Bahahahaha!!!

Merry Christmas Letter 2009...

Through the amazing power of the Internet, I can write a Christmas letter on December 26th and post it online on December 25th... oooooooooo... ahhhhhhhhh... CyberTimeTravel! :)

Merry Christmas, friends and family! We hope that your 2009 has been filled with love and peace and joy. We are blessed this year. Our sweet Lord Jesus Christ has given us a year to know Him more deeply, lean on Him more heavily, and serve Him more passionately. If you read this blog with any regularity, you probably know much, though not all, of this little update. If you don't read regularly, you can catch a whole year's worth of our adventures right here.

Person by person... here's how 2009 shaped up for us...



Jimmy... 2009 started of normally enough, but by the end of January, we learned that Jimmy was being recommended for a promotion to management that left us with some family decisions to make. While he wasn't thrilled about leaving the sales force, the Lord in His kindness gave Jimmy numerous confirmations that this was the path we needed to take. Within a few weeks, Jimmy moved into the position of District Service Manager for the Raleigh South district. Blessedly, the daily trips 1.5 hours each way to work finally came to an end. Not that we don't love the Sandhills, but goodness, he was putting over a thousand miles a week on his car.

Soon after he moved into his new position, Jimmy found out that one of the sales reps on the Wake Med team was leaving to go with a competitor. Jimmy helped fill in, and what started as a stop-gap measure ended with Jimmy moving back into the sales force with that team. Although several job offers have cropped up in recent months, Jimmy feels the Lord has placed him where he is, so he has turned them down. He loves the Wake Med team, and we have enjoyed getting to know not only the Medtronic folks, but also the doctors (and their families) and staff who work at Wake Med.

Fall found Coach back on the football field. A highly-persuasive friend is Zane's JV coach, and he made Jimmy an offer he couldn't refuse: just come when you can. So Jimmy did. It was a wonderful season, with the JV football team finishing undefeated and winning their second consecutive conference championship.

During 2009 we discovered eMealz and Dave Ramsey, which lead our family into a new level of fiscal responsibility. More lifestyle changes. We rented out our condo to a long-term tenant, drew up a budget and pretty much stuck to it, learned how to plan menus and shop wisely, and served as small group leaders in our church's Financial Peace University class. I can't tell you what a blessing it has been to see debt disappear as we learn to live inside the financial fence that the Lord has given us for our protection.



Norma... Another big change in 2009 came when I headed back to teaching full-time. Our fall season was full of lifestyle changes as I returned to the classroom, quickly remembering everything I love (and hate) about teaching. After a period of adjustment, I'm learning how to pace myself. More than that, though, the Lord has re-birthed in my heart a passion to see those kids come to know and walk with Him. I have much to say about that topic and may blog about it at a later date, but right now it is sufficient to say that my job is now my ministry (outside the house and secondary to the ministry I have in our own home, of course), and I see that as an infinitely cool thing the Lord is doing.

I teach English to seventh and ninth grade students and journalism to students who range from ninth to twelfth grades. In the second year of partnering with my friend Karen as advisers to the school's student publications (everything except the yearbook... an amazingly saintly Suzanne handles that), we saw our class size nearly double. Our first issue of the main publication went to a meaty sixty pages, and we are well on our way to putting out the second issue of that publication, a second annual insider's guide to AP and Honors classes, and a first edition guide to helping students plug-in to community service.

Gramma and Granddaddy are plugging right along. Granddaddy seems to have recovered well from a bout with cancer. He should write a book about taking control of your own health care, as he always goes into every appointment armed with research and a list of questions. He is still retired and living on his family's farm. Gramma continues to work for the Department of Corrections, although she is planning her retirement for the not-too-distant future. She went through a time of intense therapy on her back and hips at Core Health Systems in 2009, which has revolutionized her ability to move. She's still hosting a women's Bible study in her home, which is a blessing to all those women who attend.



Kelsey... This fall Kelsey began tenth grade at our school. In a strategic move, she opted to take AP Biology, Honors US Constitution, Honors English, and college prep Algebra II along with the mandatory Bible and Spanish I. Although she qualified for Honors Algebra II, she is learning to work the system in a smart way. She doesn't particularly care for math, so she bumped down a level in math and up a level in science from what most of her friends are taking. As a result, she's able to spend the most time on the subjects she loves, biology and history. Please note that English is nowhere in that pot of academic love. HOWEVER, Kelsey has started her own blog, which is an amazing window into the heart of our absolutely-not-average teenage daughter. What a blessing to see how the Lord is growing her into a beautiful woman of God.

