grace and peace to you in 2008

Today we had a family envelope stuffing, labeling, and stamping fest--that's right, Christmas cards are on their way! Actually, since it's January, I suppose they are technically New Year's cards... what can I say about the delay? Only that I failed to get a satisfactory picture of the three children together until we went on the "three mile" hike with Uncle John. And since the picture is the most important part of the card, it just had to wait. The second most important part would be our blog address, which may be what brought you here today--either you've never known yet that we had a blog, you lost the address and were too embarrassed to ask me for it again, or you just were never that interested in what's going on (no blame here and you are welcome to stop right now if you like. If you are one of the first two categories, feel free to add our blog to your RSS reader, whatever that may be (I use Google Reader myself) and you will be subjected to my words and pictures all year long.).

What to say about 2007? It was both a fun year and a busy year. I'd like to tell you about it in an organized and sequential fashion, but you know that's not just me, so sit back for a little paddle down my stream of consciousness.

Andy drew ever closer to finishing his (eternal) M.Div. program through Fuller Seminary with two more full-time quarters (yes, straight A's even though he took more classes than his advisor was comfortable with). I believe this leaves him with five or six classes to go, one of which he'll be knocking out in the next few weeks--Medieval Church History. Other than that, I don't know what's left for him other than the Preaching Practicum which has to be done totally live, in person, and on Fuller's campus (don't get me started) or at a local seminary (is Orlando local?). He wasn't able to take it during the summer quarter as planned because it runs for two weeks and he had a trip to Mexico with his teens on for the second week. One challenge of planning seminary education is that Andy plans his schedule (meaning youth) 6-12 months in advance and the school seems to go more like 8-12 weeks in advance. It's a challenge.

We drove back across the country in June, taking the quickest route we could and driving for an entire week, instead of the dawdling, friend-filled trip we took out to California in 2006. Andy's dad helped us drive part of the way, which was a huge blessing to us. There's not much to say about the trip itself, other than it was long and trouble free. We pulled into our driveway just a few days after the city ground up our street in preparation for laying down new water, sewer, and storm drain lines. I'm writing this just one day after the crew came through laying sod in order to (almost) finish up the project on our street. I believe there is one more layer of asphalt to be laid. The whole project has provided a lot of entertainment for the children--watching different machines at work, climbing on the stacks of concrete pipes in our yard, and feeding the workers fresh baked cookies. Every trip in and out of our neighborhood has made me feel like a lab rat in a maze, not knowing which roads were passable, which ones were open, or even if I could get into or out of my street at all. It's actually been kind of fun.

Michael finished first grade and received a good evaluation. He is devouring books at an alarming rate and every visit to the library feels like a 60 second shopping spree. Thankfully one of the librarians is an avid reader herself and views Michael as an exciting challenge rather than a cause for alarm. He also played on a soccer team with the YMCA this fall--although the team's record was not impressive, Michael's enthusiasm for the game was. He was an eager and excited player. I think we'll be signing him up again next year.

Caroline and Elanor are in ballet together at a local studio. They love it and spend most of the week looking forward to each lesson. Caroline is one of the older girls in the class and is very focused. She continues to impress us with her impressive memory--after one week of learning the Christmas dance, she knew it by heart for the next class. Elanor is one of the youngest in the class, but she is dedicated to following Caroline and therefore also pays close attention. Her trademark is to dance with her mouth wide open and her tongue hanging out.

Caroline is in kindergarten with us this year and is a great student when she feels confident about what she's doing. She is a little high strung and gets very frustrated and obstinate if she feels that something is too hard for her or too confusing. Her math is coming along much better than her reading/spelling. Before Christmas, she finished the math book for the first half of first grade--which covered addition, subtraction, multiplication, telling time, measuring, and basic perimeter/area. She really impresses me and amazes me.

I have not been idle this year, either. Thanks in part to a series of sermons at our church in LA at the beginning of 2007, I decided to step out and start my own little photography business. I shot some families out in Pasadena before we left to help start my portfolio and am now shooting here at home. I got to fly up to Memphis for Labor Day weekend and shoot some families for friends Mark and Mylissa (Habitat for Hope). The fall was pretty busy as families were wanting pictures for Christmas. Now that that's over, I'm taking a little time for some revision and re-visioneering. (May I call it that, Mylissa?)

So, it's been a packed, fun, and busy year. We are thrilled to be back in our own home and with our church family here at Covenant (which I would be remiss if I failed to mention their support throughout the time we were in Pasadena). The children are thrilled to be home with Emma again, who seems to feel like she's loved a little too much at times. Andy loved being a student full time but was ready to come back to the trenches (so to speak) and hang out with his teens again. I would ask for your prayers for our church over the next month, as we are holding a congregational vote on February 3 to determine whether or not we should leave the PC(USA) and join the EPC. It's a big decision and we pray that our congregation would hear a clear call from God for how to vote (if you are wondering, Andy and I will be voting to join the EPC; if you would like more details or information you may email either one of us).

To close, because I should, I would just like to say that we are thankful for the different places that God has taken us in 2007. We are thankful for our time in Pasadena. We are thankful to be home in Fort Myers. We are thankful for our house (complete with the popping tile and the sugar ants). We are thankful for Emma (and especially for the Elliotts for giving her a home while we were gone!). We are thankful for Andy's bright yellow truck (it's not the Grocery Getter, I know, but trust me, it's a lot more fun to drive to photo shoots). We have more to be thankful for, but I'm afraid that having the luxury of not being confined to an 8.5x11 piece of paper has led me to ramble on. Suffice it to say that we are blessed. Thank you for stopping by and for sticking with me for as long as you have. Feel free to come back and leave a comment anytime!