Walking Girl and 3.1.09 Snow

our biggest news at this point is that sweet bailey is a walker now. it's hard to remember with each one exactly when they braved those first steps (though i do remember with gresham that it was before he was a year old). we have been 'pushing' bailey to take the plunge for about a month now...we got fussed at often for this. her first steps were probably a couple of weeks ago; mainly from one piece of furniture to another, but last week she decided she was done with the crawling; that walking will now be the preferred mode of transportation. it's pretty comical actually, because she's such a little thing and she still has no hair to speak of. needless to say, she is into everything now...nothing is safe. she is quite the little lady too-always pushing her shopping cart around and rarely ever without her purple 'pearls'.

the snow started falling in earnest yesterday as we were wrapping up church. it takes us about an hour to 'break down' following crossroads (our new worship gathering on sunday mornings), and then we tend to stand around and talk forever (the same thing i used to get frustrated with my dad about)...so, by the time we were ready to make the trip home there was already about 5 inches of snow on the ground and the roads were completely covered. i had piper drive the jeep and i drove our van home. we made it as far as the bottom of our hill and i had to park the van after a couple of failed attempts to find enough speed to make it up...it's still there. after everyone went down for a nap (piper included-who is doing great. she 'wears' pregnancy so well, and other than being tired by the end of her day, is dong wonderfully-she still gets out and runs about 6 miles a day) i took the dogs out for a long walk in the snow. they loved it. we went over to the parkway near our house and had it to ourselves...it was beautiful. hope to go ride tuesday or wednesday (i did get out last week with my friend wade...in the driving rain-it was awesome).

i forgot to mention in the last post that we found out recently that brayden is allergic to (almost everything)...wheat, egg whites, milk, cheese...and a slight nut allergy (which we thought was the chief allergy and why we had him checked in the first place. we have had to make some serious diet adjustments which has been a little tough, but he has rolled with it like a champ. we never really would have known that he had these allergies, b/c there was never really a 'reaction' that we could see, but since we've adjusted his diet he is a totally different little boy-much happier, much less tired, much sharper in conversation and play...we are so thankful to have found out he dealt with this and are thankful for the way he has responded to a change in some of the food he loved before. the doctor believes he will grow out of these allergies...we are praying that this is true.

playing catch-up

i have been scolded by enough people (and read the constant updates of friends who are much more dilegent than i) that i am finally getting around to an update...and trying to resolve to be much better than i have been about staying up-to-date (is once a week too much to hope for)? we'll see.

things have been busy for us...i took on an aditional ministry role at church when we added a new worship gathering on sunday mornings...we call it 'Crossroada' and it has been very exciting to see how the Lord is using it to draw folks to Himself through the church. With this added gathering, i have been given the opportunity to bring the message each week (this has been crazy since it is something i never saw myself doing); this has meant a great deal more work as i am trying to find a rythm between that, youth ministry, and my family as well. piper has been amazing in all of this and continues to encourage me in the call that is on my life. i truly could not do this without her.

the best way, i think, to catch up on the past 4 months will be with a few pictures as there is no way i would ask you to sit through my commentary on such a long stretch of time in the life of our circus...

Fall is one of our favorite times of year...leaves to be raked (though i somewhat loathe this, as all of the leaves in our little neighborhood somehow seem to end up in front of my house...the boys love this, obviously)

One of the ways my amazing wife loves me is to allow me (and encourage me) to go and spend a week with some of my guys (reavis, myles, offner, adam, clawson, dannals, holden, and others) for our annual fishing extravaganza on the outerbanks of north carolina...(i hope to have a post up on my journey chronicling that adventure...albeit belated). Piper is sure to let me know that one of the ways i am able to recipricate such a loving gesture is to make sure we make it to one of our favorite places (the place that would actually be next on our list of places to live if we weren't here)-black mountain, nc. We stayed at the bella luna inn for our second visit. what a cool place; and we really like the folks who own it. we had the opportunity to sit and do nothing, to eat lunch at the 'veranda cafe', dinner at 'my father's pizza', we went over to chimney rock (okay, in addition to relaxing we totally did the tourist thing). we also got to sit down and catch up with adam boyd, a dear friend (and my former 'boss' for 4 summers at camp timberlake)...Wait, i said no commentary...okay, no more-just pictures...

