Having fun in Florida

We're having a good visit with family in Florida this week. We
celebrated Christmas again with my parents and my brother and his family
(visiting from California!) yesterday, and had a great lunch with my
Aunt, cousins, and friends as well as my parents and brother's family.
Today we drove to Penney Farms to spend the night with Sue's mother
(that's her with us in front of her hallway's Cmas tree :-). It's good
to have some time off and see our family and friends during the
holidays.

Merry Christmas!

We are having a great Christmas season, and hope you are, too! I had
fun taking the kids shopping earlier this week, and Sue took the kids
and some friends ice skating at Centennial Park last night. We're
looking forward to opening presents (Kevin should be a lot of fun this
year :-), then hustling off to church for a celebration service
Christmas morning.

Enjoy the music, the joy and happiness, the giving and receiving of
gifts, but please remember that the true Reason we celebrate this
holiday Season is the birth of Jesus Christ! Take a look at Christmas
update if you have time, and drop us a line if you get the chance.

We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year!

Chronicles of Narnia is awesome!

We went with our church to see the movie "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe" this morning at 10:00am. It was great! The special effects rivaled the stuff seen in "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, and they stayed very true to the book. It's soooooo cool to see the computer-generated special effects come so far as to make the stories and heroes I grew up reading come to life.

I highly recommend the movie - you'll enjoy the entertainment and get a lot out of the message behind it.

Winter Christmas Season in McDonough

Whew, it's cold and blustery in McDonough this week. Today they're
predicting falling temperatures and possible sleet - it's definately
winter! I'm taking care of things while Sue visits a friend in south
Georgia; this stuff at home is hard work! :-)

Hope this Holly-day season finds you well and prosperous! Remember: We
may call this time of year many things, but Jesus is the Reason for the
Season!

Sue won a Cmas tree!

Sue entered a raffle at the play Megan was in and won! The Christmas
tree is beautiful, with peppermint ribbons and red and white stuff
everywhere. Sue said she was watching the woman when she was putting it
up last week and offered to help, but the woman said no. Sue was
thinking to herself today that she was exhausted but really wanted to
put the tree up, and then she found out she had won this tree she had
admired all week! Woohoo!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are happy to have Sue's sister Nancy, her daughter Taylor, Taylor's friend Nedeska, Sue's brother Mark, Sue's mom, and my parents at our house for the holiday. We've had a good time sharing family memories and catching up on what's been happening in our lives even as Megan's play practices occupy her and Sue every night. We're all looking forward to the show this weekend!

We hope you are having a good Thanksgiving week. Enjoy the holiday and count all your blessings!

Happy Birthday, Megan!

Megan turns 12 years old today! Wow! She is really doing well in school, getting A's and B's in everything, and is really enjoying the preparations for the "Best Christmas Pageant Ever" play with the Henry Players. Way to go, Megan!

Annual pumpkin carving

Sue and the kids had a great time hollowing out and carving pumpkins
tonight. The little boys had the most fun with the pumpkin guts, while
Jacob and Megan handled the design and carving. Sue shared the story my
mother tells about making pumpkin pie from scratch (just say no :-), and
everyone went to bed with all their fingers. Whee!

Pumpkin Festival at Stone Mtn

We did the soccer thing this morning (it was 34 degrees!), then headed to Stone Mountain this afternoon for the Pumkin Festival. It was lots
of fun, seeing the train and the big pumpkin tree, watching people eat
turkey legs, and enjoying the beautiful afternoon. The kids enjoyed
bowling with pumpkins, running around in the Treehouse Challenge,
getting slimed in the Pumpkinpalooza, and riding little John Deere
tractors. Sue brought her trademark peanut butter sandwichs for dinner (what a good wife and mother! :-), and we headed home before it got too
chilly. What a fun day!

Mom Holly's Knee Rehab Underway

My mother was released from the hospital and reported to a physical
therapy place two days ago. She got to rest for a day, and then the
physical therapy began today. She is in good spirits and is handling
the pain from the knee surgery better. Please pray for continued
strengthening of her muscles and her new knee. Thanks!

