Our Budding Brass Player

This was just such a sweet captured moment as Stan was helping Benjamin hoist his heavy trombone and make an effort to produce a sound. Benjamin was very proud as some very interesting splatty noises burst forth from the horn. Who knows? Maybe he'll follow in his daddy's footsteps and be a low brass guy. We are grateful that our kids love music. It's such an awesome gift from the Lord! These two guys have my heart. Precious moment.

Crooked River with the Rogowskis and Destradas

This past Saturday afternoon/evening Mary and Stan were RV camping at Crooked River and invited us all to come eat dinner with them. It was a bit of a sweat-fest, but we had some good food and managed to not melt with the help of some water guns that Mary had brought for the kids (much to Olivia's joy!). I took the kids to a playground down from their campsite. It was close to the river front and so we enjoyed a little bit more of a breeze down there which was nice. The kids played for a while on the playground and then we walked up to the river front and I tried to take some pictures. It was so idealic. If I were a photographer, I probably could've caught some better pics! :) The kids were patient with me while I attempted to get some pretty ones. Camping in August isn't for the faint of heart! Mary and Stan are my camping heros!!

Children's Choir Day Camp

We were so excited to have 27 kids participate in our first back to school children's choir day camp. We were there from 9-2, and we divided them into two groups. The older groups learned three songs: "Hey Man" (a Seeds Family Worship song that we sang with Stan on guitar and me and a few kids on drums), an arrangement of "In My Life, Lord Be Glorified" (we had three different groups, one playing hand chimes, one playing orph instruments, and one playing handbells--so pretty!) and then one other song that we just had piano accompaniment with called "I Will Praise You, O Lord With All My Heart". The younger group did two songs: one was a Steve Green song from his "Hide 'em In Your Heart" album for kids and the other was from the new curriculum for this year for children's choir. I'm sorry I can't remember their song titles, but it was very sweet. They used ribbons and simple handbells, too. We are praying that the Lord will use this ministry to build up strong holds against the devil! It is humbling and incredibly rewarding to help lead these groups. I'm looking forward to starting our official year of choir tonight at our first Wednesday night rehearsal!

We got a puppy!

Well folks, we did it! We got ourselves a little puppy dog! Olivia had been wearing us down for a couple of years, and we finally caved under the pressure! :) Posy is our new little papillon mix we found at the Humane Society. We had been praying and searching for a few weeks when on whim we visited our local Humane Society. Low and behold, Posy was there waiting just for us! We felt like the Lord had worked it out for us and for her. She's four months old and weighs about 5lbs. She's feisty and fun to play with, but she is definitely testing our patience in regards to the house training efforts. She's doing pretty well, but we seem to have one accident a day. Some times we might go without any accidents, but that's a rarity. She was spayed last Tuesday, and this Friday she'll have her stitches removed. We are crate training her which has gone really well, praise the Lord. I am not a huge animal lover. Please don't hold that against me. I think they are amazing creations, but the messes, the smells, the expense, etc...those are all the little mental hurdles I have to just get over. Posy's cuteness helps make it all easier that's for sure! I am glad we have her. The kids are madly in love, and she has a special place in Stan's heart, too, it seems. :) So here are some of the pictures from our first few days with her. We've now had her for a couple weeks, and while there have been some frustrating aspects of adding a baby to the family, it has mostly been a joy and delight.

Olivia's First Day of 2nd Grade!

I know many of you have seen this on facebook already, but here is our big 2nd grader! She has seemed to have a wonderful start to the school year, and we are very grateful for that. She is missing several of her closest buds who wound up in another class, but she's been so brave and has kept a positive attitude about it. She just keeps telling me, "Mom, I still get to play with them on the playground!" I think I was more concerned about it than she was! Benjamin will start back to Noah's Ark in a couple weeks, so you'll see his "first day" pics later on.

