Beautiful Music

Grandma Sherry has a lovely baby grand piano in her home. The kids always look forward to playing it. We kept this in mind when we went out, and the kids brought their music from their lessons. Being a piano player (and a very, very good one, mind you), Grandma Sherry appreciates all the hard work that goes into taking lessons and practicing! She loved hearing all of their pieces, even though they were coming off of summer vacation (no lessons) and a month of sickeness (i.e. no practicing!). Sherry has a fantastic ear and was able to improvise with the twins, but also played some of the duets with Shaylen. It was priceless.

Multi-generational Pics

When we are in town, it's always necessary to take pictures of the whole family (or at least as many as are in town!). I am ever so thankful to have married into such a wonderful and loving family. They bring me so much love, support, and joy.


Uncle Ralph & the thin & beautiful Aunt Karen, Elias, M&S.

Four generations

A Trip To the Park

Today we all decided to go outside and let the kids work off some of the energy that had been building up while being cooped up inside during their sickness. It was a beautiful SUNNY day in Seattle, so we took advantage of it.

M&S with their 2nd cousin, Elias.

 

Love the tongue hanging out of his mouth!

Technology Epidemic

It's an epidemic.

You know, admitting you have a problem is the first step to recovery. Just kidding.

It was funny heading out to Techy Land from the ol' sticks of New Hampshire. Ralph had an iPad. Karen had a Kindle. Sherry had an iPad. Even 84 year old Grandma had a Kindle! For Marshall and Shaylen, this meant their odds of being able to borrow one for games had just increased four-fold! They now know how to play things like Angry Birds, Scrabble, and some jewel game.  They won't know what to do with themselves when we get back to reality in NH.

A Little Spoiling From Grandma

Sherry is really such a thoughtful Grandma. She has a way of seeing a need and meeting it. She knew that the kids would probably want something to do while they were there (even though we would bring stuff too...maybe she just wanted to spoil them????). She asked well before we arrived if we would mind if we hit the Lego & American Girl Doll stores while we were in Seattle. This was a no-brainer. The kids had a blast, as you can see from the pictures.

This was a "build-your-own" minifigure. The kids thought it was for play, so they built one, showed it to me and then promptly took it apart. Then Grandma Sherry said they could build some and she would BUY it for them! You should've seen their eyes light up!

M&S LOVED the wall of Legos.

Shaylen goes to the American Girl Doll store...and what does she buy? BOOKS! No surprise there.

Marshall finds a moose at the Mariners store.

Ahhh! Blessed Vacation!

We got up on Tuesday morning  O'Dark Thirty (i.e. 2:00am). Technically, I never went to bed. I knew that I had lots to do to get ready to go, therefore putting me to bed late, then I also knew my mind would be running a thousand miles a minute and wouldn't be able to turn off in time to get some sleep. I would have to get up and get ready too, so I just figured, I might as well stay up that way I don't have to get ready, redo my hair or anything. It saved time, but boy howdy was I exhausted today.

We took the bus down to Boston. This is such a blessing. C&J isn't far from our house and they allow for you to park for free, so this is a no-brainer. Any day I don't have to navigate through Boston is a good day.

Southwest had some great prices for the flights out to Seattle. This was our first time flying with them and I really hope it won't be our last. There was plenty of legroom and the snarky, hilarious comments were really and truly funny.

We got in to Seattle, got picked up by the Awesome Uncle Ralph and went to Grandma's. I cannot tell you how good it was to sit on Grandma's couch, get a Grandma hug and hear Grandma's voice...in person. Aunt Karen (always thin and beautiful) was there too with Ralph & Karen's grandson Elias. He immediately fell to playing with the kids. I love it. He calls Marshall "my boy."

I sat in Grandma's comfy cozy chair and ottoman and tried to get some sleep, but the living room just wasn't the place for that. I decided to go and lay down on Grandma's bed. Shaylen came too and we both fell asleep for a nice long nap.

Vacation has begun.

An Unforgettable Day

My apologies...this is going to be a long post. Don't say I didn't warn you.

On Friday night, Taigen and I had an obligation to have a meeting with someone and then do dinner. The kids had planned on going over to "Miss Lorrie's" (a lady from our church) for a sleepover. It was something that had been on our calendar for a while and the kids were greatly looking forward to it. We wrestled through whether or not to follow through with this plan. Marshall was coughing (and Shaylen had a residual cough as well), but he was looking more perky, had been on antibiotics for over 24 hours now, and his fever was low-grade (99 degrees). It was a tough decision, definitely not ideal, but we went ahead as planned. We loaded the kids up with their stuff & medicines. We gave Miss Lorrie instructions and dropped them off.

