Matt woke up this morning with his face badly swollen and an aching tooth. The dentist put him on antibiotics and scheduled him for surgery Friday. We’ve decided that we really just can’t go to Austin as we had planned to be at his Uncle Matt’s ordination as a deacon at Oak Hill PB Church.
It’s been a while since you heard from us on this channel. The summer has been busy. I have been traveling some; I returned from a week in California just today. Melissa has the children busy learning and having fun. Alex is taking piano lessons now, Suzuki method. He is showing some talent and wonderful discipline in his practice. He and Drew are also in swimming lessons, where they have done well and have been encouraged to join a swim club. Matt and Tori are loving the new tree house, still under construction but entirely ready for long summer afternoons of lofty imagination.
Those of you who know me, know I’m a poor golfer, with no more than 15 outings in my history. You may think it a shame to learn I played the Spanish Bay course at Pebble Beach this week. The scenery wasn’t wasted on me–most holes were within sight and hearing of the Pacific Ocean breaking on a beautiful, rough shoreline–but a beautiful course didn’t improve my game any. The root of the issue was the rented clubs, most likely….
Lord willing, our family will join several others from church on a beach trip the week before school. We’ll be at Gulf Shores in Alabama. Everyone is excited, and we are already planning and preparing. Then Drew and Alex will return to public school, and Matt will start at a new private school near us.
Chris’ parents, “Granny and Granddad,” were willing to take care of our four children (with all of their special diets and everything) for 5 days, while we went to the annual Chick-fil-A Operators’ Seminar, which was held in Orlando this year. They brought their camper trailer, and every night, much to the kid’s delight, they vacated our house and all 6 slept in the camper, parked in our yard! They not only kept them fed and clothed, but also took them on a trip down to see where I grew up, and they took them to the GA Aquarium! The kids had a wonderful time!
. . . And so did Chris and I! The first night Chris took me to an amazing restaurant, where the servers sang various Italian melodies and songs from musicals, WHILE THEY SERVED TABLES! I was beaming! That is just the perfect combination to me–awesome food, your honey sitting across from you, and the music you love best, being performed live! I will definitely visit Bergamo’s (http://www.bergamos.com/) again if I get the chance.
On Sunday, Chick-fil-A provided us with a Chris Tomlin concert, which I just could not have been more blessed by. Chris Tomlin and his worship leader (Louie Giglio) had such an obvious earnest desire to lift up the name of Jesus Christ that I couldn’t help but weep for a great portion of the concert. It was truly wonderful to be in a room with 3300 other Chick-fil-A Operators, staff, and executives just worshiping our awesome, amazing, Lord.
The theme of Seminar this year was “Great Leaders Serve.” I was inspired to manage my home better by viewing my obligation to serve my family as a unique opportunity to impact their lives and the lives of countless others who they will in turn touch. I was mostly struck with a great sense of thankfulness and amazement that I, through Chris, am allowed to be a part of Chick-fil-A, a company filled with people who look to God for strength and guidance for every business decision that has to be made and then turn around and give God all the glory for every success. I hope when I go back next year (Lord willing) that I can say that I have been more purposeful about setting a vision, providing an example, and creating an atmosphere in which our family thinks more about others than ourselves and tries always to help people around us. As you can tell, I’ve been inspired!
OK! Now back to the real world: I need to go cook dinner, and Tori just woke up, and she needs to go potty!
Macedonia Church has called Will Martin as their pastor. Bethany will host Brother Will’s ordination tomorrow (Saturday 2/9). Come if you can! We’re very happy for our friends at Macedonia Church, and for Will and Allison.
We think this one’s going to stick. Praise God! It is a lease-purchase agreement that will close in 18 months or less if all goes well. Thanks for all the prayers we know have gone up for us over the last year. We are starting to exhale now.
Same address, new look. This site is based on WordPress tweaked to look less bloggish and more traditional. Makes maintenance easier! I’ll publish more details later on how it was put together in case anyone wants to do something similar. Check out the church history. Watch for news and changes; we plan to keep this one much more dynamic than the old site.
Matt: Tori, do you have a backpack?
Tori: No, I don’t!
Matt: That’s right, you won’t get a backpack until you get to be a boy like me!
Considering that the three people in our household who own backpacks are boys, I guess that this was a very reasonable assumption!
I just feel like a TERRIBLE mother sometimes when I can’t seem to make anything “special” for my “special” boys. However, tonight, for the first time in a very long time, I actually cooked something that Drew and Matt (who have to follow the SCD-Specific Carbohydrate Diet) LIKED! It all started when I tried to make babaganoush a couple of weeks ago. Chris and I enjoyed it, but the kids weren’t too impressed. At the time, I thought “eggplant seems white like potatoes” and I wondered what would happen if I cut up one in the shape of french fries, salted it like crazy and fried it. So, I tried it tonight, and Matt actually ENJOYED eating his “vegetable” tonight! Drew said that they were so good that I should tell somebody about them! I thank the Lord for this “special” night!
This is one of the last pictures of our princess in a diaper. And the first of her in a boa.
Yesterday she learned the way of the pull-up and panties. There’s no going back now!
Our boys were absolutely delighted with the big, wet flakes that fell for a couple of hours this afternoon. They especially enjoyed jumping on the trampoline as it became icy slick! It was really very pretty as the snow swirled through the air, and we had just a little accumulation. These guys now think winter was a worthwhile season!
