Gage and Ella

Kenzie and Gage

forgive me for being late with this post, but our niece and nephew (Kenzie and Gage Pressnell) stayed with us for a few days in the middle of July.  we had a great time with them!  those kids are too funny, and they are very sweet and well-behaved.  here are some pictures to give you an idea of what all we did.

they absolutely LOVED our neighborhood cat that we call "Shasta".  that was one of the first things they asked about in the morning when they got up was, "Where's the kitty?"

the kids got to meet alot of kids from our church during the week.  this is a picture of Gage and Ella at the McWane Center.  they became big buddies by the end of the week.

here's the entire group of kiddos at the McWane Center.  

we even took a break from shooting basketball to get some ice cream from the ice cream truck!  i think Kenzie ate about 3/4 of hers before it melted.  most of Gage's ended up dripping onto the bricks at his feet.

Mascot Bloopers

way too funny....dog, i love people falling down!

Here's your "America is going down the drain" video of the day!

Iowa mother charged with child abuse for spanking child

i would comment about this video, but i would get too mad.

Ever feel like this?!?

i rounded the corner at work today in Cullman and found FOUR charts in one door!  it was a family of 4, all dilating in one room.  some days just seem that busy and hectic.  but that was definitely a first for me!

What will your legacy be?

i got the chance to speak at the Flint church of Christ as a part of their teenage summer series class.  the theme for the summer series is "movie trailers".  see pictures above.  for each lesson, the class will watch a short clip from a movie, and then we make Biblical applications from it.  my movie was Gladiator, one of my all-time favorites.

the main lesson we discussed was looking at our purpose in life.  what is our reason for living?  how do we want to be remembered?  we made some good points about wanting to receive that inheritance of eternal life with God once this life is over (1 Peter 1:3-5).  

i think it went well.  it's strange to explain how it feels when i'm teaching/preaching.  i always tell Brooke that i'm either Peter or Paul.  when i feel comfortable and confident in my lesson and presentation, i feel like Peter preaching on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.  when i feel nervous and awkward and the words just don't come out right, i feel like Paul (who had a reputation of being a stronger preacher in letter than in person).  fortunately, i felt like Peter last night.  

as an aside, you must click this link:  Boom Goes the Dynamite.  yes, sometimes i feel like this poor guy when i'm teaching/preaching.  

Kate and Brooks

we had quite a treat Tuesday.  my parents and my sister Kristi and her 2 kids came to visit us.  dad was working on a clock with a fella from Pell City, and on his way back home, he stopped to let me check his eyes at Sam's.  then, the whole crew stopped at the house for supper before heading back to Montgomery.  we had such a good time.  

Brooks (a.k.a. Scott Jr.)

Kristi and Kate (a.k.a. Kristi Jr.)

FREAKY EYE Thursday

i know it's not Friday, but i'll be celebrating our nation's birthday then.  so we'll do another Freaky Eye picture today.  

a member at our church just suffered a retinal detachment this week.  i had a few people ask me what that was, so here's an explanation and a cool picture.

the inner lining of the eye is called the retina.  it is very fragile and delicate.  occasionally, a hole or tear can develop in this thin tissue.  when this happens, the retina will begin to pull away from the back of the eye, causing a vision loss in that area.  if it proceeds far enough, it can cause blindness.  fortunately, most retinal detachments are small and in the far periphery of our eyes, limiting the amount of vision loss.

the picture below shows an advanced retinal detachment.  the camera is focused on the attached retina and optic nerve and blood vessels at the bottom of the image.  the blurry white blob at the top of the image is where that thin retina has fallen forward like a sheet or a blanket.  if this detachment would have proceeded much further, it would have led to blindness.

you're probably freaking out right now, wondering if you're at risk for having a retinal detachment.  here are some main risk factors:

1. extreme nearsightedness (anything greater than -4.00 D)

2. history of head trauma

3. relative of someone who has suffered a retinal detachment

the best prevention is early detection.  when was the last time you had your eyes dilated?  hmm???  we don't dilate your eyes to be mean; we do it to check your eyes for signs that you may be at risk for having a retinal detachment.  

if you were having a retinal detachment, you might have some symptoms.  if you experience a brand new set of floaters in your vision, or any flashes of light in your side vision, or any loss of your side vision, you need to get your eyes checked immediately.  the sooner treatment can be provided, the better your outcome.

other resources:

NEI

Retinal Detachment Diary

Summer time...

brooke is LOVING her summer break.  she still works part-time at Publix, but has alot of time to relax and chill.  she's been running, visiting the pool, and NOT studying.  i'm so happy for her.  jealous, but happy.

things are chugging along for me at work.  still working 3 days a week at Sam's and 2 days at a private practice in Cullman.  (sorry, the website is pretty out of date).  

still no news on the house front.  we've had some possibilities open up, but nothing definitive just yet.  we'll keep you posted.  keep praying!

Happy Anniversary to us!!!

brooke and i are celebrating our 6-year anniversary on Sunday, the 22nd. we still feel like we're newlyweds....we hope we'll always feel a little like that. tonight, we celebrated with a date. we went to the Fox Valley restaurant in Maylene for supper. we went to get coffee at Starbucks. then, we came back home to catch a concert from the neighborhood kids (see pics below). then, we finished the night by watching the new Steve Carell movie Get Smart. we gave it 3.5 attaboys out of 4. definately worth watching.

it's been a wonderful night. we hope we'll get to celebrate our 66th anniversary one day.

the final song was complete with pyrotechnology...kinda.
here's the band practicing their album cover pose.