If at first you don't succeed, destroy all evidence that you tried.

iPad case

2012-01-29T08:34:00.001-06:00

In one of our lengthy meetings last week, I spent the time searching for fabric online. I wanted to try this iPad case tutorial that I found on Pinterest. I finally found this fabric (Peacock Lane by Violet Craft for Michael Miller Fabrics) on sale and ordered it. It came on Friday and I spent last night putting the case together.

my first time sewing a zipper - not too hard, but I think my zipper foot is too fat!

lined pocket - for the cord, maybe

far from perfect, but fun to have completed a project with my new sewing machine

Wades

2011-11-20T18:47:00.001-06:00

Andy and Bekki asked me to take some pictures of their family of three (before baby girl makes 4 in March) to put in Christmas cards. Bekki said they didn't have a picture of the three of them since Dec. 2009. We went in the fields in front of and beside their house. After almost getting peed on by a dog (not theirs) right at the beginning, things got a little better. The wind was 15-20 mph with gusts beyond that. Made for an interesting time.

Graycie wearing the scarf now. Couldn't get the crazy dog to cooperate. If you know anything about Weimeraners, they're loyal to approximately one person (Andy), and don't care anything about anyone else.

This picture and the next were taken in shadows from a row of pine trees along the road.

I don't love the direct sun lighting, but oh well. It's not as bad as full sun can be...

bouncy girl

2011-11-05T19:34:00.000-05:00

reindeer games

2011-11-03T23:10:00.000-05:00

A tradition was started long before I moved here of the staff kids taking candy to the dorm kids around Halloween time. We're up to a pretty sizable group. These are all of the elementary-age and younger kids, minus Milo Baughman.

Ryan hauled Claire around in her reindeer outfit. Jaclyn got it for her on clearance after last Christmas, thinking that it would fit her this Christmas. Since she's such a chunk, there's no hope of that happening, so it became a good costume to wear this time of year.

Anastasia, Olivia, Carson, and Samantha with Kelly, our assistant dean

5 months old!

2011-10-25T21:55:00.002-05:00

At 5 months, I have found my feet and I like to laugh.

I still don't like being on my tummy very much, but my parents make me anyway. Maybe one of these days I'll get around to rolling over.

This is a picture of my mom playing with her foot and one of me holding mine!

I'm so big! 18 lb. 11 oz. and 26" long

peek-a-boo

2011-10-07T21:29:00.002-05:00

Claire started laughing at peek-a-boo today.

surprise for the biggest hockey fan I know

2011-09-06T22:59:00.000-05:00

I started painting this for Carson Sabbath afternoon and finished it in between turns during a game of Ticket to Ride on Sunday.

Carson is the biggest hockey fan I know, so when I thought to paint something for his room, it was an easy decision. I chose 23 because his birthday is Dec. 23.

big girl!

2011-08-10T10:11:00.000-05:00

1 week | 10 weeks

so big!

2011-08-01T21:11:00.002-05:00

There's not a better way to show how much Claire has grown than to put pictures of her taken next to the same item over time.

2 days | 4 wks | 8 wks

try not to factor in the zoom here

1 wk | 5 wks

7 wks | 8 wks
this one makes it look like she grew out of her clothes - the incredible hulk!

4 days | 3 wks

6 wks | 9 wks

6 days | 7 wks
good to know Ryan showered in between sometime...

cool in the pool

2011-07-21T15:11:00.002-05:00

squeaky clean

2011-07-21T14:59:00.000-05:00

time flies - and Claire's trying to fly too!

2011-06-21T22:20:00.001-05:00

Claire week 2 snapshots

2011-06-08T22:06:00.002-05:00

Tuesday, May 31 - one week old today

taken while video chatting with Lindsey

Wednesday, June 1 - nap time

asleep in her pack 'n play

Claire had to go to the doctor to have her weight checked. She weighed 5 lbs 12 oz, up 2 oz from the weekend.

Thursday, June 2 - found her tongue!

This was the first day Claire really stayed awake for an extended time between feedings. She was content to just look around and make faces at me.

Friday, June 3 - first tub bath

Claire's umbilical cord fell off on Wednesday, so we were finally allowed to give her a real bath. She didn't mind until we took her out of the water.

Sabbath, June 4 - asleep in her bouncy seat

This is one of the outfits we have bought since Claire was born. She's too small still for a lot of newborn outfits, but does well in onesies so this little romper works well. She still could definitely fill it out a little better!

Monday, June 6 - celebrating Canada

My mom sent this sleeper with moose and pine trees on it. She said we had to take a picture of Claire wearing it with a Canadian flag. Ryan couldn't be prouder.

Claire's first week

2011-06-06T12:44:00.000-05:00

After about three hours in the labor & delivery room, Claire and I were moved upstairs to a postpartum room. She was taken to the nursery for her first bath. Ryan and his parents were able to be there to take pictures and video. She spent a few hours in the nursery the first night while we tried to sleep a little.

We spent Wednesday visiting with our parents until they had to go home. Other visitors stopped by throughout the day too.

Claire was discharged from the hospital a few hours before I was on Thursday and we finally got to leave together. I didn't want to leave until I got my free massage. =) I was glad that even though she's tiny, her carseat fit her well. She slept all the way home. We were home by about 3:00p, so not even 48 hours after she was born.

We didn't get to rest much in the first couple days home. Claire had jaundice and had to see the pediatrician on Friday and again Sabbath to check her bilirubin. Luckily, the level did not go up over the two days so she didn't have to be checked again. Her weight got down to 5 lb. 10 oz. over the weekend.

Sunday was our first day home all day with her. On Monday, we got out the stroller and took Claire for her first walk - to visit Connie & Phil in the girls' dorm. Before we knew, it, she was a week old!

Claire is here!

2011-05-30T17:10:00.001-05:00

Claire Avery was born at 3:30p on May 24. She weighed 5lb 15.75oz and was 19" long.

after the nurses gave her a bath

about to go home Thursday

37 weeks & nursery pics

2011-05-18T10:13:00.002-05:00

Jaclyn and Stephanie were here yesterday and helped me get the nursery actually ready to bring a baby home to. I got to direct traffic while they did the work. The crib is ready now with a new crib skirt (the one that "matches" the set had embroidery hidden by the wood). We still need curtains. Still trying to figure out what kind of curtain rod I want.

inside the crib

The toy organizer holds the growing collection of pink stuffed animals and other toys. Carson told us last night he thinks she will stand on the dresser and jump to get her toys. Let's hope he's wrong . . .