I don't think I'm allowed to talk about her social life, so moving right along to sports... Kelsey started track season last year as a sprinter and ended it as a discus thrower. It was an interesting transition. One day she picked up a discus and threw it just for fun. It went a really long way. As a freshman (with next to no training) she missed qualifying for states by only a few little inches. She's hoping that with a more intense focus on the event this spring she can qualify for the state meet. This fall Kelsey wrapped up her career in JV volleyball with a challenging season. While the team struggled in comparison to other years, Kelsey discovered the strength that comes from trusting in the Lord's plan and not leaning on her own understanding. At the ended of the season she won the MVP award. Kelsey is playing club volleyball this winter for the first time with a local team run by the school coach. They are learning California-style volleyball. We have never done the weekend sports thing other than little league football, so please pray for us! It's kind of a crazy schedule.

Kelsey's tender heart for kids is more and more evident each day. She continues to serve as a teacher's assistant at school in a kindergarten classroom, and this fall she started helping in a three-year-olds Sunday school class at church. She is quite the rock star to these little kids, and it is so cute to hear them yell, "Hey Miss Kelsey!" as she walks through the halls at school and church.

Also in 2009, Kelsey got her learner's permit. We are working on getting something smaller than a Suburban or truck for her to practice driving. She'll turn sixteen this coming summer and I will be grateful to have another driver in the house! Kelsey also began attending a new youth group on Sunday nights where she has made some great friends who have encouraged her to grow leaps and bounds in her faith.



Zane... He is relishing the breather that comes with eighth grade. School is going well academically, and Zane was exempted from all his first semester exams. Last year, Zane felt burdened to start a middle school FCA at our school. He and a couple of friends approached the administration, and after a few months of talking and planning, they assembled a leadership team and began meeting on Friday mornings in the Student Life Center. Jimmy and I go to the meetings to support the kids and we are blown away by how much those kids are growing in their faith. The middle school FCA is truly student-run, and we are amazed at God's grace and provision.

For a couple of years, Zane has felt called to encourage his teammates and classmates in their faith, and Jimmy and I have been in prayer that someone would come alongside us to help teach him how to be a godly leader. Although we thought that teaching would come from a different source than it did, we now see God's hand of provision in an awesome and humbling way. Last year Zane received the boys' Timothy Award for his grade. Voted on by the students themselves, this award goes to the students (boy and girl) in each grade who demonstrate godly character. As a result of receiving that award, Zane became eligible for leadership training as part of the Student Life ministry at school. He was also elected a class representative for eighth grade, giving him the opportunity to work with other students and administration on Student Council projects.

To continue the tie between faith and sports, Zane's football coach invited him to become part of the student board of directors for his ministry, Generous Community. His coach has such an amazing philosophy of pouring love and encouragement into these kids to teach them how to live out the teachings Jesus gives us in the Word. We are grateful for the coaching not only on the field, but also off the field as the kids learn to put their faith into action as they share the gospel with words and deeds.

I don't think I'm allowed to talk about Zane's social life either, so moving right along to sports... Zane started track season as a thrower but scored most of his points for the team as a sprinter. Go figure. This fall in football he discovered his love of playing middle linebacker. Zane is now second only to Jimmy in height and just as skinny as Jimmy was in high school. The guys set up a new weight room in the basement, so we can train at home as well as at school. Zane stays after school four days a week in the weight room, working on bulking up for next year's football season.



Zack... Our sweet second-grader still loves school with all his heart. Most of the time. He had the chance to stay home on the half-days that the middle and high schoolers were in exams, but he chose to go to school instead. He loves his teacher and his friends. We have been blessed beyond anything we could ask or imagine with the teachers he's had at our school. Last year Zack hit a rough patch in reading, and his teacher spent countless hours helping him get up to speed. We are thrilled to say that after struggling and making C's in reading in first grade, Zack finished the first semester of second grade with straight A's. He has worked so hard, and we are grateful that in His grace the Lord has let Zack see the fruit of that hard work.

