Florida Outdoor Trip

Doug and I took off to Florida for a kayak trip of Silver Springs and had a great time. The kayak trip was a 5 hour river trip on crystal clear water and we saw so much wildlife....crocks, blue herons, white ibis and many more birds, turtles and wild monkeys! What a treat! Our guides Mike and Elizabeth were great and we had 11 on the trip so we all got together for dinner that evening. Then we took off for Ponte Verda for a hike and to St. Augustine (beautiful city!). We made our way back up the coastline and then hiked the Congaree National Park on our way home. 4 great fun days in beautiful weather wearing shorts! Loved it!

More Christmas

Natalie and the boys!

Diana and Lynette

The Holidays!

Special little Maddi

Highlight of Christmas for the Grandparents - a Christmas Dinner by Jody.

!

It's been a busy holiday season. We are so thankful we got to see Brian, Leah and Noah before their departure from Chicago. Brian took pics and unfortunately we left our camera in NC and don't have pics to post.

It's been a December full of parties, open houses, a wedding for Brad and Anna, cookie exchange parties, wine parties, lots of events at The Tea House and the best was the Christmas program in Concord...oh what a beautiful celebration ceremony of Christ's birth...that was the best!

We were able to get all the kids together this year (except Noah who is celebrating in CO this year) and the pics tell it all! What fun they are and what fun they had together.

FLYING HIGH ON THE ZIPLINE IN BOONE!

This is the way to see the fall leaves - flying on a zipline above the trees taking in the beauty ALL around!!!
Just click on the x and see the pics!!

SAILING THE BVIs

WHAT A VACATION!!THE BVIs ARE MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN WE IMAGINED. WE SAILED THROUGHOUT ALL THE BVI ISLANDS

& SNORKELED,DIVING, KAYAKING,HIKING,SWIMMING AND SAILING! DOUG's BIG MAHI MAHI CATCH




THE BEST

SAILBOAT EVER:

44 LAGOON

CATAMARAN

CRUISER

Many thanks

I am so thankful for the presence of so many family members, friends of all of our family, church families, etc. that came from all over the US to Mother's Memorial Service. What a blessing to
all be together to honor and celebrate Mother's life. We even heard from past students from Mother's teaching days. This is a hard time for Dad, Miles and myself and we are so grateful for the presence of so many and for all the cards, flowers and memorials. God provides so much comfort and love through one another and that is the greatest gift in this world. So many have provided us this gift through their love. Mother is now at peace with our loving Lord.

Fun weekend....

We went to The Tea House last night for tapas, wine and exclusive cigars (yes an event for the guys!) Doug loved it and got 2 exclusive cigars.

Today we had a special day with Diana, David, Lynette and Maddie going on the wagon ride at the Lazy 5 Ranch. What fun! Lynette loved feeding the animals and Maddie took it all in! Diana and I both were saying God is so creative to give us these awesome animals to enjoy! Doug fixed a great lunch and had ready for us when we got back.

We're off to dinner and to see Mama Mia tonight with friends.

Sunday, June 13

We are now staying one night a week to care for my Mother. Mom is now in a wheelchair, very frail and this is the time I wash her hair, do housework and cook meals for the week (as she is no longer able to cook). Doug always goes with me and once again our teamwork is now helping to care for our parents rather than our children. Then we go check on Doug's parents. They are all always so eager to see us, and we realize that this is another opportunity in our lifetime to care and honor our parents. It is very hard to see your parents decline in health and lose their independence and the earthly ways that are so important to us all. On the cross Jesus rises above the occasion, and his concerns are for the ones that love him. The good son that He is, Jesus is concerned about taking care of his mother. In fact, the 3rd words he spoke offers proof that Jesus was the only child of Mary, because if he did have brothers or sisters, they would have provided for her. But Jesus looks to John to care for her. We try to help our Dads make this very hard transition as caretakers of their wives and they are both doing a beautiful job. We find God's presence strong.

We were invited to Bryson's 5th Birthday and it was SUCH fun! I just love being with children.I had just taught him to play Simon Says and he wins everytime! he is turning into a great little swimmer and going off the diving board. Pop beat Tye in ping pong at the pool and fun was had by all! Diana brought the girls for cake and they are just adorable! Jody cooked a fabulous dinner and even had an Indiana Jones Cake!! And Bryson had gone on Sat. to see our new donkey at the farm and the baby cows that were just born. He and Poppy take long walks through the fields, etc. and he loves all the beautiful creatures that God creates. He got to go fishing with his Dad and Poppy and caught his first real fish recently. And of course they rode the 4 wheeler (a little boy's paradise!) Even I am taking rides on that these days!
He is staying with Nana Nancy on Monday for a 'special celebration' day and a day at the water park together. We just finishing reading 'Cochis' and 'The Wright Brothers' books together. He loves books like his Uncle Brian!

SUMMER '08

July 10:
This summer has been filled with the beauties of the outdoors! We have been blessed with days of hiking in the surrounding mountains, biking, sailing in Florida and of course our great love of the water right here on Lake Norman! We cherish our time together in prayer, praise and worship as we get closer to celebrating 34 years of marriage! Oh how we will celebrate! We are preparing for a journey to the British Islands on a private catamaran cruiser with 2 other dear couples leaving from Tortola and cruising through all the islands. Dreams do come true!. We never could afford a real honeymoon when we were married. 2 nights in Gatlinburg and we were both back at work trying to make a living. Seems like we had lots of big dreams when we were young, but God used us quickly in other directions. We had our first son at 24 and our 2nd son at 28. Our dreams quickly became the busy daily lives of caring for 2 very special little boys (Brian and Tye) and all the commitments to church, community, shool, activities, and demanding jobs, their friends and a house full of boys! Just cooking for a family kept us busy!! Now my life is very different as I am committed to my continued growth in Christ, Stephen Ministry, my Women's Outdoor Trek Group, my latest career change (for awhile), and Doug stays busy with his continued growth in Christ, his work, our full schedule, and he has been golfing and crewing in sailboat races! And our most favorite role of all - being Nana Nancy and Poppy Doug! We love our sons and a house full, so I guess it was inevitable that we would love being Grandparents to Bryson and Noah. We just love all the kids and are fortunate to get to enjoy my niece's precious girls too. Wow after brothers and sons (which I totally loved and adored) I did not have those girl things. My girlfriends know I need them desperately to fill that void that I do not have in my life. But as always God knows what he is doing! And he filled my life with boys, boys, boys! A house full of boys. They will never comprehend what it is like from my perspective, but I did manage to have a couple of female dogs - precious Daisy and Huckleberry. Oh they were dear to us!