The Haynes Kiddos

From July 2007 to July 2008 I worked as a nanny for the three most wonderful children - Hudson, Avery Anne, & Sawyer. This past weekend I got the privilege of returning to Waco and spending time with them for an entire weekend. We had so much fun!! It was such a joy to be around such lovable and loving kids.

While the twins were at art camp, Sawyer and I went to the zoo. We were looking at the fish exhibit when he looked down and pointed, "Hey, that's my name." I was so proud of him for recognizing his name at the zoo. Explaining to him why it was there was a little more difficult.

That evening we made beautiful pictures at home. We had a lot of fun making pictures for mommy and daddy.

On Friday Storey - aka Toey - and Baby Cambell came over to play with Sawyer and I while the twins were back at art camp. We had so much fun. Baby Cambell has gotten so big. We enjoyed watching her take her big girl steps!!

On Friday afternoon the kiddos, Nana, and I packed up the Yukon and headed to the pool. We had so much fun practicing our swimming in the deep end. We were all very good at taking turns swimming back and forth. After our practicing we ventured to the water slide. And, of course, the afternoon would not have been complete without Hudson showing off his diving board skills.

On Friday evening we spent some time in the backyard playing on the new swing set. We were so excited when Brent and Judge finally arrived!!

I think the kids enjoyed their time with Judge a little more than their time with me (j/k). They enjoyed making judge sit, lay down, roll over, and play dead.

On Saturday morning we went to the new Baylor practice facilities and watched a football practice. We enjoyed finding numbers, watching to see if the kick was good, and watching football players "shove" each other. Hudson was absolutely mesmerized.

On Sunday morning we made sand art. The kids enjoyed pouring the colored sand into their bottles. However, I think they enjoyed shaking/mixing the finished product up the best!

Overall, I had a wonderful time and it was hard to say goodbye. Thankfully, we will hopefully be seeing the whole family at the upcoming Baylor football games. I love them all and I am so thankful to still be a part of such a wonderful family.

Firsts for Thomas

A couple of weeks ago Thomas visited central Texas and accomplished many firsts...

His first trip to Brent & Anna's.

His first time to meet Uncle Brent.

His first kiss from Judge.

His first time to meet his great grandparents - Grandma and Pops.

We sure did enjoy our visit and we hope he comes back soon. We love you Thomas!!

Peace Camp

Peace camp was awesome. I had a wonderful time. It was kinda like attending a baptist support group - who knew there were other baptists out there dedicated to issues of social justice. My favorite part of camp was attending the active non-violent training workshop in the afternoons. Watch out world - Here I come!! Here are a few pics from BPFNA.

It was fun taking a break from Texas and seeing some Mountains. I had never been to Utah.

Beautiful sunset after young adults meeting.
Gotta love me some Heather.

Our active non-violent trainers - they were awesome!

Beautiful Heather - we were on the hunt for coffee (where we were informed Baptists have to hide out in bars and coffee shops).

Overall, I had a wonderful time, met some amazing people, and learned some great tools that will be useful in my ministry (whatever that will be). Looking forward to saving my pennies and heading to peace camp again (w/ Brent). Next year - New York!

Another Time

Millions of years ago the first humans began to grunt or click or communicate in some primitive language. Social scientists who study the history of human development will likely critique (assuming they would even read) this previous statement, among others from this post. Nevertheless, my uninformed understanding of our ancestors' evolution brought along rudimentary tools shortly after language and then simple machines. Only a few short eons later the development would be staggering. We no longer live in caves. Few if any of us hunt for survival. We have running water and sophisticated systems to deliver our basic utilities directly to our homes including a little thing called electricity which seems to be an ever-present life force in our world. When we're done with what is delivered to our homes we have even more sophisticated systems to dispose of it all. We're so sophisticated that it has become socially taboo to even talk about "disposing" of it all. We have things pretty nice. We don't have to put up with extreme temperatures for longer durations than a quick walk to the car. There is no need to protect ourselves from predators and pests, we have exterminators and highly industrialized cities to keep the menacing wild-life away. We've come a long way and we have a simpler life now than our ancestors did living in caves, hunting and being hunted. Nevertheless, this life can become chaotic and stressful, its a good thing that we've saved a bit of a bygone age.