Our meeting went very well. Just before dinner, Taigen remarked to me that he was cold. He said to me quietly, "I hope the restaurant is warm." Well, it wasn't. It was cold, even to me! Throughout dinner, Taigen tried to be cordial and perky, but I could tell he wasn't feeling well. He was picking at his dinner and literally shivering.

When we got back to the house, Taigen got in bed, piled a gazillion blankets on top of him, and went to sleep. The sickness had now come to Taigen.

When we met back up with Miss Lorrie and the kids, she said that they had had a rough night. They all looked exhausted. I guess they had periods of sleep interrupted by bouts of coughing. We knew it had been a bad decision for all of us. *sigh*

When we got home, Taigen crashed, the kids crashed, and I went to the church to do some secretarial work for Sunday's services as well as the Sunday that we were going to be gone. Taigen said he could manage getting dinner so I was to just stay through and get stuff done.

I was able to get everything done for church and got home by about 6:40pm. Everyone had eaten (or so I thought) and baths were in progress. I took Marshall's temperature. It had spiked again and so we made the decision to keep Marshall home from church on Sunday. This would be my third Sunday out. By now, surely folks were forgetting what I even looked like!

Sunday morning dawned. Taigen took his temperature and told me that his fever was gone. He wasn't feeling the greatest, but at least he felt good enough to eat a decent breakfast and go to church (or so we thought). I came down and put the breakfast dishes into a sink of hot soapy water and wiped off the counter. He did say to me before leaving for church, "I feel like we are limping to vacation." No kidding. Famous last words, eh? Taigen and Shaylen left for church. Shaylen had told me the night before that she was going to see if she could sit with the Gicks. She said that she had never sat with them before. I thought it was a great idea (remember this...it will come into play later in my story).

Marshall was perkier than he had been the night before, but still subdued. I threw on some althetic pants and a t-shirt, but avoided doing my hair and applying my makeup. Why should I bother? I would not be leaving the house again today (or so I thought...you catching a pattern here?).

Marshall and I crashed on our bed upstairs with a couple of Hardy Boy books. We were in the middle of reading our second one when I heard the doorbell. It was about 11:30am. I quickly went into the bathroom to actually look at myself. (I was a vision of loveliness, I tell ya! But it wasn't as bad as I've seen myself before. Ha ha!) Went I went down to open the front door, who was standing there but Mrs. Cooper!? She was all decked out in church clothes. I said to her, "What?! Are you playing hookey or did the service just let out super-early?"

She didn't really laugh. It was more of a "ha" and a sympathetic side smile. She stepped in the house and said, "Um, no. Your husband fainted this morning during the service. He's okay. I'm here to take you to the Emergency Room." I know I cried briefly. I remembered being completely overwhelmed with the sickness that is in our house! I told her that I needed to get ready. She explained that our friends, the Lemons, were bringing Shaylen home and would take care of the kids. I went upstairs to tell Marshall what had happened. I also let him know what was going to take place. I moved him downstairs to the couch and then proceeded to make myself presentable. When I came downstairs about 5 minutes later, Mrs. Cooper was her usual self and made me laugh by saying, "I wish my house looked this good when people unexpectedly stopped by." She really cracks me up. I had couch pillows, Nancy Drew books, Hardy Boy books, a stuffed animal or two, and three blankets out. I had dishes soaking in the sink. In a matter of minutes, I was going to have a family of 5 descending upon my house. At this point I didn't care, but I love that Mrs. Cooper made me smile. (She always can. I totally get her quick, dry wit. You would love her too if you knew her.)

Debbie Cooper and I rode in her car to the hospital. We made small talk in the car on the way and she relayed a little bit more of what happened. I appreciate her taking care of me. I'm sure I shouldn't have been behind the wheel of a car. No doubt I would have exceeded the speed limit.

When we arrived, Mr. Cooper was being dropped off by another couple from the church. The ER was packed. My first observation of the waiting room was that there was a pajama party and I missed the memo. Clearly we were a little overdressed. There was standing room only. So, we stood and waited for them to let me back to see Taigen.

Taigen's color was back, but he did look so tired. It was then that he confessed that maybe he was weak because he hadn't eaten dinner the night before. "Ya think?" I said. That got a weak smile from him. Scott Meroff was there with Taigen. He had stayed by his side. What a faithful man! I was so grateful for our church people!

