sunday family stroll

these photos were snapped before our 3 week getaway to michigan. we're residing in a little white house on the college campus right now. just a few steps up the street lies a beautiful little creek decorated with beautiful white ducks. for many days we would take our stale bread and feed it to the sweet duck clan. there were three of them. the area is protected and taken care of by the national forest association. after a few weeks of getting to know the ducks, we realized one day that instead of there being three ducks there, there were only two. sad in my mind, not even close to sad in the boys mind. they were sure the third duck was off with his friends playing and enjoying each new day. after a few weeks went by, the third duck still hadn't made an appearance. in my mind, each time we get there i become a little sad. i'm quite certain that duck is dead. i mean, where the heck else could he be? those were his friends and we came to feed them. the beautiful thing about this story... the boys never ask. they're minds have been made up. the third duck has gone on to do different things. oh, what i'd give to have a childlike mindset. so Innocent and sweet. i'm trying to remember to be like them. not to be skeptical of situations i don't know the true answer to. we continue to visit that creek with the ducks. i'm now excited with each new visit to possibly meet some new creatures, and have more to explore in our beautiful outdoors.

a boy and two baseball fields...

two baseball fields you ask? well, we've received our housing assignment for the 2010-2011 school year. it wasn't what we expected, but we couldn't be more thrilled! bowdle and o'bannon are know as the "palace" here on campus. in years past, they housed 2 RD's. for this coming year, they will house nearly 270 students and only one RD will oversee the students. brandon is the lucky RD and payton, hudson, and I are the lucky family that will be living with all these fabulous students. we had a blast last year in Hughes Hall and we can't wait to begin this new semester. now, back to the baseball field comment. payton is overjoyed that we will have 2 baseball fields in our front yard. last year it was tennis courts, this year it's baseball. payton LOVES baseball. i mean, he really loves it. we're looking forward to an exciting new year down here in tennessee. it's good to know where we'll be hanging.

welcome to the world baby eden elisabeth! you're a sweet little blessing in our lives. congrats to cara, paul, and callie too!

danger on a bike! hudson has been having more fun than ever on this Christmas gift from aunt elizabeth. as you can see, he's standing on this sit down big wheel. he enjoys going from the top of hills to the bottom. if there's an obstacle any where, have no fear, he skids out quickly without ever falling off the bike. we've been enjoying the beautiful weather this april. april showers down here in tennessee have been noticeable, but only for a short time. it seems we'll have a down pour and within and hour or two, the sky clears making way for the beautiful sunshiny skies. payton is into tennis right now. he'll play for hours at a time. it's fun watching him improve his skill. we're hoping to have frequent visits this summer to the community pool here in town. both boys are due for some swimming lessons. bring on the sunscreen, 90+ degree days are in our future. this is our first full summer living as a family outside of michigan. we're looking forward to a michigan visit this june. my friend christa is getting married and she's asked me to be her bridesmaid. i'm honored to have this opportunity. what a beautiful day it will be.

