At the Zoo!!

Recently, we took TJ and Ellie to the NC Zoo and I am not talking about the one at our home!! We left on a Sunday night and stayed in a hotel in Asheboro. This was TJ and Ellie's first stay in a hotel and they certainly were excited. I learned a valuable lesson from them that it is not always the big and better that often generate the most excitement but the small things in life like a simple one night stay in a hotel with mom and dad. A lesson learned! We spent the following day at the zoo and TJ and Ellie had a blast to say the least. It was a mild 75 degree day so all the large animals were out and about and quite visible. A good day for pictures too!

Jennie Graduates From College!!

Congratulations to our daughter Jennie Dickens Harrell. She graduated today from Southeastern College at Wake Forest. She has worked so very hard to get to this point and we are so proud of her. We Love You Jennie! (Click on picture for a larger view)

Snake Handling!!

TJ found and captured this beauty of a snake recently. We both observed one of our cats (Rosebud) hovering over something in the side yard and as we approached we realized it was a snake. We have found very few snakes in our yard over the years but on occasion we see one slithering around. As you can see TJ wanted to keep this one to observe it for a while. As best we can tell it is a Kingsnake.

At the Museum!

Today, we spent the afternoon at the NC Life and Science Museum in Raleigh. I must say the museum has been updated quite a bit since I was there last. They have done a very nice job with the updates...even improving upon the hoax and myth of how we all came from an original "big bang" and evolved from something that looked like and un-cooked egg (don't blame me I did not draw the picture.) Anyway, if their was a "big bang" God made it happen!! I also noticed their is no alternative to the "false" theory of Evolution as that would cause you to ask to many questions and make you "think" which would do us all a lot of good instead of accepting a false theory just because it is taught and "they must know." Give me a break!

I have also included a picture of the same Dinosaur we recently saw walking down Hwy 401 just south of Raleigh about two months ago. He evolved too except from a much larger un-cooked egg! I am glad they finally caught that thing!!!

Anyway, we did enjoy our visit...especially TJ and Ellie! They are a joy to be with!!!

Lawn Mower Man!

Today is a great day at the Dickens. TJ has accomplished a milestone in that he drove the lawn mower by himself for the first time. As you can see in the pictures he is behind the wheel with Ellie behind him! And yes, the lawn mower is moving. I see this from a different set of eyes however. I picture TJ happily mowing the grass so I do not have to. What a day of rejoicing that will be!!

Celebrating 25 Years!

It is hard to believe that twenty five years ago I married the precious lady standing beside me in the picture. The truly amazing thing is Julie has continued to stand beside me after all these years. I married much, much better than I am deserving of! The picture was taken on our anniversary which was March 14th. We had just returned home from having dinner together at the Angus Barn in Raleigh.

Visit From A Friend

This past Sunday we were treated to a visit from our long time family friend Lynn Fields also known as LA LA to the Dickens family. Lynn has been such a part of our family for so long that when she comes to visit it is like a family member dropping in. Lynn and her husband Eldon live in Spring Hill, Tennessee and as you can see in the pictures have a precious daughter named MacKenzie. Is she a doll or what? Lynn and her dear family are a perfect example of God's faithfulness in answering prayer. Lynn prayed for a wonderful husband and baby for so long and God was so gracious to answer her prayers.

Shootin Hoops!

A few weeks ago TJ began playing Upward Basketball at a local church in the area. It has been a blast for all of us. He plays every Saturday morning at around 8 am. He practices with the rest of his team for about fifteen minutes and then they have a real game. He tries so hard but has a difficult time shooting the ball hard enough for it to reach the goal each time. He is getting better however. We recently purchased him an ajustable basketball goal, and as he has practiced he has gotten stronger and made several baskets on his own. His dribbling has gotten much better too! I am not sure but I think he is being scouted by some local college teams!

Big Helpers!

TJ and Ellie recently joined me in the office at church. Many times when Julie is in a class or teaching at church, she will drop by the office in order for me to see TJ and Ellie before she goes home. It is always a bright spot in my day. They usually rush in the office with big hugs and kisses. What more could a dad ask for!

