Warm Weather and a Good Friend

Danielle flew in last Wednesday night. It's been fun spending time with her and showing her around the area. Thursday I gave her a tour of our church building, then we went to Morgan Run for a picnic lunch and some trail hiking. The weather has been very warm, no snow yet. Saturday we took the Metro into Baltimore and had a great day. We walked through Lexington Market, then took the train on into Little Italy for lunch, and then walked through the Inner Harbor area. It was another beautiful day and we had a blast. We got back to the Metro station around 6:00 last night and my van was gone. Yep, stolen. More details later on that situation.

DC

Photos from our day in DC with Mom and Chad last week.

National Christmas Tree

White House

Lincoln Memorial

Girls looking at the Reflecting Pool

Lincoln Memorial at Sunset

Dinner in China Town

Holiday Highlights

We did not travel at Christmas this year as we have for the last two. This was our first Christmas spent in Maryland. We missed seeing all the Burches in East Texas, but enjoyed having Mom and Chad here with us for the week. It was also great to be a part of the Christmas Eve services at LifePoint. The music, testimonies, and message were amazing.

The girls had a blast and got lots of nice gifts. We spent time visiting and playing games with family and friends, shopping, and visiting Washington DC. School started back today, and as usual I was not ready for the holiday to end. Back to the grind!

Merry Christmas

The girls got out of school today at 12:15 for Christmas break. Yeah! We went to the mall this afternoon, and of course the crowds and traffic were crazy. It was fun. Hannah and Rachel chose not to sit on Santa's lap or have their picture taken with him this year. They are too old for that now! Chloe loved talking to Santa and gave him lots of hugs.

Great Game

Some friends of ours came over Friday night with their Guitar Hero PS2 game. I had watched some kids playing this at Wal-Mart a while back, and it looked fun. I quickly discovered that I love this game! We had so much fun, and they left the game with us for a while. I've only played on the easy level, which is not all that easy for me. Have any of you tried this thing? I recommend it.

Christmas Memory

I was talking with a friend the other day and was reminded of the Christmas that Lance and I played Mary and Joseph in the living nativity at ETBU. It was set up so that cars could drive through to see everything on a road lined with candles in plastic milk jugs. My mom and some of her friends drove over to Marshall to see us one night. While driving through, she was so distracted by looking at us (and I think trying to take pictures) that she started running over the lighted milk jugs. She took out quite a few of those things. Lance and I did what we could to stay in character.

Go West

We went to see the Hannah in the 5th Grade musical, Go West, at her school last week. She played a pioneer girl and did a great job. Her costume was also great (thanks to Big Rachel).

9th Birthday

Rachel celebrated her 9th birthday on November 19th. She had a fun slumber party that weekend. She also decided that she was ready to get her ears pierced this year and asked for that for her birthday. She was very brave and is enjoying wearing earrings. The following photos show (1) before; (2) during; and (3) after the ear piercing.

Philly

We left town this morning for a day trip to Philadelphia with Jason and Rachel. We took in some sights like the Liberty Bell; Independence Hall; the National Mint; and Ben Franklin's home site, printing press, and grave site. We also ate a famous Philly Cheesesteak at Jim's. Pretty tasty.

Thanksgiving

We missed being with our family again this year for Thanksgiving, but enjoyed the company of some great friends here in Maryland. About 7 families got together this year to share an incredible meal. Lance says it looked like a scene from The Village when most of us were seated around the massive dining room table.

LifePoint Gardens

The garden themed nursery area in the new building is so much fun. Each of the four rooms has its own "mascot" insect. Each room also has a wall of built-ins with pass through cubbies. The photos show the nursery hallway and the rooms: Caterpillars - infants and crawlers; Ladybugs - walkers; Dragonflies - toddlers; Bumblebees - older toddlers/2 year olds. It is such a priveledge to get to work in children's ministry here, and I am really enjoying directing the nursery ministry. I look forward to seeing what God has in store for us now that we are in our own space.

A quick poll: Which insect is your favorite?

Sunday

The first Sunday at the new place was incredible. What a celebration! The photos above show the LifePoint campus and the stage set up for Sunday.

Sullivan's Flaw

Sullivan's Flaw was presented this weekend by the Underground Student Movement of LifePoint Church. Thursday night about 80 people showed up for the invited dress rehearsal. Friday night, Saturday night, and tonight the show was performed dinner theater style. The tickets all sold out (over 300 of them) and people have shown up each night to sit and stand around the room and watch, as well. Hannah, Rachel, and I went Friday, opening night, and the show was great. I went again last night and it was even better. The students, musicians, food crew, and everyone else involved have done an incredible job. Lance is really tired, but he's enjoying the performance weekend so much. As I write this tonight, the final show should be coming to an end and the cast party will begin shortly.

Trick or Treat?

We had fun last night in our neighborhood. The girls collected so much candy that they could barely carry their bags home.