In honor of our return to the Polar North

In honor of our impending return to the Polar North (where it is June -- thank goodness!) . . . some of my favorite pictures from our four years in survival mode.

This is the door that leads to the underground subway, just about 100 yards from our condo. Want proof that it is cold? This is the INSIDE of the door!

I loved this courtyard. I passed it everyday during my underground walk to work. I could always tell how much it had snowed that day by how heavy the table looked!

After an ice storm, I was impressed when I could walk on the top of a foot of snow without going into it!

Yes that is a car! This day, the Dave and JB drove around downtown helping their fellow medical school compadres dig out of deep trouble!


One thing I regret is not participating in more winter sports. I didn't enjoy snow shoeing, but I really liked cross country skiing!

Courtesy of Brandon -- proof of what happens to bubbles when it is too cold for them to be a bubble.

Need to run out fast? Do what JB did here in this photo.

On a rare warm day, JB and I put on shorts to go for a run. We were amazed that we still had legs and also ashamed at how white they had become.

A nice fall day in the orchard still requires heavy duty winter wear! I may not look cold here but that is because I am forty-seven layers thick!

The view from outside my office in the Guggenheim building. I loved watching it snow through these big windows.

In conclusion, a few past posts lamenting my fate in Minnesota:

City Data proving Rochester's weather is BAD

Video of JB and Wendi on iced-over river
Steps to surviving a -29 degree day

Finally got video of Frisbee-catching doggie

Scrubs has now become a pretty regular catcher of the Frisbee. If the throw is good, and he isn't too tired, he'll catch it nearly every time. When I am the one throwing, Scrubs returns the Frisbee pretty consistently and quickly leaves it with me. But you'll notice he had no confidence that my Father was capable of enforcing the "leave it" command. We go to the bay every morning after Isaac's second feeding. It's a favorite for all of us. Scrubs gets to play, Isaac gets to be outside, and we come home to a sleeping baby and a very tired dog. How much better can it get?



In other news, I am busy getting ready for our trip. We leave tomorrow! Hans and Rachel get married on Saturday! Can't wait! I was sad to say good bye to my Dad this morning but am eagerly anticipating our return to the Polar North!

Good and bad news

The bad news? My Dad is leaving tomorrow! It's been a great week having him here. I didn't get to run as much as I hoped since I cut my heel open at the bay on Saturday (I know Mom! I need to get water shoes!), but otherwise, it was wonderful to have him take some turns holding Isaac. Another picture, above, of Isaac and Grampa Coach doing some heavy-duty bonding.

However, with the bad news that my Dad is leaving comes the good news that we are leaving too. On Friday afternoon, we are headed to Minnesota (said with a long "o"). I am very excited about the opportunity to return to our old hometown. The only way it would be better is if Nicole and Bay, who get married on Sunday in Houston, were also getting married in Rochester so we wouldn't miss their wedding. I can't, for the life of me, figure out why Nicole would choose Houston over Rochester. What's the deal Neecola?! Oh well. I guess a good video will have to do.

My schedule for my 5-6 days in the Polar North is pretty packed already. I am hoping to catch up with coworkers at both of my places of employment and meet some old friends from my infertility support group as well as hang out at the wedding. We are staying with Dave and Lesley. (So is Tara!) And besides getting to see the beautiful Rachel walk down the aisle, we'll get to the see the Yuans, Cronks (I think?), Rays (well the male Ray anyways) and other good friends! I cannot wait! It'll be an exhausting but much-needed visit. These people got me through four of the hardest years of my life. I miss them terribly.

If you think of it, please pray for me. The thought of returning to the Clinic evokes a lot of infertility memories for me -- one of the things that leaving Rochester enabled me to escape. I'm sure I'll be fine but walking those halls is often wrought with emotions. Please also pray for safe travel and successful navigation with child-in-tow. The only bad thing about having a baby is that I don't get to sit in the exit rows now until he turns 15! That's a big bummer!

I'm also excited about news of another trip in the works. In October, JB and I are planning on spending some time visiting my best bud Kristi in New Mexico, then driving to Utah for a Wilderness's Medicine Conference he is going to attend, and then leaving via Denver so we can spend a day with Kelsey. JB is getting the final confirmation that this trip is approved. Jodi has added her client Scrubs to her ever popular book of dogs and babies to take care of, and we hope to book the tickets, maybe tonight! I am so excited to get to see Kristi! I have not seen her since before Logan was walking. And by then she'll have three kids! Can't wait. My gut is telling me child #3 for Kristi will be a boy! I think we need to get a little online quiz going to guess the newest Hunt's details.

