Not Much Blogging This Week

I will not be able to make many, if any, posts this week. Check back this weekend for more Caston Chronicles, including the kids beginning tennis lessons this week, Schaeffer getting ready for spring soccer, and hopefully pics from Friday night's Father-Daughter Dance.

Sarah Wynn's "Peter Pan and Captain Hook"

Check out Sarah Wynn's Peter Pan and Captain Hook drawing. It's Peter, Wendy, Michael, John, Tinker Bell, the Crocodile, Captain Hook, and his "friends." :0)

A close up.

Ann Ferris' Winter Piano Recital

Today Ann Ferris performed beautifully at her winter piano recital, under the direction of her instructor, Mark Salcedo. Her piece was Hero's Dance by Ronald Bennet. Though you can't see it all in this picture, Ann Ferris is playing on a 9 foot grand that costs about 100 grand!

Enjoy the video.

Vist from Pohls

Stacy and Craig Pohl (with children, Karis and Aimee) joined us for supper on Tuesday of this week. They are on HMA (Home Mission Assignment) from Equador, where Craig serves with the PCA's Mission to the World! Craig was a leader in the singles group that I led when I was a seminary student working at the Kirk of the Hills Pres. in St. Louis. Obviously, he is no longer single. Here is a pic of our two crews.

Field Trip To Cobb Center

On Wednesday, Kristy took the "big two" to a special stage presentation of "Teddy Roosevelt" at the Cobb Energy Center. Having just studied his life last week, the performance was perfect timing.

Sarh Wynn's First Snow

Here are some pics of Sarah Wynn's first snow from this past week. By the time we took the photos most of the snow had melted. But you get the idea.

Georgia snow. Finger lickin' good!

"Daddy, snow is good food."

"If you're cute and you know it, stand in snow..."

More Snow!

This morning it began to snow again, and continued all day. City events and even worship services have all been canceled for tomorrow. We've got wood for the fire, hot chocolate to drink and the NFC/AFC championships to watch. Sounds like the ultimate PJ day! :0)

Ann Ferris and Schaeffer played on the trampoline covered in snow.

Earlier in the day when the ground was just beginning to get covered.

Classical Conversations Going Strong Again

Classical Conversations, our home-school coop, has cranked back up for the spring semester. Maybe we should call it the winter quarter, since we got snow last week and are expecting up to 7 inches tonight. Of course, being from Mississippi, we are used to false alarms when it comes to snow. We'll let you know what happens.

This is Ann Ferris' class

Winter Wonderland- Snow in N. Georgia

Last night we got a surprise when it began to snow... and snow... and snow. Eventually, about 2 inches fell. Not the 5 feet that my mother has in Idaho, but we'll take it!

Check out that snowball... or, snow boulder!

Deer everywhere: side yard, backyard and frontyard

Recently, the deer have begun to feel very comfortable hanging out around the house. On many days, I open the back door up or come home to find several smallish deer waiting for me. Ann Ferris and Schaefer went exploring a while back and found a really cool rippling creek about 40 yards behind the house and down the hill (we can now see it from the den and kitchen windows since the leaves fell). There is a beaver dam in the creek and a thicket where the deer bed down. Come for a visit and we'll take you on a nature excursion. :0)

The side yard...

The front yard... Picture taken from front door window.

The neighbors feeding ground out back.
Picture taken from kitchen window.

Sarah Wynn's Birthday- She's 4!

Sarah Wynn turned 4 yesterday, Saturday, January 12. She is special for many reasons. One is that, as many of you know, we lost a son, Thomas Wilson, on January 9, 2002. We find it providential that the Lord gave us Sarah Wynn the same calendar week we said good-bye to Thomas. So with the hard memory of loss we have reason to be thankful for such a gift. Of course, even if we had we no gift but Jesus, we would be blessed beyond description. Yet we are thankful for her and enjoyed celebrating with her on Saturday. One of the sweetest moments in my life to date was when we all gathered around SW to pray for her before bed and she wanted to pray, too. Her unprompted, heartfelt prayer was, "Dear Jesus, thank you for my family." It resulted in one of the greatest "group hugs" I've ever experienced! Talk about making a grown man cry...

Sarah Wynn opens the package from Nini and Papa- full of goodies.

For b'fast she wanted pancakes. This is my famous "Buffalo Pancake."
Try to duplicate that. Ain't gonna happen! :0) I should have taken a pic of the homemade syrup that Kristy made. Incredibly good!

The pancake b'fast. And for you Mississippi folks,
yes, those are McCarty bunnies on the table.

More gifts...

Sarah Wynn opening the gifts from Nini and Papa.

