travel

  • travel

    north myrtle 2017.

    Hello friends! We just finished a lovely week at North Myrtle Beach. Here are a few highlights . . . 1.Our condo was the best. David found us a three-bedroom this year at a great rate because it’s off-season, we even got upgraded to oceanfront since we arrived right after Hurricane Irma passed through. No damage there, but the place was pretty sparse those first few days. A three-bedroom allowed us to spread out comfortably without being on top of one another … nice big kitchen and living space. Two bathrooms, and two bedrooms for the kids. We logged many hours right there on the 12th floor. We brought toys,…

  • travel

    orlando trip.

    One of my mom’s great-aunts passed away recently, and she wanted to go to Florida for the memorial service. The kids and I jumped at the chance to take a road trip and see our family, so my mom took a couple more days off work to help turn it into a little vacation. We spent the first two nights in a little guest condo at Good Samaritan Retirement Village, in Kissimmee, which is where we attended my Grandma’s memorial service last year. A retirement village full of golf carts and double-wide mobile homes and a sprawling nursing home may seem like a strange spot for a vacation, but both…

  • the kids,  travel

    interview with judah: summer camp.

    Tell me about your camp. What kind of camp was it? A Christian camp How many boys were in your cabin? How many counselors did you have? Ten boys and two counselors What major did you choose for the week? Outdoor survival What’s one thing you learned about outdoor survival? That clay can be used as a bug spray What other activities did you get to try? Archery, climbing, GaGa ball, zipline, jump on the Blob, kayaking, water games in the lake What did you do during chapel? Talk about Jesus being the Vine What did you do to celebrate 4th of July? Big fireworks on lake What’s something that…

  • motherhood,  the kids,  travel

    judah goes to camp.

    Yesterday evening we dropped Judah off for 6 nights at Bethel Christian Camp in Gaston, about 30 minutes away from Columbia. It’s a camp we’ve known and loved for a long time. We’ve met the director, and have seen lots of friends attend over the years. I can’t imagine a better first camp experience for our boy; still I can hardly believe he’s gone. He’ll turn 10 in September, which is the age I was when I started going to camp, but it still feels young somehow. I was delighted that we were allowed to settle him into his cabin and see the bunk he chose and meet his senior…

  • travel

    anniversary backpacking trip.

    Here’s the story of our first ever backpacking trip: David was in charge of finding a location and rounding up camping gear, and I was in charge of food. He decided on a 12-mile stretch of the Foothills Trail, which starts in Caesar’s Head State Park, SC (near Greenville), and extends 76-miles up into Western North Carolina. A couple of our friends had just spent two nights and three days backpacking there and told him that it was great: very quiet and scenic. David’s done some car camping with the kids on and off and camped on a couple guy adventures, so we’ve collected gear here and there over the…

  • 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…

  • travel

    florida trip.

    The kids and I had a wonderful time in Florida celebrating my grandma this weekend. David wasn’t able to get away, so I’m very thankful to my parents for making it possible for us to be there. We couldn’t leave until Friday morning, and while my mom drove down with Betsy on Thursday, my dad stayed behind and arrived at our house at 5:00 am Friday to drive us so that we could all sleep in the car. We arrived in Kissimmee (just south of Orlando) at 2:00 pm for the 3:00 service — just in time to freshen up and change clothes! We stayed near my parents so that…

  • travel,  writing

    in memory.

      My mom’s mother passed away last Monday after a 10 year battle with Alzheimer’s Disease. Our family gathered in Florida this weekend to celebrate her life. I had the joy of gathering memories from the grandchildren, which my cousin Lindsey read at the service, and I thought I’d share it below in case you want to get a glimpse into the kind of person my grandma was.   Our Grandma was a lover of children. First she had six of her own and in the blink of an eye it seemed, she had 17 grandkids too. Her life was filled up to the brim and overflowing with children. Our…