Grace Turns Nine

Last Saturday, Cary and I were celebrating Grace's ninth birthday. She had a Star Wars party-and she was thrilled about it! She got a new guitar and even performed for us and did an awesome job! She recently received a character award for determination at school. We are proud of her and glad we had the opportunity to share another birthday with her! She is very special to us! She and Claire looked beautiful at the wedding too! They add so much joy to our lives and we love them SO much!

Finding Normal Again

It's so hard to know where to start! We are home, the company is gone, and things have been pretty quiet around here for a few days. We had a great trip to Orlando-the girls did Universal with Bob and Renee' and Cary and I did a lot of nothing! We saw our friends who are headed back to the mission field soon. It was good to get one last visit in with the Truex family before they leave. On Sunday, Joshua and Jen returned from their cruise. We went to their house to help open gifts from the wedding. Jen is so accommodating...I just couldn't stand the thought of them opening gifts without an audience! Uncle Bob played with Tucker the whole time and kept him entertained with bows and ribbons. Aunt Renee' and I helped load some things into the cabinets while Bob broke down boxes. They had a great time on the cruise, but were happy to be home and get on with real life as the happy couple. We should have some better wedding photos soon! Here are a couple, just so you get the idea! The bride was beautiful, groom and minister were VERY handsome!

Where To Start?

I really don't know how to write this except to state the facts of the last few days. I don't have the energy to to do any more. The wedding festivities could not have been any more wonderful. God was all over the whole thing, and Joshua and Jen are now sailing on the Caribbean. I still can't begin to write about Israel, in time it will come. We knew ever since we got home that our days with Spike were few. This morning, we said goodbye to our precious furry family member of almost 14 years. We believe he was fighting a very fast growing melanoma cancer, and at best had a few days left but with pain. We chose to not prolong the pain for any of us. Tomorrow my sister will leave, and then we will go to Orlando with my brother, Bob, sister-in law, Renee', Carissa and Kaylee. Just a couple of days of down time to try to recover from the events of the past few months, weeks, days and hours. This has been a mixture of good and bad, but all of it has been high emotion. I'm just telling myself over and over that God won't give me more than I can take. He has been very close in each situation and we have known His presence.

Home Again!

We made it back from Israel with no problems, flights on time, healthy, and in the wedding mode! When we got to the airport, Carissa, Kaylee, Tucker, and my sister, Donna were there! Donna arrived on Tuesday night, and had a three hour time change, so I really wasn't expecting her to make it up that early. We came home, showered, and then the whole family went to lunch together, to just have a few minutes together before the wedding activities start. We gave out our Israel gifts that we could get to quickly. We got Joshua and Jen a nativity set made of olive wood. I insisted the set had to include a camel for Jen, I knew that would make her very happy. We gave the girls necklaces made from Roman Glass. They are beautiful and have a lot of meaning behind them. More about that later. My brother and his wife will arrive later today, and today starts the hair and nail appointments, so another busy day. I will be telling a lot about our trip, but for now, we are thinking wedding and plan to enjoy each moment of the process. Just wanted to take a moment to check in!