Signs of Life

Nate decided that he would try his hand at a raised garden this year. It's been a lot of fun building the boxes, getting the soil, deciding what to plant, sowing the seed, watering, fertilizing, weeding, and leaving the growth to God. We are pleased to announce that we are now seeing the fruit of our labor! (Or should I say vegetables and herbs!).

Here's a few pictures.

A Surprise Visit

We were blessed to spend some time this week with Nate's aunt Laura and his Grandmother. They were in Franklin visiting one of Anne's (Nate's Grandmother) old friends from Cleveland, MS, who had recently moved to the area. We are so glad they called to visit with us too!

Beach 2010 (Day 4)

We're glad to report that Fort Morgan is still oil free. The same cannot be said for Perdido Key, Orange Beach, Pensacola, and many other places in AL and FL. As we were eating dinner tonight, we met folk from all over Orange Beach who have witnessed tar balls on the beach. We are thankful the oil has held off this long on Fort Morgan, but we know it won't be that way for long.

Today started off rough--bad weather in every direction. The wind was so bad that we witnessed tents and umbrellas take to flight all over the beach! It was quite a sight. Thankfully, after a rough start, it faired off quickly and turned into a beautiful day.

Beach 2010 (Day 3)

Our beach trip continues. Though it started off rainy, with a spectacular lightening display, it ended up beautiful. A number of you have wondered if we've seen any oil. Well, we are glad to report that we are oil free so far. But if the news reports are right, it appears we may not be as fortunate in the days to come. They are forecasting oil to come ashore in our area late tonight or tomorrow. So... We'll see.

Until then, all is well on Fort Morgan!

Beach 2010 (Day 2)

We enjoyed another good day on the beach. It was a special day for me, because it was my birthday! Everyone made it special for me. They took me out to eat and bought me a delicious "chocolate volcano cheesecake." It was some-kind-of rich!

Beach 2010 (Day 1)

It was a good first day at the beach. The kids had a blast, and so did the parents! (That's always a plus!) Though the weather was supposed to be rainy, it faired off early this morning and turned out beautiful. And so far, no oil!

Hope you-all are having a great Memorial Day.

Hot New Wheels

We decided not to take our old bikes with us when we moved to TN. So, one of the first orders of business was purchasing new bikes. Here's a picture of the kids sporting their new wheels!

BTW: They've really gotten good!

The Mill's Visit to Franklin

We were recently blessed to have our good friends, Brad and Carrie Mills, visit us in Franklin. It was so fun! The only problem was that it was too short!

This is one of the very cute pictures of the kids as they played in the backyard.

It's Ice Cream Time

As so many of you know, ice cream is one of the favorite past times of the Shurden family. We are enjoying the many good ice cream options in downtown Franklin. The pictures below are from one of our recent ice cream runs to Ben and Jerry's.

The Flood of 2010

We want to thank so many of you for your calls and e-mails, and especially your prayers for us and our community. It's been a long couple of weeks with the flood, and I know many of you have been looking at the pictures on the news. It really is worse than it even looks, if that's even imaginable.

Our church here (Parish Pres.) has been actively sending out mission teams into local neighborhoods, to help people begin rebuilding. We are just at the beginning of a long recovery, so we ask that you would continue to pray for us.

Below are just a few of our many personal pictures of the flood. They are glimpses of Franklin, just off of the "5 points" intersection in downtown. It was quite a site.

Update

I am finally sitting down to update the blog and let you all know what we're doing. We moved to Franklin, TN on March 1 and are still unloading a few boxes and organizing rooms. We left the kids at the grandparents the first week of March so that we could get some work done without them around. That was a huge help! The last post I did was one about selling our house and thankfully it sold! We closed on it on March 12. We love being here in Franklin. Nate has actually had the whole month off so that we could settle in without the pressures of work. The neighborhood we live in has a playground in walking distance from our home and great little trails in the woods. Our backyard is fenced but we can open the fence and play in a big open area. The kids have loved it! Nate spent Saturday preparing the yard for our vegetable garden and the girls and I went to Home Depot to pick out some flowers to plant in our little flower garden. The church members of Parish have been so kind to us. We've had some good fellowship with alot of them. The girls have made some new friends and Rosalyn is actually itching to find her "best" friend. They have really surprised me at how easily they go up to other children and start playing with them. We miss our friends in Jackson and FPC but we are really looking forward to getting into the ministry of Parish Presbyterian and thankful that God has sent us here. If any of you need our new address or phone numbers, just email me and let me know!

I don't know where the cord is to upload pictures to the computer but when I find it, I'll post some.

Selling Our House!

Our house is now officially on the market. Please take a look at the pictures and write up below and make contact with us if you or someone you know is interested.

Classic English Tudor Style Home in Belhaven

Built in 1940
2100 Sq. Ft.
Price, $199,900

3 Spacious Bedrooms with large closets
2 Full Baths/Master Bath has Whirlpool tub with separate walk in shower, and expanded vanity with double sinks.

Living Room & Den w/ French Doors opening onto patio
Formal Dining Room

Fully Updated Kitchen w/ eat in. Granite counter tops, tile, new paint, stainless steel appliances.

Hardwood floors, new roof, new wood fence, new sewer line, newly landscaped front and back, lots of new updates throughout the house.

Contact us at cjshurden@yahoo.com or 601-842-4524 for an appointment.