The Little Drummer Girl

For the past few years I've been plaguing my siblings by giving my nephews drums, percussion, and the occasional keyboard, along with other assorted loud toys. Not this year though. I turned my guns on myself. For the 3rd day of Hannakuh Hannah received her own Barbie drumset. Clam-happy was she, and we all took turns playing it (my set is at the church) and singing and dancing. It's really fun, but a wee bit loud...whoops! I guess I can't really complain. I actually love it, and it makes me smile when she pounds out a rhythm.

Chrismakkah 2005

Yeah, so The O.C. has nothing on us. Diane is Russian Jew, so we celebrate Hannakuh, and we're Christians, so we celebrate Christmas (just in case you haven't read previous posts). Our decorations are white and blue (for Hannakuh) and we have a Christmas Tree. It's fun. We of course did the family traditions too, this being the first time for our new little family. My extended family on my mom's side all lives in the general area, and we got together at my cousin Jason's house (pics of that soon to come...I forgot the camera...come on Sharon, you're all I've got!) for eating, blind gift exchange, and hang time. I'm notoriously lazy, and tend to not stay in contact with all of my cousins, aunts and uncles, and even grandma. It's too bad, 'cause Diane and I really like hanging with 'em all. Maybe this will be the year to remedy that. Anyways, it was cool, and we got a cool fuzzy blanket that my cousin Cindy made. It's really warm, and matches my orange chair...so of course the girls get it.
We picked up Michaela from the airport last night at about 11:30pm with her bag o' loot from her dad's in California. This morning we drove over to Mom and Dad's for butterhorns and immediate family exchange. Good times. Roan was a happy little camper, Cole flirted with Michaela. Hopefully the folks will start their own blog with the digital camera we got them. We packed up Hannah's unopened gifts and headed home to be there when she got home from her dad's. We did the real-close-immediate family gift exchange and soon had a very Lucy-ish Hannah clad in official Narnia garb. I was stabbed and healed several times. Diane started dinner and I put together Gluwein (hot spiced red wine), and the house began to smell of wonderfull things to come.
Diane is incredible at setting up a dinner party, and the meal was excellent. Grandma & Lad, Mom & Dad, and Kathi came to join Diane, Michaela, Hannah and I for dinner, and some late night Dradle games. Mom ended up winning in the end, but not until the rest of us broke into the bank after Hannah won every single spin in like 10 minutes. Michaela read Hannakuh prayers, and Hannah lit the first candle. 7 more days, and 7 more presents to open...it's not over yet! Much later Grandma and Lad headed home, and Mom wanted to watch The Polar Express, so we huddled down for a couple of hours and let dinner (and apple crisp) digest. Everyone headed home soon after, and the big Clean Up began, starting with setting the coffeepot for the morning (otherwise I'd never get up!). A few hours later, Hannah in bed (no sword), Michaela getting settled back in, Diane finishing the dishes, I came down and wrote this blog.

The End.

Until tomorrow.

The Girls At Christmas

This is my first Christmas with my new family...well, at least officially. Michaela has flown down to California to visit her dad and family for a couple of weeks, and will come home late Christmas Eve...in fact, I think that she's on the same flight as Santa. Hannah is home right now, no school, creating projects, and flying (I swear, no one can run that fast) through the house after the kittens. The kittens are getting fat, and can barely escape. Hannah will be with her dad on Christmas Eve, and will come home for Christmas/Hannukah dinner here. It's quite nice actually. The folks will be coming over, as well as my grandma and her husband, Lad. It should be fun, and red meat will serve us all well. again, this is basically just a post to excuse cute pictures of the girls. I do that.

STAR WARS MARATHON!!!

Yes, today was the long awaited Star Wars Episodes I-VI movie marathon for the jr. and sr. highers of Lake Grove Pres (and friends). At 9 am Jim and I were there with donuts, coffee, and popcorn and 6 Star Wars DVD's in widescreen. The best thing - we weren't alone. The pic here is of those folks there at 9 am (Jeff came 10 minutes later). Hannah came with me, quite excited to see these movies that I love so much. She made it until about 30 minutes into Return Of The Jedi before she fell asleep. We watched them in chronological order, rather than release, just to be different, and to end on a high note. Unfortunately, on the new DVD version of Jedi, they've stuck Hayden Christensen as Anakin at the end when the Jedi ghosts show up. We screamed, outraged at the sacrilege of changing the movie even more...to suit 2 less-than-par flicks at that. But the day was great. We had 8 people (Jim, Noah, Micah, Katie E, Becky, Jeff, Hannah, and myself) stay the full 13 1/2 hours, and 16 others (Kathleen, Drew, Ethan, Maggie, Paul, Kyle, Jessie, Eric/ka, Katey F, Lindsey, Ashley, Brittney, Charlie, Mike, John, and Katie H) that popped in from 20 minutes to 9 hours. Hannah had so much fun, that she drew a picture of her and myself, first with lightsabers ("lifesavers" as she calls them) and then on the couch watching the movies. Truly a successful time, with some commenting (mostly on the incredibly bad dialogue of episodes I-III) and explaining (at least 3 had never watched any of them!), but mostly an attentive group, well fed, and highly entertained.

