struck-lawn-truck-32011/feed/ 2 Storm Damage 4/2011 http://nolden9.com/2011/09/storm-damage-42011/ http://nolden9.com/2011/09/storm-damage-42011/#comments Sun, 25 Sep 2011 01:44:50 +0000 Shayne http://nolden9.com/?p=1708 In April of 2011 we had several bad storms move through our area. In a weeks time we had 3 storms that woke us up at night because of the intense thunder. On the last storm we were awoken around midnight to a big boom. We didn’t know what had happened until the next morning. When we went outside, we found that 3 trees had fallen in our yard…one had hit our house and damaged our (new-ish) Gutter-Guard Gutters (Ughhh!).


Above: Damage Video #1


Above: Damage Video #2

 

]]> http://nolden9.com/2011/09/storm-damage-42011/feed/ 3 Tennessee Trip 1: Tallulah Falls http://nolden9.com/2011/05/tennessee-trip-1-tallulah-falls/ http://nolden9.com/2011/05/tennessee-trip-1-tallulah-falls/#comments Mon, 16 May 2011 03:24:12 +0000 Shayne http://nolden9.com/?p=1692 We recently took an AmAzInG family trip to Tennessee.

We visited the Gatlinburg area of Tennessee, which is 5 hours from our Georgia home. None of us had ever been there, so it was a great adventure for us. We discovered that it is a mecca for family vacations…there is sooo much to do there!

On the drive up to Gatlinburg, we stopped to see Tallulah Falls in Georgia. We walked all the way to the bottom of the gorge to see the bottom of the falls. I think it was 300+ steps down into the canyon. The trip back up was a bear…VERY steep…my calves were sore for a few days. But it was very worth it! We had a great time there.

]]> http://nolden9.com/2011/05/tennessee-trip-1-tallulah-falls/feed/ 0 Tennessee Trip 2: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee http://nolden9.com/2011/05/tennessee-trip-2-pigeon-forge-tennessee/ http://nolden9.com/2011/05/tennessee-trip-2-pigeon-forge-tennessee/#comments Mon, 16 May 2011 03:23:57 +0000 Shayne http://nolden9.com/?p=1694 We recently took an AmAzInG family trip to Tennessee. We visited the Gatlinburg area of Tennessee, which is 5 hours from our Georgia home. None of us had ever been there, so it was a great adventure for us. We discovered that it is a mecca for family vacations…there is sooo much to do there!

We actually stayed in Pigeon Forge (I think the adress was actually Sevierville), which is just a few miles outside of Gatlinburg. We rented a cabin there…and that was one of the funnest parts of the trip!


Above: “PJ sees a Smart Car” – This was taken while we were driving around Pigeon Forge.


Above: The family driving around Pigeon Forge…checking out what they have to offer…


Above: More driving around Pigeon Forge….

]]> http://nolden9.com/2011/05/tennessee-trip-2-pigeon-forge-tennessee/feed/ 1 Tennessee Trip 3: Horse Back Riding http://nolden9.com/2011/05/tennessee-trip-3-horse-back-riding/ http://nolden9.com/2011/05/tennessee-trip-3-horse-back-riding/#comments Mon, 16 May 2011 03:23:41 +0000 Shayne http://nolden9.com/?p=1696 We recently took an AmAzInG family trip to Tennessee. We visited the Gatlinburg area of Tennessee, which is 5 hours from our Georgia home. None of us had ever been there, so it was a great adventure for us. We discovered that it is a mecca for family vacations…there is sooo much to do there!

One of the activities we did while we were there was to go on an hour long horse ride together. I made the mistake of telling them that I had been thrown from the horse as a child and didn’t especially like horses now. So, they said they were giving me “Widow Maker,” but it was really the slowest, oldest, and most stubborn horse they had. It was still fun :-) . Megan’s horse kept trying to reach back and nip at her toes!


Above: Getting ready to ride the horses


Above: Actually riding the horses

]]> http://nolden9.com/2011/05/tennessee-trip-3-horse-back-riding/feed/ 0