Brayden's 3rd birthday was amazing...my wife is a theme-party genius (he wanted a farm party this year)

He continues to be such a blessing to us; what a joy it is to watch him become the 'little man' that he is...by the way, he is hilarious...i'm just hoping he doesn't realize how funny he is, it would be trouble.

Christmas was a blast...gresham was all about spider man (which is strange b/c he's never seen a spider man movie, cartoon, or read any spider man comics), brayden is easy: thomas, thomas, thomas; and bailey: we probably could have given her a box and she would have loved it.

Oh, and we had like 40 of our youth friends over for a super bowl party...i'm pretty sure there have never been that many people in this little house-EVER. it was ten kinds of awesome.

Okay, enough for now...blogger might hate me for so many pictures. more SOON (promise).

a year ago today...

i can't believe how quickly a year has passed. there are things in life that we wish away, things about which the only positive, the only thing that keeps us going is knowing that it is going to end; and then there are things that we wish we could pause, that we would give anything to stop time for just so we can enjoy them a little bit longer. and i mean enjoy them just the way they are; savor each moment, and yet as each moment comes you think that it is infinitely more amazing than the last and you are sure that there is nothing that can top the one you are currently in...


happy birthday sweet bailey!

before i go any further, i have to confess that i did not, no way, not even a little bit-want to have a girl (piper of course, did). i come from a family of three boys and i thought for sure that the trend would continue in my own, however, i have come to realize that there were too many people praying against me-my wife, for one. i came to find out too that there were tons of my youth, tons of our friends, and even some of our family that was praying for a girl for us...a sneak attack for sure.

i can say now that i cannot imagine my life without this precious little girl in it. she has captured my heart, for sure. in fact, i am a bit frightened about being faced with having to tell her 'no' as she gets older, because it is going to be a terribly difficult thing to do. she is such a special part of this family. we are blessed to have one of the happiest, and most adorable little ones that anyone could ask for. she lights up any room she happens to be in (which is all of them now because is crawling like crazy); her brothers adore her, and piper and i can't get enough of her.

happy birthday bailey. we cannot imagine this family without you being a part of it. i pray daily for your sweet heart, i pray that we are doing the best we can in loving you, nurturing you, teaching you, and raising you up in the understanding of who your jesus is. we love you sweet girl!

again...long overdue

while the summer has been amazing in so many ways, i will say that it has not been amazing for keeping on top of updating all that we've been up to...i suppose once we get back in to the school year up here, i will find myself in more of a routine making this easier to get to. that is my hope, anyway. so, here is the rundown:

JOB PERKS:

one of the things i love about what i do is getting to introduce kids to some of the things that have been a huge part of my own life for the past several years; one of the things i love more than that is that the nature of my job is such that my family is a welcome part of it. so this is the 'stay tuned' from the last post. i took some of my youth on a climbing trip up to ship rock (located on the BRP) back in june...by the way, taking kids up there brings back all sorts of memories from the summers spent at camp timberlake; what a wonderful place and wonderful memories. anyway, gresham never wants to miss out on a climbing adventure and a chance to hang out with his 'youth group friends' as he calls them...



it is a proud thing for me to watch gresham as he learns to love the outdoors (the way his dad does).

A SPECIAL DAY FOR BAILEY:

we are thankful everyday for out children. we love them and love that the Lord has blessed us with them. while there certainly are times that we fall short, we do our best to try and raise them up in an understanding of who Jesus is, how he loves us, and what it looks like to live with him on a daily basis...one of the things that piper and i agreed upon when gresham was born was that rather than having our children baptized, we wanted to 'dedicate' them in front of our friends and family, leaving the decision of baptism up to them as they grow to understand the fullness of what it means. one of the continued blessings about still being able to call boone home is that we are still able to spend time and be blessed by people like carl clawson (pastor of banner elk christian fellowship and friend and mentor to so many of us who have called boone home at one time or another). carl has done the dedication for both of our boys, and in fact baptized me in the watauga river (in one of our favorite fishing holes, actually) on the same day that we did gresham's dedication. we tried to choose a special place for each of our children; one that we hope will be virtually untouched and one we will be able to take them to one day and explain to them how we dedicated them to the Lord, trusting that He will continue the process of drawing them to Himself. for bailey's dedication, we were blessed with a beautiful day at valle crucis park...

this has been a wonderful summer, and of course it has not been without the craziness that comes with being a part of the circus of three...days at tweetsie, superheros, lazing around in the sun, cowboy boots, lots of cousins and all of the other amazing things that make each day an adventure!