We'll probably put the glider in this corner, whenever we get a chance to buy one. Being on bed rest isn't exactly conducive to shopping for furniture.

Jaclyn also made sure we took some updated pictures of me & the belly. Here's 37 weeks.

This is us at "full-term." We'll see how much longer!

Goodwill finds

2011-03-30T12:37:00.001-05:00

I swung by Goodwill in Gallatin today to drop off some things we needed to get out of the nursery and decided to look for some things to ADD. All of their baby outfits are $1.99. Pretty good deal, huh? Especially for Carters, Baby Gap, etc.

29 weeks + nursery painting

2011-03-28T11:11:00.001-05:00

Jaclyn was nice enough to take some pictures of the 29 wk 5 day belly. This was a lot easier than the tripod/2 sec. timer method of doing it by myself. Ryan was able to get in on the shoot too.

Rookie wanted in on the photo shoot

Then there was the painting . . .

all finished by Sunday morning at 11:30

we used just about every drop of paint in the gallon we bought - have enough for any touch-ups we notice in the next few days

This picture shows the green pretty accurately. It's probably brighter than I meant to buy, but we like it. It matches the bedding well and the furniture looks good against it.

The art teacher at Ryan's school bought the owl pillow I registered for at Target. I was so excited! :)

24 weeks 3 days

2011-02-17T15:12:00.001-06:00

if you look very closely, you can probably see her kicking

cat tales

2011-02-17T14:57:00.002-06:00

Bringing you a snapshot of Rookie's life:

Rookie loves the little blue house my mom found for $10.

Incidentally, we have had very strong winds today and I looked out the front window to see her house blown almost to the tennis court!

She's learning (slowly) to use the new cat door to get to her food in the garage.

I found Rookie out by the buses this afternoon. She helped me take demo pictures for photography class.

This picture makes me laugh =)

Rookie was chewing pieces off a log and then chasing them when they blew away in the wind.

baby girl

2011-01-30T13:29:00.001-06:00

Well, I guess by now I assume everyone who reads this is also seeing my posts on Facebook, but for archiving sake and in case my assumption is wrong, I'm updating the blog anyway.

Ryan and I went on Friday, the 21st for my 20-week ultrasound in Nashville. We had a great time getting to see the baby for about a full hour. In addition to finding out that we're expecting a girl, we saw that she's measuring the right size for her due date and looks healthy. I edited the 30+ minutes of video down to some highlights on YouTube.

hands

profile

I had been feeling great until coming down with a sinus infection this week. Thanks to some antibiotics, I think I'm close to kicking it though. Speaking of kicking, I am reminded all day long that I'm not alone! Ryan can't wait until he can feel the baby moving too.

shopping trip

2011-01-25T20:24:00.003-06:00

Nikie and Carson brought me two outfits from Kohls today that are really cute. She also said they were having a big sale on their Carters and winter stuff. Tonight Ryan and I went and got these. My favorites are the brown corduroy outfit and the green striped shirt. The two fleece outfits will be good for next winter. Our receipt said we saved $70 (never would have paid the original prices) and we also got $10 Kohls cash. =)

snow kitty

2011-01-21T22:11:00.002-06:00

Christmas reading

2010-12-30T23:22:00.002-06:00

I haven't read as much as I thought I would over this break. Here are the three books I've read cover-to-cover:

Her Daughter's Dream is the second of two books recently released by Francine Rivers - definitely a family saga. They're both really good and I recommend reading them both. It's a big book and I read it in about two days.

Chip The Dam Builder, c. 1950

by Jim Kjelgaard (same author as Big Red, which was made into a Disney movie)

I read this from Knoxville, TN to Hickory, NC during our drive to mom & dad's before Christmas. It tells about a beaver and his run-ins with lots of other animals: lynx, owl, bear, deer, otter, muskrats, etc. Ryan got this book as a discard from the Oshawa Public Library. When I was trying to find a picture of the cover for the blog, I discovered that used copies go for at least $50 on the Internet!

Hell's Corner (refers to the park in front of the White House)

I got this for my mom for Christmas and read it in about a day. =)

There's still time for more books!

recent artwork

2010-12-06T11:31:00.000-06:00

I haven't really done any artwork lately. This is a scratch art of Toby (Ryan & Jaclyn's dog) that I started in August and finally finished and gave to Jaclyn.

holiday time

2010-12-04T15:12:00.000-06:00

It seems like Thanksgiving and Christmas are totally smashed together these days. Coming back from Thanksgiving break means a mad dash involving the SA banquet, campus lighting, Christmas concerts, and exams.

We came home from Collegedale with a kitty! She showed up on Thanksgiving and decided she loved us. We ended up deciding that it would be nice to have a cat living in our yard. She's done really well and comes inside the garage to sleep when it's really cold.

Ryan decided the cat should be named Rookie. It's hard to come up with a female sports cat name we discovered.

Ryan talked me into finally getting a Christmas tree on Thursday. When I came home from work last night, he had cut the trunk and bottom branches off and had it in the stand ready to decorate. So he and I had a tree decorating contest in the living room last night. His tree is in our bedroom this year so we can work on reorganizing the other two rooms to make room for the baby somewhere.

We're heading to GA with the Rilea clan on Thursday for the weekend. After that, 3.5 days of school left and then Ryan & Jaclyn come up for a sports extravaganza weekend. Before we know it, 2010 will be history . . .

13 weeks

2010-12-04T15:02:00.002-06:00

Ryan got to come with me on Thursday when I had my second OB appointment in Nashville. Besides the regular check-up stuff, we heard the heartbeat for the first time, which was really cool. We could see it in the first ultrasound, but it was neat to hear. I actually lost weight over the last 5 weeks, which makes sense because I haven't felt like eating. I go back again for my next appointment on January 4.

Here's the only ultrasound picture we have from October 29 (8 weeks). We won't have another ultrasound until 20 weeks if everything is going ok.

finished!

2010-11-20T07:50:00.000-06:00

I finished my Charley Harper Glacier Bay puzzle last night. I couldn't believe I had all the pieces still after Carson "helped" a couple of times.

piles of fun

2010-11-05T11:07:00.002-05:00

Last year, Carson wasn't so sure about jumping in piles of leaves. This year, he was all for it. I wished Tessa could have been there for some of the fun. These were after our "picnic" lunch in the Cherokee Council House Sabbath afternoon with the students.

first, he tried to bury me

then we threw leaves up in the air

then Carson threw leaves AT me

then Carson was up to his eyeballs in leaves

and then . . . I spent the rest of the day getting leaves out of my pants . . .

a walk around campus

2010-10-13T16:31:00.002-05:00

Since our October home leave started today, I actually had time to walk around campus and take pictures of the leaves that are starting to change colors.

