To the Wingfields!

This Labor-Day Emily and I spent the weekend with the Wingfield clan on Lake Chickamauga.

I knew it was going to be eventful when my first tubing experience ended with me rolling off my tube onto an island in the middle of the lake. I had flashbacks from Labor-Day 2003 and decided to bail when we got too close to the island...only to wind up sliding into a goose sanctuary.- I was pulling grass and leaves out of my hair for the rest of the day....

After years of perfecting the art of para-sailing Jacksons inaugural lift-off was a success. Mine was not so successful. In my first attempt a gust of wind came and blew the sail into a tree. The second attempt left me being jerked into the water as a result of the sail taking out a light-post.Overall, we had a blast hanging with the Wingfields and are planning our next trip to go up in the para-sail again. Enjoy the videos!

(video #1: Jackson Wingfield's successful lift-off)
(video #2: Josh's para-sailing attempt #1 "Joshie Meets Tree")
(video #3: Josh's para-sailing attempt #2 "Joshie Meets Pole")

P.S. as a concerned wife, some of the videos end abruptly

Few Other Pics

We just had some photos from our travels this summer developed and thought we would post them for you all the see. Some are from our Honeymoon in Jamaica on our hair-raising trip up a mountain on four wheeler (Where the only thing stopping us from falling to our death were a few strands of barbed wire). The other photos are from our travels in Italy, particularly Cinque Terre. This was our favorite stop. the Cinque Terre are fives small towns connected by hiking trails stretched across the rocky terrain of Italy's Northwestern coastline.There are also a few pics from Rome jumbled in. Enjoy the photos!

The Dove Nest

Things around our home are very busy and there is not much to update. However, we did find a little dove outside our breakfast nook window. I think she has come to be our friend for a while. Hope all is well in your world and maybe you will meet a new friend too. (didn't mean to sound like a fortune cookie)

A Work/Vacation Sandwich

In July we headed to Italy with London visits on the front and back end for work. It was a great experience to get to visit places I had previously been too, but had no interest in exploring. Emily fell in love with Italy and enjoyed all the museums, sites, and the many gelato shops. We started in Pisa then a few days on the Mediterranean in a town called Monterossa, then on to Rome....Umbertide (Central Hill country) and back to London. Our constant in every city were those double decker bus tours that take you to different parts of the city in a couple of hours. I used to see people in those buses when I traveled and think...."what a bunch of saps....why would you pay money to sit on a bus that goes in a circle?" I am now one of those saps. And I love it. I celebrated my 30th birthday overseas with Em and family. It was nice. I dont like birthdays and this one was no exception. I managed to work myself up a nice sinus infection while traveling which has been the story of my last 7 years. We are back now and the reality of work and school is setting in. Em starts teaching next week and taking classes later this month. I am planning on doing seminary courses part time which should make for a very interesting fall.

On Holiday

It has been a busy summer and we wanted to share a few photos of what we have been up to in the past few weeks. We started the summer off by spending some time on the west coast. We flew to San Diego spent some time with our good friends the Carluccio's and then headed up the coast all the way through to end up in San Francisco. It was a blast, we met some really great people. We then headed to the east coast to spend time at the beach with the Bluster clan which was so relaxing and fun. We have just gotten back from spending the 4th of July at Lake Burton my favorite place of all. Josh practiced his kayak "rolling" skills and I spent time reading and vegging out on the dock.We also celebrated his birthday early with triple chocolate cake cupcakes and sparkler candles. We are leaving tomorrow to spend the rest of our summer in Europe which we are really excited about. We miss you all and hope to see you soon. I will update the blog when we get back to share all about our trip.

Our Wedding

We just received our wedding pictures back and their almost as beautiful as the actual day. Here is a little sneak peek.

Our Honeymoon

That's You- SS as in Sam- E as in Edward- F as in Frank

It has been a while since we last posted the details of our life... I guess we should start by announcing that we are both officially Youssefs, although Josh occasionally refers to me as a Bluster. We were blessed to have an amazing wedding and a restful honeymoon. Thank you to all of our friends who were there to cheer us on through it all. We are currently in the midst of making our little bungalow a home. I pray all is well with you. There will be more posts shortly...