The fall...eight months and a lifetime ago

Today, in the wake of my repair of this blog, I present to you a video chronicling the wee months of fall of 2013, in the first of my efforts to catch up to the present. Clicking through the hundreds of pictures we somehow accumulate, I am consistently amazed at the amount of...experiences that continue to fill our lives. Time with family and loved ones, sorrows and joys, moments of transcendent togetherness and blah days where everyone sits around and watches The Little Mermaid for the 400,000th time.
(And yes, it's still good).

Click HERE for the Youtube video!

Click HERE for the Vimeo video!

I really am so fulfilled and happy it's hard to bear sometimes. Even the bad stuff seems like nothing but annoying happenstance as God continues to bless my life with the love and support of a far superior wife and the two greatest children I could have never imagined. At the risk of seeming immodest, I think the best summary comes from my beloved brother and friend Matthew, who wrote me this short note at the end of this past school year.  It reads:

Dear John,

I know you have been longing for today like David longed for Bathsheba. I am certain you can look back on this year with a sense of great accomplishment. I don't need to go through the entire list: 2 charity concerts for your sick friend, an expanding musical education on two new instruments, new songs composed, loving instruction provided for children at such an important age, unfailing work and presence as a father to your two children, the beautification and maintenance of your increasingly homey home, another novel. I hope that you get a chance over the next few days to chew this cud and taste its flavor.

love,
matthew

(P.S. I couldn't decide on just posting pictures with captions or making a slideshow with appropriate music, so I did both. Enjoy.).

Julia on a Sycamore Shoals park bench. 

The kids threw rocks for like an hour. 

Just like their dad, the first day of October signified Halloween Month and all the costumes available. 

Honestly one of my favorite pictures ever. The Big Haircut. He was so brave! 

And then of course a Gummi Worm treat afterwards. 

The first drive-in movie of the season! "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2." (Trippiest film I've EVER seen, and that includes "The Magical Mystery Tour"). 

He was very concerned for the welfare of the sentient strawberry, Barry. 

Julia will have no problems asserting herself in adulthood. 

Are dragons supposed to be cute? 

I have to say, their camera smiles aren't too bad. 

 

Sorry--I thought I rotated it. Julia is giving kissy-lips.

She insisted on wearing this when we went shopping.

For you locals, Evergreen Gardens hosts a kickin' kid's Halloween week. 

Julia was ready to trick-or-treat. Jack, as usual, took a little warming-up. 

Our pose! Jedi, Cat, Witch, and Poodle. (I hear that's the working title for Episode VII).

 Aaaaand costumes continued for the month.

They're wondering why we're not out getting more candy. 

Shouldn't the dog be running to catch the cat? 

My two favorite blondes in all the world. 

And once again, the similarities between Julia and myself--facial, posture, etc.--become uncannily apparent. 

Hey, prominent brows come in handy. 

A barrel of fun. 

Finally playing the part! 

She makes a rather fetching nurse. 

The end of Halloween night--a burned-out little boy.