our family hobbies

  • our family hobbies,  travel

    rim of the gap.

    By David A few weeks ago I grabbed Judah and Amie and headed to one of my favorite places, Jones Gap State Park, a stone’s throw from the North Carolina border and a million miles from distracted days in Columbia. Weighted down with snacks, books, stuffed animals, and a thermos of coffee, we chatted on and off on during the two-hour drive.  At one point I asked Judah to read aloud from Romans 10.  Amie had asked the night before how someone could be sure they were a Christian.  And so we talked about what it means to confess and believe. I think that both our older kids are born…

  • our family hobbies,  the kids

    our additions.

    Notice I said additions, not addition. I don’t have house addition news quite yet, but we got a few other additions in the meantime. Eight, to be exact. David has been wanting chickens literally since the summer we moved back from India. That’s when he developed an enthusiasm for having a backyard homestead. He decided bee-keeping may be a bit ambitious, but built our garden the month we bought our house (number one priority). The time hasn’t been quite right for chickens (number two priority). Thankfully David’s parents, Steve and Linda, moved from Pennsylvania into our neighborhood two years ago and got chickens soon after. We lived vicariously through them…

  • adoption,  church,  columbia,  counting gifts,  our family hobbies

    six things on friday.

    Happy Friday, dear friends! Here are six things that are making my life a little happier these days: 1. We have a holiday and birthday cinnamon roll tradition. David’s birthday was October 7, but we had a few busy weekends in a row, so I finally made his cinnamon rolls this week. Homemade cinnamon rolls are something I was intimidated by until my friends in India showed me how very easy they are. Now I’m teaching Amie how to make them. If you’re interested, here’s our tried-and-true recipe. I prepare them the night before and then bake them the next morning and whip up a quick glaze. 2. A monumental…

  • columbia,  food,  our family hobbies

    the veggie box.

    One of our favorite things to do together, both as a couple and as a family, is to cook and bake. For several years now, we’ve been trying to move in the direction of a healthy, whole-foods based diet. This doesn’t mean we’re health nuts, and it doesn’t even mean we buy everything organic. You’ll find cereal and store-bought bread in the pantry, and the kids have peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch most days. David’s good at helping me be inspired to make and eat healthy food but not let it take over my life. I had a friend once advise me, “Instead of obsessing about what to…

  • our family hobbies,  the kids

    Amie, Daddy, and Rover’s adventure.

    Dictated by Amie: Last week we went in the car for our adventure and Dad told me that we are going to see some cats and dogs and pet them. And then Dad asked somebody if we could take a dog with us. She picked a dog, his name was Rover. I was happy and Rover jumped and licked me! He was light brown and black and he was very fun actually! When we got to the woods, Daddy let me hold the leash. We walked and it was fun! It was so fun! We walked three miles in the woods: we went on some bridges and after all that…

  • guest posts,  our family hobbies,  the kids

    guy day at the congaree.

    Dictated by Judah Last week I got to take the day off school to go on an adventure. When we were riding, me and Dad talked about the Bible and life. We talked about the book of Mark which I just finished the day before our adventure. We were riding to our hike that we have never been to. We got a little confused finding it, but soon John texted us and then we knew where to go. When we started our walk, it was leafy and a little downhill until Dad marked a little trail and then we kept walking. There was a little stream that was deep, we…

  • our family hobbies,  our house

    morning fire pit.

    Morning fire pits are a tradition we developed last fall and winter, and we introduced Gabe and Noah to it on Saturday. I remember having a fire pit one evening the first weekend we adopted them, back in April (yes, we like to make fire pit season stretch as long as possible), and it was nothing short of terrifying. I was every moment afraid they’d stumble into the fire, touch the hot stone surface, throw random objects into the flames. What were we even thinking? Fast forward six months, and we spent a much more relaxing hour together around the fire. We all slept in ’til 7:30 (and Judah until…