Friday Funny

Proof of homeschoolers who sleep in, as we were hiking before daybreak:

It’s the opposite of dusk. -Nate

*Dawn.  It was dawn.*

Our Very Busy Week (and a Half)

December is one of those months, you know?  Our homeschool co-op was taking the month off, but life is still quite full!

We kicked off our very busy schedule with ‘school picture day.’  For many, many years I took the kids to a studio about half an hour from our old home.  There was a great photographer there named Sarah.  The kids liked her, she got them to smile, and took really good photos.  I started calling ahead to put us on the schedule when she would be there.  I’d always ask after her son (conveniently also named Nathaniel).  Time marches on and we moved.  Starting kast year we headed to the portrait studio closer to the new house (now it’s closer to an hour drive).  As I was making the appointment, Gabby mentioned we weren’t like to hear, “Stinky feet!” this year (one of the ways Sarah would get my littles to smile, when they were still little).  But when we walked in last week, who did we find, but Sarah!  It was lovely to catch up on this, Gabby’s last school picture day.

Nate saw the empty parking lot at the mall and asked for a chance to practice.  His sisters and I acquiesced.  He did quite well.  I will say, if you told me this mall, that I visited on Black Friday 30-ish years ago would be this deserted at Christmas time, I wouldn’t have believed you, but here we were!

Justin and Nate spent the next day hiking.  They opted for a spot that took a drive, but were our old stomping grounds, to get his 14-miler in.

Katie managed to have TWO flat tires in the course of an hour—we got the spare on, then en route to the tire shop, the spare popped.  Thankfully we never finished changing a tire ourselves. The first time a guy running a grating project on our road came by.  Then a fellow who was painting a mural at the local hardware store helped with the second.  The tire shop had to order for her, but they gave her a loaner to get her through!

They barely made it home in time for Nate to grab a shower and for me to whisk him off to practice for his upcoming music Christmas program.

Then, of all things, he spent the night in a shelter he made, as he’s trying to finish a badge.  Thank goodness for good gear and Hot Hands!  I woke him up at 6:15, so he must have slept okay—his water bottle froze though.  It got down to 22°!

The next day the fellows went hunting, but the deer won hide and seek.

On Sunday, our Gabby flew away to see her fellow.

We had a day of music at church—(not pictured, the children sang in the morning), then we had an evening of readings and carols in the evening.

Monday was concert day, in Virginia

And Tennessee.

Ellie had Christmas performance practice.

The youth had a Christmas Party.

We helped set up for some displaced Helene families for a Christmas visit.

They guys went paint-balling.

Then Ellie fell ill and missed the Christmas Parade and performance, but we got our gal back from Virginia.

Friday Funny

 I like to chew on my nails after I take a bath because they are soft and chewy. -Ellie

😳

Friday Funny

 Tactical Fuzz…that’s the police!! -Katie

A Tale of Two Churches…and Ultimately God’s Provision

So much of our lives are tied up in these second homes we’ve had.

In 2020, we’d been a part of our church for nearly a decade.  The church started in a smallish store front.  Over the time we were there the church was able to rent out more and more bays to expand the sanctuary, add more Sunday School space, and develop offices.  The church was right at ten years old and had been searching for land to build upon.

One of the parishioners, helping with the search, was a realtor.  Land prices had moved up much more quickly than the church budget, and the search was discouraging.  The land we could afford wasn’t able to house the building the church leaders believed we needed.

The realtor happened to remember a large piece of acreage that had been listed a few years prior.  It was a great location, plenty of space, but currently off the market.  He decided to contact the owner, they went out to walk the land with him, but then there was the question of the price.  When they asked what he would ask for it, he countered with, “Well, what was it listed for before?”

In a growing town with a tremendous increase in prices.

We bought it for the five years’ ago price because he wanted the land to go to a church.

Churches take a long time to build, so it wasn’t built when we moved, found a new congregation, and settled in to a new (rented) building.  Again it wasn’t originally a church, but has been built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, and had a few lives since then.  The church had been in the building for about 20 years before we arrived, but one day someone found a ‘For Sale’ sign in front of the building.  The leaders let us know that we weren’t entirely sure what this would mean for us, but to be in prayer.

During the next week, one of our congregants walked out her mother’s house just as a realtor was placing a ‘For Sale’ sign in the yard of a large old church building.

In the course of one week we went to the ground breaking of our former church and our deacons attended the closing on our new building!

Neither project has gone off without any challenges, but God provided both churches with new homes!  We are so grateful to see God’s provision for both of our church families.

Lately

Been a bit since I checked in.

We’ve had birthday season:

11

19

5?

17

15

Visited Gabby’s Stars & Stripes Project:

Took them some donated books

The bookmobile

All decked out

Nate went to the CMA Festival, curtesy of the place where he takes piano lessons

We hosted an open house—a year after moving in

Lucy finally got a fence

We visited the ‘liquid zoo’ (the aquarium in Chattanooga)

These guys went to Holiday World for Nate’s 8th grade trip, with one of his friends from before our move.  It was good for those guys to hang out.  We did find that Ellie is NOT a roller coaster fan!

Ellie joined a co-op

We collected eggs (though they have slowed some now)

We found the Oscar Mayer Weenier-mobile parked in our little town one Sunday afternoon.

Tried to convince these two that the other one is okay

Nate moved up to Adventurers (high school in Trail Life)

Visited the Frist Art Museum with my sister

The primary exhibit that day was a fashion

More practice for our furry friends

Sunset gelato (from Gabby’s work)

Senior Pictures

See You at the Pole with Trail Life

Friends visited

We’ve been rehabbing a church building for our congregation’s new home—so much dust!

Seriously….

So much dust

And paint…I think every inch of wall, baseboard, window sill, door, and frame have been painted or stained.

Sanctuary

Fellowship Hall

Kitchen

Justin took Nate to a Stryper concert—Nate loves Stryper!

These guys went camping

Carved pumpkins

We’re down to our last Trick-or-Treater

Attended a gymnastics showcase

We’ve hiked

And hiked

And hiked some more

His culminating goal is a 20 mile hike

This 13 miler will likely be my longest though

Our Trail Life Guys made a soapbox derby car—ended up winning over all too!

Visited my Mama for her birthday

And have a newly permitted driver

He’s even practiced a bit

Whew!  It’s been busy here!