From then on I began to unravel what happened from various and sundry people. Apparently, Taigen wasn't feeling the greatest that morning, but he thought he could tough it out. He taught his Sunday School class. (Karen P. told him later that she had thought to herself that he looked pale.) He went on into the morning service. We typically sing a hymn, have announcements, read a passage from Scripture and pray. Then we sing two more hymns. It was during that third hymn that Taigen began to feel worse. He thought about sitting down but told himself that he could tough it out. The people were standing on that third hymn, and on the last verse/chorus, the ushers came forward for the offering time. By this time, Taigen was feeling awful. Folks tell me that he was pasty white. He gripped the sides of the pupit and asked Jerry to pray for the offering. Then, I guess he softly repeated himself in a slurred manner. Taigen tells me that he doesn't remember saying things a second time because everything had gone black. Several people had noticed Taigen not looking right. A man in the choir had noticed and was already on his way out of the choir loft to help. Renee, the organist, was watching him grip the pulpit. A man in our congregation who is also a Boy Scout Troop leader noticed. Taigen started to go down and there was a small gasp. He thudded to the floor (no dainty buckling of the knees...he went down like a felled tree) and then there was another huge gasp from the congregation.

The men were on him in seconds. Taigen fell to the right, missing the pulpit and the mini-pew that's on the platform. They rolled him to his back and started making sure he was okay. Can you imagine what was going on in people's minds? Cardiac arrest? A stroke? A heart attack? Someone even said, "Check to see if he's breathing!" Someone took off Taigen's tie and unbuttoned his top button. He came to and they asked him, "What day is today?" He responded "Sunday" in a matter-of-fact way. Thankfully, we had an EMT from Portsmouth visiting our church that day. They had never been to HBC before. He came up to the platform, introduced himself and told them that he was an EMT, offering to look Taigen over.

Now, remember earlier in my story that I said Shaylen went to church with Taigen? She was in the service. Now if Marshall and I had been there, we would have been sitting in the second pew on the piano side. We always sit there. It would have been the perf...um, no, the worst seat. We would have seen everything. (Think: Traumatized twins) Shaylen had told me that she was going to try and sit with the Gicks. Unfortunately for her, but fortunately for this whole situation, was the fact that both Mr. and Mrs. Gick were in the choir, so she couldn't sit with them. She asked Mrs. Meroff instead. Here is what happened from Amy's perspective:

Oh my! What a morning. As the Lord would have it, all seats towards the front were we normally sit were taken. Right after Sunday School Shaylen asked if she could sit with us and Michelle chose way towards the back as the rows were taken up front. We were about the 2nd row from the back, thank the Lord for that spot today. Because we were so far back, I do not believe Shaylen saw her Daddy on the floor at all. I did! After that horrible sounding thump and [when] some ladies from the choir gasped out loud, I looked up. I left right away and told Michelle to stay right with Shaylen. I didn't think fast enough to take her out with me. I went out immediately to ask Dan if I should go get you. In the mean time, 20 seconds later, Wendy had whisked out of the choir and come taken Shaylen out. I told Shaylen "Let's go see the babies". I did not want her near the lobby windows or to see EMT's arrive with a stretcher. I assumed she had seen Pastor down. There must have been enough men surrounding him, and taller people standing in front of her that she did not see that it was him. As we went down the stairs I said maybe he did not have a big breakfast, and said maybe that is why he passed out. When she said in a puzzled voice, "Who", my heart sank as I then realized she did not know, but thankful she had not seen it all. I told her "Daddy" and she burst into tears. We went into the nursery with babies and talked a minute and then we prayed. She calmed and had a few moments of questions and tears, but was very brave. She asked if he was awake and Mrs. Norris went to check and came back with happy news that he was awake and talking. I took her up when Pastor asked to see her. I kept my hands firmly on her shoulders as he talked to her, not knowing how she might feel or respond - some might have felt woozy to see a loved one down. As we were leaving the auditorium, she hugged the Lewises, but as I saw the EMTs arrive, I took her downstairs again so she would not see the stretcher come in and cause her further worry. Poor little girl. My heart was so sad for her. I reminded her to pray if worry came into her thoughts...We are so thankful that Pastor is ok; that was scary.

Praise the Lord for the care of my little one by the dear and sensitive ladies of our church!

I'm not sure of the order of events from here on, but I hear that Mr. Cooper stood up at the pulpit, prayed, and then dismissed the congregation. What a scary morning for them all!

