Recap of our Dallas Trip

We have two sets of friends who live in the Dallas area. Jon and April are friends from our time in Charlottesville. Jon was a couple of years behind John David in law school, and they went to church with us. Their oldest daughter was born 8 months after Madelyn, so we didn't live close to each other for long once we had our kids. We spent Thursday through Saturday with them, and we got to enjoy their middle child's birthday party at Pump It Up. That was so much fun! We also went to the beautiful Dallas Arboretum and enjoyed a morning stroll before it got too hot. The kids had a great time getting to know each other, and we loved catching up with Jon and April. Both of my camera batteries died, so I had to bug April for some of her pictures. Here are some pictures of the kids hanging together:

Lunch time:

Fun at the Arboretum:

For the first part of our week, we visited with Adam and Shannon and their kids. Their oldest child and Madelyn were in the same pre-school class and became fast friends. Shannon and I would chat most days at drop-off and pick-up, and I thought that she always seemed so nice. I invited her over during the summer for a play date and invited her to a mom's Bible study that I was in. We became fast friends, too, and we realized we had so much in common. Unfortunately, they were only in the area for two years while Adam participated in a fellowship program with the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commision, not the sports conference). They moved back to Dallas to be close to family, and I can't fault them for that, but we sure do miss them. John David commented that Shannon and I were basically the same person. He mentioned that our accents were so similar, which is interesting, but I had thought that in the past as well. Who knew that I could pass for Texas gal? Or that Shannon could pass for a SW VA gal? Here is another slideshow with a few more pictures from our visit with them:

When we left Charlottesville, I knew we were leaving some good friends, and I'm so thankful that we've kept in touch with some of them. When we moved to this area, I quickly realized that people came and went pretty often, and we weren't sure how long we'd be here either. We're still having a hard time calling this our "permanent" location, and we've been here five years. At first, I decided I would protect myself and not become friends with people who knew they were leaving soon. Then, I realized that people might be treating me the same way. Ummm...no fun! I'm so glad I got over that attitude because I would have missed out on a great friendship with Shannon. Long distance friendships are hard but so worth it!

Thanks for the hospitality Jon, April, Adam, and Shannon! We loved seeing you all!

Our Fossil Rim Adventure

On Wednesday, we got a babysitter for the babies and took the "big" kids to Fossil Rim. We all had a great time and would definitely go back. The entire "safari" took about 2.5 hours. At times, it felt surreal to be surrounded by all of these animals. Zebras and giraffes are so beautiful. Ostriches are extremely ugly. There were so many deer species and there was no way to keep them all straight. I've embedded a slide show so you can view the safari experience. You can also click on the slideshow to view the album.

Our kids and their Dallas friends

Lasagna Night

Back from "The Big D"

We got back last night from a great trip to visit friends in Dallas. I'll post more details later but the highlight, other than seeing friends we hadn't seen in a long time, was going to Fossil Rim. This was a "drive-thru" safari where animals come up to your car, stick their heads in your car, eat food from your window ledge, and giraffes can even eat from your hand (They can't bite due to their teeth configuration.). At one point, zebras were surrounding us. I was looking over at the driver side where John David was feeding a zebra. I was so engrossed in that zebra's behavior that I didn't realize there was another zebra on the other side about two inches from my head. When I turned around, I almost kissed it and screamed so loud that it bounded away from the car. Anyway, if you are ever close to Glen Rose, TX, make sure you check out Fossil Rim. More details and pictures to come.

I feel the earth move under my feet...

Well, under my back to be exact. Just after 5:00 this morning, I was awakened by what initially felt like something hitting the house, and then I felt a little rolling. In my nearly asleep state, I thought, "Okay, I would have heard a crash if a car hit the house. Was that an earthquake?" Then I thought, "No, that wasn't earthquake. Not here." Well, it was a 3.6 magnitude earthquake. The epicenter was just about 20 miles from our house. Kinda crazy. No damage done but definitely something to talk about.

Working on a new skill

Pretty Girl

Silly Daddy

Fun on the slide and a horse on a spring

Some playground action shots:

Just some really cute pictures from the picnic

Father and Son Fun!

Playing in the creek

Tori was a trooper, as the kids had her twisted like a pretzel.

More pictures with family

Dad with Isabel:

Isabel with Aunt Sandra:


Isabel with Tori:


Pierce with Tori:


Some of the youngest generation (Pierce, Connor, Madelyn):

Fun with Sparklers

Not sure who had more fun, the kids or the big kids


Notice Pierce in the background. He didn't want to hold a sparkler because he didn't want Woody to catch on fire. He also refused to put the doll down.

Pierce with his "new favorite toy"

A Jam-Packed Fourth of July Weekend

We went to my parents' for the Fourth of July weekend. We went down a day early for a sad reason. My uncle, who had been struggling with his health for several years, passed away. Does it sound weird to say that I enjoyed his funeral? It really was a wonderful celebration of his life, his time of service to his country, and a wonderful reminder of the grace and love of our Savior. Ron knew the Lord and is now in Heaven where his body will not fail, and he will have no more pain. He is with Jesus and is experiencing unspeakable joy. The graveside service was a military tribute, and the three-volley salute, the playing of Taps on the trumpet, and the flag presentation were quite moving. We will all miss Ron, especially my aunt and my cousin and her family, but we can rejoice knowing that we will see him again in Heaven.

On Saturday, we had a picnic on Bays Mountain with our extended family. It was great seeing everyone. The kids played in the creek and on the playground. My cousin took some great pictures, and I hope to get some of them to post on the blog.

On Sunday we went to church and took Pierce and Madelyn to see Toy Story 3. We saw it in 3-D, and the kids didn't have too much trouble keeping the glasses on, but I personally don't think the 3-D aspect added much to the movie. The movie was really good, though, and I had to wipe away a few tears near the end. The funniest part was when Buzz started speaking Spanish, and I was just laughing and laughing. Madelyn kept asking, "What is he saying?". I realized I needed to read the subtitles to her. We had contemplated taking the kids to see fireworks, but since none of the fireworks displays started until 10, we opted to buy sparklers for the kids. They seemed to be fine with that. Oh, Mom and Dad bought Madelyn and Pierce Woody and Jesse dolls, and I'm not sure if they've put them down yet. Madelyn said, "Did you know that this is my favorite toy now?" I keep expecting Jesse or Woody to blink at me or something as I start to leave the room.

Monday we went to my cousin's to have lunch and swim. All three kids were exhausted and Pierce could hardly speak without crying as we packed up to leave. You know your kid is tired when he asks if it's nap time and immediately bursts into tears, swearing up and down that he's not tired.

JD and I came home with Isabel yesterday, and the big kids are staying with Mom and Dad for a few days. They went to Dollywood yesterday and are going back today. I hope they don't have too hard a time when they get back home. They are going to be used to non-stop entertainment.

What to do on a hot day?

Run through sprinklers, of course.

On your mark,


get set;


wait, let the big guy take of his shirt; go!


And one more time.

The Queen Mum and Her Youngest Grandchild

Thanks to Madelyn for the crown.