signs along the journey

catching up with the family

Some photos from Mom's birthday - just 73 years young





My cousin, Dianne, gives Mom a hug; she just moved back to SC in May. She was living with her oldest son, Ray and his wife and five kids, in VA the last two years. Ray Pettit, Jr. is in the US Army and currently on tour somewhere in Afghanistan.









About 18 family and friends celebrated at "the Junction"(pictured facing the camera from left to right, Donna, Pat, Judy, Loretta, and Mom)

Mom's other "son", my cousin Darrell, really enjoyed the party.

Mom and Dad enjoyed the party

Mom took time to open some cards and presents.

family photos

I had trouble with my computer and finally was able to get the digital photos downloaded tonight. It seems my computer was not in "sync" with my camera. So when I finally tried uninstalling the Kodak Easyshare Program, rebooting the computer and then re-installing the Easyshare program, everything started working again. I will be posting some photos tomorrow from Mom's party.

here we go again!

It's gonna be another fun week at work! With all eyes glued on the hurricane websites like accuweather.com. Will we need to leave town again? We will be watching Ernesto and waiting! Just got home from a weekend excursion to SC for Mom's birthday and I really do not want to travel again so soon. At least the gas prices are cheaper in SC as we filled our tank at $2.46 a gallon in SC. Gas update - $2.67 a gallon at Exit 3 in GA and $2.81 a gallon on Dunn Ave in Jax tonight.

family updates

Glad to hear that Josh and Janelle are the proud owners of their first home. They closed on the house yesterday and plan to move in after the baby is born in September. They will have to paint the rooms and have the carpet replaced upstairs and downstairs in the meantime.

Today is a special day - it is my mom's birthday. We will be joining with other family members for a birthday party at the Junction Restaurant in Spartanburg this afternoon. I will try to post some pics when I get back home.

Cindy's mom, Winnie, enjoyed a trip to Nebraska for her family reunion. The Richardsons meet every year in August at a state park in Nebraska.

Canadian Brass: Quintet

Enjoy the beautiful music of the Canadian Brass

web watch

Bob Jones University offers another way to read the Bible. The Linked Word project is unique in that you can click on the underlined word or phrase in each verse and an informational pop-up box gives the definition and usage of that word or phrase.

Where's Jeeves? The butler has retired. For ten years, Ask Jeeves existed to help us search the internet. Now known only as Ask.com this site is an alternative to the Yahoo and Google search engines.

Writely- the Web Word Processor - now part of google and is still free to use.

It enables you to:
Upload Word documents, HTML or text.
Invite others to share your documents via email.
Edit documents online with whomever you choose.
Publish documents online to the world.
Download documents to your desktop as Word, PDF,etc.
Post your documents to your blog.

December baby

front of baby view






I am posting the sonogram of Leah and Stephen's baby that is due in December. Now you can help try to figure out whether it is a boy or a girl! Good luck!




face of baby view (look sideways)

Beacon on the food network

They say that people drive from all over the country just to eat at the legendary Beacon Drive-In in Spartanburg, SC. The drive-in will be featured on a food network special program to air Nov 4th. The "world famous" Beacon is one of those places like the Varsity Restaurant in Atlanta, you either love it or you don't, and you usually have a story to tell about it. One of my sons even told me about a Bob Jones University professor who would take his class to the Beacon, just for the experience. Most of my family in Spartanburg "love" the BBQ hash at the Beacon. And I just heard that the local Winn-Dixie here in Jax is selling "Beacon Sweet Tea" with or without lemon. The employee at the Winn-Dixie told my wife, "that's the good stuff!" It's a small world after all!

Blue Devils Drumline Parking Lot 2006



I know the season is "over" for drum corps, but I am so happy that I could post a video to my blog from youtube.com that I will keep this link. Also, it is a good way to remind you to watch ESPN2 on Sept 5th at 8 pm for the DCI World Championship special broadcast. DCI is moving up in the world. Last year the ESPN2 broadcast was at 10 PM. Who knows? Next year it may be on ESPN!

the heavens declare the glory of God

Only God could create something so beautiful.

Another beautiful sunset photo, this one from bigfoto.com

news from the home front

My Mother's hair dresser retired recently and this article was posted online at Spartanburg's Herald-Journal site - goupstate.com. After using the same hair dresser every week for about 40 years, I am not sure what Mom will do now . . .
For 46 years, Etta "Angel" Smith cut, curled and colored women's hair in her shop on Main Street in Cowpens.


