Mighty to Save

"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved..." ~ Mark 16:16


One sweet night this summer, I got a late night phone call and heard the tiniest voice on the other end. Precious John Scott was calling to tell us that after VBS one night that he had asked Jesus to come into his heart. It was such a moving moment for me, especially because he is so young. Our whole family was fortunate enough to witness the symbolism of his decision this weekend as John Scott was baptized. After a very nice service, the Griners hosted a delicious luncheon and many of his closest friends and family were there to show their support and love.

We love you "Baby Little" and are so proud of you!

Cinderella Wedding

One of the kids' very first babysitters, Nicole, had her beautiful wedding this weekend in Milledgeville, GA and was sweet enough to ask Kinsey and Max to be a part of their special day. The bride looked breathtaking, the ceremony and reception were beautiful and a wonderful time was had by all. We are so happy for our wonderful family friend and the new life she began yesterday!

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Practice Makes Perfect...I hope!

A couple of pictures from tonight's rehersal for Nicole and Tommy's wedding tomorrow.

Spirit Week

What a wild and crazy week at work this week! Book fair, pep rally, dressing up, football game--all part of Spirit Week. I always love this particular week with middle schoolers, but I'm not going to lie, it WEARS ME OUT! Completely! To cap off the week, after our football game (which we dominated our cross-town rival) our PTO sponsored a street party with dinner and a DJ. I'm not sure who had the most fun--me, the students, or my children. These videos pretty much sums it up.

Icky Virus--4; Patrick Family--0

So the past week, we have been on a roller coaster of illness. I started the lovely battle with a case of laryngitis and low-grade fever. Max followed suit with a very high fever with zero other symptoms and Jack and Kinsey have fallen somewhere in the middle. The week has been a blur, but with noteable positive highlights like completing my 20-mile training run (Scranton, here I come) and a fun (yet heartbreaking) college football game on Saturday. As we are slowly all coming out of the funk, we are looking forward to a few very exciting weekends headed our way!

Click

Last Sunday, after a fun weekend of hanging around the Athens area, Jack and the kids and I met up with an old college pal who is into photography. She is quite amazing, mostly learning the skill from online courses, and I love her work and the images she captures. She also is quite talented and creative in her marketing and advertising. Anyway, this is the second time she has shot the kids and from the preview we got, it looks like another winner. Thanks so much Sue Ann! Check her out here and more from our shoot here.

Circle of Friendship

"Ours is a circle of friendships united by ideals."
Juliette G. Low, Founder of Girl Scouts USA


In honor of the first day of the new Girl Scout Daisy year...




A special mention of thanks to my wonderful husband, who, because of his wife's inabilities as a homemaker had to go out last night and buy a Singer to re-sew all of Kinsey's patches on! :)

Illuscination

Fun "Girl Scout" trip to the Greatest Show on Earth!

Put on Your Dancing Shoes

This is a day that Max has been waiting for for a long time--the first day of dance class. While he did have a slow start because he wanted the class to begin with tap instead of ballet, he had a GREAT first class. The only boy in the class, he immediately won the affections of his two teachers, and I'm sure a couple of his classmates. And just as we expected, the boy can move! :)

Labor Day Fun

Pictures from our holiday weekend at Myrtle Beach--what a GORGEOUS weekend! And family EVERYWHERE--there were 24 of us in all! That makes 3 times this summer some of us have gotten together--a record!

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Triple-Triple

Another school week has gone by and yet again, we are kept busy and loving it. Kinsey is doing really, really well in school so far this year and we are celebrating her THIRD perfect 100 on her spelling tests. She is really getting into the groove of working on homework and studying a little each night. Another good week at horseback as Kinsey had her first go at posting while trotting. Being able to post well is one of the things her coach would like her to be able to master before she will enter her into her first show. She did really well at posting and continues to ask for more challenges. Way to go, girl!

Max had his first real week as a Cubbie in AWANA and he did really good! He memorized his bible verse (Kinsey did five this week!) and enjoyed the fellowship and learning more about Jesus. Max has been really anticipating his first dance class next week. He was so excited to go out and get his own tap shoes and can't wait to try them out!

Here's a cute picture of bedtime and the kids loving their new pajamas courtesy of Nan. Thanks, Nan!



We are headed to the beach tomorrow for one last "summer fling" with the extended family. Stay away, Earle!