February 12, 2017

  • Three Months in One Fell Swoop

    Even though much has happened since I blogged last, I've decided to focus on the past three months with a photo dump and an attempt to catch up.

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    Our boys and my sister's boys love to spend time together and we were having trouble finding a weekend that worked for us to get together, so we finally decided to do a field trip together at the Monocacy Battlefield near Frederick Maryland. We had plenty of time for visiting as well as learning.

    In December we began thinking about our planned trip to New Mexico for Christmas. Since this trip would mark the fifth anniversary of Dad's death, I found myself working through quite a few emotions. On Christmas Sunday we drove out to the mission for church and before the service, we stopped at the cemetery

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    It was a cold morning, and as I stood by Dad's grave, I could see the home where I was raised, the school where I taught until I got married, and the church where I first responded to the call of the gospel and where Dean and I were married almost 23 years ago.

    We snapped a photo in front of the church before going inside for worship. Even though it's been remodeled, the sign over the door has the same message that it had I was a kid.

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    As the song service began, I found myself almost unable to sing as memories and emotions overcame me. We sang "Joy to the World" - a Christmas song that always reminds me of dad because of his strong bass voice. Jeremy, who carries Dad's name as his middle name, sat next to me and sang the bass part in both English and Navajo songs.

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    The rest of the day was spent at my mother's house where we enjoyed family, food and fellowship. Since our trips to New Mexico usually happen every other year, I had lots of catching up to do with all of my great neices.

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    Throughout the week, we had something going on every day. Jeremy showed off his beard (which has since dissapeared.)

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    JJ was more than pleased when Jonathan gave him antlers for his room.

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    My brother helped all three boys to make knives in his well-equipped workshop.

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    They were more than pleased with the results.

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    Mid-week, we drove up to Colorado to visit Dean's sister and her family and took a side trip to Four Corners. After watching several groups try different goofy poses, our family opted for something more formal, but they were in four states.

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    The Colorado cousins seemed pleased to have their Virginia cousins for an overnight visit.

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    And JJ was thrilled to drive a 4-wheeler even though it seemed too cold for such an activity.

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    The boys had several excursions around town with Dean, while I spent time with Mom working on projects. And all too soon it was time to head east again.

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    We came home to a house that was half packed and a realtor that was working furiously to get a close date for us. With lots of prayer and her hard work, we finally watched our home of 13 years loaded up and we said good bye to our home in the country.

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    After being homeless overnight, we moved into our new home near town and the unpacking began.

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    We're still not settled in, but my sister and her family came for a weekend and helped with some painting. Now the kitchen is all one color instead of mostly yellow with one turquoise wall.

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    When the boys came down with the flu, I took advantage of the down-time to fix the clock I'd inherited from my grandparents.

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    And just because I like the picture. The boys enjoy dressing up and have added bow ties to their wardrobes.

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    We still have boxes to unpack, but each day we settle in a little bit more and find another reason for enjoying our new home. We are thankful to be closer to many of our activities and are eager to see how that will work out in gas savings. What began as a dream and a prayer last spring is now our reality and we have much to be thankful for.

September 17, 2016

  • Not Quite Pirates

    Before Jeremy and Justin started school, we borrowed several pirate books from the library and they decided that they wanted to be pirates. We talked a bit about what pirates did/do and they decided they'd be Christian pirates. Their desire to be pirates has long vanished, but occasionally something about pirates will slip into a conversation.

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    When the opportunity for a field trip on a sailing ship arose, we put aside studies for the day and sailed the high seas.

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    Actually we only sailed on the Elizabeth River in Norfolk, but they boys still got to help raise the sails.

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    They had a lesson on navigation in the wheelhouse which not only had a wheel and compass, but more modern instruments like radar and sonar.

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    Each person on the boat heard about the importance of knots and learned how to tie four different kinds.

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    After a lesson on the history of sailing below deck, we had time to just hang out and enjoy the breeze in our faces.

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    A hungry crew needs to be fed, so we found a place to eat before heading home.

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    Evidently, sailing is exhausting because the two boys who declared they would be Christian pirates, slept almost the entire trip home. JJ talked most of the way home, so I didn't lack for conversation.

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    Our field trip aboard the American Rover wasn't long in planning, but it provided us with a delightful day on the water and much to talk about afterwards. This was probably as close to being pirates as we're going to get, but that's okay; the boys are thinking about other ways to earn a living.