Zack continues to love sports and hate playing by the rules. This spring we are planning to go ahead and join the neighborhood swim and tennis club so that Zack can play tennis. He really loves riding his bike and scooter and doing all the old school playing-without-being-an-organized-sport things that we used to do as kids. As I type this Christmas letter, he is circling the kitchen table riding his new scooter. He wore out his old one. For Christmas Zack got a football-throwing game that allows him to score points when he hits the target with a foam football. He is freaky-scary-good at that game, much to his old quarterback dad's delight.

Zack is our highly social child and cannot stand to miss an event where he can hang out with his friends. He ALWAYS wants someone to come over and play and when no one is available, he drafts his brother and sister. He is STILL the storyteller extraordinaire. I can't wait until his story writing ability catches up with his story telling ability. Thanks to Kelsey's discovery of Owl City, Zack's new favorite video is the "Fireflies" video. I imagine it's probably because the stories going in that room are like the stories Zack makes up in his playroom.

One of the highlights of Zack's year (and one of the things that Kelsey and Zane have still not gotten over because they were not there) was meeting Tyler Hansbrough at Sutton's Drugstore in Chapel Hill this past May. We were on a field trip to the Planetarium, and decided to head to Sutton's afterward for a milkshake. Who was there? Mr. UNC Basketball himself! He very kindly took a picture with Zack and then with Zack's bff Jude. Then he ran out the door, heading to a final exam. You can read all about that adventure here. What a thrill!



Pepper... Our furry little Shih Tzu celebrated her second birthday in February and her first full year as part of our family in May. We can barely remember what life was like before we adopted her. Talk about an unexpected blessing! Pepper loves ripping into furry squeaky toys, chasing tennis balls, cuddling on the arm of the leather sofa/chair, defending our yard against squirrels and deer, and bacon.




Random wrap-up... Kelsey got her wisdom teeth out in June. Zane got his wisdom teeth out in November. We have the name of a great oral surgeon if you need it... Jimmy ordered the other four members of our family matching UNC Snuggies, but he refused to get one for himself. Otherwise, our Christmas picture would have been of all five of us sitting in our Snuggies in Kenan stadium. Near win... Pepper had to wait until Christmas to get her Snuggie... We vacationed at CB in April, so when summer rolled around and our condo was rented, we fell in love with backyard staycations... Pool ownership is a bit of a pain when there are copper issues in your community water. Then there are algae issues in your pool because the minerals mess up your chemical balance. On the bright side, you learn some science when you learn about chelating agents... From September 27th until November 28th we couldn't manage to string together a whole seven days without someone in the family having a cold, flu, cough, allergic reaction, or injury; but we are better now... Two SBS groups met here this summer, and it was a ton of fun seeing so many women get into God's Word each week... Jimmy's still a deacon... I resigned from Women's Council when I found out I'd be going back to teaching... Subway is our favorite option for tailgating before Knights football games... We LOVE being part of the Knights football family... We managed an epic fail at hosting Fun Fridays in our home... We discovered that Ikea could possibly be the coolest place on earth, next to home... Facebook is a great way to stay connected with people you never get a chance to see (and even some folks you see every day)... Time flies, and the list of what you meant to do will never carry more weight than the list of what you actually get around to doing... I Corinthians 13 is key: it really IS all about LOVE!

We hope you and your family are having a blessed holiday season! Thanks for stopping by and catching up with us. We covet your prayers as we approach 2010 with some decisions to make about where and how the Lord would have us serve Him. Please be in touch and let us know how we can be praying for you!

With much love <3,

Jimmy, Norma, Kelsey, Zane, Zack

Answer to prayer...

Our yard is covered with oak trees. There's a theory that oak trees produce massive numbers of acorns every other year. Not true in our yard. Our trees drop massive numbers of acorns every year. Acorns are such a pain. They sprout. Then you have to pull them up or mow them down constantly for the next... forever.

We couldn't rake the yard during the annual acorn drop this year because the lawn guy had done a bunch of work and the baby grass was just getting established.

I was a little miffed at the trees. They messed up the yard. The lawn guy came by one day and blew the acorns to one more-or-less confined area of the yard. We had acorn drifts. I stepped on a pile of acorns and my foot sank about three inches without ever hitting dirt. What an accumulation of acorns. I am confident they were at least six to eight inches deep in some places.

