Family Update
What the McMullen Family has Been Up To Lately.........
September, 1999
We had an exciting summer! Corey and I went with Communications student Allou Koko to his home country of the Ivory Coast. We went to conduct research on the impact of television there and to give a seminar on the impact of television on children. It was an exciting and challenging two weeks. I didn't know what to expect, and I couldn't have imagined the two weeks we had. The people were wonderful and wanted to learn, they welcomed us in every way possible. We visited two villages and met Allou's family. Because of the lack of air conditioning in most places, my allergies kicked up, and I wound up with bronchitus, but God was good and what we needed was provided. We really were glad to get home and we flew into Panama City to join the Woodmont Baptist youth group at the Oasis retreat. While we were exhausted from travelling for 22 hours, it was great. We woke up to the beautiful coast and an absolutely terrific retreat. Josh McDowell was the speaker and was every bit as dynamic as you might expect. I even got to meet him. I was thrilled!!! Needless to say those were two of the most memorable weeks of my entire life.
As time permits I plan to get some of the pictures and information from our trip on the web, and eventually plan to create a website in English and in French for the people of the Ivory Coast on our seminar and the information contained there in. I will be presenting information about the trip on September 10 at Woodmont Baptist Church, for those who would like to attend.
Other news...
We had a great visit to friends in Texas in August -- three families, seven kids, two condos and beach!!! We had a blast!!!
I also went to see my grandmother in Arizona. For those of you who have met her, Grandma Hutson is 89 and still living on her own, tending her roses and taking care of her home. She has a little help with the yard, but she's doing great (after two strokes!) She had to stop walking 4 1/2 miles every day because now she has some problems with vertigo, but she's still "sharp as a tack" and her own woman.
Randy and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary in Gatlinburg, and had a great time. We even ate at the same restaurant we ate at on our honeymoon. Randy is still landscaping in Huntsville and is doing eight separate homes for the Huntsville parade of homes this year.
The boys still are enjoying Shoals Christian School. Corey is a senior this year and Chris is a sophomore. Chris has his driver's permit. Both are playing football for Shoals and loving it. They both played basketball last spring. We think Corey has stopped growing (6'5" and size 17 shoes) and Chris grew at least six inches in the last 12 months (6'4" and size 15 shoes). You don't want to know what we spend on groceries......
Mother and Dad will be here in Florence in September to celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary. They just wanted a family celebration, and we're looking forward to a memorable weekend.
That's just about it for now. It was a very busy summer. I was in Africa in June (or getting ready to go or resting from having been...), taught a full load in July and travelled all over the place in August. I'm ready to stay home for a while and get back into a regular routine. Still, it was a very special summer, and I would trade any of it...
We're looking forward to an exciting (but busy) fall. On our Anniversary trip, Randy and I were talking about how blessed we are. God has been so good to us, and we have to recognize that we're right now living "the good old days." We need to be very thankful and enjoy every single minute of it!
Keep me posted on what is going on in YOUR life!
Dr. Mc
January, 1999
We had a great Christmas at home this year. We were very fortunate and only lost power for about 12 hours during the ice storm that hit really hard. We had our electricity back by noon on Christmas Eve. Some folks didn't get power until well after Christmas. Our family is all doing fine, although Grandma Hutson had a bout with pneumonia in December. It was a good thing Mom and Dad had planned to be with her over Christmas or we could have had a sad outcome. She's on the mend and should be just fine. Randy's parents are healthy, busy and very happy with their life in Florida.
The boys really enjoyed their first semester at Shoals Christian School. Corey played football on the very first team the school has ever had. They had a winning season, even though some of the team members had never played football. He is now playing basketball and was lead scorer in two games so far. Chris is playing JV Basketball. Overall their attitudes about school and their grades are very good. We're all very happy with the move.
Randy had a busy fall, completing the landscape on the new Lowe's in Madison. Lack of rain allowed for lots of days to work, but low unemployment made it hard to find help when he needed it sometimes. I had a busy semester with 15 hours and two classes at an enrollment of 50. Probably my most interesting class this past semester was the Senior Seminar: Politics and Media course....Boy, did WE have a lot to talk about. Some of the notes are on the site as are references to some really good books we found on the subject. Check under Com450 and the reading list if you're interested.
That's about it. Our life is very busy with our work, the boys' games and church activities. Randy is coaching a high school church basketball team, and I have a couple of projects going, so we don't have time to get bored. In addition, we discovered we could listen to Ball State Cardinal Basketball on the web at Broadcast.com (http://www.broadcast.com ) and we're really enjoying that.
