Hippy Halloween

In Daddy's Shoes (or Cleats)

I'm not sure who was more excited to visit Dick's Sporting Goods to purchase cleats, shin guards, socks, shorts, and a soccer ball: the tall blonde or the small one. Reed has just started his first season of soccer, and both he and Tim are giddy with the excitement. I'm pretty happy to finally earn the title "soccer mom" and watch Reed enter this new sport with such enthusiasm.

First Day Fun

When the late nights and leisurely days come to an end, it's a huge blessing when your boys can approach a new school year with grins like these. Here are the boys on the first day of the 2011-2012 year.

Here's one proud papa with his fourth grader and seventh grader. All smiles (though Tim looks like he's sharing a bit of my back-to-school emotion)!

Bookworms

To say I love books just doesn't seem to express my sentiment completely. To say I love story is perhaps a more apt description. So, I find myself immersed the pages of a book (or two or three) at most times. I'm thankful that I have a husband who also shares this interest (so he doesn't begrudge my book-buying habit).

Since our nightstands, bookshelves, and most every level surface in our home holds stacks of books that are in process, I thought it would be fun to track what we read in this new year. I'll only list a book once we've finished it cover-to-cover. Hopefully this list will inspire you to read one of these titles (or to finish that book resting on your nightstand).

1. Julia Child by Laura Shapiro
2. The Guinea Pig Diaries by A.J. Jacobs
3. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
4. The Fiddler's Gun by A.S. Peterson
5. The Fiddler's Green by A.S. Peterson (Oh my, so good! Please go to http://www.rabbitroom.com/ to order The Fiddler's Gun and this incredible continuation of Fin Button's adventures!)
6. Turn My Mourning Into Dancing by Henri Nouwen
7. Love and War by John and Stasi Eldredge
8. Looking for Alaska by John Green (Yes, John Green of Nerdfighters fame. If you're not familiar with Nerdfighters, watch this clip. Hope you enjoy a nice laugh!)
9. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (How am I just reading this classic? After all, it was voted the best novel of the 20th century - and I seem to remember taking a course in college titled "20th Century Novels." How was this omitted from the syllabus?!)
10. Sticky Teams by Larry Osborne
11. The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers
12. Made to Crave by Lysa TerKeurst
13. Radical by David Platt
14. Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry
15. Sabbath by Dan Allender
16. Operating Instructions by Anne LaMott
17. The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan
18. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
19. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
20. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
21. Spiritual Direction by Henri Nouwen
22. SoulTalk by Larry Crabb
23. Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldredge
24. How To Be Good by Nick Hornsby
25. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese

Great in Grayton

Our summer-time tradition continued this August with the 12th annual Dunham-Tucker-Nelson Beach Trip. Our Grayton Beach house and its accompanying golf cart gets Reed's seal (or grin) of approval.


Once we hit the beach, the boys begin to dig. This year the big boys got in on the fun, digging deep enough to bury both boys neck deep in sand.


On Tuesday afternoon we rented a kayak to venture out into the surf. Here Tim and the boys prepare to paddle. A little later Tim and Barry paddled out far enough to approach a passing-by pod of dolphins.


We were fortunate to enjoy sunny weather nearly every day. Beach service (with a nice big umbrella to provide plenty of shade) made a day at the beach a...well, a day at the beach.

Unfortunately Tim had to leave mid-week to return home to work. We neglected to get our annual family shot while he was still around, so here's our 2011 family photo, minus one.

After ice cream at a nearby creamery (yum, the lemon frozen yogurt), we made an evening visit to the shore for Reed to enjoy some final digging. We enjoyed a stunning sunset on our final evening at the beach.

Oh-So-Hot Holiday

Twice a summer we head to the woods for some hot, sticky tent-camping fun. This Fourth of July weekend we outdid ourselves! Instead of our usual destination at Elkmont (which was full because we waited too late to book), we went to the Bandy Creek Campground at Big South Fork.

Tim has hiked and camped here with buddies several times, but this was the first time our family camped here. While he was right that it was a beautiful spot (and had the luxury of showers!), it was HOT, and I mean H-O-T! And with the heat came the bugs. So, we were either enclosed in a screened environment or cooling off in the overcrowded campground pool (a scene that brought to mind the Griswald family and their "Vacation" foibles).

The two highlights of the weekend were having Grandmama along (she was a great sport in the heat!) and hiking to the Twin Arches. Below are photos from this stunning hike:

Below the boys stand under one of the huge stone arches:

You want me to go in WHERE? Tim and the boys had already entered this cave, so what choice did I have? Out of sight is not out of mind, so I braved the dark and found myself in a large cavern.

From inside the cave, I could see Seth and Reed already back outside. I decided to return the way I came rather than squeeze through this tight spot.

Unfortunately the following picture is a "before," not an "after," and we still had all of those stairs to climb to finish our journey. One foot in front of the other...

One Message

We are part of an awesome church...a church where the Word is central, is taught and studied, and defines who we are and what we are about. For the past several years Tim has been an elder at Providence Church.

This summer our pastor will be taking a well-deserved sabbatical, and during his absence our elders will be stepping into the teaching role that Chad usually occupies. For my stage-shy husband, this opportunity is unnerving -- to say the least. However, it is also a rare and exciting opportunity to share one message from his heart with the body of our church.

Here's a video sharing about our elders and explaining "One Message." (Click here.) Join us at Providence starting on June 26 for this special series!