Bailey and Baby

Well, yet another week has gone by. That brings us one week closer to the end of the first trimester and hopefully the end of the "morning" sickness. On Tuesday, we heard something that neither of us had heard before that made it all worth it...the baby's heartbeat. It was so fast that it was almost like the sound of hummingbird wings. It was the most amazing sound. It also made the fact that we are having a baby so much more real. Thank goodness all this puking isn't for nothing!

Another highlight of the week included skits that the youth here performed before chapel on Thursday night. Joe and Clay did an absolutely hysterical rendition of Abbot and Costello's "Who's on First". Most of the audience were in tears by the time they were finished. Yet another comedic act was "Fairytale CSI" in which granny, played by Scottie, pulled an undercover scheme with the wolf, played by DJ, to eat Little Red Riding Hood, played by Jessica. Eventually they were busted and the wolf also confessed to eating the Three Little Pigs. The final line went something like, "Who can blame a guy for breaking his diet when there is bacon involved." The kids did awesome and it showed them that all their hard work really did pay off on performance night.

Bailey continues to be a constant source of amusement for us both. As you can see, he is no longer our "little" Bailey. He loves attention just like any other pooch. A few of his favorite pastimes are playing with Kenya (Meredith and Amos' lab), swimming in the creek, and eating cow pooh. Yes, I know, the last one is disgusting but for whatever reason if he is allowed to wander into the pasture that is the first thing he goes for. Overall, he is a good dog and a great addition to our family.

Packing and Puking

As promised, contained herein is our camping trip of late to Northwestern Arkansas. Amos and I took 8 guys on a two day trip up to White Rock Mountain and Shores Lake. We had a great time. The trip took off a bit slowly as we left late and then got a flat tire in the first 20 minutes of travel. However, despite the minor problems, we had a great time. The views from White Rock were awesome, and everyone enjoyed the hike.

After a hike and some lunch, we drove down and setup camp at Shores Lake. This ended up being a nice spot, and we really enjoyed the lake and stream. We went swimming in both. Thankfully the lake was much warmer than the stream, but swimming in either in March was surprising for me. In fact, the lake was warmer than some lakes in Wisconsin get all summer. The guys really enjoyed swimming and fishing over the two days. We didn't really catch much, but had fun anyway. The rest of the time was spent enjoying the fire and just relaxing. Everyone had a good time and wasn't ready to leave on Friday.

Leigh Ann, unfortunately, did not get to attend the camping trip since she was still not doing well. The morning sickness extended into all day sickness and she opted to stay home near a bathroom. On Friday night, she was feeling better so we decided to spend a night in Hot Springs to get away. This proved to be a great time, and just being away seemed to help. We spent Saturday at Garvin Gardens, a beautiful hot spot associated with the University of Arkansas. The tulips were blooming and everything was green and beautiful. We had a great time there and then headed downtown to check out the bath houses. That was an experience to say the least. It was a picture into history a hundred years ago.

Other than that, life is good. Leigh Ann has been feeling slightly better the past week which is a huge answer to prayer. She is taking a break from teaching until the morning sickness is over. One of the volunteers, who just so happens to be a retired school teacher, is taking her classes until then. What a God send! One positive of the morning sickness is that it hopefully means everything is going well. We're both very excited for October to come!