No, is it REALLY spring already? (Actually, you should see the layer of pollen all over everything as I write this...) O,K, well, here's what's been going on with us since December 2012 or so...

We celebrated Christmas at home (after going to a concert by Dan's brother Robin and Steve Baughman early in the month, and throwing a party at our house for our Care Group (i.e., church home fellowship group), and, oh, lots of other stuff!).

Then we jumped in the van the day after Christmas and drove to Washington, DC, to visit Dan's parents for a few days, then drove to Yellow Springs, Ohio, to spend a few days with Gaye's mom. We got to see lots of other family and friends there, too! (Click here to see the photos of the trip to Washington, and click here to see the Ohio photos!)

Dan and Gaye have joined a local USA Dance chapter, so we can participate in their once-a-month group lessons in social ballroom dancing, which are followed by lots of recreational dancing. We're learning...we've already been taught some foxtrot, cha cha, and rhumba, and are really looking forward to the swing!

In February, Dan took Gaye to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, to celebrate our anniversary! We enjoyed cycling around the island, visiting the marina and lighthouse, eating out at a VERY fine Italian restaurant, and waking up early (!) to take sunrise photos!

And, oh, yeah...in mid-April we hit a deer! To read more about THAT particular adventure, go to the Dan's Thoughts section...

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Dan's company's contract with the Air Force got renewed in March, so he'll continue providing engineering support to the cargo loader programs at least until March 2014. In addition, under the current contract rules, he won't be affected by the sequestration furloughs -- for which the whole family is thankful!

Dan continues to go shooting often, and has recently taken Gaye and some of her friends shooting. (We ended up having our own informal "Ladies Day" at the range!) He also bought another gun recently – this time it's his first ever shotgun! (Click here to see it).

Dan is still flying small airplanes once in a while (Cessna 172), playing the bass guitar for worship services at church, taking sunrise photos occasionally (and Gaye comes along!), taking dancing classes with Gaye (wears me out), and taking Gaye geocaching now and then (easier now with the warmer weather...).

Dan has a new hobby-within-a-hobby...he has started reloading his own ammunition. Benefits include less recoil (which allows Gaye to enjoy our .45 caliber pistol again!), lower cost, and just having ammo when there's none available at the store! You can find Dan's pictures and description through our Stuff! page, or just click here.

Hey, if you're 50 or older (like Dan is), you need to have a colonoscopy! Dan had one earlier this year, and it really wasn't all that bad an experience. In my case, they cut out one polyp, but found it to be non-cancerous, so I'm clear until my next colonoscopy... in ten years!! To read a funny Dave Barry article on this subject, go to our "Links" page.

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Gaye Leigh's Rules For Getting Older:

While having teenagers, be thankful for doing things "all together":

• Thanksgiving service to Macon Rescue Mission
• Dinner out (Taco Bell)
• Dinner at home (pizza!)
• Movie out (The Hobbit; James Bond in Skyfall; Jack Reacher)
• Movie at home (Matrix series; Batman; Lord of the Rings)
• Celebrating holidays, a day early sometimes (to make schedules work!)
• Attending concerts (Mannheim Steamroller and Robin/Steve)
• Target shooting (yes, we ALL enjoy it and at least ONCE we've all been together!)
• Holiday celebrations with extended family

While having a husband, be thankful for doing ALL things together:

• Dancing Lessons, FUN, challenging and GREAT exercise!
• Sunrise Photography
• Photographic Processing
• Target Shooting and Gun Cleaning
• Self Confrontation Class
• Lunch out or brown bagged!
• Noon time work-outs while reading Jack Reacher novels

While having relationships, be thankful for doing ANYTHING with anyone:

• Learning coupon-ing!
• Learning Zumba with Anne
• Doing Home Repair with Allen
• Speed Steel Target Shooting Competition with Dan
• Attending baby showers for Anne's friends [OK, I'm certifiably old now, my friends are no longer having babies (unless they are 20 years my junior!)]!
• Helping younger women learn to love their husbands (by leading book studies that are reading Created To Be His Help Meet)
• Keeping up w/old friends at Precepts Bible Study, Mom's Time Out, Luncheons in Macon
• Making new friends from Christ Chapel (WITH old friends) at Radiant Women's Second Annual Retreat at Ebenezer Retreat Center in Rincon, GA

While relating to God, be thankful...

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Anne turned twenty (wow!) the beginning of May, so we have one fewer teenager! She's making it into adulthood pretty well. Among other things (as Gaye pointed out to Dan recently), she's been taking good care of "her" car (our Pontiac Bonneville). She drove it earlier this year to Florida (again) to visit her friend Jenny in Florida!

Anne has been joining Mom in Zumba workouts on base most weeks, and goes with Mom often to the grocery store. She's been trying various different diets – most recently, high-protein low-carb, so she cooks a lot of eggs and bacon for herself.

She is still in college at Macon State...I mean, um, Middle Georgia State College! (They changed their name this spring, after merging with Middle Georgia College...and it's now the largest 4-year, residential, bachelor's degree-awarding college in Central Georgia!) She hopes to live on campus next school year.

She's starting to look for work for the summer, but in the meantime, she's still getting some spending money from babysitting for our church home fellowship group.

And, she's back on Facebook! Come visit her little corner of cyberspace by clicking here!

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Wow...Allen's graduating from high-school! (And, he turns 18 in June!) So, Dan and Gaye can check off at least that portion of the "raising kids" checklist! (Congratulations, Allen!!)

We're all excited about it, of course...some of our extended families are coming for the festivities! We're also excited to see what God has for Allen's future. Allen is currently planning to take a year (at least) away from school, and to work and earn money for a while, then recosider his college options.

Allen has been a very responsible driver of our cars – he drives himself to a Christian "group homeschool" every week (called Veritas, where he's taking classes in Chemistry and Algebra II).

He's looking around for a job – he's been working with a friend who's trying to develop and expand a lawn care business, and thinks he may have an opportunity to work at a Chick-Fil-A restaurant. We'll see!

And, every time Dan comes home from work, he comes out of his room to give Dad a "Man-Hug!" (a big bear hug complete with lots of back-pounding...it's a male bonding thing...)

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Please pray for our family, as we all continually work to become the authentic individuals God wants us to be.

And remember, no matter what's going on in our society, in our culture, in our government...that God is in control! He's still on the throne, none of what we do takes him by surprise, and he'll continue to be faithful to make sure that "all things work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to his purpose!" (Romans 8:28)

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Dan likes this web site format, and it seems to work o.k. It's based on a template we got free from someone else (hence the attribution at the bottom of the page), and modified to our liking, as permitted under his terms of use. Dan, as much as he likes hand-coding (yeah, right) couldn't do something this nice by himself.

The artistic photo pages, however, are still entirely Dan's design, for now at least, so maybe he hasn't totally abandoned the craft of manually writing web pages...

The "NIV" in our Scripture quotes stands for New International Version. The copyright requires that notation, as well as the following statement: "Scripture quoted from the Holy Bible, New International Version (R). Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible Society."

Similarly, "NKJV" stands for New King James Version, and its use requires acknowledgment as follows: "Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved."

KJV, of course, means King James Version, which, having been written in 1611, is public domain.

(Hey, I thought of putting in a FAQ section -- you know, Frequently Asked Questions -- but no one ever asks any questions about the site!)

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