little John

The smallest of the four, John showed up at 1:15AM on July 10, 1997, weighing a mere 8lbs.6oz. I thought something was terribly wrong with him since the first two were 9lbs.9oz., and he was so tiny. Then the nurse explained that this was how normal-sized infants looked. Whew!

Today we will celebrate his 12th birthday. He has always been the most passionate of the four kiddos. His care for all people in his life is sincere, especially their spiritual well-being. He loves to read and help with young children. As of now, he hopes to be in the Marines and have a large family when he's an adult.

Over the last year, he has become more responsible and self-motivated. One of his duties is taking care of Pippin.
He's also started developing a deeper friendship with Randy and has become quite the comedian. With the help of Lee's desire for fruit this morning, John's "peach-fuzz" growth was jump-started.

We love you John and can't imagine our world without you!! Happy Birthday!!

20 down, as many more to go as possible!

It always seems to happen while I'm cooking: I get "attacked" with hugs and kisses from Lee while the little boys send up a chorus of "yuck!" and the older ones roll their eyes. Lots of things become "normal" in each family as the habits are formed...

I've been thinking about our twentieth anniversary for the last few days with amazement. Lee and I married in pretty bad circumstances. Rebels on the rebound usually don't have good endings to their stories, but Lee and I were friends before we dated, and I think that helped. Basically, though, God worked it all out and gave us much more than we could've imagined - we're committed to each other AND happy about it. It reminds me of that old song that says, "I'm so happy to be stuck with you!"

Well, on this special anniversary, my honey made all the arrangements by himself. He booked a wonderful room in a beautiful bed & breakfast in Canon City. We enjoyed dinner and also a drive on the scenic Skyline Drive.On Saturday, we went to the Holy Cross Abbey to do some wine tasting at the winery. The atmoshere at the local diner was great as we waited out an afternoon storm. Then it was time: we had dinner on the Royal Gorge Railroad. The spectacular tour took three hours, and the meal was superb. Mostly, I enjoyed the company of a most handsome and loving man.

time well spent

Well, we enjoyed our visit with Amy and the girls and tried to squeeze a lot into a few days. The day they arrived, we stayed around the house and the kids played in the neighbors' pool. We spent the next day at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.Wednesday brought a trip to the commissary, and it stormed in the afternoon which kept us mostly at home. That left our last day together to squeeze in both Garden of the Gods and America the Beautiful Park. Fortunately we were able to enjoy both.It was a great visit!

when it's hard

Amy and our two nieces are here for a short visit. The younger niece has Pervasive Developmental Disorder (not otherwise specified with Autistic characteristics and sensory integration disorder). There's a lot to her, and it's difficult to even imagine how my former-sis-in-law, dear friend, and sister in Christ can do all that she does (especially when there's a "melt down"). I know it wears her down, but she works with both girls so carefully and diligently. Perfectly? She'd be the first to admit that she isn't, but it's pretty easy to see the Lord holding her up and keeping her strong, whether she feels like it or not. My hat is off to you, Amy. And, as Katy says it, "She is absolutely amazing!"

thinking it through

I recently read a totally sad blog entry that "justified" having an affair and just getting a divorce when you "fall out of love." Besides being horrified, outraged and mystified, I finally found myself feeling deep pity for this man. He is not a Christian and therefore does not have the same foundation for beliefs that I do. (Although the law is written on every man's heart...we are without excuse.)

Anyway, Katy and I recently talked about infatuations and love. We talked about falling in love and how the feelings can come and go, but how married folks can pursue those feelings and pray for those feelings to return when they see them start to diminish. We discussed being on the alert and guarding our hearts before and after marriage, testing all our feelings against the Word, as our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked. Though the talk was deep, you can imagine what joy I felt knowing that she was thinking through her experiences and what she's heard about. There are choices she'll have to make, and the consequences will depend on her beliefs and actions.

Unlike the man mentioned earlier, I don't think falling out of love with your spouse and having an affair just happens. I think it starts with lingering on an unrighteous thought, and then the destruction starts. Lee and I could have found TONS of reasons to split up (we are two major sinners, you know), but God has graciously kept us from those things. In 12 days we will celebrate twenty years of marriage. Now that's a miracle!