Now, I'm a believer in God's sovereignty. If He can create the earth and keep it going in spite of our human antics, He can probably handle the acorns in my yard. So I decided to take Him up on all those verses about how He cares for the little things like the sparrows and the hairs on my head, and I prayed, "Lord, please make these acorns go away!"

Know what happened after that? A family of deer started coming into our yard. Usually there were two or three, but at times there were as many as seven. Look at what this sweet little girl is doing for us! She's eating acorns!

Our Heavenly Father doesn't have to answer prayers the way we think He will. Usually He answers them in a way that is far better than we can ask or imagine. Today I am praising Him for sending the blessing of deer that eat the acorns out of my yard.

Night of Christmas Lights 2009: Top 5 Can't-Miss Houses...

Love, love, love the Christmas lights!!! If you can catch only a few, here are the ones not to miss. And if you have only 15 minutes and can go to only one neighborhood, head to #1 and #2. You can actually see them around the corner from each other. Trust me, no still photo could even begin to capture the experience.

5. Pat's Branch Drive in Umstead Ridge. Lights set to really cool Trans-Siberian Orchestra music. The music and dancing lights make this one a lot of fun to watch. One of my besties lives within sight of that house, and I am very, very jealous!

(No picture because the light show moves FAST! By the time we got to the end of the song when all the lights are on at once, I'd put away the camera. Plus, the lights are mainly white. White lights are tough to photograph without looking like one giant flash going off.)

4. Corner of New London and Howard Drive in Stonehenge. Inflatables. Lots and lots of inflatables. Best use of candy canes hanging in a tree award! Great to look at, but on a trafficky road, so be careful! Not everyone out there loves lights as much as we do, so if you are in front of the wrong person, it's a little skeery.

(No pictures because the guy behind us didn't feel the love we were feeling for savoring the inflatable display. I was a-skeert to stop and snap a shot.)

3. Anderson Drive... closer to Six Forks than Glenwood. If you're coming from Glenwood, it'll be on the left. If you're coming from Six Forks, it'll be on the right. Oh. My. Word. You usually have to go to a theme park to find that many giant characters with moving parts. Worth the trip towards Midtown.

(No pictures. Too much traffic. I hate that; it really is a sight to behold. Little kids will LOVE it!)

2. Sleepy Creek Drive. Stonehenge. Lights set to music. Street's not too busy, so you can stop and enjoy. Impressive light choreography, and just around the corner from the #1 house on the tour.



1. Abbey Lane. Stonehenge. Those houses on YouTube have got nothing on this one. Being the owner of an overly-lit home during the Christmas season, I can sincerely appreciate the sheer wattage that goes into this one. You know when you drive up and there's a sign that says "Light Show - 5pm -10pm" that there's something to see. Well, that and the LONG line of cars sitting in front of the house... This house is so spectacular that you do not want to go until you've seen everything else there is to see. This is HGTV-and-TLC-Christmas-Light-Special league. It too is set to music. Look for the singing Christmas tree and Santa in the front yard. Check out the whole Charlie Brown Christmas cast to the right of the driveway and the main attraction of Christmas, the Nativity on the far right of the front yard. On the house itself, a moving sleigh pulled by racing reindeer is perpetually taking off from the roof. And in the front window you'll see the Right Jolly Old Elf wandering through the room and peeking outside. I snapped a few pics, but truly nothing short of sitting there and staring at it for a good little while does it justice.

Now I want a pony for Christmas...

After being silent for most of the fall season, I am apparently going to blog with a vengeance while school is out.

On Sunday we went to a Christmas party for Jimmy's work. His sales team leader, Ann, lives a little ways out from the city and has horses on her farm. She and her husband have a gorgeous house overlooking two small ponds in the front. In the back there is a Martha Stewart -worthy barn at the end of a stone pathway running from the house up a hill. They had a contractor dry in the barn, but her husband did most of the work inside. It is the most stunning barn I have ever been in, complete with a full kitchen and showers for the horses. That barn was nicer than our house.

As nice as the barn was, though, the best part was the residents. Right now Ann has a darlin' little miniature pony and a larger, oh-my-isn't-he-beautiful horse. The pony's name is Daisy Duke. Kelsey and I fell in love with the pony. We want one for Christmas. We'll need some Zyrtec in the stocking, though. Kelsey is apparently as allergic to horses as Jimmy is to cats. Oh well. Maybe we'll just put a bow on Pepper and pretend.