July 10, 2016

  • I Promised to Use These Pictures

    Several weeks ago we spent a day at the Richmond Zoo. When I saw JJ grab the camera, I told him I'd use his pictures in a blog post if he got some good ones and he set out to see what he could do. Of course, I had to take some of my own.

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    The ducks were the easiest to capture since they roamed free and had no wire or glass to shoot through.

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    I didn't even see the rhinos, but he got a good shot while I wasn't even looking.

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    Jeremy really enjoyed the giraffes who were more than glad to eat out of his hand.

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    Jeremy's success emboldened JJ to try the same.

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    Justin led the way when it came to feeding birds

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    while JJ tried and tried until he finally got a bird to sit on his feeding stick long enough to capture this shot.

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    When we visited the zoo five years ago, I took this picture,

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    and the boys reposed with some persuasion.

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    JJ decided he was brave enough to try the sky ride over the zoo and we were glad to see his chair come back still occupied.

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    As we left, we came to a cage containing a dog and a cheetah who were in a friendly game of tag with a kangaroo in the next enclosure.

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    The dog would bark until the kangaroo began running, then the cheetah and dog would take chase. Since a fence separated the cheetah from the kangaroo, it was all in fun, but it seemed clear that the game would end quite differently if the barrier came down.

    It was a fun day for us all and now I've made good on my promise.

May 30, 2016

  • Happy Mother's Month

    For the first time in years, I got to spend Mother's Day with my mother. She flew in from New Mexico to spend time with us and with my sister and her family who live in Pennsylvania.

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    Of course we had to take pictures before we left for church on Mother's Day. I'm struck by all the differences between the current photo and the one from more than 50 years ago.

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    Since we don't get to host mom more than once a year, we tried to celebrate more than just one day. I told mom that I would take her to visit a friend who lives about four hours away. They hadn't seen each other for around 60 years and were so glad to get to spend some time together.

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    The boys fell in love with her cats and were gifted with one of her kittens which they promptly named Rusty.

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    We took a trip down history lane and visited James Madison's birthplace. There were civil war re-enactors visiting Bell Grove Plantation that day as well as General Grant, General Lee and President Lincoln. I think the boys were impressed with Lincoln's height.

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    All three boys have been in chorus this year and mom timed her trip so that she could be present at their end of year concert.

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    The boys have thoroughly enjoyed their classes and have grown in their musical knowledge and confidence.

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    Even though we had taken pictures on Mother's Day, I wanted to go to a studio and get some nice pictures of mom and the boys. We had several poses that we really liked and came home with a folder of pictures.

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    What would a few weeks in our lives be without a fishing trip. Justin and JJ were both pleased with their catch and we were all pleased with the lunch that Jeremy fixed while we were at the lake.

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    During the last full day of mom's visit, the older boys were scheduled to volunteer at an event at the mall. They ended up taking turns playing the part of McGruff the Crime Dog. My sister and her family met us at the mall where we got to see the boys in action before having lunch together.

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    After church and dinner on Sunday, mom packed up and traveled with my sister's family to Pennsylvania. We plan to spend part of the next weekend with them to finish up our Mother's Month celebration. She'll head home and we'll be back to phone calls and e-mails.

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    I love you, mom. Happy Mother's Month.

March 14, 2016

  • Happy Birthday, Mom

    I dug around in my pictures and came up with a few that I thought you'd enjoy.

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    A copy of the first record of your census count.

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    The love of your life.

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    All nine of your grandsons.

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    And another of you and dad.

    I hope when you count your blessings on this day you won't be able to finish the job!

March 7, 2016

  • Justin

    If I had to say what interests Justin the most, I would have to say that he's interested in anything that moves or can be moved. If it can be explored, taken apart, built, studied, rode, shot, cut, hammered, blown up or caught, he's probably interested in it.

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    Even though Justin has many hobbies, fishing is one of his passions. I've spent many hours untangling lines and just waiting while he angled for the next big one (and caught many small ones in the process).

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    He's waged war against the squirrels that inhabit our property and

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    taken great pleasure in dissecting his prey.

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    He's tried his hand at backyard blacksmithing

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    and wood carving while on a field trip.

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    When he had to have surgery on his feet, he spent a lot of time with our cat, but he couldn't wait to get back on his feet after each procedure had him laid up for six weeks at a time.

