Toof

Nash had two teeth pulled Wednesday and fully expects the tooth fairy to show up tonight.  The problem is he wants to keep the teeth AND get the money. His solution? "After the tooth fairy takes the teeth and leaves the money....you kill him!"

Cool Cats

Bono clones or just cool cats?

Rugged

Nash insisted I take this picture and name it "Eskimo hunting a bear." So there you go...

A mess

The Hubbell kids decoupaging some canvases.  They seem to like anything that makes a mess.

Hiawatha

I took Molly to shoot her new bow and on her second shot from 10 yards she hit the target!  I thought we would be spending a lot of time looking for arrows but she did very well.

Boy

Boy was watching Power Rangers starring the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and during a tense scene said, "This is just too horrible.....but I like it."  That's my boy.

El Fine

Rommel has been looking ill lately so Michele took him to the Vet.  She thinks he has a tumor on his spleen, which would explain his lethargy and loss of muscle.  Long (sad) story short, it's time to have him put down.  Autumn has probably taken it the hardest, and all of them (save Nash) have been extra attentive.  It makes it harder because his eyes are still bright and his tail still wags.  Everything in between is betraying him, though, and he isn't doing well.  So, good bye crazy dog.  Thank you for accelerating my insanity.

Poem

I thought I should share Autumn's latest work.

"I'm cooking my sister for dinner,
Everyone's making a fuss.
We keep talking bout dinner,
And dinner keeps talking bout us. "

Brilliant...

Work

Nash was helping me hook the camper up to the Avalanche and he asked, "Why do you have to go to work?" I was about to answer and he said, "Oh, I know. So you can serve God and get money for your family." His answer was better than mine...

Graduation!

Our baby girl graduating...

Pianer

The girls are practicing for the recital and I hear Molly say, "A one, a two, a you know what to do..."  I love those kinds of carry overs.

The Boy

Family...And overwhelming shame...And hope?

If you haven't read this book (and I'm guessing you haven't) you should.  I am not sure how you'll receive it, but you should still read it.  I don't read.  When I do read, it's in two or three book "sprints" that leave me exhausted.  Michele got me "Lone Survivor" for Christmas and I read that.  It was hard reading, not because it was technically difficult, it was hard because I felt like crying the whole time.  Fresh off my success with one ENTIRE book read, I started this one and just finished it today.

It is basically entirely foreign, intensely convicting, capable of leaving one feel deeply ashamed, and yet left me more encouraged about certain aspects of life than I have been in a long time.  If there was ever a ("defense" doesn't sound right, maybe "argument in support of"?) home schooling/worship re-thinking/church re-organizing, this is it.  Or at least this is the one that says a lot of what I think in a much better way than I ever could.

Seriously, read it.  I'm sure you'll disagree, but I need to know why.  Chapter 3 was REALLY hard to read because I've completely blown it there.  The rest aren't much easier, but they're a good blueprint.  Family worship time?  Why don't we have family worship time?  Segregated church service?  Why exactly do we have that? (Besides the fact children, mine in particular, are largely undisciplined)

Vegas Part II

I never did follow up the riveting Vegas Part 1 post, so I'll do that now.  Vegas is not as scary as I had imagined, in fact, I can even see bringing the family here so they can say they've seen the place.  Sure, if you're looking for trouble, you can find it in every variety known to man, but the thing is....you have a choice.  You can choose NOT to look for trouble, so then it just becomes a strange, ridiculous town smeared across a barren landscape.  Hoover Dam is worth the trip just by itself, and then there's Lake Mead and all.

Drive the strip during the day, it becomes a parking lot at night.  I wouldn't walk the strip after about 5:00pm.  I walked to see Dan and Helynn about that time and it was still a reasonable atmosphere.  Of course, I was delirious from the the 2 mile hike/jog so who know what I was not seeing as I "Fat Boy Waddled" through the crowd.  Hotels are cheap, meals are not.  The Atomic Testing Museum was neat and parts of town are rather cool.  Like the McDonald's with the automatic door, I guess even the Mob likes convenience...

