Sabbatical Update: Family Times

Over the past few weeks, we've had some neat family time. Here's a few snapshots...

WASHINGTON D.C.:

The picture above was taken at Mt. Vernon minutes before I was told very forcibly that I had to remove Noah from my shoulders due to safety concerns. Ironically, as I took him down I dropped him on his head. Here he is below, fully recovered except for his sense of balance.

We stayed with Whitney's Aunt Joyce, who was a very gracious host.

I'm not really sure what's going on in this picture. This kid just loves to be goofy.

The thing the kids wanted to do in Washington D.C. more than anything else was visit the Lincoln Memorial. Here we are.TENNESSEE

After our time in D.C., we headed down to Tennessee to see my Grandparents and cousins. My grandmother, of course, is the famous "Grammy." Here she is at her computer with Austin, possibly preparing to comment on my blog. Further below are pictures of the grandparents and cousins with the kids.

FLORIDA:

After Tennessee, Whitney and I dropped the kids off in Texas and spent some time in Florida together. TEXAS

We arrived back in Texas at the beginning of November and have been here ever since. I've been visiting churches and interviewing people. Sunday we went down to San Antonio with my parents as an early Christmas present. On Tuesday, we went to Sea World and came back yesterday.

Due to the expense of hotel rooms, we rented a drawer for Noah in some stranger's room.

Noah also loved the animals. He went crazy hugging everything in sight.

The funniest part of the trip was watching the 4-D Pirates show. This picture was taken moments before the screaming began.

Hannah kept us from getting lost.

Here we are at the obligatory stop at the Alamo.

The first night we stopped by at "Skateboard Hill", near one of the homes we lived at in San Antonio. It was neat to see the kids enjoying skateboarding where I had spent so many Sunday afternoons.