Father’s Day recap

We took John to a Birmingham Barons baseball game for Father’s Day. They had a special opportunity for Dad’s and kids to play catch on the field before the game (and Mom’s with cameras :). It was HOT!!

Here is a local news cameraman taking some video of John and Hadden. We don’t know if they were on or not – we don’t get that channel.

I enjoyed watching them play. There were quite a few families out on the field – just guessing around 100 people total.

Ready to catch some foul balls. We had bought tickets for seats nearer to the field, but it was so hot, we opted for the “general admission in the shade” seating instead. I was surprised, but the stadium was actually pretty empty.

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Since the gates opened at 12:30 and we couldn’t go to our church and get to the game on time, we decided to go to church in the Birmingham area. We tried out Church of the Highlands. It is a very large church with lots of people attending. We joked about the traffic police, parking attendants and drop-off point for the kids made the whole church feel like an airport. The service was good and the kids enjoyed the kid’s area – Savannah even knew a friend there from soccer.

You are a great father every day, John!

Proverbs 20:7 The righteous man leads a blameless life;

blessed are his children after him.

Bobcat Photo Update

As I mentioned a few days ago, the other morning on my walk with the dogs, I saw a bobcat twice!! Here is a picture from the Outdoor Alabama website of what I saw. I assume there are not too many of these around, but we think that they like the rock formations along the ridge of our neighbors' properties.

Photo Credit: Don Getty
http://www.dongettyphoto.com/

Visit with the Zaklan’s – final day

One final bit of fun before we had to head our separate ways. Go-carts! Luke and Savannah got to drive their own for the first time. Savannah was just barely tall enough and since the track was pretty empty, he allowed her to go.

THANKS Zaklan’s for coming to visit us – we had a blast! Come again soon. Love you!

ps – other family members and friends – we would love to have you come, too!

Visit with the Zaklan’s – pt 3

The next day, we decided to go for a hike to Grotto Falls – only to find that it was closed. Plan B we decided to go up to Clingman’s Dome – only to find that it was closed. Plan C we decided to hike into Laurel Falls and then do the Cade’s Cove loop again. The hike is only 1.3 miles each way, and this time of year was very crowded. We enjoyed cooling off a bit in the water. The rocks were slippery and we watched several people take some tumbles.

 

Teresa and me in front of a small part of Laurel Falls.

Kurtz family photo op. Rob and Teresa photo op.

After our hike, we drove back to the visitor’s center, had a tailgate lunch and headed out in the back of truck again. This time, John drove and Teresa and I got to sit in the back. Again, the kids loved it.

We saw a few bear – this shot is of a young one. We saw a few wild turkey and quite a few deer.

I know this isn’t a great shot, but I was trying to take it on the move :) It is a pileated woodpecker! We have them on our property, but I have never seen one. They have a very cool sound and I had heard it the day before so I was excited to actually see one.

After our Cade’s Cove tour, we headed back to downtown Gatlinburg and spent some time walking the streets. It was rather hot, so we ducked into several stores to enjoy some a/c.

Cousins having fun with the phone booth. Gatlinburg has gorgeous flowers everywhere! They really do it right.

This gray heron (I think that is what it is) was actually in downtown Gatlinburg wading in the river. Isn’t he majestic?

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Speaking of wildlife, this morning on my walk with the dogs, I saw a bobcat!! It was a very quick glimpse because it was moving very fast. The dogs shuffled it out of the woods very near to where I was walking. Needless to say, I scooped up Neli so that she wouldn’t be a snack.

Visit with the Zaklan’s – pt 2

While in Gatlinburg, we enjoyed the Smoky Mountain National Park. We drove out to Cade’s Cove (a scenic loop where you can often see wildlife). On the way there, we traditionally stop at a bend in the river to stretch our legs and skip some rocks.

 

Luke and Savannah are great buds. Hadden and Ethan are, too.

This time, we had an added twist to our usual fun stop. There was a person there who had an inner tube with a bottom in it. He offered it to us to enjoy going down the rapids with the kids. He assured us that we wouldn’t get wet and that it was impossible to tip it over. John, Savannah and I went first (Hadden declined). It was fun, although we did get a little wet from the splashing.

 

Teresa and her boys went next. The picture below is of her second trip. Her first trip was with John, Luke and Ethan. Let’s just say that they proved the whole “impossible to tip” thing wrong. I’m not sure how quickly Luke or Ethan will sign up for river rafting again, but John and Teresa went for another run. They were troopers!

  

Almost all of us at the entry to the park.

Tailgating prior to doing Cade’s Cove loop. We saw several deer – this one is a little buck – look closely for the velvet on his horns.

Since we all couldn’t fit in one vehicle and the max speed through the loop is 20 mph, we loaded everyone into the back of the truck. This was one of the highlights for the kids – they loved it. Thankfully, the weather cooperated, too.

Incredible scenery throughout the loop.

 

After we got back to the visitor center, we divided up. Some went to the Arts and Crafts loop, and others were planning to head up to Clingman’s Dome. It started to rain, so those going to the dome just returned to the cabin instead. These beautiful hydrangeas were near some of the stores. The shoe pile kind of speaks for itself :)

From a suggestion …

After posting this story, a friend suggested framing the $1 bills. I loved the idea, happened to have 2 frames available, so we did! Here is the finished result.

I had some cute paper to use, printed out Matthew 25:37-40 and then taped the $1 to it. I also printed out the blog post on a separate piece of paper and tucked it in behind so they would always remember the story behind the $1.

Matthew 25:37-40

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Visit with the Zaklans – part 1

There’s just nothing like visitors – especially when they are family. We had a blast with my sister and her family last week. They came and stayed a couple of days with us here in Alabama and then we all headed up together to Gatlinburg, TN area for the weekend. We just kind of relaxed and laid low while in Alabama – they had travelled a long distance and we felt that they needed some down time. We had fun playing ping-pong, wii, and the kids just had a blast period.

One day, we did venture out to the Bass Pro shop near us. We had never been, so we enjoyed our first visit there. The kids enjoyed the aquarium, many stuffed animals (the taxidermy kind) and the little class and small scavenger hunt that they participated in.

  

We also got to meet Clay Dyer (you’ve got to watch the video below – amazing story) and he was gracious enough to let us snap a picture with the kids. Funny thing – I had just been telling Teresa about his video a few hours earlier.

On our way to Gatlinburg (well, Pigeon Forge to be exact – that was where our cabin was located), we stopped at Noccalula falls.

Great times, great family, great friends! They are now on their return trip to Idaho – praying for safety for them and continued fun through the miles :)