Okay, enough of a post discussing the trivial aspects of my life. Here is a fairly routine video of Isaac. I just want to make sure all of our family are getting to see him growing up so I am trying to take video every few days. Mr. Schief is also in the video. He has spent most of his day in his kennel since he cannot behave like a normal human being! :)

China update

I received notice today that China has provided children to families "logged in" before January 13, 2006. As a reminder, our log-in date is April 17, 2008. This means that there are over two years of applicants in front of us. Please continue to pray that the wait moves as quickly as possible.

Random glimpses into my world

• 2am. Isaac is crying and hungry. I get up and reach for a pair of glasses. I keep all my glasses on my end table next to my bed. Glasses on, I begin my nightly wander to the kitchen to make a bottle. I turn on the lights. Geez the house is so dark. Make my way to Isaac's room, scoop him out of the crib, lay him on the changing table. So dark. Finally I figure out why. I've got my sunglasses on. Back to the bedroom to choose a different pair. Silly Wendi.
• I had a dream last night that I was on American Idol. I suppose, actually, this was a nightmare as I would rank singing in front of anyone up there with getting my wisdom teeth out. (Actually, now that I think about it, I honestly think I would choose the teeth before the singing. No lie.) Apparently though, I was a favorite, despite the fact that moments before I went on, I couldn't remember the lyrics to my song. I asked my Dad to go look them up for me (I'm not sure where), and typical Dad-style he told me he'd get it done when he had some free time. I had to convince him that this couldn't wait. I was due to go on stage in front of millions at any moment!! Thank goodness I woke up before I had to actually sing. Thank goodness for both me and all the people who would have had to listen to me.
• Scrubs' successfully went four full days without one act of thievery. Two different envelopes and one pony tail holder (that he swallowed before I retrieved) ended this amazing stretch of success. Today is a new day. Oh wait, he already got something this morning. A piece of paper from my garbarge can. We'll try again tomorrow.
• While on the phone with JB this morning, he told me to hang on. I listened as he spoke with someone. Here is what he said: "His K is 3.5. Can we add some to his PPN. Or would it be better if I added it IV with a K-rider?" Who is this man I am married to?
• Sarah-the-great brought us dinner last night. She brought that amazing mandarin chicken pasta dish she specializes in with salad and dessert. I'm looking forward to having more of it for lunch today. It was wonderful. Monday is early sign-out for JB. It is amazing how much better 5pm seems in comparison to 7pm. Two extra hours with JB around was just wonderful. Dad, JB, and I pulled up TV trays and decided to eat dinner while watching TV. Thus ensued a debate. No one could agree what was worse TV during dinner. JB's choice was Bizarre Foods where slugs were on the menu last night. My choice, was, embarrassing to say, The Bachelorette. I honestly believe this show is not good television and is maybe even morally a sin to watch, but I got stuck on it one night when JB was working late, and now I just want to see who she eliminates each week. Anyways, Bizarre Foods made me gag -- literally. The Bachelorette made JB gag -- literally. He actually walked into the kitchen making hacking noises. My Dad wouldn't pick. He thought they were both fairly gag-worthy. Your vote? Which is worse during dinner?

Babies, Grampas, and doggies

I've been feeling a little under the weather -- just a little bit of an upset stomach or something. Don't really feel like writing very much, but I did realize I haven't posted pictures in awhile. So while I wait for my Dad to come back from Sonic with a Cherry Limeaid, I thought I would post a few pictures (and a video) to tide you all over:

Isaac chillin' out with Grampa after his second lunch.

Isaac looks like he is crying here, but he was laughing. Really! This is where you can often find Scrubs, waiting for me to turn my head for one split second so he can get a good lick in!

During a post-feeding burp session (check out the remanants all over his shirt), I got creative and decided to decorate Isaac. He seemed to enjoy it.

A decoration close-up.

Here is a video of what we have spent our last hour doing. After Isaac eats, we try to have some "wake time" before he naps again. This video is a great example of my ability to multi-task with dog and baby. It also perfectly illustrates the many chins of Isaac! :)

Isaac's Journal #2

Hey. This is Isaac. My mommy has been so busy that I thought would take the time to fill you all in on our lives. I have very long fingers just like my Mommy which means I am going to be a mean-lean-typing-machine like she is when I grow up. But right now, typing isn't one of my best skills, so bear with me.

