The Griffith-Coyne Family Reunion

Attention: The following post has lots of pictures. :D

Last Thursday, which was July 26th, we returned from an excursion into the Harsh and Terrifying Wilderness of...North Texas. After Sondays camp (which was awesome, by the way (and yes, I am using the term as it should be)) ended the Friday previous, Mom picked us up in Stephenville and we drove a few more hours to Sherman--the town where her parents live--for the Griffith-Coyne Family Reunion. We stayed with Meme and Pappy (my grandparents) until Sunday, at which point we relocated thirty minutes northeast to my aunt's ranch outside of Denison.

But I get ahead of myself. On Saturday, Brett and Vanya took us out on Lake Texoma to wakeboard and tube. Now, this was my (and my brothers') first time to wakeboard, but we all got up fairly easily.

Clay, cruising along. He never would wipe out--each time, he
would let go of the rope and slowly sink into the water before
he had the opportunity to crash.

Gearing up!

And, there goes Ethan. He, unlike Clay, had plenty of
wipeouts. Take this one, for example:

Brett, our uncle/instructor. He taught us well!

...And then proceeded to show us how it was
really done. (He did several jumps, too, but the
only pictures I got of them are blurry.)

Then, we switched from the board to the tube.
The color is somewhat washed-out on this picture,
but my brothers' faces are pretty hilarious.

Our wonderful pilot, Vanya.

Here, we are returning to the boat ramp.
 This, as they say, is "how we roll."

Now, back to the ranch. Aunt Vanya and her husband, Brett, have two kids: Zoey, 6, and Willow, 11 months. The ranch has a pool, a pond, horses, cows, a big firepit, a separate house called "The Party Barn"--pretty much everything you might want. (Aside from surfing the internet on your smartphone. The cell coverage out there isn't the best. But that isn't that important, is it? :D)

Gracie and Zoey in the pool. I believe they were sitting on the
board in the background until Ethan (rather, a sea monster) came
up from underneath them and capsized their ship.

Gracie climbing up the waterfall, aiming for the spring
at the top.

After church on Sunday, we returned to the lake. This time, though, Vanya had a lot to get done to prepare for the reunion, so her place on the boat was filled by one of my other uncles, Jay--who, despite a recent heart attack, showed us his own skills on a wakeboard:

Ethan, tubing by himself. With Brett driving, it was a lot tougher
to stay on the tube. I went after Ethan, and the bumping was so bad that I
eventually let go because I didn't want to bite my tongue in half. (Plus, my
arms were getting really tired.)

After we finished tubing, we were able to convince Brett
to show us how to surf in Texas. So, he filled special sacks
in the boat with ~2500lbs of water to create a bigger wake.
Then he hopped in the water with his surfboard and a rope, we
pulled him up like you do a wakeboarder (except the rope was much
shorter), and, once he got his balance, he threw the rope back into
the boat.

Monday evening, Haley (Jay's daughter) took Zoey and Gracie horseback riding.

Zoey is in the back on Twister, while Haley is riding Lena
with Gracie.

Zoey and Gracie then switched mounts. Because
Twister is gentler than Lena, Gracie rode him by herself.

Gracie's silhouette 

Zoey, looking into the sun. I like this picture. :]

Clay also rode, but the light was acting up and I couldn't get a decent picture of him. :P

The next morning, Ethan, Clay and I did a few jobs around the ranch to help prepare it for those coming in the afternoon. I had to get Vanya and Ethan to help me string lights around the fire pit. During the process, I was zapped by a loose wire, and we broke a couple strands, but in the end they looked quite nice. Perseverance and teamwork pay off! 

That afternoon, the Coynes arrived on the scene. The newcomers were Patsy, my mom's aunt, her daughter Leanne, Leanne's son Kieran, Patsy's son David, his wife, Lori, and their children: Maddie, Austin and Jordan. Now, if you're thoroughly confused, have some pictures.

From left to right: Clay, Kieran, and Jordan on the paddleboat.

Zoey and Ethan, having a deep, intellectual conversation
on the dock.

Gracie! The picture was originally too dark to see her face, so I
had to lighten it a bit. The result isn't the best quality, but I
think her expression makes up for it. :D

Willow in the pool, with Vanya pushing her. Sadly, this is
the only picture I got of her face.

Meme, loading her flyswatter with bubbles to flick at us kids.

