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Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Father's Day Follies

I could also call this "Frisbee Golf Follies."

Terry decided that what he wanted to do to celebrate on Sunday was to take the family to Warrior's Path State Park for some frisbee golf.

From Father's Day 2010


We broke up into three teams (Terry/Noah, me/Nathan, and Rebecca/Caleb) and things were going pretty well up until Hole #15. The score was very close between my team and Terry's, and competition was getting pretty intense. My frisbee ended up in the creek, though. Rather than taking a one-stroke penalty, I decided to go in and putt from the creek. After all, I had on my Keene's!

From Father's Day 2010


Well, as you can see, it didn't turn out so well. I had no idea the mud was knee-deep! Rebecca rushed over to get the Panasonic camera from around my neck (to protect it from the mud and make incriminating photos). When I went to pull my foot out, one of my sandals came off. In spite of twenty minutes of digging through the mud, we never found it!

From Father's Day 2010


From Father's Day 2010


I finished the course with just one shoe. And yes, my team lost. Terry says it served me right for not being willing to take the penalty.

Terry, Our Hero

For Father's Day, we made a "Hero Survival Kit" for Terry, including breath mints "guaranteed by four out of five damsels in distress," a secret-identity bar, etc.

From Father's Day 2010



Terry was a hero to Noah last week when he took some time to do a building project with him. Noah designed a "house" for his stuffed dogs, and he and Terry built it from scrap lumber we had in the basement.

From Father's Day 2010


From Father's Day 2010

Noah's Baptism

This was a special day for the Seaman family. Our church, Redeemer Community Church, had a baptism service on June 13th, and Noah was baptized along with five others. Terry got to do the honors, and we were glad that his cousins were on hand to be witnesses.

From Noah's Baptism June 2010


From Noah's Baptism June 2010


From Noah's Baptism June 2010


From Noah's Baptism June 2010


"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may have a new life." ~ Romans 6:4

Cousin Camp 2010



We had so much fun with Cousin Camp back in 2008 that we decided we just had to make this happen again this year - even though everybody's schedules are a bit crazy. All our kids spent the first half of the week in Knoxville with Uncle Scott and Aunt Ann, and the kids came to Johnson City for the second half of the week. The kids spent time swimming in the pool, swimming in the lake, tubing, jumping on the trampoline, playing Apples to Apples, tie-dyeing shirts and watching a Star Wars marathon. A good time was had by all.

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Jennings Family Reunion in Tullahoma

We spent this past weekend at Terry's Mom's family reunion in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Terry's grandfather (Conway Jennings) was one of a family of thirteen, and these siblings and their descendents have been getting together annually for over 50 years. The traditional spot for the reunion is Rutledge Falls which is still owned by family but open to the public. It is a beautiful falls and great for swimming on a hot day.

From Reunion 2010


Here is everyone digging into the traditional spread - way too many calories!

From Reunion 2010


Here are Rebecca and Sara (first cousins):

From Reunion 2010


And here is a younger generation of cousins (both are children of Terry's cousins).They are both named Maya and they look to have mixed feelings about the event:

From Reunion 2010


There are always puppies at the reunion somehow, and this year was no exception. Notice the resemblance to Smoky, the Tennessee mascot:

From Reunion 2010


From Reunion 2010


Here are some of my other favorite photos from the reunion:

From Reunion 2010


From Reunion 2010


From Reunion 2010


From Reunion 2010


Not pictured is Aunt Jennifer - who said she would personally break my camera if I took a photo of her, and I believe it!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Dirty Jobs

From Dirty Jobs


I thought I'd post about what Terry and Nathan did last week. They spent Wednesday through Saturday in Nashville helping with cleanup efforts with Samaritan's Purse.


It was a great bonding time for them, and they both really enjoyed it. Nathan can't wait to go back. His favorite part was removing ductwork from crawl spaces. (Now that we've discovered he likes being in tight places, we've got to make sure he gets to go caving with cousin Matthew.)

Terry was very impressed with Samaritan's Purse and their emphasis on people - not work. Not that they were loafing or anything - but they were told to drop everything if necessary to minister to the people. Here they are praying together before beginning their day's work:

From Dirty Jobs


Here are Terry with the two other folks that traveled the five hours from Johnson City to participate:

From Dirty Jobs


Yes, there is a lot of orange going on. And even though Terry isn't in orange, he is in his Tennessee volunteer shirt, which leads me to something I want to share.

