Rev. Dave Kulp!

We had the best weekend a couple of weeks ago....Dave was ordained to be a teaching elder in the PCA. It was a weekend that really was the culmination of God's grace poured out onto our family- so many people played a part in this process but God alone gets the glory for what He alone accomplished.

Everyone....everyone...came to town! The Jacksons from Birmingham and the Braggs from Mississippi, Mamu and Pops from Philadelphia, E and Hunt from Charleston.....the Gaillards from Charleston, the Gainors from Bluffton (Barboura from slovakia...ha!).....we felt so loved by all who were able to come to town to celebrate with us......

thankfully it was a beautiful weekend and we spent most of our time outside. We had pizza Friday, a picnic Saturday at the park, a cookout Saturday night at our place and then the ordination was Sunday night where we were able to celebrate with our church family and Charlotte friends as well...it really was awesome. Thank you to all who came and joined in our gladness!

Carrie's Girls Night Out!

Carrie's night out before Henry arrives very soon!! Instead of prayer last week we went to celebrate Carrie (and cheesecake!).....it won't be long before there is one more Dirks in this world to love!

Celia....resident artist...

We have an artist that resides in our home, busy at work 90% of the day.



It is so fun to watch her mind work and see the masterpieces that she so proudly displays. Currently she's into making inventions....for example, yesterday she crafted a video-game controller and a TV screen so she "could play video games with Daddy and Uncle Sam at the beach next time!" ha! and she loves making jewelry out of pipe cleaners, construction paper, and tape. As I type I'm wearing a gold bracelet (yellow pipe cleaner) and a ring that almost prevents me from bending my knuckle- her creations are priceless to us!

playing catch up...

After the Williams left the beach to head back to Raleigh our dear friends, the Gainors, came to spend a few wet days at the beach (aka Hurricane Hanna)....

Our kids are very close in age....Celia 4.5, Sarala 3.5, Bennett almost 3, Jackson 2, Sam 6 months and Camilla 5 months- it was such a sweet sweet time to be together- The Gainors have been in Bluffton and we haven't all been together since our trip to Disney World this January so it was FANTASTIC to all be together again!

the little redheads "reading" on the couch

one rainy day we went to "Ready, set, jump!" Clearly the adults had just as much fun as the kids!

Another day we decided to brave the elements and had some fun with water balloons. Gray and Dave had lots of fun.....

dinner time

Milla sporting Bennett's chic-fil-a hat

We love you Gainors! Thanks for coming to play!

School is here!

We had a great summer but it has come to an end! School started the day after labor day...Carmel Pres opened its doors again to welcome not one but TWO Kulp girls! Bennett has been talking about it all summer, knowing her day would soon come when she could wear a book bag of her own and stroll independently into her own classroom!

Bennett goes two days a week and her teachers' names are Mrs. Judy and Mrs. Beverly....Bennett is very excited about Mrs. Beverly bc her constant imaginary companion is also named Beverly (actually her Beverly is quite the developed character....she tells stories of meeting Beverly when she was in China last year, indeed she is Chinese!) She adores her teachers and loves school- one concern for me is that with enrollment down due to the economy B is the only girl in her class of 5....pray for girlfriends!! She doesn't notice yet but I'd love for her to have a little girl to play with!

Celia is going Tuesday-Friday and is quite independant- she actually loves to pick out her clothes and is quite insistant about certain combinations....we're working on her fashion sense! She continues to love art and music and the writing center is currently her favorite hot spot!

milla eats!

back to the beach...

After a long August (or 2 weeks of it!) we headed back to the Isle of Palms for some beach fun....it was great to catch up with old friends and get away from the everyday life in Charlotte....

The Williams fam came down for a couple of days and it was so great to see them- it had been 2 months since they'd moved to Raleigh and Bennett and Celia were anxious for some play time with their best buds! It was really neat to see Bennett and Marion's connection...they were so sweet and played lots of kitty cat......we loved our time with them!

the breakfast club

Linz after playing tennis in the middle of a HOT summer day!

Camilla.....just because we don't take enough pics of her!!

and saying goodbye to the Williams- we hope to see y'all soon!!

the capes family...

We've also grown to love the Capes family....

Paige and Adam Capes were members of the lifegroup we joined when we moved to Charlotte- since then they have had a constant presence in my life- they have moved to Raleigh to help Lindsey and Kara Williams plant a church and they too will be DEARLY missed!

Here is shot of our last play date..... Silas, Natalie, Ryann, Camilla, Bennett, and Celia.....

Capes family we will miss you!!!

a little hunt love....

we are still alive! our summer has been busy! its been crazy fun and really hard at times but God has sustained us- thanks to crafty Chris we've gotten our act together and we've done some fun things.....

here is a tribute to mr. jake- the hunts have loved us SO well these past 3 years- seriously from the second we arrived to charlotte....jake was one of 5 or 6 guys that were at our apartment waiting to unload us and remain some of our dearest friends in Charlotte....our girls absolutely ADORE the hunts. Quite honestly I would not have survived Bennett's infancy without Melissa and her encouragement...they are such a constant source of love for us!