This maple tree is always bright in the fall and stands out from the others in the woods behind the music building.

one of many bees swarming these flowers

acorns, hickory nuts, and walnuts are all over the ground (and picnic tables)

jewelweed - has an active ingredient that's in Preparation H and is a natural remedy to poison ivy

the trees that line the field below the gym are always a dazzling array of colors in fall

backyard birds

2010-09-04T23:59:00.005-05:00

We enjoyed watching the flurry of activity around the back yard this morning before church. Who knew how much strapping a dead branch to my shepherd's rod would entice the birds to come and hang out?

The early-morning directional light was great for taking pictures of the bird activity out back.

I moved the plant Anita bought me over near the hummingbird feeder and it was a hit! The birds had been visiting it in its previous location, but they seemed to like the move a lot.

Here's why the dead branch is cool - I get to take natural looking pictures that aren't! All the birds love it =)

retreating to the cave

2010-08-31T08:11:00.001-05:00

Steve & I with the 2010-11 SA officers

looking out of the cave from the natural entrance

Ranger Rick

Ranger Rick explaining the saltpeter "mining" operation during the war of 1812

cave ceiling

steps connecting the top and second levels

Giant's Coffin

SA kids have no trouble with the low passageways

Ryan, on the other hand . . .

descending the stairs

the only bat we saw

Cassie in Fat Man's Misery

the group in Mammoth Dome

testing....

2010-08-26T11:58:00.010-05:00

I've been looking for a way to display large pictures on Blogger and I think I finally figured it out! Now to figure out how to get the background pic to show . . .

new diffuser

2010-08-25T21:56:00.002-05:00

Jaclyn helped talk me into getting a flash diffuser when she was here. For a little more than the price of one, I got two! A cloud diffuser (translucent) and clear (transparent). They both have an inverted dome for the top.

preliminary samples for your enjoyment:

flash pointed at ceiling - no diffuser

flash aimed at ceiling - diffuser - no dome

flash aimed at ceiling - diffuser - with dome

envy

2010-08-02T21:34:00.001-05:00

If only my office at work were this simple . . .

The carpet is being installed next Wednesday and Thursday and I have to completely empty the office and paint it before then . . . sigh . . .

vote for me!

2010-07-22T17:34:00.002-05:00

Rachel Parker, a watercolor artist from South Carolina picked my picture as one to vote on. If it gets the most votes, she'll paint it!

http://www.rachelsstudio.blogspot.com/

hittin' the links

2010-07-03T23:25:00.002-05:00

Ryan and I after playing 9 holes at Kenny Perry's on Wednesday afternoon. We wanted to get in a little practice before playing with my dad when we are in Winston-Salem.

swimsuit-defying flying trick

2010-06-23T23:42:00.002-05:00

Watch Carson's swimsuit. ;P

seattle

2010-06-18T18:37:00.002-05:00

After trekking all across the city, most of our group met at Safeco Field for the Twins @ Mariners matchup.

We were even joined by an old friend who celebrated the 3-run home run so enthusiastically, he hurt Ryan's hand.

legendary garlic fries

The Mariners won 4-1 and Mark even gave us a lift back to our hotel.

they (we) made it!

2010-05-23T22:00:00.002-05:00

Never been happier for a graduation than my own :)
I will miss them though.

status: destroyed

2010-05-14T23:18:00.003-05:00

I really can't be too upset about the state of our softball fields and season. I still have a dry, untouched house and car. Hendersonville parks suffered an estimated $5 million in damages, according to a police officer we talked to on the Monday after the big rain. The Parks Dept. is getting the kids' softball/baseball leagues going again first, then as they rebuild fields they'll try to get the adults up and running. It could be late June...

field 6 - Monday, May 3

field 6 - Tuesday, May 11

not landlocked anymore

2010-05-04T20:53:00.003-05:00

what are the chances?

2010-05-04T13:48:00.004-05:00

Who knew that the game we're going to the night before our Alaska cruise was giving out LOLcat bobbleheads!

softball season is here

2010-04-29T09:25:00.002-05:00

birding in Panama

2010-04-17T10:00:00.004-05:00

sapphire-throated hummingbird (female)

Great-Tailed Grackle	Panama City
Tropical Kingbird	Panama City
Great Egret	roadside
Cattle Egret	roadside
Orange-Chinned Parakeet	Isla Cañas
Ruddy Ground Dove	Isla Cañas
Blue-Gray Tanager	Isla Cañas
White-Tipped Sicklebill	Isla Cañas
Magnificent Frigatebird	Isla Cañas
Yellow Warbler	Isla Cañas
Mountain Thrush	Isla Cañas
Whimbrel	Isla Cañas
Sapphire-Throated Hummingbird	Isla Cañas
Yellow-Headed Caracara	Isla Cañas
White Ibis	Isla Cañas
Brown Pelican	Isla Cañas
Amazon Kingfisher	Isla Cañas
Lesser Kiskadee	Isla Cañas
Red-Crowned Woodpecker	Isla Cañas
Great Kiskadee	Isla Cañas
Brown-Headed Parakeet	Isla Cañas
Great Black Hawk	Isla Cañas
Gray-Breasted Martin	Isla Cañas
Squirrel Cuckoo	Playitas Resort
Fork-Tailed Flycatcher	Playitas Resort
Gray-Headed Chcachalaca	Playitas Resort
Osprey	Playitas Resort
Masked Booby	Playitas Resort
Bare-Throated Tiger Heron	Playitas Resort
Laughing Gull	Miraflores Locks
Anhinga	Embera Indian Village
Ringed Kingfisher	Embera Indian Village
Palm Tanager	Embera Indian Village
Yellow-Crowned Night Heron	Panama City
Wood Stork	Tocumen Airport

**birds in bold are new (lifers)**

blue-gray tanager

whimbrel

brown pelicans

magnificent frigatebird (female/juv.)

spring in our steps

2010-03-28T21:43:00.005-05:00

Ryan and I headed into our little town of Portland on Sabbath afternoon to check out the paved trail around Richland Park. It wasn't too hilly to keep Ryan from dribbling a hockey ball the whole way around.

One thing we came across was a memorial to Portland members of the military who died in battle. We found Willard F. Ray, Jr. listed under Marine Corps for WWII, son of the principal of Highland Academy who the ad building is named after.