New Years With The Frinks

Today we spent the afternoon with some our very closest friends, Jim and Dawn Frink. They have been very close to me and Julie for many, many years and we always enjoy our time with them. It has been a tradition over the last several years to spend time with them either at their house or ours on News Years Day. Today, Dawn served up a great lunch for our family and we enjoyed a wonderful afternoon with dear people who are actually more like family than friends. Pictured are Lewis Frink (hands on TJ's shoulders) and Jill Frink (pink shirt.)
Pictured above is Julie and her dear friend Dawn and me and Jim.

Eating Again!

One of the great things about spending time together at Christmas is the opportunity to sit down and eat together too! As you can see, this group has eaten about all they can and are actually stuck in their seats. Josh (in the red shirt with Katie) actually stayed in the same chair for about one hour because he could not move! I can't believe I ate the whole thing!

Toboggans Anyone?

Everyone in this picture will certainly have warm heads in preparation for winter! They each got a different hat for Christmas!

Christmas Eve at Dustin and Jennie's

We spent part of the afternoon on Christmas Eve with Dustin and Jennie at their home in Wake Forest, NC. Jennie prepared a great meal for all of our family and we opened gifts together. In the picture they are looking at footage from a digital camera. They are all laughing so it probably was me (dad) they were looking at. I usually get that kind of response!

More Christmas Fun!

Me-Me paid TJ and Ellie an early visit on Christmas Eve and surprised them both with new bicycles. What a surprise that was to them and they loved them (me-me too of course.) They have been riding almost everyday since they got them. Thanks Me-Me!!!

More Christmas Fun!

I caught these pictures of TJ and Ellie playing together on TJ's train set. Julie built the train track for TJ so it would surround the Christmas tree (not holiday tree) and make it more fun to watch. TJ's favorite Thomas the Train Engine car is Percy as you can see in the picture.

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree!

We put up our Christmas tree tonight. This is always a special event at our home. It has been a tradition for many years beginning with our oldest kids and now passed on to the younger children, to put up the Christmas tree together. TJ and Ellie were so much fun to watch as they played with the ornaments before placing them on the tree. That is an excitment that a child seems to never forget no matter how old they are. I helped Mom and Emily too and we were able to get the entire tree decorated in one evening. Not always an easy thing to do! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Fun!

One tradition at our house is to build and decorate Ginger Bread houses each year. We have been doing this for many years. Julie cooks the dough in order to prepare the houses and then all of our kids spend 2-3 hours decorating the houses with everything from m&ms and peppermints to "snaps" which are a type of pretzel to other candies. This Christmas season, Jennie and Dustin, Katie and her friend, Josh, TJ, Ellie, and Emily all took the challenge of decorating two houses. Dustin and Jennie took the one they decorated to their home in Wake Forest. We had a great time eating "junk" while lavishly decorating these ginger bread houses. They really turned out quite nice as you can see in the pictures.

Birthday Party

On November 20th, TJ celebrated his sixth birthday. We had a great party at our home for TJ and several of his friends. He had a great time and it was fun watching him along with all of his friends playing together. It has been a fast six years and also a good six years. He is a dear little guy to all of us in our family and we love him very much!

Symphony Visit

Today, TJ and myself visited the NC Symphony in Raleigh. They were offering a concert to parents and their kids that helps kids better understand the make-up of the orchestra and what the different sections of the symphony are. TJ also had the opportunity to make his own instrument just prior to the performance. There were different tables set up in the lobby where kids could make home-made instruments to keep. TJ made a percussion instrument. It was very enjoyable and TJ really liked it too. The homeschool group we are a part of (Classical Conversations) bought tickets together and met at the Memorial Auditorium for the event. It was narrated by David Hartman, who was if you remember, the former host of Good Morning America many years ago. I remember him back in the early 70s when I was in junior high. After the event we went to America's restaurant, MacDonalds and had lunch together.

Everything is "Upward" for TJ!

Tonight TJ went to his first meeting about playing Upward Basketball this fall and Winter. He had a great time! When we arrived at the church we got a brief introduction to the Upwards Basketball program and then TJ was fit for his uniform, measured to see how tall he is, and also went through an evaluation to see how his skills measure up. He had to dribble the ball through a maze, shoot baskets and display his running abilities. He did great! I think he is really going to enjoy this. Afterwards we went to Chick-fil-a together. He always enjoys going there and so do I. What a great little guy!