Thanks for your cards and letters over the holidays, and if we didn't hear from you then, drop us an email now!
If you're a UNA alumnus, be sure to let me know if you want to have your email and other information posted on the ALUMNI CONNECTION page. I hope it will be a good way for you all to keep in touch with each other.
That's all for now! Happy New Year! Dr Mc
September, 1998
This summer has been really exciting. Immediately after school was out, we took a family vacation to the Williamsburg, VA area and to Washington, D.C. Williamsburg was lots of fun, although, I probably enjoyed it more than the boys did. Still, it was neat going back to where my grandparents had taken Peggy and me when were teenagers. Corey (now almost 17[Oct., 3]) what shocked to learn that total strangers (both male) slept in the same bed at the Raleigh Tavern. Chris and I were almost as shocked to learn that those fine ladies had shaved their heads so their wigs would stay on better!!! We also went to Jamestown-the original site and the reconstructed village. It rained in torrents, but it was still neat.
That afternoon we drove over the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel and Corey got to fish of the pier at the first island. He didn't catch anything but we all had fun watching the ships go through the bay. I didn't realize it, but Grandma and Grandpa had taken us over the bridge when it was only a month or two old - waaaaay back in 1964! Now they're building a companion bridge so that there can be two lanes of traffic going each way.
Washington was great! I had a wonderful visit with Sharon Parker Warden, my dear friend from grad school. She's in charge of marketing at the Washington Post and took us all through the paper. The boys were really impressed, but I know they really didn't appreciate the true significance of what they were seeing. We had a tour of the Capitol (just a week or two before the shooting there), got up early for tickets and went up in the Washington Monument, saw the Bureau of Printing and Engraving (whatta LINE!) and visited the Holocaust museum. I highly recommend the Holocaust Museum. It's not easy to see, but it so very well done. There is such a tone of solemnity and respect, hardly anyone says anything and then only in whispers throughout the entire exhibit. We were all very moved by it. We were also thrilled to get in to see the Star Wars exhibit at the Air and Space Museum even though it was late in the afternoon. Chris was especially happy about that, since Star Wars is one of his favorite things.
On the way home we visited Luray Caverns (beautiful cave! -an no historical figures!) We even managed to visit the outlet stores at Pidgeon Forge and landed size 17 Nikes for Corey (cool ones at that) for only $10.00! Now that's a great vacation!!!
Corey went to Oasis, a Christian summer camp at Fort Walton Beach, FL with out youth group. I joined the group for a short trip to the Brownsville Revival at Pensacola. I was very skeptical about the revival, but it had a deep effect on both of us. Corey had made some significant decisions at Oasis and the experience at Brownsville solidified them. He came back really dedicated to the Lord. He tore up all his secular CDs and after a mission trip in July with the youth, he asked to go to Christian School. Chris wanted to go as well, and so now both boys are enrolled in Shoals Christian School, and they love it!
In July, I went out to see my Grandma Hutson. She's 87 years old now, still lives in her home in Sun City, and still has the prettiest roses anyone ever saw. This year people were stopping to take pictures of them. She's a little more fragile, arthritis keeps here in constant pain, but she doesn't complain and she keeps doing what she enjoys as much as she can. We had a terrific time together, as usual.
August saw us on the road almost every weekend. First to the Smokey Mtns. where we went white water rafting on the Olympic Run of the Ocoee River. We rafted for the first time last year and really loved it. Then we did the Middle Ocoee. This year we wanted to do something a little more challenging and tried the Upper Ocoee which was where the Olympic rafting events were held. It was lots of fun, we all stayed in the raft, and it wasn't that much more challenging than the run we did before. Next we went to Atlanta for the nurseryman's convention there and the obligatory trip to Six Flags. We rode SIX out of seven roller coasters! A thunderstorm broke loose while we were on the last one. Nothing like going up and down at high rates of speed over water with lighting flashing all around you! Needless to say we were on the last ride of the evening. The next weekend was back to Pensacola to travel with the rest of the youth group, including Christopher, and several adults to visit the revival. Randy went this time, probably even more skeptical than I had been, and he too came back having had a moving and very meaningful experience. School started for the boys the day after we got back.
Summer went by way too quickly, but it was really special. We had some wonderful family times together and God worked mightily in each one of us.
Some general information:
Our address was changed by the post office last year, as was our area code. The new information is:
324 Williams Ave.
Florence, AL 35634
I'm looking forward to Christmas Cards.....Please let us hear from you.