It was really unexpected, for us anyway, that we might be with family over Thanksgiving this year...but the Lord is good, giving us blessing even in the midst of sorrow. Casey's sister Jeanie lives in Spokane, WA. Her husband (Bob) parents live only about 40 minutes from us here in Texas. Bob's dad has not been well and passed away this past weekend. Bob, Jeanie and two of their girls (both in their 20's) flew in to be with his family this week. However, the blessing for us is that we get to see them too. We saw them briefly last night at the funeral home and then will get to see them again on Thanksgiving evening.
Speaking of the funeral home visit, not only did we get to see the family, but Casey saw a friend of his parent's from his childhood. I think they live in Yakima, WA and happened to be visiting family down in TX this week too. We also met a pastor from First Baptist Dallas who used to be in McMinnville, OR and knows some really good friend of ours that we know from Ronald, WA.
Cue music: It's a small world after all...
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Sunday, November 22, 2009
10th Anniversary
We celebrated our 10th Anniversary on Friday!!! Can't believe how fast time goes sometimes. We had a nice evening out, kid-free thanks to some friends. We had our first downtown experience and enjoyed it! We didn't find the restaurant that we were looking for, but the one we ate at was sooooo good. We ended up eating at Cantina Laredo and it was so yummy. I ordered a chicken breast that came topped with poblano peppers, artichoke hearts, spinach and a cream sauce. Mmmmmmm...Casey ordered some plate that came with a HUGE chile relleno, burrito, etc., etc. After dinner we walked just down about a block to the Circle theatre. We saw the Lonestar Christmas Carol (musical). It was a lot of fun. Think Texas version of the Christmas carol. We enjoyed that a lot too.
Can't wait for the next "special" occasion to go back down town for a date!
Can't wait for the next "special" occasion to go back down town for a date!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
"help mom not to crash"
OK, today was a busy one, but good. I stayed up way to late last night finishing a book I started yesterday(biography of Laura Bush - it was good). So, I was a little slow on the get go, but finally found my groove after coffee and quiet time. Well, quiet it wasn't, but any bit of Scripture reading is better than none for me. At 10:30 the boys and I walked over to the campus to attend chapel. I can't believe I haven't attended before this! Anyway, Casey played guitar for a special music ensemble. The guest speaker at chapel was Dr. Charles Ryrie! What a privilege to sit under his teaching! Looking forward to picking up another of his excellent books to study.
We came home with Casey and had a quick lunch before sending him off to work. The boys had lunch and then did some reading and school work. Before long neighbor boys were knocking on the door to see if the boys could come out and play.
At 3:45, the boys and I walked back to campus to drop Ethan off at his choir practice. Josiah and I walked back home. I worked on getting some pictures edited and ordered. (Snapfish was offering 100 free prints with a $5 purchase - Cool!) At 4:45, Josiah and I walked back to pick up Ethan from choir and then once again walked home.
We ate at our neighbors house and enjoyed a little visiting. Casey got back from the church in time to eat a couple of hotdogs and go to class. After a little more visiting I loaded the boys up in the van to drive them to the church. We have signed them up for Upward Basketball and they had an evaluation for team placements. I don't normally drive at night...and I don't like to drive the freeway...however, I had to do both tonight. As we were leaving our parking lot Ethan offered to pray for us. Among other things he said, "and please help mom not to crash or run into any people." I laughed a little. Josiah just kept saying it over and over, "help mom not to crash, help mom not to crash." Thankfully, I didn't crash!
So the basketball evaluation was good. Some kids do a poor job and know it. Others do a good job and think they did poorly. Ethan's comment after was, "wow, I'm better than I thought I was." I will refrain from commenting. Josiah left singing, "I'm a basketball star, oh yeah!" Again, I will refrain from commenting on his performance. Well, at least they don't have low self esteem, right?
