 Chattanooga Valley PCA had our annual Missions Conference/Family Retreat at Hidden Hollow Resort this past Saturday, and, as usual, it was a great day of fun and fellowship. Well, except for Bobby Dale's dang stinking dog who *deliberately* (I know the minds of evil wet dogs) got out of the lake and walked over to me and shook all over me. Twice. I really do not like dogs. I love you Bobby, but Mug is not my friend. I have finally gotten the pics up. . .well, the last batch is loading, so by the time most of you get up and see this Monday morning it will be up. For those of you who may be online now (Scott, Matt. . .) the last few might not be up for a bit yet. I really didn't "weed out" as many pics as I might ordinarily, just because I decided that "telling the story" was more important than trying to show off my photography skills (or lack thereof), so be forewarned, if you are on dial up, you might find it a bit overwhelming. Click here for the Slideshowand Click here for the Gallery
Sam's football team played McCallie on Saturday, and, I gotta say, it wasn't real pretty. Sam had to leave after the third quarter to make it to Knoxville to get spoiled by Uncle Dan (and ultimately end up getting spotted on the JumboTron by friends at school). Also, just before the game, Joseph fell off a rail he was climbing on and suffered an injury which will get it's own blog entry later. In the meantime, here's a slideshow from the game: Slideshow
 The CCS MS football team (Ethan's team) played Temple last night and it was, um, a bit of a blow out. It was loads of fun for the team and a good confidence builder, and 2nd and 3rd string players who haven't gotten in a game all season go to get in some good playing time. Ethan made his second interception of the season (pictured), and this one was quite a bit more spectacular, IMO. He said his favorite moment was when he looked up a realized, "That's my ball." Sam finished up his practice in time to come water boy during the second half, and I must say, now that I'm spending time on the sidelines taking pictures, I have really come to appreciate what an important role Sam plays. I have gotten to witness what it is like on the sideline without a water boy, and with water boys who don't do a great job, and I can honestly say that Sam's presence on the sidelines makes a very positive difference. Click below for more pics from last night's game: Slideshow
 We had a great time Monday picking Syd up from Ann and Todd's in Nashville. Check out my Some Journey blog for more details. Here's the slideshow: Labor Day in Nashville Slideshow
Sam had his first full game today, and lost to Baylor. They did okay in the first half of the game; however, one of his team mates suffered a head/neck injury as the result of a late hit, and had to be taken to the hospital to make sure that everything was okay. The boys had to sit in the sun and wait for about 20 while waiting for the ambulance, and they seemed to not be able to really get back in the game after that. Sam played both defense and offense, and only sat out a couple of plays. He was disappointed in a couple of passes that he missed, but made a couple of good tackles and a punt return. I have assured him that for a 5th grader playing his first game ever (on the 6th grade team against 6th and 7th graders) that was a showing to be proud of, but Sam struggles with focusing on his mistakes sometimes (hmmm, where does he get that?). Here's a slideshow of the pics I took from today's game: Chargers vs Baylor Slideshow
 Last night Ethan had his first middle school fooball scrimmage (they had a scrimmage in July, but it was 6 on 6 with no linemen, not really a real game type scrimmage). Last year E played runningback, and that is where he's been practicing all summer. A couple of weeks ago, the coach asked him if he would consider trying out the position of Cornerback instead, and he agreed. This resulted in moving my small (he really looks tiny next to all those 8th graders!) 7th grader from 4th string runningback to 1st string cornerback. When the scrimmages started last night, many of the other parents did not know who Ethan was. By the end of the game, they all knew him. I was shocked. He played so well against much bigger kids. He made several great tackles, and even made an interception (pictured). Needless to say, Stephen and I were both pretty darn proud, and I'm really excited to discover that what I thought would be a "learning year" where E spent most of his time on the bench and we showed up just to be supportive may turn out to be nothing of the sort. For more pics, check out the following gallery: http://www.ibachphotography.com/gallery/3310015