The days of the cheap buffets and shows are gone, so that stinks, but I figure everyone should see the Ridiculous Town at least once.  If for no other reason than to see all of what is wrong with the world together in one place.

Orlando

I'm in Orlando for training this week and guess I'll post some gratuitous Orlando shots for those of you not in Orlando...

I imagine it can be miserably hot here, but for now it is really nice.

Funny

At Bass Pro Shops today, Molly told Nash how all the animals were real and had been stuffed. We got off the elevator, saw this dude and Nash, is his loudest and most dramatic voice, cried "They killed a human! "  It was hilarious.

Vegas Pt 1

Michele and I were talking about meals while I'm in Vegas.   I was going to order Chinese and keep half for the next day in the fridge.   Then we both agreed there probably wouldn't be a fridge, this is Vega after all.   So I get to my room and all the fridge talk seems silly. There's even a breakfast bar for crying out loud...  And all this for $139 a night!  I kept checking my email confirmation to make sure I hadn't reserved some crazy expensive room.

New job

I got a call from HR today and was offered the Telecommunications blah blah blah job and I accepted.  It will be a big change, but it's exciting.  It opens up possibilities for me at work and more places for us to live.  There isn't an official start date yet, but I'll be based out of the Burlington office with the possibility of moving later.

I didn't really know how to think of this whole process but each thing I considered a barrier to the job was removed and I really do trust that God will be glorified in the decision.  So, anyhoo, that is the big news for now.

Papa said...

When I get advice, solicited or otherwise, I usually have to grow up into it.  At the time it often seems irrelevant or pointless and it isn't till much later I see the wisdom in what people were trying to tell me.  As I have been consumed with this job decision (keeping in mind I haven't been offered it, I'm just arrogant enough to assume I'm the best candidate) it triggered the memory of last time I had to make a decision about a job that would mean big changes.  Michele was pregnant with Molly and I had interviewed with Aquila in Canon City.  Everything went well, they offered me the job, and I accepted.  I came home to find Michele distraught and panicked about the thought of moving, even though it was really what she wanted to do.  Bewildered, I happened to run into Papa and asked him what he thought of the whole situation.  Who better to ask than Papa?  To me he was the embodiment of wisdom, the old Sage metaphorically perched upon his high mountain perceiving and understanding.  If there was anyone in the world that would know what to say, it would be him.  One's heart is "deceitfully wicked above all things" and the world offers nothing but tasty things that go down easy and rot you from the inside.  Not so with Grandpa, 90 years of experience and struggle had surely formed in him a wellspring of Godly, practical advice that would make my life easier.  I was ready...I was ready for a sure-fire, black and white answer.  No guessing, no fussing, no riddles.  Should I take the job, should I turn it down?  Do we move, do we stay?  What do I do?

I remember Grandpa's answer like it was yesterday.  It was wholly unsatisfying.  I didn't know how to respond, so I made small talk.  This was wisdom?  This was my answer?  He told me, "Well, in 40 years you'll look back and think, 'I did the right thing.'"  I was so disappointed.  Did he hear my question?  I wanted a "yes" or "no" answer.  I didn't want an answer I didn't understand.  Not only did I not understand, I felt like he had ignored me.  I was confused and borderline hurt.  I could have got an answer that didn't make sense from anywhere, and I had expected more from Papa.

Here we are nine years later.  This job decision (if it's offered, and I'm hoping they pick someone else, but feel like they'll pick me) will mean big changes.  Travel for me and more Single-Mom parenting for Michele.  At least for awhile.  I wish I could talk to Grandpa now.  I wish I could tell him I understand...that I get it now.  "Yes" and "no" don't matter, the job doesn't matter, my reservations and fears don't matter, not really.  God matters.  Papa's answer assumed an understanding and confidence in the sufficiency and Majesty of God.  The little things I spend so much time focusing on are just that, they are little things.  Whatever we do, whether we stay or go, take the job or decline the job, the divine momentum of His plan ensures that 40 years later I will look back and think, "I did the right thing."