Zonnie and Gordon Visit June and Andy

It has been twelve years since Andy has seen Zonnie, his niece, and almost two years since Gordon came east from Arizona to visit him and his brother Art. How wonderful then to welcome Zonnie and Gordon to our home! Zonnie and Andy took a day trip to Adulusia, the historic home of Georgia's most famous writer, Flannery O'Connor. All of us went blueberry picking with Becky, and later most of us went to see The Martin Luther King Center, The Coca-Cola Museum, grab some hot dogs and a chicken burger at The Varsity, the world's largest drive-in resteraunt, and take a tour of the CNN Center. Gordon got in a good bit of metal-detecting (some at Bethlehem Baptist Church, some in the front yard, and some on a Jackson Lake beach), found a bunch of money and other invaluables. His fishing wasn't so good, but we did get to do some boating. One morning Gordon surprised us by sweeping the deck and the driveway! And Zonnie spent lots of time cooking with Andy. Both are wonderful guest!

Zonnie, Andy hopes you continue to like O'Connor. If so, he's got quite a few books in Kentucky that he'd love to send you. Stay in touch, Sweet Pea!

We hope Zonnie and Gordon come back to visit us again and soon!

New deck possibilities

Kurt, a few days June and you talked about building more deck on the west side of the house. Go to June's House Renovations to take a look at closer-up photographs. June and you may enter any number of comments, if you'd like, at House Renovations.

Adam doing fine after breaking arm while wake boarding

On our way home to the Ugandan Childrens Choir, Becky called to tell us that Adam, while wake boarding on Jackson Lake, broke his arm in two places. Later in the evening we found out that Adam underwent surgery that included the insertion of a plate and screws. This morning Becky says that Adam is doing well, not experiencing any pain. We're all grateful to God that things are turning out well. And to Adam, we all say, "Thank the Lord you're okay!"

Ugandan Childrens Choir

Last night we heard the wonderful Ugandan SUUBI Children's Choir at Rock Spring Church. It was the highlight of our weekend. Such animated, enthusiastic, beautifully choreographed, and worshipful singing and praise! These children--many of the orphans as a result of the AIDS epidemic in Uganda--are with us for a extended concert tour and represent the Royal Junior School and Orphanage which provides housing and education for well over 500 children. If you'd like to participate in some down-to-earth work of the Good News, consider supporting Royal Junior School and Orphanage.

Chelsea's Birthday--July 14

On Friday, Chelsea celebated her fourteenth birthday! Everyone in our big family wishes her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY! In August, Chelsea begins her fall school days at Model High School, the same school that Kirk, Krister, Lisa, Amy & Kevin attended and from which they were graduated. Chelsea, we wish you a great new year! Love from everyone--Dad and June, Kirk and Lora, Lisa and Tim, Amy and Kevin, and from all your cousins, nephews, and nieces. Happy Birthday, girl!

A Weekend of Music

On Friday June and Andy spent the evening in Covington where we dined at the Real Louisiana Cuisine and later walked over to spend an hour listening to the Heather Hayes Band. This morning, after churching at First Baptist in Barnsville, we'll come home to some "r&r," and then drive over in the evening to hear the Uganda Children's Choir at Carole and Hugh's church. The choir is currently touring the United States. The choir consists of nine boys and nine girls ages 6-12 who have been orphaned by HIV/AIDS or conflict. The choir was started in 1994 by Canadian missionaries in Uganda and has been touring the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia to raise money for housing for other orphans in Uganda.

June 10" Polly & Kurt celebrate thirty married years!

Thirty years ago today--way way back in 1976!--Polly and Kurt got married! And aren't they just about the most beautiful couple you know! Congratulations from all of us in your big family, P&K! Your children are proud of you! You're an inspiration to all of us. May you live and love each other for many many more years to come! God bless you and keep you in his great magnificent love.

Today is June's Birthday

At ten minutes before midnight last night, June came to bed and said, "O, Andy, I'm gonna be seventy-something in ten minutes!" Although I suggested that she fall asleep while still a youngster, she couldn't do it. Later on, she got so worried about being seventy-something that she got up and took a Sonata. That did it because right now it's nearly eight a.m., and she's upstairs in bed, blithly unware that she is seventy-whatever. O what fun it will be to wake her up! Later on in the day we're going over to the Blue Willow Inn at Social Circle for lunch together. Wish June a very happy birthday!

Abigail Takes Us Out for the Parade

After a terrific supper on July 4th, we loaded up June Bug and headed out on the lake, south to Martin's Marina for the big night parade. June Bug was filled to her legal capacity, just a little under 1450 pounds with Stan and Chris, Carole and Hugh, Becky and Wayne, June and Andy, Nick and Abigail; look at that girl concentrate on where she's going! (Nobody else is!)

Independence Night Boat Parade

On the evening of July 4, hundreds and hundreds of boats--all sizes, all kinds--gathered at Martin's Marina for the start of long and beautiful boat parade. Here's one pontoon, decorated to the hilt; the flag is backwards because we were anchored opposite the judges' stand on the other side of the marina. We decorated our boat a good bit, but it was nothing like this one! The ride back to our dock in the darkness with hundreds of boats, most lit only with running lights, was quite lovely, especially because fireworks, provided by people living around the lake, were going off in all directions.

June's eye surgery successful!

Just a quick note to let everyone know that a few hours ago June finished up the surgery to correct her so-called "low intensity" glaucoma. Today Dr. Millett fixed her right eye; last week she got the left eye working better again. All this means that we can now head down to Georgia for the rest of the summer--right after we stop off at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning for a last-minute check with Dr. Millett, our ophthalmologist (hey, that's a good word for a spelling B!).