Mom Holly's Knee Replacement Surgery

My mother had knee replacement surgery yesterday. The surgery itself went well - the doctor came out afterwards and said that her leg was no longer crooked, it was straight, and that there were no surprises in surgery. But the recovery has started out extremely rough. She's in a lot of pain, which is to be expected, but the pain medication isn't having as much effect as we would think.

She'll be going to rehabilitation facility in a couple of days to learn how to walk with her new knee. I imagine that it will be a tough ordeal, but something she must go through.

Please pray for a good recovery, for rehab to go well, and for her to be
mentally strong throughout this experience.

Good trip to FL despite car trouble

Well, we had a good trip to Florida. The beach was great, time with my parents was great, but on the way home the alternator stopped working and we had to get a new one put in. (Tire Kingdom in Lake City did a good job even though it took forever!) We got home at 1:00am, which was a pain, but everything worked out. Now it's back to school for the kids and in to the last two weeks of being a staff person.

Another good day in Florida

We're having another good day in Florida today! We spent the morning
with my parents, then went in to Ocala and ate a picnic lunch with
Victoria and Jessica. We met Mom Emery at Paddock Mall, and we're
looking forward to a good dinner at the Olive Garden (or somewhere) with
a whole crowd of people. What a fun day!

Having fun at the beach!

We went to Ormond Beach today for some fun in the sun. Beautiful
weather despite Hurricane Ophelia churning in the Atlantic north of us
:-) It should be a fun day, building sand castles and playing in the
sand and water. Woohoo!

Driving to FL

Well, the kids are out of school this week due to the year-round school
schedule here, so we're headed to FL to see family and have some fun in
the sun. Hope you're doing well!

Festival of Lights for Labor Day

We went with some friends of ours to a fireworks show dubbed the "Festival of Lights" over the Labor Day weekend. It was enjoyable -- we got to know our friends better and got to see some nice fireworks. The kids had a good time running around, but we sat right in front of the stage speakers so it was hard to converse the closer we got to sundown.

The whole event was interesting, though -- the show was put on by a local church that wanted to do something different on Labor Day to reach out to the community. It was fun, and I hope that they'll do this again next year and start a new tradition.

Happy Birthday, Kevin!

Today is Kevin's 4th birthday! He's doing great - 3-day-a-week
preschool, fun at church, and learning lots every day. Tonight we're doing a "just family" thing, but Friday night we're throwing a "soccer party" for Kevin and a few of his friends. Woohoo!

Megan makes a soccer cookie!

It's Kevin's birthday, so Megan got out the frosting and made a big
cookie Sue had baked into a soccer cookie! Good job, Megan!

Tommy in fight; starting to perk back up

Somehow Tommy got out of the house without us knowing it last week. When we got home he was standing on the driveway waiting for us. We noticed later that he had some cuts and a puncture wound on his neck; it looked as if a pit bull or similar dog had grabbed him by the neck in a fight. He seemed scared of everything, especially of going outside, and was laying down a lot.

After watching him lay around for a couple of days Sue took him to the vet and found out his wounds were filling with puss and blood. The vet drained the wounds and gave him a shot of penicillin (sp?).

Sue's been keeping the wounds clean and drained for the past few days, and he seems to be doing better. His tail is up again and doesn't seem so scared when we take him outside. Hopefully he'll heal up and be OK...

Happy Birthday, David!

I turned 41 today - woohoo! It was a good day, though long (I thought that meeting would never end!). My co-workers had cake for me (thanks, Suzanne!), and then I enjoyed an evening at ho,e with the family. What a great day!

We went to Six Flags today!

As our last hurrah before school starts Monday Sue and I took Jacob,
Megan, and Stephen to Six Flags today. We also took our friends Kara,
Courtney, and Andrew Smith. Megan, Stephen, and Andrew got in free
because they read for more than 600 minutes during the last school year,
and we took the others just because we love them :-) Sue rode the
Batman ride and I got to ride the Superman ride, with others in
between. It was a fun day!

Happy Anniversary to us!

Today is our 18th wedding anniversary. We have had a great time
celebrating today and look forward to what the Lord has in store for us
in the future!

