Fourth of July Festivities

June is a very busy month for Ryan. With camp and two missions trips, he was only home for a week and a half throughout the entire month. So when July 4 rolls around, we not only celebrate Independence Day, we also celebrate the return of our husband and dad. This year, we celebrated with the Jonesborough parade, inflatable games and hotdogs at a church near Freedom Hall, then Johnson City's fireworks show. The kids love this holiday. Even Caroline enjoyed the festivities and was a trooper staying up way past bedtime. What a great day for everyone.

Happy Birthday Caroline!

Our family had fun celebrating our baby's first birthday. She devoured her yummy cake and had fun opening and climbing on her presents. Big sis enjoyed her role as assistant present opener. Caroline received diapers and wipes (yeah!), money, a safety gate, gift cards, a babydoll, bath toys, a beach towel, clothes, and sunglasses. Thanks to everyone for helping make it a special day!

Yeah Summer!

I was very excited for Anna's last day of school. Summer is our time to enjoy long, fun days outdoors. Most of our time is spent in the backyard. We're blessed with some sweet neighborhood kids who love to come over and play. And sometimes we're blessed with a break when our kids decide to go to their houses. Summertime also calls for swimming at Warrior's Path, friends' homes, or the lake, sleepovers, lightning bugs, Hawaiian ice, the Lakeside Cinema, and sleeping in our tent. Caroline is becoming one of the kids rather than the baby. She enjoys the fun right along with everyone. For us all, it's just a great time of year.

Dollywood (in Anna's words)

Anna is making her blogging debut with her memories of our annual trip to Dollywood with Gran. Enjoy.
Me and my family went to doly wood. It was fun.And my mom and me rode the sky ride. it was fun. And my granma rode the cars with me to.And my favrit thing to do was the water slide. And I love doly wood and Gran so so so much and I am very very very happy. Another thing that I did was play in the water area. I also rode blazing fury. it felt like everything was on fire. It was so so fun.

Mammaw & Pappaw's Cherries

My grandparents have two wonderful cherry trees growing in their yard. Up until a couple years ago, they had three. One was very small, however, and we decided it would be a great addition to our yard. So we dug it up, and now it stands near our mailbox. It was doing great until "The Great Frost of '07." Ever since then, it is only half living. When I say "half" I mean you could draw a line down the middle and have a thriving tree on one side and firewood on the other. Needless to say, our cherry harvest was tiny (the birds at them all.)
My grandparents' trees, however, flourished this year. So we've been picking cherries like crazy. Anna's really good at this now. Luke, on the other hand, eats more than he saves. They make scrumptious cobblers!

Camp ACC

Ryan directs a senior high week of camp at Camp ACC in Unicoi each summer. This always proves to be a fabulous week of fun and growth for the students and volunteers alike. Some highlights from this week were visiting some elderly friends in local nursing homes, improving some homes, a "Lost and Found" concert, crazy messy games, lots of great speakers, learning some new words (Tao, Namaste, Ubuntu, Solidaeridade), making some new friends, reconnecting with some old friends, worshiping our God as one body, and witnessing a friend join that body. For more pics, check the camp out at campacc.com

Happy Daddy Day!

I'm one of those grown women who still calls her father "Daddy." Maybe it's because I'm Southern. But maybe it's because he's more of a "Daddy" to me than a "Dad" or "Father." Daddy is a dairy farmer. He loves to farm, keep up with UT Football and the Lady Vols basketball. He's a wonderful singer and puts on productions with a local chorale. He has always been faithful to the church and his family. He and my "Mamma" (yes, they are still "Mamma" and "Daddy") have been married for almost 40 years. Daddy is currently fighting cancer and will soon beat it. He is the best Daddy and Grandaddy I could have ever imagined.
And here's to the other dad in my life. Anna, Luke, and Caroline are blessed with a dad who spends much of his life playing, reading, driving, disciplining, teaching, tickling, laughing, comforting, hugging, kissing, and loving his children. What a great dad.