The first news?! My Grampa Coach is here! Grampa Coach is awesome! He likes to hold me a lot. He talks to me and makes me smile. He makes funny faces and laughs at my funny faces. I always know he will give me back to Mommy if I leave a messy surprise behind so whenever I am ready to go back and visit Mommy, I make sure to do just that. Grampa Coach also gave me a bottle yesterday. He didn't burp me, but he did feed me. He did a good job.

On Friday night, a bunch of my Daddy's fellow interns came over for a BBQ. The picture at the top is of my one of my favorite baby holders, Joia, who was patiently waiting for my buddy Keenan and his Daddy to get off the airplane and come back to her house. The BBQ was supposed to be to welcome a new family to the neighborhood, but, one of those conversation snafus my Mommy wrote about in her previous post, meant they were actually busy and couldn't come. Oh well! We partied without them. After he cooked dinner, my Daddy told the other Mommy's that he needed a turn holding me, and we went and hung out in the nursery for awhile and talked guy stuff until I fell asleep. What a cool Daddy I have. He loves me so much.

Grampa Coach and my Mommy and me ran a bunch of errands on Saturday while Daddy was fixing people. Mommy kept saying she was really glad to get out and run all these errands because they had been on her list for a long time. She got some Benadryl from Publix for my puppy Scrubs, she got some furniture raisers so she doesn't have to bend over my changing table as far, and she got some presents for some birthday parties I get to go to soon. Oh, and she also got some storage bins to put my newborn clothes that I am slowly starting to outgrow! We also had lunch at Longhorn. I decided that the moment we sat down was a good time to be ready to wake up and eat so Mommy mastered the art of one handed salad eating. Not too shabby!

Mommy said that my night last night was decent but not the best. That was because I decided to wake up in between feedings and express my frustration that my burrito had been kicked off of me by, well, me. I like to kick it off, but then don't like being cold. I have learned that if I turn on my lungs, Mommy will fix it for me! All she had to do was rewrap me, and I was ready to fall back to sleep. She also mumbled something about Scrubs waking her up having some sort of very loud dream. So I guess those two awakenings, on top of my 3am feeding, meant the night was just decent. I'm going to try to do better tonight, but overall my Daddy and Mommy tell me that I am doing a very good job at this baby stuff.

Speaking of Daddy, he has been gone a lot, but I got to spend a little bit of time with him this morning when he came back from his call night. He gave me a bath and put me down for my nap. By the time I got up from my nap, Daddy was taking his, so I'll have to wait until later this evening for more Daddy time. Even though I don't see him very much, my Daddy is awesome! He's a little frustrated that he can't spend more time with me right now, but this too shall pass!

My puppy Scrubs is pretty awesome too. While I was taking a nap with Daddy today, Grampa Coach and Mommy took him to the dog park. They are also going to take him to play Frisbee in the water when Daddy wakes up. That's because today is bath day. Scrubs gets to play at the dog park and the beach on bath day in exchange for having to get into the tub afterwards which doesn't make him too happy. As soon as they trap him in the bathroom, his tail goes between his legs, and he tries to hide in the corner, which doesn't really work since he is a really big dog and the bathroom is a really little bathroom.

Scrubs takes good care of me. He is still working on following directions. He knows what "No lick" means but only listens when the stars are aligned perfectly. The good news is, he hasn't stolen anything in three whole days. Mommy said this is a Scrubs world record. We aren't holding out much hope for it to last much longer, but we are enjoying it for now.

Tonight, Daddy is going to make Indian for dinner. I've decided to opt out and stick to my formula instead, but everyone else is pretty excited about it -- especially Grampa Coach since it is one of his favorites.

Well, I think that's all I have to tell you right now. I am actually falling asleep as I write this which means it is time for my next nappy.

Night all!

-- Isaac

P.S. This is Wendi, Isaac's Mommy. Speaking of Joia, check out her blog today for some really cool news. (Warning of baby talk for my infertility/adoption readers.)

One week from today . . .

Folks. Big news here. One week from today until Hans & Rachel's wedding! How exciting is that!? She had an exciting post yesterday. It was about communication in marriage. JB and I have been married ten years and we are still learning the fine art of communication.

I have realized that the fine art of communication is stretched to its capacity when your husband is working ninety hours during one week. I hesitate to write this because I know some of our fellow "residential" friends are doing this regularly, and thus I feel guilty voicing complaints.

