Thought I'd post a quick update here before time slips away from me & I miss the opportunity. I'm on my lunch break so I won't be able to post much.

We had a great past weekend. My dad & Cheryl, along with Andrea's dad, Gary, arrived at the airport in Nashville on Friday afternoon & stayed through yesterday (Monday) morning. It was so good to see all of them & spend time with them throughout the weekend. We took them to Opry Mills, a HUGE mall next door to the Grand Ole Opry, on Saturday and spent the afternoon shopping. Josiah got to have an early birthday lunch at the Rainforest Cafe, which was fun.

Andrea's brother, Greg, came over for the evening on Friday night & then returned Saturday with our nephew Jake for the night. We hadn't seen Jake in a couple of years, so it was really good to spend some time with them. Sunday we all went to church together & then spent the rest of the day watching football on TV. Each night we also played Phooey, an addictive dice game.

The time went by fast, but it was good time together. I think we'll see Gary again in a couple of months & we are planning on trying to get our family together this summer to see Dad & Cheryl again as well.

Both Micah & Andrea had good birthdays. Andrea & I weren't able to go out for dinner like we had planned as I passed out earlier in the day after giving blood & wound up scratching my face up pretty good from the fall. It's a long story and more than I can (or want to) go into right now. We wound up eating Olive Garden takeout & watching American Idol together. It was still a good time. The dinner out will have to wait for Valentine's Day.

Phew - what a big day! I got up at the same time, but rushed in getting ready & out the door so I could make it to LifeWay by 6:00a. Took a shorter lunch so that I could leave early to celebrate Micah's birthday. He was soooo excited! He's literally been counting down the days for probably the past month and a half, it seems! Yesterday he kept saying, "One more day until my birthday!"

We stayed up last night getting presents wrapped, finishing his Spider-Man birthday cake & putting up decorations. Andrea had bought him a "Birthday Boy" blue ribbon to wear for the day. Because today was a holiday both of the boys were home. Andrea brought them downtown to meet up with me at LifeWay early afternoon. It was a treat for them to see where I work upclose & everyone in my department was so good to wish Micah a happy birthday!

Continue reading "The Birthday Boy" »

Thought I'd post a few quick lines here while Andrea makes brownies. We've been watching the season episode of 24 & are taking a mid-episode break. 24 is one of those shows that we've seen a few episodes of & liked, but never watched it regularly for some reason. I think that is going to change now! We're recording the 2-night, 4-episode season premiere for someone else & I think we're hooked!

The past week has been a good, but busy one. Josiah started school bright & early on Tuesday morning. Actually, I should probably say "dark and early" as he has to get up at 6am to catch the 6:30am bus that arrives outside our front door. He's going to Lakeview Elementary, one of the best elementary schools in the area from everyone that we've talked to. He's loving it & has already made new friends. His friend, Luke, who lives two doors down is in the same 1st grade class & at the same table - what luck! School begins at 7:15am! I think the early start has to do either with bus scheduling (to make them available to other schools) or because of the early daylight around here - or both. He's home at 2:30p which gives him a few hours of sunlight before it gets dark around 5:15p or so.

Continue reading "Hooked Again" »

Happy 2005 to all our family & friends! We had a wonderful holiday season! Here's just a little of what we did...

Christmas eve we got together with the Webbs. We went over to their house around 4pm or so & ate dinner together with our families. Afterwards we went to a Christas Eve candlelight service at a local church here in Hermitage. We really enjoyed visiting with Craig & Barbara & the kids enjoyed playing together. We're excited about getting together with them and getting to know them better in the coming months. After the service it was back to the house to get things ready for Christmas morning.

Christmas day the kids woke up bright & early. We had told them the night before that they couldn't get up until 7 am, and that they couldn't open any presents until Mom & Dad were up and had gotten their cups of coffee! We had a great time opening presents together & watching the kids play with their new toys. It was a nice relaxing day, although it felt strange as the day wore on with us continuing to be with just our little family all day through. This is the first Christmas that we haven't spent with any family ever!

Continue reading "Happy New Year!" »