June 24: Chelsea visits Kirk and flies to Massachusetts

On Saturday, June 24, June, Chelsea, and Andy drove down to Nashville to visit Kirk, Lora, and Madalyn and make sure that Chelsea got to the airport to fly to Massachusetts. Kirk fixed us a delicious Mesquit-roasted chicken with the fixings, showed us the wonderful restoration progress on his home, and took us to the airport. Chelsea safely ascended into the blue sky and arrived at Hartford shortly before 6:00 p.m. While she was in flight, Kirk brought out some really good beer and salsa with nachos, and we chatted for a good bit about life and life's lessons. Then after Kirk and Andy worked for a couple of hours on setting up new bathroom curtain fixtures, we all went to bed--pooped out. Lora came home late (she'd been with Madalyn to Mary Carol's seventh birthday party), and we didn't get to see her until the next morning where she joined us for coffee. Shortly thereafter, we drove back to Richmond so that we can ready for June eye surgery on Tuesday and our drive down to Georgia on Wednesday. All in all, it was a wonderful, but short visit. Kirk recommends that we all read The Law by Frederick Bastiat. It will, he promises, show the aweful truth about governments. Andy has promised that he will read it--yes, all thirty-six pages! In fact, Andy downloaded and printed the pdf file. Now all he needs is some quiet time for reflection.

At the beach on Jackson Lake

There's a nice beach down by the dam at the lake, and we spent part of two days there. Jackson and Mary Carol took to the water like dolphins while Hayden was a tad reluctant. But Amy coaxed him, bit by bit, and soon enough--there he was: a little whale bobbing in and out of the water!

Five Fish in Twenty Minutes

On the afternoon of the day Jackson, Mary Carol, and Hayden arrived at the lake, we all went down to the dock and boat to see if the fish were hungry. Granddad had bought some red wiggly worms and kept them in the fridge. After a little discouragement (the fish weren't biting), we finally got the kids, the worms, and the poles in the right spot at the right time, and up came five--count them: one, two, three, four, five!--sunfish, all of which were thrown back into the lake so they can grow bigger and bigger. And we'll catch them next time!

Mary Carol's Birthday Today !

When Mary Carol Kuhn wakes up this morning, she will be seven years old! She'll invites gobs of her friends over for a big party and have a wonderfully memorable birthday. As an appetizer b-day, hoping to show her how a party works, we celebrated her birthday at the lake two weeks ago. And darn! She already knew how to blow out the candles! Happy Birthday, Mary Carol! And, oh, by the way--while at the lakehouse, MC discovered she was missing a tooth--the first one she's ever missed in her whole life. What a smile!

June took this photograph!

After the recital this afternoon, Chelsea and Andy stepped back under the trees on the EKU campus, and June took this photograph with her telephoto lens. The photograph means so much to Andy because today is the last day Chelsea will be with him until August when she returns from Massachusetts. As we English professors say, "Ain't she beautiful!"

Chelsea plays "Sunset on the Shannon" at Piano Camp Honors Recital

This afternoon Chelsea finished her participation in the week-long Stephen Foster Music Camp on the EKU campus. Every day from 8:00 to 4:30 was spent in practice (about three hours a day!) and in class (composition theory), along with some more fun things like bowling last evening. At this afternoon's Honors Recital, Chelsea played Melody Bober's "Sunset on the Shannon," playing it beautifully, with lots of feeling and confidence. It was wonderful to see her artistic presentation on the big stage in Brock Auditorium! By the way, it's the River Shannon in Ireland that Bober's composition evokes; and when Chelsea played, we thought of the River Shannon as I saw it in the accompanying photograph. You did it wonderfully, Chelsea!

Liz and Art stop by for a few days!

Liz and Art stayed with us soon after we got down to the lake, and it was wonderful to be with them as together we caught up on family news in the front lawn, took a cruise on the boat, went to the Atlanta Aquarium, shared a lovely meal at Ruby Tuesdays, and then wished them well as they head down to Savannah for the rest of their early summer vacation. Art found a way to fix the old metal bed Chelsea was sleeping in that had begun to come apart so that later Andy was able to repair it. We so enjoy Liz and Art whenever we get to be with them. Our next time will be sometime in September at the Galt House in Louisville, where we like have Sunday brunch in the toppermost Flagship Restaurant on the twenty-fifth floor. O boy, we can hardly wait! Thanks for visiting us, Liz and Art!

Visiting the Atlanta Aquarium

When Liz and Art arrived and stay with us while on their way to Savannah, we all went to the Atlanta Aquarium for an afternoon of fish and sea mammal watching. The aquarium touts itself as the world's largest and has recently acquired to new--and large!--female whale sharks. I forgot to stick an image card in my camera and had to satify myself with taking a few shots of things with my cell-phone camera. If they're not too murky (looking authentically as though they were shot a mile down in the Pacific Ocean), I post a few. In the meantime, go to the Atlantic Aquarium for a look-see!

Two Weeks at Lake

Right after Chelsea's track meet--in which her team running in the 4 x 200 meters stepped up on the winner's blocks!--we went down to Turtle Cove for two weeks of family fun. Here, for example, is Chelsea plowing through the calm seas of Jackson Lake. Things went well for a great day or two until the wiring on our old Evinrude 35 started smoking and burned up enough insulation to strand us in the middle of lake. A couple of good Samaritans towed us to the dock, and now the boat is waiting for a new wiring harness to arrive and be installed. You can bet we smiled while the fun lasted!