Good time with friends at our house

We had the Creech family over for dinner last night. They have 4 kids like we do, all at similar ages, so everyone had a good time being with each other. We had chicken, mac and cheese, and some vegetable, then went outside and had a fire in the firepit. It was fun!

Merry Christmas!

Well, we hope that you and yours have a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holly-days, and ring in a wonderful and blessed New Year this holiday season! We look forward to all that the Lord has for us in the coming year!

High School Cmas Concert was good

We enjoyed the high school's band concert tonight. Both Jacob and Megan played in it, so it was fun to see them doing their thing. Everybody sounded good and had a good time. It helped us all get in a more festive mood :-) Hope you're feeling festive, too!

Return to Bethlehem weekend

Sue and the kids had a great time being a part of the RTB "live nativity village" at our church again this year. We had lots of people go through our version of Bethlehem and see the real reason that we celebrate Christmas :-) Sue was a greeter this year and was available to interpret for any hearing-impaired people that came. Jacob helped out with logistics and keeping people moving, Stephen and Kevin were kids in the village, and Megan played a pregnant Mary on the road with Jospeph. Good job, family!

The moon, Jupiter, and Venus

I hope you had a chance to go outside just after sunset and see the moon, Jupiter, and Venus tonight. It was awesome! Jupiter was brighter than any of the airplanes flying in the pattern near the house, and Venus was the next-brightest thing in the sky. I ran and tore Jacob and Megan from their digital worlds to see this, and called Sue at Scouts and my parents out in Oregon to tell them about it.

I remember when the Peiades (sp?) meteor shower was exceptionally strong one year I woke the kids up at 4:30am to go outside and watch it, and even took them out to see Mars when it was large and red in the sky. And I even stood out on the deck all night to videotape a lunar eclipse. All of this and no telescope!

Now all we need is a comet or something :-)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's hoping you take some time to be thankful for all the blessings God has given you in your life and all of us in our lives here on Earth. I am extremely thankful for the life He has given me, for the family he has made me a part of (both physical AND spiritual), and for all the really cool things He has let me do over the years (including working for the FAA in all the roles I've had with them). Give us a call if you get the chance...

'Going Steady' Anniversary

Today Sue and I celebrate 26 years of 'going steady' - woohoo! I asked her and gave her my class ring so she could wear it, and our relationship has continued to grow and grow over the years. Pretty cool, huh?

Happy Birthday, Megan!

My beautiful daughter turns 15 today! Woohoo! We're going to have a celebration with the family, then have a party for her sometime next week. She's chomping at the bit to get her Learner's permit so she can start driving us around, which should be pretty exciting. Let the fun begin!

Good visit from Michael

My brother is in town for some training up in Kennesaw, so while he
was here he made time to come down and spend the evening with us. He
got to go with me to pick up the kids after band practice, then ate
dinner with us and just hung out for a while. We even got on Skype
and did the video-phone thing with his wife and kids out in Oregon!
It was really great to get some time with him, something we don't get
to do very often. Woohoo!

Good time with Dad here

While Sue was out in Oregon my dad came up to help keep some continuity in the house and let me keep working. It went well, and the kids enjoyed having their grandfather around for a few days. I took Friday off so I could spend it with him, and we had a good time going to the store, eating chicken, and relaxing. I love the fact that we have a good family that likes to be together!

Sue flew to OR

She went out to visit my brother and his family in their new home in Eugene. She's hoping to help them with unpacking and settling in, and just to hang out and have fun.. As of now I haven't heard from her so I'm hoping she made it to their house OK...

New addition to the family

Well, we have a new member of the Holly family: Jojo Holly! He is a Springer-Spaniel, though he looks more like a Cocker-Spaniel to me (what's the difference, anyways? :-) He's definately not your average dog, and the kids love him, so...... I think he'll be around a while. I don't like the fact that he wets himself every time I talk to him gruffly or go to put the leash on him, but we'll have to see if that goes away.

Sue enjoys him when she's here, but my fear is that we're all gone too many hours of the day to keep him occupied and sociable. We've had him about 3 weeks, so we'll see how this goes...

Happy Birthday, Michael!

My brother is celebrating his birthday today! They are all settled in to their new house in Oregon and are getting plugged in to all that's happening there. It sounds like they're having fun. In the fashion of some my gift to Michael is late, but I am hoping he likes it. We'll see...

Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Today my parents celebrate their wedding anniversary! They've been married for over 40 years andd are still going strong. Way to go, Mom and Dad!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

My mother's birthday is today! She didn't want any gifts from my dad, but she wanted to do something fun and different. So they took a bus to the Seminole tribe's casino in Tampa, FL, and spent the day gambling and having fun. Way to go, Mom!

Happy Birthday, Kevin!

Our youngest turns 7 years old today! We had a good time at a get-together/party last night at Stone Mountain - people from our LifeGroup and church came, as well as some friends from Scouts and one of the neighborhood kids, and we had a good time eating Popeye's chicken and enjoying the music and lasershow. It was a good night, good weather, and fun talking and being with everyone.

Today we're relaxing around the house. Kevin wants pizza for dinner and creamy pie instead of cake, so we're going to eat all of that later today. Woohoo!

Fun family night

We've been running in all directions for a few weeks, so I told everyone we were goi.ng to have a family night tonight. We went to dinner at a Mexican restaurant, then went to a couple of stores we haven't been to before, then went home and had a fire on the driveway in my brand new firepit (thank you, Sue!) we all had fun talking and joking around, and it was good just to be together and not on the run. Life is good!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

My father turned 70 years old today! We drove down last night and surprised him with a visit. I'm glad we were there - I've been there for his 50th, 60th, and now his 70th birthdays. He had planned to go to a couple funerals, but our arrival changed his plans dramatically :-) We aving a good day with him, and are taking him for mexican food for dinner tonight.

We love you, Pop!

Back to school!

Well, Sue and the kids have been in the "back to school" routine now for a week, and things are going good. Jacob and Megan's band involvement is going well, and Sue has worked a carpooling thing with another family. Sue is the Special Events Coordinator for PTO, so she is keeping busy with that, her interpreting, her "Sisters in the Spirit" group, and all the other things she does. I'm just doing the work thing, getting ready for some travel in the next couple of months. The 2008-2009 school year is well under way here! Hope things are going good for you...

Good time at Six Flags today

Stephen and Kevin had read enough during the school year to earn free tickets to Six Flags, but due to all the things happening we couldn't take them until today. So Sue and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary by going to Six Flags! It was fun being with the boys - Stephen wasn't quite big enough to ride the big rides, but we were all able to ride stuff like the Mindbender, the Scream Machine, and other stuff. The boys really enjoyed Skull Island, and we even got to ride the carousel (something I don't forsee doing very often in the future :-) It was a fun day, and we were all tired when we got home. Happy Anniversary, baby!

Good vacation on Hilton Head Island

We had a great time there this past week. We had a condo on the 4th floor with a view of the ocean, which was nice to wake up to each morning. We had fun on the beach every day, and did some of the special events you can do in Hilton Head: ate at Hudson's, saw the Shannon Tayler show and the fireworks Tuesday night, enjoyed the pool and played putt-putt golf on Wednesday, hung out with Lori and Andrea on Thursday, went for a nighttime walk on the beach with glowsticks, picked up Sue's brother and nephew at the Savannah airport, then spent the day in Savannah, then packed everything up and came home.


We had a great time, and will try to go back to Hilton Head island sometime in the future.

We had a great time at our church's Summer Camp/VBS this week. Sue and Megan helped with the kids, Jacob did the technology stuff, I helped with moving people around and being an extra set of hands and feet, and Stephen and Kevin did their part as kids. It was a regular "family affair"!

Thank you, Lisa Bates, for letting us help this way!

Good visit with Michael and Claudia

We were glad to have Michael and Claudia at our house for the 4th of July. It was great to see and hear the boys playing together, and lots of fun to meet and hold our newest nephew Benjamin. We had fun hanging out at the house, eating burritos, making t-shirts (the ones we are wearing in the picture :-), and holding our own "showers of sparks" fireworks display for the 4th.

They left this morning to go down and spend the week with my parents and Claudia's mother. They head west to Oregon next month for Michael's new position as Plant Manager of the Kingsford Charcoal plant out there, so it may be a while before we see them again. Hopefully we'll be able to use the Internet to keep up with each other...

Fun at Stone Mountain

Michael and Claudia were going to come to our house first, but due to travelling with a baby they were running behind their timeline. We met them at Stone Mountain with food and drink and spent the afternoon and evening on the lawn waiting for the lasershow. The boys had fun playing with their Ben 10 and Pokemon stuff and then tossing the football. We enjoyed getting to meet our newest nephew and catching up with Michael and Claudia. It will probably be a while before we see them again since they move to Oregon next month. Oh, well - hope you have a great 4th of July. Remember that when you see fireworks you are seeing what we Americans like to do for fun :-)

Good trip to FL

My parents took Stephen and Kevin to their house for the weekso we got to go down and pick the boys up this weekend. It was good to be in Moss Bluff, and we all had fun spending time with my parents. We helped my dad burn a big pile of sticks and branches out in the field, which was fun (we even made a big "boom" with the gasoline we used to get the fire started :-), and relaxed in the evenings. Jacob drove much of the way down and back - he's a good driver, and hopefully he will get his license later this year.