PS The band Casting Crowns, I think, has a good grasp on this subject if you'd like to cut and paste the following to see their video...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-8SYA6rfbs

loved the heat

Leaving on a Friday and only stopping for three hours of sleep, our family, sans Trey, made it from Colorado Springs to Annapolis in 34 hours. Exhausted but in great spirits, we ended up at the Amedick's house. We had not told Katy that she was going to stay with these wonderful friends, but she had been wishing it and had been hopeful we'd at least get to visit them since they lived so close to D.C. where Lee's class was being held.We rested up, said goodbye to Katy, and headed off to Ft. Belvoir where the boys, the bird (did I mention he came, too?), and I would be staying with the Martineaus. Just seeing these two families that we'd known from our church in North Carolina made the long trip worthwhile.Of course, we did go back into Annapolis to visit the Naval Academy. What a beautiful campus and city! John Paul Jones' crypt was closed that day, so Lee and I went back later with the boys to see it.Nancy and I took the kids to D.C. to visit the Smithsonian American Indian and Air and Space Museums.The next day, the boys and I took the Metro into downtown D.C. We were less than a block away from the Holocaust Memorial when the shooting happened, so we were thankful to not be "at the wrong place at the wrong time." We did walk to the White House and to the Lincoln Memorial and all the war memorials. {I wonder how many of the quotes and reflections and honors we read about could be embraced by our country now, as the culture shuns sacrificing for others and dependence on God.} We had lunch by Constitution Lake and went back to the Air and Space Museum. Lots of walking and pondering!!Nancy and I took the kiddos to Mt. Vernon on a hot, muggy Thursday...I loved it! I'd really missed the heat and humidity in the cold, arid West. Oh - I loved Washington's home, too. ;)So, after two weeks of being with great folks and seeing extraordinary sights, it was time to go home. We took 37 hours on the return trip, splurging with almost six hours of sleep. And, though the weather was beautiful most of the way, the last part of Kansas and Eastern Colorado left us checking the clouds for a tornado to jump out of the waves of rain at any point. We praise God for safety on our great trip!

eight excerpts

I couldn't take time to blog this last week because we seemed to always be on the run and inundated with occupations ranging from registering Trey for some fall college classes to helping some friends with with a memorial service and dinner. So, instead of writing about everything, I've decided to give eight blurbs about last week, and most have accompanying pictures.

1) Last Saturday we had Trey and Kate's recital. Katy did not mess up, and Trey - due to reading a little too far ahead - covered his mistake admirably.
2) The beginning of the week was warm, so the boys celebrated with fresh strawberries and a run through the sprinkler.
3) The good weather was short-lived and the cold and rain settled into the area. I guess all the errands and housework caught up to me a bit one dreary afternoon...
4) Though we prefer warm, sunny weather, the clouds out here make you feel like you live in a movie; it's all very C.G.-esque.
5) Katy had her first understudy read-through and had a wonderful time. Our big surprise was when we got a phone call asking if John could play young Mr. Darcy in one of the scenes. He's thrilled!

6) After actually completing all of his schoolwork on time, Trey spent the last two days preparing for his trip to MS to work as a horse wrangler over the summer. We took the kiddos out for ice cream before dropping Katy off with friends, as she worked the weekend cleaning up a camp as a volunteer. The next day Trey was on his plane...very sad for those of us left behind.
Of course, he left us with a good chuckle before he left. He was getting a buzz cut and decided to get pictures taken before the top was finished. Bling bling, baby!
7) John was pitcher in his Saturday game and did really well with some great strikeouts. Then he played catcher for the last couple innings. Randy was their first baseman and did well, also. One inning, he made all three outs. :)
8) Lastly, Saturday evening Randy noticed tiles at the bottom of the stairs buckling. I looked in Katy's closet, which is under the stairwell and next to the downstairs bathroom, only to find mold growing on the wall and baseboards. You remember the leak we've been having problems with? Well, maintenance finally found it after cutting out some walls and part of a supporting beam. It seems that the renovators forgot to connect/seal the drain in my shower to the pipe. Now they'll have to clean all this up this next week. Amazing... At least they found the leak!

it's not easy getting shot

Well, the consult went OK. Trey is scheduled for the first of his shots on Thursday. They are going to inject the worst of his herniated discs with cortisone, but they have to get it from the sides because of the positions of the vertebrae, etc. They'll do the other four when he returns from MS in August. Trey is also on a couple medications for the next three months that should help keep the inflammation down. Then he'll be weaned off the meds in time for his physicals in autumn for the Air Force and Marine scholarships. The doctor is pretty sure that the injections and meds should get everything back into correct form. Now it's all about waiting patiently as God shows us His plan...

PS Jess, He hurt his back weight lifting and doing Krav Maga (Israeli martial arts) the next day. That was in mid-February.