Father's Day 2014 - SO Thankful for Lane!

I could not have picked a better example for our sons. I am so thankful I married someone who models thoughtful listening, genuine interest and concern for others, and a servant heart.

We are back to our family dinner/42, now that Luke is home, and I couldn't be happier! We learned a three-person domino game to play when Luke is gone...but we're still adjusting!

Look what three good "rains" have done for our grass! I rarely landscape, what with the continual water rationing, but I tried some flowers this year and am thankful for the rain. Lane is replacing all of the rotting fascia board on the front of house, one of the many projects he has lined up for the summer.

Recent Happenings at the Reynolds Home (Part 2)

Anmer has had so much fun learning to dance and these precious sisters helped her make her very own ball gown/skirt.  She and Andrew love to go to these "Civil War Balls."  (Note from Anne Marie: This particular dance was two hours away in Troy, TN. We didn't get home until midnight, and some of us didn't get to sleep until 1am. Mom is a trooper, and I am so thankful for her allowing us to have these cool experiences, especially when they cost her so much sleep!)


Anne Marie with Jenna (left) and Amy (right)

 Above -- Andrew and Heath get their camouflage on -- Heath goes with Hayden that just graduated with Anne Marie, and the youngest boy, Hunter, is great friends with Thomas.

 Andrew is attempting a "Minute to Win It" game with the Teen Trek group (our homeschool support group teens).  He has his permit and is driving some, he does well, and so far my nerves are holding steady!

 Below:  Anne Marie has been volunteering a lot with Habitat for Hope, an organization that provides support to families with terminally/chronically ill children.  They work with families at both St. Jude and LeBohneur.  Here, we are visiting with a sweet boy at a "Water Fun Day."  Only, this little guy couldn't get wet because he has a central line.  His backpack houses the bag that drips into his line.  I took him on a ride on the 4-wheeler, and we did bubbles, and he crawled onto my lap.
Anmer organized this event; it was a wonderful afternoon.  Andrew and a few other teens from our homeschool group helped.

 We went to a book signing for the "Women of Duck Dynasty" book that was recently released.  This event was at Wal-Mart.  The event staff were organized and strict; you couldn't take a picture while standing at the signing table. I had to stand back several feet to take this pic.  Also, we were herded through the line very quickly, but Anmer and I got a chance to say we love the show, and thank them for being Christian role models.

 Corbin and I went to a work party at an Irish pub in Memphis.  It was fun (and loud).
I did start a garden, but....it isn't doing very well, so here are the plants that are actually producing.  I may only be able to enjoy baby tomatoes (red & yellow) this summer, but I'll take it!

Recent Happenings at the Reynolds Home (Part 1)

 I love this picture above- someone took it during our homeschool field day.

Below, T is practicing a speech at Classical Conversations.

 One of the experiments at CC was to build something that could protect an egg if dropped from about 7/8 feet.  He didn't advance to round 2, but it was a fun learning experience!

 Lately, one of the things Bug enjoys is listening to a Star Wars book with the Audible app, as he follows along.

Below, enjoying the annual church softball game.

 And here is what he is most proud of....his chicks.  He named them, and wants to put bands on their feet to tell them apart.... still working on that.  This has been a great experience for him, he buys the supplies, and makes sure they have food and fresh water.  Hopefully, they should begin to lay eggs between September-November.

 Below is their "in between" home, after they could start living outside, and until they got to where they could fly up to the top of the fence/gate.

 There is a cover (bottom of a plastic tote) over the food, because it is open on top.  And, Corbin made two "lean to" pieces, to provide extra shade.  This is "phase one"- later we will add a cover for the top, and build a new home (hutch) so that the "brooding box" (where they lay their eggs) actually sticks out of the coop, and Thomas can collect the eggs without having to go inside, he'll just lift up the roof of the brooding box.

Israel Trip Day 1

Heading off to Israel for a trip that was sure to be a once in a lifetime experience!

Our flight was delayed almost 3 hours leaving Houston.  We only had 1 1/2 hours in Munich, Germany to make our connection to Tel Aviv.  Obviously, that did not work out.  We were quite bummed because it looked like we would have to spend the night in Munich to catch the only flight on that airline which was the next morning.  Instead, the airline booked us on a flight that night on another airline!  We were thrilled!  Mallory was particularly happy because she had wanted to spend some time in Europe.  We had about 9 hours, so we took the subway and headed into the city.

