Fall Travelin'

We have been able to do some exploring around the area these last couple of weeks and we have seen some pretty awesome things. Over Labor Day, we traveled to Asheville, NC with our friend Brett and visited the Biltmore Mansion.

Jeff, Em and Brett relaxing near the flower carpet.

We took two separate tours and also explored the downtown area of Asheville. The town is beautiful and the Biltmore is so neat. A must-see if you are ever in the area.

The biggest private home in America, The Biltmore.

Also in the same weekend, Jeff and I went up to the Natural Tunnel State Park in Virginia. It's a huge tunnel that trains past through on a daily basis. We rode a ski lift down to the tunnel, and we were actually there when a train went through. There is also lots of hiking area and scenic overlooks.

Riding down to the tunnel.

Here comes the train through the man-made tunnel on one side.

And there it goes into the HUGE natural tunnel.
(You can't really capture it with a camera!)

Next, we headed to meet up with Brett again in October for Bridge Day! A HUGE event where lots of trained professionals jump off the New River Gorge Bridge in Fayatteville, WV. The area is beautiful and the people are crazy.

All the base jumpers getting their parachutes ready.
These people are intense.

The sign on the other side of the bridge.

There were vendors on both sides of the bridge with tons of food and stuff for sale. It was the perfect weekend for the event. The fall colors were perfect.

The jump area. They had people in that basket over the bridge video-taping all the jumps.

Here's a picture of the full bridge. Pretty amazing. If you look close in the bottom left hand corner, you can see a blue parachute from one of the jumpers. It's a tall bridge, but not a lot of time to pull a cord and let out the parachute.

Well, those were three of our adventures. This area has so much to offer and so many things to see. Although we miss home a lot, we are blessed to be where we are.

I'll hopefully load some more recent photos quickly! Merry Christmas!

Until next time, from Tennessee,

The Robertsons

Big Changes.

Well, I've been trying to figure out the best way to share how life has changed for us these last few months, because there has been quite a bit of adjustment recently. And I came to the realization there was no easy or concise way of putting it. So this may be a bit of a long post.

Last April, Jeff came home from work like any regular Friday. We were preparing to head to a wedding in St. Louis, so we were busy with packing the car to leave. As I walked into the apartment to grab the last of our bags, Jeff pulled me aside and said "So... how do you feel about Tennessee? Because... that's where we are moving!" We couldn't have been more excited for this new adventure. Our new home is in East Tennessee and it is a BEAUTIFUL part of the country. We quickly found out that we would be moving within the month of May, so everything happened very quickly.

A picture of the entrance of our old apartmentin KC. It was our very first home together, so it holds a pretty special place in our hearts.

It was the best move I have ever had. Jeff's company packed up everything for us, so it was wonderful to not have to haul things around and sweat in the May heat. It was pretty bizarre to have the whole apartment, not packed and then within the next 24 hours, have everything in boxes.

Putting together our "Do Not Pack" list. It got pretty crowded in the dining room.

After the packers came. It was just boxes on top of boxes for a good day or so.

Our master bedroom closet, filled with boxes.

We were able to have a little "going away fiesta" with our friends in KC. It was so much fun, but so sad at the same time! God blessed us with some pretty amazing friends and hopefully someday we will move back to KC again!

The town of Rogersville, TN where Jeff's project is located.

Us, at the Rogersville 4th of July parade. Love those small town parades!

Us on a neat bridge at the Riverfront area of Kingsport.

By the beginning of July, we finally started to feel like we were settling into our new home. We had our first visitors at our new home (Jeff's parents traveled to visit us over 4th of July!) The boxes were unpacked, we finally knew where the good grocery store was in town and Jeff was starting to feel comfortable in his new responsibilities at work. Then on July 7th we received a call from Jeff's parents that Jeff's brother, Sam, had collapsed at a Bible study. We would find out soon after that Sam had passed away later at the hospital in Cambridge, England. Sam was a loving husband to Jen, an amazing son to Bruce and Carol, and a brother, and best friend to Jeff. He also defended our country as a Captain in the United States Air Force serving as a F-15 fighter pilot in England. Needless to say, it was a shock and unexplainable loss. Within 24 hours of finding out, Jeff and I, as well as Jeff's parents, had boarded planes and were on our way to England.

Sam's last days and hours are filled with reminders of his strong faith for the Lord and amazing love for his wife. It truly is amazing how God prepares us for what's ahead in our lives. We always say that God's timing is perfect, but when you experience something like this and hear about what lead up to Sam's final moments, you can't help but see how amazing our God is. We are so thankful for salvation and our reassurance that this life is not the end. Praise God!

Jeff's brother, Captain Sam Robertson, USAF

Sam's plane at RAF Lakenheath Air Force Base in England

Sam's plane again.

Sam's squadron patch at The Eagle, a fighter pilot bar in Cambridge, England.

The ceiling at The Eagle. Fighter pilots during WWII
would burn or write their names on the ceiling.

Our time in England was surreal for so many reasons, but we were thankful that we were able to be there in England as a family with Jen and Jeff's parents. The Air Force was truly amazing in how well they provided so much and accomodated us while we were in England, always present to help Sam's wife Jen, as well as representing the squadron and the base for the memorial for Sam. There was also a Celebration of Life for Sam in Fulton, Missouri and a graveside service with full military honors for Sam in Medford, Oregon. Jeff's work has been truly remarkable in giving us the time and assistance we needed to travel. We are so thankful for the family we are a part of and the way God provides at just the right time.

