I just got back from rock climbing at Cheaha Mountain in Alabama!

My cousin David and my sister Marisa have been rock climbing for some time now. Here they are doing their things:


David's really good at climbing. He works as a tree surgeon, climbing trees to remove limbs, so he does a lot of climbing anyway. Here he is hanging upside-down, trying to figure out where his next handhold will be.


Here's my sister, looking as cool and tough and athletic as any movie actress could ever hope. She's only been climbing for a couple of months, but she's already really good. David and Marisa showed me how to hook up my harness and gave me some advice on climbing and then let me do it.


It's a lot harder than it looks, so David had to coach me on where to put my feet during the first little bit.


Once I got going, though, nothing could hold me back!


Our cousin Sonya came as well. We all had a lot of fun on our little "cousin outing!"

Welcome to my summer! It's very boring. I went to Stone Mountain with a group from my church a few weeks ago. It was fun, but not in an "interesting-anecdotes-to-tell" kind of way. We took the skylift to the top of the mountain, then walked down. The fun was in the fellowship.

I'm taking care of my friend Shawn's kitten while he's away for the weekend. The kitten is energetic and fun, a nice break from my routine.

Next week, I'm going rock climbing with my sister and my cousins. Pictures should follow!

I was recently voted onto the board of directors of a local ministry -- Reins of Life. They use horses to provide physical and psychological therapy to those who need it (as well as a sort of "summer camp" of riding lessons for kids). Tuesday was the first board meeting. They showed me around their facilities, and I was impressed -- they have nearly 20 horses, a couple of classrooms, etc. They've had four foals born in the past month -- the oldest was one month old; the youngest was three days old. They were very cute!

I enjoyed meeting the other members of the board. They were friendly and helpful and happy to have me. The board only meets four times a year, and the board meeting was only about an hour long this time, so it doesn't look like it will be too much work. I'm glad I can help out.