Long Overdue

i figured since we are already half way through the summer it was probably time for an update. the summer thus far has been pretty crazy and unfortunately has not allowed time for updates (okay, i probably could have made time, but i didn't-stop yelling at me).

i have alluded to this before in "a journey", but in my ministry i used to live in this dream world in which i thought if i could make it through (say) the end of a school year then things would let up for the summer...i just laugh about that now. at some point soon (i hope) i'll update "a journey" with some ministry related stuff, but for now just know that this has been and will continue to be a busy summer for us; amazing, but busy!

in the midst of the craziness, we were able to squeeze in a family vacation to one of the most special places i have ever been...THE CABIN. that's it, just THE CABIN. to mention that in the circle of any of my immediate or extended family requires no further explanation or designation. i realize, however, that many of you who are reading may not be familiar with THE CABIN and what makes it so special...first of all, my grandmother has been going to the cabin since she was like 17 so it has been in the family for a little while. when my mom was younger, she and her siblings (as well as tons of cousins) used to basically spend summers there. it is located in this little place called Ware Neck, Virginia which is right outside of Glouchester and not too far from historic Jamestown and Yorktown. it is located at the mouth of the north river (which isn't like a river at all-it looks more like a lake, but it is saltwater and tidal). the north river empties into the mobjack bay which eventually empties into the chesapeake bay. have you seen the tom cruise movie "minority report"? there is a scene near the end of the movie where they end up in this little (lake) house...it's actually not a lake house, rather it is a north river house and is about 200 yards from our cabin. we were there the summer they were shooting and got to watch all of the helicopters and what-not flying around the house while they were filming. pretty cool. all that to say it is a pretty incredible place and i am so thankful that my family gets to enjoy something that has always meant so much to me.

the time with family was wonderful, the weather was beautiful, the kids loved the water...especially gresham. we could not ever get him out. he began to pick up a love of "crabbing" while we were there and spent much of the low tides wading around, net in hand. bailey was able to get out and play as well...and man did it wear her out! we fished, we explored in sea kayaks, of course we had to get our thomas the train time in as well (thank you thomas for making the trip)... we ate amazing meals surrounded by ridiculous numbers of family members, we went to sleep too late and woke up entirely early...the average "first peep" in our room was, say 5:45 or so (we were all crammed into the same room, so when one was up we were all up).

this did mean that we were able to have breakfasts together on the porch (just us) and watch some beautiful cabin sunrises.

while we had to cut the trip a few days short so i could get home and get ready for our first youth trip of the summer, it was so worth the effort it takes to pack up the circus and make the drive...i look forward to (and pray for) many more summers at the cabin.

check back soon for another "at work with dad" post...let me just say for now i could not be more proud of my gresham!

At Work With Dad, a Man Down (again), and Thank You JT[P]!

there are so many things i love about what i do (the flexibility of my schedule, not being simply tied to a desk for 8-9 hours a day, loving on kids and sharing jesus with them, and getting to make my family such a huge part of what i do). the past couple of weeks have been insanely busy, which i have come to expect this time of year. i will say that when i first started (almost 10 years ago now-crazy), i lived in this delusion that if i could just make it through one 'season' or semester, then the one that followed would 'let up' a bit. i just have to laugh about that now for part of the work for the season i may currently find myself in is getting ready for the one that will follow. all that to say (again) that the past couple of weeks have been insanely busy: wrapping up the semester while at the same time getting ready for the summer, hosting the high school baccalaureate, celebrating our graduating seniors, and putting on our annual "spring brunch" fundraiser...