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    Whatever he's doing, he's usually doing it with a song and a loud one at that.

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    Whether he's investigating something or quietly writing a new story, Justin is one treasured son.

March 1, 2016

  • I'd do it all Over Again

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    We celebrated our twenty-second anniversary today. Yes, we went two different directions throughout the day, but I had some time today to reflect on the years that we've shared together.

    We've lived in four different homes in three different states.

    We've had two paper pregnancies and adopted three handsome sons.

    We've traveled to 48 states with our boys.

    We've had five out-patient surgical procedures between the two of us.

    After replacing three transmissions during our first year of marriage, we now drive vehicles that don't let us sit.

    We've traveled to New Mexico and Pennsylvania more times that I can count.

    We've visited world class exhibits in museums learning about things that we had only seen in books.

    As much as we love the exciting stuff, there are little things that we love and that help to keep our love strong.

    Like the Saturday mornings when we send the boys outside and we sit at the kitchen table after breakfast and talk for an hour or more

    Or the evenings when we talk until way late.

    Or the text messages that zip back and forth.

    Or the times when one of the boys comments on a kiss and we kiss again just for his sake.

    Or the box of chocolate that shows up unexpectedly.

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    Big and little, exciting and mundane, expensive or economical. I'd do it all over again.

February 12, 2016

  • Remembering Dad

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    Time dulls the pain of loss, but the loss is still real. Would I love to call him today to wish him a happy birthday? Yes and no. To hear his voice over the phone again would be a gift, but nothing I could say today would have any power to make him any happier than he already is. His joy is complete and we can only imagine.

January 29, 2016

  • Jeremy

    It's been a long time since I've sat down to write a blog, and I hardly know where to start. I've written and re-written multiple posts in my mind that never even made it to a rough draft. I've decided to write separate posts about some of the most important people in my life and I'll start with my children.

    It became obvious very early that Jeremy was fascinated by swords. We attended a Renaissance Fair when he was three years old and he noticed every sword there. When we finally found a booth selling small wooden swords, he knew exactly what he wanted. In those early years, every stick became a sword and he was always on the lookout for another sword to add to his collection.

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    As his fascination with swords grew, so did his interest in history

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    as well as his interest in other types of medieval weaponry. His hatchet wasn't exactly medieval, but it was a medieval weapon and he can explain the differences in styles.

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    As one wooden sword, staff and stick after another, met its broken end, we were pleased to discover polypropolene training swords and with each year, his collection grows.

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    In addition to loving swords and history, Jeremy is known as the family animal whisperer. He has always been most willing to pet animals and seems to be able to communicate with them in some way.

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    At one zoo, he whispered something to the pigs, and they ran squealing around the pen.

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    Animals are always ready to eat out of his hand and he's willing to let them.

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    Exotic

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    or domestic,

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    and one even came face to face with him to get a snack.

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    Whether he's sharing some obscure point of history or nose to nose with an animal, Jeremy is one loved boy

August 3, 2015

  • Hey, Mom, Where's Your Camera?

    Every now and then, one of the boys will run through the house calling, "Mom, where's your camera." They really don't need to ask, because all three know where two cameras are and they get used often.

    JJ has three main subjects. Real-life cars,

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    His own collection of die-cast cars,

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    and our cat, Pepper. His own face shows up pretty often as well.

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    Justin's pictures highlight his love for science and the world around him. Fire is a common theme.

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    When he sees animals, he zooms in to see what he can capture.

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    After ruining one bird feeder by trying to shoot birds with a BB gun, he now shoots with a camera.

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    He loves that zoom function.

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    We don't see many pretty sunsets, but the camera comes out when we have one.

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    And who hasn't been captivated by the moon in the daytime sky?

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    It wasn't until we took a look at this picture that we realized the dragonfly had a broken wing.

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    Jeremy is less inclined to grab the camera, but he monopolized it one afternoon while we walked through some gardens.

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    I was pleasantly pleased with some of his captures.

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    He discovered several lilies.

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    He wanted me to pose with some of the flowers, but I'm more impressed with his flower pictures.

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    When I go through the dozens of cat pictures, or multiple selfies, I'm very glad for digital photography. When I see that the boys are developing an eye for composition and a love for nature, I'm more than glad that they'll run for my camera and capture the world around them.