A Very Nearly Classy Christmas...

Yes, actually, we DID go there.


A near-Christmas snow in Southtown!


Our house on a snowy night. Trust me... it was snowy for a couple of hours.


The new addition I've always wanted... Moravian Star!!! And the perennial decoration we never take down... the Santa gnome.


Wreath.


Lights on the picket fence.

Photography courtesy of Kelsey...

Snow... almost!

Kelsey's anticipation picture.

It did snow... about 1/4". The Old Farmer's Almanac has us getting three pretty good-sized snowfalls during Winter '10. I'll take it.

Thanksgiving flu by...

We knew that Thanksgiving was going to involve some oral surgery for Zane. He was blessed with more teeth than mouth, and we knew we were getting to a critical period for making room. With the entire week of Thanksgiving on the calendar as a break from school, we scheduled Monday as wisdom teeth extraction day.

He did great! Oh my word, I have never seen a child bounce back that fast. He had surgery at 8:30a.m., and by 3:00p.m., he was beginning to eat us out of house and home. Thankfully he doesn't remember a bit about taking twice as long as most people to come out from under the anesthesia... or throwing up when we got home.

Pepper was a wonderful doggy nurse, once again. Just like with Kelsey when she had her wisdom teeth out.



During his recovery, Zane ate six large boxes of Jello, approximately 10 lbs. of mashed potatoes, and we lost count at 8 qts. of ice cream. :) He was off the pain meds by Tuesday evening. So far, so good. He headed back to the weight room for workouts this past Thursday and did great.

In the midst of it all, I managed to come down with the flu. When I got home from school on the Friday that kicked off Thanksgiving break, I had a fever of 103. It dipped to 100.2 on Monday, long enough for me to take Zane to his oral surgery appointment. Then it spiked again to 102ish Monday night, where it stayed until the following Saturday morning. Jimmy had to work, so I did what all good health care providers do when they have the flu. I masked up and gloved up and went right on taking care of Zane until Jimmy got home.

It wasn't fun. I don't like the flu. Once I went to the doctor and got on antibiotics for the secondary infection, I rounded the good corner and was fever free 48 hours later. My sweet, sweet friend Dorothy had Zack over to play with her boys one afternoon and when she brought him home, she decided I needed soup. I started the soup the same time I started the antibiotics, so I guess we may never know which one the Lord used to do the trick. :) [THANKS AGAIN, DOROTHY!!!]

The hardest thing about Thanksgiving flu was not being able to be around friends and family. For that matter, it was hard not being able to be up long enough to cook Thanksgiving dinner. Jimmy did that all by himself. My dad and brother were in town, but I missed them. My mom tried repeatedly to bring something over, but I wouldn't let her get near us and risk getting the flu. I had so many plans for what I wanted to do, but what the Lord gave me was what I really needed... rest.


Since the flu, I have turned over a new leaf. I'm in bed early, regardless of what is still on the "To Do" list. I am asking for (and getting) lots of help from others. For that, I am very, very thankful.

What the young folks are listening to nowadays...

Very little draws me away from lesson plans and grading papers these days, but my students are going crazy for the group Owl City. And they are awesome. Owl City. My students too.

Check out Owl City in concert:




Their big video for "Fireflies" is on YouTube. Embedding disabled by request, but you can watch it here.

[Kelsey likes them too, but she's pretty cutting-edge with her musical preferences, and now that more people have discovered Owl City, she's on the the next thing. :) ]

Back to school...

This week is actually the fourth week of school. I know that because I stayed up until 6:00AM writing lesson plans for the coming week. There's a blank on the form that says: Week _____. I wrote a 4 in the blank because last week's had a 3 in that blank.

School is cranking. We are getting used to getting up at 5:45 and being out the door around 6:30. That's AM for all you who know me well. Stand in awe.

Going back to work has had quite the learning curve. I never really missed teaching. Missed the students, but not the teaching drill. The bottom line of the return to teaching is that I love working with the students. I'm not feeling quite so much love for the hoops, but it is what it is.

The first week of school I slept a total of fifteen hours over five days. Brutal. My friend, Holly the school nurse, appointed herself my accountability partner after that week. Every morning, I have to go in and tell her what time I went to bed. For that, I am grateful. I've gotten much better at screening the possibilities just because I'm skeert of Holly. :) Seriously... I love Holly. That's what friends do for you... help you find the boundaries when you aren't quite certain where they should be yourself. I am grateful for Holly.

