2010 Fall Break

I am sitting in the gym right now watching Kate and Rose in their motor skills class and I am wondering how they are getting so old and praying for grace to shepherd their hearts as they grow older. They are both changing so much, especially Kate. Kate is moving into a stage where she wants to go and do things, but she wants to participate, not just tag along. It is different and difficult to explain, but there is a difference in her as she is maturing. I have been shooting my bow a lot lately and she not only wants to go with me, she wants her own bow to shoot! Last week she told me she is glad we are not having a boy because then I would probably take him hunting and she wants to be my hunting buddy.

The fall semester is already over halfway done and there are only six weeks left in the semester. Once again, it is going by very quickly! Fall break was last week and it was a great week. On Friday I got to go hunting for whitetail deer again, the first time in 12 years. It was a great blessing to be outdoors for the day! On Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday we went camping. We had a great time together as a family. The weather here has been very hot, but when we were camping, we had a short break from the heat. The night temperatures were 42 and the daytime temperatures were in the mid-sixties. It was beautiful! There were a couple of mishaps, such as forgetting diapers for Tess (Jess made some out of Wal-mart bags and paper towels) and I had a problem with fire this trip. Twice chunks of coal popped out of the fire and landed on me. The first one caught my jeans on fire and burned a hole in my brand new boots. The second one went so high it went down my shirt and gave me a real nice burn at the base of my neck. We did some hiking, enjoyed playing in the campground, and had a great time sitting around the fire. Now that we live in the city, camping takes on a whole new meaning for us!

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I worked on a paper I am writing for my counseling class entitled "Counseling the Loveless Marriage". On Saturday, we went up to Nashville, Indiana with my uncle Chris. It is a great little town with a lot of great shops. It is on the border of a 16,000 acre state park that is stunning in the fall. That was a fun day.

The fall colors are in full swing here now. They are about two weeks early from last year and they are not as vibrant as last year because we haven't had any significant rain in 2 and a half months. It has been the third hottest fall in Louisville history and the driest September in Louisville history. Sunday set a record for heat when it got up to 92. We are very ready for the heat to permanently break and the cold frosty days to begin. Well, here are the picture from the last week! Hope you enjoy them!

Sitting up in the deer stand on a beautiful evening waiting for Bambi's parents.

Our campsite with the sun setting on the trees

First evening around the campfire.

Jess making Tess her diaper. Worked pretty good!

The first hike we went on doubled as a scouting trip for hunting. It was a pretty area to hike.

The second hike we went on was a beautiful trail that meandered through the woods. It even went through a beautiful grove of mature pine trees. This is one of our favorite trails at the campsite.

Tess was running around and kicking the ball. She was very proud of herself!

The girls nestled in for the night. I actually took this picture at 3 in the morning.

Ice cream in Nashville Indiana.

These deer creations were great! Someone was very creative in coming up with this idea. If I had a place to put it and money to buy it, I would definately put this on my porch!

The beginning of the fall colors in Nashville Indiana