A boy and his best friend

I can' t imagine what life for Ryan would be like without Indy. Ryan cares for him, loves him, plays with him, feeds him, sleeps with him every night, and has really taken responsibility all on his own for the overall care of this sweet little dog who returns that love fiercely! I never knew Ryan could be so affectionate and nurturing until I saw him with a puppy.

Can you tell he spoils him sometimes? He does indeed, but when it comes time for discipline or being strict, he can do that too. I can see the makings of a great dad in Ryan.

Hours and hours have been spent playing with Indy, and last week Ryan took all his old Build-a-Bear outfits and tried them on Indy! One was too tight and we couldn't get it off so we had to cut if off! Oh well. The bear didn't need it anymore.

Yeah, Indy is very patient and tolerant with Ryan as well at times... haha

This past week Indy had his surgery and he was just as pitiful as anything I have ever seen. Ryan was so concerned about Indy the morning he went in, that even Ryan's blood draw seemed nothing to him compared to Indy. (normally this would not be the case). The vet told us to call around 2:00 to check on Indy and by 1:30 Ryan was just chomping at the bit, telling us we really should call to make sure he was okay. Believe me, the minute they said we could be there to get him, we were there.

Since then, Ryan has been the one to hold the water bowl up to his mouth, feed him by hand, and wrap his pain medication in cheese to make sure he eats it. He has cared for him, carried him up steps, walked him on the leash (doctors orders), snuggled him, fed him candy canes from the tree through his pitiful cone, and just been the concerned overseer.

I can tell you, there is nothing quite like the love of a boy for his dog.

Christmas Tea

This past week was spent in preparation for a Christmas Tea that we hosted for the 22 wives of the Pastor's College students, plus five other ladies who play a big part in their time here at the Pastor's College. We had several helpers, and so we had 33 ladies here for a tea - including Jeff Purswell's 87 year old mother, who was just a gem! (Jeff is Dean of the College)

I know this is a lot of pictures, but they are all so gorgeous so none of them could be left out! Yet, at the same time, none of them really do justice to the beauty and spirit of the day...

Even Martha Stewart couldn't out-do this centerpiece that Catherine made!!

After seeing this gorgeous, tempting spread of tea sandwiches, scones, cookies and fig cake, I really wanted to be a guest at this tea instead of the hostess!!

This is Catherine Hall (who reminds us so much of Danny's sister Cathy!) and her daughter Claire. She is the mastermind, chef, and decorator of this entire event! She is the queen of hospitality in my opinion, and I have to admit that selfishly I wanted to host this tea just so I could learn from her!

The details were amazing, even down to cranberries frozen in ice cubes to add to the water glasses.

This is just a shot of my Christmas village this year, which I set up on top of the piano. I was able to spread it all out and make it really look like a village! Love it!

This is a shot of our nativity scene in the foyer. I love this representation of the real meaning of Christmas.

"If we could condense all the truths of Christmas into only three words, these would be the words: "God with us." We tend to focus our attention at Christmas on the infancy of Christ. The greater truth of the holiday is His deity. More astonishing than a baby in the manger is the truth that this promised baby is the omnipotent Creator of the heavens and the earth!"
[John F. MacArthur, Jr.]

Hannah Turns Fourteen

I cannot begin to express what a blessing and joy Hannah is to this family. She is so full of life that everything seems empty when she isn't around. She is so compassionate and loving, and her unconditional love is something all of us appreciate every single day. She is quick to forgive, eager to bless, and always puts others before herself. She is truly the most selfless person I know. I want to be just like her when I grow up!

Anyone who spends some time with her sees her humorous view of life, and will find themselves laughing within minutes. She has a spark that is hidden deep in her eyes, and it frequently comes out with a flare. Nobody can say a movie line and deliver it the way Hannah does. She is absolutely the queen of movie lines, and always uses

them at the most appropriate time to generate the most laughter!

This has been a challenging year for her, but I trust that God will soon bring her into good health, and bless her with good sleep, energy and vitality.

She has been pursuing an interest in Japanese and is learning the language in school this year. Yes, this is no small feat. But she is pursuing this with excellence! She has been drawing some anime figures and posting them online with other kids with similar interests on a nintendo website and has had great success and popularity with her flipnotes! She has an amazing art talent that we are so proud of!! I wish I could post some of them here!

