New Year's Eve Eve

Grace and the author continue to enjoy their break... which is not to say it's been all fun-and-games. Here's a look at our home featuring new shutters and freshly painted soffit & fascia!

Christmas Day

Grace's brother Jonathan joined us for "Chinese"... with T & K in Gainesville, we are otherwise down to the core-3 at this house...

Christmas Eve

So nice to have our four youngest here this evening... Kara and Tim head to Gainesville in the morning to spend a little time with their grandparents before heading north Monday afternoon...

Merry Christmas to everyone from the six of us!

6th Monthiversary

Savannah, Georgia was a great place to celebrate a half year of marriage... don't we look like a couple of newlywed tourists?

on the Savannah riverfront...

We parked the car for three days, thoroughly enjoying the beautiful weather, live oaks, bicentennial homes, quaint little shops, fresh seafood and each other's company!

Kara and Tim will be arriving in Jax around 8:00 tonight; we've been busy "pulling Christmas together" today! Looking forward to spending it with our four unmarried "kids" as one family for the first time!

...My bride at Fort Pulaski!

Shutterfly

My first attempt at using this site that is a favorite of so many of our friends and family...

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Decking the Halls

It was time... 15 days till Christmas!

Setting up the tree is always a special time as we remember the source of each ornament, some made by one of our kids, others commemorating a special achievement or "baby's first Christmas"... we both look forward to adding another of those for the first grandchild (due to be born January 31st)!

Grace did a beautiful job on the entire house... my big job was "lighting the roof-line", and as you can see from the picture (below), one of the bulbs is already in need of tightening or replacement... I did check them all before putting away the ladder ;-)

The Party's Over

It's been wonderful to have a full house during the break... Bonnie & Drew (Tuesday-Saturday); Kara & Tim (Wed-Sat), and now it's just three weeks till Christmas break.

We were also able to check four projects off our to-do list, including that chimney repair mentioned in an earlier entry :-)

Thanksgiving

Our first Thanksgiving as husband and wife, with the added blessing of this Kynast-Baxley-Vaughan-Strickland gathering for the noon feast!

Honey Do List

Clay County gave us the whole week off; Grace works Monday and Tuesday
:(
...so I'll be chipping away at the home-repair list, at the top of which is this woodpecker/weather-beaten chimney... looks simple enough, right?
Since the handy-man genes all went to my son & brothers, we'll just have to see...

25

This sweet young lady made me a "daddy" exactly a quarter-of-a-century ago!

The ensuing 25-years have brought every measure of trial and emotion into both of our lives; one thing has never wavered... the unconditional love God planted in this man's heart for his precious daughter... she and her "little" brother have long been the source of my deepest pride!


May you have the happiest of birthdays, Kara! Love, Dad

Veterans' Day

This place was recommended to us as a "local find" for brunch... notice the little sign on the window encouraging "hippies" to use the back door...
It was Veterans' Day and 11/11/11... there had to've been something special about 11:11 this morning. Grace and I are most thankful for the sacrifices made on our behalf by those (and the families of those) who have served and/or are serving in our armed forces...
God bless you all, even the hippies among you ;-)!

Nicaraguan Elections

Polls closed on the Nicaragua's Presidential election at 6:00 this evening. All evidence points to a third (second consecutive) term for Daniel Ortega... we should know by sometime tomorrow.





Grace and I met after church with ten of the college students planning to be a part of our short-term mission trip to Managua next summer... I'm excited about the prospect of introducing them all to the other country that is so near and dear to my heart!

Two Guys!

TK and Harrison were passing through on their way to see their good friend David in West Palm, with time for a burger and fries...

Taking Time...

On the same theme as my last entry, here's a photo taken by one of our photography students this morning... since I arrive way before sunrise every morning, I generally miss out on this particular display of God's creativity!

The "little" Things

Will took this picture this evening from our backyard!

It has been a beautiful day... sad how often the hustle-and-bustle of busy lives tends to obscure that fact...

Thanks, Will, for taking the time to notice... and share!

Homecoming Parade

I got to chauffeur these two delightful seniors from our Homecoming Court in this year's parade!

A BLUR of a Weekend!

Grace and I put 900 miles on the Nissan this weekend, taking turns driving so that we could get through the stack of tests we both had to grade...
'Twas well worth it though... so great to see Tim, Kara, Eddie & all the Asheville Family there for Tim's game.
Grace made sure we stopped to appreciate the clarinet player in downtown Asheville!

Robbie's COL

In Memory of Rob EubankGrace and I started the weekend by attending a Celebration of Life party in Gainesville for the captain of my 1986 GHS Soccer Team... it was a PARTY, because Rob had given us lots to celebrate in his 41 years on this earth... an all-too-rare example of a life well lived.
Well done, Captain... Your legacy lives on!

High School Football

Grace and I celebrated our 96th day of marriage with dinner and the "game of the week" in prep football, pitting my Fleming Island Golden Eagles against the 10-time state champion Bolles Bulldogs... The home team won this one 26-22, the 402nd win for their revered coach... there very well could be a re-match for these two in the state playoffs... ideally on neutral ground, since Bolles has lost only six games at home in the past 23 years!

