My Sons, the Comedians

For one reason or another, we like to laugh a lot in our family. Kathy and I have always keenly enjoyed each other’s sense of humor, and we’ve tried to incorporate a love for laughter into our children.

It may be that we have succeeded a little too well.

On Monday, I made some hard-boiled eggs in Kathy’s swanky Insta-Pot. We generally mark the eggs with a Sharpie so that people don’t try to scramble them for breakfast. Sometimes, if Kathy is feeling particularly cheerful, she’ll put little hearts on them, or even write messages like “I love Tim” on a few of the eggs. This can be a bit disconcerting for guests, so we try to pre-shell the eggs if we offer them in a salad to lunch visitors.

But Kathy was busy working on her computer, so she asked David to mark the eggs. It is possible that he resented the job — a fact I discovered the next day when I opened my lunch.

I'm not sure which is worse, that I ate the egg without hesitation, or that I was vaguely proud that my homeschooled child could spell 'poisoned' correctly.

I’m not sure which is worse, that I ate the egg without hesitation, or that I was vaguely proud that my home-schooled child could spell ‘poisoned’ correctly.

Recently, Daniel’s computer video card died. For several days, the computer would not display anything at all, until we figured out how to revert to the integrated video card on the motherboard. Since Daniel mostly uses his computer to play high-graphics video games, you can imagine how distressed he was.

Unbeknownst to Daniel, I recently ordered two new computers for my parents, but had them delivered to my house so I could install some additional hardware and software. Dan happened to be home when the computers were delivered, and he quickly made some alterations to the labels on the packages. Kathy sent me this sequence of pictures at work, to let me know my packages had been delivered, and were greatly appreciated:

Daniel spots the packages by the front door ...

Daniel spots the packages by the front door …

His heart leaps in hope ...

His heart leaps in hope …

Daniel can't believe his eyes, when he reads the address label ...

Daniel can’t believe his eyes, when he reads the address label …

A close-up of the professionally-printed address label ...

A close-up of the professionally-printed address label …

I’d like to think that God is honored by the fun that we have in our house … that the joy we take in each other brings joy to His heart as well. I guess we’ll find out in Heaven, if Jesus plays practical jokes — He’s had more than 2000 years to be working on some of them. If that doesn’t worry you at least a little, then you have no imagination …

Tim

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Christmas 2016

We had such a lovely Christmas this year – very relaxed and full of family and friends. Our only sadness was not having Joshua and Kelsie here for any of the holidays. This post if especially for them – so they can see some of our Christmas pictures and feel a part of our December 2016.

Tradition - Christmas Eve picture at church.

Tradition – Christmas Eve picture at church.

I sent several boxes of Advent goodies to Tennessee in November and couldn’t resist hanging Joshua and Kelsie’s stockings on the mantle. They were with us in spirit!!

Stocking hung by the fire with care.

Stocking hung by the fire with care.

Daniel spent part of December working for family friends in Idaho. Upon returning home, he quickly resumed his job at Chick-Fil-A. We’re proud of him for working hard to earn tuition money for another semester at Calvary Chapel Bible College. Rachel’s roommate got married on the 17th (Hooray Kaylee and Matthew!!!) and another friend on the 18th, so Rachel wasn’t able to fly home from Tennessee until the 19th of December. So late!!! Thankfully we have her for almost the entire month of January as she’s not taking any classes during Jan Term this year.

Christmas breakfast

Christmas breakfast

Christmas fell on a Sunday this year. We celebrated with our church family on Christmas Eve and hosted Tim’s parents as well as his nephew (and family) on Christmas Day. Such a sweet time. Of course, as always, our favorite start to the holiday season is when Tim is off work and declares Holiday Hours!! Time to watch movies, sleep in, open presents, relax, and play games!!!

Family Time!!

Christmas Day Dinner with the Edgrens!!

On the Monday after Christmas, we were able to celebrate with more of Tim’s family. His favorite (okay, only) brother came to town with his beautiful wife and two children (visiting from Tennessee). We missed Joshua and Kelsie keenly but were thrilled to have some time with the PMGE’s.

Quick family photo

Quick family photo

And we all loved having Tim P join us for some of our family time. He and Rachel spend as much time together as they can. Long distance (from Union University in Tennessee to University of Washington in Seattle) relationships are hard.

We had 3 Tims together for lunch.

We had 3 Tims together for lunch.

Right in between Christmas and New Year’s we hosted a lovely dinner with the Pancho family. We have known and loved the Panchos for 11 years. Holly is one of my dearest friends and Tim P was one of Joshua’s Best Men in his wedding last year. I wanted to do something special for our two families in the midst of the busy holidays and to celebrate TimP and Rachel’s relationship. We had a gorgeous meal, lots of laughter and games and a surprise visitor (aka baby Asher)!!

DSC_9431 (Large)

DSC_9402 (Large)

Code Names was one of the popular games this year. Jenny, TimP and I are constantly begging the rest of the group to play with us.

DSC_9426 (Large)

DSC_9429 (Large)

So thankful for the time to take a little break from school and work and enjoy this marvelous time of year when we recognize the blessing of Immanuel, God With Us.

Kathy

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Back to the Grind

Today is the last day of my vacation from work — tomorrow I return to my ‘regular life’ of working for a living.

Already, David and Sarah are back at school, and Rachel and Daniel are working.

“But today is a Federal Holiday (Observed),” I complained to Sarah.

“Tell that to my Geometry teacher,” she rejoined, snappishly.

Apparently the Potters School is no respecter of Federal Holidays (Observed).

It has been a lovely vacation. I’ve been off since the 22nd of December, and have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to relax, watch Christmas movies, do some last-minute shopping, read books, and eat my way into a larger size shirt. Now, as I brace myself for my commute and the hurly-burly of a new work year starting, I am grateful for so many things.

  • I’m grateful for a God who loves me and who has saved me from my sin.
  • I’m grateful for a family who love each other and know how to have a lot of fun.
  • I’m grateful for many delightful Christmas presents, given and received.
  • I’m grateful that my employer is so generous with vacation time.
  • I’m grateful for a warm and comfortable home.
  • I’m grateful for a wife who loves me and makes my life fun.
We've had a few snowy days -- not enough to close the roads, but enough to make me grateful for the train.

We’ve had a few snowy days — not enough to close the roads, but enough to make me grateful for the train.

Even my ‘normal’ working life is pretty good, though it can’t compare with vacation-life. My job is not grueling, and I am permitted to work from home several days a week. Still, it is sometimes hard to gather the strength to face a new year, with all its ministry opportunities and difficulties. I guess this is right where God wants me, though — dependent on Him for my strength and joy.

Tim

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Fresh Starts

This morning Tim and I snuck away for a little date. Our church offers a worship service on Saturday nights, and we went last night before our big New Years Eve party, leaving this Sunday morning, Jan 1st, quiet and peaceful. 

I was given the January Starbucks mug for Christmas  (free brewed coffee or tea every day in Jan), and Tim wanted to take me out for my first cup. 

Coke Zero for Tim and dark roast blend for me. 

We had a sweet time talking about 2017 – some goals, plans for the month of January, and ideas for the blog. This will be our 25th year of marriage and 13th year of blogging. We’ve ranged from 4 blog posts last year (blush) to 405 in 2007 (wow).

We write mainly for our family – to chronicle our days and capture the special (and ordinary) moments. And we write to sharpen our thinking and express the truths the Lord reveals to us and honor Him in return. 

We are still reflecting and pondering how we will structure our family blog this year, but we have definitely committed to writing faithfully. 


May this new year be filled with joy, laughter, wonder, delight, mystery and growth. 

Kathy

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