Thanksgiving in KY

Although we spent yet another Thankgiving away from family in TX, we had a wonderful time with our family of friends here. Abigail and I spent much time in the kitchen, mostly cleaning up messes, but in the kitchen. Don't worry, she washed her hands frequently. Then together with the Willems', Bishop's, and Born's, and Carey's family we feasted over an amazing Thanksgiving turkey, dressing, gravy, veggies, OUTSTANDING sweet potato casserole, rolls, and about 15 desserts...no lie. Thanks to Carey and her mom Beth, who came up from only 3 hours away in TN, we did not leave hungry.

Then...on Friday, we had the opportunity to go to Indianapolis to watch the Pacers/Mavs basketball game. GO MAVS!...Despite the loss. A few weeks ago we found out that Ryan and Kelly Bishop (also from Texas) were Dallas Maverick fans as well. We jumped online to see if they played anywhere near and to our surprize there was going to be a game only an hour and a half away the day after Thanksgiving. So to Indy we went. We had an fabulous time!

Enjoy the pictures!

Roughin' It.

We had an incredible time at Rough River State Park. It was a little less primitive than we were hoping, a fact that was painfully obvious after the 80 year old man drove up in his golf cart to hand us some paper work, but we lived it up, sitting around the campfire throwing down over some hotdogs, smoores and IBC Root Beers.

In the middle of our campfire chat, after hearing some odd growling noises from the woods followed by some snapping twigs, we asked an old park ranger if there were bears in these woods, to which he responded, "Boys... there ain't no bears in these woods. I've had 7 year olds camp out here and ain't never heard no complainin'. " Then he cleared his throat and spit out a wad of bolts and nails on the ground in front of us and drove away. We later determined that it was a cow that had been growling in those woods, but to our credit, it was probably a very large cow with pointy teeth.

It was 22 degrees, but we were well prepared for the night: Dan and I in the tent with our sleeping bags, Ryan and Eric in the car with the heater on. To Eric's credit, all he had was an old bed sheet while the rest of us hunkered down in our 20 degree sleeping bags. Turns out, Ryan had brought two 20 degree sleeping bags, one of which had been laying tightly rolled up within arms reach of Eric the entire night before they made their 6 AM dash to the 4 Runner. Ryan brought handy wipes, too... very resourceful.

In all seriousness, there is little doubt in my mind that experiences like these will be the ones we remember most from our days in seminary. It's been incredible to build these new, and no doubt, lifelong, friendships which the Lord is using to progress and persevere us in the faith. Enjoy the pictures...

Anyone recognize these characters?

Abigail, to my surprise, drew something other than squiggles today:

Grandma and Papa:

Nana and Grandpa:

HAPPY 27th BIRTHDAY DADDY!

You're the greatest! We love you!

He did it!!!!

Nathan rolled over!!!

Funny story. I told Tory on Friday, knowing that I had to go to work on Saturday, that I was afraid Nathan was getting so close to rolling over and I was going to miss it. Well, I was reasured today on how much he loves me and wants and desires for me to be home with the kids. I got a text message about mid-day that said, "Nathan tried to roll over, but I knocked him back". Yep, Tory made sure that I was going to be home to watch Nathan roll over for the first time. Well, I got home about 7:45, we laid Nathan on his back around 8:00 (after Abigail finished telling me about her day filled with raking leaves, bumping her head on the couch, and the motorcycle scarring her), and we watched. It was a hilarious thing but within 10 minutes he had made it over on his own...no assistance. All that hard work has payed off...and another milestone reached.

Quack, Quack

We were invited by our friends, the Willems', to a Trunk or Treat at a local church. We have never taken much interest into this "holiday", but I must say that taking Abigail shopping to "dress up for a party" was such an experience. As much as I tried to talk her into the beautiful princess, cute little lady bug, or the adorable zebra costume, she just wanted the duck. So a duck we went. And she sported it well! The kids had a great time with lots of candy, games, a hayride, and even roasting marshmellows. If you are wondering where Mr. Nathan is in all the pictures....well, he missed it. He got his 4 month shots yesterday and it has left him a little grouchy, sore, and with a 101 temp. So he got to stay home with Daddy and study. I'm pretty sure they honored Reformation Day today with a Martin Luther bedtime story.