The pool seemed to never empty. 

The next day, we went on an expedition to the river. The party consisted of Vanya, Brett, David and Lori and their kids, Kieran, Hope (another one of my cousins), me, and my brothers. If you cross the river, you'll be in Oklahoma. 

For transportation, Ethan and I rode the Gator (and nearly got lost), the girls and Clay were in Vanya's pink Jeep, and the rest rode with Brett in the Polaris. 

The Jeep in question. And yes, it does have zebra-print seats.

On the way to Oklahoma!

We made it!
(From left to right: Clay, Hope, Lori, Maddie, Vanya)

While we were crossing, Brett took David, Austin and Kieran
through the Hills, a natural sort of roller-coaster.

Austin, Ethan and Kieran are covering Clay in...well, in clay. I call this one
"The Initiation of a New Member into the Brotherhood of the Painted People."

The girls coming back from their own trip to the Hills.

And, at long last, it was our turn. Gosh, it was crazy! I think we
almost died 27 times. But it was fun nonetheless. :)

When we got back, Clay had finished covering himself.
He even went so far as to do his hair.

This...is a log. But, it is a very cool log.

Now, a few final pictures to wrap things up.

David and Lori on the paddleboat

This is Emily, my mom's uncle's son's daughter.
Or something like that.

Now, I must bid you adieu to prepare for my next adventure: the Florida Sea Base. TTFN!

Le Mot Juste

Hello again!

Well, today's post was going to be a movie review; however, I decided to change directions when I came across this quote from CS Lewis:

"Don't use words too big for the subject. Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite."

In her book The Lively Art of Writing, "Grandmother Payne" (as we affectionately called her in my Composition II class) brings up the point of finding "Le Mot Juste": or, "the perfect word." This is the word that embodies exactly what you are trying to say. For instance, you wouldn't use the word "majestic" to describe a sparrow--you'd save it for something like an eagle.

Like Lewis says in the above quote, if you call a sparrow majestic, then what can an eagle be? Awe-inspiring? Well, another way of saying "awe-inspiring" is saying "awesome," but virtually anything nowadays is awesome, or amazing, or epic (I myself am guilty of this). Which brings me to an interesting point: the word awesome has been so overused that it now carries no more weight than the word nice (on which I could write an entirely different post). "Hey, how was your fishing trip?" "Oh, it was awesome! It was sunny and 75 degrees the entire time and the fish were biting anything you threw in the water, even my sister's toe!" Is that really what awesome means? Nice weather? Bite-happy fish? According to Dictionary.com, something is awesome when it inspires awe in you.

Psalms 99:1-3 says, "The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! The Lord is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples. Let them praise your great and awesome name! Holy is He!" (ESV, emphasis added) It is God and His Name that should be inspiring us with awe, not fish! To quote Lewis, "don't use a word too big for the subject."

And yet, God's name is probably the most ill-used name in America. You can hardly watch a movie without hearing "Oh my G*d" 3-50 times, or "G**d**n it" in PG-13 or R rated movies. Just take a walk through the local mall you'll hear it. For me, it's gotten so bad that the word "god" reminds me of a thing so boring, so commonplace, that it doesn't sound powerful enough when ascribed to the God. I have to constantly remind myself of His Greatness.

I'll end this post with a challenge: Look up verses about God's greatness, His majesty, His awesomeness. If you have a concordance in the back of your Bible, use that to find verses. To start with, look up and read Psalm 96. But don't just read it; learn from it. And while you read it, think of how amazing it is that God, THE God, who commands lightning (Job 38:35), is the same God who wants to know us personally, and for us to spend eternity with Him. Isn't that awesome?!

Freedom Fest 2012

Since 2008, our church has held a free annual Fourth of July event called Freedom Fest at Colt's Stadium. They have kid's games, giveaways, an entertainer (this year it was an illusionist named Curt Anderson), the presentation of the colors, the National Anthem, and a big fireworks show. Most importantly, though, they use it to share the Gospel with the city.

My family usually volunteers to help out with it, but didn't this year because we weren't sure if we were going to be able to come. So, as we were preparing to leave, I grabbed my camera thinking that I could get some pictures of Freedom Fest (which I haven't been able to do in the past). So, here's a couple of them for your enjoyment. :)

This is the field! You can see the stage to the left. That was where the
giveaway winners were drawn and announced, where the illusionist
 performed, and where the presentation of the colors and National
Anthem were held. The kid's games ran along the edges of the field.

