Minnie May

Saturday afternoon, we said goodbye to our sweet Minnie May. She was just a puppy eleven years ago when our neighbors found her running loose on the street with a broken chain and a metal collar welded around her neck. She had clearly been the victim of animal abuse and it took weeks before she learned to trust us, but since then she has been the sweetest dog imaginable.

Earlier this week she stopped eating and the vet found a tumor growing on her spleen. It was hemorrhaging and too late for surgery so he put her to sleep Saturday afternoon. We know that she had a wonderful life with us and we are so grateful for the time we had with our precious dog.

Roma Pictures

I have finally posted my pictures!

Here, on Windows Live, I've posted virtually all of the pictures I took in Roma (1233 pictures uploaded) in full quality. Some features you'll like to know about...

• You can go to the pictures by clicking on one in the list. Once you have clicked on the next picture (in the upper right) you can use the left and right arrow keys to scroll through the pictures.


• There is a "Slide Show" button at the top of the page that is very nice for scrolling through all of them.


• You can download any of the pictures by clicking the "Download" button at the top.


• All the pictures are uploaded in their original 10 megapixel size, so you can click on the picture again to view in super-size.

Every picture has a caption which tells the location of where the picture was taken (usually nothing more than that). I have posted a comment on each picture that represents the start of a new day.

In order for you to comment on the picture, you will have to get a Windows Live account (which I strongly suggest. It has a lot of cool stuff). Be sure to friend me when you get your account!

Hope you enjoy!

Grace and peace to you...


http://cid-7884bc0629443c97.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Roma

Temporary Roma Pictures...

Hello world! I (Jesse) have not posted on the blog in a very long time (and this post will be short), but I thought I would check in and tell everyone that I am safely back from my trip to Roma, Italia with the University Fellows Program of Samford University. Roma is perhaps the most amazing place in the world and I've posted a few pictures online already. Follow this link to see them. I am busy uploading all 1250 pictures I took, and I'll post a link to those when I get it done. Enjoy the pictures and God bless...

Grace and peace to you

The Finks’ visit

  Brian and Trish Fink, Mama and Daddy’s dear friends from Canada, came down for a visit earlier this week.

 

A beautiful Indian birch bark basket!

This was one of the coolest things they showed us. It’s called birch bark biting; the Finks know an Indian lady who takes paper thin strips of birch bark and literally folds and bites it into these beautiful patterns!

A totem pole that Brian carved himself!

This was my favorite: an eagle’s head carved from the butt of a moose antler!

You may have noticed that Jesse and I (Abby) are not in these pictures. Jesse is half-way through his trip to Italy right now! He is having an incredible time, he even got to spend his actual birthday in the Pantheon! And I was at work (at the Publix grocery store) when these pictures were taken.

 

Our piano awards night was last Sunday and Chris and Sam were Captains, meaning that they were among the top four students with the longest average practice time this year!

 

Bowling!

Look at that form! Okay, so we’re a little out of practice… We’ll be doing a lot more bowling over the summer.

 

This is one of the coolest caterpillars I’ve ever seen!

 

No, this wasn’t from the same caterpillar!

 

Opening up the pool for the summer is always a big job, and a nasty one! This was before clean-up…

And this is after! It’s still a little cool for swimming, but the boys had to try it!

Jesse and Nathan’s birthday

…just not really. The boy’s birthday is actually on the 19th, but since Jesse will be in Italy, we decided to have the party on the 9th. Jesse will be nineteen and Nathan will be turning ten.

Nathan with his gifts!

And his little friend, Hairy!

Jesse’s birthday sign was (appropriately) in Italian.

While Nathan’s was Lego-themed

Jesse’s cake, however, was in Spanish

 

And Nathan had the classic airplane!

This is a picture I just had to include. One of Nathan’s gifts was a gigantic bubble wand and Chris took this cool picture of Jack when they were playing with it the next day!

 

Sarah and me (Abby) attempting to serve the pie and cake for Mother’s day.

A gorgeous lantana bloom

Ooo! Very artistic!

Drew and Natalie’s Wedding

Here are some quick photos from yesterdays wedding.

Waiting for the ceremonies to begin.

Listening to the message by the priest.

 

Father and Son.

Father, son and bride.

Gorgeous Dress

Drew’s family.

Uncles and groom.

Dancing before the couple heads out.

Easter!

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday! We met some friends at the early service at the Church at Brook Hills and came home to egg hunts and cinnamon rolls! At noon, we left for Grandmother’s house for a lunch of ham, baked beans, potato salad, and garlic bread with key lime pie and apple cobbler for dessert! After visiting and digesting we drove home again for church at our house!

Egg dying!

 

 

Finding the perfect shade of red can be an intense experience for a nine-year-old!

And slightly less intense for a fifteen-year-old!

 

Christopher displays the artwork before church!

 

Lunch at Grandmother’s.

Japanese maple leaves

Trumpet vine

Dogwood

 

Azaleas.