Thanksgiving Pictures from the High Country

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Hey everybody!
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us to all of you! I have a somewhat heavy heart this year, for this will be our final Thanksgiving up in the High Country. Shelly, Brei, and I hope to be about 4-5 months into my residency as a hospital chaplain this time next year in either SC or NC. It has become a bit of a tradition over the last four years for Jeff and Jennifer's family and of course Jackie and Marty to join us for a Thanksgiving meal as well as celebrating Phil's birthday up here. Enjoy the pictures I have included and we pray for a safe, happy, and blessed Thanksgiving for you and yours!

Peace from the Mtn,

Tom, Shelly, and Breianna

1st Snowfall!!!

Hey All:

Here's the first Boone snowfall of the winter! As you can see from the picture, it ain't much yet! Hope you all are warm and safe!

Love from the Mtn!

Tom, Shelly, & Breianna

Happy Halloween from the MTN!

Brei, Zachary, and Sydney all had a great and safe time trick or treating

at the Dorms at Appalachian State. The Dorm Kids welcome the tricks or treaters the night before Halloween to a safe place to receive treats. If you live in the Boone area, you and your kids should check it out next year! The students love to see the kids in their costumes.

PS--My fave scary movies for Halloween:

1. The Thing (Both Versions)

2. The Blair Witch Project

3. An American Werewolf in London

4. Dracula (Bela Lugosi Version)

5. Night of the Living Dead

6. 28 Days Later

7. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Original Version Only)

8. Salem's Lot

9. The Exorcist

10. Jurassic Park

11. Alien

Peace from the MTN!

Tom, Shelly, and Breianna

Happy Halloween!

Hey Ghouls and Goblins!

Here is a shot of Breianna as Tigger this year at Halloween! Hope you all have

a spooky but safe Tricks or Treats!!

Love from the MTN,

Tom, Shelly, and Breianna

Happy Fall Everybody!!!!

Happy Fall Everybody!! We have had some warm weather for a couple of weeks, as you can see with Brei's bare feet at the left--but lately we have cooled down with some rain-we had a pretty hard frost this morning. We pray that some of the rain we have had will head out west to help with the wildfires in California. I will try to do some more postings soon--so don't give up on me, okay?

Love from the MTN!

Tom, Shelly, and Breianna

Our future plans!

Hello all--sorry I have not posted in a long time--I will try to correct that in the future! Anyway for everyone who has not heard, I am stepping down as Pastor of Bethany Lutheran Church, effective in December 2007. We will continue to stay in the parsonage until next summer when we hope to begin a new chapter of our lives and ministry. I have applied to five different Chaplaincy programs in order to earn my certification as a Hospital Chaplain. After about a year's residency, I hope to be working as a hospital chaplain. Many changes will be coming to our lives and I ask all of you who read this to pray for us as God leads us into uncharted waters.

As before and from now on,
Peace and Love and Blessings,
Tom, Shelly, and Breianna

Brei's Birthday!!

Here is Brei wearing one of her birthday presents--she is eight years old and quickly being transformed into a fan of our school, Indiana University. Perhaps one day she will go and become a full fledged cheerleader and she will warm her old Poppa's heart. Later this summer, we will celebrate her first year with us.

Love from the Mtn,

Tom, Shelly, and Breianna

My famous girls!

Recently, All About Women, a publication done by the Mountain Times did a story on my two favorite girls, Shelly and Breianna. Here is the picture that was featured in the article. If you are interested in receiving a copy of the article, let us know!

Love and Peace from the Mtn!

Dear Friends and Family: We have some sad news and some happy news to report. Our beloved cat Orange, pictured on the left, passed away recently. We loved him very much and he was a huge part of our life.

Later that same day we adopted Maxy (short for Maximillian) and as you can see in the picture on the right, he has become an important part of our family. We can never replace Orange's place in our hearts but we have hope that Maxy will continue to become a beloved part our family! We thank God for the gift of animals and pets in our lives. We hope you all are doing very well and staying warm!!

Much love from the Mtn!

Breianna is now legally our daughter!!

