Little updates

I can't believe that I have neglected my blog for so long!  It's not that we haven't done anything it is just that I haven't mustered up the time to write.
Three saturday's ago we went to New Market Battlefield for another dose of the civil war.  We have been meaning to go ever since we came here and we pass it every time we go to DC.We even went there one time for a Cross Country race but just haven't gone as "tourists".  It was a gorgeous,  warm (almost 90) fall day and so we ventured on up the road.  For those of you who don't know, the battle of New Market occurred when the Southern Troops were trying to keep the Yankees out of the Shanandoah Valley.  The south didn't have enough troops to hold off against the ones that were coming and so they requested that the 257 Cadets from VMI come to fight with them.  The Cadets marched from Lexington (6 miles from where we live) to New Market about 80 miles away in  4 days.  These young cadets, half of whom were freshman,  were used to marching and studying war but had never had to fight.  The intention was not to use them if at all possible but it became clear they needed them.  The battle took place around the family farm of the Bushong's who took cover in their basement.  There was a hole in the middle of the line and the cadets were used to plug the hole and served valiantly.  There had been a lot of rain and the field they crossed is now called the field of lost shoes because as they ran across it, it sucked the shoes right off of their feet! Five of the cadets were killed and five later died as a result of the battle but the battle itself was won because of the cadets.  In the chapel at VMI there is a large mural of the battle and every year they have a ceremony honoring those who died.  Also, every May there is a reenactment of the battle at New Market.
 As a result of this battle ten days later the Yankees came and burned VMI down while the cadets were in Richmond helping train other troops. Feelings still run very high here over this battle. One of the cadets later became a famous sculpture and his statue Virginia Mourning Her Dead stands on the grounds of VMI.
  My greatest feeling while at the battlefield was of sadness that this country ever had to go through this terrible war with itself.  How grateful we should all be that this nation survived!

John and a "Cadet"

Kitchen of the Bushong Farm

Edge of the" field of lost shoes" and the Blue Ridge Mountains

shanandoah River

This week we had the dedication and renaming of the student union.  It is now the J Golden Kimball Student Center.  J Golden Kimball was one of the missionaries that first brought the gospel to this part of the country and it was one of the most difficult missions he ever served.  The local people even tried to drown him the the Maury river which runs through town! 
The school held a dedicatory service on Friday and they did a tribute to him and you can't talk about him without telling some great stories and hearing some colorful language!  I think he would be amazed to see what has happened here and to know that there are now 7 wards in this tiny town! (5 of those are student wards) along with an entire stake.
This week was homecoming week and Dad is in charge of Alumni relations so he was a busy guy.  We recently had a donor give us money to fix up one of the old houses on campus to make it an Alumni house and so it had to be cleaned up so alumni could actually go through it.  He also had the first SVU candy bar introduced.  It is being made by a chocolate store over in Lexington and it has a raised relief of Main Hall on it!  It looks really neat and tastes great!

Alumni House

Our New Chocolate Bar (Emilie made the sign)

Tonight we went over to celebrate Tommy's 3rd birthday so here are some pictures of him with his cake.

Notice Buz and Woody right next to him!

It is so hard to believe that he is 3, that JJ left on his mission 3 years ago (and has now been back 1!) and that I have been back in Virginia for 3 years!!!