December Fun

Yesterday morning we had the opportunity to go to the UIL 2A high school state football playoff game to support Iraan (that town you've been hearing about in the news because their cheerleader bus was hit by a semi a couple of weeks ago on the way home from the quarter-final game and one of the sponsors was killed). This is the hometown of Jeff's parents and his entire extended family. And, even though Iraan didn't come away with the victory, it was so fun to be with family to cheer the team on and rally behind this small town that has endured so much heartache recently.

Supporting the Iraan Braves at the state playoffs at AT&T Stadium

After the game, we got together with family and friends for Mexican food at Mariano's. And, then our boys hopped in the car with Mimi and Grandpa and headed off for a ranch adventure.

Lunch at Mariano's

The rest of our immediate family spent the afternoon running a few errands and resting before heading over to the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine to catch up with Jeff's cousin and her family, who were in town for the game and who we definitely don't get to spend enough time with. Our time with them was precious, and we also had a wonderful dinner at Old Hickory's Steakhouse and enjoyed gawking at the spectacularly decorated resort.

While running our errands, we came across a few bottles of Republic Tequila,
signed by my MIL's cousin's husband, who is one of the co-founder's of the company.
This bottle is from their very first barrel. Very cool.

Some of the beautiful and unique Christmas trees at the Gaylord

An otherwise lovely weekend

Jeff and I got to have a Date Night on Friday. We've been making an effort to make this a priority this school year, and it has been so good for us in so many ways! We tried a new-to-us steakhouse over in Spicewood, which was absolutely excellent. Then, we spent a couple of hours wandering around Barnes & Noble in Bee Cave. We managed to get out without doing too much financial damage, but that store is truly dangerous.

The three big kids had sports in three different towns on Saturday morning, which was fun to juggle. We all left the house at 7:00 am. Ruth and Clay and I dropped Jeff and the big boys off at Starbucks in Marble Falls on our way to Burnet for the 8:00 volleyball game. They waited there for one of Weston's coaches to pick them up. Jeff and Max were then dropped off in Canyon Lake, and Weston went on to Bandera. When Ruth finished up her game, we made haste to pick up Jeff and Max and then hustle over to Bandera, where we got in on the second half of Weston's game. His team had their biggest win of the season and secured their place in the playoffs. Woo-hoo!

Since we were so close to San Antonio, we decided to just make a mini-vacation of it. Our first order of business was to track down some yummy Mexican food, which we found at La Fogata, a new-to-us, off-the-Riverwalk, super-fun place. The next stop was the San Antonio Children's Museum, which is one of our kids' all-time favorite children's museums. And, we've been to a whole bunch of children's museums in several different states! They played hard until closing time. We then loaded everyone up and headed to the nearest Nissan dealership to try out the NV van. We aren't really in the market for something new just yet, but we had seen one of these the other day and wanted to get a closer look. After a quick test drive and a stop at Walmart (because what's a weekend away without a stop at Walmart?!), we stopped by the hotel, before heading down to the River for dinner at yet another new-to-us, yummy Mexican food place. I'm not sure how we've missed this place on our previous trips to San Antonio, but we won't miss it again! After a long day of fun, we were all ready to hit the hay back at the hotel. (All of us except for Clay, who was over-tired and wound up and didn't go to sleep until almost 11:00!)

Friendly HEB checker

True-to-life shopping experience
(You can tell it's true-to-life by the overflowing shopping cart!)

life-size tinker toys

from the farm to the table

pig farmer

milking this experience for all it's worth

We headed home after a late breakfast, so that we could get a few things done around the house before Ruth's piano recital this afternoon. She played three songs, including a duet and the song she wrote. And even though she was a bit nervous, she did great!

Unfortunately, in the midst of all this frivolity, we received word that Jeff's grandmother passed away on Saturday evening. She had not been in good health for a while, but no one really realized how serious things were. Regardless, the death of a loved one is never really something a person is truly prepared for. This was obviously a somber note in an otherwise lovely weekend. Granny Wanda will definitely be missed.

West Texas

Tragedy struck the small west Texas town where Jeff grew up this past week. One of his classmates lost his father to long-time illness. Another classmate's younger sister unbelievably and unexpectedly died in childbirth. In a town of fewer than 1000 people, one death in the community makes an impact, but two rocks it to its core. Even though Jeff hasn't returned to Wink too many times in the last few years or kept in close contact with most of his classmates, we felt strongly that we needed to be there for these two memorial services on Saturday. So, we left the kids with Jeff's parents early Saturday morning and headed west. It was wonderful for Jeff to have an opportunity to reconnect with the people and places of his past and for me to get to be there with him, though we would have much preferred to do that under different circumstances.

Between the memorials, Jeff took me on a comprehensive, street-by-street tour of Greater Wink. And later in the day, after leaving Wink, he took me out to the Monahans Sandhills State Park, which proved to be a special, unexpected treasure.

We are hoping to plan some sort of reunion with Jeff's class of 26 sometime soon, and we hope to take the kids out there, so they might also might have an opportunity to connect with these unique people and places that are indirectly shaping their lives in some ways.