After some parking lot hockey, we noticed that Nikie and Carson had arrived. Ryan is trying to convince Carson to try out the tunnel.

see me in the reflection?

trying out the biggest slide

the big kid tries the big slide - and yes, the rollerblades are still on his feet...

taking the tunnel to the twisty slide

Nikie, Ryan, and Carson

Carson wins the race - his prize? . . . static hair

And last night we got out the Ticket to Ride game that Nikie and Chadd got me for my birthday. (I was green)

traffic at Kansas City

next door friends

2010-03-23T21:58:00.001-05:00

Olivia

Gabby

& a typical Olivia reaction :)

march

2010-03-21T22:42:00.015-05:00

Jaclyn & Ryan stopped through Thursday night (3/11) on their way to Collegedale for the weekend. Ryan was on his Spring Break. We had fun playing the Wii for a while.

Kelli & Jonathan spent Sabbath with us.

I got to meet their dog Rylee.

Stephanie even got walked!

daffodils are blooming!

We tried out a new game I got for Christmas called Wits & Wagers. It was fun.

Ryan won . . . if you couldn't tell.

Then there was Ukranian Manners . . .

. . . which always brings out the best in everyone . . . ?

Sunday afternoon I went with Jaclyn and Hollie to P.F. Chang for some yummy food. We all got fortunes about friends.

ok, the horse is headless, but this was the best pic of the humans in the frame

Yesterday afternoon (3/20) we went to Gallatin to explore the playground next to the Civic Center with Chadd, Nikie, & Carson.

I like the colors in this one

after Carson found his way to the top on his own

ready to slide

conqueror of the playground

skating on the news

2010-02-17T11:58:00.003-06:00

Ryan and I were on the news last night during the Predators public skate. Look for the Predators jersey (me) and Alaska hoodie (Ryan). We're on there twice.

http://www.fox17.com/newsroom/sports/vid_551.shtml

taking the Preds' ice

2010-02-16T23:03:00.004-06:00

the Sommet Center hosted a free public skate tonight from 5-7p since the Preds are on the NHL's Olympics break

it was neat seeing the ice from a new and closer angle

center ice!

goalie in training

it's all about the Preds

skating

skaters flying past

a smallish Predator

center ice again (hee hee)

Ryan parting the crowd

reintarnation

2010-02-13T14:13:00.001-06:00

a couple funnies

2010-02-09T00:25:00.000-06:00

in honor of tax season

scraps

2010-02-01T22:42:00.005-06:00

I know that two scrapbook layouts is nothing monumental, but I'm just getting back into it. A trip to Hobby Lobby & Jo-Ann's (worst part for Ryan of his birthday) for some fresh supplies inspired me to work on it again. The color isn't quite right, btw.

This was our trip with Ryan's parents to Camp Au Sable in Grayling, MI for family camp the last week of 2009.

book it

2010-01-23T16:49:00.005-06:00

Sept. 2008 - Camping @ Tims Ford S.P. with Randy, MJ, Stephanie, Jaclyn, & Ryan

he he he

2010-01-06T22:44:00.000-06:00

Olivia, me, & a webcam

2010-01-05T21:31:00.001-06:00

faces have been changed to protect the innocent

snow route

2009-12-21T08:47:00.007-06:00

To get to my parents, the route is I-40 to I-81 to I-77 to I-74 to hwy 52 to hwy 109. We only made it Friday to the I-81 section near Kingsport, TN. I drove the first 4 hours (what should have been half of the trip) and Ryan took over just as the weather got bad. At this point in our trip, we were stopped behind a jack-knifed semi truck and just waiting for someone in front of us to move.

Even though this isn't the best picture, it shows the situation best. The 2010 Camaro is stuck behind a jack-knifed semi. The lights to the far right belong to a truck heading to Winston-Salem. We followed that truck for a while, watching it struggle to get enough traction to get up the hills. At one point, the semi just started sliding sideways down a banked curve.

After about 5 hours and only going about 5 miles, we decided it was best to try to find somewhere to spend the night. They obviously weren't doing anything to improve the road conditions and more and more drivers were getting stranded as cars filled the ditches and median.

Thanks to the GPS, we were able to see which exits had hotels. After calling, we found out that there weren't any vacancies until exit 63, Airport Parkway, at the Red Carpet Inn. After getting off the exit (and having to help push 3 cars out of the way on the ramp) and seeing a handful of cars ditched at the bottom of a LARGE hill, we realized why they still had rooms. We parked and hiked to the top, happy that we weren't having to sleep in the car.

This is the view from the hotel parking lot of I-81 on Sabbath morning.

Ryan helped some others out then got our car out of the place we had left it overnight. We decided to get back on the road before what had melted turned into ice.

By then, the plows were out and spreading a sand mixture on the roads. It was still icy in spots, but we were finally able to cruise again.

I'm not sure if this is after getting on I-77 in Wytheville, VA or before. The oncoming traffic looked like this much of our trip. You can see the slush in the left lane heading our direction. It kept switching from 2 cleared lanes to only one, quite unexpectedly at times.

At about 2:00p, we pulled into my parents' driveway. They weren't sure we'd even make it that far into their neighborhood with steep hills in either direction from their house. Needless to say, we were glad to be off the road!

as seen on the Internet

2009-12-16T10:06:00.002-06:00

"Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after 2 days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever.Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn't realize it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of many people who attempted to do that.

My yard couldn't take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard."

December visit

2009-12-07T22:47:00.004-06:00

church Sabbath

Sabbath spaghetti lunch

Randy made friends with some of the birds

Saturday night involved a brief decorating stint of putting icicles up with SA officers.

Then we headed downtown for Black & Blue Night at the Wild @ Preds game.

The Predators recently unveiled their third (alt.) jerseys.

action near the Wild's goal

Nashville (football & hockey) sports fans

Randy

celebrating some last-minute action, but it was too little too late and the Preds lost 3-5

had to post this b/c it's funny

Thankful for home

2009-12-07T22:20:00.004-06:00

Oreo and Maggie took us on a walk around the neighborhood Wednesday.