This living statue was so good!  It was freaky to walk by thinking he was a statue and then see him move a little.

We made it to our hotel at 5:30 am....without our luggage!  We took a brief 2 hour nap and were up ready to go with our group by 9:00 - in the same clothes.  I'll just skip to the end and say that although we were supposed to have our luggage delivered to our hotel that night, it did not happen.  We got it the next evening.  We had to go buy one outfit each because the ones we had worn for 3 days were a bit gross.

Israel Trip Day 2

Our first stop was Caesarea Maritime.  It is a seaport on the Mediterranean about 70 miles northwest of Jerusalem.  It was built by Herod the Great in 22 B.C.  We heard so much about him as he built himself palaces all over the place! He "was a tyrant but a masterful builder."  Paul visited here three times, and spent two years in prison here.

It was SO wonderful to see the Cobb girls!!

Here is the site of Herod's swimming pool.

This is the Hippodrome where they held chariot races.

This is George, our guide for the week.  He was absolutely amazing! In order to be a guide in Israel you have to go to school for several years to learn all the history.  He was born in Jerusalem and is a Coptic Christian.  He was showing us the structure that they put dead bodies in.  It was open so that the birds could eat away the body and then the family would come get the bones to bury.

Mallory took several of these neat pictures that showed Scriptures we read with the site in the background.  It was really meaningful to be reading at the actual sites.

Mal read at the amphitheater.

We loved reconnecting with the Vances and the Cobbs. What you will see in many of the pictures are the "whisper headsets" we wore.  They really made a huge difference in the tour experience.  George could talk softly - even in a whisper - and we could hear him from a distance.  You know how sometimes you go on a tour and you can only hear if you are right there by the guide?  We could slowly walk around the site while he was talking. This was such a great way to tour!

Herod built an amazing aqueduct that ran 13 miles from a spring at Mt. Carmel to Caesarea.  The main water channel was open to the air.  Herod built three secret pipes for his own personal water supply that were protected from poisoning.

Charlie and Tim demonstrated the ancient toilets.

Charlie was our leader on the bus, and he did a wonderful job.  It was great to have Samuel on the trip as well!

George would show us on the map where we were as we drove around.

Mt. Carmel was our first major emotional, spiritual site.  Okay, I was the only one in our family who cried..... but the rest of them should have!  This is taken from the top of Mt.Carmel where Elijah had the showdown with the prophets of Baal.  (I Kings 18)  This picture overlooks the Valley of Jezreel.  This is the part that I found so neat.  In this valley Gideon and his 300 soldiers defeated the Midianites, Sisera and his army were defeated by Israel under the leadership of Deborah, and Elijah ran before the chariot of Ahab.  It was a land bridge between the mountains and Jesus and his disciples traveled thorough this area.  Revelation tells us that the final battle at the end of time will be in this valley.

These are examples of the cave tombs of Jesus' time.  They are much smaller than we had imagined.

All along the way George would point out ancient ruins.

All of our meals except one lunch were included.  It was great to get off the bus to tables ready for us.

This is the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth.  In Nazareth Gabriel came to Mary to announce Jesus' birth, and it is where Jesus spent most of his childhood.

One notable thing about most of the sites we visited was how certain they could be that a specific event occurred at a certain site.  I am so used to American History and how we know where everything happened.  Because Israel has been around MUCH longer, it is about impossible to say with total certainly the exact locations.  Another interesting thing is that over the centuries structures were built on top of other structures.  This church was built at the supposed site of Mary's house.  

Here are the ruins that are said to be of Mary's house.  Although these may not be the exact ones, it is certain that they are under the church complex somewhere.  

More ruins in the church complex.

This is the church built on the site of Jesus' first miracle in Cana - changing the water to wine.

Since the occasion of the miracle was a wedding, Ronnie performed a vow renewal for all the couples on the tour.

At the end of the day we arrived in Tiberius.  We stayed two night on the Sea of Galilee.  It was beautiful!