Snow Day!

I know it's coming. And I know the reaction. It's the same everytime. 6 hours to get from one end of 217 to the other. It's snow. Less than an inch. And Diane and I made the mistake of putting off grocery shopping until today. We parked 4 stores away at WinCo. The line started at the back of the store and took more than 1/2 an hour to get through. Some people saw the line and left their cart, running out into the snow before it was too late. We waited. And the ice started to form. Chains? Yes. In the garage at home. We had the front wheel drive Toyota. And uphill everyway we tried. Almost an hour later we made it within sight of 99W. 20 minutes later we were on 1-5 Southbound. Less than 5 minutes later we were home. Whew! It's-beginning-to-look-a-lot-like/I'm-dreaming-of-a-white Christmas keeps going through my head. We'll see how the week turns out. A safe and warm few days to all!

"...who knows what Christmas is all about?"

Charlie Brown cries out, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” Linus speaks up, “Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about.” He walks out to the auditorium’s center stage. “Lights please.” The house lights go down and a spotlight focuses on Linus, clutching his ever-present blanket.

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone ‘round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them ‘Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign to you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.’”

As Linus finishes he turns and walks back to Charlie Brown waiting in the wings and asserts, “That’s what Christmas is all about Charlie Brown.” Charlie Brown thinks a moment, and then a smile of comprehension shines from his face. He takes his little tree and exits the building.

O Christmas Tree...

O Christmas Tree, how lovely are your...uh, branches? Well, the house is getting all decorated for Christmas with Hannukah colors...that's right, Diane is Russian Jew, so we celebrate Hannukah and Christmas (since she's a Christian). Hannukah falls on Christmas this year, so it works out quite well. it's amazing how many white lights we've scrounged up so far. It's fun. Meanwhile, I was asked to speak to Entheos (sr. high group) tonight, and spoke on The Promise (see earlier post) and found I'm definitely not alone in getting sidetracked from the Christ in Christmas. I also showed a clip from The Bishop's Wife, where David Niven tells the story of an empty stocking. Guess Who's stocking is empty? Anyway, I just wanted an excuse to post a picture of my wife. Isn't she cute?!

The End Of An Era

A few years ago I came back to Lake Grove Presbyterian on a whim. A random invite from a volunteer with the youth. Now, I had been a volunteer from '92-'99, but had quit to spend time on a failed marriage. So I come in back in '03 and run into Ryan Caldwell. Ryan had been in Jr. High when I was last there, and was now leading music for the groups! I was invited to bring my guitar and plug back in to the worship scene. Ryan introduced me as so old that I had been doing this when he was in Fish Co. I could feel the love...actually, I could. Just as with the countless students who attend Fish Co and Entheos over the years, Ryan made me feel welcome, and helped me to re-engage in worship music, something I hadn't done in 3 years. This post is a tribute to his work in students and leaders lives.

Ryan is wacky. He's always been a little off the beaten track, and being a Christian did little to stray that. But with his new Goal, he embraced our Lord and His work. And it shows to those who meet him. We heard testimonies to how Ryan worked His Love and Gifts into our lives. We also had the "last" Ryan-led worship time, with Jim on bass, and myself on drums. It was great. We three had not ever had time to do it before...I love playing the Lord's Truth!

Ryan is in Joplin, Missouri where he is now a Youth Director himself, under the pastorship of my old youth director, Cliff Mansley, Jr. The church has about 400 members, and a youth group of a dozen. With Ryan's exhuberance, and the Lord's will, great things will happen there. Especially if Tricia is also involved. Her down to earth realism will be an asset to the church there as it was here.

I wish them both well, and God's blessing on their lives. Pray for His work in their wake, and keep in touch at rtcaldwell@gmail.com.