Maggie smiles for her picture

Grant & Kirsten with Bilbo, the new kitty

Thanksgiving spread

matching Life is Good models

ready to eat

Bilbo!
Kirsten, Ryan, and Grant testing out the giant windchimes at the Greensboro Arboretum

Grant & Kirsten

Ryan & Me in a gazebo

Skye matches the bathroom blues

Pit Saturday night

We stopped in Kingsport, TN to see Tara, Bill, & Karen. They made us a great lunch and helped break up our trip nicely!

paridae family in my yard

2009-11-21T15:13:00.004-06:00

levitating?

sharing a seed

Baeolophus bicolor

wanna-be cockatoo

Poecile carolinensis

leaf monster

2009-11-11T20:47:00.004-06:00

When I saw that the grounds crew (Michael and Bryce) had raked together a respectable amount of leaves, I grabbed Carson and Billy and headed out for the last minutes of daylight yesterday.

for Ryan

2009-11-08T14:09:00.000-06:00

school spirit

2009-11-06T17:22:00.003-06:00

This week was our fall SA Spirit Week. I think it's the first one I've attempted to try to dress up for every day. Back to normal clothes next week.

Monday: Sports Day

Tuesday: Fake Injury Day

Wednesday: 60s Day

Thursday: Superhero Day

Friday: Highland Day

she's a walker!

2009-11-04T20:47:00.005-06:00

Ryan and I got Tessa a little toy today that changes from one she can push to one she can ride.

She will take steps holding on to desks, legs, etc., so I figured she was ready for one of these. I decided this is how girls learn how to push a shopping cart. =) She only pushes to the right, so she runs into a lot of walls.

As you can see, she's very happy with her new title of "driver." Her short little legs can't both reach the floor at the same time. She peddled with all her might (the blurry legs), but went nowhere.

a birthday, a visit, & ravioli

2009-11-03T07:46:00.007-06:00

Ryan and I went to Collegedale and Calhoun for the weekend to see family. My cousin Jason was coming for his first visit since moving to Prague in 2006. He brought Mirka and Zoe! We spent Sabbath down there with the family.

Grant & Ella before lunch

Grandma & Ryan

Kirsten, Grant, Grandpa Jack, & mom

singing "Happy Birthday" to Grandma Dut

Ethan

Zoe blowing kisses at Aunt Tonda

I made Grandma, Jeremy, and Aunt Tonda pose in the rain for a picture since they all matched so well. :)

Dum-dums, anyone?

the kids waiting for trick-or-treaters

Zoe checking out her spots before heading outside

and they're off!

Evan was a fire truck

Zoe & Ella

Zoe

the little vampire returns home with his candy

Kirsten & Grant showing Grandma Dut pictures

Sunday was spent at McKay's (used books) before mom & dad headed back to NC. Then 7 of us went to the Olive Garden to make sure the food was still good.

waiting for a table

waiting for breadsticks and salad

right after I tried one of those peppers in the salad for the first time ever

and Marble Slab pumpkin ice cream for dessert!

testing 1, 2

2009-10-25T21:41:00.003-05:00

I've been playing with Adobe Lightroom's free 30-day trial. This is a pic of Tian at tonight's Mulligan Stew (church event). The program lets you apply edits to small portions of the picture using masks, as well as adjusting the other aspects of the whole picture. What do you think of the edits?

Hollie's visit

2009-10-24T14:48:00.001-05:00

Today Hollie came to see me!

I gave her a tour of campus after lunch...

And we threw leaves!

campus kids

2009-10-19T10:30:00.003-05:00

Carson loves to type on the computer. He even knows how to flip your monitor image 90-degrees!

getting his cousin Wes's nose

Tessa can crawl!

modeling her cute hat

we're back!

2009-10-06T14:12:00.003-05:00

Our return trip was 785 miles through Virginia and Knoxville. We didn't keep track of the northern route on the way there, or the driving around to Chestertown and Baltimore . . . I'll post some pics later.

Pachelbel's following me

2009-09-30T11:11:00.000-05:00

ViewSouthern

2009-09-23T21:04:00.003-05:00

all the academy buses lined up

Olivia, our assistant sponsor, watching Diego with Kent & Vanessa in Enrollment Services (oh yeah, they're eating chocolate)

a few of my favorite people

SAU's plan "B" with all the rain (see the newly refinished floor?)

I snagged someone's snake

Caleb on the mechanical bull

the Wellness Center was a big feature since it's the first ViewSouthern since it's been finished

apparently Summerour is being renovated - the office was totally different when I tried to go visit Asti

Thatcher

the one-tootoo punch

2009-09-19T23:43:00.005-05:00

supper at Bicentennial Park downtown - the state capitol building is over Ryan's shoulder

Broadway, next to the Sommet Center

face-off

at the end of the 1st period with about 20 sec. left

Jordan Tootoo, at 5'9" takes on a Blue Jackets player who is 6'5"

as Tootoo brought him down, he hit his head on the ice

what looked like a knockout punch was really his head hitting the ice - see the blood?

he was taken to a hospital afterward, but left the ice standing up - being held by teammates

Nashville ties the score 2-2 with 2:39 left

face-off after the goal

Preds win! A goal by #6 Shea Weber wins the game 3-2 with 28 sec. left!

splash!

2009-09-18T18:30:00.001-05:00

I apologize for the quality of this video. I'm going to re-save it and re-post it later.

wakeboard

2009-09-07T08:06:00.003-05:00

This is my impulse buy from yesterday at Play-it-Again Sports. They were having a 40% off sale to end the summer on all of their watersports stuff.

The dragon designs are pretty ugly, but for the price it's a nice wakeboard with good bindings. I looked it up on the Internet and it's a 2000 model. Ryan got a wakeskate also and we're excited to try them out this coming weekend in Collegedale!

pikinik

2009-08-30T22:11:00.004-05:00

I put a few pictures up on Facebook of our school picnic at Indian Creek Camp today. We had a great time and I can't wait to see everyone take their sunburned school pictures this week.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=137873&id=760788168&l=57b24361e3

campus

2009-08-21T17:49:00.003-05:00

no more lazy hazy days this week - the humidity cleared out and left beautiful blue skies

Steve's English class outside studying

Becky's LifeSkills class having TAG (time alone with God) time

campus

Tessa

2009-08-21T17:42:00.003-05:00

Yesterday Tessa's babysitter and I went outside to take some pictures on front campus. Tessa had fun trying to roll off the blanket and eat grass. She belongs to Andy (who works here) & Bekki (who cleans my teeth). Tessa will be 6 mo. old next week.

today

2009-08-20T23:02:00.003-05:00

pretty sunset tonight

kitchen tennis with Carson - the hats were his idea

waiting for his "pitch"and I finished my puzzle while watching Project Runway

yard birds

2009-08-16T09:23:00.004-05:00

the goldfinches are happy to take my seeds

it's getting increasingly necessary to provide water for the birds - they loved this dish

house finch with conjunctivitis - it gets spread through infected birds eating at feeders
this female could hardly see and I was able to walk very close to her

preamble to the school year

2009-08-04T21:50:00.005-05:00

Last Wednesday, the night before pre-session meetings began, a hummer got stuck in the garage. I finally caught him by slipping my hand over him while he was perched in the dark.

