Ricky & Scott's triathlon @ Callaway Garden's

The swim was first it was 1000 meters, bike ride was 18 miles, the run was 5 miles,
the leapfrog was 200 yards, the three legged race was 1/2 mile, the long jump was long

Posted by Ricky

Andy's Fall

Fall is without a doubt my favorite time of the year and is at least partly responsible for my moving to Kentucky therefore my wife and child. Fall in Kentucky brings noticeably cooler days and frigid nights a most welcome change from the summers heat and humidity. The rolling hills lined by wood plank fences make for a scenic landscape all on their on, but throw in the red, orange, yellow and gold foliage of fall and a paddock full of the springs young proud thoroughbreds and you get a landscape like no other place on earth..

I can't believe I almost forgot about football season. Tis the season that Dad takes over the remote control and this year it contols a new sony bravia 46' hdtv. Go Big Blue!!! Roll Tide!!! and War Eagle!!!

Erin's September

I will only be able to share through September and the rest later, because Tom is feeling risky and wants to try out his bike riding skills with a sprained ankle. :) He certainly perseveres.

I'm feeling a bit emotional this morning because I just finished watching Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend you do. The timing of me watching it made all the difference, as well. Today is Labor Day, so no schedule, no work, no appointments...a rare treat.

I am a process person. I am a "dash" person. You've heard of the "dash": our lives are not about the start date and end date, but the "dash" in between. I also thoroughly enjoy "stories", even of nonsense. I've also enjoyed literature, would be called out in class to explain a Shakespeare Act from Lit Class, and you wouldn't dare see me peak to the end of the book to see the ending before getting there page by page. Why do I go on and one?

We travelled to Grady, Alabama this past weekend for some sacred hours with Jessica, Josh and Ricky, JJ, Mrs. Florence and Scotty. It was a very nice time. I cherished travel time with Jessica to and from Prattville, blessed by her willingness to share her heart about her dear friend David's last days. To hear an 18 year old young women express to me that she knew God had him here on this earth for only 19 years to touch many people's lives, and the FAITH and HOPE in God's intervention displayed by his family and friends in the hospital brought strangers closer to knowing God...well, I can't put that into words. We know God allows things to happen, for His Plan His Glory, and why? We won't know for sure until He tells us why.

Back to Rachel's question: what do I love about Fall? Fall reminds me of the cycle of life. I cherish taking deep breathes and smelling the coolness and the leaves. There is so much undiscovered beauty in life because we're so focused on the next appointment, project or even as simple as the next day. Fall reminds me of romance, falling in love with Tom, planning my final weeks before our wedding 4 years ago on October 8th. The joining of our families. It reminds me of sipping moonshine in the stands of Bourbon County High School football stadium to stay warm inside or warm apple cider at the Lehmann's horse farm in Kentucky. It reminds me to roll the windows down on the way from here to there. I Love Autumn. I intentionally drive through piles of leaves, so that I can look in the rear view mirror at the leaves flutter around behind me.

How does this all tie into Benjamin Buttons? Well, I was startled out of bed this morning at the wee hour of 6:20am by crashing, banging noises coming from our pipes under my bedroom floor. I jumped out of bed and ran into the living room to find my husband in the kitchen doorway. He was just filling up the koi pond :) ...we have something going on with our water pipes, banging and clanging that needs to be checked out. So, needless to say, I couldn't get back to sleep. So I decided to do something I haven't done in YEARS. I went into the livingroom, and found a good movie to watch; while still halfway asleep.

I won't ruin it for those of you that haven't seen this movie, but I will say a few things about it as we enter Fall and Winter seasons. There seems to be patterns in life that allow for a normal life, comforts, traditions and planning to come easy. But sometimes something happens that changes all patterns, we can all think of a few we've experienced that changed the course of our lives. If we aren't careful, we might try too hard to create structure and miss all the process and beauty that might come through the brokenness, repair, and healing. There is Love all around us, and i look forward to experiencing the coming seasons with each of you in 2009. I pray we are not rushed through one single gift of relationship ~Erin

What our family loves about September

For the month of September I only received responses back from 5 out 21 family members. Even Jacob who can not type contributed. Donovan is excused but I expect his comments for October. You can still send me your likes and dislikes about September and I'll post later. I hope we can do better for October.


For me September is about the start of college football season. Although I am not quite the lunatic I used to be I still enjoy the excitement of Auburn Football. This is one of the things I have definitely passed on to my three children. Over the past years we have made a lot of memories, from watching games at " Wings" in Montgomery or having a party at our home. We can all look back on the many Septembers we have shared and smile.Thank goodness I married someone that although may not love Auburn Football like we do she does how ever enjoy football and looks for any reason to get together. ~Tommy

I love September because it's my birthday is on the 12th and Alabama Football starts. ROLL TIDE!! ~Jacob

Below is the response I received from Scotty....

I'm too ignorant to operate a cumputer I can barely operate this phone. Me and ricky will be at callaway gardens sunday doing a triathalon and my butt stinks ~Scotty

Most of the tourist leave the beach ~Diane

I love September because cool weather is around the corner, changing of the leaves, I can break out all my fall decorations and candles, football and now Jake's birthday; but of course I don't need his birthday for a reason to celebrate my son... any day will do.~Rachel