Family Camping Trip

We had a great time on our family camping trip. This was our second trip. Our first was only a couple of months ago on Memorial Day and we had a great time.

As nice as our first trip was, this trip was even better.

We went with 63 friends from our church. The trip was at the John Kerr Reservoir in Virginia. We spent July 3 through July 5. We learned about camping from more experienced campers. We also enjoyed deepening our friendships with our church family.

We enjoyed swimming, fishing, biking, and a beautiful, peaceful setting. On Independence Day, we had a patriotic service with singing and a brief sermon from our pastor. It was a wonderful trip.

I'll post pictures later today.

-- Posted From My iPhone

Amanda Spriggs' 5th Grade Graduation

Last Friday (6-12-2009), Amanda graduated from 5th grade. She is growing fast and Julie and I are very proud of her. I think she may have set a record for the number of awards she won.



















This last picture was from March, 2009 and shows Amanda's art on display at the North Carolina State Capitol.  Her piece is the lighthouse just above her head.  She has had a wonderful schoolyear.

Science Fair

On 1-13-09, Amanda and Emily both participated in their school science fair.  Emily is in 1st grade and Amanda is in 5th grade.  They both attend Colefax Elementary School.



Amanda's project evaluated the impact of move watching on pulse rate.



Emily grew a "Crystal Garden".  She had fun time.



Both girls did a great job on their projects.

New Years Eve 2008 and New Years Day 2009

Julie and I have enjoyed the past two days very much.  Our girls went with my mom and dad to Michigan.  They have been having a good time with their cousins.  Julie and I both had today off from work and we enjoyed sleeping in and catching a movie at the dollar movie theater.

Yesterday, we had a great time playing games and celebrating New Years Eve at Uncle Don's house.  Friends from church came over and we played games and rung in the New Year together.







Everyone had a good time.  We are looking forward to all that 2009 has in store for us.

Happy New Year!

A Video summary of our Family Christmas Party on 12-26-08

I uploaded a few short video clips from our family Christmas Party on 12-26-08.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OoG65Tt6cxU[/youtube]

Julie and Delsie comment on Gender Equality at Christmas 2008.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZRDOvJ9xwE[/youtube]

Tamara adds her comments on Gender equality.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vHFQHXJQVg[/youtube]

Women are workers men are players

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrKcn12LaWY[/youtube]

Paul talks about Griffin's proficiency with a BB gun

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9afY01_9q0[/youtube]

Don shares a funny story from Christmas past.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnnH_VKEDLU[/youtube]

A Family Christmas Carol

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZHnw2SLNME[/youtube]

Paul reminds us of the true meaning of Christmas

Christmas Day and the Day After 2008

Christmas has been a wonderful time with family this year.  We wish more of our loved ones from Michigan could have been here in North Carolina, but we were happy Paul and Liz could come from Michigan, and Tammy Carl and Griffin could come from Tennessee.  There were many special moments and these snapshots capture a few.

Christmas Eve 2008

We had a great time over at Matt and Katherine's house (my brother and sister-in-law).

Amanda and Emily's Christmas Performances

Amanda and Emily have had plenty of Christmas activities this year at church and at school:



Amanda and Emily at our Church children's musical.  Both girls sang.  Amanda had a lead speaking part and also played the piano.



Here is Emily's School Christmas Choir (on 12-16-08)



Here is Amanda and her Teacher, Rick Hendricks, at her Christmas Piano Recital (on 12-20-08).

The following are videos of both events:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPzowxMZ4Wc[/youtube]

Emily's Christmas Choir (12-16-08)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iC7S43raLHk[/youtube]

Amanda's Piano Recital (12-20-08)

I'll have more Christmas posts soon.  Merry Christmas everyone!

Our Thanksgiving Trip to Williamsburg, VA

We decided to do something adventerous this Thanksgiving.  We were offered a free trip to Williamsburg and $150 spending money if we would listen to a timeshare salses pitch.  We were skeptical, but we thought we'd try it.  It turned out to be a lot of fun.  The presentation was about 3 hours.  We got to stay in a very nice condo and had fun touring Williamsburg.  We didn't buy the timeshare.

Thanksgiving Dinner at Matt's House on 11-27-2008

We had Thanksgiving Dinner at my brother Matt's house on 11-27-2008.  Here are some pictures:







Here are some videos expressing thanksgiving:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uND-MXb7BT4[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fPSvYxh9h4[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krFdULRKKFg[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KaYrC_ePDM[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1npWVR9REBo[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrNvXRtu0Y8[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cy9nLfT_3g0[/youtube]

Papa Don's Birthday Party

Here are some picture's from my Uncle's Birthday party on November 2, 2008.

Halloween 2008

We enjoyed "trunk or treat" at our church.  People put candy in their car trunks and meet at the church parking lot.  Everyone gets to see how the kids dressed up.  It was fun.  Emily dressed up like a girl from the 1950s and Amanda dressed up as a tree.

Dixie Classic Fair

My family always enjoys the fair.  We had a good time this past fall at the Dixie Classic Fair in Winston-Salem, NC.  We went on 10-11-08.

Here is a picture of Julie and me with Chris and Ashley (friends from church):



Emily enjoying a pony ride:



Amanda and Emily with Papa Don:



It was a lot of fun and I'm sure we will be back next fall.

Emily's Ballet Recital

Here is an excerpt from Emily's ballet recital.  It was on 11/17/08 at the Kernersville YMCA.  She was 6 years old.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fh3zl6pRcow[/youtube]

Labor Day at the Greensboro Natural Science Museum

We had a great time today.  The tiger was beautiful and wasn't shy.  The tiger would "talk" to one of the zoo keepers.  The zoo keeper told us he was used to her and she would growl in anticipation of dinner.

Here are some pictures of Euri the anteater.  Euri is 7 feet long (a lot of it being his tail), 135 pounds, and he eats 30,000 ants each day.  I have never seen an anteater close up.  He had very interesting markings and was fun to see.  Euri was slow moving and didn't seem to have a care in the world.







We spent about an hour inside the museum and saw some dinosaur bones, some reptiles, and some other interesting science exhibits.  We spent about 3 hours there total and plan on gong back soon.

It was a good way to end the holiday weekend!

Amanda and Dave enjoy a trip to Pilot Mountain

For Amanda's birthday this year, one of the gifts was a day trip she and I would take together.  She chose to go hiking.  We went to Pilot Mountain and had a great time.  We hiked on the intermediate trail, so we were both very tired.  We got to see some birds of prey.  I don't know what type they were because the sign listed several different kinds of birds in the area, including Bald Eagles.

We both had a great time and it proves again the truth of the saying:

"The best things in life are free."

Mother's Day, 2008

Today, our family went to church together and then celebrated Mother's Day. I have heard that Mother's Day is the busiest day of the year for dinning out. We enjoyed a wonderful turkey dinner together at my mom and dad's home. Aside from saving money and gas, having lunch at home is much better than going out. The food was delicious and it was good to be able to enjoy each other without fighting a crowd.

We are thankful for our mothers and believe that these are three very special ladies.