The Promise

As Christmas approaches like the Polar Express, I found myself becoming anxious about all that I had not done. The tree, lights, and shopping that should be at least planned by now. I had the Christmas music pulled out though. I enjoy listening, and tend to sing carols all year round. I had listened through several different albums, from Frank Sinatra, to James Brown, to Reliant K, and found a Michael Card album titled The Promise: A Celebration Of Christ's Birth. Now, I remember thinking to myself that this album was untraditional, lacking carols, instead having songs about His earthly birth. When I saw the CD I remembered that I had found a companion book for $1 at a garage sale. So I sat down with my coffee to read. It's subtitle was Prayers, Reflections and Songs. On the 3rd page I found what I was needing to prepare myself for Christmas...myself, not my house. Please indulge me and read on.“If Christmas does not mean everything in July, then it truth it means nothing in December. If I need a cooling in the weather and the sight of familiar decorations to cause my heart to leap like a lamb – if my heart cannot celebrate today as I consider the birth of our Lord Jesus, then Christmas reveals a problem in me. Maybe, ‘til now, I’ve only been touched by the carols and tinsel, the romance of Christmas, not gripped with awe and wonder at the living Gift, delivered to us all on that first Christmas night.”

So as you prepare for Christmas, don't forget to prepare yourself for the Celebration that lasts all year; "...for unto us a Son is given, unto us a Son is born!" (Isaiah 9:6) - Merry Christmas!

Away In A Manger...?

The first thing we did for decorating this year was bring out the Nativity scene. We set it up near the stairs on a low shelf. The next day when I walked by, I noticed that the Wise Men had taken to flying...badly. They were all over the floor with an Angel. I guess the angel had been the flying instructor. So I put them back. To make a boring story interesting, the next thing that happened was like something out of a B movie; 2 larger than life cats stood on either side of the stable. I waiting for what was to happen next. Similar to Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, the 2 cats pounced on one another, sending sheep, wisemen, and joseph flying over the shelf. Mystery solved. It definitely added a little something to the otherwise docile manger scene this year.

Crafting For The Holidays

Well, Thanksgiving may be over, but the crafts are just starting! Crafts for Christmas started today at the house, where we all made clove oranges. Boxes of lights were brought out from storage, and ornaments were sorted. Christmas music played on the TV and PC. Hannah sang her own words to Joy To The World throughout the house. It was a wonderfully lazy day. Hannah themed her oranges, the most noticeable; the golf club cloves in honor of my dad, Rick. Faces adorned oranges, some even with mullets. Finally, 3 oranges were completely covered, and a mullet-headed one stood aside, awaiting more cloves from the grocer. Ah, the sweet smell of the season!

Thanksgiving

Now, we all have our Thanksgiving traditions...for that last few years, mine has been working, and then showing up at the folks after everyone had eaten. It's the life of a waiter I guess. But I'm still a newlywed (3 months 4 days) so I wanted to actually spend it with my family. I still had to work, but we had a later dinner (after 7pm!) just for little old me! My brother showed up with his family as an added bonus, as he had dinner with the inlaws. My new nephew, Cole, was in a real smiley mood, so that was great! Dinner was traditional, and as another tradition in my family, my mother handed out personal Christmas ornaments to all of us. So I suppose I should take down the giant Halloween Shrek in the front yard now...and replace it with a giant Grinch in a santa hat! I love decorating!

Happy Thanksgiving.

The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe

It's been loads of fun. I get to practice all of my bad British and Irish accents, for male and female. And she loves it. I've been reading The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe to Hannah one chapter a night. From the set that I had as a kid. It's great. And she made the connection to Christ when Aslan was killed and was then alive again. (I hope that I didn't give anything away to those of you who haven't read it...read it anyways) I've really enjoyed it. And we got to do it before the movie comes out. Now, I hear that they did a superb job on the movie, you can even still see the parallels that were meant to be seen in the book. But a child's imagination is far superior to what they can do at the cinema. Countless times I've been disappointed at the casting or the imagery of movies where I've read the book first. And then when you go to read a book that you saw the movie first, the characters and scenes are predisposed in your head. But Hannah wanted to have me read her the story before seeing it. We finished last night. She slept through the last page, but I think she'll stay awake for the reread tonight. And then...Prince Caspian.