I have no classroom. I have no office. I do have a rockin' cart that looks a little like an ice cream cart on wheels. The students ask me each day what I'm selling. So far, we've come up with ice cream, hot dogs, snow cones, coffee, vitamins, and smoothies. The other teachers have been gracious beyond measure, as I am literally the only full-time teacher with no classroom or office at all. I keep my rolling tote parked in the teachers' workroom and my cart lives in Gail's room overnight, since her room is where my homeroom meets. I could technically teach in a total of seven different rooms, but most of the time I visit only six.

For the first time ever, I'm teaching middle school. Much to my surprise, I really like it. They are sweet. Clueless sometimes, but sweet. I'm also teaching ninth grade. Here at the beginning of the year, they are teetering between middle school memories and the welcome-to-high-school-wake-up-call.

I'm also back with the journalism half of journalism/graphic design. We have 27ish students this year, which is a huge increase over last year. Most student publications have a staff of 12-15. We are so above average. :) I am excited about this crop of new writers. They are gifted. God has been good to us to send such talented kids to our class. And as good as our leadership was last year, this year's editorial team is already knocking it out of the park. They are every adviser's dream: they lead and we truly get to advise. This year is going to be a blast!

Jimmy has been my knight in shining armor. He has held together home as I have jumped in way over my head at school. As I begin to come up for air, he is there encouraging me to do what it takes and standing in the gap. I hope I honor the Lord most of all, but in a comfortable second, I hope I make Jimmy proud too.

Kelsey is playing volleyball, though some coaching changes have made this year a difficult one on many levels. It's her story, so I won't air it here on my blog, but let me put it in a nutshell: she has handled overwhelming adversity with grace well beyond her years. She's handled it better than I have. I am proud of the young woman of God she is becoming. She has a killer-intense schedule, with the crowning jewel being AP Biology. It is a college-level class in both theory and practice and takes a HUGE chunk of her time daily. She's got the most rigorous academic load she can possibly have with the exception of math. Even though she qualified for Honors Algebra II, she's opted for the regular class. We are not of the math tribe.

Zane is enjoying his final year of middle school and having a ton of fun on the football team. Once again, he is leading team devotions, and we are right there on the verge of starting a new middle school FCA that meets on Friday mornings. Still working out a few details, but it's been high on Zane's wish list for a while to get one going. He is doing great in school. His English teacher stopped me about a week ago to tell me he'd given a massively hard quiz that no one should have passed without taking extensive notes on the reading. Zane just read and forgot to take notes. He made a 95. :)

Zack LOVES second grade. We had a moment of hesitation before school started when he found out his best bud --- the one he's been with since preschool --- was in a different class. But his teacher is awesome and he's gotten to know some new friends too, so we're cruising right along. His birthday is next weekend, and we are STILL figuring out what the party will look like. I can't believe my baby is growing up so very fast. He's decided he wants to play football, but not by the rules. Basketball and soccer met the same fate. We're encouraging him to take up tennis next spring and we've even bought him a racket. We'll see what happens when he hits the courts for real.

The picture at the beginning of this post is from the first day of school. Jimmy took Zack for a haircut the day before. It didn't turn out so well. I gave them some more specific instructions and they went back for a fix-up appointment the evening of the first day of school. MUCH better the second time!

Well... that's about it. I still have about five journalism articles to evaluate, a short story to read and prepare to teach, and a quiz to make before I can call it a day... or night. And I most certainly don't want to have to tell Holly I stayed up too late again.

Thanks for your prayers!

Be still and know...

And having uploaded a ridiculous number of posts...

... I am pretty well caught up on summer. And summer is pretty much over, as I go back to work full time on Monday.

I'll be here periodically, I'm sure. After all, I have to vent somewhere. But my attention goes back to school after a nice 15-year SAHM run. So, if you are just itching to see what some high school journalism class blogging looks like, come on over and visit me at Journalism Class.

Grace and peace, friends. And love... of course.

Arg...

Wednesday on the water...

We totally dug the fossil dig...

Day with dinosaurs...

The state-of-the-art new version of the dinosaur trail I visited when I was a little girl.