San Antonio

In April, we went to San Antonio with Ryan, for the State Math and Science competition. An added perk was that we got to enjoy Sea World together while we were there. It was a wonderful time. As we were approaching the Shamu show, a Sea Wolrd rep came and asked us if Brendan would like to be in the show. Of course he jumped at that opportunity. Here are a few pictures from Sea World, including one of Brendan on the Jumbotron at the Shamu show, with Caitlyn, the trainer, and another of Shamu coming up to "meet" Brendan. That was a memorable experience for sure.

A little recent scoop

Wow! It's been a while since I've posted anything new, so here goes...

These are all from ?March and April, when the azaleas were blooming and the bluebonnets were out. I love all the vibrant colors and freshness of Spring!

Brendan, the Tae kwon Do kid

Brendan just started Tae Kwon Do this week. Here is his first day in his new Gi.

What a vacation!

In the beginning of August, we went on vacation to Branson, MO, and then to Mountainview , AR. It was a wonderfully relaxing vacation. Not fancy, but definitely what we needed in terms of family bonding and relaxation. We saw a few shows in Branson and enjoyed them all very much. My favorite was The Haygoods. They are 7 brothers and 1 sister that sing, dance and play many different types of instruments. They are teeneagers and young adults with a tremendous talent for performing to a live audience. The boys' favorite show was the Hamner and Barber variety show. It had magic, comedy, ventriloquism, dancers, music and a very touching tribute to veterans. In Arkansas, we visited Blanchard Springs caverns and the Spring itself. Both were wonderful! We also rafted down the white river, which was so pristine and peaceful! The boys had lots of opportunity to skip rocks on this trip, a family favorite passtime.

The Summer's over

Well, I can't believe that Summer is over and the boys are now in 8th and 4th grades. Here is a picture of Brendan on the first day of school. We have a friend whom we have been praying for since April, that has cancer. He wishes he could be going back to school this week. Griffin was diagnosed with cancer on Easter weekend and has been going through very aggressive treatments ever since. Please join us in prayer for Griffin.

The Spring is always an incredibly busy time, but this year it seems even extra busy. We went to LTC in Dallas, which was great. Ryan had a couple of band competitions right after that, then we went to San Antonio for State Math and Science competition. Brendan has just started a new season of baseball, with Wes and Shawn coaching. Last night we went to our good friend Jacob's graduation and today th boys and I went to the JR. High camp out and Wes went to Martyn's "Bachelor Party". They went to a ranch near Centerville for some fishing, hunting and riding around on ATVs, good ol' guy time. We have a day and a half left of this school year. Parties on Tuesday, and half day on Wednesday. VBS is coming up in a hurry too. Will try to post pictures soon.

My sister gave Wes and me a great "date night". She gave us tickets to the "Straight No Chaser" concert, which was a blast!

In April, Ryan and I went to San Antonio for him to compete in the State Math and science competition. Before the competition, we all went to Six Flags Fiesta Texas. Ryan won 6th place in Science at State again, and his team won 6th place in the team competition.

Ryan spends a lot of time practicing his trumpet. I enjoy listening to him play while I cook dinner. You'd think it would drive me crazy, especially since his favorite place to practice is in the middle of the living room, but I really like it.

I guess it also reminds me of my grandpa, who also played the trumpet.

Looking back at some highlights from 2009

In August, we went to Rogers City, MI on a mission trip. We helped the congregations there, with a VBS. It was a great time of fellowship and serving together. We thank God for this experience.

Ryan has participated in several academic competitions this year and will continue for the next several months. He has won first place in science and spelling in all of them, as well as placing 4th at UIL in math. He enjoys staying active with the church youth group. Here isa shot of him before he went to the youth progressive dinner. Brendan came in 3rd place in the Lakewood spelling bee. He worked hard to prepare and did very well.

Happy 2010!!!

Where has the time gone? I'm terribly sorry I haven't updated this in such a long time. I don't really have any organized thought to share with you at the moment, but I do have some pictures from the past few months.

The Christmas picture is Mom (Christy's mom, Donna), Heather, Martyn, Wes, Christy, Ryan and Brendan, with Buddy. As you can see, we have gotten 2 dogs this year. We got Ziggy in June and Maddie in October.

Brendan's baseball

Brendan played baseball for the first time, this year. There wasn't a coach for our team, so Wes and Shawn coached the team. It was a great experience. They did a really good job. Of course when he's not playing baseball, he's very creative about coming up with other ways to have fun.

Ziggy and the Munday VBS group

Whew! Where has the Summer gone?

The first week of our Summer, we had VBS at Chapions. Ryan was a helper, and I took the posed photos like I do every year. Ryan had a week of basketball camp. He has continued to play basketball through the Summer. Ryan and I, and a group of Junior High youth group members went to Munday, TX, which is about 90 miles NW of Abilene, to do a VBS for the kids there. That was a great experience. We thank God for the blessing of our new friends there.
We also got a dog. His name is Ziggy. We got him from some friends at church. He is so sweet and is fitting into the family nicely.

Who's who

In the group of photos below, here's who they are. Sorry, I haven't figured out how to label each photo individually.

Top photo: Harrison McGill, Leslie Giles, Morgan Harlow, Ryan Smith, Adam Giles

2nd photo: It's labeled and you should be able to read ther writing if you click on the photo

3rd photo: Chriostie Nordstrom, Ryan, Me, Leslie and Adam Giles

4th photo: Marci McGill, Harison, Amy, Sharan, Leslie, Christie, Adam and Ryan

bottom photo: Abigail and Sam Swann, Adam, Ryan and Leslie
in the background: Stephanie Swann and possibly Lynne Bruton??

For old times sake

We recently visited San Antonio for a quick vacation and got to see some special people from our Mac Arthur Park church of Christ family (where we worshipped when we lived there). When we got home, I busted out the old photo albums and showed Ryan and Brendan pictures of the people we saw when we were there. I thought it would be fun to share a little of our trip down memory lane. See anybody you know? You may need to click on the image to enlarge it so you can see them better.

Rejoicing with Ryan!!!

We rejoice with Ryan and with the angels in Heaven, in his decision to obey Jesus in baptism.

Acts 2:38 "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

Luke 15:10 "...There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of GOD over one sinner who repents."

Brendan's first baseball game

This was a fun first game. Wes and "Uncle Shawn" are coachingn and we have great parent support. The photo above is Brendan putting his bat down after a great hit. My camera was too slow to get the hit.

Fun at the Astros

Thanks to a sweet friend who gave us their tickets for Friday's game, we went to the Astros game and had a great time. They lost, but it was still fun.