 We love our neighborhood. God blessed us so richly when He put us here. It is truly a micro-community. Tonight an abandoned house nearby burned down. So, of course, we walked all the kids over and watched. Then returned to "the hood", had ice cream and played badmitton. It is these impromptu times of fellowship and community that cause me to rejoice in the gift God has given me in my home's location, but I am grateful for it all the time. The times I have left kids at the neighbor's to run another to the doctor (or ER), or Sydney has escaped for "girl time" across the street when the boys are driving her mad. . .It's just a really nice place to live. Pics from tonight: http://www.ibachphotography.com/gallery/3293607
 We love our neighborhood. God blessed us so richly when He put us here. It is truly a micro-community. Tonight an abandoned house nearby burned down. So, of course, we walked all the kids over and watched. Then returned to "the hood", had ice cream and played badmitton. It is these impromptu times of fellowship and community that cause me to rejoice in the gift God has given me in my home's location, but I am grateful for it all the time. The times I have left kids at the neighbor's to run another to the doctor (or ER), or Sydney has escaped for "girl time" across the street when the boys are driving her mad. . .It's just a really nice place to live. Pics from tonight: http://www.ibachphotography.com/gallery/3293607
We spent Saturday on Dad's land in Gruetli Lager. I spent a good bit of time making sure that Dad/Mark/Steve's new 4wheeler works properly. Mark, if you're reading, I'm there for you, man. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it. Unfortunately, I'm learning that since my 30th bday, any day that ends with me saying, "Man, that was fun!" usually results in a great difficulty getting out of bed the next day. But it was definitely worth it. And the kids slept pretty soundly that night (in fact we had quite a challenge getting Noah to wait to fall asleep on his "squooshy pillow" until after we had bathed him and checked him for ticks). If you are interested in seeing pics (as I'm guessing the younger Browns might be) here's a link to the pics I took while up there: http://willaibach.smugmug.com/gallery/3052469
I spoke with Amie this afternoon and they have arrived safely and are settled in Australia. She said the flight went better than she expected, as four of the kids slept well on the plane. Kate had a very difficult time due to an ear infection that was greatly exacerbated by the flight, and which made it physically impossible for her to get comfortable enough to sleep on the plane. She had a very rough time, and is exhausted from lack of sleep and feeling icky because of the ear. The other kids have battled extreme jet lag, and it is such a blessing that they will have this time in Australia to acclimate to the time difference before starting school in PNG. Krista has posted a few pics on her blog, and says that Australia is beautiful. Please pray: **for Kate's ear **for the whole family's adjustment to the time change **for the "details" that need to take place asap, such as getting their passports mailed back to the embassy so that their visas can be issued, etc. Also, here is the URL to the website of the lodge where they are staying in Australia: http://treetopslodgecairns.maf.org.au/
Amie and Charlie and their crew are due to arrive in Cairns, Australia sometime this evening, and then will be on their way to Papua New Guinea as soon as their visas are completed. For those of you who don't know, Amie and Charlie, Krista, and Chase each have a multiply blog now as well, which will hopefully help the rest of us keep up with them while they are in PNG. Visit Amie and Charlie at charlieandamie.info. Email me for Krista and Chase's info.
 Sam and Joseph had their "Awards Banquet/Party" with the Red Bank Warriors Wrestling team Sunday night. The team met at a local skating rink and enjoyed skating, eating pizza and cake, and celebrating a great wrestling season. Coach Kevin Emily handed out trophies to each of the wrestlers, and then handed out two special awards. The Outstanding Wrestler award went to PJ, and Joseph received the Rookie of the Year, having medaled in every tournament during his first season wrestling. Both boys are looking forward to wrestling again next season.
 Potty trained and neutered. Has had all it's shots and is good with children.
 Potty trained and neutered. Has had all it's shots and is good with children.