GPS Required

After getting lost countless times, we are among the many Atlantans who have discovered that a auto GPS (Global Positioning System) is a requirement for driving in the megalopolis of Atlanta. Today we went over to Woodstock (GA, not NY!), about 35 miles West, N'west of our house. We NEVER would have made it without the GPS. Instead of an American Express Card, we carry a GPS, and we don't leave home without it! :0)

The "bird's eye view" on our Garmin Nuvi 200

"In Your Name I Will Lift Up My Hands"

On Sunday morning, I found Sarah Wynn (in her "hanging out at home uniform") on the sofa having her personal worship time. Here she is reading from the Psalms in our pocket Bible. Evidently, she's in Psalm 63:4, "I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will left up my hands." :0)

Meet Dr. Ray Ortlund, Jr.

Let me introduce you to Ray Ortlund, Jr, whose friendship has been the source of great blessing for Kristy and me this past year. If you want some rich spiritual food for your soul, check out his new blog here. If you don't tag it as a "favorite," I may have to question your salvation! :0) Oh yeah, Ray is the new lead pastor for Immanuel Church in Nashvegas (we can't wait to visit).

Dr. Ray Ortlund, Jr.

Trout fishing on the Chattahoochee

Sunday afternoon Schaeffer and I met Joe McDonald, with his son, Coleman, for an afternoon fishing for trout on the Chattahoocchee River, which from spring to fall is stocked with 1,000 trout a week and is considered by many to be the best trout river in the southeast (temp is around 48-52 degrees year-round, since the river water is released from the bottom of the 130 feet deep lake- brrrrr). From the dam at Lake Lanier, there is a 48 mile National Recreation Area that winds through north and west Atlanta, with a number of entrances for hiking, fishing, canoeing/kayaking/tubing, camping, etc. These photos are from about 3/4 mile below the dam, about 12 minutes northeast of our house. I missed a picture of about 20 geese flying up the river straight at us. They flew in perfect v-formation about 2 feet above the water for about 200 yards. Can't believe I didn't have my camera for that shot!

Bank fishing (it's time to get some waders)

Joe's on the left. The other two guys each had a rainbow.

Mallards fish, too.

Cookout at the Johnson's

On Saturday night, we took the crew over to Patrick and Jennifer Johnson's home to cookout and play an 80's trivia game (Ex: which modern artist appeared on the 200th episode of the Love Boat, and in which year? Answer below). They'll be at our house on Monday to watch the BCS National Championship. For those of you who don't know, the Johnsons were some of our best friends in Tupelo, MS, when we lived there. Now we've been reunited. For Patrick's challenging and encouraging website on being a generous tipper, click here.

Also, we are hosting a new, weekly home fellowship/Bible study beginning this coming Wednesday. I think we are going to go through Jonah and explore why, like Jonah,my flesh/sinful nature is so allergic to the beauty and power of God's pure grace, and what it will mean to finally get the disease (and keep getting it). :0) In March I begin teaching a group at Perimeter on Sunday mornings. The title (so far) of that series is Don't Waste the Pain: Understanding and Embracing Suffering, Failure, Brokenness and Loss. In light of understanding and embracing my own personal brokenness, I plan to study folks like Moses, David, Paul, Ruth and Naomi (using the profoundly helpful book Shattered Dreams, by Larry Crabb), and especially Jesus.

Back to some pics of the cookout and 80s night:



Andy Warhol, 1985- you're right!

Ann Ferris' New Years Eve B'Day at Monteagle, TN

The Castons celebrated Ann Ferris' New Years Eve b'day Dec. 30-Jan. 1 at the Burris Ministerial Cottage in Monteagle, TN. After I preached at Christ Community Church in Kennesaw/Acworth, GA, we drove up to Monteagle, where we had dinner at Crust (a very cool pizza and pasta joint). For New Year's we ate at Pappa Rons. Cinnamon rolls, chocolate chip cookies and other fun stuff rounded out the fun days on the mountain.

By the way, we are thankful for Ann Ferris beyond words. Enjoy the video of the point, too.

Click on individual pictures for a larger view (especially Ann Ferris and Schaeffer at the point).

Cinnamon rolls with icing for breakfast- yum!

Ann Ferris wanted to turn 12 on the horse swing.
This pic was taken at exactly 4:26 CST on Dec. 31, 2007. Twelve years to the minute!

Hanging out at the point on a beautiful, clear, crisp day.

Sarah Wynn will be four on Jan. 12. She wants an ice cream cone for her birthday.

Living on the edge.

Daddy and Schaeffer on the horse swing.

Posing on the horse swing.

Daddy's "Whoonu" face.
If you haven't played Whoonu?, you need to get it. A lot of fun and a great family game.

Video of Ann Ferris and Schaeffer on the big rocks at the point.