Sunday, November 29th

Tim and I holed-up here... we left Jax just before 3:00 for our seven-hour (450 mile) drive home... six hours later, we had travelled 160 miles and just endured a seemingly-interminable stretch between the last exit in Georgia and the first in South Carolina... plans are to get five or six hours of sleep and hit the road around 3:00 AM, hoping that will give us enough time for me to make it back for work @8:30...

On a much more positive note:
Tim and I got to go to church and lunch with Grace and Will after a thoroughly enjoyable Thanksgiving weekend!

Saturday, November 28th

Gators took care of business against their in-state rival Florida State today... the highlight of the 37-10 victory for Grace and me was the fact that the CBS commentators looked up and read the Scripture verses Tim Tebow had on his eye-black to all the viewing audience!

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Fort Lauderdale

Mom fixed us turkey and ham croquettes this morning (a family favorite way to recycle the main-course Thanksgiving left-overs)... they did not disappoint!
We're headed down to spend a little time with Grace's newlywed-daughter Bonnie and her husband Drew at their place in Pompano Beach... I'm really looking forward... haven't seen her since her summer of 2002 visit to Managua, and it will be my first chance to meet Drew!



Snapped this picture this evening during a rousing game of "One Versus One-Hundred"...

Fun times!

Thanksgiving Day in Orlando

Some of today's fare at the Rah's... Jay and Susie always do a first-class job hosting.

Everyone had a great time meeting Grace, and she them... so much to be thankful for!(L2R) GK, Grace, Jason (Susie's son), "G-Mom", Nicholas (Mike's son), TK, Kailey, Mike (my youngest sibling), Suzanne (his wife), Susie (my sis), Jay (her husband/chef supremo)

Thanksgiving in Gainesville

We had a great time at Lana's mom's... early Thanksgiving... as always, she treated us to a feast! Other highlights: "catching up", piano concert by Laurie, including Grace in the festivities...(L2R) Mitch (Lana's only sibling); Heather (his wife); Katie (Mitch's daughter/Tim's cousin); Laurie (Lana's mom's husband); Mary (Lana's mom); TK, Grace, GK

Tuesday, November 24th

Tim and I had a full day starting with a campus visit and meeting with the three coaches at UNCA, who seem very interested in the prospect of having Tim "sign" to play with them in the fall... and ending with our 11PM arrival in Jacksonville to begin our Florida Thanksgiving. I'm posting this picture of Kara and Bonnie (taken in Nicaragua at the end of their sophomore year)... they are the only ones of our kids not with us now. We are scheduled to spend Friday in Fort Lauderdale with Bonnie and her husband, Drew... Unfortunately, there will be no quick-trip to Australia to see Kara :(

Monday, November 23rd

Hanging with Tim is fun!... that is not to say I don't miss my daughter...

I think she wasn't more than a week old when she took her first trip to the beach (Longboat Key); that's where she was in this first picture with her grandma (Lana's mom), who incidentally is hosting us (Tim, Grace and me) for an early Thanksgiving dinner this Wednesday!

A couple of years later with her dad...
At her graduation from Sonshine Day Preschool...With her new friend "Billy"...With classmates at the first wedding performed at our school in Nicaragua...Backstage at the Franklin Graham Crusade in Managua with Jaci Velazquez (February 2000)...At Joanelle's (Lana's favorite beauty parlor in Managua) getting ready for the graduation of the NCA Class of 2002... Incidentally, that's Bonnie (Grace's daughter) in the white blouse next to Kara (she came to visit us in Nicaragua at the end of her sophomore year)... Tim and I will be headed to Florida tomorrow to spend time with Grace and our families... figuring to put about 2000 miles on the car (Jacksonville-Gainesville-Orlando-Fort Lauderdale)!

Sunday, November 22nd

Tim and I signed on to help pack and load shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child, we and about two dozen others, so we got to attend the worship service after all... Pastor Bruce preached on Matthew 5:23-26 in preparation for the Lord's Supper... all about being at peace with everyone (in as much as it depends on us).

Saturday, November 21st

The car repairs ended up taking pretty much the entire day... and being quite a bit more expensive than I'd hoped... so much so that Tim and I did part of the labor ourselves. He did have an indoor soccer game at 4:45, had 3 goals in a 14-5 victory over Tuscola (it was only 3-2 at the half). Grace had a team of 12 in the Duval County Math Competition and brought home the 3rd place hardware in the 21-team event... Here are the "Mathletes" with their beloved coach!

Friday, November 20th

Tim and I did homemade pizza and a movie tonight... just the two of us!

Tomorrow he's marching in a parade with his baseball team and playing indoor soccer; we also need to take the cars in for service and get some yard work done... hope it's a pretty day!

Thursday, November 19th

The UNC-Asheville coach wanted to take a look at Tim, and lined it up for him to work out with the local select team tonight... here he is talking to the club team coach at the end of the practice; it seems they both want him... now we have some decisions to make. The HFC red team is the top age-group team in our region, and UNCA is a Division 1 college team!

Wednesday, November 18th

Student Appreciation Chapel always features a musical "Faculty Original"... this year, there were two, performed completely without the benefit of rehearsal... brave teachers! (I tried unsuccessfully to upload the video, sorry).
Here's a picture of the students going through the buffet line of goodies the teacher brought them... as always, ladies first!