Not being a political blog, I thought this worthy to post - the website for Tom Gallagher He is running for Governor of Florida (photo of Gallagher with Jeb Bush is a nice touch) According to the lastest commercials on TV, Gallagher is Pro-Life and is opponent is Pro-Choice - 'nuff said


Looking forward - to the upcoming concert on October 5th - the 5 BROWNS will be playing at the Florida Theatre (check out their website and you can to listen to their music) The two brothers and three sisters all attended the Julliard School of music in New York, and they play solos, duets, etc. and many selections on 5 grand pianos at once. I have both of their CD's now - The 5 BROWNS, a dual disc, CD and DVD and their new release, No Boundaries. Who said young people do not like classical music? Of course, most of today's youth are never exposed to the classical genre.

A youthful, all-American quintet of brothers and sisters,
each a virtuoso concert pianist, THE 5 BROWNS swept the
classical world in 2005 with the release of their self-titled
first recording for RCA Red Seal, which landed them at the
top of the weekly Billboard charts and,
at the end of the year, as one of the Top Classical
Artists of 2005.

breakfast experiment

One of the highlights from last weekend was Bonnie's breakfast experiment on us. It seems she learned about this recipe for cooking omelets in a baggie from her sister who found it while surfing the internet! It was pretty simple actually, and at the same time amazing that this really worked. So we were the guinea pigs and it was well worth it. With some help from all the guys (while the wives and other ladies were sleeping) she chopped up onions, mushrooms, and green peppers, and tomatoes, along with shredded cheese, frozen hash browns, and sausage. Basically, you could add any other ingredient that you might want in an omelet, like cubed ham instead of sausage. Each ingredient was placed in a bowl ready for you to add to your own personal baggie. We were given a quart size double-ziploc freezer bag. We then took one or two eggs(which determines the size of your omelet) and cracked each one into the baggie. Then we could add the other ingredients by the handful or spoonful to our baggie, mix well, add salt and pepper and butter to taste, and then squeeze the air out of the baggie before sealing it. Oh yeah, don't forget to write your name on the outside of your baggie with a marker. While this was all being prepared, water was brought to a boil in a large stock pot. With the water boiling, six baggies were put into the pot and allowed to bowl for 13 minutes. And when that timer went off, voila - we had made our own omelet. Seeing is believing! Try it, you'll like it!

15 minutes of fame

(make that 24 hours of fame!)

If you missed the email that was sent, you can see our Natalie if you click on this link to the Watertown Daily Times from August 14, 2006.

more photos at the lake

(Click on photo to enlarge)

Matt and Brandon take turns on the jet ski



Photo of Brandon on the water skis

Tim takes off on the jet ski


Matt and Joanna on the wave runner



Everyone had a fun day on the water

You can check out all the photos at this link to Weekend at Island Lake

weekend at Island Lake

Friends of ours, the Terrells, allowed us to invade their lake home for a weekend of water sports. Brandon invited several college friends to come down from Greenville.

Nathan and Eva enjoy the jet ski


Lots of boating, tubing, water skiing


Taking a break from the water to play a "serious" game of volleyball



Nathan swims to the island, Brandon on the jet ski


Oops! Jeremiah shows a new way to stop the wave runner

wishing I could be there

Wish I could be up there in Madison this week! I will have to be content to watch videos posted by drum corps fanatics at youtube

. . . like this one of the Blue Devils at DCI East last week

. . . or this one of the Cavaliers, a nice 2:27 minute clip

. . . the Madison Scouts are always one of my favorite groups

takepride.com

Takepride.com is a unique business website. It was started not just to sell t-shirts, but also to keep before us a reminder of the men serving our country. The site also has a slideshow of photos taken in Iraq and Afghanistan. This site was started by former enlisted men and 20% of the profits go to charities that help and assist combat veterans of the current war against terrorists.

Our two goals were to help people
re-connect to the experiences of those serving overseas
and to create a symbol of support that people, especially
younger Americans genuinely enjoyed putting on. T-shirts,
we hope, allowed us to accomplish both. Each shirt design
provides a glimpse into the life of a different US Service
member who served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

visionforum.com

Recently on a Saturday morning, my son tuned in to a radio broadcast of the Jonathan Park series. This creation series sparked our interest and after a few searches on the internet, we found the organization responsible for the program at vision forum.com. A login (your email address) and a password can be setup easily, or you can just browse the many products they offer for families. Multimedia links are available and include a site for kids called Everyday News Network, with new videos posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Check out the link to Media and Books at the Faith of Our Fathers catalog. Also, at Vision Forum you will also find gifts and concepts to build character in boys and girls at the links to The All-American Boy's Adventure Catalog and The Beautiful Girlhood Collection

from the Welcome page:
What is the common thread? Everything on our site is an
expression of our mission: to rebuild Christian family culture.
At Vision Forum, we are unabashed advocates for the historic, biblical ideal for motherhood and fatherhood; we rejoice in the revival of biblical education promoted through the home school movement; and we dare to believe that it is still noble and virtuous to train our sons to hold the doors for our daughters.