Oh, and I'm sorry, you have to read them in the original order that they were written in, not the order that they were re-released in. The family of Lewis may have okayed it, but it doesn't make since to read a prequel before the first one. Too much is mentioned back to in the prequels (The Magician's Nephew and The Horse And His Boy). So start off with The Lion. Move on to Prince Caspian, The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair. Then read The Horse and Magician's Nephew. Finish with The Last Battle. It reads better that way. And the folks making the movie knew it. Let's go and watch the results next month, shall we?

Crash, Grandma, & Me

This post was actually written for MySpace since it was more personal rather than reflective of my entire family, but I feel that it is reflective of what we should all be about-thus the picture.

I watched the movie Crash last night. It was really well done; made me feel emotion, and was well acted. Not the happiest movie ever, but it rekindled some memories, and something that I heard this morning connected them. Near the end of the movie…
A man says to his grieving mother, "Mom…I promise you, I promise, I’m gonna find out who did this, momma.” She replies, “Oh, I already know.” He looks at her in confusion. “You did.” She accuses. “I asked you to find your brother, but you were busy. We weren’t much good to you anymore, were we?” He sits back, speechless. “You got things to do, you go ahead.”
Now, this may not be a fair accusation, but it haunts the man. His heart breaks. Imagine the questions he is asking himself.

My grandmother was divorced and in the later years of her life. She had smoked for most of her life, and her health was deteriorating noticeably. She had to move to a convalescent living center for health and monetary reasons. When she first moved there, I would visit about once a week. But then life was moving for me. With a new job, a wife, and my “busy” schedule I found it “too hard” to find the time to visit her. Once, after she had lived there for quite some time, I bought her a picture frame meant to hold about 24 little pictures. She was excited by this, and I said that I would come and help size the pictures and put them in for her (at this time she was little more than skin and bones). It had been the first time that I had visited for months. It was probably her birthday…some special occasion. I forget. My busy life kept me from going back. I never even collected pictures for her. It sat empty near her chair. One day I received a call from my father, informing me that she had passed on. I hadn’t seen her in months. Some weeks later my father stopped by to give me something. It was the frame. It was empty. And my heart screamed. The frame haunts me to this day. It sits empty still.

What was it that kept me so busy? Why did I feel that sitting at home watching a movie was more important that spending time with someone that I loved that was alone? She was alone, in a cold, disinfected, ambulatory place where she would die. And I knew it. If I am meant to be the Hands of the Almighty here on earth, and I can’t even find the compassion or time to reach out to my family, who I know and love, what chance is there that I will do it to those who are alone that I don’t know. This morning I wept. I wept and cried out to God, in hope that she was with Him. I asked Him to hold her for me…to give her the compassion that I was “too busy” to give. And my heart breaks again.

Am I blind? Am I deaf? Am I mute? Am I truly His Hands? I pray to God, on my knees, that I may see. That I may hear. That I may reach out and touch someone who is alone. That I may speak words of comfort to someone in pain. That I may turn from this selfish, ignorant, petty shell and become alive in His love.

As I heard the words “we are His hands” this morning, I am reminded of two songs. The first is Casting Crowns’ If We Are The Body. In this song, they ask,
“But if we are the Body
Why aren’t His arms reaching?
Why aren’t His hands healing?
Why aren’t His words teaching?
If we are the Body
Why aren’t His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?”
These words pierce my heart to the core. The other song is an old 70’s song by the band LoveSong. It’s called Two Hands, and it calls us again as Christians, in the spirit of the Great Commission,
"Accept Him with your whole heart
And use your own two hands
With one reach out to Jesus
And with the other, bring a friend”
Paul writes that he has been all things to all people…and we are to mimic these actions. But remember, that we are to be IN the world, but not OF it. I find myself caught by the cool things that make us a modern nation. I love my computer, my movies, my car, my guitars, et cetera. But they are all EMPTY! Only through His life do we have meaning. And that what I wanted to share with you. Reach out. See. Hear. Love. Act.

Revenge Of The Ankle Part 5: A New Beginning

Monday night we ventured over to my folks' house, where I put together my mom's new computer. It was fun. She's happy. yay! But then I attempted to walk out the fron door. And fell. Those of you who have known me for more than a year realize that I fall down...and break things...usually my right ankle. But this was new. My right ankle escaped unharmed. My left ankle rolled, swelled, and caused me to inflict the shrubbery with new and exciting curses. We stayed at mom's a while longer. Borrowing a cane, I finally went home (luckily I have an automatic transmission). Having stairs sucks when you can't walk on one leg. It really sucks when you can't put all your weight on the other ankle, because it wants to roll as well!!! A wheel chair in a house with stairs would really, really suck. So I sit. Alone. The cat's don't follow instruction well, and my requested glass of water was replaced by a catnip mouse. It was actually quite refreshing. You should try one.

