Brendan's baseball

Brendan played baseball for the first time, this year. There wasn't a coach for our team, so Wes and Shawn coached the team. It was a great experience. They did a really good job. Of course when he's not playing baseball, he's very creative about coming up with other ways to have fun.

Ziggy and the Munday VBS group

Whew! Where has the Summer gone?

The first week of our Summer, we had VBS at Chapions. Ryan was a helper, and I took the posed photos like I do every year. Ryan had a week of basketball camp. He has continued to play basketball through the Summer. Ryan and I, and a group of Junior High youth group members went to Munday, TX, which is about 90 miles NW of Abilene, to do a VBS for the kids there. That was a great experience. We thank God for the blessing of our new friends there.
We also got a dog. His name is Ziggy. We got him from some friends at church. He is so sweet and is fitting into the family nicely.

Who's who

In the group of photos below, here's who they are. Sorry, I haven't figured out how to label each photo individually.

Top photo: Harrison McGill, Leslie Giles, Morgan Harlow, Ryan Smith, Adam Giles

2nd photo: It's labeled and you should be able to read ther writing if you click on the photo

3rd photo: Chriostie Nordstrom, Ryan, Me, Leslie and Adam Giles

4th photo: Marci McGill, Harison, Amy, Sharan, Leslie, Christie, Adam and Ryan

bottom photo: Abigail and Sam Swann, Adam, Ryan and Leslie
in the background: Stephanie Swann and possibly Lynne Bruton??

For old times sake

We recently visited San Antonio for a quick vacation and got to see some special people from our Mac Arthur Park church of Christ family (where we worshipped when we lived there). When we got home, I busted out the old photo albums and showed Ryan and Brendan pictures of the people we saw when we were there. I thought it would be fun to share a little of our trip down memory lane. See anybody you know? You may need to click on the image to enlarge it so you can see them better.

Rejoicing with Ryan!!!

We rejoice with Ryan and with the angels in Heaven, in his decision to obey Jesus in baptism.

Acts 2:38 "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

Luke 15:10 "...There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of GOD over one sinner who repents."

Brendan's first baseball game

This was a fun first game. Wes and "Uncle Shawn" are coachingn and we have great parent support. The photo above is Brendan putting his bat down after a great hit. My camera was too slow to get the hit.

Fun at the Astros

Thanks to a sweet friend who gave us their tickets for Friday's game, we went to the Astros game and had a great time. They lost, but it was still fun.

Time for breather

Things have been a little wild lately. We all went to Dallas last weekend for LTC and then Ryan and I went to San Antonio this weekend for Ryan to compete in the State Math and science competition. We're very happy for Ryan, as he did a fantastic job at both. Here is a quick video of Ryan getting his awards for LTC, and then another one of him getting his award for placing 6th in Science against kids from all over Texas. The kids had all qualified for the state meet in local and then regional competitions. There were about 1300 in the science competition and about 400 in our 5A division. Thankfully Wes and Brendan are both well again, as they were both sick this past week (Wes-flu, Brendan??) My mom had knee replacement surgery a few weeks ago and is on the mend.

A lovely Spring

I enjoy all the color and freshness of Spring. Here are a few pics of the flowers in our yard and a shot that Brendan took of me out in the yard. We also had fun time at the Houston Livestock show.

February fun

We've had some fun and exciting times this month. Ryan made it into the district 6th grdae Honor band, and there is a picture of him with his section before the concert. It was great. I'm amazed at the progress they've made since just learning to make a sound on the intruments in September. Also, we celebrated both Ryan's 12th birthday, and Brendan's 8th birthday. Here are a few pix from Brendan's party at Pump it UP. I got to share in the fun at Brendan's class Valentine party as well. I can't believe February is almost over. It seems like the new year just began. Love to you all!

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year!
We thank GOD for all of his wonderful blessings, and are so glad that you, our precious friends and family, are among them.
It’s hard to believe that 2008 is already gone, and 2009 is here.
Looking back over the year, we’d have to say that Hurricane Ike was the event with the greatest impact on our lives. It certainly brought its’ challenges, but also great blessings, opportunities and lessons. The damage we sustained due to Ike was fairly minor. The nursing home Christy volunteers at actually had their roof collapse, and had to evacuate all of the patients for several months. We had only had one tree fall in the front yard (thankfully not on the house), and tons of debris. Our playroom flooded and we had to get new carpet and some sheetrock. We got to use our camping skills in the 15 days we didn’t have power. Ike was a great catalyst for getting to know our neighbors better, and lots of good teamwork.
Also, on the bright side, since we had to replace some carpet and paint, we decided to combine our repairs with some redecorating in our master bedroom, and got new carpet and paint there as well. Wes and Jimmy (Wes’ dad) worked hard to remedy the drainage problem in the backyard that caused our flooding.
We’re well on our way with putting the house back together again.
Christy has been busy making window treatments and other decorative elements for the bedroom, with some welcome help from Virginia (Wes’ mom).
During the summer, Christy and the boys enjoyed helping with the IMPACT literacy program, downtown, and look forward to doing it again this summer.
We’ve noticed that the boys are definitely becoming more independent.
Ryan started playing the trumpet this year, and we’ve been amazed at the incredible improvement he’s made since he started in September. He works hard at it and is doing very well. Ryan still enjoys playing basketball, and is on his school’s math and science team. He competed in a UIL spelling competition last month, and won first place for his district. He’ll be participating in the Leadership Training for Christ conference, Easter weekend. The theme is” Light, Life, Word”, and they are studying the gospel of John.
Ryan went to his last year of Camp Kichaca (beginners Bible camp), in August, but now he’s officially in the Youth Group, so he’s moving on.
Brendan is our little comedian. If you look at him, he’s apt to tell you a joke. He’s just a very funny guy, even when he doesn’t intend to be. He enjoys doing gymnastics and playing basketball, but especially loves hanging out with family and his buddies. Brendan likes to sing and occasionally leads singing at a Sunday evening church service. It’s amazing to see how completely different children can be. Both boys really like to take apart electronics. However, their approaches couldn’t be more different. When an electronic device is broken or spent, we give it to the boys. Ryan uses a screwdriver and needle-nosed pliers, but Brendan uses a hammer and chisel.
Wes still works at HP as a supply-chain manager. He travels about once a quarter, usually to Asia. Christy stays home and volunteers frequently wherever needed (school, church, nursing homes, etc). Our family enjoys being involved with our church family, camping, playing games, and family Bible studies. During Christmas, we had a fantastic time during our first trip to Disney World and the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
We wish many blessings on all of you during 2009.
Love,
Wes, Christy, Ryan and Brendan

Our Disney vacation

We had a wonderful time at Walt Disney World!

Camping at Texana

Here are a few photos from a camping trip we did in late October, at Lake Texana State Park. We had a great and very relaxing time. There was a lot of wildlife as well.