Lightning

We got a new addition to our family - Lightning. He is a sweet little dog we got today. He is a Welch Pembroke Corgi. He is really sweet! We call him Lightning because of a little white "lightning" mark on the back of his neck. He was born on Labor Day, so he is almost 2 months old. Isn't he just so cute?! Hopefully he won't be crossing the highway to see a girl like Tanner was (when he got killed). We can't handle another doggy death in the family.

Here is Morgan with Lightning.

Here is Jacob with Lightning!

And Haleigh with Lightning!

Mark's Trip to Venice, LA

Since these are pictures of me, Melissa insists that I be the one to tell you about them. These are pictures from a recent trip to Venice, LA with a group of guys from church. We went fishing for redfish which this part of the country is known for. This also happens to be one of the many places destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Obviously the fish are still there, but many of the people are not as they are still rebuilding. Even though you can still see some of the destruction, much of the clean up and rebuilding is ongoing. The people of the area are in good spirits and doing well. The fishing is AWESOME!!!


For those who may not know, the above picture is a redfish. They are known for their spots. This particular fish had seven spots altogether (3 you can see and 4 on the other side). Seven is unusual, but even with only two spots they are beautiful and strong fish.

Here I am fighting a red (not the one above).

And the fights ends successfully!!! This red measured 39" and weighs between 25 and 30 pounds from what I'm told.

The same fish (compare the spots on the tail) as caught on the Mississippi. That's right...freshwater redfish.

Here's the same fish to give you the idea of the length. Remember, I'm 6'2" tall.

A couple of hours later I landed this beauty of 41".

Again, here's an idea of how long this fish is.

This fish was caught out in the Gulf of Mexico along the beach. It's not a beach like you see at a resort, but for my purposes it was perfect. This red measured only 32" but was a joy to land.

Here's one of my best friends with his 38" red also caught in the Gulf. You can see we aren't far from shore.

This is Casey Duncum, one of the youth from our church, with his 38" red.

Craig, yet again, showing off. Craig had a rough day the day before not catching a single fish. He came back on this day to land 3 reds over 30 inches. Not a bad way to end a trip. Even though the fishing was truly amazing, the fellowship was better. I couldn't ask for a better group of guys to be with on a trip. There were a total of 14 of us on 5 boats all hauled from North Texas to the Southern most point of Louisiana. It was worth the trip. If you ever have a chance to fish for redfish in Venice, LA, invite some of your buddies and take the time to deepen relationship over a few large fish and larger tales.

The Latest...Drama

I received an email from my father late last night to let me know that he and my mother have officially started the legal process of "dissolving their marriage". I think that is such a sad statement. I don't even know how to feel about it. They have been having a lot of marital trouble in the last five years, so this decision is not a surprise. I have a double sided opinion in this matter (is that a correct term?). My two opinions are this: 1) I don't think they should be together right now, and 2) I don't believe in divorce. Well...this leaves me really wondering how I feel.

I am deeply saddened that my parents marriage has fallen apart. I don't even want to think about how much this changes things for our family...holidays, birthdays, weddings, etc. When I was talking to Morgan and Haleigh about it today Morgan said "what will happen if one of them wants to get married again" and Haleigh said "we would have three grandpas". Whoa.......hold on, they don't even know how to be married to each other, so let's not even go there!

I am hoping that my parents can find happiness in their lives. I think the happiness that they are searching for will not come from divorcing, but perhaps they think it will. I guess time will tell.

I don't actually have a lot of friends whose parents are divorced. If I do, their parents were divorced when they were kids. So, is there anyone out there in the same boat as me? What is it like? How am I supposed to handle this situation? What am I supposed to do when my kids ask questions? UGH...why can't we all just get along?

Those of you who know me well know that when something makes me really uncomfortable, I make a joke about it. So...here is a little divorce humor! Enjoy.

Half way there!