Friday Fun Night

Friday night Lake Grove Elementary had their Mardi Gras Fun Night. Yeah, so Mardi Gras is actually several months away...it was just a theme. Lots of fun to be had, games to be played, cakes to be one, and balloon swords and bats to wack each other with. Hannah spent most of the time in the Obstacle Course, a huge inflatable structure with bouncing floors, and a faux rock wall to climb and fall down. Lots of fun. Kevin? He watched. And paid.
I was amazed at Hannah's patience about the "facepainting" room. The line was approximately 45 minutes long, but she held it out. In the end, she and her friends got matching rose tatoos...which is fitting for her, as that's her middle name. 8 o'clock came, and went, and still fun was being had, until the shutdown started (late) and we had to leave at 8:30pm. There are more tattoos to be applied, a pink sword that I get wacked with frequently, and tons of baubles and jewelry that was won due to Hannah's dexterity in playing Operation on a 6 foot board.

Halloween

Halloween has come and gone, and with it, a surge of hyperactivity not to be equaled until Christmas. From the 8' Shrek in the front yard, to the 4 jack-o-lanterns, to pumpkin pencils by the door (no candy for kids here it seems), we were ready...except for the rain. Both girls were in high heels, and slid down several driveways together. It's pretty dark around our house, and there are no sidewalks, so we drove over to the Westlake area, where we were surrounded by hundreds of other pint-sized Darth Vaders and Disney Princess'. The haul won, we stopped at my parents house at last, where Hannah quickly fell asleep on her mother's lap. So cute!! She was a little Fairy-Princess, complete with wings and wand, and Michaela was a "female cop" complete with 2" blue heels, Dragnet hat, and water gun (my back was soaked by the end of the night!). And the next day, all of my pumpkins are still in one peice. Thanksgiving, here we come!

Simply A Maizing!!!

We took the Fish Co. kids to Sauvie's Island to a corn maize (a maize maze!) and attempted to lose them amongst the corn, mud, and hay. Much fun was had, everyone got muddy, and a few of us got to shoot the corn gun...120 lbs of air pressure shooting 1/2 a corn cob across a field! Everyone made it out of the maze unscathed, and relatively clean. We had to get through the maze using our wits and a card with clues based on scripture (ex: how many times is corn mentioned in the Bible? a) 784 - turn left b) 187 - go straight c) 47 - turn right. the answer was 47, so we turned right). It was quite cool. Fun for all! Tonight - The Great Pumpkin Chase!!!

The Lost Tooth Episode 3: Revenge of the Tooth Fairy

Hannah was really happy yesterday, because Diane found Hannah's 1st tooth in some papers on a side table in the family room. So Hannah wanted to put it under her pillow of course. Now, recall that she had already got money by leaving a note with a picture. So we wrote a new note explaining that she had found it, and wanted the Tooth Fairy to have it. Who knew what would happen?

The tooth fairy really must have wanted to have that tooth, because she ripped the doorknob right off of Hannah's door. But she got the tooth. And she left a really nice form letter saying to eat less sweets. I'm beginning to wonder if that horror movie Darkness Falls about the tooth fairy killing kids might be true...I think that I'll stay on her good side just in case.

Comment On My Blog

Some folks have had problems leaving comments on the posts here. And I've had problems with random sales comments from unknown spammers. So...You don't have to have a BlogSpot account, but you do have to type in some wacky letters ("word verification"), just to prove you're not a spammer or computer. So please comment, mock, whatever. I welcome it. I take requests too!! -kevin

Wedding Photos

On March 17th, 2005 a wonderful thing happened to me. I drank 4 pints of Beamish Stout. Oh, and Diane agreed to marry me in front of a pub full of Irish drunks. So then we got married on the 20th of August, 2005. Basically, 2 months and 2 days ago. Pictures have been late in coming, as our "real" photographer has disappeared off the radar, and our pictures with him. Luckily, our friend Jennifer Crumine was there with her camera. And she was nice enough to put them on the web for us. So here's how to get to them...

