Men in Uniform

On Memorial Day Sunday, the men in our church who have or are currently serving in the military, or civil service (fireman, police officers) wore their dress uniforms to church and performed a flag presenting ceremony. During this they presented the American flag, went through the ceremony of folding it, and presented it to our pastor. Then they played Taps and Amazing Grace on the bag pipes. The whole ceremony was beautiful and produced much sniffling and tears among church members. Carl of course took part in this ceremony and below are a couple of pictures taken afterwards. The first is all of the men in uniform and the second is the men with their wives. It happened that many of us wives actually ended up dressing in matching colors with our husbands. Funny. Anyhow, it was a wonderful presentation and a great reminder for us not to forget what so many have given for us and our home, while still "under God", the greatest country on earth.

Carl is in the very middle, if you have trouble finding him. : )

Cool Hand Carl

Last weekend Carl shot in an IDPA (International Defensive Pistol Association) competition. I observed from afar and took some videos, as I am not able to shoot anymore being with child. :) He did a great job, better than last time he competed and scored in the top of his class. Here are a few cool videos of a some of the stages. Half of the fun of these competitions is seeing what the stage creators come up with to challenge shooters, and challenge they do, as you will see!

Challenging moving men.

Carl on the move.

Action-packed stage.

Carl is good at those metal targets! Here he shoots the paper once, then each metal, then the second paper target twice and the first paper target one more time. Good job Carl!

A Fun Project

Well, I have been quite busy lately, but not with anything particularly interesting to the outside world. : ) One fun thing is that I just made this diaper bag today. A friend of mine at church had made one for herself and gave me the pattern. I love the bright colors and the pattern was super easy! I was excited to make it because I hadn't seen any diaper bags I like, as I am pretty picky about bags (silly I know), and it's always fun to create something useful! So, here it is--my latest creation.

It is a fairly simple design, and a nice size.

The inside--there are some nice large pockets. It's also reversible, the design says, but then all your pockets would be on the outside, which I wouldn't find as useful. : )

New Pictures of Mama and Baby

Due to some family health history we have, I had to get an in-depth ultrasound of our little boy. This was to ensure he is healthy, so could have been a scary visit, but thankfully I was completely secure in the comfort of the Lord during the appointment and praise God all is well!As a side, I was able to enjoy seeing my little one in such detail. Part of the ultrasound was even 3D, so they gave me a couple pictures of his face, which are so precious to us. I thought I'd share them with you all, a little glimpse of what he may look like. He refused to move his little arm off part of his face, but the part you can see is pretty clear. I also added a picture of me, so those of you from afar can see that I have grown! :)

Camping Out

This past weekend we went camping at Nachez Trace state park and had a wonderful time. We love to camp and decided that since we were able, we had better take advantage of prbably the last weekend of decent camping weather here in TN (it rapidly gets too hot here for outdoors living). The weather was beautiful and we had a relaxing time playing frisbee, walking trails, and just enjoying nature with the dogs. I am so excited about the warming weather, though I will admit I have noticed my new rise in body temp (with my internal heater). You can see a little how I've grown in one of the pictures from the trail. I'll make another post about that soon. According to my last doctor's appointment both baby and mother are doing well. : ) Sorry about the quality---I forgot the camera, so these are phone pictures.

Carl showing his venison burger and fire-warmed biscuit sandwich--great camp food!

Me on the trail. I feel much bigger than I look here. : )

The dogs found mud puddles in which to cool themselves. Thankfully they later found clean water in which to clean and cool themselves in one. : )

Is He Crazy?!?

The title to this post is a question you may be asking about my husband after reading this post. Well, I'll tell you, no, he is not crazy, but just very determined (a trait I have always loved about him). This past Saturday morning Carl fulfilled one of his lifelong goals and dreams---he ran a marathon! That's right, we got up at 4:30 am, traveled about an hour, and Carl ran 26.2 miles, all before noon! : ) The race was through a town on local roads, so I was able to drive the route as Carl ran it. After the race started I waited a bit, and then went and parked at different spots along the route, passing Carl and then waiting for him to pass me. Doing this I was able to snap some pictures throughout the race and chart his progress. He did a FANTASTIC job! He finished in 4 hours and 1 minute!! That is AMAZING considering this was his first marathon ever, and it was his goal and he RAN the whole way with no walking! GREAT job husband! Below are some of the pictures I snapped along the way.

The sun was beginning to rise as we pulled into the parking lot.

The start of the race line up. There were around 100 runners total.

The first time I caught up with Carl and his friend. This was around mile 7.

Mile 7 again. Pretty happy for running a marathon, huh?

Around mile 10--the course gets tougher.

Around mile 13--finally he stands alone, pulling ahead. :)

Finishing strong!

Finally--Victory! Grabbing his ticket signals that he is at last finished.

Spring Break

I spent the last week in Illinois visiting family. While there, I went on a little spring break trip with my mother and younger sisters. We went to Mall of America in Minnesota. My great aunt and uncle live there, so they graciously let us stay with them during our shopping spree. It was a great time, and we definitely found some great deals. I found some great buys for both baby and I. As you may or may not know, the Mall of America is not just a mall, but also has a mini-theme park in the middle of it. It is 3 levels of shopping with any store you can imagine, and on the 4th floor has a movie theater. In addition, there is a little Legoland within it. Oh yes, and there is an aquarium in the bottom level. It's HUGE and it took us a full day and a half of shopping to hit all the stores we wanted to visit. We didn't ride any rides as only 1 of us was able to, it cost extra, and we didn't have time. Here are a few pictures of the trip. What fun!

Mom and my sisters with one of the Lego dinosaurs. Isn't crazy what they can make with Legos?

Me and a Lego Stormtrooper (I think?).

The top of the indoor log ride.

The two large indoor roller coasters.

This was a 3D picture of the shark, as you may be able to tell.

Lunch with our Aunt and gracious hostess.