 Noah started swimming lessons last week at the South Chatt rec center. He has been our most reluctant swimmer (well, E was very reluctant, then just decided to do it and did. . .but that's another story). Noah has been a die hard fan of his floaties and/or a life jacket, and has refused to even try to swim without them. It's been easier for me just to let him stay in them, because he requires less supervision. But we decided to put him in swim lessons, mostly because he and Syd didn't get to do a sport like the other kids have this year, and partly because I am ready to know that if he accidentally fell in water he wouldn't drown.
So we enrolled him in swim lessons, and last week he was very out of sorts with the whole thing. I didn't bring hie life jacket, which made him mad, and he was at a new pool, with people he didn't know. He cried and refused to get in. Sam finally got in with him, and he was fine after that.
This week, he jumped right in and was having a great time. His teacher suggested that he try taking off his "bubble" (floatation device) and try swimming to her without it. I thought he would freak, but to my surprise, he took off the bubble, jumped in, and swam about 12 feet to his teacher. Then he swam back. And that was that. He swam the rest of the lesson without the bubble, and after class the teacher asked to move him up to the advanced class. I think he was probably capable of swimming last summer, but was afraid to try. He has pointed out repeatedly that he can touch the bottom at this pool, something he's never been able to do before. I think knowing he could touch the bottom if he needed to gave him the confidence to try to swim. That is exactly what happened with Ethan when he was four. Kids are funny.
I have been using this site for photo sharing for parents who request copies of the pics I take at sporting events, etc. However, I'm finding it increasingly difficult to use for the amount of requests I am getting. For one thing, I think you have to be a multiply member to download photos, (I know that is true of flickr). For another thing, it is very difficult to upload many print quality photos without slowing down the site to the point of frustration. Burning and distributing CDs is time consuming and tedious, particularly since I use iPhoto and must first convert all the files to a jpg readable by PC users. All this to say: I have taken the plunge and set up a pro photography site where prints of my photos can be purchased directly. I am currently working to transfer the wrestling photos over to that site, so those of you looking for those pics can order prints from there, and I have enabled right click download for free of the wrestling pics.
I will still use this site to post low res family pics and so forth, but this site will be used for family and friends to view photos of family events, not for sharing original photos or prints. It's just so much easier on the other site.
Here's the new URL:
www.ibachphotography.com
are now up. I posted them in two albums, one is the K-2 division, which was Thursday night, and the other is the 3rd/4th and 5th/6th, which were both Friday night. These are all essentially thumbnails, and may not be print quality (they might work okay for 4x6), so if you want the hi-res version, either email me (willa@steveandwilla.com) or leave a comment on the photo that you want. I can upload the hi-res to either multiply or flickr, or email it to you, whatever works best for you.
 . . .will be up sometime tomorrow, I promise. My new power cable arrived today, but I've been busy catching up on some 300+ emails and so on, and had a bill mix up I spent most of the afternoon straightening out. I will get the photos up tomorrow.
Sorry to those of you who have been looking for pics from the District Tournament. I'm working on getting those up. I spent all day Saturday helping Stephen lay our new hardwood floors, and have just been too darn busy to get the pics up.
Sam and Joseph both took very hard earned fourth place medals home on Friday night, which placed them both in the City/County Tournaments this week. Joseph will weigh in at 5pm Thursday at East Ridge HS, and Sam will weigh in at 5pm Friday. The District Tournament was by far the toughest tournament yet for both of them, at least in regard to all out competition. The Irish Tournament the week before was a tougher day over all for Sam, because he battled a migraine and a very bad asthma attack which greatly affected his ability to wrestle. But Friday night went well, and after five matches, he ended the night with a fourth place medal that he was quite proud of. Joseph wrestled several kids that he has not seen before, and was defeated again by the little red head kid from Soddy who pinned him at the Irish tournament. However, at the Irish, the kid pinned J in about 30 seconds. At the District, they went three periods, the kid was not able to pin J, and beat him by a few points. Improvement. Tha'ts important.
I'll try to get the pics up soon, and will update at the end of the week on how the boys finish the season.  
| |