Some volunteers preparing to launch a t-shirt.

Haha, classic bromance. This is Ethan and Chandler, one of
Ethan's friends.

My best friend, Josh, giving prize candy to a little girl for
playing the game.

Bahaha, oh, CB. My, my, my. This is CB Sutton,
our assistant youth pastor. He's crazy. x]

Gracie! She was quite proud of her face-paint.

About the time it got dark, my camera decided to die on me, so I couldn't get any pictures of Curt, the flags, or the fireworks show. But, here's a picture from the internet to add that Fourth of July touch. :)

A Trip to the Zoo

More travels, complete with pictures!

First, for a recap: Last week, from Sunday to Wednesday, we were in San Antonio for a homeschool conference. During this time, Ethan and I were helping out with a Public Speaking class. I had been a bit...apprehensive about dealing with nine- to twelve-year-olds from 9am-4pm each day, but I was pleasantly surprised. Quite an enjoyable time. (Though there were other times that I wanted to strangle a few kids.) Because Gracie has never been to a "good" zoo, we decided to spend Wednesday at San Antonio's Zoo.

Now, pictures!

This is (as shown by the sign) Fralo's Pizzeria. We stopped
here for lunch on the way to San Antonio.

At Fralo's, I managed to snag a couple portrait photos. This is
my Dad. Quite snazzy, if I do say so myself. ;) (Especially the
reflection in his sunglasses.)

Mother! :D I like this one, even though her hand is a bit
blurry.

Ethan--he has cool hair. (If my hair started curling like his,
I'd totally go all hobbit-style. Just saying.)

And Gracie, eating her pizza. Clay was being
camera-shy, so I wasn't able to get his 'andsome face up here.

Gracie again, climbing on some rocks. The picture
quality isn't the best, but I just love her facial expression
in this one.

On Monday evening, we went to eat supper with one of Dad's
friends who lives in San Antonio. They had foam swords and a
trampoline, so naturally, Gracie, Clay and Joe (Dad's friend's
son) went outside and started a trampoline war after supper.

Now we're at the zoo! I'm not sure what she's
looking at in this one...it might be the bears.

Le family looking at the Komodo.

The zoo had these really crazy-looking flowers, so I just
had to take a picture of one.

Haha, I love this otter's face.

The jaguar! This one actually turned out better than
I had expected. I thought the shadows messed it up.

This is the offspring of a zebra and a giraffe. I call it a
zebraffe. (Haha, not really. It's its own species, but I can't
remember its real name.)

(The following is best read in Morgan Freeman's voice.)
"Due to the scorching heat on the African Plains, the
elephant retreats to the relief offered by the local watering-hole."

This sign made me depressed. I mean, even elephants can
run faster than Olympic sprinters! That's sad.

Oh my goodness. This kangaroo was adorable.

You'd think this serene setting would house some Japanese
Stork or something, right? Or at least a panda? Wrong. This is
the alligator exhibit. You can sort of see its tale at the base
of the tree.

Back from a Journey

Well, hello! This is a story of a little boy and a big sheep.

...Not.

This is the story of my life for the past three or so weeks. Haha, I've finally slept/recovered enough to write a blog post about it. Anyway, let's begin:

On Sunday, May 27th, we embarked on a journey that would last three weeks. We drove a little over three hours to visit my grandmother on my dad's side in Georgetown, TX, and stayed with her until Wednesday morning. The town had a neat little Memorial Day Service where we got to hear The Honorable Rick Perry speak. That was pretty cool. :D

On Tuesday I had an amazing date with me madre. After driving 45 minutes into Austin, we ate Pappadeaux's and then....wait for it....went to see the Musical of All Musicals:

AHHH it made me so happy. :D It was absolutely beautimous. Well, for the most part...the Lovely Ladies scene (which I had never seen before) was quite shocking, to say the least. Other than that, though, I loved it. 

Upon our arrival at my grandmother's house around 12am, I promptly went to sleep.

The next morning, we got up semi-early, ate breakfast, and drove a few more hours to my other grandmother in Sherman, TX. This was when Dad, being the responsible one with a job, had to say goodbye and head home. Also, it was in Sherman that we met up with the Luthers for the rest of the trip.