My student teaching is going really well so far. I am half way there! The past six weeks have actually flown by pretty fast, and I am glad to say that I really enjoy first grade more than I thought I would. I never thought that I would want to actually teach first grade, but that is where I wanted to do my student teaching because I knew the first grade teachers pretty well and felt comfortable with them. Having said all of that, I really do love first grade. The kids are so sweet, and they really love to come to school. My host teacher was out yesterday, so I got to teach the whole day! It was a lot of work, and I was really tired last night, but it was good to teach all day. Over the next two weeks I have to teach half of the day, and then for weeks 9-12 I have to teach all day, so yesterday was good practice! My clinical supervisor has come to observe me three times and has given me my mid-term evaluation. All three times she has been there have been good - she gives me good marks and comments, so that is nice. She said that she thinks I will be a really good teacher, so that makes me feel really good. Those kinds of things make me feel like all of the hard work I have done over the last two years was worth it. Anyway, now I just need to get caught up on writing my papers that I have to write for school or else I won't be able to graduate, and then all of this work would be pointless!

A Taste Of Seattle

I had a nice relaxing weekend in Seattle with my sisters and my niece. My sister Rebecca moved to Seattle to go to college and liked it there so much she never moved back to Colorado. I have never been there to see her or where she lives and works, so it was fun to go for a quick visit. I would never ever want to live there, but she enjoys it a lot. Here is a picture of her house that she rents with four other girls. This is what you can get for $1800 a month in the city of Seattle. It is an older house on a small lot, and she said that they are getting a nice deal on the rent...like I said, I could never live there!


Here is a picture of me with my older sister Erica (far left) and my little sister Becky (middle). We have jackets on because it was chilly in Seattle.

This is Pike Place Market - it is a street market with a lot of different things to buy. There was tons of fresh flowers for sale, and they were really cheap. A "small" bundle of flowers was $5.00. The prices are cheap I guess since the rent is so high!

This is also in the market. There is all sorts of fresh sea food to buy. This place is a popular place to buy sea food. This is the place you will see in the movies where they throw the fish. It was pretty cool.

This is a picture of the same place. The guys bring the fish out in boxes and place it on the ice. They stay on this side until someone orders something, and then they will throw it to the guy behind the counter - pretty cool.

Here's a picture of some pepper arrangements that they sell. I thought this was cool and colorful. These were pretty expensive - I was surprised.

This is the original Starbucks - it is really quite small. It is just across the street from the market. There is usually a group of people singing or a person playing an instrument. This group of guys were gospel singers. This Starbucks is about 1 of 100 in Seattle - they were everywhere.

We went to the salon and got pedicures while we were there - this is my sister Becky and my niece Emma (you can't start them too young)!

There's a park where you can overlook the city - here is a nice view on a nice day of the Space Needle.

This is a picture just to the right of the picture above. There are a lot of ships that come in and out of Seattle.

Just a picture from the same park of me, Erica, Becky, and Emma.

We went down to the beach for dinner and had some awesome clam chowder. Just across from the restaurant was the beach front where they have fire pits set up. Some of my sisters friends from church were meeting to roast marshmallows and hang out, so we went down there for a little while. It got really cold after the sun went down, so the fire was nice.

Saturday was cold and rainy, but we still had some fun. This is a picture at a fountain just outside the arena where the Supersonics play. They were having an Italian festival, but it was kind of weak due to the rain. This location is really close to the Space Needle, so we got to see it pretty up close. We didn't ride up in it though, not a real fan of that kind of stuff.

Here is a nice view of the ocean from a place where we went to shop. It was rainy, so the picture looks kind of gloomy, but it is really quite beautiful. There were all sorts of ships - cargo ships, cruise liners, ferries, etc.

Anyway, just a quick glimpse of my trip to Seattle. It was very nice, and I would like to go back again someday. Maybe next time I can take my family (or maybe we should include our brother)! It was nice to get away for a little though and take a break from the hustle and bustle of my life. I was back to my student teaching today. I just started week #6, so I am half way there!