Taigen had just a few more discussions with doctors and nurses before we left the ER. They wanted him to slowly stand up and check his blood pressure. I guess when the EMT's had done that in the auditorium it had dropped considerably. They wanted to make sure he wasn't going to faint on the way out. I called and texted family to let them know what had happened before everything hit the world wide web (i.e. Facebook) and made them panic. By that time, Taigen had stabilized so they took off his IV and chest "stickers" and let us go home.

Taigen and I stopped by the pharmacy on the way home to get Taigen's antibiotic prescription. He was already asleep when I got back to the car. My job was to take him home, get him settled, and make him rest. I got a phone call from Brenda (up at Cornerstone in ME). Word had already reached the folks up there and she called to let me know they would be praying. That was incredibly encouraging!

My dishes were done when I got home. Stephi had washed them all up. My kids had been fed and all was well in my house. I'm so thankful for my dear friends!

Shortly before the evening service, Mr. Cooper stopped by to check in on Taigen so that he could give the church an update. Also in our conversation he said that the deacons had discussed things and wanted to strongly suggest that we take an additional week of vacation. He said sometimes you hurry and get out, and just as you're starting to relax you have to turn around and come home. The deacons wanted to encourage Taigen to take the two weeks so that he would be sure to get ample rest. This was just so unbelieveably wonderful and overwhelming. We couldn't believe our ears. 

Sometimes when I am expressing great joy or love to the kids, my eyes tear up. They look at me like I'm insane and ask if I'm crying. I tell them, no, my heart is just so full that it overflows. Believe me then when I say that my heart was definitely overflowing with joy and gratitude at this point. God has always been and will continue to be so good to us in giving us such a wonderful and caring church family. We are just so delighted to be here serving with them. We pray that our vacation will be very restful so that we can come back ready for the weeks and months ahead.  Praise the Lord!

Our Little Ahhhteeest

We took Marshall to the doctor's on Thursday morning. We knew that vacation is coming and we didn't want him down with pneumonia while we were in Seattle. The doctor noted the similar symptoms that Shaylen had experienced: fever, chills, barky cough. In order to head things off at the pass, the doctor prescribed the amoxicillin for Marshall. We started in on it almost immediately. The amoxicillin didn't seem to be as potent as the azithromycin because Marshall still had fever and cough for days.

While Marshall was down for the count and I was playing nurse (again), Shaylen found ways to keep herself entertained. She loves to read. She devours books. It's hard keeping good books in her hands. The other thing she loves to do and is good at is drawing.

Here is a look at one of her latest creations:

Our "Pet" Mr. Moocher

The other day we were sitting in the living room when Whiskers came up to the back patio door. He has made our house one of his mooching stops. We comply by giving him scraps and talking friendly to him. You've read about the stray cats before.

We noticed something different about him. Do you see it?

If you look closely, you'll see that Whiskers (aka "The Little Moocher"...that's my name for him) now has a collar. There's no identification on the collar, but it's obvious that someone was able to catch him and put it on.

It's definitely the same cat that's been around since he was a baby, but now it looks as if someone has "claimed" him and is taking care of him. Could this be a flea collar? Regardless, he is still making our house an almost daily stop (usually breakfast time) and we still love on him. Isn't he a pretty kitty?

S'mores & Spots & More Sickness

On Sunday, one of our deacon's wives stopped by with a get-well gift for Shaylen. Shaylen was in a Benadryl coma at that point, so her enthusiasm over the gift was not apparent. Mrs. Cooper understood though and was not offended. The gift was a bag with a book (Mountain Born by Elizabeth Yates), a little stuffed fish (Shaylen named it "Squishy"), some magnets, candy from Italy, a school supply kid (stapler, paperclips, notebook, etc.), and a cookbook of kid friendly snacks. It was like Christmas!

I read the book to Shaylen while we were snuggling in our bed, Squishy has been present by Shaylen's side every night since, and Shaylen has devoured the snack cookbook with her eyes several times. It is very well done and the snacks are easily something kids could do.

I had told Shaylen that I would be willing to make her a snack from the cookbook this week. She quickly picked out the s'more treat. I purchased the needed supplies at the store and we assembled them after lunch yesterday.

They were a hit! All the snacks required were graham crackers, Nutella, and Fluff (Note: For those of you not familiar with Fluff, it's a New England thing. Just imagine a tastier form of marshmallow creme. If you ever come visit us in New England, you have GOT to try Fluffernutters! Oh my! They are delicious!).

