Summer's Up and School is Back, or at Least Will Be Soon!

"Hello!" After 3 weeks of traveling and transition, we are back home again.  However, coming up this time was to a clean townhome rather than our mouse happy rental in the country.  Thank you Jesus for a sanitary place now that Riley has taken to crawling, rolling, sitting, and standing, though varied versions of each.  Brenton calls is crawling, I call it lazy.  Two knees forward, bobble and a lunge; that's all it takes for our sweet girl to get to her toys.  Sometimes she throws in a leg kick or a roll before taking on her crawling stance to move both knees again before lunging to the next victim.

Only one time has she pulled herself up on the ottoman to standing position, though she frequently tries to use me as her steadying pole.  And we woke up this morning to find her in sitting position, leaning all the way forward and, yet, still fast a sleep.  Sitting is like crawling.  She has sat up on her own, though she prefers to lean forward and tumble into a role rather than exert the energy to sit and play.  Really, Riley is far from lazy as every minute awake is spent moving, and if she has help trying to stand.  I think the little girl wants to walk rather than crawl. 

As you can tell, Riley's swirl of hair on top of her head has grown tremendously.  The gel mohawk is from trying to remove her cradle's cap.  Think we got it!

So the reason we have been MIA for the past month...

The first week of July, we were enjoyed the fireworks from our neighbors house and the 4th of July celebration in small town Jellico, an even smaller town than Williamsburg... which is small.  We found out that we were going to get campus housing so Brenton can now walk to work.  Perfect timing as we were about to head out on vacation and return just in time for Brenton to prep for pre-season with the University of the Cumberlands Men's Soccer team.

The next week, my family picked me up as the whole Dongell crew headed to Nana's farm in North Carolina.  Brenton, ever so sweet, headed up a soccer camp in Kentucky and hurried back for a New Student Orientation for the college, missing the time at the farm.  Third week of July, the Dongell crew drove to the beach for the better part of the week and Brenton meet up with us.  Riley loved the wind and the water, as if the tongue is not a good enough indicator of that!  She is a girl after her daddy's heart as she was sad to depart from the daily water outings.

And the fourth week, we were able to visit Brenton's parents and family in Texas as we had two airline tickets expiring the month of July.  We flew standby, amazed that Riley did as well as she did and loving the business right outside of Dallas, Texas.  Brenton was in heaven as he had all his favorites; Chipotle, Jamba Juice, Starbucks, In-N-Out, and QT.

The weather was amazingly HOT and Riley sported a heat rash our whole time there but we loved visiting the Benwares and the Fords.

And the last few days of the month, we hurried back to have our country rental cleaned out and get our campus housing all settled.  I think we are about there.  We got internet just yesterday, so forgive my month of blogging negligence.  We are now back in session!

Riley is napping and Brenton is hard at work as his second assistant just made his way into town.  The boys arrive for pre-season soon and NAIA is delaying in decisions regarding international players.  So you can watch with us as we see how the Cumberland's Men's Soccer team shapes up this season!  Just make sure you follow University of the Cumberlands in Kentucky as there is another university similar in name that makes it easy to get confused.  Until next time!

Summer Lovin'

And yet another successful trip to Asheville last weekend!  Congratulations to Josh and Keri Riccardi who's new marriage gave us a wonderful excuse to head back into town.  The mountain breeze and live music floating on the wind graced our lovely mountain views during the ceremony and reception.  Riley casually hung out with the nannies and other kiddos able to attend.  Once again we heard what a happy child we have, as we found her entertaining herself on the floor.  

For those of us old enough to eat adult food, we enjoyed catering by the Biltmore and Cold Stone.  I have to say the wedding rock it just from the fact that they had a Cold Stone station, yummy!  We enjoyed visiting with some of Brenton's Montreat players and co-workers.

As always, Brenton worked hard at the landscape of our home, we pick raspberries and enjoyed walking on the lively streets of downtown Asheville at night.  And our wonderful neighbors in Kentucky let us borrow their pool upon our return, as you see below.  It has been a week of summer lovin', that's for sure.

And woohoo for my sister Jen who had her third baby.  Their first little girl, Kirra Ashlyn, was born mid-June and we have been told looks much like her cousin Riley.  We'll let you know what we think in a few weeks when we meet her!

Sepia Update

Here's our sepia collage of the past few weeks...