82.99

Tomorrow would've been dad's 83rd birthday were he still with us... he's been gone four-and-a-half years; his legacy lives on, and we all continue to miss him, treasuring the memories...

Pictured with 11 of his 12 grandkids (where were you, Tim?), and three of his 5 kids (where were we, Susie?)

It's a boy!

...at least that's what the sonogram Bonnie sent appears (to her doctor) to indicate! :-)<

...due date: January 31, 2012

Slam-Dunk Champ

This is the new look of the newly-crowned slam-dunk champ @UNCA

College is not all Calculus, Physics, Humanities and Soccer for the bearded 20-year-old... among the festivities at last night's inauguration of the new arena on campus was a little healthy competition... TK is able to do something his old man never has (dunk a basketball), and to do it with enough flair to triumph over the competition!

Wish I had that on tape to share!

Kara!

Hadn't seen my daughter since the wedding... the photo was taken last Thursday as she and friends got ready to run their first 5K in Atlanta... my girl drove down after work last night; so nice to have her with us on the occasion of her Aunt Betsy's 50th... Happy Birthday, sis!

Anna's Adventure

TK's good friend, Anna, will be spending the next three months in Thailand!

She's giving us all a peek into her world at:
annasomerville.wordpress.com

College LifeGroup

The lens on my camera is not wide enough to capture the entire group, but this is 3/4 of this morning's crew... my spot is right next to the sweet little red-head in foreground ;-)

First Regular-Season Game

Linda Richardson came through again with a few snap-shots of today's season-opening 1-1 tie vs. Mercer...

TK got lots of playing time and came close to ending the game in sudden-victory overtime with a near-post header with two-minutes on the clock.

Read the article on the UNC-Asheville website at: http://www.uncabulldogs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=19200&ATCLID=205251292

First Day of Classes

Will shared this picture taken as he left to begin his college studies at Jacksonville University this morning!

Others attending their first classes of the school year included his brother Nathan (@UNF) and step-brother Tim (UNC-Asheville)

It was also Grace's first day of classes on JWJ's new campus! I have Open House tomorrow night, so BIG week all around ...the reward at the end of which is that Kara will be in Florida for the weekend!

First Period

This is the bunch that greets me at 7:20 every morning... My only Spanish I class this year!

TK's 1st Goal of the Season

Must've been quite a shot... the article on the UNC-Asheville website described it as a 25-yarder and the game-winner in a 2-1 pre-season victory over conference foe Elon!

http://www.uncabulldogs.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=19200&ATCLID=205244377#.TkxhmLNWWaY.facebook

Day Two

Thought I'd catch my 6th period students in their assigned seats...

First Day of School

Great start to the year... Here's a look at my smallest class; there are 15 in the 2nd period class roll, but one didn't find it in time to be in the picture...

Fourth period is closer to capacity (25)...

...and here's a look at the 5th period bunch; we meet for 25 minutes, break for lunch and then do another 25 M-F!

I'll give you a look at 1st & 6th tomorrow...

Pre-Planning

Got a surprise the second day of pre-planning... the Principal assigned me a new classroom! It's not much to look at yet, but the chance to give up "floating" is pretty exciting... Until now, Room 123 has been the domain of the Driver's Ed teacher, the most recent victim of Clay County budget-cuts. I'll find a way to live with the 21 shrink-wrapped simulators wired into "my" new base of operations, and post a better picture next week!

Nathan's Birthday

Nathan celebrated his 21st birthday wrapping up a college retreat in Pigeon Forge, TN... he's pictured (third from left) braving the whitewater of the Ocoee river earlier this week.

It's back to school in a week for his junior year at UNF, working on a double or triple major in English, Psychology and/or International Business...

50

It's not only the age of our current Commander-in-Chief (as of last Thursday)...
Today, it's the exact number of days Grace and I have been married!
Today also brings our "Honeymoon Summer" to a screeching halt with teacher pre-planning at Fleming Island High starting up tomorrow!

Duval County teachers get another six days...

Hairspray

Grace and I got the perfect seats to see Will play his part (Guitar 1) in the orchestra pit for this summer's performance!

Brother & Sister

Kara wanted to see her little brother once more before he started back into soccer (today) and his second year of classes at UNCA (August 22nd)... so she and a group of her friends drove the 3 1/2 hours to Asheville and took him out on one of the trails... at my request Tim sent this picture:TK reports that the first "Captain's Practice" was brutal today, and that tomorrow will be even worse... 5-6 miles of hills and more time in the torture-chamber (weight room)!

Big News!

In Spanish, the saying is “más vale tarde que nunca”...
We were 13 days late celebrating Bonnie's 25th birthday, but the fact that she is "with child" made our dinner at Smokey Bones doubly-celebratory... Grace and I are now busy trying to come up with "grandparent names" for ourselves!Due date: January 31st, 2012