What I did on my summer vacation!

On the way up, Rob, Andrew and I stopped in Charlotte at BBN.

Back in May, we escaped the hot Florida weather and headed to the Blue Ridge Mountains for two weeks. Matthew had flown up to James Madison University to be part of the ACE International Student Convention 24/7 Squad, so we decided to drive up Harrisonburg, VA to pick him up and to explore Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway driving through Virginia and North Carolina.

Andrew is a faithful BBN listener and was thrilled to take a tour of the station and even got to visit the control room.

After we picked up Matthew, we made a stop at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va to take a tour. The campus is amazing. Matthew transferred from Whitefield College and started online classes at Liberty this summer.

The view of the stadium from the ski slope.

A friend I met on the Appalachian Trail.

The Stevens Men!

We finally figured out how to be in two places at one time! The boys straddling the North Carolina / Virgina state line.

Matthew and Andrew on top of the world!

The historic Fryemont Inn was a great retreat!

Playing some serious chess in the lobby at the Fryemont Inn.

We had a wonderful trip in an absolutely beautiful place. It was so nice to just slow down and enjoy God's marvelous creation!

Our Trip to Virginia and the Outer Banks

The "Geek" and his sidekick arrive on campus! We loved Regent University. The campus was beautiful and the Open House was a delight.
This is just one of the many beautiful buildings on the campus.










Fall colors! Yeah!

I finally got to see the wild ponies!





Another state to add to our collection!



Sometimes their is just nothing more to say!
I love these boys!

Yorktown Battlefield. God's hand was definitely in the events that unfolded here.









The Wright Brothers Monument at Kitty Hawk, NC.




The boys bought some really cool kites at Kitty Hawk. They flew them on a huge sand dune at Jockey Ridge.








The battleship tour was so cool!







Matthew being Matthew!











Andrew being Andrew!

Gotta love the pig!

College Road Trip Part 2

On January 31st, Matthew was invited to visit Florida Southern College for a college preview day. This school is in Lakeland, Florida, about 20 minutes away from home. Matthew was pretty impressed! The head of the math and computer department invited him to come to the college and sit through a few classes. He plans to take them up on thier offer. We had a very insightful day. At this point, the biggest problem we see with Florida Southern is that most of the buildings were designed by the architect Frank Lloyd Wright who apparently was a very short individual. Matthew stands at 6'1", so he had to duck a few times as we walked the hallways!


The "Southern Geek" arrives on campus!


Andrew makes friends with the mascot, "The Moccasin"!

College Road Trip

Well, we have made our first visit on our "College Road Trip" as we begin the process of looking at colleges for Matthew. A few weeks ago he was invited to an Open House at Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach. It was an exciting day that started very early. After the opening assembly, he was able to visit all of the labs on campus, as well as talk to current students and professors. Their were prospective students there visiting the campus from as far away as California, Puerto Rico and North Dakota. It seems like just yesterday he was just starting kindergarten...where has the time gone....

Matthew, a self proclaimed
"geek" was pretty
impressed with this massive computer!