Bowling!

I took Friday off to spend some extra time with the kiddos. Our friend Greg bowls on a league nd gave us lots of free game passes. (Thanks Greg!!!). So the five of us headed over to the bowling alley. Sadie needed bumpers so she had a lane all to herself. While the rest of us bowled two games, she bowled a total of five! I kept asking her if she was tired and wanted to stop. I think she would have bowled five more! This was Hailey's first time to bowl without bumpers. She got the hang of it pretty quickly and even had one strike. Randy had a hard time finding a ball that didn't stick to his fingers. But he pulled out a few strikes as well. Tyler was pretty rusty at first. About half way through the second game he figured it all out and ended up with the high score of the day. I didn't bowl great but had a great time with my family!

Photographer

We are well into summer now. A lot has happened over the last few weeks. Randy lost his job. We're starting our own company. In the meantime we're doing everything we can to save money. So we've pulled Sadie out of day care for the summer and thanks to the help of Mimi, Tyler and Macy she's being well taken care of. My niece Macy has stayed with her several days. She has recently picked up the hobby of photography. I am so impressed with what she's done. I really think she's got a gift for this. She took this picture of Sadie while she was babysitting the other day. I love it! You don't find Sadie being still for very long and in just an instant Macy captured a beautiful picture of my little wild child. Hope you enjoy!

Awards Day

Hailey had her 3rd grade awards day on Wednesday. Third grade marks the end of elementary school at Moody. Hailey received a certificate and ribbon for having "A" honor roll all year and a certificate and ribbon for having the highest average in her class. She is such a smart, sweet girl and we're so proud of her! (Pics to come soon!)

Greg Carter

It's taken me a little while to write this:

Four weeks ago today Randy received a phone call with news that nobody ever wants to hear. One of his best friends, Greg Carter, was killed in a one car accident on I-20 on his way to Orlando. Greg was working in Orlando and had come home for the weekend. Sunday afternoon he was on his way back down there when he lost control of his truck, went off the interstate and hit a tree. We were on vacation in Disney World when Randy got the call. Greg was going to pick Randy up the next morning so they could go check on the job. Instead, Randy left Monday morning to come back to Birmingham.

Greg wasn't just Randy's friend, he was a friend to our family. He stayed with Randy's parents for about a year when he was working in town. He was there when Randy's dad was out of town and his mom had a seizure. He came to Hailey's Christmas program at church. Two weeks before the accident Tyler got the opportunity to go to Phoenix Arizona for a week to a disc golf tournament. We couldn't buy him a plane ticket out there so he rode with Greg. I am so thankful Tyler got to spend that week with Greg. If you ever needed anything, Greg was there. He loved our kids. He loved disc golf. He loved Alabama football.

There are people that pass through our lives that make us want to be better people. We are so blessed to have known Greg. I pray Tyler and Hailey will always remember him and that he made an impact in their lives. I pray I can be a friend like Greg and I'm so thankful God gave him to us for that little bit of time.

Walt Disney World Pictures

Season of Lent

Growing up in the Church of Christ I don't ever remember hearing the word Lent. I know at some point I must have because I remember associating it with the Catholic church. A few years ago I began working at a Methodist church and came to realize it wasn't just a Catholic thing. I started working there in February, just before the Lenten season. I learned all kinds of new terms, Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, etc. I had no idea what they all meant but I knew they were important because they had a service for each of these days and I helped run the bulletins for all of these services. Each year I've learned more and more about the significance of Lent. I think Adam Hamilton sums it up best in the devotional book "24 Hours That Changed The World". He says "It is a time of more intense spiritual seeking, devotion, and preparation climaxing in Holy Week with the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus."

Over the years all my friends I work with have given up something for Lent. Many of them take something on as well. I decided this year I would try it out. So for this Lenten season I'm giving up my coffee. I ritually have two cups each and every morning. Yesterday was the first day with no coffee. Today the first word that popped into my head before I even opened my eyes was "coffee". I know in the big scheme of things giving up coffee doesn't seem like much of a sacrifice. But you know what I did this morning when that word popped into my head? I said a little prayer that God would help me resist the temptation. And if I can learn to depend on Him to get me through my coffee cravings, how much more can I turn over to Him in other areas of my life that need improvement?

The idea of taking something on is to open yourself up to be a servant. So I'm not just giving something up, I'm also going to take something on. On Wednesday nights in Sadie's class one of the teachers is having some health problems. Her other teacher is a little overwhelmed with all the three year olds in that class. So I'm going to start helping her out in there.

Whether you observe the Lenten season or not, take a moment to reflect on the sacrifice that was given for you. What amazing love!

Desperate Times call for Drastic Measures

Tyler is addicted to video games. He has a blue tooth headset that he uses when he's playing some of his games online. A few weeks ago the ear piece broke off the blue tooth. I assumed he would use some of his money to purchase a new one. I went downstairs to what we call "the dungeon" one day to check on him because he had not seen the light of day in a while. This is what I found when I went down:




I hope you can tell by the pictures that he used packing tape to tape the broken blue tooth to stay in his ear. I guess I should be happy he's trying to save a buck, right?