Go to www.flickr.com
Click on “sign in”
Choose the Yahoo option
User: gateswedding Password: dianeandkevin
DO NOT VERIFY EMAIL on the next page. Choose “do it later”
Click on the “groups” tab up at the top
Click on “gateswedding” and you’re there!!!

You can download full sized pictures at no cost. Enjoy, and if I ever get the official photos, I’ll let everyone know.

The Lost Tooth

Yesterday Hannah lost her first tooth. I awoke to Hannah standing over me. "My loose tooth came out." she said. "hmgdf?" was my response (I don't do mornings well). Luckily Hannah realized that meant "How?" "I just pulled and it came out!" she replied. How wonderful! Diane and her made plans for the tooth fairy to come later that night, but...Hannah carried the tooth around the house all day. Everywhere. And then nowhere. When it came time to put it under her pillow, the little white tooth could not be found. Being 5, she had covered every square inch of the house in the last hour since anyone had seen the tooth. After a search that lasted almost 2 hours (mostly by Michaela & myself) Diane thought of a grand idea. Bedtime. So Hannah & Michaela wrote a note to the tooth fairy explaining the situation, and that we would leave the tooth when found. As proof, I printed out the coinciding picture and we placed those under the pillow. This morning I awoke to cries of "She came! She came!" and sure enough, a shiny new quarter had been left in an envelope with a response letter of understanding. Next tooth, when we say "Why don't you put that down somewhere safe?" will be accompanied by action by a parental figure...probably.

Now, I excluded Diane from the search for the tooth, but she was very busy being "Doctor Mom" to Lucy, who hadn't eaten or drank voluntarily for 2 days. I'm happy to report that I just caught the little bugger munching on some cat food, so we're pretty sure every one is going to make it. Toodles for now!

Cats, Couches, & Computers

This post is dedicated to the cats in my life. You've met Lucy & Susan. but you haven't met Keaks (kee-kee). She hates me. She hates men. It's tough to live with her. She hates the kittens too. She doesn't want to come inside the house anymore. We miss her, even me. But she will stay in the garage occasionally. She likes the old couch in there. When I came, I brought a newer couch. So of course she prefers the old one. I found her in the garage on the couch, glaring at me for disturbing her and decided to immortalize her here.

Susan was sick for a bit, as I mentioned in an earlier post, but now is feeling much better. And it turns out that she is a climber. Chair, tables, draperies, desks...I found her on my computer desk when I came home, and it bothered her not one bit when I started typing. She typed too. She likes the number "4". I didn't post her comments.

Lucy is coming down with a cold, or something. It's not what Susan had. She drools and slobbers everywhere. Coming downstairs for coffee (woah, Susan just climbed up my leg! ouch! I only had shorts on. That's going to leave a mark. She wants to type: bvfg. well that's not bad for a cat I guess) I stepped in a huge puddle. I thought the dishwasher had leaked, but no, it was Lucy spewing liquid from her mouth. She had an unevenful trip to the vet, where they gave her antibiotics and an IV for hydration. She's hiding now. 'Not sure where. It remains a mystery.
Well, I must leave now, for Susan is trying to type again. toodle-oo for now. jbvccxcvb

Choir Girls Are Groovy

This morning at our church (Lake Grove Presbyterian) there was a huge massing of all of the choirs singing together. It was actually music commissioning sunday, so the girls got to sing in the same group today. Hannah is part of the young Joy Choir, while Michaela sings with the Cornerstone group. There were at least 3 other choirs on stage with them, and the New Life Choir singing at an earlier service. Combine that with the 2 youth praise bands, and that's alot of people committing to the Ministry of music for His Name's sake!!! Pretty cool if you ask me.

Dating My Wife

Last night Diane and I went on a date. We had already eaten dinner and had a movie waiting for us at home (where no daughters were) so we went to Moonstruck Chocolatiers in Lake Oswego. Apparently a great place to frequent around 7-8pm on a Friday night, as we were one of two couples there. Dating Diane was always a great thing to look forward to...and then I married her. But I find that we still love to date. I've heard it before from folks, and it's true. The 4 days or so before I just didn't get enough Diane in my life. Setting aside time to go out (or stay in) just the two of us is simply marvelous, and we will remember to do it as often as we can. After our Truffles, Cordials, and Mochas, we headed home to watch Hide & Seek together in the dark. Guys love scary movies. Why? Because our dates get scared and are forced to jump in our laps for protection. Is it any wonder that I own over 100 horror movies? Or that I married a woman who freaks out on them? Not to me it isn't.