Two days of pictures

Joel and Kerri Thompson stopped by Wednesday on their way to Huntsville.  Fried chicken and good times.

Joel and I with our boys.

Kerri, Leslie, and a pile of girls.

Yesterday morning I took the girls hiking at Chalk Ridge Falls below the Stillhouse Hollow dam.

Jonesy is carrying her bug net and bug can, Annie is wearing a necklace with a 4 inch silver scorpion, and Georgia is wearing a 1993 South Plains Fair cap.

Wading in the creek.

Me by the waterfall.

Annie has been having trouble staying in her bed at night.  She needs a drink, wants to watch cartoons, too hot so she takes her jammies off, or too cold and has to put them back on. 
Like Jerry Clower, we believe in giving everyone a sporting chance.  Leslie and I aren't counters, but we do usually give fair warning.  "If you ______ again, then I will ________."  
Last night Annie was up and down several times and lost her bed.  I think the pros call this consequential learning....if you choose not to stay on you bed, then your bed will be taken from you.  Leslie had to take it away from her a few weeks ago and it proved to be pretty effective, but I guess her memory faded while she was out of town.

The bed removed.

I just removed the bed, went back to mine and locked the door behind me to let her deal with her new situation.  Instead of sleeping on the couch, or on the bed in her brother's room, or getting in bed with one of her sisters, Annie chose to lay down as close as she could to where her bed was supposed to be.  This is how I found her this morning.

 

Ranger used to like sleeping with Annie, but has figured out that Georgia's bed offers a more restful night.

Portales, NM

We went to Portales for Justin's family reunion, the Wilhoit reunion. We had a fun time with lots of family. West was the youngest attending the reunion this year. Saturday consisted of lots of visiting, food and an auction. That evening we went swimming at the hotel where we were joined by my aunt, uncle and cousins from Clovis (thanks for coming over!). Sunday consisted of church, lunch, pictures, milkshakes from Pat's, out to Great Grandma's house, and back to the hotel for more swimming. Here are some pictures from Saturday and Sunday in Portales.

Amarillo, TX

Friday morning, July 16, we left the house at 630am and it took us 11 hours to get to Amarillo. This is including all stops. I was blessed to have Kim S. ride with us to Lubbock. I really enjoyed getting to know her better and she was a tremendous help with the kids, especially with the girls while I was feeding West. We had a fun time with Gran-nola and Papa in Amarillo. We were able to visit Great Papaw everyday and the kids and I took him out to lunch on Friday. I was able to get some much needed rest, an adult lunch with my Amarillo friends, a 10pm movie with my cousin A, and several fabulous Almond Joy snow cones. The girls had a great time at Jump N Jive with some friends from Amarillo and some from Denver who were back visiting family too. We went swimming twice and also did a little school shopping (the picture of Jones is her playing dress up, not her school clothes). There were some fun times with cousins Conner, Zane, Amy and Emily and some snails. Everyday the kids and I were spoiled by grandparents and were tuckered out by the end of the day.

West

Justin's dad gave West a life jacket with Huck embroidered on the back. West had his first swimming adventure, Tuesday, July 13, in Jamie's pool. He cried for just a second and then was content floating in the water.

Genesis 2:18

Leslie and the kids have been gone for over a week now. I enjoyed it for the first few days. I listened to a Jack Reacher story on CD while I cleaned the cabinets, oven, stove and refrigerator. I went to the lake. I read a couple of books.
The last few days have been lonely. Nothing good on TV. Nothing interesting on my internets. The house is too quiet, my hair is shaggy, and I’m being nicer to a chihuahua than I have ever been in my life.
I miss my wife. I miss my children.

Feelin' Good Again

I met up with Haney for supper in Waco on Friday night.  Told him that I’d been thinking about using this song for song of the week, and asked him what he thought since he is the best authority on Robert Earl Keen that I know.  After some thought he said that this was probably his favorite REK song so here it is.

I think this is a dream song.  Not like a wishing for something dream, but a laying in bed sleeping dream. 

I dream vividly.  Sometimes bad ones, sometimes good, but my favorite ones are the ones where everything seems to be working out in my favor and lots of my friends from over the years mysteriously end up in the same place.  I wake up happy from those and usually end up remembering good times with good friends for the rest of the day.

Feelin’ Good Again

Standin' down on Main Street
Across from Mr. Blues
In my faded leather jacket
And my weathered Brogan shoes
A chill north wind was blowin'
But the spring was comin' on
As I wondered to myself
Just how long I had been gone

So I strolled across old Main Street
Walked down a flight of stairs
Stepped into the hall
And saw all my friends were there
A neon sign was flashin' "Welcome come on in"
It feels so good feelin' good again

My favorite band was playin'
An Otis Redding song
When they sang the chorus
Everybody sang along
Dan and Margarita
were swayin' side by side
I heard they were divorcin'
But I guess they let it slide
And I wished I had some money with
which to buy a round

I wished I'd cashed my paycheck
Before I came to town
But I reached into my pocket
Found three twenties and a ten
It feels so good feelin' good again

There was old man Perkins
Sittin' on his stool
Watchin' Butch and Jimmy John
Talkin' loud and playin' pool
The boys from Silver City
Were standin' by the fire
Singin' like they thought
they were the Tabernacle choir
And I wanted you to see them all
I wished that you were there
I looked across the room
and saw you standin' on the stair
And when I caught your eye
I saw you break into a grin
It feels so good feelin' good again

Why We Sing

Several months ago Jones and I were fishing and she started singing Chris Tomlin’s “Everlasting God”. When she got to the chorus she forgot the words, but substituted her own without missing a beat:
You are the everlasting God!
You do the things you are!
You do not faint,
You won’t grow weary!

You do the things you are. “Hmm”, thought I, “Not originally a part of the song, but theologically profound.”

Exodus 34: 6 And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, "The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, 7 maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.

When Nathan was here in March we were talking about the joy of seeing our children love and spontaneously worship the Lord and I shared this story with him. He pointed out that this was why we teach our kids songs and scripture. So that as they go through life and experience its joy and pain, they will have words to express it near at hand and truth to lean upon in this unstable world.

I heard a sermon the other day titled Why We Sing. While I’ve heard lots of sermons about worship, preaching about tithes and offerings, prayer, communion, fellowship, the importance of reading, hearing, and teaching scripture, and even sermons about how we should sing, I don’t think I’ve ever heard one about why we sing.
While listening to this message I realized that what Nathan and I had discussed in March didn’t just apply to our children, but to all of us, young and old.

James 5:13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.

Cummings Visit

The Cummings girls stayed with us on Saturday. We had a picnic at the park and then enjoyed the splash pad. The girls had such a great time at the park and at the house. West enjoyed the extra attention. Thanks for spending the day with us.