so poor brayden has been battling something lately...he seems to be the one that is always battling something, and when he does it is one of the most heartbreaking things to see. he held on to a fever for about 3 days, which finally broke the other night (praise the Lord). as a help to piper i took gresham to work with me early on sunday morning (we left the house at about 7:15-gresham is a trooper) to put the final touches on getting ready for our annual youth ministry spring brunch. let me just say here how proud i am of our students. they did an amazing job on sunday morning, prepping, serving, and cleaning for about 5 hours. you guys are a blast to work with!

well we celebrated the end of the brunch (and the end of our semester) by having a 20 foot banana split (we've done as many as 60 ft before-thank you timberlake). if you ever have the occasion to either put on such a dessert, or partake in one-then i highly recommend doing so for you have not truly lived until you have eaten a banana split from a rain gutter (and really the only way to do it is 'no utensils/no hands').

and gresham has truly lived.

good times indeed! and following that crazy day, it was such a treat to get to have memorial day off. we trekked out to valle crucis park (can you tell it is a favorite of ours?) with some friends and spent many hours eating, playing, riding big wheels, fishing, and just enjoying a day of sunshine. it was one of those days that make surviving the cold grey of winter here more than worth it. another thing that makes it worth it is to watch our rhododendron bust out each spring (it is the benefit of having hybrids rather than natives-they bloom every spring). they are really breathtaking and are the only thing about the front of our house right now that makes it bearable (thank you puppies).

and i will close by saying that it was such a beautiful day that our little girl decided it would be a PERFECT day to finally model one of the two new HANDMADE outfits that she got from her friend JT[P]. so, JT, on behalf of miss bailey-thank you so much for your gift...you're amazing for thinking of bailey and for taking the time to create such wonderful outfits for her to wear. we love you.

oh and speaking of JT-not [P]. we are heading to charlotte tomorrow night to see the one and only james taylor in concert and we could not be more excited! i've been fortunate enough to see him like 3 other times (twice while in college-i think it was twice) and once when piper and i were still just dating. call it a late birthday present for piper (or just an excuse for us to justify buying the tickets). i'll try and put some pictures up from the show sometime this weekend and i've been working on some video of the kids so check back.

A Weekend of Celeration

as you know, saturday was piper's birthday and what a great day it was to celebrate a birthday! it was a beautiful, warm, sunny after-winter day (we don't really have spring here...we kind of just jump from winter to summer). piper got to spend some time running (which she loves to do) and out doing some birthday shopping w/ her mom (which she also loves to do). from the men in her life she got a pretty sweet (if i do say so myself) cowboy (or cowgirl) hat. she looks pretty dang tough in it; okay it's hot, but i didn't know if you really wanted to hear that. we spent the afternoon (after the boys got up from their nap) out at valle crucis park-again, one of the most beautiful pieces of land up here-with piper's family and my dad and step-mom. the kids (our boys and all of the cousins) played in the river. it is usually pretty tough for me to stand next to a river and not throw a line in it, but watching those kids splash around and skip rocks made me forget about the number of fish there must be within casting distance from where we were (it just gives me an excuse to head back out another day).

the day really made me so thankful for all the ways in which i have been blessed. i have a beautiful bride, 3 children who amaze me on a daily basis (there was a time when i used to try and work from home every now and then, but i have come to realize that it is impossible because my kids are so captivating), live in a place where people come every day to vacation, have a wonderful family beyond my immediate one, and an amazing job that inspires and challenges me more than i deserve.

mother's day was a nice change of pace from our typical sundays. sundays are usually like 14 hour workdays for me, but yesterday we did not have our sunday night youth stuff (mother's day and all), and so when we left church yesterday at lunch time, i was finished for the day...what a blessing. i was able to go home and relax for an afternoon while the boys slept and piper took bailey over to her folks to work on her scrapbooking stuff. what a great day it was.

and now it is monday in every sense of the word...it is like 40 and rainy; VERY windy; and i'm pretty sure that kids know when it is going to be a day of being cooped-up inside b/c they are extra crazy on days like this one. it is like they know that they are going to have to release that energy somehow, so they do so by bouncing off of everything in our house. i just called piper a minute ago to make sure she (well, and our children) was still alive...enough with the winter weather. honestly.