Well, well...lots has been going on around here. In May, Allen graduated from high school! Dan and Gaye are not only proud parents, they're happy to be done wth home-schooling! We were very happy to have most of our extended family come to show their support for Allen, too...Dan's mom and dad were here, and Gaye's mom and her brother Leigh and his wife Miki (and their doggie, Vaudeville).

Then there were all our trips:

Do you remember when Dan and Gaye went to Mexico last year for a missions trip (August of 2012)? Well, Anne had wanted to come with us, but couldn't because she got sick. So, we had her unused ticket, good for one year. We decided to use it for a trip to Niagara Falls! Dan and Gaye got free tickets, by using a promotion for Delta Skymiles (via American Express), so it was a, um reasonably priced expedition. We played tourist at the end of July/beginning of August...visited the Falls, took the Maid of the Mist boat ride, ate dinner at the rotating restaurant at the top of the Skylon Tower, and took a tour of a Canadian winery! (Of course, there are lots of photos...click here to go see!

Then, in September, Dan and Gaye had the opportunity to go to Fairfax, Virginia, to take a week's worth of intensive training in biblical counseling and in-depth discipleship. Well, on the way to Fairfax, we stopped in Ohio to see Gaye's mom Beverly and brother Leigh and sister Petey; then in Fairfax, we stayed with a delightful couple in their home (thanks, John & Peggy!), and then on the way home from Fairfax, we visited Dan's parents and went to a jam session with Dan's brother Robin...and then we also stopped in North Carolina to spend a short time with Gaye's Uncle Gary and Aunt Shirley and cousins Deena and Kerry! It really was quite the round-robin expedition!

We also got to see Robin in a house concert in Macon, Georgia (before our big September trip).

Finally, we've been doing some investing in the upkeep of our house. After a new roof earlier this year, we just got done getting vinyl siding on the whole house (AND our little house in the back yard)...and got new gutters...and replaced the range with a new glass-top one...and (as I go to press with this update) we're painting, and getting new carpeting and a storm door, for the little house. Yee-ha!

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Dan DID get to work throughout the federal sequestration furloughs in October (a benefit of being a support contractor), and he's grateful!

He's been recently serving as a leader of a Christian men's 12-step group, as well as being a small group leader, and (with Gaye) has started helping our pastor teach a Biblical discipleship course in our church called Self-Confrontation (which is the Level 1 course in the same series as our Fairfax class, which was Level 2...).

Dan continues to go shooting often, and loves to take other people with him. (And, it doesn't cost as much, now that he's reloading most of his ammunition...) Since last update, he's gone to our regional outdoor range with Allen, with Gaye and her friends Susan and Jane, and with several other fellow shooters from his office. It's fun to go with other shooters, because we get to share our guns with them, and to shoot their guns! Highlights in the "other-people's-guns" category since the last update are: George's AK-47 semi-automatic rifle and his single-action cowboy-style Ruger Vaquero .357 Magnum revolver; and Jane's new Smith & Wesson 638 .38 Special double-action snubnose revolver.

Dan still flies small airplanes once in a while (Cessna 172), plays the bass guitar for worship services at church, takes sunrise photos occasionally (with Gaye!), and he went to a dance with Gaye and our dance club!

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Along with all the busy-ness of daily life (including the stuff described above), Gaye made time to start redecorating the house – with a number of Dan's artistic photographs!

She hosted a "Ladies' Worship Team Reunion Jam Session" at our house in November! It's comprised of all her women friends who used to be on the worship music team at our church, but have since moved on. They get together once or twice a year, and play and sing late into the night...and Gaye loves it! It was a lot of work for her, too...she had to borrow our drums back from someone we lent them to; borrow Susan's sound gear (amplifier, 2 large and heavy speakers, and microphones and stands and cords and such); get Dan's and her own instruments set up; and clean and rearrange the house accordingly. (Ah, did you notice that Dan played, too? He's the only bass player available, so he (and Larry, an electric guitarist) are the token men members of the Ladies' Jam group!)

Speaking of ladies' groups...Gaye has been doing a book study with some young ladies, in the book Created To Be His Help Meet, which helps married women learn to love their husbands in their God-designed role as wives.

Gaye has also started – and facilitates – a group that calls themselves "His Angels" (a play on the name Hell's Angels, because one of the ladies drives a motorcycle.) This group is mostly single ladies (including widows and divorcées), and Gaye's vision for it is to help these ladies get their attention on the needs of others, and not so much on themselves (which is a worthy goal for any of us, huh?). One of their missions is to write encouragement cards to several people who need it at every weekly meeting.

And, Gaye is planning a big bash for Thanksgiving: Dan's brother Robin will be here, and so will many of His Angels, and a friend whose husband is taking a new job in Wichita and will be away. Yippee! (Dan, in spite of his introverted tendencies, loves the cheerful chaos of having a house full of people!)

Gaye Leigh's Rules For Getting Older:

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

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

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

While relating to God, be thankful...

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Anne is in her 3rd year in college at Middle Georgia State College, and is now living on campus in a dorm. She gets along well with her roommates, and Mom goes up to Macon about once a week to visit and to keep up with her life. They go out to lunch, buy groceries for the dorm together, and get to talk. Dad got to spend some time with her in Macon in early November, too!

She's hoping to get hired at a grocery store near campus, but hasn't heard back from them yet.

Her plan now is to get two associates degrees from MGSC: One in art, and one in English.

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Yes, Allen graduated from high-school in May 2013 (described a little bit above, and in photos (click here)! Yay, Allen! Some of our extended families came for the festivities! Now, all he has to do is figure out what he wants to do with the rest of his life...

His current plan (after thinking about it for a few months) is to attend the local technical college, starting in January (Spring term), to get trained as an air conditioning technician. It takes two years...and it should be a good field to be in, especially the way the summers are here!

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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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