The following article is all over the place here in Tennessee right now, but for those that don't live here, I'm copying it below. It's moving and even brought tears to my eyes - whereupon Rebecca teased me that I was crying "because I wasn't from Tennessee like the rest of them." Not exactly - but I'm proud to claim it as my adopted home.

"THIS IS TENNESSEE"
VOLUNTEERS ADD NEW CHAPTER TO STORIED HISTORY

by Brent High

On May 1st and 2nd of 2010 a historic amount of rain, as much as 17 inches, fell on middle Tennessee and the city of Nashville in less than 48 hours. Historians are using terms like “thousand year flood” to describe what took place here. The Cumberland River, Nashville’s main waterway, crested at just over 51 feet, flooding iconic structures including the Grand Ole Opry, LP Field and Bridgestone Arena where the Tennessee Titans and Nashville Predators play, Country Music Hall of Fame and the Opryland Hotel and Convention Center. The water rose so much, so fast and in places water has never been seen that thousands had to be rescued by boat. Dozens lost their lives. Thousands of homeowners lost everything they had. Thousands more are now trying to salvage what’s left. Most had no flood insurance because before May 1st they didn’t need it where they lived. Early estimates are that the damage will top $1 billion and this storm will go down as the most devastating non-hurricane event in American history.

This is Tennessee.

It’s Monday, May 3rd. The rain has stopped, finally. What happens next shouldn’t come as a surprise. Almost instinctively, after a long night of restlessness, volunteers spring into action. It’s in their blood. They’ve been trained to do so by their parents and grandparents. From Waverly to Cookeville, Winchester to Cross Plains and in the capital city of Nashville the sights and sounds are the same.

Without being asked, fishermen launch their boats into the muddy soup, joining the rescue efforts. Business owners and supervisors tell their employees to take the day off and jump in and help wherever they can. Neighbors, many of whom helped empty entire houses in brigade fashion the night before, transition into cleanup mode. Sump pumps and generators whirr. Drywall, carpet and ruined floors are ripped out. Elderly ladies gather at the church to make lunches for workers. Teenagers distribute bottled water. Pickup trucks, trailers and storage units are loaded with what could be salvaged. Photos and documents are spread out in the sun to dry. Wads of $20 bills are slid into pockets of those affected. Checks are written. Hugs are given. Prayers are said. Tears are shed.

This is Tennessee.

Almost 200 years ago Tennessee first earned the nickname “Volunteer State.” In 1812 More than 2,000 Tennesseans volunteered to fight for Andrew Jackson and were the main part of Jackson’s army that destroyed the British three years later in the Battle of New Orleans. A generation later the U. S. Secretary of War asked Tennessee for 2,800 soldiers to fight a war against Mexico. 30,000 volunteered.

This is a state where faith comes first. We don’t ask why. We know there is a reason and look forward to it being revealed. We are guided by scriptures such as Philippians 2:3-5 which says:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus.”

Family is a focus, not an afterthought. Don’t bother trying to do business with us the week of Christmas or July 4th. We’ll be with family. When our kids have a school play we will be there. We throw big birthday parties. We teach our kids right from wrong and aren’t afraid to give them a whippin’ when they need it.

Here we say “Yes ma’am” and “No ma’am.” We try to leave a place better than we found it. We put our hand over our heart when the national anthem is played. We pull over on the side of the road when funeral processions pass on the other side.

We are savvy business people. We are farmers. We are teachers.

We drink Coke here. We like gravy with our biscuits and potatoes.

We are serious about our sports. We keep score in little league and we still have all-star teams and MVP trophies.

We are givers.

You won’t hear us wailing about where the federal government and insurance companies were in all of this. We’ll get by just fine without them.

Right now we have a lot to deal with here in our backyard. We will handle it with dignity and class. We will sacrifice for each other in ways that are unfathomable to most. We will stand together. We will stand tall. We will come out of this stronger than we were before it.

One day in the not too distant future a hurricane, tornado, fire, flood or other unspeakable disaster will strike your community. As you struggle to put the pieces back together we will be there.

We will volunteer.

We are Tennesseans.

This is Tennessee.