After staying up 'til 1am Wednesday night at my aunt's ranch, we (me, Ethan, Clay and Jamie) finally went to bed, only to get up four and a half hours later at 5:30. Well, we were supposed to get up earlier, but the alarm failed to go off...so Brett (my uncle) had to wake us up when he came in to work out. And, we had wanted to leave at 6, so we only had time to throw our things in the car and drive back to Sherman to meet up with the others.

Anyway, we finally got on the road about 6:15 and drove to Paris, TX, where we stopped for breakfast and sightseeing. I must say, their Eiffel Tower was quite disappointing. You can't really tell in the picture, but it was only like, 25-30 feet tall.

I'll condense the next few days of driving for brevity's sake. We stopped in Memphis Thursday night, Kingsport, TN Friday night, and came to a temporary stop in Lynchburg, VA, until we left for Purcelville on Sunday afternoon. On the way, we went to the Civil Rights museum at the site of Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination in Memphis, a music store in Nashville, a quaint little visitor's center in Smyth County, VA (which is apparently the birthplace of Mountain Dew), Liberty University in Lynchburg, and a pretty snazzy hole-in-the-wall place called Baine's Books and Coffee. Being a book lover and all, my favorite place was probably Baine's. While I browsed their selection of classics and modern stuff, Thor played his guitar and sang. (Of course, it wasn't really Thor, but he very well could have been.) I managed to get my hands on The Moonstone and The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins, The Man Who Knew Too Much by Chesterton, and Flatland by Edwin Abbott Abbott. They also had __Cattus Petasatus, a Latin translation of Seuss's --The Cat in the Hat__, but I didn't feel like spending $27 on it.

Anyway, we got up fairly early on Sunday morning and drove to Monticello, which was quite lovely. Even though I've been before, it was still pretty cool. Plus, this time I remembered to bring a camera, so I managed to get a couple pretty nice pictures:

These flower-thingies were over by the slave quarters. I thought
they looked pretty cool.

Monticello and the fish-pool.

I took this one at the end of the lawn behind Monticello,
laying down. I like it.

Of course, these weren't all the pictures I took, but they're a few of my favorites.

After Monticello, we hurried on to Patrick Henry College in Purcelville, VA for iGovern, arriving ten minutes before registration closed. Haha, we only had time to sign in, throw a few of our bags into our dorms, and run over to the dining hall for supper. After eating, we hurried back to the car to get the rest of our things into our dorms, then went to the Town Hall for orientation.

In all, I loved iGovern. The food was pretty good (for cafeteria food), the lectures were awesome, the House/Committee sessions were awesome, most of the people were awesome, and chapel/worship each night was awesome. I probably could have stayed another week if I didn't have Super Summer and I hadn't already been away from home for a week. But, I definitely want to go back next year.

The Barbara Hodel Center in the morning. This had the
 gym, cafeteria, House committee rooms, the gift shop,
 and the coffee shop. 

As the sign says, this is the Embassy of Australia.
When we went into DC, you could either go to the Capitol
or the Embassy. Obviously, I chose the Embassy. I can now
say that I have been to Australia without having left
North America. :D

This is Founder's Hall. Please ignore the obnoxious flagpole.
This was where the Senate and Foreign Summit convened. We
also had the Gala here Tuesday evening.

Onward!

Next stop was Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene for Super Summer. On the trip back, we finally finished up our three-pound bag of gummy bears. It was a sad day. But, the gummy bear we stuck to the driver's-side mirror stayed with us until Mrs. Pam took him off. Alas, I lack a picture of our faithful traveling-buddy. (I suddenly thought back to Calill, the caterpillar-worm in the VeggieTales' Jonah movie..."I'm coming weeth you, traveling-buddy!")

Super Summer was also awesome. With the epicness of iGovern in my mind, I came into Super Summer thinking, "How can it compare?" but God blew those thoughts out of the water the first night. I think it was the first time that my family group (and I) had really opened up during the initial Family Group session. Brad Cardwell did a great job as speaker, preaching about how God is brought glory through our suffering; the Nick Gainey Band did quite nice leading worship at Rainbow, and both my dean, assistant dean, and Orange School worship leader were amazing. Needless to say, I plan on continuing through years 4-6. 

Well, like my trip and all good things, this post must come to an end. It just so happens that we're about to leave for church, then on to San Antonio, where I get to help teach public speaking. This should be interesting. Wish me luck!