Take as an example, McKinney Falls State Park. It was here that primitives found natural rock formations resembling modern patio covers. These areas made perfect shelter from violent storms. Anna and I headed out for a day of shelter from the storm of modern life. At least, that was our intent. In decades, centuries and eons past, our ancestors would hear thunder in the distant skies and head for the rock shelters. Anna and I headed that way after a quick google search of good places to hike within a short driving distance from our home in the suburbs. The ancients knew that storms carried awesome power and could do untold damage to the scant civilization and could hang in the air for days. We can deduce that they likely would have hurriedly gathered up what food and water they could on their way to the shelters. Anna and I knew that we wanted it to be a good full day so we packed our insulated pic-nic backpack (smarter than the average bears) with peanut butter sandwiches, cheese cubes and baked lays. We filled our impressive collection of Nalgene bottles sporting the names of local Baptist institutions that we've collected at various conventions here and there and filled them with water. That is, water with ample gatorade powder mixed in. Just as in centuries past, we scurried to the semi-caves as fast we could in my 2001 Ford Ranger pick-up truck. After a warm first half of the day we stopped in to the air conditioned visitor's center for rendezvous with modern plumbing if you know what I mean. Hands washed and sanitized, it was time for another hike now fully alert to the dangers of Texas' most venomous snakes thanks to the full color poster issued by the park service.

So maybe a retreat to another period in time was a bit ambitious for us. Nevertheless, if you live in the Austin area and can muster a bit of imagination we highly recommend McKinney Falls as a great place to escape the buzz of 2009.

A Day at the Ranch

These past 6 weeks I have had the pleasure of learning Greek from Dr. John Alsup. Somewhere around 9 am each morning, myself and my fellow classmates drug our feet into class, found our chairs, and began wondering just what type of curve the Greek language would throw at us this time. Now, six weeks later, here we stand, sufficiently underlining verbs, bracketing nouns, circling definite articles, parsing particles, and attempting rough translations. This semester Dr. Alsup taught us that Greek is a little like tending to an animal. As you care, love, and nourish an animal, you find that it often has much to offer you in return. Similarly, as I have spent time this last year learning Hebrew and Greek, I have found that there is much these two languages have to offer me. I just have to take the time and be willing to provide a little TLC.

In the middle of the semester, Dr. Alsup invited our class out to his ranch to meet his horses. Here are some pictures of our wonderful day at the ranch! He is surely one of the most caring professors I have ever had. I do not think I've ever met a person who has the teacher's heart as much as he.

Dr. Alsup pulling all of us on his tractor. It isn't a trip to the ranch without a hay ride.

Dr. Alsup and Amber on Platero, the donkey. He had a beautiful black marking the shape of a cross on his back. I've never seen a donkey more beautiful! Dr. Alsup was so sweet to take Amber for a ride on Platero.

Amber riding "Spittin' Image."

Amber timidly petting Commander. I couldn't convince her to get any closer.

Smiling Babies

I once heard a saying, "when a baby is smiling in his/her sleep, it is because family members who have passed on are playing with him/her." It makes me smile to see this picture of Thomas. What a beautiful way to think of Thomas meeting his grandfather. Thank you God for giving us the wonderful gift of babies and for the many ways you express love in our lives.

Thomas & Bryant

Thomas Truitt Vestal has finally arrived.  He was born on Sunday May 31, 2009 at 6:12 pm.  He was 6 lbs 9 oz and 18 inches.  He is a handsome baby with all ten fingers and all ten toes.  There has been talk that he looks just like Bryant as a baby... so here are two pictures of Baby Thomas and then a collection of Bryant over the years.......

Baby Thomas after birth.  He came into the world with eyes wide open.  

Baby Thomas asleep in the nursery.  

Bryant's baby picture from the hospital.  

Bryant at 7 months.  

Bryant in the early years.  

Bryant in his middle years.  

Bryant as a young man.  

Bryant all grown up - a handsome dad with a handsome son.  

I'm proud of you bubba, I love you!!