Lawn Chair Theater

Leiper's Fork, which is technically where we live, is a pretty neat little place. I actually told someone early in the summer that it's like a little town you see featured in a magazine like Southern Living or something...actually, the funny thing is the very next week I was at the library with the kids and picked up a Country Living Magazine, and guess what the main story was about?  Yep.  Leiper's Fork, TN.  Revitalization of small towns. (I posted the link here for those interested!)

http://www.countryliving.com/homes/shopping/small-town-leipers-fork-tennessee#slide-1

 

If you click on the link and scroll through the pages of the article, you'll see lots of places that we pass everyday we drive to school.  One neat thing about the little "downtown" area is during the summer months they do movie nights every Friday night, so that became a fun, easy summer family thing to do.  Some of the weeks a few of our new friends here joined us, and usually the night would start with kids running around playing tag or football til movie time, then settling in to watch whatever the movie of the week might be.  Here are some pictures from some of our movie nights at the Fork...Lawn Chair Theater.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jake and Caleb hanging out reading a while before the  movie starts

The first night we went there was the prettiest rainbow in the sky while we were there! 

Starting From Scratch

 

 I will write more in a future post about all the things we came to Grace to be a part of and for Kenny to join in leading, but one of the things was to help start a football program from scratch.  GCA is only a few years old, and they add a grade each year, so this year the school goes through 9th grade, next year 10th, etc.  This group of young men are pretty much 7th-9th graders, some who have played football before, but more who have never been on a team.  Grace is an absolutely beautiful campus from the inside out, but, needless to say, there's no football field!  The practice field?  An open pasture back behind the barn next to the river.  The locker room? A pretty cool barn next to the field. These are some pictures of the first practice or two this summer.  Starting from scratch is a lot of work for everyone involved from coaches, to players, even to parents, but it can be pretty exciting, too...especially when you know that you're not really just building a football team from scratch...you're building young men.  And I know something these young men don't yet.  They will never be the same once they've had Coach Dallas in their lives for the next 4- 6 years.  I don't know what all of these young fellas will grow up to be and do in this world, but I do know that the Lord has brought Kenny Dallas here to be one piece in the puzzle of adding into the men they will become for the sake of the kingdom.  I'm sure that's not what everyone sees when they look at these pictures of a little middle school football team or see these guys out on the field tackling and hitting, but I definitely do.  I've witnessed it too many times over the years, with dozens and dozens of young men, most of them now grown, working jobs, married, and even with children of their own.

 So...here we go, Grace...let's do this thing...starting from scratch. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Settling In

Love

David...it might be little, but it's a start! (first of LOTS caught that day!)

Love the reflection fishing pic of my Jake

Z's first official catch reeling in himself

My Daddy...about as close to heaven as it gets for him here...being outdoors, especially fishing!

Caleb and Mammaw (they got to come visit one weekend)

Sweet Z...precious

Got to enjoy swimming several times a couple of different places, thanks to some sweet friends who shared their pools with our crew!

Love those twins!

Summer Begins

We made the move, and began the process of settling in, but knew we were going to be renting one house for about 6-8 weeks before moving the eight of us again to a larger rental that wouldn't be available until August 1st.  SO, needless to say, you don't unpack everything!  The first house we moved to was 3 bedroom 1 1/2 baths, and, like most everything around here, out in the country.  Beautiful area, all new to us...The area is Leiper's Fork/Franklin 

Elly on the porch eating her lollipop one evening.  (I guess the stack of boxes behind her are just part of the story!)



Joshie playing outside

Summertime fun

Mattresses on the floor for the twins and Z until the next move...Found them like this one night.  Z halfway off his bed, and David off his completely and halfway on Zech's mattress (:

nothing like the sprinkler on such HOT summer days!!

checking out the Franklin library...little cuties (:

It didn't take long to find Sweet Cece's in downtown Franklin! Ice cream topped with whatever you like!

Ready or Not!

On June 10th we left the driveway of Rivertown Road and headed out for the next step in this journey for the Dallas family...Ready or not, here we come! 

Lifesong

Wanted to post a video that one of Kenny's fellow coaches made for the going away dinner in honor of his time there... clips from through the years and several of the "Coach Dallas sayings" he is most known by.  Thank you, Dennis.

From David and Joshua

This is a precious note our twins wrote and left for us one day with a quick little drawing at the bottom (Actually, Joshua was frustrated with David for not letting him do the drawing instead (: 

They left it on the counter for us to find for no reason at all, and it blessed my heart!! 

 

 

Oh Yeah...A Few More!

Caleb's best friend, Renzy, and his parents pulled together a surprise going away party at their house for some friends.  Caleb's a pretty fun guy to surprise, and I think we got him for sure this time!  Thanks to such sweet friends!  Airsoft wars and pizza...that's about heaven for a bunch of 6th grade boys!

This poor picture is blurry, but worthy of including! Jake has led a Bible study the past two years at Landmark for the boys middle school boys at lunchtime once a week.  I grabbed this shot as some of the boys were coming in getting set up before lunch one day at the end of the school year.  Jake is the tall fella in the dark shirt standing up...well done, Jake

sweet Elly playing Mommy with her baby dolls (: