Beyond The Red Door

Welcome to our family's blogging home - where I share life beyond our red door! I hope that you will enjoy your visit with us.

Today's Verse

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Things That Make Me Smile

Seeing the kids reading their Bibles on their own
Hearing the ocean
Smelling a cake baking
Remembering our wedding day
Singing in the church choir
Shopping for my family
Feeling good
Reading in the tub
A quiet house
Watching a funny movie with the kids
Seeing my kids playing a game together
Ron's little finger dance
Hearing my kids being excited about church
Watching Ron play with Faith (our dog)
Hearing Ron snoring beside me after he has been gone on a long trip
Chatting with special friends
Feeling hot sand under my feet on a beach somewhere
Game night with Brian & Kim and kids
Spending one on one time with Kim
Double Dating With Brian and Kim
A clean house
Sitting on my front porch in my new rockers
Walking on a cool evening with my family
Losing weight
Seeing my kids make a great play on the soccer field

About The Hunters

My dear sweet hubby, Ron, and I have been married for 20+ years. We began dating during my freshman year at Free Will Baptist Bible College in Nashville. He is my college sweetheart. We have ministered together in various ministries during our lives together. We pastored for 10 years in Florida. We moved to TN in 2000 to Co-Pastor with some friends of ours. The Lord has given me a fabulous provider whom I love more than any words I write could ever express. He is now the CEO at our denomination's publishing company, Randall House Publications. I am honored to support him.

Our oldest child is named Michael. He is now officially a teenager, although I don't think I'm old enough to have a teenager. He is a very sweet and considerate young man. He is my thinker and my reader. He absorbs every piece of new information that he comes across. He loves playing soccer, riding his bike, skateboarding, reading, watching the History Channel, the Military Channel, ESPN and any documentary on TV. I am privileged to be his Mother.

Lauren is our youngest child. She is just 15 months behind her brother in age. She is wise beyond her years. She has a sharp-witted tongue (which sometimes has to be tamed), a quick sense of humor and a heart for people and animals. She loves organizing anything and everything. She loves being with her friends, singing, talking on her cell phone and playing soccer. I am blessed to be her Mother.

Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier. - Kathleen Norris

On My Nightstand

When I Lay My Isaac Down by Carol Kent
Esther: It's Tough Being A Woman by Beth Moore
NIV Life Application Study Bible

Back On The Bookshelf 2009

~Beyond The Red Door~

Nov. 16, 2008
Triple Date To Opryland Hotel

Posted in A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Last night we let the kids invite Scott (Lauren's boyfriend) and Emily (Michael's girlfriend and Lauren's best bud) over to the house for games and dinner. Then the six of us went over to the Opryland Hotel to walk around the gardens. They are so beautiful but especially at Christmas time. We thought it would be a terrific date night idea. AND it's a cheap idea. Lauren went to the movies with Emily yesterday morning. They saw the new James Bond movie (yaaaawwwwnnnnn - haha). Michael would have gone but he and Ron went shopping for his birthday. Michael is still figuring out this whole having a girlfriend thing. He hasn't quite figured out yet that it's all about the girl and if you want to spend time together you do what SHE wants to do. HAHAHA Anyway, when Lauren and Emily got back then Scott came over. The four of them hung out upstairs playing Playstation and watching movies. After we all ate dinner we went to the Opryland Hotel to walk around the gardens. They do such an amazing job of decorating for the holidays. We all hung out together for the first 30 minutes or so. After that we let the four of them go off by themselves and Ron and I did the same. There were about a zillion people there. That was way too many people for me. Anyway, we got some good pics. I had hoped to get a good picture of the kids together to use as our Christmas card pic for this year. But they were too distracted with Scott and Emily being there. So, we will go back another time - just the four of us - to get that picture. I don't work on my CC until Thanksgiving so I have a couple of weeks.

Ok - on with the pictures!

This is the beautiful tree in the front lawn of the Opryland Hotel. You can see this from the road. It's really incredible what they can do with a strand of Christmas lights.

The front of the Opryland Hotel.

They have these trees lining the street leading up to the hotel. You can see the beautiful display of lights from the interstate (Briley Pky.). Absolutely beautiful!

This is an incredible display of the nativity on the front lawn. The picture just doesn't do it justice. It is spectacular!

This is just one of the light displays inside the garden area inside the hotel. MARVELOUS!

Another beautiful display. There is also a boat ride that you can take through the gardens. This is at one of the entrances.

Those are just a few of the pictures focused on the garden/hotel area. I will post a second entry with pictures taken of the kids.

If you ever come to/through Nashville you should really plan a trip to the Opryland Hotel. It is an incredible experience.

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Nov. 12, 2008
It's a Picture Album Kind of Night - Part 3

Posted in A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

This last set of pics are from the Robot Team Competition Michael was involved in at school. He has spent the last 6 weeks building a "robot" for a competition in the area. The robot was supposed to complete a certain task in a set amount of time. there were 13 teams - to include a few homeschool groups. The process concluded this past Saturday at David Lipscomb University here in Nashville. There were 23 rounds. Each round was 3 minutes long. In that time span the robot was remote controlled by one team member and spotted by another team member. The robot had to be manuvered through a course to pick up plane pieces, put the plane together and then transported to a certain location. For each task completed the team earned a certain amount of points. The team with the most accumulated points at the end of the competition won. While his team did not win a trophy we were quite proud of the fact that they got 10th place. I'm sure you are wondering why we are happy with 10th place. Other then the fact that the kids worked themselves to death 6 days a week a minimum of 3 hours a day this was the first year that the school had entered the contest. None of them knew what to expect and they did NOT come in last place. We consider that a success. Next year they will know what to expect and how much work will be involved in the process. There were only 6 of them on the team. The other teams had more then twice as many members and had all participated in the competition before. We are very proud of them - in spite of the fact that Lauren kept calling them the Nerd Team. HA Ok - on with the pics!

That is him on the left - with the burgundy cap on backwards. The man standing in the center looking down at the bot is the science teacher, Mr. Baucom.

While his team did not get a trophy they did receive the "Blood, Sweat and Duct Tape" award. After each round they were allowed to take the bot back to their booth/table and make any adjustments needed. After 23 rounds there were a lot of adjustments made so the we thought the award was quite appropriate.

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Nov. 12, 2008
It's a Picture Album Kind of Night - Part 2

Posted in A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

More pictures!!!! This entry will be pictures from this past Sunday when Zach was here. All three of them started wrestling in the car. some of these pics will be a little blurry because I took a lot of them with my cell phone. The pic quality isn't as good. You will notice in all of the pics that include Zach he will be looking at the camera with a big grin on his face. What a ham!!!! HA