All I Want for Independence Day is My Two Front Teeth.

It's getting giddily close to July 4th, and Little John has the most adorable hole between his two front teeth. Couldn't help myself. Put the kids in the yard this morning and shot some red, white and blue/missing two-front teeth pics. Enjoy!

Could there be a cuter smile in the whole world????

Good Friends, Good Memories....Good Shepherd

We just got back from a trip to WV, and one of our favorite things to do when we're there is catch-up with the folks from our former church, Good Shepherd Baptist in Scott Depot. Our family was so incredibly blessed for 5 years to serve there, where we were surrounded by some amazing followers of Christ. The names of those people ring almost like a Hebrews 11 "Hall of Fame of Faith" list to us... people whose lives revolved around the evangelism, discipleship, worship, fellowship, and ministry of Jesus. Some of the wisest and Godliest people I've ever known were there when Tim was the associate pastor at Good Shepherd.


We want to thank everyone who spent time with us in the last week - feeding us (both bodily and in spirit), laughing with us, and endlessly and patiently listening to us gab. It was manna from Heaven to be with you all again!


Unfortunately, all of my pictures from Good Shepherd were taken on a 35 mm camera, and only some of them have been converted over to digital. And although we don't have pictures of all of the friends we have there, I dug through my GSBC archives and pulled out a few memories. Some of these folks no longer attend that church, and some no longer walk the Earth, but their memories are all still sweet. These are in no particular order.

Jim, Sandra, Ethan and Elia Peterson


(above) Justin and Megan Hannah

(above) David and Terrie Hannah in 2004, (below) David and Terrie in 2010

(below) Leon White - his wife Sarah is not pictured

(below) Emma, Elaine, and Nathan Tapley

(below) Terry and Cheryl Harper

(below) Burk and Estelle Bell

(below) Cathy and Max Dent

(above) Tonia, Jancee, Chris, and Shanaya Crotts then, and now (below)

Tim and Diana and Kearney now (above) and then (below).

(below) Alison Kearney is now Alison Clemons, shown with husband AJ.

Happy 1 year anniversary, guys!!!

(above) Dennis and Kay Boyd then, and in 2008 (below) when they spent a day with us while we were on vacation in Southern Florida. Dennis has gone home to be with Jesus, and we SO look forward to seeing him again!

(above) Patty and Winston Gregory
(below) Kenny and Karen Stidham, the Senior Pastor and pastor's wife at Good Shepherd.

(below) KL, Debbie, Jake and Josh Tucker.

(below) Cathy and Jim Stephens

(below) Amy French....oops! I mean Amy Bower.

(below) Geneva Faris, and Eugene and Shirley Garlow.

(below) Jim and Nadene Edwards. Jim went home to be with the Lord not long ago.
We look forward to seeing him soon again, too!

Roger, Susie, Katie and Julie Jordan (although I think she is now Julie Berry?)

(above) Jean and Richard French. Richard is now in Heaven with Jesus, along with his son Adam. Interesting story... Tim and I were incredibly sad to hear about them dying. Our children were understably uneasy about why their parents were so distraught, so we explained to them about how we sometimes love people and will miss them when they've died, but that we have so much hope and joy about them being in Heaven. John, who was 4 at the time said, "I want to go to Heaven like that man and his little boy did." John was saved days later. Someday I will thank Richard and Adam for helping my little John come to the Lord!
(above) Don and Cheryl Bower
(above) Connie Woodyard
(above) Ruth Ann Johnson and Dottie Alford

Peggy Cartwright
(above) Ruth and Jerry Granby
Rosemary Parkins

I'm going to scan some of my other pictures and make another blog of more Good Shepherd memories this summer. Until then, I'll anxiously await the day when we're all together again...

When we all get to Heaven

What a day of rejoicing that will be

When we all see Jesus

We'll sing and shout the victory!

King's Island

Living within 20 minutes of King's Island, we take a day once a year and get our fill of the amusement park... and today was that day! It was HOT, but it was such great fun. And to be honest, with all the rain and chilly temperatures we've had in recent months, the hot sun sure felt good.

(above) Big boy bumper cars in the main park. (below) Anna's first bumper car ride, in the "Snoopy's Driving School" in Snoopy Land. Our family spends A LOT of time in Snoopy Land. It's my favorite part of the park.

(below) Anna and Christopher were a team in the Snoopy 500.

We had to take the obligatory trip to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was a beautiful day, and you could see forever. I kept asking the kids, "Can you see our house from here???" I have a little issue with heights, but after a few minutes I wasn't quite so jittery. Below, you can see some of the rides, including to the left, the The Wind Seeker, which is new this year: that's the tall "stick" that simply takes people this ridiculous height of 30 stories into the sky and spins them around. Craziness. To the right are the Vortex and the Beast.

Below is King's Island's newest roller coaster, the Diamondback, which I believe is the longest rollercoaster in the world. The Diamondback is insanely high (this picture doesn't do it justice) and goes insanely fast. Here's the descripton of it from KI's website: The tallest, fastest and meanest roller coaster to ever strike Kings Island! The ride stands 230 feet at its highest point with a first drop of 215 feet at a 74-degree angle. Riders slither their way around 5,282 feet of track at speeds up to 80 miles per hour!

Let me just explain to you how miniscule the odds are that I would ever ride this rollercoaster.

Ever since Anna Jean was born, she has been mesmerized by carousels. She can't get enough of carousels, and this day was no exception. We took 3 different carousel rides on this afternoon, and even then she cried for more.

It was a bittersweet day for Mommy in Snoopy Land today. Christopher is as tall as you can be to ride the kiddie rides at the park: next year, he will be too tall. Sniff, sniff.

I had to laugh at the beetle ride, below. Since it's still May, and most schools are still in session (ours was out last Friday), we pretty much had the park to ourselves all day: no lines, few people. But even though the beetle ride was completely empty, my 3 babies decided that they all had to ride together, squished together in the same little car. Warms a mommy's heart. Our favorite ride of the day wasn't photographed, because it was one of the few rides that we could all do together: the log flune. Remember the classic log ride that has been around since....ever??? Well, all 5 of us were able to cram into this log thing, meander around a track, and then splash down into a big, wet pool. I got tickled at how the kids were much more impressed with the log flune, which is probably the oldest ride at King's Island (or any amusement park, for that matter), than they were with the $50 million roller coasters. "Do it again, Mommy!" the boys yelled. Perhaps you just can't beat a good log ride on a 97 degree day, huh?