DuPont with the Johns Family

Way back in May, we had a great time meeting Michael and Julie Johns for a picnic lunch and fun time playing at the base of High Falls with their pups and Bubba. I went to high school with Michael and we've been able to keep in touch a little bit over the years. Michael and Julie live north of Charlotte and were so sweet to drive all the way over for a picnic lunch and some LIGHT hiking!We're so happy to be here in North Carolina now where we're relatively close to quite a few of our friends.

Since this outing, the Johns family has grown to include their

sweet little boy, Asher, born just last week! We're looking forward to meeting him in a month or so after all of the grandparents have had their chance lovin' on him.

Here's a photo of my three favorite people down at the base of High Falls in DuPont State Forest. The path down to the falls is a bit treacherous, but it was really fun once we were down there. Great swimming and wading holes and lots of opportunity to enjoy the cold waterfall spray. There were even some people sliding down a section of the falls, which was fun to see. I'm glad I wasn't one of the ones sliding though---brrrr and ouch!

The rocks were really slippery and Max looked so funny slip sliding along. It's a good thing Jared always had a good hold on him or he would have been down in a flash.

Ruby thought her version of "water skiing" was pretty cool. The water was really moving fast and they all really had a blast!

This may seem out of the blue, and it kind of is, but has anyone out there ever signed me up for "Outdoor Life" magazine? Because I had a subscription show up to my PO Box out of the blue when we moved to Brevard. That one has now ended (thankfully--I'm really not much of a hunter, believe it or not!) and now another mystery magazine subscription has begun--this one to "Backpacker"! I'm a little more excited about this subscription and was really juiced when I read an article about the best places to raise outdoorsy kids. Guess what!? Little old Brevard, NC made the list!! We're #20 out of 30, but still that's pretty cool. Also, Asheville, which is just up the road from us is #11. Yeah!

I suppose I'll end this rambling post with a photo of the title family--Michael and Julie! I didn't get the dogs in, but they were there and very sweet and easy going. Congrats guys on your sweet blessing! We rejoice with you and pray that you get some sleep some time soon!

In parting, I have a bit of sad news to share. I'm sad to say (for those few that don't know) that Bubba had to return to his original family. He had some pretty major separation anxiety issues stemming from the fact that he was never left alone until he came to live with us. How do people live like that?! Anyway, we've decided to hold off on another dog until later in the summer and we'll probably just get a puppy so that we can teach him everything we think he ought to know from the start. So, I'll keep you posted on that.