Pictures of My Beautiful Niece

Kristen, June, and Nick

She looks just like my sister, but she got Nick's lips. :)

Mom and baby

I'm an AUNT!

June Catherine Onanindia was born last night to my sister, Kristen, and my brother-in-law, Nick Onanidia. She weighed 7 lbs. 5 oz. and was 19.6 in. long. Little June Bug is finally here!

Baby Teddy

Celebrity Teddy Heck visited Whitefield Academy today at lunch. Since Teddy's birth in January, my students have been praying for him and his parents, our friends Jeff and Hannah. Teddy was born with Downs Syndrome, but his heart is healthy and he's growing strong!


When Hannah was changing his diaper in the cafeteria bathroom, he was mobbed by every 6th grade girl in the lunchroom. "BABY TEDDY!" they all oohed and aahed. It's tough being such a girl magnet.



It looks as though he is about to sneeze, but I think he was just getting ready to open his eyes. :)

As I've heard Southerners say, I could just eat him up!

The Biltmore House

Also on our vacation we traveled east to Asheville, North Carolina, to see the Biltmore House. The Vanderbilts built it in the late 1800s and in the 1950s it became open to the public. It's the largest residence in the United States. It was so, so cool! Pictures weren't allowed inside, but our tour was just amazing. You can check it out in more detail here.

I'm not really sure why boys like to flex in all their pictures.

This is my "Japanese tourist" pose.

Cade's Cove, Part II

Even after an 11 mile ride with me, Nathan wanted to go around the loop again, this time as fast as possible. I agreed to follow him in the car and take pictures. Luckily for me, it was dusk and there were tons of deer out. Unluckily for him, there were many people cars who were looky-looing at the deer, hogging the road, and frustrating his quest for a world record. However, I think the man got some great exercise.

Cade's Cove, Part I

I'm sorry for the corporate punishment with my blog withholding, but I had to do what I had to do. I ended up staying until 9:30 on Tuesday night finishing up papers and putting grades into the computer, so now I feel light as a feather and ready to blog my little heart out. There's so much to share! Let's get started...

These pictures are from our time away in the mountains of Tennessee. We rented some bikes and rode around Cade's Cove, an 11 mile loop around gorgeous countryside. We did not come prepared for biking or bring any backpacks, so I was balancing my purse with our picnic lunch inside it for about 7 miles. :) We picked a bucolic setting for our lunch break, right next to an old barn.

Nathan gets the picnic blanket out.

This picture looked artsy to me... this is my attempt at being a photographer.

We started out strong and excited. Nathan is flexing saying, "Is the trail THAT way?"

Pointing at the map... I didn't know I would be having a panic attack on one of the last big hills around mile 9. Let's just say I'm not really an outdoor girl. I'd like to be, but I was a complete poser that day.

Nathan was so nice to me throughout the entire experience. He was encouraging and was just so, so kind. I had a great time making memories with him. :)

Lots of Thoughts

Sorry it's been a while since I've last blogged. Last week was my spring break from school, and Nathan and I went on our first vacation together since our honeymoon. We've gone on trips to see family and friends, of course, but this was only our second "just us" extended time. It was heavenly! Our pastor and his wife generously offered us a week at a timeshare in the Tennessee mountains. We slept in, read, played tennis, visited the Biltmore House, rode bikes, walked around downtown Gatlinburg(a.k.a. Redneck Disneyworld), and generally had a fantastic time.

There are pictures to post, but the camera is at home. Plus, coming back to school this week has been quite overhwelming. It was like jumping on a treadmill going 10 mph after strolling along at 2 mph for a week. I brought papers and tests to grade on our vacation, which I did not touch, so in addition to keeping up with my students, I have to catch up on my grading as well. For this reason, I am telling myself that I cannot blog or post pictures until the papers are done. Sigh.

Until then...