Luke and the DUI

Luke was the first member of our family involved in a car accident.  It happened today around dinner time when he was coming home with the boy up the street and that boy's youth pastor.  They were in a little pickup truck, all three in the front seat, belted in, (thank you Jesus) when a drunk driver hit them.  I was called to the scene to pick him up, and when I arrived, I saw him bouncing around, talking to police and paramedics.  I called him over to our truck, and he ran over to me, stuck his hand in the open window, shoved a broken taillight in my face, and said: "Look at my souvenir from the wreck, the police already said yes mom."  There you have it!  The man responsible was incarcerated on the spot and put in the ambulance, since he was not wearing a seat belt and hit his head on the dash. To quote Ma Ingalls, "All is well that ends well."

Cloudland Canyon Camping

Luke turned 10 on June 14th, so I brought cupcakes along to celebrate his birthday with everybody.

I think he had too much soda and cupcakes.

Evan hanging out on the picnic table.  Nate trailered a motorcycle for us to take on a couple of nice mountain rides.

This is my youngest nephew Cosner, he looks happy for Evan, who was our photographer for the trip.

This is his sister Allie, she is only 4 and a very big girl for her age.  She had no problems bossing and being the tattle if she was mistreated.

We hit the Tennessee aquarium on Friday.  Alan Jackson was in town for some concert, so the streets and riverfront had lots of activity happening.

Evan loved this picture of him and his friend the sea turtle.

Nanny and Papa joining us on the hike to the rock bluffs.

Amanda and Nate overlooking the rocks. She looks full of herself and Nate looks full of something.

Ryan bravely leaps over the giant chasm

Luke and Silas in the fat man's squeeze.  Luke told Silas to suck in his gut and he wouldn't get stuck.

Austin had no problems getting through.  This is sadly the only picture we got of him.  Evan must have banned Dania and him from the camera range, cuz there aint none of em.

See ya next time!

Summer Update

Austin is not done with school yet.  He had to go 10 extra days than the little kids.  He is also taking a writing tutoring class this summer to catch up on his writing level.  The good news on that front is that he can express himself well on paper, he just needs help with the spelling and structure.  Apparently that is the easier part to fix if someone has trouble writing.

The bible/book study on thankfulness is going really well, but is so difficult.  It has been much harder than I imagined to stay disciplined, change my perspective, and die to the flesh.  I feel really raw these days, but I KNOW how much I need this shift in perspective in order to live fully.

I am letting Dania go all natural with her hair this summer to give it a break from the constant braiding, and to give our pocket book a breather as well.  I told her she could do whatever she wanted with it, right now it is a little afro with a wide head band in it.  It looks pretty cute, and she is excited about it.

Neighborhood kids have invaded the house and yard.  They spend time down here at the creek and then spend time up the street at the other kids houses. So far, so good.

We are off on a camping trip with the whole Brock family, the Kissacks and Amanda.  Tam is even here from CA to join in the fun.  I feel frazzled and not ready,  camping is always such an enormous amount of work, that I am not sure I consider it a vacation, more like an expedition.