.....here is some hunt time that's happened this summer....

Weekly I pray with 3 friends each week....Lindsay, Carrie, and Melissa and a couple of days before my birthday they took me to dinner as a surprise to Salsa's and we had a blast! of course the hunts stuck with the birthday tradition and tried on the birthday hat of choice.....for more on the eventful bday bash check out Melissa's blog....

and you'll remember a few years earlier at Celia's 3rd birthday.....

Music plays a huge role in our family and I think Jake would be thrilled to know we spent a whole afternoon making a djembe in his honor....the girls have (for years now) watched Jake play at church and it is not uncommon for one or both to say inappropriately loud that they see Mr. Jake....once we had to take bennett out of church bc she would just say....jake, jake, jake, jake......just a little distraction...so here's to turning formula tins into djembes!










Hunts we love you! I know you just moved across Charlotte but we miss you!

cheer camp....

ok if you know me at all you know I loved my cheerleadering days at Porter Gaud years ago... and like almost any song I sang in choir at PG, I also remember virtually every dance I ever performed... so I thought I could start the breaking the girls in.....

to all you Cyclone fans.....

fruit loop day...

I'd forgotten how much time I stay home with a baby.....we love our new home but at times feel very stuck....so in the mean time, thanks to Chris Vaughn, I've become very crafty......

here is a taste of fruit loop day...... we sorted, glued, and made bracelets but I only managed to get a couple of pictures....

they're here!

Our friend Sean's dad has a blog entitled, the dawn of the participation age......at least he used to. I've actually never been. Anyway, some of our best friends are now participating in this computer world.....Molly and Ryan Burns......

Molly was my college roommate and remains one of my dearest friends- Before mommyhood Molly went from the beloved dog-food-bag proofreader to a traffic manager at IMI resort marketing.....Ryan was at Clemson too and was the 2007 fantasy football champion after a surprising rise from last place the previous year- Dave's already gearing up for FF '08 to begin......

Kate is their precocious almost 5 year old who is thoroughly creative and entertaining- and sweet Nancy Rose is now 17 months.....

Within the last week Molly and Ryan have given away the struck-by-lightning, hand-me-down from friend's grandparents-going-into-a-nursing home computer and upgraded- a serious upgrade no doubt- to a Mac....they've BOTH joined facebook where Ryan has already lapped me 10x over in books he's read and now they actually have a blog-

welcome burns, to the 21st century....we're glad to have you!

cow day...

This year it was Dave's turn to take the girls to cow appreciation day at chic-fil-a....you may remember last year

I think Dave did a great job on these 5 minute costumes!

lovebugs

isle of palms....

Its that time of year again when the Jackson kids make the long drive back to our motherland- the sandy shores of the Isle of Palms and continue a tradition going back to the summers of the 1930s.....



my great-grandfather, Keating Felder, was one of the very first to build a house on the Isle of Palms, SC just outside of Charleston.....since then this old house has hosted almost everyone important and dear to us....in fact I daydream about writing a play set on the front porch of this old house....though the insides have changed a little along the years, expanding with the growing numbers of our family and some due to damage of hurricanes past, the porch has remained quite the same....in my play conversations from years past would unfold again....barbocka and granddaddy talking about Holly Hill and barbocka's sisters coming to visit, Aunt Vivian and Barbocka debating roses that grew in Russellville, Aunt Marie swinging her leg in the doorway "reducing", Gran and Papa watching their little Emily swing on the porch swing with Sybil and Cathy, family reunions, birthday parties, fried chicken, peach cobbler, Citadel brothers and fireworks, down to my own prom night parties, highschool graduation week, college get-togethers 10 years and going strong, anniversaries, and grandbabies!

and we find ourselves here yet again on another 4th of July week to celebrate our country, Hunt's birthday, and family all together.....thank you grandaddy and barbocka, gran and papa- we miss you and can't wait to tell you of the fun still had at 515 Ocean Blvd....

first morning out!

the 4th of July

this year Samuel and E held the flag while the rest of us said the pledge of allegiance and sang the National Anthem....Mrs. Brabham would have been proud-

Bennett guarding the candy thrown during the parade

the girl cousins...I can't wait to watch them each year change and grow

Anna Dargan and Bennett's table (thanks Mrs. Sally)

Dargan

Bennett

Henry

Samuel

Celia

Mary and Wizzy

the great E

Camilla

Happy Birthday Hunt! He turned 60 this year!

happy birthday love, E

the first annual talent show...girls dancing...

"Lousiana Saturday night" by Ben

Liz helped Samuel do circus tricks...he also recited a poem and did magic tricks too

and Dargan's look of surprise after Milla spit up again

and the Gaillards came out again thankfully!
Ann Claire, Mary Foster, Samuel, Celia, Henry, Eliza, Bennett, and Anna Dargan
(not pictured Camilla and Cate and Bishop Bernie)

thank you to our family- this year was our best yet- we love y'all!