the heavens declare the glory of God

I was inspired by testimonies from the mission team at our church to post images that show us, as God's word says, that "the heavens declare the glory of God." From time to time I will post a photo or two. This photo was sent to me by email from mom and dad and shows the sunset at the north pole. Another photo I posted a few weeks ago called incredible would also fit into this theme.

new Christian music

Call to Worship

John and Kim Tracy ministered to us one Sunday this past June and they were a tremendous blessing. Their newest CD will be a blessing to you. We first heard John when he was in college at Bob Jones University and traveling with a saxophone quartet (believe it or not.) Then a couple of years ago, he and his wife had just moved to the Tampa area to minister, and they were featured at our church's Homecoming Sunday. As the old saying goes - "you get better with age" - John and his wife have matured musically, and he has become one of the "younger" generation filling the gap by writing and arranging good Christian music. This newest CD is fully orchestrated. You can listen online at OCM.com or check the Tracy's own website to purchase his music at WitnessMusic.vze.com

A Quiet Heart

If you are searching for some good devotional type music, Soundforth of BJU, has released this year a beatiful CD of "quiet music" for those quiet times. Bob Jones University uses present and former students only to record these selections each year. Each release is anticipated by all. Though not all of the octavos are published by Soundforth Music, they are all available to purchase for your choir and special music.

Always Giving Glory

The Camp on Wheels team has released a new recording of male trios. This CD features the singing trio Mike Herbster, Shaun Dunn and Carey Wilson. If you like to hear men sing, you will enjoy this recording. Their desire is to produce God-honoring music "that builds up young people through songs that teach Bible truth, and reminds young people what God did in their hearts at camp."

blue devils home videos

I found these videos of the Blue Devils at youtube.com and posted the links to my blog. The first one has excerpts from their wind band concert, and the second one showcasing their trumpet section was filmed on tour. Just one more week before the finals in Madison! For those of us who cannot make it to Wisconsin for the show, we will have to wait until September 5th. A special show filmed at the DCI finals will be televised on ESPN2 on the Tuesday after Labor Day at 8 pm.

the Blue Devils at practice on tour in Europe features the trumpet section

Blue Devils wind symphony concert

family news

One more month until little "Joshie" (or little Jannie") is born!














August is most famous for those "back to school" sales. I can honestly say I do not miss those days of trying to buy just the right amount of school supplies. The notebook paper was always gone by December - no matter how much we bought. And if you think grade school or high school is tough, wait until your children go to college and you have to buy those $150 books, dorm supplies, and more. (And of course children think that money grows on trees!) Most of our public and private schools are starting next week, just the second week of August. My wife has two more weeks as her school resumes on August 23. Yes, August means that summer is almost over!

Several birthdays take place in August:

Daniel Blackstock in Arkansas . . . Peyton Alexys McDonald in Texas . . .
Carl Baggett in Texas . . . Martha Franklin in South Carolina

Wedding anniversary this month:

My sister Debbie and Charlie Logan

weekend in Atlanta

I went to my first Atlanta Braves game at Turner Field last weekend. The Braves were playing against the New York Mets and even though my team lost, I still enjoyed the game. We were walking toward the ticket window and a stranger asked me if I needed a ticket. It seems his wife decided not to come to the game as the temperature was about 100 degrees. I offered to pay him but he refused; he just wanted to give it to someone who would use it. When I caught up to Brandon and his friends, they had already purchased me a ticket, a $5 standing room only ticket. As it worked out, the four of us were able to sit in the same section (using my free ticket) for the entire game. The seat was in row 11 near the front of the top section, behind the home plate. It was a perfect seat for the game and the fireworks display afterward. Also, the attendance at this game set a record for the highest ever at 53,964 so I guess my ticket is now a souvenir!

The next day was spent at the Georgia Dome for the Drum Corps International Southeastern Championships, a prelude to the DCI World Championships next weekend in Madison, WI. The competition began at 12 noon with 16 drum corps competing. Then that evening at 7 pm the top four from the afternoon competed against the top 8 drum corps - the Madison Scouts, Santa Clara Vanguard, Carolina Crown, The Cadets, Bluecoats, Phantom Regiment, The Cavaliers, and Blue Devils. It was awesome! As much as I like the Blue Devils, I think the Cavaliers might end up with the top honors this year. Their show called "Machines" was just amazing. The final scores for the day were 93.00 for the Blue Devils and 93.025 for the Cavaliers.

View Photos from my weekend in Atlanta

the battle at Gettysburg

In the news this week at USATODAY.COM, this story appeared yesterday about the ongoing restoration and preservation at Gettysburg, PA - the battle at Gettysburg, 143 years later. Also this link takes to you to a slideshow and audio presentation called the battle to save Gettysburg

health warning!!

Have you seen this health warning for candy bars? We usually buy the snack size candy bars in bags at the grocery, but recently I bought a full size bar from the vending machine at work. The message on the inside of the wrapper caught my eye.