A Wee Tale (Because "Short Story" is too Conventional)

Well, I do apologize for the lack of posts. I pretty much failed that challenge. First came finals, then I was out of town for 3 weeks...ah, excuses, excuses. I hope to write a good deal this summer, so some of that may make its way here. Here's a short story to start things off. Enjoy!

Worth Fighting For

Asher’s ice-blue eyes locked with the Sorcerer’s dark, bloodshot ones. In his hands flashed two razor-sharp daggers. His long blond hair fell to his shoulders, over which hung a brown, ankle-length cloak.

            The Sorcerer looked quite different. His face was thin, the skin drawn tight over his cheekbones. Dark, hollow rings surrounded his eyes, and several strands of his glossy black hair partly covered them. A black, hooded cloak fell from his forehead to swish at his ankles with a crimson robe. He carried no weapon.

            “Why, Dark One?” Asher said. “Why do you want to destroy humankind?”

            The Sorcerer laughed. “Ha! Why? I could ask you why you are so eager to protect them. The race of man has grown increasingly wicked, and is now merely a disgusting blemish to be wiped from the beautiful slate of the world. These people are a ragged mob of thieves, murderers, drunkards and prostitutes—nothing more.”

            Asher’s mind flashed back to his walk through the marketplace that day: A baker argued over the price of bread witha potential customer. The local tavern was filled to overflowing with men too lazy to get a job and with loose women. In the town square, a band of soldiers placed a noose around a cutthroat’s neck, then laughed when they kicked the stool away. Were they any better than the one who was swinging in the breeze?

            Down an alley, a group of silhouettes mugged a scrawny pauper, taking the few alms he had collected and running back into the bar. The Sorcerer was right, Asher thought. There is nothing but evil in mankind’s heart.

            But then Asher remembered the young woman who had rushed to the bloody beggar and bandaged his wounds. He remembered the soldier who grimaced while his comrades mocked; the man outside the tavern who told the alcoholics about the King of Light; and Asher remembered the group of children playing and laughing in the shop-lined streets.

            His mind snapped back to the present. “No,” he replied. “You’re wrong. As a wise person once said, ‘There’s still good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.’”

            The Sorcerer’s face darkened. His lip curled and his eyes flashed. “Fool! You know nothing of the world. I will extinguish the Light and all of mankind, starting with you!”

            A ball of fire flew from the Sorcerer’s hands. Throwing himself to the ground just in time, Asher avoided the blast’s main force, but it easily burned through his cloak. He leapt to his feet and lunged at the Sorcerer’s chest, daggers raised. Before Asher could reach him, a gust of wind knocked him to the floor.

            The Sorcerer looked at him scornfully. “Bah! Pathetic. A fool and a weakling. Boy, with the powers I have been given, I am stronger than you could ever dream of being!” he shouted, punctuating his words with a bolt of lightning shot from his fingertips.

             This time, Asher was too slow to avoid the attack. Pain lanced through his body and took his breath away. He rolled on the floor, struggling to rise. “O King,” he prayed, “give me strength!”

            Almost immediately, another bolt shot through him. Rather than weaken him further, however, this one restored his strength. Glowing with new power, Asher slowly rose and stalked towards his opponent.

            “No, Dark One,” he challenged softly. “Once more, it is you who is wrong. I am the one who has been given the greater power, a power from the Light of Man, the Morning Star.”

            The Sorcerer looked upon his face and quailed. Trying to stop Asher’s fearsome march, he began showering him with fire and lightning. His efforts were in vain; before the missiles could reach their target, they disintegrated into tiny particles of light.

            Now only ten feet away, Asher lifted his hands towards the Sorcerer. Light streamed from his fingertips and gathered into a huge sphere in front of him. Screaming in pain, the Sorcerer covered his eyes and ran for the tower’s window.

            He never made it. Asher released the sphere and it flew at the red-robed figure, completely enveloping him. More screams pierced the air, then disappeared with the ball of light. The Sorcerer was gone.

            Asher bent double and gasped for air. He did it! He had accomplished his task.Thanking the King, he crossed over to a small pedestal on the other side of the room and placed a cross-shaped crystal on it. The crystal began to emit a soft light, which grew and grew until it enveloped the entire tower and shot intothe heavens. Turning his face to the sky, Asher grinned. Then he, too, disappeared.