We had a great vacation!

We travelled to the great state of Alaska for our summer vacation this
year and had a great time! It was cool, the weather was great, and we
saw mountains, animals, and lots of countryside. I should have our
daily blog entries up by the end of the week and pictures shortly
thereafter. Check back soon...

7/3/05 - Alaska trip underway!

7/3/05 - We got off to good start - left the house at 8:00am for our
11:35am flight. Stephen and Kevin kept talking about the airplanes
"blasting off", and all the kids enjoyed the first plane ride to MSP.

The flight from MSP to Anchorage was long, but everyone did good. Kevin took a nap, everyone read and played Gameboys and we oooh'd and aah'd when we saw Alaska from 34,000 feet.

We made it to the motel just fine, found some ice cream nearby, then fell asleep while it was still light outside ( at 10:00pm!).

Sue & the kids in FL

Well, Sue and the kids took off for Florida today. Jacob and Megan will
spending a few days with their grandparents, and Sue will be taking
Stephen and Kevin to the beach, their cousin's house, Penney Farms, and
then back to pick up Jacob and Megan. Go, Sue! If you see her on her
trip give her a hug for me...

School's Out for Summer!

Woohoo! School is over and the kids are excited about it being summer.
We've got a busy time ahead - a couple of camps, a play to interpret, a
trip to Alaska, and hopefully some relaxation time :-) We're hoping we
get to see some the friends and family that we haven't seen for a while
and have some fun with the kids. It should be fun!

Good time with Mom Emery

We had a good time with Mom Emery here last week. She came up to see Sue in the Sound of Music, and had a good time with the kids and me while Sue did her thing with the play. We celebrated Mom's 76th birthday while she was here, baking a cake and taking her out to Up the Creek in McDonough. Hope things are going well in your part of the world. Drop us a line or call when you can!

Sue's sister is divorcing her husband

We have sad news: Sue's sister Nancy has chosen to divorce her husband of 29 years. We ask that you pray for the situation as they go through the painful process of severing their life together. Sue and I are saddened by the situation, and we will weather this as a family.

Happy Easter!

Well, we are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ this weekend, and wish everyone a Happy Easter! Sue and the kids put on an Easter Egg Hunt at our house for the kids in our neighborhood, and I took the kids to our church's Easter Egg Hunt today while Sue went to a funeral. We're going to color eggs tonight and have a good time at worship tomorrow! Hopefully everything will go well - I put together a video clip for the service, so it'll be interesting to see how it is received. Hope this Easter finds you doing well and enjoying life!

Life is busy but good

We're doing pretty well here in Georgia. Sue is busy with play practice two or three nights a week, Jacob and Megan are keeping us running around with their activities, and work is keeping me busy all day every day. But we're doing good. Hope you are too!

Blazing along

Well, we are blazing along here in Georgia. Sue is in full swing with play practices for two plays (interpreting one, acting in another!), which means I'm taking care of the kids more than usual, which is a fun change. The kids are doing well, nobody is sick right now, and we're all having a pretty good time in our day-to-day activities. Life is good! Hope things are going your way, too!

Ice in McDonough

Whew! The ice storm this weekend was a pain, but we handled it OK. Sue's sister Nancy and Sue's mother had to endure the pain of ice, snow, and no power with us, but it was fun time. We don't often get to stop and play games by candlelight with Nancy and Mom Emery, so it was a rare treat! :-) I'm glad they were able to come and surprise Sue for her birthday -- they made the whole event that much more special!

Now the power's back on (praise the Lord! it was off for about 24 hours), so we should be OK. The kids are grumbling because school will probably be happening as normal (boo!), but that's a good thing -- they need to learn as much as they can. I hope the weather isn't messing you up in whatever you may be doing!

Back to normal

Now that the holidays are over we have gotten back to normal here. Sue is busily going here and there with the kids, the kids are busily doing homework, practicing piano, going to gymnastics and basketball, and I'm busily working. Ah, it's good to be back to normal!

We will be celebrating Sue's birthday later on this month - call or email her if you get the chance. Hope everything is going good in your part of the planet!