So, this year I surprised her with a Japanese themed birthday and decorated with Japanese lanterns, and made a noodle and tea lunch, followed by her favorite anime movies and then Japanese Steakhouse for dinner! It was truly a wonderful day for all of us as we spent the entire day as a family!

I made her favorite cake and had her favorite anime drawing put on it. Yes, it even says "Happy Birthday" in Japanese!... sorta...

I hope this was a memorable birthday for my sweetie. She deserves so much, and there is no way I could ever express to her just how much I love her. Happy 14th birthday my sweet girl...

Christmas Humor

You know how all families have their Christmas traditions and funny stories? And how certain family members seem to get picked on more than others? Well, poor Dad gets the brunt of a lot of teasing in this family.

We went out and got our tree today, so we were discussing the annual tradition of mom and dad giving the kids an ornament each year for Christmas. Let's just say some have been winners, some haven't.

So, around the table, the boys were talking about Christmas ornaments, and Ryan mentioned something about the ornaments that DAD picked out this year. Ryan was with him when he picked them out, so he knows what they are. He sort of hinted to Jacob that he just might be less-than-thrilled about the ornaments this year.

Innocently, Jacob said out loud, "Why, what are they - bulbs?" Well Ryan and I looked at each other and just busted out laughing - he and I both know that is exactly what they are! (we typically tried to pick out something that was a reminder of the year, you know, like a cool Harry Potter, or Spiderman or something, but not usually bulbs).

This conversation just kept escalating, and Jacob unknowingly kept insulting the ornaments - saying things like , "well, it can't be that bad - not like it has glitter on it or something!" which then elicited more laughter. Poor Dad, he just sat there and wondered why on earth he ever picked out these ornaments...

Well, better luck next year dear!! haha

Jacob's First Buck!!

Early last Saturday morning, Jacob rolled out of bed (at 4:40 am to be precise), got in the car with Danny, and drove an hour to get to his grandparent's farm. He enjoyed a Cinnabon on the way...

then he put on all his hunting gear...

marched out to the field...

and climbed in this tree.

He waited almost 3 hours for that buck to come, but when he did, Jacob was ready...

He made his first shot...

the buck was still alive...

so he fired off a second shot, piercing it's heart and breaking it's front leg...

victory.

After two years of hunting and not even seeing a deer, he got his FIRST buck with his FIRST shot on his FIRST day of trying!!

So proud of him, now he is no longer a boy, he is a "bearded buck hunter!!" We will let you all know what venison tastes like after we figure out how to cook it!!

New York City with Danny

This week Danny and I slipped away to New York City to celebrate our anniversary - and what a trip it was! It was a rather last-minute decision, but it turned out to be one of our funnest times away (isn't that so often how it goes? The most spontaneous things end up being the funnest.)

Jacob and Danny had just gone to NYC for Jacob's 16th, and many of the things we did there Jacob and Danny had just done. So Jacob, I hope this post helps both of us remember the adventures of NYC!!

This is the view from our bedroom window - the highest floor of the hotel. The first thing that amazed me there was just how fast the elevators fly - in no time at all we were on the 44th floor, ears popping.

This happens to be the hotel where Jacob and Danny stayed, right across the street from where we stayed this trip.

I cracked the window open as far as it would go (about 5 inches) and stuck my camera out for this shot. And yes, the people really do look like little ants. Little ants that never sleep.

The famous Times Square.

Jacob and Danny kept talking about how much they loved the famous pizza of New York and before we even got there my mouth was watering for it. This was the first slice (of many) that we had there. Yum.

Our first night there Danny took me up to the top of the Empire State Building. Absolutely breath-taking. Also very scary at such dizzying heights. But yes, it was romantic...

The second day we went down to Ground Zero to see where construction workers were building the new skyscrapers. It was quite emotional to be down there where so much tragedy had taken place.

This was the pizza place that we walked blocks and blocks to find. Danny and Jacob swore it was the best pizza they found in the city, and we were determined to find it, and bring some home for the kids. After developing two achy feet, one stiff back and one swollen knee, we found it!! Victory!! And yes, we brought each of the kids home their own pizza! No, not a slice, a whole pie!! Worth every penny too...

