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...