3rd and final Album from the Adams Family Reunion July 2011

OK, so here it ends! Carrie Beth left with her boys and we were all blubbering. When sisters and moms have to say goodbye, it's always painful. We have a tradition of running along the hedge near the road and yelling and blowing kisses to people as they leave. I can say from experience that it makes me cry when I am the running waver and when I'm the one departing. How grateful I am for these precious ones who love me no matter what, who give me grace when I screw up, who lovingly pass along wisdom, tenderly listen to me, who take an interest in the details of my life, who sometimes speak tough words I need to hear, who pray fervently for me and my family, who see me at my low points, high points, and silly-absurd-corny points and accept me. I am rich.
The ice cream truck was a fun little serendipitous moment. Benjamin and I were on the front porch by ourselves and we heard the music. Benjamin said, "What's that?" I said, "It sounds like the icecream truck." Benjamin said, "What do you mean 'ice cream truck'?" I realized he'd never had this very suburban, American experience! I said, "Well, this guy drives a truck around neighborhoods, plays music loudly so kids will hear, and then we meet him at the curb and buy an icecream, and there's all different kinds!" As I spoke and described it, Benjamin's face looked like it might peel off his head, he was smiling bigger and bigger the whole time. :) He said, "You gotta be kiddin' me?!?" I said, laughing, "No! I'm not!" I told him I needed to go get my money, and the pictures below tell the rest of the story. Fun, innocent, sweet days!
Mom and Dad were amazing hosts to us all this summer. I would be remiss if I didn't brag on them a little bit. They love us, but I know we certainly can put a hurtin' on the power bill, water bill and grocery bill when all of us pile in. Not to mention to general craziness that ensues once we all arrive. Daddy sweetly took time off and was a full-time Cocky. He kept the kids laughing, and we "big kids" got to sit at his feet several mornings at breakfast as he shared about things the Lord is teaching him. He did dishes more often than he should've, and he often kept the laundry moving. Nonny worked so hard the whole time we were there--cooking, cleaning, cooking, cleaning, playing, being a full-time Nonny, and both she and Dad were so sweet to listen, love, and serve with such reckless abandon. Lord, give us all hearts like theirs--generous, hospitable hearts.

2nd Album from Adams Family Reunion July 2011

OK, so maybe some of these didn't need to make the slideshow, but I'm weary, so I'm not probably being as selective as I should. Here's the 2nd installment as promised. There is indeed a 3rd to come! A lot of these pics are from our 2nd annual family day at Lake Blackshear. We always have a blast out on the lake! Abby was such a trooper and boldly took her newborn out on the boat with all of us crazy folk, and Georgia was just as sweet and cooperative as could be, praise the Lord!

Adams Family Reunion July 2011

There's so much I could say about our time together in Albany this summer. It was fun! It was wild! It was hysterical! It was exhausting! It was enlightening! It was refreshing! It was at times poignant and precious! Here is the first of what may be three slide shows. I'm working on getting all of the pictures loaded. This is just such a time consuming task--loading them all, making comments on each picture, etc. I'll get it done eventually, but here is the first one. These pics show: lots of Georgia Kay Miller, the latest and greatest installment in our family! David's 9th bday, Mom and Dad's 40th anniversary dinner and the fun little dramatic presentation we gave them including the kiddos after we got home that night (we kids each wrote poems about each of their appointments they've had since they married and began their ministry--corny, sweet, funny, touching, and did I mention corny??), ladies day out to a precious tea room and some other random pics. Like I said, there's more to come!

Murrays Come to GA for a Visit

This summer Stan's Grandma and Aunt June and Uncle Bob (Aunt June is Grandma's sister) along with Bob and June's daughter's Julie and Loretta all came for a visit to Georgia. The Sunday afternoon that we were supposed to go visit with everyone before they left wound up being the day after I was plastered with a nasty, horrible, no-good case of vertigo. Truly, it was absolutely terrible. It was worse than having the stomach flu. So, sadly, I didn't get to go with Stan and the kids when they spent some time over at Mary and Stan's visiting with the family who had come. Stan really enjoyed catching up with everyone. I had instructed him to take some pictures for me since I couldn't go, but he admitted he really forgot to take pictures 'till the end, so there aren't many here to see, but he got a few goods ones. These are some really sweet folks, and I hope that the next time they're in town I will be able to see them all. Fortunately Grandma was there for the week following, so we went by and visited her another night that week as you can see in the other pictures below. She's doing well and we're so glad she's very happy in the retirement community where she lives. Her hearing aids seemed to be working really well which is a bonus! :)

After the 4th

After all of the intensity of the 4th, it was nice to enjoy some easy days with the Atkinsons at Mom and Dad's. Here are some pics from those days. As I'm posting these, I'm getting mewy, wishing for more days of summer!

July 4th, 2011

We had a fun-filled day with lots of folks at Mom and Dad's for July 4th. We had several families join us for the day, the McClures, the Dickersons and the Morgans--all precious people. Grateful for the opportunity to celebrate with fabulous folks! We were also really glad to have Mimi and Poppy, Papaw, Aunt Betsy and Uncle Keith and J.D. join us. Lots of good eating, lots of swimming and lots of sky-gazing for the fireworks down by the river. Exhausting, but lovely day.

Happy 8th Birthday Caroline!

We're thinking of our cousin Caroline this week as she begins her 8th year of life with all kinds of adventures stretching out before her in a new home and a new city! Caroline, we love you and we're praying for you as you begin to make Mt. Pleasant and Charleston, SC a wonderful new place to live. You add sparkle, laughter and fun wherever you go, and with your sweet spirit we know that you will likely find great new friends quickly and easily. You're such a smart gal with great creativity! Your teachers will be so blessed to have you join their classes and their school this fall. Our prayer for you is that you'll just continue to grow in your love for Jesus this year and that you will sense His presence with you as you transition from life as you knew it in Memphis to life in South Carolina. We're excited to see what great plans He has for you and your whole family in your new home town. We love you and want to wish you a very happy birthday!