Seriously though, we really did have achy feet and legs and backs, and we found a peaceful place to sit in Bryant Park and have some coffee. Then we wandered around the many quaint little shops that were set up here just for the holidays.

There is a church near Ground Zero that had set up a relief center for workers to come. Their fence had been bombarded with pictures of missing people and other misc. memorials and some of these were on display in this church still. This was probably the most touching thing we saw related to 9/11 while we were there.

The shops in Bryant Park...

Bryant Park is right behind New York City Public Library - this is the back of it. Just beautiful.

And the absolute highlight of our trip was going to see "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" on Broadway, starring Daniel Radcliffe! It was an amazing show!

And yes, we were stalkers. We waited outside for him to come out the backstage door and got a picture of him!!

It was really cool to see him come out, sign a few autographs, be escorted by his bodyguards into a black SUV and drive off... he did an incredible job in the show - who knew he could sing and dance so well?

Thank you, my darling husband, for taking the time to research this trip, plan it out, and drive us there. Thank you for driving in the city, thank you for my gorgeous crystal earrings, thank you for every slice of pizza and cup of coffee. Thank you for your offer of a ride through central park (I am so sorry I turned you down on that one!). Thank you for bearing with me when you were ready to go back out at midnight and I was just too wiped out to take another step. Thank you for all of it honey, I will never, ever forget it. Thank you for all these wonderful years of being an incredibly romantic, kind and loving husband... what a lucky woman I am indeed.

So what have you actually been DOING?

I cannot tell you how many people ask Danny this question. Or ask me this question about him. I guess after working for 30 years, it is hard for anyone to imagine what a non-working man must do all day! Well, I am here to tell you that he is busier now than he ever was when he was working. No lie. And I am here to "set the record straight". I want to tell you just a few things that Danny does with his time.

(besides looking so handsome! hehe)

First of all, he does not sleep in, roll down in his pajamas, sip coffee, and then laze around all day. Quite the contrary. He gets up, spends some time in God's word, then has a cup of coffee with his wife as we discuss the issues that we face that day. Then he works off a list of things to do that he has made, which include so many things I cannot begin to list even a small portion of them. He is investing his life in his kids. He is serving his wife by helping me out in areas that used to overwhelm me. (ah, yeah, he sometimes cooks dinner... haha) And frequently does loads of laundry in between his own duties.

He drives all over the country to take us all to our lyme doctor appointments. (Well, okay, just Connecticut and Virginia)

He has spent countless hours, maybe even days, just setting up and organizing our medical records, creating folders, copying prescriptions and bills, filing with the insurance companies, and then countless hours each week maintaining those records. There are several runs each week to pharmacies for prescriptions, as well as keeping track of the ones we get online. He keeps stock of all our supplements and orders them when we are out. Believe me, this is a huge task. Plus, he helps give the kids their drugs each day. Again, no small task...

He plays games with the kids, even taking them out to Starbucks to have a drink and play a game sometimes...

Each week, he drives the kids to all of their outside classes, which twice a week means getting up very early, even if he didn't sleep all night. Oh, and while he is at the school where Jacob takes some classes, he throws in some study hall or lunch monitoring. (Again, so I don't have to). He drives a lot.

I wasn't joking about him cooking. He really does take over some of the cooking, and the kids have come to see it as a real treat when Dad is cooking. (yeah, I try hard not to be offended!)

He spends a lot of time just fixing all the things that seem to go wrong in this house or need maintenance. He keeps up on the pool chemicals, the lawn, the leaky gutters, the leaky basement, the damage to the house from the hurricane, the drippy sink, all the many things that just seem to always need attention.

He seems to spend a lot of time at his desk working on financial planning, paying bills, or whatever else a man does at his desk. He also spends time planning events for our family, answering e-mails, talking to friends, and last but not least (in this category) romancing his wife! We have weekly dates that allow us time to be together and spend romantic time, not "daily living" time.

He is searching for that next venture, whatever that may be, but meantime, he is working on bringing himself and the rest of the family back to health. He spends time with the Lord, he spends time with his family, he serves us, he tries to be a good steward of the finances we do have as well as a good steward of the time that God has given him in this season. I am very proud of him. And I absolutely love having him home.