The first 3-4 months of residency in the fall of 2007 were very hard. JB started with some very hard rotations, and because some of the other husbands were on easier ones, I thought it was just me who was totally unprepared to watch my husband live at the hospital. I felt I would never survive internship year, nonetheless residency.

There were other hard things about that period of our life. I didn't know many people. We had just moved here. We didn't have a church. I was recovering from a fourth failed IVF. We were preparing to start the adoption process. It was during this period that JB surprised me with my puppy. (Probably the single best thing he could have ever done for me during those early, lonely days!)

But following those 3-4 months, the next 3-4 were relatively painless in comparison. There were a few difficult weeks scattered throughout including a section of nights that I spent with my family in Fort Lauderdale, but overall, it was smooth sailing during the winter and spring.

Then, right around the time Isaac was born, I was smacked right upside the head and reminded that my husband is indeed an intern. He spent two weeks on nights which leave him a zombie. Add to that the fact that I was sleeping about as much as he was with a newborn at home, and we were two zombies passing in the night.

Right on the tail of nights, he started his internal medicine rotation. He is now one week into that rotation. Not only is he working 12-14 hour days Monday thru Friday, but he has call two times during the month. That goes from early Saturday morning until early Sunday morning, requiring that Sunday be used to sleep before returning to the grind on Monday.

JB just called me about 30 minutes ago and told me that he had a break in the sea of admissions. Could Isaac and I come up and bring him dinner? Of course we could. I packed a meal for JB and me, loaded Isaac into the car, gave Scrubs a bone so he didn't drive my Dad nuts while I was gone, and drove to the hospital.

By the time I had made the 1.7 mile drive and paged JB, he was at the door to greet me and tell me not to bother coming in. Another admission. And not just any admission. Some high ranking somebody which meant he couldn't leave him waiting at all. Sigh. Big sigh. I tried to feign my contentment with the situation, but inside, I was so frustrated. JB climbed into the backseat to talk to Isaac for a few minutes, I sent both meals with him as there was no way to split them up right there in the parking lot, and climbed back into the car for the 1.7 mile jaunt back home.

I flashed back to our first year of marriage, when I was in my senior year of college basketball. I remember coming home one evening to find dinner on the table only to have to tell JB that my coach was requiring us to go to some last minute autograph session instead. He looked crushed. I felt horrible.

Tonight, the situation was flipped. Neither side felt good.

On the way back, my absolute favorite hymn was playing on the CD in my Dad's car: How Great Thou Art. A quick reminder that this life is fleeting and in the grand scheme of things, how important was a blown dinner with my husband? Not very, but at the time, it seemed like a much bigger thing.

So, to Hans and Rachel, the soon-to-be-married couple, a reminder that communication is something you are always working on. I'll leave my advice at that, as I know advice can get quite annoying! :) During the last few weeks, JB and I have had many missed efforts at proper communication. When you are only in the house and awake for a handful of minutes at the same time each day, properly communicating is hard. You try as hard as you can, but you are tired and in a hurry, and conversations are put off or edited, and as a result small issues emerge.

But marriage is wonderful. I love being married. Even when I see my husband for 13 minutes a day, he is still the best man in the whole world. Marriage gets a bad rap. Not enough people sing its praises. I love being married. You are entering into a wonderful season in your lives, and I have no doubt you will never regret the decision you are making in just one week. Congrats guys! JB and I are about to celebrate ten years this June. So from the "old couple", I say, marriage is awesome -- and those communication gaps, make it an adventure. Can't wait to see you tie the knot!

And, I also can't wait to spend some time with my husband!

P.S. Have to give a big shout out to Veronica (aka Victoria) R. on her 16th birthday. Man am I old.

My Dad is here!

Our list of visitors to our humble abode continues to grow. My Dad arrived around 6pm yesterday evening. He drove in and plans to spend a week with us. His main goal? "To hold Isaac at least 80 times." So far, he is well on his way. He's not much interested in feeding or changing, but holding? Sure thing! You can tell, from the photo above, that Isaac is quite happy to have his Grampa Coach here to spend some quality time with.