Where has the time gone? This past week marked the last full week of school for students. It's hard to believe we've been in this new place for almost 8 months. Each day is filled with a new activity and adventure. We've had the delight to be "dorm parents" to 82 students this year. Each one is different in their own way. We've enjoyed connecting with them and living in community. It's funny to think that we all live in this dorm together. If we've been at an event together, we walk home together. The thought that we live in the same place is just kind of fun. We walk in and go our separate ways, but it's funny that we all live in this big building together. The knocks on the door and questions I've gotten this year will hopefully never fade from my memory. The first one of the year was a freshman male asking if he could wash his bed sheets with his clothes. The next was helping a student bleach a load of clothes that had been stained by an ink pen from a previous load of laundry. We've had a few knocks on the door of sick students that just needed a bowl of chicken noodle soup. Mom wasn't around to make it for them. This has warmed my heart in so many ways. I like to be called upon, it's nice to be needed. I certainly won't ever forget my own mishap this year. The time that I set the fire alarm off because of blow drying my hair after a mayonnaise mask application. This left me feeling embarrassed and silly. I've had a few female students that I've been mentoring lately. I never really felt that I was mentoring type. God is teaching me so many things. I may not be a councilor with a degree for helping people, but I have found that I have a listening ear. So many of these students are away from home for the first time in their lives. Mom and Dad have always been their comfort. It's been wonderful finding that these students feel comfortable with our family. We're around to talk with them, live in community, and take an interest in their lives. I would have never imagined liking this job. So far, it's been life changing and I'm considered blessed to have this incredible opportunity. Though the school year is coming to an end, another session is upon us. Brandon applied for the summer R.D. position here on campus and just found out that he received it. He'll be busy with another R.D. planning and overseeing the new summer students. We'll also be leaving our first home here in Tennessee. Good ol' Hughes Hall is set for demolition on April 9th. It will be a sad day here. Many students have been able to call this their home for the past 42 years. I know why they all have become attached to it, there's just something extremely special about the students that live here. It will be missed but we're looking forward to living in a new place. We don't know where yet. They still have yet to tell us! We're certain our next home will be perfect. It will be filled with wonderful students and !will have plenty in store for the coming year!

living on a college campus is like a walk in the park... ok, maybe not a WALK in the park, maybe we can call it living in a park.

story time together...

this past week was a fun one for the whole family. tiffany visited with hannah and issaac while jason was training in florida. tiffany is an adventurist! a 12 hour drive in the car alone with two kids doesn't scare her. either does a year without a husband around to help with the crazy daily duties of being a parent. jason deploys to afghanistan in just a few months for an entire year. i had a fantastic time watching tiffany interact with all four kid's. sometimes i find that my kids and i get bored. tiffany is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to entertaining kids and having constant activities for them to do. our days were planned out ahead of time and we stayed busy the entire time. an unexpected detour to the ocoee river brought us to a place i'd never seen before. we embarked on an adventure together that day and ended up 5 miles down a dirt road. this wasn't just any dirt road though. it was located on a mountain and the scenery was unbelievable. we stumbled upon the ocoee river and enjoyed a quiet lunch on a concrete picnic table. the only noise we heard was the trickling water from the river. beware of bear signs were posted around the area. we went on a nature walk and talked about our surroundings. tiffany and i agreed there is no better way to be closer to God than being in nature. all 6 of us enjoyed the entire experience. our adventure may have begun as a "detour", but i think it's the best detour i've taken in years! if only i would have brought my camera along...

my charming three :)

these three make life fantastic! our life has been full of excitement lately. it's been a year of "firsts" for us with dorm life in full swing. our home of six months is being destroyed in just a few weeks :( this saddens us as we know this dorm has an incredible history. its crazy to think of the amount of students that have lived in this dorm. so many great memories and stories. we just experienced dorm wars. all dorms gather to compete with each other in several different games. the boys liked the "grocery cart race" best. it's an event that takes all year to plan and we enjoyed every minute! we look forward to next years war!

the boys are still enjoying the early learning center here on campus. nana gave payton tuition to take "kindermusik" classes. he's in kindermusik once weekly for the entire semester. he's been LOVING the drum and we frequently listen to the kindermusik soundtrack in the car. i know all the songs by heart. let me tell you, this is some great music! (ok, maybe not, but it's supposedly great for kids. that's all that counts, right?)

 can you say goof ball? 

my oh my, we certainly have a "goof ball" on our hands. when i ask hudson to smile for the camera, this is what i get, every time! i'll ask him to open his eyes, and he'll give me a wink.  i've learned to just go with it and realize that this is the cutest thing ever. after snapping the shot hudson always says "mommy, wook it." he wants to look at the photo. i show him, and he giggles. he then poses for me to take another silly shot. keep the silly poses coming little man, i know i'll miss this some day!