Hey Friends and Family:

If you have not received our announcement via email, we would like to announce that yesterday we received a phone call from Dare County, letting us know that our adoption of Breianna was
now final and completely legal! So everything is very cool and Brei is now officially our daughter
from now on! We would first like to thank and praise God for seeing us through this process and also thank the folks from the DSS of Watauga and Dare Counties for all their hard work. And we would like to thank you for all your prayers, hopes, and support on behalf of our family.

Thanks, Blessing, and Love
from the Mtn!
Tom, Shelly, and Breianna

Breianna's first real Boone snow!

Hey Guys!

Here are a couple of shots of Breianna getting to know snow in Boone, NC. She was very excited to do a little sledding and eating quite a bit of new snow with chocolate syrup on it! hope you all had a lovely Christmas and a great New Year!

Peace from the Mtn.

Shelly's Art Show!!!

Hey Everybody:

Here are a couple of shots from Shelly's Art Show! It all looks wonderful and we all were so proud! Shelly even sold a piece!! Her art will be at the Turchin Center in Boone through the month of December, 2006--if you are in the neighborhood, please drop by and take a look!! I have put a link on the blog to access the Turchin Center's website.

Peace from the Mtn!

Brei's Baptism!!!

Hey everybody! Just last week Breianna was baptized into Christ. We were all so very excited for her and her entry into the Family of God as well as the Family of Bethany Lutheran Church. Many thanks to John Bollinger who you see in the act of baptizing Breianna. Brei has become a permanent place in our lives and family--we praise and thank God for the gift of her.

All Blessings from the Mtn!!!

A Little Bit of Christmas!!!!

The Boone area has the best Christmas trees in the world....in our estimation!!! Here is a fine example circa 2006 from Jerry and Nancy Moretz. I think you will agree that this is a most fine and inspiring tree to grace our Holiday musings!! Love and blessings of the Advent season from all of us to all you!!

Grace and Peace from the Mtn.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

It has been awhile, but here is a new post---Happy Thanksgiving from all of us in Boone to all of you everywhere else!!!

The Blowing Rock and 1st Day of School!

Hey everyone!

A nice place to visit next time you are in the Boone area is the Blowing Rock, a wonderful natural outcropping which gives a spectacular view of the High Country. Shelly's sister Jennifer and her family joined us on top for a very nice but wet visit.

Also- here's a picture of Brei right before going over to her school for her first day of school in Boone. Many thanks to my Aunt Carrie for the wonderful outfit she wore today!!

Love from the Mtn!
Tom, Shelly, and Breianna

Dance Camp!!

Hey Guys!
Hope things are cooling a bit in your neighborhood, but in ours things are still muggy and stormy. Anyway Brei just finished a four day dance camp with Studio K and these pictures illustrate a bit of what she learned--she will continue classes in dance later in August. Studio K has become something of an institution around Boone and many of our kids have participated in their programs over the years. Studio K is really a wonderful experience!!

Love from the Mtn.
Tom, Shelly, and Breianna

The Alamo!

Here it is, a picture of the Alamo, as in Remember the..., from our trip to San Antonio for the Lutheran Youth Gathering. As you can see, it is quite a bit smaller than one would think. It was a bit too touristy--and yet you couldn't help but feel a bit respectful--feel a bit of a chill looking at the vest and rifle of Davey Crockett. It is somewhat of a shrine to Texas, male visitors are asked to remove their hats within and voices are to be kept quiet. I would suggest you visit sometime this place where so many men died defending what they thought was a just and right cause, both American and Mexican.

Love from the Mtn.
Tom

San Antonio Youth Gathering!

Hey Everybody:
Just got back from San Antonio and boy are my......No, I won't do that old joke! But I did just get back from the early San Antonio Youth Gathering along with 15,000 other Lutheran Youth from around the country. About 24,000 more will be there this week! Anna and I went along with youth from Grace Lutheran and had a stupendous time. The kids made some wonderful connections with their faith and each other. Along with Bible Studies and great concerts by groups like the Newsboys, there was plenty to experience and explore. We did have time to do a service project at a Retirement Center and also view the gorgeous city of San Antonio. It was a once in a lifetime experience and I am grateful for the opportunity! Many thanks to Matt Roberts and everyone at Grace Lutheran and Bethany Lutheran for their participation and support. The pictures are a group shot and of the work we were doing at the center.

Love from the Mtn.
Tom