1st day of Pre-Session: praying over new staff members

Tessa and Olivia at the Watkins' so we could work on the class schedule

they've been practicing

hooked up from the PC to TV with our new class schedule

Thursday afternoon was CPR class with Brett Snow. They're assembling the dummies.

ready for resuscitation

Friday afternoon we went swimming with Nikie and Carson.

After Carson was dry and changed, he had fun throwing his shoes at Ryan in the pool.

He got quite a kick out of himself. This was fun until he reached for a shoe in the water that was too far out and fell in headfirst, requiring another shower and change of clothes. :( Good thing Ryan was there to snatch him out quickly!

Chadd and Nikie decided to take on the chapel in the guys' dorm and give it a minor facelift. I have been helping them paint and watch Carson. We let him help paint this wall.

I'll post some "after" shots later, but it's almost done!

Sunday and Monday our teaching staff met at Indian Creek Camp for a presentation on Kids in Discipleship (K.I.D.) with the other conference teachers and pastors. This is the A-frame chapel with very uncomfortable chairs.

Waking up at 5:30a (!) Monday gave me the opportunity to walk down to the lake and take a few pictures before breakfast. Some of the staff were coming in from slalom skiing.

Laura (Ashlock) Wensell and two friends led song services for the group.

Today's 95-ish degree temp led to this evening's thunderstorms. Look familiar? We had clouds like these roll through earlier this summer.

In 2 days we'll have the first group registered and be headed way too quickly to classes starting on Monday! AAHhhhhhahahAAAhHH!

zoorific

2009-08-04T21:37:00.004-05:00

Ryan and I hit the Nashville Zoo on our last weekend of freedom before school starts again (last weekend).

something like a gibbon - I like the framing of the branches

It was Ice Day at the zoo. This is the meerkat ice sculpture.

The 1:30 show was all about birds. This is an eagle owl.

red panda

favorite - clouded leopard

I like the "fuzzy" background behind the lorikeets

hoping to not get pooped on

I would come to the zoo for this exhibit alone :D

the end . . . of the zoo

Then we took our picnic to the nearby Percy Warner Park and listened to barred owls and summer tanagers in the woods while we ate.

in honor of Manny's grand slam

2009-07-22T23:22:00.003-05:00

Manny supposedly being hurt and coming in to pinch hit with bases loaded in the bottom of the 6th against the Reds on Manny Ramirez bobblehead night at Dodger Stadium reminded me of this video. All he needed was one pitch.

This video cracks me up. My favs are Manny's double, not HR and Youkilis's 3rd strike looking. Don't know why they didn't include Nomar . . .

Also on YouTube . . .
Batting Stance Guy Impresses Manny Ramirez
This one's hilarious b/c Manny's cracking up watching the guy impersonate everyone.

h-bombers

2009-07-22T20:26:00.013-05:00

This is the basil I've been growing. It took a while to get bigger than sprout-size, but once I thinned it, it really took off. This is after one plucking to make pesto.

The number of hummers in the back yard has really increased since we've been back in the last week. I went outside with my flash this time to see what that would do for the pictures.

This picture makes me laugh because of the top right bird. It looks like a UFO or something. The freezing of the picture makes things look peaceful, but when they fight you can hear beaks clacking and feathers rubbing. You can also see in the picture how the hummers use their tails to steer.

Randy Bishop was out walking the loop, so Abner came over and helped me chase birds. He could never find a decent stick for me to throw, so he didn't stick around long.

We only have one feeder in the front yard. It's one I got from my Rilea grandparents for my birthday a couple of years ago. The birds like having a place to escape to from the backyard, but they fight over this one too.

Can you find the hummer? I circled her for you. This was after the flash scared her from the perch position.

Here's a flash picture of a bird simultaneously eating and watching her back - flying up between drinks. You never know when you might be attacked while slurping nectar!

I don't like the way flash makes the birds' eyes look - kinda milky. It is fun seeing the birds react to the flash. They all jump. I wonder if they think it's lightning?!

boids

2009-07-21T23:34:00.003-05:00

I haven't gotten "the shot" of a hummingbird yet this summer. They've only recently showed up in large numbers, probably because the babies should have just fledged. Here's a male at one of my backyard feeders on Sabbath.

After Ryan and I got rained out from watering our garden (I know. . .), I headed for the backyard to stake out some birds. Here's the female variety of our only (?) kind of hummingbird for you.

My thanks-for-helping-with-VBS gift that Kim dropped off yesterday. Ryan picked it out. It smells SOOOOO good.

A chipping sparrow flew in for a couple of seconds, just enough time to grab a seed and get out of there.

down time

2009-07-19T22:17:00.004-05:00

I got my wisdom teeth pulled on Friday morning. I came up with ways to sit up on the couch with ice packs squished in too.

On Sabbath afternoon we took a walk in hopes of seeing the red-winged blackbird colony that usually lives at the pond. On the way, Ryan found a few snacks.

These aren't ripe yet, but they look good anyway.

We walked past the school's field (same one we detonated the chemical in)

At the pond, I talked Ryan into walking along the bank to try to get pictures of the frogs jumping in. See the circled one?

FROG!

also a frog, even if it looks like mud

another frog!

snacks on the way back

our backyard in summer

festivities surrounding the fourth

2009-07-16T23:26:00.007-05:00

My first order of business in Collegedale on July 3 was to catch some duckies with my camera on our way back from Randy's birthday meal.

And I decided to catch one with my hands too!

Sabbath afternoon nap 1 of 2 for me. We had an exciting 4th of July, as you can see.

Randy's little friend on my lens hood

Girls' day out Monday, the 6th

Red Robin has excellent onion rings.

Toby's girls

eating the breakfast of champions

Knight vs. Heilman tennis match #2 (#1 was last summer)

action shots courtesy of MJ

the Knights and the victors! (lifetime match tied 1 set ea.)

We capped off the long weekend by partaking of some Indian food at the famous Sitar restaurant.

Poang

2009-07-08T19:48:00.006-05:00

We went to the experience that is Ikea today. Spent the afternoon there and at Concord Mills. We got the chair we liked. The frame is medium brown to match the rest of our living room furniture and the cushion is a neutral light tan leather.

