Broken Camera!

Well, our camera is broken :( It has been sent to the camera doctor, and hopefully we'll have it back in time for everything going on in October: my dad's big birthday next weekend, a visit with Emma, Phil's parents coming to town and our missions/rebuilding trip to New Orleans!

Given the camera issue, I've been forced to steal pictures off my sister-in-law's blog, again. Here's a picture of Kim, and our nephew-to-be! How exciting to have another little boy to keep Michael company in the realm of spoiled nieces/nephews! She's about 28 days from her due date, and we can't wait to meet the little guy! We know his name, but I'm not sure if it's supposed to be a secret, so I won't tell :)


Kim and Nathan took the girls to an apple orchard to enjoy the fall weather, and here is a pic of each girl, Noelle and Madison, respectively. Are they not adorable?!?! I hate that we are so far from them- I miss their sweetness!!

And, finally, a picture of the fall colors they are already seeing in upstate NY- Saranac Lake/Lake Placid area. Ah, I wish we were there!!

Virginia Creeper

Over Labor Day, two other couples (David and Trina, David and Hollie) came up to the mountains with us for the long weekend. We stayed at Granny's house (which is getting quite the makeover by my stepmother, Brenda, by the way!!) and spent the weekend doing nothing but eat! :) Well, not really, but it felt that way, at least! We spent the day in Boone on Saturday, since 4 of the 6 of us are App grads. We visited old hang-outs, marvelled at all that has changed, and reminisced :)

We actually spent most of the day on Sunday riding the Virginia Creeper bike trail. It is an old railway bed that's been turned into a hiking/biking/horse trail, close to the NC/Virginia border. You can get a shuttle service to drop you off at the head of the trail and then ride down to their shop at the end. The leg we chose is the 17-mile portion from Whitetop, Va to Damascus, Va. And don't be too impressed with us for biking 17 miles... it's almost completely downhill :)

Here are some shots of our group on the trail, as well as some of the scenery. It's a beautiful trail, mostly shaded (nice when it's 90 degrees), and you pass over lots of old railroad trellises and pretty creeks. There are stops along the way, and a cafe at the halfway point. It was a great day, but I think we all questioned our choice as we sat down for dinner that evening- ouch!!! ;)

The girls: Bike dorks :) I mean, really- who looks good in those helmets??Isn't Trina cute? :)
Here's what I wish I'd been riding:
Before we left on Monday, we drove up to the top of Mt. Jefferson, which is the mountain in front of Granny's house. There's an awesome overlook up there, with a huge rock outcropping to climb around on. Here's a fun group shot:

We're Parents!!!!

I'm sure that everyone will be happy to know that Phil and I have become parents of a beautiful boy named Tucker... he's about 80 lbs, and a couple feet long :) We found him at the Humane Society- see his picure from their website:

We went to visit him, and played with him, and several other dogs. My always-responsible husband kept me from applying to adopt ALL of them (darn him). Tucker stood out to us as the one most "in need" of rescuing. He is about 8.5 years old, and the family he came from had given him up because they had a baby. You could tell in his eyes that he was pretty scared and uncomfortable at the shelter. He's also very well trained, and already housebroken. We knew the younger dogs had a better chance of getting adopted, and really felt like Tucker needed us.

They approved our adoption application, and we picked him up yesterday afternoon. He gets super-excited when he sees the leash, and he almost pulled Phil over when we left the shelter! He calms down after a second, though, and walks pretty nicely. He gets super-excited again when he realizes he's going for a ride, and he enjoyed the car ride home:

We let him explore the yard for a while, and then took him in to his new home. I thought he looked so cute waiting for Phil to open the door for the first time! He was so excited!

He seems to love everything- walks, rides, getting brushed, playing... he certainly seems to act more like a 2-year old than a 8.5-year old!

He's already made it quite clear that he's a daddy's boy- he ADORES Phil. He likes me alright, but was stuck like glue to Phil. Phil was the only one who could get him to lay on his dog bed when we were going to sleep, but as soon as he realized where Phil was sleeping... well...

He obviously didn't stay on the bed, but he did sleep right beside Phil's side of the bed all night. He was wide awake and ready to play this morning, and pulled out every toy we had to try to keep us from getting ready for work. I'm heading home at lunch to check on him, and see how he's doing on his own. We love him already, and can't wait for everyone to meet our new family member!

Also, I'd like to plug the Charlotte Humane Society- we were impressed with how well they seemed to know each animal there, and how excited they were to bring Tucker to us. Someone was bringing an awesome dog in yesterday while we were there (again, if Phil hadn't been there...) and I hope anyone in this area will consider them when they are looking for their next pet! www.humanesocietyofcharlotte.org

Emma Claire

Ever-increasing cuteness....