On the last night of our vacation in Destin, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at the pictures that I had taken from our trip. Particularly since we went through some trouble that night to get a couple of "family" shots. There's a very technical reason for what happened next, but I'll sum it up by saying that I goofed up and lost 2 days worth of pictures. Ugh!! That almost ruined the entire trip for me.
Since there's a very technical reason for what happened, there's also a very technical solution to this problem. And I'm sooooo happy that I was able to recover most of the pictures!
Kiki with the Thomas kids
The Pennas at Baytowne Wharf
Baytowne Wharf
Brandon and me -- I'm so glad we got to hang out together!
Beachside at the Sandestin resort -- the Hilton (where we stayed last year) was right next to us in this picture.
The beach area was not as busy here as it was on Saturday -- but it is still packed.
Brandon and I are sitting outside of a closed Starbucks in the Sandestin resort, with 99% humidity mind you, using their free wireless to updated our blogs. That's how bad we want to stay in touch with the ones we love!
Here are just a few photos from today...
Gracie with Mommy in the pool. The float with the little canopy was great for keeping the sun off her face!
Gracie and Mommy in the village before dinner.
Sheryl made Gracie laugh and I snapped this cute picture.
We had to be in the hottest place in the state of Florida today. I had to walk Gracie around after dinner to calm her down. She doesn't look so fussy in this picture, of course.
Kiki insisted that I put this video clip on the blog. Our friend Becca taught us how to do this, but I think we're eventually going to get kicked out of the pool by the lifeguard if they catch us. The point, I think, is for her to learn not to be afraid of the water.
For a good part of the last three weeks, I spent time with the ZOE Group in the recording studio. The latest project titled "Inside Out" will be ready in a couple of months. All of the recording has been wrapped up, although we do have to make another trip to the studio a week from Monday to redo one of the songs. The hard work starts now when Brandon will spend countless hours sitting with our sound engineer, Chris, to do the final mixing on the recording.
I've learned a lot about how this process works, especially about things that can be "fixed" when Chris does his magic. As Brandon pointed out, the more things we correct while we are in the studio, the less that Chris has to do at 3am from behind the keyboard. It all sounds really good before this work starts, but there are a lot of things that happen after we leave the studio, I'm finding out.
Amy and I had our video cameras in the studio on most nights. For me it started just as a way to record the playback as we all sat around the studio listening. I've got most of the songs on my mp3 player now and listen to them in the car while I'm driving -- although a recording of a recording is a rough way to go. But it gets me by until the CD comes out! But in any case, Amy started a new thing this year by editing videos to put on the Facebook page for some of our "followers" to watch.
Since Amy was getting ready for her family vacation, she didn't have her camera last Monday, and she missed our session on Tuesday. So I edited the video clips below to help document the work we did last week. I've had a lot of technological challenges the past week or so, but after it was all said and done these turned out pretty well.
The last song we recorded on Tuesday night -- "Inside Out" -- was a late addition to our list but was an original song written by Randy Gill and Sheryl Thomas. It was a very beautiful song and is going to sound great after the final mix is done. In the finished version Sheryl is singing a solo at the beginning -- something that always sounds beautiful no matter what the song is!
Kiki and I are in Destin for a *much* needed vacation. After a couple of years of planning, we finally took a vacation with the Thomases! We left Friday morning and stopped in Montgomery Alabama so that we would not have too far to go on Saturday to still have time for a trip to the beach.
We did make a quick trip to the beach this afternoon -- quick compared to the time we're used to being at the beach, but long enough to know that it's tough to keep a 6-month child occupied for very long in the sun and sand. She did seem to like it when I was holding her in the shallow water and letting waves crash on her feet. But once we got her in the sand it was pretty much time to go. The pool is a much better place for us on this trip, I think.
Two years ago, I married an amazing woman. She encourages me and supports me in everything that I do. She's a strong woman, a wonderful mother, and a caring, loving wife. I cannot imagine being without her.
In two short years we have experienced so many things together, the best of which is our daughter Gracie. Now we are living in what seems like the most complicated and chaotic time of our lives, but I'm not worried at all. Because I've got Kiki by my side through all of it.
I am so thankful for all of the blessings the Lord has given me. I have a great job, a beautiful house, family here and in Michigan, a very special church family, and even my ZOE family. But I am especially thankful for our family -- Kiki, Gracie, and me -- and I'm excited about what the next year has to offer!
Here are just a few of the pictures I took from Sammy's open house this weekend. It was great to see everyone, even though I was only really there for about 36 hours.
Brayton and Sammy
Matt & Julie's house -- what a perfect setup!
Gracie with Sammy
Nikki & Terri
Sweet Gracie... there was a lot of this going on (ie, Gracie being held)
Gracie with Grandma
The Girdley/Kilgore families
While I was in Michigan I shared the ZOE recording we did for "A New Hallelujah" which included the ZOE kids on one of the verses. The kids sound precious, and everyone seemed to love the song. I promised I would include a link on the blog, and I decided Amy's video captured Thursday night the best. Enjoy!
This weekend is my whirlwind trip to Michigan to see Kiki's family. She has been here since Monday with Gracie. It has been a tough trip for those two just because it is hard for one person to make that trip with everything that is involved in the travel, plus just Gracie being out of her element makes it difficult. But Kiki had lots of help this week.
I left work at lunch on Friday and made the trip in 9 hours. It was great to get here at a reasonable time, instead of the usual 2am. But normally we would leave on Thursday to come up for the weekend trips. So I've really only got today, and we're leaving right after church in the morning.
But after missing Kiki and Gracie for a whole week I was so glad to see them! I help Gracie once when she cried in the night, but it was not until this morning that I really got to talk to her and play with her or even where she realized I was here.
Today we celebrated Sammy's graduation. Kiki's niece graduated high school recently and today was her "open house". For my family and anyone else from the south, she doesn't have folks coming to see her house. The "open house" is basically a graduation party but just for one person. Pictures are on display, balloons and other decorations are everywhere, and lots of cake and food to be eaten. And oh yes, gifts - money in many cases. Where was this when I graduated? Oh well - in all seriousness, congratulations Sammy!
We're headed home tomorrow and then I've got a couple of more nights in the studio with ZOE. I've got a video of the ZOE kids that I'll post when I get home tomorrow. Everyone brought their kids in to record a verse on one of the songs. They are so cute!
Kiki with the Thomas kids
The Pennas at Baytowne Wharf
Baytowne Wharf
Brandon and me -- I'm so glad we got to hang out together!
Beachside at the Sandestin resort -- the Hilton (where we stayed last year) was right next to us in this picture.
The beach area was not as busy here as it was on Saturday -- but it is still packed.
Gracie and Mommy on the beach at sunset.
