This is most of my family (plus three friends) on a recent trip to the Lost Sea in Sweetwater, TN.

A few weeks ago, we took a family trip to Frozen Head State Park. Chris, the kids, Toby (the dog) and I hiked up to two different waterfalls. It was a lot of fun, and great family bonding.

Kyra played the role of photographer at the beginning of our hike, and she took this photo of the rest of us.

Abby Jo enjoyed herself.

I climbed on top of the first waterfall we came to.

We know we are totally awesome on top of the falls.

Abby eats a rock.

Me and my progeny under the second waterfall, Emory Gap Falls.

(Please to notice how that when I take the picture, the waterfall is actually included.)

It was a beautiful day with beautiful scenery.

I couldn’t help but be amazed at God’s wonderful creation.

It’s been a little while since I’ve blogged. I’ve been busy…and sick. I have had a lot of fun over the last few days, though. 

Amy and her kids came for a short visit over the weekend. They got here early (early) in the morning on Thursday, and stayed through about noon yesterday. We didn’t do a whole lot because of how I am 32 weeks pregnant, and that translates to tired, sore, and swollen feet. We watched several movies, spent a lot of time on the couch with my feet up, and broke up a lot of kid fights. Turns out, nearly two years later, our kids still only like each other about half the time  a third of the time  thirty minutes a day. Okay, maybe a little more than that, but not much. We’ve decided that, in the future, we’re going to have to divide the Maxwell kids from the Harmon kids for a portion of each day. They just get too much of each other, and then we all go crazy. Anyway, we did do one fun thing while they were here. On Friday, we skipped Friday school at church, and took the kids on a field trip the Children’s Museum in Oak Ridge. That was a lot of fun. My camera battery was dead, so I didn’t get any pictures. Amy did, though, and I’ll have her send them to me so I can post a link to them later.

It was great to see my friend again, and it’s awesome to think that I’ll see her again in right around forty days…when she comes to be with me when my baby is born! Exciting days these are!

On Sunday morning, Chris had the opportunity to preach at our church. He did really well, and I was extremely proud of him. It’s cool for me to see how he’s evolving as a preacher since he’s been in Seminary. He preached on “Have You Been With Jesus”, and it really ministered to me. It’s exciting to get a little taste of what Chris will be doing as a Chaplain. We also had Awana Sunday night, which is always fun. Chris led a discussion in our Journey class with the teenagers, and it was good to hear them discussing how they could do more for God. We really enjoy working with the young people at our church.

Yesterday, we got to go out and enjoy some of the great weather we’ve had for the last few days. It has been unseasonably warm. We played outside yesterday in short sleeves! Chris had to go to the range yesterday, so, even though he didn’t get the whole day off, he was off by three, so we took the kids and went to the park. His mom met us there, and then ordered pizza for all of us while we played. It was awesome.  A great day with our family. Here’s a link to my Facebook photos from yesterday. I’m still having trouble uploading photos directly to my blog. I’ll get Chris or Amy to help me update my wordpress sometime soon, so that I can do that again. For now, I’ll just have to link you to Facebook.

Kyra just finished taking her last couple of first grade tests, and she is now…drum roll please…a second grader! I’m awfully proud of her. She’s made a lot of progress academically since the beginning of the school year. When we started the school year, she really struggled with reading. She spent half of her school days crying over how her words were too hard and she didn’t like reading. She has made tremendous gains in reading, and does quite well now. It’s been an interesting adjustment for me. I have to make sure she’s not standing behind me while having a private instant message conversation, or it’s not so private anymore.

So, that’s a bit of an update on us, for those who are interested. 

This was Kyra’s last field trip of the year. We went to Frozen Head State Park and had hot dogs and hamburgers. Everyone had a lot of fun.

Elijah played in the creek with our cousin, Punky.

With Brooke’s help, Owen played in the creek, too.

Elijah climbed a tree. (With a little help from Daddy, of course!)

He’s a cute little monkey, isn’t he?

Kyra got to go on a field trip today to the bowling alley. Me, Elijah, and Owen went with her. We all had a good time. Kyra’s future husband (by her accounts, not his) had to keep rescuing her balls. She wasn’t rolling them hard enough, and they would quit half way down the lane. Westley kept walking down to give them a push. She then said, “Thank you, We-e-estley.” She’s so funny. Elijah really enjoyed bowling. It was right up his alley….pun intended.