These pictures were taken after lunch yesterday. If you look closely, you can see that Shaylen has a few remaining polka dots. They are diminishing though. That's good news! Marshall has his hoodie on because he was cold. He had been complaining about being "frozen" all morning long during school. I didn't think twice about it. I thought he was just making an excuse for wearing his hood. We would leave shortly after this photo was taken to head up to Portland, ME to Whole Foods to pick up stuff for Taigen & then head over to Scarborough where the kids have their piano lessons.

It was during the lesson time that Marshall began to crash and burn. He felt hot (in body temp), complained about being cold and tired. He was NOT acting normal (trying to fall asleep on my shoulder when it wasn't his turn to play, not being overly friendly to Mrs. Endean, crying, etc.). He fell asleep on the way home which he never does. It was then that I knew he was sick.

Marshall was going to take a nose dive into Fever/Pneumonia Land. :( Guess who was going to miss church the next day? Yep. Marshall and me. Third Wednesday in a row. I'm going to get handed a visitor card when I return.

Basement Update

Today, Taigen and Dale (from church) installed two doors. One set is on a closet that they installed. This closet will house our freezer, leftover cans of paint, and some of the kids' toys (Playmobil, Legos, etc.) once we "move" into the basement.

The other door is the actual basement door that leads up to the bulkhead doors & out into our backyard. Up until this point I had a jimmy-rigged "door" on our bulkhead. It was like a framed in rectangular section, complete with insulation, plastic and hinges. U-G-L-Y! Don't ask me how the house passed inspection with this behemoth. There was no way to get it open without a crowbar, and it was equally as difficult to get the thing closed once you did get it open. Isn't there something about egress codes?

So you can see why I am so excited to finally have a door in my basement. It works beautifully and even has a nice lock on it. There are a few more things that have to be done to seal it properly (as you can tell from the picture, you can still see daylight), but the fact that it's even in is a big deal.

Still Seeing More Spots

It's Monday and guess what we're still seeing?

Yep. More spots. We missed our second Sunday yesterday. We're both very eager for her to be healthy again.

The Mr. Mr. & His Green Machine

Marshall's initials are M.R.J. My dad figured it out from the very beginning that when Marshall gets formal mail, it will be addressed to Mr. M.R. J______. So, Dad calls him the "Mr. Mr." It's such a cute nickname that he gave to our little man. Marshall loves it.

 

The other thing Marshall loves that Grandpa and Grandma gave him is this Green  Machine. He loved theirs when we were out in Colorado this Spring. Dad & Cathy decided to give one to the kids as an early birthday present so they could enjoy it well before all the snow comes in the winter. It has been a VERY popular toy.

 

Marshall mostly enjoys speeding along and then skidding out at the front and back of the driveway. You can hear him doing this for the entire time he is outside playing. It doesn't get old. Taigen likes Marshall using the Green Machine because he says the handles are getting Marshall ready to help mow the lawns at the church with the special riding lawn mower we have. Hilarious.

 

 

 

Peanuts and Polka Dots

When the doctor diagnosed Shaylen with pneumonia, he prescribed two medicines: azithromycin (antibiotic) and prednisone (steroid). He said he really liked the azithromycin because you only had to take a few doses, but it continued working long after you stopped taking it. He recommended the prednisone to help give her body strength to fight off the pneumonia. The medicine worked. Her fever dropped and she got more life in her cutesy face.

However, her body didn't like the antibiotic. She had a severe allergic reaction. Wednesday I noticed that she started getting red dots on her face, arms and legs. Since she hadn't been outside, I knew it wasn't something she had rubbed up against. I knew it was a reaction to the meds. I took her back to the doctor's and they confirmed that. They changed her medicine to amoxicillin, but warned me that her body was going to probably continue reacting because the azithromycin would be in her system. A nurse from our church said the same thing. She said it sometimes takes 10-12 days for the body to work it out of the system.

So, for the time being, Shaylen was back in bed, itchy and in a Benadryl coma. You could see the rash go away during the four hour time frame, but instantly come back at the tail end of the four hours. We missed another Wednesday night service and Shaylen was disappointed to not be able to go. Oh, the tears that were shed!

I cannot take pictures of what I saw on her backside. She was covered. The pictures I've posted here are mild. The only place I did NOT see the rash was in her hair. It was all over her face, ears, lips, neck, chest, arms, hands, fingers, buttocks, thighs, calves, feet and toes. She tried to do school, but would eventually go to sleep on the couch and wake up itching again after the Benadryl wore off.

And yet, look at her sweet smile in spite of it all. Her spirit matches that smile. Sweet and joyful. I love this girl SO much!