Tuesday, November 17th

Just as the JV Basketball team was ready to tip-off its season, the fire alarm went off... we found out later it was triggered inadvertently by one of our Guatemalan exchange students (he's worried about possible consequences; I told him we'd talk tomorrow)... The varsity boys are beginning their defense of last year's state championship without the two big men from that team (both are now playing on a Division I college team)

Monday, November 16th

Will snapped this one right after our Sunday lunch at Ruby Tuesday... sure was fun to spend that couple of days together!
Tim and I will be back down for Thanksgiving and Christmas...

Back in Asheville now with a day's work under my belt, and ready to go back to school for a special session of the corporation... we'll see about catching up on sleep tomorrow night ;-)

Kara's Birthday

My daughter is 23 today... I'm working on this post at 6:30AM, but since she currently resides in Western Australia (12 time zones away), she won't see it until sometime this evening... hopefully, she's received the card Tim and I sent a couple of weeks ago; we miss you, Kara! Thought I'd post a few pictures... good memories from the last 23 years...

Here she is all wrapped in pink... headed to her first church service at about one week old...Lana reading to her (still in pink) and her now-married cousins Kristen and Chelsea (see Nov. 6 entry)...With grandma; both in pink!...At an award ceremony in kindergarten after winning the Southern Bell art contest; her picture ended up in the phone book...Riding an elephant (with dad and Tim)...South-of-the-Border; touring the "isletas" (little islands) off the coast of Granada, Nicaragua...
At her 12th birthday party... Glamour shots (her friends were all older)...Father-daughter trip to Guatemala (by bus with a layover in San Salvador, where we stayed with the Turcios)...Making cupcakes with the little girls she nannies in Perth...Ready to hit the waves...A few last minutes of instruction...
Hope your day has been "totally tubular" Kara!

Saturday, November 14th

Bagels and coffee at Shelby's kicked off a great morning for us @Neptune Beach... we did have to make it back for the 3:30 kick-off of the Florida-South Carolina game (you know, the game against "the old ball coach"). Timmy (Tebow) wore Joshua 1:8-9 on his eye-black, and our boys "took care of business" (24-14) to move to 10-0 on the season...

"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

Friday, November 13th

Made the drive to Jacksonville after school today... great to see Grace and Will again. Soccer season keeps me a little occupied, and I hadn't been to Florida since July!
Winter is weight training and indoor soccer for Tim; their first game was tonight against Owen (the team that beat us 4-2 in the last game of the outdoor regular season). Tim scored the winning goal in the last minute of this 7-6 contest...

Thursday, November 12th

Back in 1983, when Lana and I were newlyweds, we joined a church pastored by this man... God has done amazing things through Gary Crawford, his beautiful wife Freda and our brothers and sisters-in-Christ at Westside Baptist Church over the past 27 years.
This morning, she joined Lana and the rest of the saints who've left this world behind... must have some kind of party going on up there!

Veterans' Day

Most schools took the day off; we gained one back and included our "Thanksgiving Chapel", an all-school affair where we took time to express our appreciation to God for the people and circumstances He's brought our way, and those who have served our country through its armed forces, asking Him to guide and protect those who remain "in harm's way"...

Tuesday, November 10th

Tim "raked it in" again at last night's Fall Season Celebration...
I told him that I'm proud of him for making the All-Conference & All-State teams, but even more so for the fact that his teammates chose him for one of the "Excellence Awards" given to the players who best represent the ideals of sportsmanship, competitiveness, selflessness, leadership and integrity.
His trophy shelf is getting a little cluttered as you can see...

19 Months

A year and seven months since Lana went Home...
I've posted this picture before, but it has been a while... remember taking it like it was yesterday.
I've always thought it had an other-worldly quality about it...


My sister Betsy and her husband Mike are celebrating 18 years of marriage...
Don't believe the honeymoon is quite over yet for those two!

They're raising their two terrific kids in Southern California...

Happy Anniversary, Mike & Betts!

Sunday, November 8th

This young lady's birthday...
If I've been effective in the administration of my duties over the past four-and-a-half years, it is because God has surrounded me with ministry-minded professionals like Laura Benzing. She and her husband Joel are raising four terrific boys (currently in grades 7, 8, 10 & 11)

Saturday, November 7th

Tim took the SAT this morning... I caught him clearing his head up on the roof this afternoon.
As you can see from these pictures, there aren't too many leaves left on our trees... winter is drawing nigh.

Steve's Birthday

It's Steve's 51st today... as you can see from these pictures, he may be my younger brother, but you could also say he's my BIG brother. He and his high school sweetheart, Kim, have raised their four daughters in "Big Sky Country" (Montana); two are happily married, two still in college... the "empty nesters" (by all accounts) are having a blast!

Happy Birthday, Stavros!

Baseball Season?

Coach Filipek called a 7:00AM meeting for those interested in playing baseball this year... these are the "early birds". Several (including Tim) were on the team that lost 3-1 in the semis last year to the eventual state champs and the one that won it all two years ago... we have our entire starting line-up back, and should be a strong contender for the state title... you will have to wait till March for the games to begin!