Monthly Archives: April 2018

The Blue Ridge Mountains as viewed from the grounds. All the surrounding forest used to belong to the Vanderbilts as well.

Just before our trip to North Carolina, both Gabe and Katy finished reading the book Serafina and the Black Cloak by Robert Beatty. This book, about a special little girl solving a set of disturbing disappearances, is set at the most famous home in Katy’s hometown- the Biltmore House. We decided to take time to tour the house and grounds but we did not make it to the farm on the property. Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Biltmore was built in the late 1800s by the Vanderbilt family as a summer home.

Biltmore has four acres of floor space and a total of 250 rooms including 35 bedrooms for family and guests, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, 3 kitchens, and 19-century novelties such as electric elevators, forced air heating, centrally controlled clocks, fire alarms, and a call-bell system.

No expense was spared in the designing, building and furnishing of Biltmore. It is the largest privately held home in America. It is open to tourists all year long, but you do not need to wait until you find time for a trip to North Carolina. We are sharing our favorite features here. Just run your mouse over the photo and captions will appear. Click on the pictures if you wish to see them bigger.

Ivy on the fountains in front.

A different view of the entrance.

Large lions guard the entrance.

Solarium in the house stayed warm all year.

Beautiful brickwork and lighting fixtures.

The dining room can easily handle a feast.

Max was tired already!

View of the mountains from the balcony.

The giant library is my favorite room. There are even ladders that attach to the walls so you can get to the books up high.

Candeliers in the stairwells.

The boys waiting at the top of the stairs for Mom to finish taking pictures.

The door to the elevator.

The hallways in the basement level are not as refined as the upper levels.

The outside of the stairwell.

We did not manage to get any good pictures of the indoor pool with its very nice changing rooms, or the bowling alley in the basement, but we very much enjoyed seeing them. Also worthy of note, but with no pictures, were the kitchen and larders, and the neat system that had for drying the bed sheets.

The grounds between the house and the greenhouse are covered in manicured gardens and paved walkways.  There also used to be an outdoor pool but it was filled in a long time ago now.

Detail from the railing on the stairs.

Gold leafed angels stand on the end of the stairs.

Blue Ridge Mountains

Arbors running along one side of the grounds.

Covered walkway to the greenhouse.

Resting our feet in the greenhouse.

Greenhouse room 4

Arbors running along one side of the grounds.

Covered walkway to the greenhouse.

One of the things we miss most about living in a big Asian city is the limited access we have to nature and when we travel it is always nice to get out and around in the world that God made. Black Mountain, NC is situated in a beautiful and vibrant forest. We were likely enough to have our family guide us down one of the hiking trails on this trip.

Moses looks a lot less excited about the hike than the other kids, but he was a good trail leader. Max appears weirdly happy at Moses state though.

Nothing centers the mind or calms the heart like a stroll through the woods.

April 21st, 2017 Max turned the big 8. Since there is not baptismal font or enough priesthood for him to get baptized in our current city, we gave him the choice of traveling to Bangalore to do it or doing it while in the USA visiting family. He really wanted his extended to be there if they could. So that’s what we did. Max felt very blessed to have his grandparents, the Henrie family, and the Stair family all attend and celebrate with him.

Bobby and Max, both excited to get underway.

Finally a picture with both Mom and Dad.

Gabe also turned 12 the preceding February. What he was most looking forward to about being 12 was to go to the temple. He got his recommend in India, and then we had a little temple trip with as many of his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins that were available and of age. Jack did us a great service by staying outside the temple with Max so both Katy and Bobby could attend with Gabe on his first time. It was such a joyous day.

More or less from left to right: Uncle Mike, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Joe, David (front), Aunt Angela, Bobby, Gabe (front), Katy, Max (front), Uncle Mary, Jack, and Sam (front).

And the family even found a little bit of time to play games together after church on Sunday before people had to start leaving town.

This poor bear looks like he had a BAD day. Hopefully we were not the cause of that!

Katy, Gabe, and Max had the opportunity for an extended stay in the USA in the Spring of 2017. We went on many adventures together- some of which will also be chronicled on this site. The first one was a visit the the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro, NC. Katy’s best friend Athena and her daughter Carys drove down from Black Mountain to join them. Also, all the Stair cousins (except poor sick Henry) rode along with Gabe and Max from Wilson.

Cousins are, starting with the tallest and going clockwise, Gabe, Sam, Max, Carys, Ruby (crouching in the forefront), and Mort right in front of Gabe.

We saw A LOT of animals, but the best part was spending time with each other. Instead of posting photos of all the animals, we will focus on pictures of the the cutest kids in the world enjoying those animals.

Just checking out the turtles.

Cute Ruby loving on that kitty!

Carys is captivated by a rock.

Dusty bottoms, anyone?

And then, we found some eggs in the middle of the path. Everyone, crawl in….

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And then, the long walk back to the car.

Every January, the whole of Neogen India loads onto a party bus and heads to one of nature’s beautiful creations for the day. They invited our whole family to accompany them. The boys were amazed by a bus built up with a big sound system (which was constantly on), lighting effects, and a disco ball. The aisle was constantly full of dancing bodies. A celebratory mood lifted everyone.

Gabe was so enamored with the biohazard bag he found. Don’t worry, it wasn’t used.

On the way, the bus pulled into a service stop- the only one I have ever seen in the wilds of India. There was some playground equipment (but mostly too broken down to play on), a cool bridge that spanned the river, and most importantly, bathrooms.

Three guys on a bridge. It was very well constructed and sturdy.

The river was beautiful and peaceful. We really enjoyed hiking by it and playing in it before and after lunch.

I actually have some videos of the epic splash fights the co workers got into once we got into the river, but this sight does not support video. Gabe and Max were included in these battles with joy and energy. The boys especially loved that everyone’s favorite target seemed to be Bobby. It’s good to be the Bossman.

Proud Papa and his two cubs resting after another splash fight.

We all arrived home exhausted, but at least Katy and Bobby got one picture together.