 

 

 

Poor Peanut

If you read my post about the Labor Day Picnic, then you know that Shaylen was sick all that day. She ended up not going to church on Sunday. We made a judgment call Saturday night. When her fever was still up over 101, we knew she couldn't possibly go. There was much sorrow in her sweet little heart.

It ended up being the right call though. I took her to the walk-in clinic on Monday (it was Labor Day & our dr's office was closed) because now her fever had been going on for five days. She had missed church on the previous Wednesday and now Sunday. It was time to have a doctor check things out.

We got in and they took her temperature. It was 102. After checking her out, I fully expected the doctor to say she probably just had a virus of some sort and to keep on giving her Tylenol or Ibuprofen. So you can imagine my surprise when he said, "I want to get her in for a chest x-ray." She had a mild, barky cough, no runny nose or congestion so I didn't really know why. When the x-ray came back, the doctor called us in and showed us her healthy left lung, but pointed out blobs on the screen in her right lung. "Do you see that? That's pneumonia."

Shaylen got a panicky look on her face but managed to hold things together until we were back in the exam room by ourselves. Then she cried. When I asked her why she was crying, she said, "Don't people DIE from pneumonia?" Poor baby. I calmed her nerves and told her that the doctor was going to give her medicine that would help, and no, not many young children die from pneumonia.

Tonight's agenda will be administering medicine and making her rest. She has a great attitude & will be the perfect patient to care for.

HBC's Annual Labor Day Picnic - Celebrating 5 Wonderful Years

Every year we love to have our church family over to the house for a Labor Day picnic. It is just a wonderful day of great conversation, games, and wonderful food. This is something we look forward to all year. Kids get hot and sweaty running around, smack-talk is given over games of horseshoes and basketball, and I get an unlimited amount of time to chat with my dear ladies. What more could we ask for?

This year was no exception. The house was cleaned after the teen activity, the pop was iced, the burgers, hot dogs & buns were ready to consume. We had about 65 people descend on the house! We've never had a turnout this big. Our kitchen island was covered with mouth-watering side dishes or salads. The weather was perfect.

The only negative thing I have to say about the day is that Shaylen wasn't feeling good. She was fighting a fever. Her greatest desire was to be able to attend Sunday School the next day. The twins would be moving up to the next class ("The Big Kid Class") of 4th-6th graders. She was so excited. In hopes of being able to allow her to go, she stayed in our bedroom with a stack of Nancy Drews the whole day. We certainly missed her.

After grilling, eating, and milling about for the majority of the time, it was time to break out the desserts. I was squeezing my way through the crowds to get serving knives & spoons and remembered that I had seen Mr. Bishop bring in a huge cake box. He had set it on a dining room chair. I was afraid that he had gone to all that work to make whatever was in the box, and I didn't want it to be forgotten because it was partially hidden under the table. However, when I went to grab it, one of the deacons firmly said, "No! Don't open that." I thought, "Okay. Maybe today is someone's birthday and I didn't realize it."

Unbeknownst to us, the church had gone and made a HUGE personalized card & everyone had signed it. Mr. Bishop had made a beautiful cake in the shape of a Bible. The church was wanting to thank us for 5 years of ministry! The 5 year "Pastorversary" (as I called it) had come and gone on Sunday, August 26th. Taigen and I had noted the day and were thankful for the 5 wonderful years. So we weren't expecting this at all! John Pileggi (one of our deacons) gave a wonderful speech (wish I could've recorded it), thanked us for serving at Heritage, presented the card, and then the cake. Wasn't that so sweet? I'm getting goosebumps just reliving it in my mind. We are so thankful to be at Heritage. God has richly blessed us with sweet friends and godly co-workers in the ministry. We're excited for what God has ahead.

Back To School Burger Bash

Tonight we had the teens over for our annual HBC Back To School Burger Bash. It's the first teen activity that rising seventh graders get to attend. We keep it fairly casual. They play tons of games, we eat, and then Taigen gives a challenge from God's Word.

We are so thankful for Daniel & Elisabeth and all of the time and energy they invest in these young people's lives.

Monks & Illumination in a Scriptorium

This year, Marshall & Shaylen are learning about the Middle Ages & the Renaissance. Today's lesson involved a lesson about monks and how they copied books by hand on parchment paper or animal skins. They used quills & worked daily in places called scriptoriums. Sometimes the monks would decorate the books with paints made of egg whites or with pictures in the margins or on the tops of the pages. This type of decoration was called "illumination."

The twins got to pretend they were monks today and did their own illumination. They did a fantastic job.