We came home with Casey and had a quick lunch before sending him off to work. The boys had lunch and then did some reading and school work. Before long neighbor boys were knocking on the door to see if the boys could come out and play.
At 3:45, the boys and I walked back to campus to drop Ethan off at his choir practice. Josiah and I walked back home. I worked on getting some pictures edited and ordered. (Snapfish was offering 100 free prints with a $5 purchase - Cool!) At 4:45, Josiah and I walked back to pick up Ethan from choir and then once again walked home.
We ate at our neighbors house and enjoyed a little visiting. Casey got back from the church in time to eat a couple of hotdogs and go to class. After a little more visiting I loaded the boys up in the van to drive them to the church. We have signed them up for Upward Basketball and they had an evaluation for team placements. I don't normally drive at night...and I don't like to drive the freeway...however, I had to do both tonight. As we were leaving our parking lot Ethan offered to pray for us. Among other things he said, "and please help mom not to crash or run into any people." I laughed a little. Josiah just kept saying it over and over, "help mom not to crash, help mom not to crash." Thankfully, I didn't crash!
So the basketball evaluation was good. Some kids do a poor job and know it. Others do a good job and think they did poorly. Ethan's comment after was, "wow, I'm better than I thought I was." I will refrain from commenting. Josiah left singing, "I'm a basketball star, oh yeah!" Again, I will refrain from commenting on his performance. Well, at least they don't have low self esteem, right?
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Odie
Last Sunday we had a little visitor to our apartment area. Many of the kids immediately fell in love with this small, stray, black dog. He was very sweet too. He was around again on Monday and my boys (and about 15 others) chased him around all day. They named him Odie. Odie would come to the kids and let them pick him up and pack him around like a baby. He never got too close to any adults though. We knew he wouldn't be around for long, but the boys sure enjoyed playing with him through Thursday night. I think Odie was quite fond of Ethan. Ethan would run and Odie would chase after him, perfectly content that Ethan wasn't always picking him up. On Friday he never showed up even though the boys called and looked for him. I'm positive that if we were allowed to have pets we would have kept this little dog.
Monday, November 9, 2009
A new November
I am having a hard time with November in Fort Worth. I'm not complaining about the wonderful weather, just trying to get used to it! Usually by this time of year I've started my pumpkin bread baking. It's my gift thing for the holidays. However, I'm running into problems. 1. It's too warm to have the oven going all day. 2. I don't have room in my small freezer. 3. We are still wearing shorts and tees. Okay, I know that last one probably doesn't make much sense, but I think it's more of a mental block than anything else. I even tried the pumpkin spice latte from starbucks yesterday and it didn't even seem right!
In other news, Casey only has a few short weeks left and then the semester is over! We are all looking forward to the end of this semester. If finances permit we are thinking of spending a couple of days in San Antonio either before or after Christmas.
Our new church has been great. We are slowly meeting people and making connections. I think Casey is already connecting well with the praise team. I've found the last two weeks that 80% of the people I introduce myself to are first time visitors or have only been coming for a few weeks. Exciting to see what God is doing. There were four baptisms on Sunday and God's presence was really evident in some other decisions that were made too. The message from the Word was powerful and convicting. After church we had lunch with a bunch from the college/career class. It was a good time...I'd love to join their class if I didn't feel so old! Man, when did that happen?!
In other news, Casey only has a few short weeks left and then the semester is over! We are all looking forward to the end of this semester. If finances permit we are thinking of spending a couple of days in San Antonio either before or after Christmas.
Our new church has been great. We are slowly meeting people and making connections. I think Casey is already connecting well with the praise team. I've found the last two weeks that 80% of the people I introduce myself to are first time visitors or have only been coming for a few weeks. Exciting to see what God is doing. There were four baptisms on Sunday and God's presence was really evident in some other decisions that were made too. The message from the Word was powerful and convicting. After church we had lunch with a bunch from the college/career class. It was a good time...I'd love to join their class if I didn't feel so old! Man, when did that happen?!
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