We have been back from our travels for about a week and a half now, and it seems that just now, it is finally sinking in about the reality of the situation. Trying to get back into the swing of things and the daily routine can be hard. Jeff's work is keeping him busy and he is enjoying the challenge it brings each day.

One last change that took place these last couple weeks is that we added two new family members to our household in Tennesee. Dixie and Rambo, our little kittens that we brought back from Jeff's dad's vet clinic. They are definitely a little crazy, but we are already so attached to them, we can't imagine not having them. They are quite the pair, there's really no other way to describe them. :)

A Year Since I Do...

It's official. Our very first wedding anniversary is this weekend. It's really hard to believe it's already been a year. A lot has changed since a year ago, but it's always been an adventure and I'm sure there are many more adventures to come.

Even with the incredibly cold weather here these last two months, we've been keeping busy.
My brother John came up to KC early in January. We decided to head up to Snow Creek Ski "resort" (not quite colorado, but it will have to do this year!) We actually had a perfect day! It was still cold enough for the snow to still be pretty decent, but it was sunny too, so we could actually bear being outside.

Here's John. Psyched as ever to hit the mountain.

Here we are after a long day of skiing. We tried to look cool and snow board too. Let's just say we didn't do either. We barely lasted on the snowboards for 30 minutes. Shawn White makes it look so darn easy, I don't get it!

In early February, we headed to Fulton to celebrate a big birthday with Jeff's mom, Carol.
It was a fun time, with great food! The cake in the picture was some AMAZING carrot cake.
And we just happened to have the surprise birthday party at Bek's (which also has some AMAZING food.) Good choice Bruce on the party locale. :)

In February, our friend Brett came to visit for a quick trip!
We had a great time hanging out with him. We drove with him to Columbia
and met up with a few other friends. Here are Brett and Jaclyn after
our group dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Columbia
(apparently admiring a cactus outside the restaurant.)

As we were saying goodbye to Brett on Sunday! Come back to Missouri soon!

More pictures coming soon! Yay for one year!

Until next time from Kansas,

the newlyweds (with one year under our belts.)

2009 Rewind

Here's just a few more pictures of our last year. Some highlights we didn't get to put on here already. Enjoy!


I ran in a half marathon in downtown Kansas City! It was probably one of the hardest courses I've ever ran, but I was able to finish under my goal time. 1:57:48!

Here are my fellow runner friends: Jaclyn, Lindsey, me and Kelly! Everyone did so great!

The same weekend of my race, Jeff got to go to his own kind of race... Nascar that is! I surprised him with a trip to go visit his college roommate Brett and go to a Nascar race in Charlotte, NC!

Here's a picture of their tailgate before the race!

Here are the cars! They are going so fast that you can't even get a clear picture. :)

We took a little day trip to Weston, Missouri, just north of Kansas City. It's a fun little town with a lot of history! We ate at an Irish-style restaurant and then got to walk around and explore!

Our parent's would be proud...we took our a little time for a little history lesson: Weston was the boyhood home of Buffalo Bill.

Aww... look who it is? A picture break as we walked around the town.

Before we headed home, we made a stop off at Weston State Park and scouted it out for a possible camping trip next summer.

Sadly, we also had to say bon voyage to our friend Stauffer! He shipped out to Enid, OK in November to start pilot training! Here's a little family picture with Stauffer in the middle.

Just the boys. Jeff, Stauffer and Mike.

Oh, and we got to see Mizzou beat kU with a group of friends! Always a good time!

We also had the honor of celebrating my grandma's 80th birthday with her in St. Louis. Such a fun time!

While we were there, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and went and saw our "engagement" spot! Almost 2 years ago...

And look how far we've come...about to celebrate our 1st anniversary!

It's been quite a year... thanks 2009 for all the fun times. Here's to a great 2010!

Until next time from Kansas,

Em and Hubs

Oh Christmas Tree... Oh Christmas Tree...

It has been a busy last month for the Robertsons. It seems like we wait all year for Christmas and then when it finally gets here, it goes by in a flash. It was definitely a fun and memorable first married Christmas together.

Jeff and I went to a local tree farm and searched for the perfect Christmas tree. Jeff was on a mission to find the biggest tree in the whole place. This one was definitely one of the biggest, but a little TOO big for our apartment.

I found some favorites too, but mostly I just wanted to pick one and get out of the COLD!

And... we finally found the perfect one! Here it is set up in our living room with the lights! It was just right!

Our tree was mostly gold and black... a Mizzou theme.

One more ornament as we decorated the tree!

We also got to attend Jeff's company's Christmas party! We had a lot of fun and got to dress up (which of course is not so fond of, but he cleans up pretty good, doesn't he?) We also went to my company's Christmas party the next weekend, but we were dressed almost exactly the same, so we didn't take a picture.)


We had a great Christmas in St. Louis with family. Since we don't have actual family in Kansas City, it's always nice to be able to spend time in Fulton or St. Louis. We had to induct Jeff into one of our family's traditions, since he too has a December birthday! Every year, my aunt has a birthday cake for Jesus, where she also includes my cousin Laura and my brother John, who both have December birthdays. This year was no different, and it also included Jeff's name (his birthday was December 18th!)

We headed out to St. Louis, just as it began to ice and snow in Kansas City. While we were gone they got about 7 inches of snow, so we still had snow when we got back (but the roads were at least cleaned off by that point!) Hope you had a great Christmas with your friends and family!

Until next time from Kansas,

Jeff and Em