From the Message Bin

"Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets" (Jesus Christ).

-J

Kaylee's Follow-Up Appointment

This afternoon, Kaylee had a follow-up appointment with the doctor. This was a follow-up from the surgery she had on her legs this past May. He was 100 percent pleased with one leg and about 80 percent pleased with the other. The right leg bows out a little but there is nothing they can do about it. She has been scheduled to get new braces as the old ones do not fit anymore. Oddly enough, they are too big becasue they were made when the legs were still significantly swelled as she had just gotten the casts taken off from her surgery. We were pleased with the visit and the doctor did say that the bones have healed really well.

-J

From the Message Bin

"Horah! Horah! I pulled a hanky through a straw!" (Fredrick Ulysses Smoot).

-J

Getting into It

Tonight, we had family fun night. J.T. wanted to play Monopoly but not just any Monopoly--Spiderman Monopoly. Here is Kaylee getting into her role of the dice. Here I am either giving someone a property deed or telling someone the amount of rent they owe me.

Here we are enjoying the game (well here they are enjoying the game and I am enjoying taking the picture!).

Family fun night rocks!!

-J

From the Message Bin

"How about we refund your money, give you another one free of charge, close the store, and have the manager shot. Would that be satisfactory?" (Unknown).

-J

God's Understands but I Don't

This past week, Kaylee got the chicken pox. We thought she was no longer contagious. But then yesterday and today, she got some new spots and is running a fever. So we decided to keep her home from services. She was upset, VERY UPSET. I tried to explain why and this is how part of the conversation went:

DAD: "Kaylee, the Lord will understand when you are sick."

KAYLEE: "Well, I don't!"

Didn't expect that answer!

-J&K

From the Message Bin

"Tact is good. Contact is better" (Johnny Ramsey).

-J

It's Better than my Dad's!

Today, I got a new pocket knife in the mail. It is a Swiss Army Knife, the Fieldmaster model. As you can see below, it has tons of accessories. It has a phillips screwdriver, two straight blade screwdrivers, a hook, scissors, woodsaw, key ring, two blades, a toothpick, tweezers, and more! It even has my initials engraved into it. It is so much better than the one my Dad got when he was my age.

-JT

The End of a Busy Week

Each year for the last three years, part of the youth group has attended the Challenge Youth Conference in Gatlinbug, Tennessee. This year, Shawna and I were in Atlanta from Saturday to Wednesday. We arrived home shortly after Bible study on Wednesday evening, spent Thrusday getting caught up, and then had the teenagers at the house Thursday evening so that we could leave for Gatlinburg early Friday morning. Here is J.T. and his friend, Christian at CYC Friday evening. They are showing off their CYC hats.CYC usually has between 6000 and 7000 attending. As you can see, it is a big event. Here are some of the group from our congregation.

This year, we met someone who attended the congregation in Tennessee where we used to attend and Jeremy used to preach. It was good to see Jonathan.

Gatlinburg used to have a steak house called Damon's at which we used to like to eat. Over the course of the year, Damon's changed to Flapjack's Pancake Cabin. We ate there but it just was not the same. The Aquarium of the Smokies gave discounts to those who attended CYC. We got in for half-price! Here is Jeremy and the kids posing in front of a display.
Here is Shawna and the kids posing in front of a display.

The kids were impressed with the sharks. This is a picture of one swimming over our heads. They have the longest aquarium tunnel in the U.S. J.T. thought it was awesome.

J.T. and Kaylee were reluctant but each of them finally touched the horseshoe crabs.

They were impressed with the fossils on display as well.

J.T. got to play laser tag, ride gocarts, and do other things with his friend, Christian and Christian's Dad. Kaylee got to go up in the Space Needle (a lookout tower). Here she is proving it was 407 feet up.
Here she is pointing at the Skylift which we all rode last year.
Here is Shawna staying down below in the pizza shop because she is scared of heights. (In fairness, she has been up in the needle in the past).

It was a good trip with very little drama from the teenagers. After Atlanta and Gatlinburg back to back, we are glad to be home.

-J&S

From the Message Bin

"There is no real excellence in all the world which can be separated from right living" (David Starr Jordan).

-J