• Family Pictures at the Moonbow
• Riley discovering the full roll and now loving her belly
• Riley becoming a tongue-aholic
• An unexpected breakfast with Nana, Aunt Esther & Becca

"Moonbow": Silly or Not, It is Real!

provided by: unusualkentucky.blogspot.com

So I feel silly even saying "moonbow", like I've made up a childish word.  However, I am here to say it is a very real thing.  It is a rainbow but somehow caused by a full moon over Cumberland Falls.  Yes, this is the same waterfall I just posted pictures of a few weeks back.  We remembered a full moon was coming up so we went to the moonbow early this past week.  It wasn't quite as breath-taking as this picture I found on the internet, though it was pretty amazing. 

A few days before we went to see the moonbow, we visitied Cumberland Falls again during daylight and it was a whole new experience from our very first trip.  The water was clear, clean and the view was stunning.  I saw what all the craze was about.  Then we went to the moonbow, so peaceful and perfectly made by an architect in Heaven.  It was dark and quiet, all except the majestic roar of the falls, and perfectly accented with the sparkling stars.

I forgot a flashlight at home and the phones in the car, so we had to use the camera to guide our steps.  It was all a little uneven and sandy, thankfully Brenton carried the baby so I didn't have to worry about the safety of our child.

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What else is new, we are attending a small community church and I mean small.  It is a bit unorthodox, not your average Sunday service.  Yet, we have found a beautiful community of believers that is very intentional with those around them.  It is a reminder of beginning with making a difference in the everyday, and that sometimes change is just seeing one life changed.  The impact is far greater than one will ever know, as many of the planted seeds may never even be seen.  And the fact that it is a small community has made it impossible to keep from getting involved; what great accountability!

Riley is rolling and moving; now trying to figure out crawling, though I pressume she still has a while until she will get that down.  She is drooling and teething; often with random outburst from her aching gums, just waiting for the first tooth to peek out.  And she got her first lightening bug last night, one daddy gave her.  Sadly she decided to squish it rather than look at it.  I tried to save the booger but her grip on the bug got tighter and tighter with no luck.  Brenton thought it was all rather funny.  

Our Rolling Machine

While this video doesn't show justice, our little gal has gotten down the rolling business.  She can roll back to stomach and stomach to back now!

Cumberland Falls (Williamsburg, Kentucky)

 Thanks for the cool hiking gear, that was passed down from the Fralic family!

Memorial Day weekend, we took a trip to Cumberland Falls about a half hour from our place.  Here in Kentucky, it is compared to the great Niagra Falls. I do have to give credit to the fact that it is a huge waterfall and oh so powerful.  It is amazing how calm and quiet the river is just up to the heart pounding drop; truly one of the next biggest waterfall I have seen next to Niagra.  However, the brown water and the waterfall just did not quiet seem "Niagra"esque.  It is truly amazing that we have such beautiful scenery basically in our backyard.  Oh yes, and at night during a full moon, the falls apparently have a "moonbow".  That will have to be an adventure for later this summer!

We hiked for a few hours to another smaller falls were you see from the picture the water is a beautiful turquoise.  Brenton wanted to do the hike behind the falls but was limited with our little gal on his back.  Riley, she loved the adventure out but was ready to get home and out of the warm weather. 

I discovered that there are black bear here as well, not surprising considering we are still in the Appalachian mountians.  They are not talked about much here and it does not seem like they are really seen where we live but the national park where the falls were had signs alerting us of the natural habitat.  Our Asheville neighbors have sent, "Hellos" along with stories of a mama black bear and her cubs that are visiting the neighborhood these days. 

Lexi is loving summer and longingly gazes out at the pasture from our porch, as the heat has limited her activity this week.  The heat and the sun are welcomed, though a little draining as our air unit cannot keep up with the intensity of it.  Considering we are still in the mountains, I didn't expect such humid heat, though Williamsburg seems to have it every year, according to the locals.

I attempted to be a part of the community yard sale this past Saturday.  It was a failure as I had only made $0.75 by noon and had seen maybe two cars stop by.  Brenton got a kick out of it, at least.  By the end of the day I think I had accumulated about $18.  Enough to make up for the melted cupcakes I had made to sell and our recent Starbucks trip.  Had fun chatting with the neighbor ladies though and got a homemade doughnut from the local bakery, yummm!

And we finished our Saturday night having hamburgers with our worship pastor and his wife.  We are attending a small, small church of about 30 on Sunday mornings.  There are a great core of staff members that are bi-vocational and have been serving our Williamsburg community of mountain people for a little over 5 years.  (If you ever watched or read Christy, it would the be the modern day equivalent.  We live in a very poor and uneducated area.)  We are really enjoying the community of believers we have been meeting and have connected with a small group as well.

I will sign off until next time as get up to check on Lexi and watch the elegant evening sky turn purple.

Sweet, tired little Riley at the end of the day and energized Daddy ready for the next adventure!  "Wanna go again next weekend?"