Nice peaceful morning at Radnor Lake today - we had about an hour of good family hiking time. The surface lake was still about 90% frozen, and the waterfowl was scarce. The girls were excited to see a Great Horned Owl - one of the rangers had it out for everyone to see - we also saw (in the wild) a few deer, a red tail hawk, (heard a Barred Owl), and some other birds. Sydney correctly identified the chirping of a chickadee - Me: "Girls what bird make that sound?", Sydney: "Oh, that's a chickadee!" Rebekah could not believe it.

I'm pretty psyched about our new purchase - a 4 man tent! The Big Agnes Big House 4 will be the perfect size for the whole family to enjoy camping trips for years to come. We are more than likely going to purchase the optional vestibule, which will double the square-footage of the tent (perfect place for a dog someday!) As you can see from the pictures, I was so excited that we set the tent up in the middle of our great room - it just barely fit - and, of course, I had Rebekah time my setup - I thought just over 6 minutes in a cramped house was not bad. It is labeled as a car-camping tent, but I can see us packing it up in backpacks for short trips into the woods, too. I've told the family that I'd like to go on at least 5 camping trips this year - maybe we'll go to a few of the Tennessee state parks like Frozen Head, Big South Fork, Cumberland Mountain, Natchez Trace, and Fall Creek Falls. I'll let you know how it goes!

Hello Friends and Family! Thanks to all of you who have held on through the drought of 2009! I've decided that a good New Year's Resolution will be to neglect the Glisson blog less this year - with most of our immediate family in town (or not far away), we've forgotten that others have an interest in our lives. And to be honest, our 4 year olds keep us busy enough.

So, look forward to at least a few blogs per month with updates on our lives. Also, for those that want a daily-dose, Rebekah has ventured into the world of Facebook!

I am not going to attempt a summary of the last 6 months, but here are some of the events that we haven't yet shared:

• Princess Party at Mia's
• First Day of Preschool (Year 3)
• Annual pictures with our friend, the talented Mary Alice
• 3-year birthday with cousin Jack
• Fall Festival with hayride and hot air balloon at church
• Halloween
• Sleepover with cousin Jack
• Building a gingerbread house
• Breakfast with Santa
• Preschool Christmas party and program
• Opryland Hotel Christmas lights, and, of course,
• Christmas (x4)

If you'd like pictures or info. about any of the above, just let us know and we'll post it. Enjoy!