A Day in the Life...

Nottoway Powwow

Jon — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 00:04:44 +0000

Nottoway Powwow
Oct 9, 2010 — 5 pictures — Fort Pickett Airfield, Blackstone, VAOn Saturday we had the chance to go to a powwow in Blackstone, for the Cheroenhaka Nottoway tribe. It was so neat to watch all the dances, which included our friends Vashti and Jade!

Big Lick Triathlon

Jon — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 15:04:52 +0000

Big Lick Triathlon
Sep 25, 2010 — 14 pictures — Smith Mountain Lake State Park In September, we competed in our first Olympic- or International-distance triathlon – that’s a 1500 meter swim, 40 kilometer bike, and 10 kilometer run. We had a great time at the race and a good weekend!

Tanya’s Birthday

Jon — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 02:54:16 +0000

Tanya’s Birthday Tanya had an extended birthday weekend… on Saturday, we went hiking at Twin Lakes State Park with the girls. Then on her actual birthday, the girls had a little “surprise” party for her.
The girls were whispering in Jon’s ear all weekend about the party they wanted to give Mama. Fortunately he was able to talk them out of waking her up at 5 in the morning…	So we met Mama when she came home on the evening of her birthday, with hats, blowers and party poppers – Tanya may not have been surprised, but we certainly had fun!	Birthday with bling.

Back to School

Jon — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 04:32:40 +0000

Back to School After such a fun summer, we knew the inevitable must happen – school started again in August. The girls were really excited about getting started again and going to their new schools and classes! And Tanya and Jon were excited about meeting our new chorus class at CHS, too!
Kaitlyn is going to the Open Doors Learning Center at the United Methodist Church in Victoria. Here she shows off her school equipment.	Abigal sports a pink outfit with her pink backpack for her first day of school.	Abigail was so excited! The bus was scheduled to arrive at 8:20, and she was up at about 7:20, watching out the door and asking when it would come. To pass the time, she and Daddy played Rock, Scissors, Paper.
Kaitlyn has learned she can’t take her "Lovey" to school, so she’s found a way around the rule – just change which stuffed animal is your Lovey.		Our across-the-street neighbor Susanna gets on Abigail’s bus, too – that’s her on the right.
	The bus arrived at last!
This is actually a different day – Abigail with her teacher, Amanda Paynter.	And with two of her classmate buddies she already knows, Hunter and Robert.

September Photo Shoot

Jon — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 04:32:14 +0000

September Photo Shoot Armed with a stepladder and a nice camera (equals “not point-and-shoot”), we headed out into the fields a few days ago to see if we could get any good shots of the girls. Here are the results… nothing spectacular, but it sure was a lot of fun!

Mexico 2010

Jon — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 04:19:26 +0000

Mexico 2010 This summer we had yet another opportunity to lead a trip to Mexico. Each year we build a house in Piedras Negras, Mexico, with a ministry called Constructores Para Cristo (“Builders for Christ”). We had another great trip this time!
Yes, that’s a hotel luggage cart. No, we’re not sure why he did it.	Our group met early on Saturday morning, July 3, at the Raleigh-Durham Airport for our flight to San Antonio.	On Sunday, we met for the first time with the couple we’d be building the house for – Martha and Victor. They hoped to use their home to provide a more secure environment for their grandchildren.
Huh??		Jon takes a few moments at the start of a work session to admire the deep blue skies of Mexico.
While we were in Piedras, the Rio Grande reached high flood stage. Usually, it’s so small that you could barely see it behind and below the rocks we’re standing on. At this point, it’s about 1/4 mile wide… and rising.	One great part about traveling to Mexico is the FOOD! This year we discovered a new place to eat – Azulejos serves all-you-can-eat tacos.
Jon was team leader again this year, meaning he took care of the logistics of making the trip happen ahead of time. While on the worksite, though, he’s just a lowly grunt.	Our team on Friday with the family and friends who helped us build the house.	After we dedicated the house in a worship service on-site, we shared a lunch together and talked about our experiences of the week.
And finally, on Friday night we ate dinner together and then shared in communion – a symbol of what the Body can do when we come together!	This is the fifth trip we’ve taken together… each one gets better!

New Pictures!

Jon — Sat, 18 Sep 2010 03:23:33 +0000

I think I’ve figured out a good way to display photos from Picasa, this time using the excellent Shashin plugin by toppa. I’ll post links to new albums here, but you can always go to the Photos Page of the website (look in the sidebar on the right >>) to see a complete listing of photo albums in chronological order.

Airplane Ride!

Jon — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:20:31 +0000

As we mentioned in a previous post, the girls received plane tickets from Santa this year. This would be the first plane ride either of them would remember, so we wanted to give them the chance to take it all in. We had quite a day, seeing new sights, asking all kinds of questions, and charming (if not puzzling) all kinds of strangers!

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2010 Parks Open House

Jon — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:10:01 +0000

Each year around Epiphany, we invite our Kenbridge friends and church family to our home for an Open House event. The chocolate fountain has been a staple since the first year, and this year we tried something new – soups. Tanya prepared three types of soups to feed our guests, and each one was well received!

Many of you have asked about the cheesy chicken chowder recipe. We’ll get it up in the near future. In the meantime, here are some pics of our fun afternoon.

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A Visit from the White Family

Jon — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 20:04:35 +0000

On January 9, some old friends swung through Kenbridge for a quick visit. Daryl and Emily White have been friends since seminary, and they’ve spent the last few years ministering at a church in New Jersey. They took some time on the way home from a trip to spend a few hours at our home. It was a joy to see them – and to meet their little girl Aubrey!

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