I'm not going to try to blog everything while we're away from home. I'll put up pics from Collegedale and my parents' when we get back home.

let's go Red Sox!

2009-06-29T22:48:00.002-05:00

4 for 4

2009-06-29T21:09:00.003-05:00

Our last game was on the way home from Mt. Vernon. We stopped to see the Cubs play in Cincinnati and the Strunks came with us. Their son Josh drove over from Kettering to meet us.

Bronson Arroyo, a former Boston player, started for the Reds.

The center field was made to look like a riverboat.

There were a lot of boats on the Ohio river that day.

surviving in the heat

Lou Piniella came out to yell at the umpire when the Reds player was ruled safe.

Josh, Jean, and Ed Strunk

the whole gang in the 14th inning, when we finally decided to leave
As we were walking out, Alfonso Soriano hit the go-ahead run for the Cubs who won 6-3 in the 14th!

trouble brewing in the north

2009-06-23T10:28:00.001-05:00

Check out my Facebook album of last night's storm.

Sabbath in Mt. Vernon

2009-06-21T22:30:00.012-05:00

We went up the hill to Mount Vernon's church on Sabbath not knowing who we'd run into with school out and no advanced warning.

One of the seniors who just graduated was the preacher that Sabbath. We sat in the balcony with several MVA faculty and students who got a kick out of a surprise visit from Ryan. It was fun getting to see everybody again, even if I didn't know them that well.

The Strunks made plans to eat a picnic lunch at a nearby park with the family of the business manager at MVA, including their 1- and 4-year-olds. We had way too much good food.

I conquered the rope tower thing!

We hiked for about 30 minutes before coming to the end of the trail and the "waterfall." Look closely or you might miss it.

Here's us standing with the trail and waterfall behind. Some of the MVA kids that came with us climbed up the hill and hiked to a nearby dam and then back along the other side of the creek.

The surround rock is all sandstone and has carvings all over the place, some dated in the late 1800s. I wonder if the dates are accurate?

The covered bridge was really neat, but I worried about a few of the boards. They were only nailed down at each end.

Ryan and I played on the swings next to the creek while waiting for the group to decide to head out. I think I made a few nearby parents nervous . . . either that I was going to slam into a post/tree or that their kids would imitate me!

If you ever followed Ryan's blog while he was a Mt. Vernon resident, you're familiar with this local landmark. We went to visit Ryan's old "neighborhood" at the Arbors before supper Sabbath. Sure enough, Ryan's old neighbor Bob Beck was on his porch. He yelled, "You're a long way from home! Hi Ryan!"

winding and unwinding

2009-06-21T22:24:00.004-05:00

On Friday we said goodbye to family in Michigan and drove a couple hours to Sandusky, OH to experience Cedar Point. We got slightly discounted tickets and headed in with the sun shining in a cloudless sky.

This is the view as you drive across the last bridge approaching the park. The big coaster on the left is Millennium Force, one of my favorites. We rode the red and yellow one, the Dragster, last. (Click the link for a pic of us riding.)

We had Ryan's camera with us before lunch and snapped a couple of pictures inside the park. The Twister is behind us.

Ryan's pic of The Twister

back in the "untied" states

2009-06-21T20:14:00.007-05:00

After the almost five-hour drive back to Detroit from Toronto, we unwound with a little shopping, Olive Garden, and a lot of pool.

Ryan puts his ball in the corner pocket while also scratching with the cue ball.

I try to stay in the game by knocking down stripes.

the real pool shark in action

game 3 of 4 June 4
Red Sox @ Tigers

taken by a friendly usher . . . should have specified that I wanted the tigers in the shot

Tim Wakefield, expert of the knuckleball

standing by the visitors' bullpen

the National Anthem

Ryan's view from our right field seats at Kaline's Korner

Rocco Baldelli filled in for J. D. Drew

couldn't have seen this last season . . . know why?

Pedroia's odd broken bat - see how much is left?

Hey, what do you know, it's us at the game.

the view from our seats

Papelbon comes in to close it out for the Sox.

last out - Pedroia gets Inge at 2nd

friendly chipmunks back at Ryan's grandparents'

Gary getting the tour of the backyard plants before supper

Jake and Grandpa assembling a remote-controlled helicopter

an after-supper walk around the neighborhood

do they go to the zoo? supposably.

2009-06-20T18:31:00.020-05:00

On Tuesday after a great waffle breakfast by Linda Curtis, Ryan and I set out for the Toronto Zoo. Several of the exhibits had the animals out for one reason or another, but we got to see a few new ones for me. Here are some of the animals I liked. =]

rhino imitates hippo . . . complete with bubbles

artificial rain forest

hmm . . . cats being lazy . . . and I paid to see this?

too tall for my camera

tree kangaroo (I officially want one)

socially-awkward ibises

an arctic beauty, the snowy owl

golden lion tamarin monkeys

the photographer wearing . . . yes, a Jays shirt!

Back from the brink of extinction, captive breeding programs have helped the population of Przewalski's Horses rise back up into the hundreds. Pretty cool to see what Genghis Khan probably rode.

The zoo had neat exhibits for the animals that looked pretty close to where they might live in the wild. These goats had no trouble scaling the steep inclines.

I've seen a picture of Ryan in these tunnels as a kid. He remembered playing in them too. They're close to the mountain goat-like animal exhibits.

**UPDATE** I found it! I must have looked through that photo album 6 times before the picture finally caught my eye. Ryan was 8 and Amy was 5. It was taken on Sept. 13, '92

After the zoo, we headed deeper into Toronto (west from the zoo) to catch our second baseball game. The Jays were taking on the Angels and this time, I was a Jays fan.

We got to sit along the first base line and watch the Blue Jays' starting pitcher warm up this time. Roy Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball if you ask most people. Rod Barajas is the Jays' catcher. Interesting to me is that Halladay wore Nike Shox cleats. Didn't think that was possible.

Here's a picture of Ryan at the game . . . What!?!
(Ok, I stole this from a photo album. MJ's note on the back says Oct. 26, '92 at SkyDome. Thought you'd like the flashback.)

The current-day shot of us in our seats. We were in a 200-level section that was divided in halves by hard seats and cushy seats. Ours were cushy seats.

This was very likely one pitch in one of Halladay's personal record-breaking 14 strikeouts. I actually took a whole series showing his wind-up and delivery, but you can imagine the rest.

