Fall is for Football... and Beaches!!

Hello guys! Lots of pictures tonight, so enjoy! We'll start with a few Darlington football pictures that I've been meaning to post for several weeks. You will notice that Christa is wearing two adorable pillow-case dresses in all of the pictures. After the "Fish and Tea" post a couple of months ago (where I shamelessly hinted that I wanted a pillowcase dress for Christa:), not one, but TWO wonderful friends offered to make us some. Kimberly made these football dresses, and Amy just sent me a precious pink and brown one that will be posted very soon! Both of these lovely ladies sell their creations at very reasonable prices, and at least one of them custom-makes hairbows of all sizes as well. To thank them, I'd like to offer them a little free advertising here on this space. If any of you moms have little girls in need of some cute dresses or hairbows, let me know, and I will direct you to the talented seamstress who lives closest to you! The dresses and hairbows can be safely mailed in simple envelopes, so the shipping costs are very low if you live far away. All of the products we have used so far have been great quality, and we have received numerous compliments. They also make excellent gifts for friends and family! Kimberly will be at a school bazaar here in town the first weekend in November. If you are a local friend, and would like to do a little personal shopping, e-mail me for more details on that.

In the meantime, enjoy these pictures from earlier in the season...




... and also these pictures from Christa's first GA game yesterday!!! Sadly, Cline had to work, so he missed this milestone. But Christa and I had a great time watching the GA/Tennessee game! She did really well, considering it was such a long day for her, and even caught a cat-nap during half-time.

Our family will be doing some traveling this week, down to the Lighthouse Family Retreat in Florida. Cline and I went to a meeting about it last week, and we can not wait to get involved with this organization. At the meeting, we learned a fascinating story of how this ministry came to be. About 10 years ago, a woman named Melinda was working as a nurse with pediatric cancer patients. She attended a Crown Financial Ministries event (which is a Christian-based charity dedicated to providing guidance on how to manage money using biblical principles). At this event, Melinda was asked the question, "What would you do if you had one million dollars?" Melinda replied, "I'd start a group to take kids with cancer and their families to the beach." The person who asked the question said, "Why don't you do that?" and so Melinda met with some prominent leaders, including Andy Stanley, and founded the Lighthouse shortly thereafter!

We also got to meet some of the people we'll be working with, and everyone seems so nice and genuine. I'll tell you all about it (within the guidelines of HIPPA) when we return. While we are gone, I am planning to take a little blogging/e-mail holiday. I don't know if we will have internet access while we are down there, but even if we do, I'm afraid it would be a distraction for me and take away from the experience of the retreat. So, if you don't hear from me for a few days, that is the reason.

You guys have a great week, and please pray for our team and the families we will be serving throughout the week. Pray that the kids will be healthy enough to enjoy their time at the beach and that the volunteers will be able to show Christ's love perfectly to them. Pray that the parents and siblings will also have a wonderful time and leave feeling refreshed and strengthened. Also, please pray for Cline's grandmother who will be having some surgery on Wed. and for Cline who is so sad to be leaving her while she is sick.