The 4th of July

Kyle and I took a "staycation" over the 4th. Instead of going away for the weekend, we enjoyed spending time at home.


The Joel Lane House is literally across the street from where we live. They were having an open house on the 4th, so we took the opportunity to check it out and learn a little bit about the history of our city and state. Joel Lane was instrumental in making Raleigh the capital city. It's crazy to think that this house was around before anything else; now it is crowded by businesses and town homes.


It wouldn't be the 4th without hamburgers and hotdogs! We ventured just a bit further to get some food from Chargrill. I like the new designs that Coke has out for the summer!

Lake Trip Awesomeness

This past weekend, we headed to Lake Norman to stay at my grandparent's house and spend the weekend with members of our Community Group. The weather was beautiful, and we had a great time growing deeper in community! We started off Saturday morning with a time of prayer and praise. I think you can see from the pictures what we did during the rest of the trip:




Jumbo tried (unsuccessfully) to catch the ball in his mouth. Katie enjoys a very delicious slice of watermelon.




Kyle jumped off the double-decker dock... several times.

The whole group! What a fun weekend! (You may recognize some of the crowd from the latest Harry Potter poster featured below.)

Vacation in Clearwater: Part III

After going to north shore to catch up with some of the staff and students of CBSP '09, we had to stop at McKay Park for a picture! It was great to see some of the staff again and meet the students as they went to the beach for their first outreach.

The weather was beautiful and the beach was crowded on Memorial Day.

The picture of Gus (the egret) was taken with my dSLR camera. The one on
the right was taken with my point and shoot at sunset. Oh, the difference.

A beautiful sunset over Sand Key Park!

Funny moments: The phrases churches put on their signs are sometimes
cheesy, but this one cracked me up! (The chuch was completely covered
in tarps by Terminix.) And to the right, cranes.

We had a great time in Clearwater! It was so relaxing and such a great break. We enjoyed visiting some of our favorite places (we ate at the Columbia twice) and finding new ones. It was great to see the students that are down there to grow and serve the Lord, and to reflect on how much we have grown and changed since we were in their shoes.

Vacation in Clearwater: Part II

It was a bit strange to be back at the Villa, mostly because so many things have changed. The new Hyatt that is nearing completion blocks the view of the beach and dwarfs the Golden Villa. Aside from the construction, things are nicer than they were four years ago. The new bridge is finished, downtown Clearwater got a face lift, and the walk along the beach is nicely landscaped.

Kyle in our rental car, a convertible bug.

The Golden Villa is now golden! Ken and Linda painted the place last fall. (It used to be a light pink, which you can see in the photo on the left below.)

Kyle and I four years ago (left). Out to eat overlooking the water (right).

Part III tomorrow.

Vacation in Clearwater: Part I

We had a great time in Florida! But for the first few days, this was all we saw:


It was such a relaxing trip! Since it was so gross outside (I haven't seen it rain that much at the Villa since the hurricane came through!), we spent most of our time inside. We played Settlers of Catan quite a few times. Kyle pretty much dominated - I only once out of some seven games. For reading, we brought Sacred Marriage, which I would recommend to anyone, and Kyle took a few of the Harry Potter books. I also spent some time reading my camera manual trying to brush up on my photography skills.




Slowly but surely, the rain slowed and the sun peaked out - just about the time we were sick of staying indoors. More pictures soon to come!

Clearwater Bound

We're on vacation! See you next week.