Silly Scrubby

My Scrubby can be a silly puppy sometimes. Right now he is wandering around the living room with the rawhide I gave him secured in his mouth crying without ceasing. Since rawhides are not a frequent treat, and we have been known to take them from him when he isn't looking so he doesn't eat too much at once, Scrubs seems to constantly worry that he is going to lose his rawhide. This is especially a problem since these bones make him thirsty. He will often walk up to me, rawhide in his mouth as if to say: I need to go get a drink. But if I put this down you will take it from me. What am I to do? I have found him trying to hide his bone in the cushions of his chair or the confines of his pallet on the floor -- desperate to prevent us from taking it back while he gets a drink. To be fair, we have purchased much smaller ones for him now, and we allow him to chew it until it is gone. But somehow, way back in the recesses of his mind, he must be reminded that setting the bone down means a lost bone. He just can't bear it. So, the answer. Carry it around, from room to room, crying of thirst but refuse to let it go. Poor puppy.

Speaking of puppy, in the nearly a year that Scrubs has lived in our home, I have gained a new understanding for people who name their dogs Shadow. Scrubs is, without a doubt, my shadow. The dog follows me everywhere. He does laundry with me, tries to help with the dishes, and yes, will pick up a trot to get into the bathroom before I shut him out. He waits by the changing table for Isaac to get changed or lays on the floor of Isaac's room while I feed him. If I go outside for any reason, Scrubs moves around the house, from room to room, sitting by the nearest window to where I am so he can see me. Sometimes my shadow is endearing, but sometimes, a girl just wants some privacy. Putting on clothes is especially difficult. He wants to check out everything I put on and take off.

Right now, Isaac is asleep and Scrubs and I are hanging out in my "office" (which is really just my computer in the eat-in part of our kitchen.) I am waiting for word from my Dad as to what time he is coming in tonight and trying to fix my computer which all of a sudden, is not loading Outlook properly. (Computer problems make me go crazy!) I am debating whether to join the ladies for book club tonight based on what time my Dad plans to arrive. We'll just have to see.

Okay, scratch that. Isaac is no longer asleep. Off to get the crying babe.

Getting a groove

Today, our little boy is four weeks old. One month. And to celebrate he decided to do something wonderfully heroic and sweet. He decided to only wake up one time overnight! What a great gift! He fed at at 10pm and then got up again at 3:00am. After that, the next feeding was 6:30am. Only getting up one time is not only physically refreshing, but there is something psychologically wonderful about it as well. I was quite ecstatic.

We got word yesterday about Isaac's ear. They want to wait six months to do the procedure. I was a little disappointed with this because I'd like to get it taken care of now, while he is really little. But the plastic surgeon was steadfast. He wants to wait six months to make sure that there is no cartilage in the tag at all. JB trusts him completely so I must trust him as well. I barely notice the little tag anymore anyways. I'm only reminded when a little kid will ask me if his ear has a boo-boo!

JB is on his family medicine rotation this month. It's quite hectic. He leaves the house before 6am and is not home until after 6:30pm. In addition, he has call the first and third Saturday. The second Saturday is Hans & Rachel's wedding, and the fourth Saturday is the beach bash (and the Wilsons will be here) so we are jam packed this month.

Mom K. left yesterday morning for Fort Lauderdale. It was so wonderful to have her here. Just the opportunity to take an extra nap or take a feeding off is quite a welcome respite, and I don't think I could have gotten through that second week of nights without her. My Dad is driving up tomorrow and going to spend a week with us! I can't wait to see him. He was going to come today but car trouble means one more day before I can have him here.

Right after my Dad leaves, we are heading to Minnesota for the wedding. When we get back, we'll have one week before the Wilsons come into town. Right on their coat tails will be my brother and his wife. Lots happening here on Eglin AFB. I have to wonder if all the visitors are because of Isaac or the weather or just an appropriate combination of both! Suddenly JB and I feel much more loved. :)

Today I am going to host the wive's brunch. We meet every Wednesday, and I haven't hosted in about two months. I figure it is time to get my feet wet and get used to taking care of dog, baby, and having people over all at once. Every time I accomplish a new thing, I feel like I am getting more and more of a handle on this mom thing.

Speaking of this mom thing . . . it's becoming a bit more real to me. I am growing more and more convinced that in fact, I am Isaac's mom, and he is going to live with us forever. In my heart, I always knew this was true, but I just couldn't convince my brain of this. I don't think it was just because he was adopted. I remember Tiff telling me that when William was about six months old, she went into his room where he was standing in his crib screaming and suddenly had a realization that, "This kid is going to be here forever!" I laugh every time I think of that story.

I think that is how it is with Isaac. He's really going to be my son forever -- it's just sinking in, and I am enjoying letting it sink further and further.