All in all a good weekend. Now it's back to work and the we

Lots of stuff happening

My parents were up this past weekend, then they took Stephen and Kevin down to Florida with them. They were going to hang out, go to Homossassa Springs to see the manatee, and other fun stuff. Jacob got back from summer camp in time to spend a night in his bed, then Sue took him and Megan to SC to visit her sister. I stayed home to hold down the fort, and ended up getting sick (summer flu or something, yuck!). We still haven't gotten our big van back from the shop. What a busy summer...

Happy Father's Day!

Even though I feel like a heel because I didn't send my dad a card today was a good day. I gave my father a call and we talked for about 45 minutes, which was good. Megan and Kevin were the introductory "hosts" to our church service today - I only caught half of what they said, but posted the recording to the web so you could listen. They gave me the two perennial favorites: cologne and a tiè :-) I can't wait to wear a Mickey Mouse tie in to a meeting in the executive suite!

It was a good day otherwise - chilling at home while Sue and Megan went to a baby shower, grilling ribs, and watching TV in the evening - woohoo! Hope you had a good day, too...

Play-day at our house

Sue had a play-day for the boys and some their friends at our house today. Stephen's friends Andrew and Demolis came, and Kevin's friend Jason came. They had a lot of fun running around in the yard, playing hide-andgo-seek, jumping on the trampoline, and building stuff with Legos. They had a lot of fun! Isn't summer great?

Fun at the PDK airshow

The boys and I went on a Cub Scout outing to the Dekalb-Peachtree airport (PDK) for the annual "Good Neighbor" day and airshow. Even though it was hot out there we enjoyed seeing the airplanes on the ground, the cars and other things, and of course the show in the air. Stephen and Kevin got to meet a robot while we were walking around, and we went inside one of the Sea Stallion helicopters that was on display there. We saw Robert Swanson there, but didn't see any of our other fellow Cub Scouts. What a great day!

Good visit with Tim English

Tim is a friend of ours from when we were in school in Florida, so we've known him for a long time. He and his family live in Birmingham, but even though we're relatively close (2.5 hours) and we exchange Christmas cards almost every year we've never gotten together. Well, he had a flight out of Atlanta for a business trip and contacted us to see if we could get together. Sue and I were excited to have him come and stay with us last night, and enjoyed catching up on what's been happening and how things are going for him and his family. It was a short visit, but very nice to get to spend time with him. Thanks, Tim!

Awakened by fire in neighbor's yard tonight

I woke up because I heard a loud boom around 3:30am. I saw a bright orange light through the blinds of our bedroom window, stumbled over and looked through the blinds to see a huge fire in the yard behind the woods of our back yard! I quickly woke Sue up, then got Jacob and Megan up, telling them all to get dressed and outside, then called 911. They already knew about the fire and said there were units on the way, so I woke Stephen and Kevin up and got them motivated, then got dressed and started grabbing the necessary things in case the fire turned and came our way. The kids all got ready very quickly, got outside, and we all watched this huge blaze do it's thing. Sue disappeared as she went to the neighbors' houses to make sure they were awake and aware, and I had Jacob move one of the vans down to the street in case the fire turned toward our house. We all stood and watched as the police and fire trucks came, and the fire was quickly extinguished.

It gets you moving when you wake up and see a huge fire behind your house! Sue and the kids did great, staying calm and doing what they needed to do quickly and quietly. It ended up being the neighbor's barn that burned, and no one was hurt - praise the Lord! I hope the rest of the day is calmer :-)

Memorial Day fun

Everyone slept in a little, then Sue went and had breakfast with her friend Cathleen. She picked up Megan's friend Chelsae and Jacob's friend Alexa and we all went to see "The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian" - it was great! Then we went to Sue's "Sisters in the Spirit" picnic and ate, swam, and relaxed for the afternoon. What a day!

It's nice to have the freedom to do these things, and we'll always remember the sacrifices made by those in the Armed Forces that have helped to secure the freedom we enjoy today. Be sure and thank a serviceman when you see one!

