HomeWrecker

We have a restaurant not too far from here.
It's called 'HillBilly Hotdogs'.
This is the kind of place you absolutely HAVE to see to believe.
If you've never heard of it and just drive by - you either won't believe it's an actual restaurant, or you'll be afraid to eat there out of fear of gangrene or some other unimaginable illness.
HOWEVER, they have the BEST hotdogs and the most delicious, unusual combination of things to go on them you've ever seen.
AND, I've never driven by, but what I haven't seen the parking lot full.
They've been featured on TV shows (such as The Food Network's 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives'), as well as in several national magazines.

Well - our preacher found out about a 'special' hotdog they have.
He decided we needed to try it.
It's called the "HomeWrecker".
It's 3.5 lbs. The hotdog itself is 1 lb and 15" long.
Then they pile on jalapeno peppers, chili sauce, slaw, and a habanero sauce.
IF you can eat this concoction in 12 minutes - you get a FREE t-shirt.
Woo-Hoo!

Today was the day.
We had 4 guys up for the challenge.
(David and Austin were 2 of the 4.)
They've been planning their strategy.
It was discussed at the fellowship dinner on Fri.
It was refined at church this morning.
We went this afternoon.

Let me tell you - the pictures we had seen on the internet did NOT do this thing justice.


Even with t-shirts on the line, I'm sorry to say ... none of them made it.
Maybe if they'd had 15 minutes, instead of 12. But ... no.
A good time, a nice afternoon, but no t-shirts for us.

BTW - I had a fantastic hot dog.
Mine was deep fried with hashbrowns, eggs, cheese and bacon.
Darrell had a 'pizza dog'.
Leila's 'Puppy Dog Meal' had a hot dog, a juice, a package of cookies, a handful of candy and balloons. (She was loving it.)
3 of us didn't feel sick on the way home!

China Reunion

We traveled to Columbus on Sat for our 2nd annual 'China Reunion'.
4 of our families made it.
David didn't get to go. Although he was still officially supposed to be on vacation, he ended up having to work both Fri and Sat.

Dan and Nicole hosted this year at her parents' house.
It was a wonderful place to have it.
Big, beautiful back yard, swimming pool, trampoline, swing set, hammock, sand box, etc.
(We just may invite ourselves again!)

2 of the families have added additional children since last year.
It was good to see the old ones, and meet the new ones.
The kids (and the men) played. The women visited.
A very enjoyable day.

Leila - not so great.
It was naptime - and we all know how she is with her sleep and with new people and new places.
She did swim a little, and she did jump a little.
But overall, she was clingy - until almost time to go. Figures!
That's when she decided that - hey, this place is alright.
That's when she decided to get down and play and be nice and socialize.
What to do with her sometimes?????

'Doesn't Leila Look Nice?'


Hallie & Emmali


Claire


Enick & Evan


Elijah


Darrell & Jake


Emmali, Hallie & Leila (and Katie)


Leila


'Playing with Bubbles'

2 Years

Last Tues was the 2 year anniversary of our 'Referral Call'.
2 years have gone by since we first saw that sweet little face.

We had just dropped the boys off at scout camp, so we had to turn around and go find them to tell them.
Ironically they were at a camp again this year on that date.

We received (I think) 5 pictures that day.
I believe this is the one we actually saw first.

Maybe this one.
(I'm not sure I remember exactly - I was SO excited.)


From that to this.

What an amazing 2 years!

Nashville

While the boys were at Camp Electric, we did some site-seeing.
It was a bit too far to drop them off and come home, only to turn around and go get them - so we stayed too.

We drove over to Memphis one day.
We toured the famous 'Graceland'.
Some of it was more interesting than others.
I think was amazes me the most about it - the man's been dead for 33 years and yet the place is still crawling with visitors and bringing in a fortune each and every day.

In Front of the 'Mansion'


Elvis's Car Museum


We got to visit with a few of my cousins that live down there on another day.
It was good to see them, because we don't get to often enough.
A 'real' visit is better than 'computer time' anytime.

Mom, Dad & Phyllis

Leila & Reanna

We went to the 'Grand Ole Opry' another night.
That was nice.
Straight music - no fancy light, no gimmicks - just good music.
I didn't realize how many people perform there on a given night.
(I think there were 6 when we were there.)
And yet, the show is only around 2-2.5 hrs long.
They only do 3-4 songs each.
David liked Charlie Daniels the best.
Leila liked Montgomery Gentry. She was coping the one guy's movements and blowing him kisses even.

Charlie Daniels

Those were our highlights.
It was one of the least, activity-filled vacations, I think we've ever taken.

I have to say - I was sort of surprised with the city of Nashville though.
Never having been there before, I had this preconceived notion that it was a huge tourist spot.
Yes, I think it's THE place to go if you're trying to make it in the music business.
But for the 'regular' tourist - not so much.
It was much cleaner, safer, and friendlier than I anticipated though.

'Walking Down the Street'


'On One of the Streets'


'Worn Out'


Irregardless, it's ALWAYS good to come home.

Getting Ready to Come Home

Camp Electric

Both boys went to camp last week.
Not scout camp, like they've done in the past. Not another sports camp.
A music / praise & worship camp.
We found out about it last year from an 'adoption' friend whose son has been before.

It's held in Nashville, TN and is called "Camp Electric".
Contemporary Christian artists come to the camp.
Their band members teach music classes to the kids.
Then they put on concerts for them at night.
(Toby Mac runs it.)

Austin went for guitar. Darrell went for keyboard.
Honestly, we were a little worried about Darrell though. (He hasn't had a whole lot of experience yet.)
They didn't know anyone going (except each other). And they weren't rooming together anyway.

They both absolutely loved it!!!
We dropped them off on Sun afternoon, and by Sun evening - Darrell had already texted us and asked if he could come back next year.

Turns out - the emphasis wasn't as much on the music classes as it was on the praise and worship part.
They got to see around 2 concerts a day.
They saw Pillar, Disciple, of course Toby Mac and several others too.
And it wasn't like they were in huge concert halls with thousands of people either. They were never more than probably 10 yards from the stage. Sometimes they were even right up against it.

I would love to post some pictures of it, but I don't have much.
Darrell didn't take a whole lot, and Austin took mostly video.

And yes - we did do the pre-registration for next year too.

Bible School & 4th of July

We had a busy, busy week last week.

Bible school was Sun thru Thur.

Leila liked Bible school. There were 8-9 kids in her class.
Although I didn't actually sign up to help (I figured I'd never be able to get away from Leila long enough to do anything) - me and another guy ended up in charge of her class anyway.
Darrell helped out with crafts.
Austin helped out in different areas. He was supposed to be the photographer, but Darrell and I both took pictures too. He actually ended up doing whatever they needed - pictures, games, etc.





And then David's brothers came to visit for the weekend. One came from MD, and one came from GA.
David's mother completely enjoyed having all 3 of her boys together for the 1st time in a long time.
My brother also came from TN.
The kids went wakeboarding and tubing in the afternoon.
Even Leila went tubing this time.
I had 18 people here for a cookout on Sat evening.
Then we all went to the regatta and to the fireworks.
You would think that with getting home around 11:30 after such a full day, everyone would have been beat. Yeah, but not too tired to go for a midnight swim.