This is the jumbotron during the 7th inning stretch. I snapped this picture because I thought Ryan would like to have it. I'm pretty sure this is his daily motto (and has served him through many rough seasons!).

I wasn't really all that interested in pictures of any of the Angels' players. I shot one of Vlademir Guerrero to show you whose home run ball Ryan caught in batting practice. I think the guy needs a haircut.

the view from our seats looking way down onto the field

the CN tower after dark illuminated by the computer-controlled LEDs

The Renaissance Hotel (who apparently need to invest in some light bulbs) is what makes up the windows you can see in center (centre?) field in the Rogers Centre.

anniversary adventures

2009-06-19T20:03:00.006-05:00

On Monday, I tried on some of the local fashions.

Ryan gave me a grand tour of Kingsway College's campus. He calls this the new gym, but it's probably older than some of their students.

pointing at Randy's old office

Heilmans' old house

Brian with Dave's "fur-buddy" Rascal

Derek stopped by a couple of times to eat with us.

The camera loves Dave, as you can see . . .

tired from our day of shopping

We finished out our first anniversary with a friendly tennis match at a nearby court.

a little family rivalry

2009-06-17T17:18:00.011-05:00

Our Internet's been a little screwy since we got back from our trip, a problem AT&T is having trouble resolving . . . grrrrr. I will attempt to post this and hope it works throughout!

Ryan about to enter the Rogers Centre, formerly the SkyDome for our first game of the trip.

I was most excited about this game because it was both of our favorite teams.

We got lots of comments about our opposing "viewpoints."

We caught the tail end of batting practice and I managed to snag Justin Masterson's autograph on my glove. This is him throwing it back to me.

Jon Lester, starting pitcher for Boston warming up in right field

Ryan watching me watching Jon Lester

The stands were pretty full for how big the stadium is.

Kevin Youkilis hit 2 home runs to help Boston's and my fantasy team's efforts.

Ryan and the fake Ace. I tried to take a picture with the real Ace in the stands, but he took offense to my Red Sox getup. Oh well.

Alex Rios hit the only Jays home run of the game.

the view from the 500 level

self-portrait way up high

Ryan's face should tell you who won the game. The Red Sox won 8-2.

After the game and a quick walk back to the car to get coats and snacks, we took off along the lakefront to catch a ferry to Centre Island. On the way we snapped some pictures of the tallest landmark around. The CN Tower was the world's tallest free-standing structure on land from 1975 until 2007.

boarding the ferry

watching the Toronto skyline

That's the Rogers Centre on the left below the tower. Everything's below the tower =]

On Centre island, I discovered some baby squirrels running around a tree. They ran in this hole and this one wouldn't leave as long as I was watching.

Far Enough Farm has barnyard animals: horses, ponies, rabbits, chickens, etc.

a BIG chair

AND little HORSES

one of those shots where you're looking directly into the sun

waiting for the ferry to come get us

running (north) for the border

2009-06-12T21:58:00.021-05:00

We finally found Jake in his Sabbath school class after we had already run into Heather and Jessica in the hallway first. We went to the Metro SDA Church in Plymouth. The conference treasurer was the speaker.

Ryan in front of his grandparents' house on Sabbath. Ryan's grandparents and two of their next door neighbors are the only original owners of their houses in the neighborhood they said.

Jake got a new helicopter that we took turns playing with. I happen to have one just like it in the closet in our bedroom!

I don't remember who brought the football, but we had a fun time throwing it around the back yard. Jessica brought her friend Madison with her to lunch, but she's not in the pictures.

Walking on the sidewalk to the park

Heather's crazy static hairdo

Ryan and Heather had fun swinging. You can see who has more skills. That comes with the territory in elementary school.

This must be a newly modified and supposedly safer teeter-totters that Jessica and I were sitting on.

Ryan and Jake get in a little more quality time before we had to walk back to the house, load our stuff, and head for the border. It was nice knowing we'd get to come back in a few days to see them all again.

Gas in Detroit was quite a bit more expensive than in Tennessee, so we were glad to get a reduced rate at the border on duty-free gas that "must be exported into Canada." See the bottom of the pump? We had to put in our license plate number and home zip code to get gas.

Driving over Ambassador Bridge to Windsor, Ontario. This was my first time in Ontario and only the second in Canada at all. Ryan drove on the 401, once we finally found a way to get on.

We drove through (as in between) two huge storms as we got near Toronto. As you can see, the GPS unit worked great in Canada. What was funny is that Ryan was tired of the guy with the Canadian accent giving us directions before we ever got out of the U.S. I think C3PO was our voice for this leg of the trip.

We got to Jo-Anne's condo (with the great view of the city from the 15th floor) around 10:00p. We got to stay up and talk with her for a while and had a nice breakfast in the morning before heading out to our first baseball game!

the plans

2009-06-12T21:37:00.006-05:00

Our vacation started with the posting of the 2009 Major League Baseball schedule, whenever that was. When the Boston Red Sox were set to cross the path of the Toronto Blue Jays at the end of May, we suddenly knew our trip plans. Ryan has always wanted to take me back to his Canadian roots so this seemed like a good time to head up there.

Our itinerary was basically this:

Fri 5/29 - drive from home to Heilmans' (Ryan's grandparents) in Plymouth Michigan

Sat 5/30 - church with grandparents; hit the road at 4:00p for Toronto; stay with Jo-Anne Easterbrook

Sun 5/31 - Red Sox @ Blue Jays; Centre Island; drive to Kingsway College campus; stay with Curtises

Mon 6/1 - 1-year anniversary!; shop for Blue Jays paraphernalia; tour Kingsway; tennis

Tues 6/2 - Toronto Zoo; Angels @ Blue Jays

Wed 6/3 - drive back to Plymouth, MI; shop at Ikea; Olive Garden with grandparents for supper

Thurs 6/4 - Red Sox @ Tigers; supper with Ryan's extended family

Fri 6/5 - drive to Cedar Point; drive to Mt. Vernon, OH; stay with Strunks

Sat 6/6 - Sabbath in Mt. Vernon; picnic; hiking at Mohican State Park

Sun 6/7 - Cubs @ Reds (14-innings) on the way home with Strunks; home!

riding in style

2009-06-08T13:19:00.003-05:00

We're back! After our estimated 2,000-mile trip to Detroit, Toronto, Cedar Point, and Mt. Vernon, we're a little tired. I'm working on going through pictures and hopefully will get some posted here and on Facebook soon. Here's a little preview - a picture from the Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point, a roller coaster that takes you to 120 mph in under 4 seconds.