Good birthday party for Jacob

Sue and Megan invited about 25 of Jacob's friends to meet us at Mellow Mushroom for pizza and stuff and then to go see a movie; about 18 of them showed, which was awesome! Jacob has a diverse group of friend and it was nice to see them all together tonight. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was a great flick!

Megan went to her first formal dance tonight. I was disappointed that having to go and set up for the party prevented me from seeing Megan in the dress Sue borrowed for her, but that's just part of life. I will not miss the next big thing with Megan if I can help it.

We hope things are going good for you, and that you have a great Memorial Day weekend! Be sure and thank a veteran for their service if you get the chance!

Happy Birthday, Jacob!

My boy turns 16 today! We were measuring last night and discovered that he is now taller than me - I have a feeling that he's going to end up as tall as his Uncle Mark - we'll just have to see. I hope you have a great day, son!

Good to have everyone home

It was strange this weekend with Jacob out on a campout, Megan and Sue in Orlando, and me and the boys at home. I guess it was a good preview of our life in the future, since as the kids get older they will be gone more and more. Oh, well, we made it through all of that safely and it's good to have everyone home tonight.

Happy Birthday, Stephen!

Today Stephen is 9 years old! The day started with ooh's and aah's over the tree that was blown down in our back yard and the power being out. Now we're going to church and hopefully going to the Renaissance Festival this afternoon (if the weather clears out :-)




Update at 10:00pm: The day ended up being windy but beautiful! After church this morning we had a great time walking around and seeing the sights at the Georgia Renaissance Festival, then coming home and having cake and presents for Stephen. I still have to figure out where I can get a cheap chainsaw for the tree that feel in the backyard, but other than that it was a great day! Happy Birthday, Stephen!

My brother to be a plant manager

My brother works for Clorox, and has been working as the assistant plant manager in Aberdeen for almost two years. Well, his time has come, and he is accepting a plant manager position at the Kingsford Charcoal plant in Springfield, Oregon. It will be hard to have them so far away, especially with the new baby, but hopefully we'll be able to get together at some point before they move. Congratulations, Michael!

A heck of a week

Well, this was a pretty tough week for us here in McDonough, with high points as well as not so high points. Jacob went with to work with me for "Take Your Child to Work" Day on Tuesday and had a good time with the presentations and static displays. We left around 12:45pm to go get some lunch and got hit by another car as we left the Service Center parking lot! Nobody was hurt, but the driver-side doors on my van were all messed up. The other guy's insurance has accepted liability, so now it's just a matter of going through the hassle of the repairs. After we finished with the police I rushed to the dentist to have my gum surgery done, and have been enduring the healing process since then. As I was driving home wondering why I had the surgery done (it hurt) Sue called and told me that someone had tried to break in to the house right after Megan got home. Megan had seen who it was, so we called the police to report it. The police latched on to Megan's "pretty sure it was him" and went to talk with the boy Megan thought it was. When they learned that it couldn't have been him they discounted the story, but promised to increase their patrols in our neighborhood. That was Tuesday. Wednesday I learned in passing conversation that my new nephew has a hole in his heart, but was assured that it's not a big deal and perfectly normal for big babies to have this condition. My brother and his family are considering moving to Springfield, OR, where he would be the plant manager of a charcoal-producing plan out there - we'll see what the Lord makes happen there. Sue is all studied up to take her big national certification test tomorrow, so we figure all this other stuff is just the devil trying to distract us from what the Lord is doing in our lives. We're determined to keep pressing on through the challenges to see what our next adventure is.

If you get a chance check with Sue to see how she did on the test. We hope things are good for you...

New nephew is born!

My brother called us at 10:30pm last night and said they were at the hospital and that Claudia was in labor. About an hour later he called and told us that their third child had been born! Benjamin David Holly weighed 9 lbs. 6 oz. and both he and Claudia are doing well. My mother is flying up to MD today to help with the other boys and to help Claudia when she comes home. Congratulations, Michael & Claudia!

Happy Birthday, Mom Emery!

Sue and the kids went down to celebrate mom's birthday. Mark, Mary, and Nancy all went there, too. It sounded like they were having a great time in the commons room when I called, and they said that it was a good celebration. Yay, Mom!

Coloring Easter eggs at our house

We boiled eggs, got the coloring set and vinegar out, and were all set to go, but I realized something was missing: my Mom and Dad! So I fired up the laptop and we did video chat so they could be with us virtually. It was fun! The kids enjoyed showing their eggs to their grandparents and we got to talk for a little while. It's great to be able to share our lives over the Internet :-)

Dad gets the Silver Beaver award

My father was given the Silver Beaver award by the North Florida Council of the Boy Scouts of America tonight. Of the hundreds of awards that the BSA presents each year to those on the local council, regional, and national levels, the Silver Beaver is one of the most prestigious awards given.

