2009

We started the new year with breakfast with the Encouragers Class on January 1.

Brenda attended the memorial service for Jerry Cole Beaver on January 6.

We did an overnight outing for the RAs at Bent Tree on Jan 9-10.

Jeff finished the rockhorse for Elyse and she was excited to receive it on Jan 11.

Mark finished a large metal archway for the Strand Theater in Marietta, continuing to do projects for them.

The Georgia Tech BSU Alum group gathered at Nancy Bonds' on January 17.

Brenda is off to Washington DC with Annie and Johnnie Jan 19-24 for the Inauguration and to visit the Williamsburg area.

Elyse's group performs at the arena, January 27.

The Duritys hosted our Sunday School social on Jan 30.

Jeff and family arrive on February 20 for a visit.

Mark works as construction foreman for the movie "Get Low".

Rod and Brenda fly to San Francisco on March 1 and visit the California coast. We traveled to Santa Cruz and Monterey, to Pebble Beach, and then up the coast to San Francisco. On March 4 we traveled to Dunnigan and visited with the Hobson family . We had a graveside service in remembrance of Charles Hobson on Saturday, March 7, followed by a celebration service at the church.

Jeff and family go on a safari in March.

On April 3-4 we have an RA overnight to Bent Tree.

We enjoy the birds that come to our birdfeeders. April 18.

We had a great gathering of the Georgia Tech BSU alumni group at Laddie and Becky Rollins' house in Suches on April 25.

We traveled to Barnesville, GA on May 1 for a luncheon reunion with the Alaska work team and Roy Moore, who was visiting from Alaska.

Jeff gets a promotion and is awarded Tenure at NOBTS.

Celebration of Mother's Day.

We took the grades 1-5 children from MFBC to Bent Tree for an overnight, May 15-16.

On May 22 we headed for Pearl River to see if we could spoil the granddaughters a bit. On Memorial Day, the 25th, we went to New Orleans to the Insectarium.

In memory of Denise, July 29, 1952 - June 1, 2009.

June 6 was our day for our RA Breakfast and trip to Bent Tree.

June 8-12 was a busy week with Vacation Bible School, which we shared with Jeff and family who had come to visit with us.

Rod is teaching the Conceptual Physics course again this summer.

We had to say goodbye to the great white oak tree in our front yard on July 4.

We enjoyed watching a big redhead woodpecker feed its youngster on July 4.

A colorful spider is the object of "small game hunting" on July 6.

A few shots of the area around Georgia State University and the gold dome of the Georgia state capitol building on July 10.

We had a picnic with the Iglesia de Mableton group at Bent Tree on July 11.

On July 21, Rod, Brenda and Mark launched out for Missoula, Montana and met Jeff and family at the airport there. Then we headed north for the Going-to-the-Sun Road through Glacier park on July 22, including the drive along the Garden Wall and a stop at Logan Pass. We drove north into Canada to Canmore, and then made it to Moraine Lake early on July 23. We spent a very enjoyable morning there including a walk aloong the lakeside trail and exploring the wonderful cascades at the end of the lake. We then drove north to Bow Lake for a brief visit and then up the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. On July 24 we rode the tramway up Whistler's Mountain to have a high look at the entire area and then went to Miette Hot Springs in the afternoon. On July 25 we drove to Maligne Canyon and then along the Maligne Lake Road to Maligne Lake. We had a picnic there and took the boat tour up Maligne Lake. On the return trip we experienced a thunderstorm and had the privilege of seeing a large elk closeup. On Sunday, July 26, we headed up the Mt. Edith Cavell road, had our Sunday devotional in view of the glacier, and then headed up the mountain for a hike where we enjoyed views of the glacier and the abundant wildflowers. On Monday, July 27 we headed south to the Ice Fields and returned by Sunwapta Falls and Athabasca Falls. On July 28, we went to Pyramid Lake and rented canoes, then visited the Jasper Museum. In the afternoon we made another trip to Mt. Edith Cavell. We had a picnic supper on Lac Beauvert. On July 29 we left Jasper and drove down the Icefields Parkway with a notable stop at Peyto Lake. Then we drove on through Calgary down to Cardston, just inside Canada. On July 30, our last on the road together, we drove back into the US and had breakfast in St. Mary and then traveled back through the Going-to-the-Sun Road, hiking to the Hidden Lake overlook and then making a stop along McDonald Creek. We then drove south to Missoula.

On August 8 we took the RAs to Cheaha Mountain in Alabama .

On August 13-14 we made a trip to Bent Tree to spend the night. We spent some time watching the Perseid meteor shower and tried out Sherry's new kayak.

On August 17, Suzanne and Bobby Lassiter came for a visit and we enjoyed poking around Atlanta together. We visited the Aquarium and the Coke Museum and made a quick trip to Bent Tree.

We joined Anne Newton and her group from Cartersville First Baptist for a trip to Nashville for the Labor Day gospel celebration, September 5-7.

We had our monthly breakfast and trip with the boys on September 12, now the Awana boys, and went to Bent Tree.

Jeff and family in Pearl River are having a busy fall with lots of soccer.

With torrential rains starting September 21, we had a severe flood in the Austell - Mableton area.

Brenda's high school graduating class from South Cobb High School had their 50th Reunion on September 26.

We gathered at the church on September 28 to deliver some food to those still suffering from the flood.

We took the Awana boys group to Stone Mountain for a hike on October 3.

We attended Alumni Day for the Georgia Baptist College of Nursing at Mercer on October 16.

On November 1 we had lunch with Sherry and we all drove up to Bent Tree for the evening. On Monday, Nov 2 we went on to board the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway for a round trip to McCaysville. In the afternoon we returned to the railway bridge near McCaysville to look at one of the sites where Mark did movie construction.

On November 13-14 we took the Awana boys up to Bent Tree for an overnight.

November 14 was the day for the Ladies Banquet at the church.

Late Wednesday evening on November 18, Jeff and family arrived from Pearl River for their Thanksgiving visit.

We enjoyed the choirs at MFBC Church Street Christmas on December 6.

Our Christmas social for RTB was at Pappadeaux on December 7. Then on Friday December 11 we hosted the Christian Faculty Forum Christmas social with a dinner at our home.

Sunday night December 13 was our choir's Christmas musical, Night of Hope. It was a busy week!

On Friday December 18, we headed out to Pearl River to celebrate Christmas with Jeff and family. On Dec 22 we attended a Christmas Variety Show in which all three girls participated. We took the girls to the Bayou General Store on Christmas Eve and enjoyed Christmas Day at the Moyles. We celebrated Elyse's 5th birthday before heading back toward Georgia.