Whirlwind August

Tripp and Grampy shopping!

Lucy McLean's Cantina!

Excited to be on her boat tour...for about 2 minutes, then she made it a miserable trip!

Tripp checking out NYC from the hotel room window

(all the other pics are on another computer...will download them later)

We have been busy this month. We went to NYC with my parents the first week of August. That consisted of a Mets Game, Ryan's 29th Birthday, Ryan going to the hospital (short story...he had an allergic reaction to something and is fine now...epipen in hand!), a Yankees Game, the Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, Time Square, lots of shopping, Westside Story, visiting with our "yankee friends" on Long Island, central park zoo, and lots of other great NYC adventures. The kids did well, considering they are 2 and 5 months and were stuck in strollers for the majority of the week. They were happy to be back "home" which is now my parents house. We moved and are staying here until our house sells.

We came back and on Monday I drove to Asheville to take my last question of my comprehensive exams and scored a HIGH PASS...woohoo. I am now OFFICIALLY done with my 60 hour graduate school program!

I started my new job at the alma mater on Tuesday (the 10th) and it has been great so far. My days have been jam packed with schedule changes, meeting kids and parents, cheerleading practice, meetings, etc.

Ryan found out that he is going to be working at Henderson Independent School (also in Rowan County) as a math teacher. He is really excited about this. He started on Wednesday and is enjoying getting to know everyone.

Thursday (the 12th)we celebrated our anniversary and also got some sad news. Ryan's dear friend Seth (the guy who set us up) was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma on Thursday. We ask that you please pray hard for this family. Seth goes tomorrow to meet with an oncologist to (in his words) "figure out how he is going to beat this". We know (and they know) that the Lord is in control and he knew this day was coming long before now. Still yet, this is a scary time for the Denton family, as well as all of us who love them so dearly. Please pray for Seth, his wife Rebecca, and their two boys Luke (4) and Benjamin (3 months).

Last night (the 20th) was our first football game of the season. I am the cheerleading coach. It sure is a different perspective from the coaches seat! The girls did great. I was pretty proud.

Tons more info to go, but all in all we feel blessed to be where we are. We are missing our friends in Brevard, but know we are where the Lord wants us!