More Kendra courtesies

Once again, I have only Kendra to thank for the beautiful pictures of my shower on Saturday. I also wanted to say how amazingly blessed JB and I are to be a part of Crossway. What an amazing church family that has truly embraced us and included us in their community. And what amazing friends I have made in the process. These ladies are friends for life despite the fact I have known them under a year. What wonderful, beautiful people. Enjoy, and thanks Kendra. You rock!

The display. How beautiful is this.

Sleeping boy.

One of the gifts. I got some wonderful things. I got some things for baby, like this truck, tons of books, some clothes, and even some hand-done stitchery! But I also got a lot of stuff just for me including a gift certificate for a manicure, pedicure, and facial. We also got a "date nights" in a popcorn container! Very fun.

The party was actually an open house so some people came and went, but many stayed throughout, and I opened gifts at the end.

Check out the one circle actually says: Jungle of Love! :) How cute is that?

True artistic photography style. Bravo Kendra!

The cake was a cupcake pull cake in the shape of an umbrella. How cute is this little guy on top of it?


Brittney's lions! Too fun!

Martha Stewart I am not. But look at this ice ring Brittney made!

A picture of some of the party helpers: Megan and Brittney

"Gammy" adopts all the kiddos in our Care Group as her surrogate grandchildren. She informs me that Isaac will not be an exception!

Shannon with Isaac -- she's quite used to boys with three of her own under four.

The party was at Lisa's house. Here she is with her two daughters and her granddaughter.

The littlest of ladies helped us celebrate!

Mom and her boy

Typical Isaac style: hands all over his face!

Look at that face. What a doll.

Courtesy of Kendra

I have been meaning to back up and share some details of our jam-packed Saturday. Saturday morning was a shower put on by the women of the church. I hate to put off discussion of this again, but I really want to wait until I get pictures from Kendra (no pressure Kendra.) I think a discussion of the party will be much more fun with visual aids.

However, I just did get some of Kendra's photos from the beach day in the afternoon. This was a day to say "Welcome Back" to Danny who had just returned from overseas and also to say good bye to Tristan, Shannon and their beautiful boys who will be making a new home in Turkey!

Just a quick explanation. Our church, Crossway, really puts an emphasis on their Care Groups. There are five different groups, and you attend the group in your "region". We attend the Shalimar Care Group. These groups are fantastic opportunities to really connect with people as we all know how easy it is to go to church on Sunday and never meet a single soul. I love our Care Group!!! Everyone in these photos are members of our group. Our pastor, assistant pastor, and their families were also in attendance as well.

Secondly, these pictures are courtesy of our great new friend Kendra. She is one awesome gal! And she is just as awesome a photographer. Take a look at these shots! There were many more than this (104 I think) so I just picked a few of my favorites. It was hard to narrow them down!

Micah

The men chilling in the shade

The ladies watching the kids near the water

Our Care Group Leaders: Bernard and Lisa! Awesome people!

Maddison! I have no idea what she is doing here, but isn't she darling?

Shannon and youngest son Nathan "Turbo". I will really miss them!

Jocelyn

Isaac slept during his entire first day at the beach

Tristan with Turbo

Here's the photographer, Kendra with Micah

Bernard headed up the food! Great BBQ!

How cute is Zachariah?

Can't resist another one of Zach with Turbo

Joceyln -- not afraid of getting wet or dirty

I love this one of JB. He looks so happy!

Our first beach outting as a family

Lisa monitoring Jocelyn and Madison with their little brother Isaac. (Since we borrowed their van to bring Isaac home, they believe he is their brother! :)

Can you believe we live here!!!??

Surprise visit!

We were so blessed to receive a call yesterday from our friend Scott R. Scott is Ronnie's cousin. He and his wife Kelly were great friends of ours when we lived in Kentucky. They have six beautiful children. Bethany is now 19 and just got married. Amy is a senior in high school. The four youngest: Elijah, Ellie, Anna, and Benjamin, came with Scott to vacation for the weekend in Destin. He looked us up while we were here, and we were able to spend the afternoon catching up over a BBQ at our house.

It's hard to believe it has now been five years since we went to church with Scott, Kelly, and their family in Kentucky. Even harder to believe that it has been four years since Kelly passed away. Scott and the kids are doing great! He's a wonderful Dad, and his kids are beautiful and full of life. Kelly would be so proud of the wonderful people they are becoming.

Here are a few pictures from our afternoon together:

Ellie and Anna

Scott with Ben , Anna, and Ellie

Ellijah with Ben

Elijah with Scrubs

Elijah & Scott