Trip to Lake Brownwood

Every other year, my parents, siblings and I, along with my mom’s sisters and their families, meet at a magical lakefront property in Lake Brownwood, Texas. There, we enjoy all sorts of water-sports (water-skiing, jet-skiing, knee-boarding, wake-boarding, fishing, the cousin-blob, etc), fabulous home-cooked meals, telling stories, singing and worship, taking naps, celebrating birthdays, playing on the Wii, solving 1000 piece puzzles, and relaxing together. Our amazing accommodations, courtesy of Dale and Rita Brown (Ben’s wife Trisha’s family), are spacious and delightful for spending a week at the lake.














































































This year was made all the more special by the fact that Jenna decided to be baptized into Christ during our time there. She has always wanted her baptism to be at a beautiful and special place, and with lots of family on hand to help celebrate, Lake Brownwood was the perfect venue! We are so proud of and delighted for Jenna in this vital step she has taken on her faith journey.

Here and There

During my sabbatical, I have enjoyed some times to connect with old friends, valued mentors, confidants, and loved ones. Pictured below are a lunch meeting with my long-time friend Jon Reed (minister of the Hilltop Church of Christ in El Segundo), a dinner date with Carrie, and a Dodger game with the extended Giboney side of Carrie’s family (Dodgers won!). For a people-person like me, times like these are priceless!

In Malibu with Jon Reed

















On a hot date with Carrie

















With the Giboney crew at Dodger Stadium

Sedona Family Reunion

During the weekend of July 23-26, we drove to Sedona, Arizona for an extended Wall family reunion, stopping en route in Flagstaff to visit long-time college friends Rick and Connie Krug and their kids.

Krug and Wall Kids


















Growing up, my visits to the Wall side of the family were always confusing. My dad is the 10th of 11 siblings and has 5 brothers and 5 sisters. Some of his siblings are 25 years older than him, which means that he is younger than some of his nieces (one by six years). For me, this meant that most of my first cousins are 10 to 20 years older than me. It was confusing to me because most of the kids my age were my second cousins. Now that I am older, I can cognitively process this information but it’s still tricky trying to explain it to our girls.

However, we enjoyed nice visits with the various family members who gathered from as far away as Washington, California and Texas to share in the fun.

With the Wall First Cousins


















Some friendly family competition on the volleyball court


















Spectacular Sedona Cliffs

East Coast Trip (Part 7 of 7) -- New Hampshire & Main

We spent our final day and a half on the East Coast with long-time friends Paul and Leanne Clark and their teenage sons, Drue and Devin. We have known the Clarks for 20 years, since we were M-Div students together at Abilene Christian University. They have served a congregation in Nashua, New Hampshire for the past 9 years. It was great to reconnect and our families enjoyed a less "historical" and more "relational" final stop on our odyssey.

In addition to enjoying ice cream together ("The Big One" in Nashua serves up a wide variety of generous and tasty concoctions), playing cards, playing a fun basketball game called knockout, watching some of the MLB home run derby, and getting caught up on life, we enjoyed a day trip to the coast of Maine. We took in several lighthouses, relaxed at a gorgeous and unusual rocky shoreline (which looked like petrified wood), did some rock-climbing and wave-evading, and enjoyed New England seafood (at least, those of us who go for that sort of thing did).

East Coast Trip (Part 6) -- Plimouth Plantation and Mayflower II

During our final day in Massachusetts, we visited the Mayflower II, a full-size (and seaworthy) replica of the original ship complete with wonderfully informative characters dressed in period costumes. The ship's "captain" (see below) was a particularly excellent and knowledgeable character who spoke in a strong Scottish (?) brogue, knew every aspect of ships and sailing, and helped us better appreciate the rigors and hardships endured by the initial passengers and crew of the Mayflower.























Ready to board the Mayflower II


















Hoisting the anchor with the windlass























We also explored the Plimouth Plantation, which presented life at the first colonial settlement from the perspective of both the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people. I appreciated learning more about the lives and challenges of those early settlers and how being persecuted for their faith led them to seek a new life on a new continent. However, I continue to be deeply unsettled by and ambivalent about the legacy of the white man's displacement of the native americans. The cultures and civilizations that my ancestors displaced and/or eradicated (whether intentionally through conquest or inadvertently through disease) leaves me feeling unsettled about the whole "manifest destiny" thing (though that language wasn't used until the 1800s).

At the Plimouth Plantation


















Inside a Plimouth Plantation Home

East Coast Trip (Part 5) -- Boston, Massachusetts

Following a great day at Old Sturbridge Village, we went to Boston, where we stayed on the MIT campus in the apartment of Bob and Jan Randolph (Loyd's brother & wife).

On Saturday, we caught the "T" (Boston's subway) to downtown and explored the Freedom Trail, which winds through town by a host of historic sites, from Paul Revere's house and the Old North Church (immortalized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, "Paul Revere's Ride") to the Old State House and the Old South Meetinghouse, to Boston Common and Bunker Hill. We also visited enough grave sites to make Jerry Rushford proud.

Freedom Trail Marker


















Follow the Red Brick Line























In Paul Revere's family pew at the Old North Church




















In front of the Old North Church






















Our teacher at a historic educational site






















A bit of Boston humor

East Coast Trip (Part 4) -- Old Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts

Following our three day adventure in New York City, we spent the next three days in Massachusetts.

Old Sturbridge Village
Our first stop was at Old Strurbridge Village, one of the country's largest living history museums, with a great staff of craftspeople and historians in costume, 59 historic buildings on 200 acres, three authentic water-powered mills, and two covered bridges. If you're familiar with Colonial Williamsburg, Old Sturbridge Village depicts life a century later (1830s New England).

We loved interacting with the townspeople and watching the blacksmiths, tinsmiths, coopers (barrel makers), cobblers, wool-dyers, potters, farmers, and other various craftsmen and women ply their trades. I was impressed by the amount of work that people in 1830 had to do simply to have clothes on the backs and enough food to see them through the next harvest. Before the automation brought by textile manufacturing, a wool coat would take about 31 days to make (including 9 days of carding the wool and 13 days of spinning it).

In the Potter's Shop




















Wall Family Portrait (minus Mom)




















At the Village Parsonage




















Wall girls having some dressup fun