barberic wife: two months late(r)

...almost 2 months later...whoops!

I guess I should have a lot to share about since it has been two months! We've been some busy little Barbs too. I ended the last blog entry telling you that we were going a mini vacation. Well that vacation has come and gone and we enjoyed 5 days away visiting friends in East Tennessee. We got the chance to see several of my good friends from college.

We were excited to get on the road and our first stop was Knoxville. My friend Andy, from college, has lived out there for 5ish years and I have gotten the chance to visit him on several different occasions with friends. Andy was actually out of town, but Eric and I got to enjoy dinner, frozen yogurt, and hanging out at a fun/local coffee shop with his adorable wife Leslie. -insert my apologies and mistake that I didn't get any pictures from this part :(

We then ventured on towards Rogersville/Church Hill to see our friends Jeff and Emily. Emily is one of my dearest friends and we loved getting to spend time exploring her area of East Tennessee. This picture was taken when we went hiking at a conservation area. We also went to the Farmer's Market, explored Kingsport, ate at a local hot dog restaurant, and more!

Jeff wanted to make sure that we enjoyed Scratch, his new favorite pizza joint. This place was a lot of fun...and a very relaxing (hippie) atmosphere. Jeff even got the "trust" pizza- where you just trust the makers and let them put whatever they want on your pizza! I went a little out of the box and got spinach, granny smith apples, and mandarin oranges added to my pizza. If you're ever in Kingsport, TN, you should check out Scratch!

After a few days with the Robertsons, we started our trek back to the west. We planned to stop and visit LuAnn who lives about 45 minutes west of Knoxville. On our way from the Robertsons to LuAnn's, we took a little detour for a few hours in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Though our exploring was limited, we did take the time to ride the gondola to the top of Gatlinburg. We definitely want to take some time to take a trip back to Gatlinburg and get to explore the Smoky Mountains and do some of the stuff in the area.

We met LuAnn for dinner in Knoxville and then spent the rest of our time with her family at their home. She had just finished her law school finals and had a two day break before having ankle surgery. We were so glad that she took the time to fit us in!

In May, we also got to go to Cardinals game with some of our students and the Brizendines.

We also went to Farmington for a couple of days with my family to see my cousin Andrew graduate from high school.

Andrew is heading off to Truman State

Grandpa, Chris, Kaylen & Kelly

....and then the crazy summer began! We have had weekly bible studies, Summer Missions Orientation, Super Summer camps, and activities back in Cape Girardeau. We have really only been home for maybe two weeks out of the last six! And I failed in capturing any pictures from those weeks :( Super Summer was so wonderful. We are so privileged to get to serve alongside great friends and to get the opportunity to be a part of the next generation understanding more completely who Christ is and what the Gospel means. This was my 11th year at Super Summer (5 years as a student and then 7 years as a small group leader or on staff). That's pretty crazy!

Our last little road trip was up to see Eric's family for the 4th of July. We also got to see my family at a wedding in Warrensburg (which I did take some pictures here).

(I don't know why KK looks so sad here...)


Kaylen is ready to be flower girl again...but she's out of aunts!

Only 7 weeks until classes start so we are busy preparing for ministry in the fall. I'm excited to be down here for the start of the school year and excited to be a part of what the Lord is doing at SEMO. I'll update soon....hopefully;)...with another update from our life!

Signing off from Cape Girardeau,
Kelly