Silhouettes in the sand

The Sandhills

Meanwhile, the kids enjoyed some time in the redneck pool at Mimi and Grandpa's house

Death at the doorstep

Obviously, we are all just a breath away from death. But, at our house, someone always seems to be dying. At least that's how it sounds. So, I've made a little list of some of the ways death comes to us.*

• cactus spines
• fire ant bites
• face-plant on the concrete while rollerskating
• caterpillar stings
• (accidental) murder by a brother, with a fireplace poker to the eye
• skinned knees and elbows (only fatal if an adult is watching)
• self-inflicted sledge hammer to the eye
• ear infections
• stubbed toes
• bath water too hot
• bath water too cold
• soap in the eye
• teething
• headaches
• pulled hair
• cuts completely invisible to the naked eye
• bonked heads
• smashed fingers
• nightmares
• falling to the ground while attempting to ride the garage door up
• perceived injustices
• being told to "go play outside"
• ingesting raw shrimp**

*No one has actually died, or even been seriously injured. It just sounds that way.

**The shrimp incident did not produce death cries on it's own. My reaction to that event is what brought on the near-death hysteria.

Where there's a will

We have updated drafts of our wills sitting around the house right now, waiting for our perusal, approval and signatures, before we return them to our lawyer and make them official. Of course, this has led to all sorts of fun conversations. I have, once again, been a blubbering mess in the face of all the hypothetical talk, which really inspires confidence for me to deal with any unfortunate reality that may come up. I know this is the necessary business of responsible adults, but, man, is it an unpleasant business! And, frankly, lawyers and all their legalese don't make it easier. I swear, it seems like lawyers have created this ridiculous language just to make things hard and confusing, and of course, ensure that none of us can get through this process without their help. It's all just so awesome. But, to be cliche, I suppose where there's a will, there's a way. And, truly, I wouldn't want to be caught dead without these things taken care of.

Joy and Pain

Last night I attended a memorial service for Jeff's dear great-aunt, who was really more like a grandmother. Today, I got to see a video of my new baby. The life cycle complete. There is always life, and there is always death. Always joy and always pain. And what a strange and wonderful creature it is who can feel both the joy and the pain so deeply and almost simultaneously. It is a privilege to have been created with this capacity. In the coming days and months, we will continue to grieve and to rejoice, and we will marvel at the fact that we can do both and be thankful that we, of all the animals, were created in just this way.

Facing myself in the face of death

Today, as I bought birthday party supplies for my four-year-old-to-be, another mom buried her four-year-old son, after he succombed to a brain tumor earlier this week. I don't know this woman personally--though I am friends with her cousin--but my heart breaks for her nonetheless. This isn't fair. And it isn't understandable. And there simply are no words. I can only pray that this family will draw the strength they need at this difficult time from the Lord and that He will sustain them in these dark days. For me, the effect of this child's death is to to examine my relationship with my own kids. How many times, just today, did I take them for granted? Or become unnecessarily exasperated with them? Were my harsh words more than my loving words? Did I hug them enough? Did I truly enjoy them? I will admit to you that in the past few weeks I have viewed my role as "Mom" as a burden of sorts, and I have failed to appreciate the blessing that it is to be in this position. A messy house, a screaming child, an interrupted thought, a life lacking in glitz and glamor: these are not burdens. These are the blessings of the everyday. I know Sondra would embrace any and all of these with joy today. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Not for me, not for my kids, not for anyone. This moment is all I can claim. Please, Lord, help me to make the most of it.

Jeff and I received news today that a friend of ours passed away this morning. She had been ill for many years, so we weren't surprised by the news, but still saddened. This was a wonderful lady, who I wish everyone would have had the privilege to meet. She loved life. She loved people. And most importantly, she loved the Lord. I never once heard her utter a word of complaint, though certainly with her medical problems she was entitled to that as much or more than anyone. I did hear her laugh. A lot. She was a beautiful person and she appreciated beautiful things. And she was very sensitive to the Lord. She once told me that as she was praying one morning, she very distinctly heard the Lord speak to her and tell her to change the light bulb in her closet. She said she kind of laughed to herself and wondered why this could possibly matter to the Lord, but she went and got a step stool in order to take care of this business as soon as possible. When she reached for the globe of the light fixture, she realized it was full of water. Upon further inspection, it was discovered that the cause of the light being out wasn't a burned out bulb, but a water leak that, if left unchecked, could have flooded that entire floor of their house. Her sensitivity and obedience to the Lord saved she and her family a ton of heartache. And this was just one occasion. She understood well that the Lord cares about the details of our lives. So, I do not grieve for her, because I know she is now with the Lord, with a brand-new, illness-free body. But I do grieve for her family, because human attachments are so very hard to sever. Unfortunately, we haven't had an opportunity to see this friend in some years, but the memories we have of her are all beautiful, wonderful memories, and we are thankful for the opportunity we had to know her. And, frankly, I am challenged, as I write these words, to live a life like this. A life full of love. Full of joy. Full of peace. Full of the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.