My dad has over 35 years of service with the Boy Scouts. He got involved with Troop 113 when my brother was in Boy scouts, and after my brother earned his Eagle Dad just continued helping the troop. He has made some really good friends and continues to help the boys learn and grow as they progress in their Boy scout experience.

My brother and I were both able to be at the dinner outside of Jacksonville to see him get this award, which was a special treat for all of us. (My mother said that the four of us hadn't ridden in the car together for many years :-) I'm proud of my father for his giving spirit and for the things he's done to help so many people over the years. Way to go, Pop!

Mom Emery home from rehabilitation

Sue went down to help her get settled in her place and make sure she would be OK. Mom seems to be getting around with her walker and leaning on things just fine, which is good. Way to go, Mom!

Megan's first volleyball game

She did really well, serving good after a couple of false starts. Her team did OK - they lost the first game 19-25, but they're playing well in the second game. It's a new adventure for our family, and we're having fun :-)

Driving home

We had a good week in Florida, and we're driving home today. We're having a good time talking, watching movies, and generally trying not to be bored :-)

Good week in FL

The kids were out of school this week, and I had a business trip to Fort Lauderdale, so I took the whole family with me for the trip. We stopped to see Mom Emery in the rehab place (she said she walked down the hallway and back with her walker todaay - woohoo!), then drove down I-95 to south Florida. My stuff went well, and Sue and the kids had fun exploring down there. They even found an easy way for me to go to the beach the night of the eclipse!

We're finishing up by stopping at my parents' house for a couple of days and then driving home. What a fun week!

Mom Emery doing well in rehab

She went to the rehabilitation center this past Tuesday and is doing well. She can get out of the bed and into her wheelchair OK, just slow. The biggest thing they are working on with her is upper body strength, which she will need when she starts using the walker. She will probably be in the place for the full 20 days and then go back to her place at Penney Farms.

Please pray for her to get stronger and to not be discouraged by everything around her.

Visited Mom Emery in the hospital

She had surgery on her hip to put pins and screws in it, and is still in the hospital recovering. She will stay in the hospital for another day or two, then will go for rehabilitation for a week or two. She's in good spirits, though she hasn't eaten hardly anything since she's been in the hospital.

We made a quick dash down to see her today, and are wondering how we can help as she continues to recover. The biggest thing we ask is for prayer for a speedy recovery and strengthening of her body.

Mom Emery fell today

We're not sure what the extent of the damage is, but she may have hurt or broke her hip in the fall. As things develop we'll post more...



2/7/08 8:30pm update: Mom Emery is still in the hospital and will probably have surgery tomorrow. She will stay in the hospital and recover and then probably go to rehab clinic for a while. We'll have to see how everything goes. Pray for her to be strong and heal well.

Put Mocha down today

Mocha, our cat, has part of our family for 17 years or so. She was with us before any of our children were born, and was a fun friend to have around the house. I remember when I worked shift work and came home late she would be there to play with, waiting to pounce on me from around a corner. Even though she didn't let us pet her or hold her a lot she became more affectionate in the last couple of years. The kids have all enjoyed growing up with as part of our family.

So it is with sadness that I post this today. She hasn't been eating, and had gotten to the point of being extremely skinny. That combined with her inability to control her bladder and her age led us to the decision to have her put down today. Sue took her to the vet around 12:00pm and had it done.

I know that I will miss her as much as I miss our dog. We'll have to wait and see if we get any other pets in the coming months...

Happy Birthday, Sue!

Today is Sue's birthday! She had a busy day at church, teaching a Sunday school class, praying for the service, and helping to interpret the service, then staying after for the Leadership meeting. Her mother and sister came to celebrate, so we went out to dinner (an hour wait at Joe's Crabshack!) - it was nice having them at the house and here for her birthday.

I struggled with what to get her, but in the end came up with a new car stereo (thanks, Steve!), which she is really enjoying. It reads data CDs, so I can load her up with mp3 disks, and it has built-in XM radio, which cleans up the dash for her.

I baked her a triple-layer red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting, which everyone is looking forward to, and she has some gifts to open when we get home from dinner. Happy Birthday, Sue!

Snow in McDonough

For the second time in a week it's snowing at our house! It started around 11:30am today and is still coming down. We're keeping busy with projects inside the house but will be going out to play in it soon. Whee!