Saturday, February 27th

Joel and Laura Benzing hosted a dessert social for our office suite staff and spouses to get to know Grace... We did miss the Hagans (Joe is in Alabama helping his oldest son get settled into a new job/apartment.)

Friday, February 26th

Grace got in this afternoon, just in time for us to get in a little time on the trail... here's one of those set-the-timer-run-around-and-hope-to-get-set-in-time kind of pictures:

Snow Day #5

Here's the view from my parking spot this morning about the time our "two-hour delay" became "snow day #5 on the year"...
Nobody's real excited about the prospect of making these days up on Saturdays or scheduled holidays...

Wednesday, February 24th

It's always fun to see students begin to take on leadership roles among their peers... here's one of the 8th graders from my "small group" (Ashlyn Tinsley) opening today's middle school chapel!

Tuesday, February 23rd

The video shows junior Will Robinson contributing two points to a 64-49 opening round victory over Cape Fear... a first step in defense of last year's state championship (we enter the tournament at the third-ranked team in 2A)
My favorite part of each contest is seeing the players call the fans out on the court to join them in thanking God for the game (win or lose)

Monday, February 22nd

Tim's first turn in the batting cage...

Sunday, February 21st

"Everyone says forgiveness is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive." -C.S. Lewis
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?"  Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times." (Matthew 18:21)

Tim had his first soccer game in two months this afternoon... a 1-1 tie with the select team from Concord, NC

Grandma's Birthday

Lana's mom's birthday!

Kara and Tim have never had to worry about whether or not they were loved... their grandmothers in Gainesville and Orlando have made sure of that!

The birthday girl is pictured with Kara on the way to a church service in Florida and with Tim on the front porch of our home in Managua, Nicaragua... a few birthdays ago!

Three years to the day since my dad took leave of this earth...
Here he is with Mom and three of my four siblings (Betsy, Steve and Susie); not sure where the picture was taken, but both of my sisters were born in Music City, so probably somewhere in Tennessee...
46 years ago (?) ...Sure do miss you, Dad!

Thursday, February 18th

Baseball and girls soccer seasons started this week... there's still a little snow on the ground and the temp's down around 30 degrees, but as you can see from this clip... they're out there!

Wednesday, February 17th

"They" were scheduled to pick up this '92 Park Avenue this afternoon while I was at work... either it was too cold out, or they couldn't get the old gal started... maybe tomorrow. She's been pretty dependable through the years, but after 18 years and 124,676 miles I thought she might be more valuable in Habitat-for-Humanity hands...

Tuesday, February 16th

It has been some kind-of-day! Started with our second day of staff professional development at The Cove (Billy Graham's Training Center)... The photo shows ACA's Head-of-School Bill George leading our morning devotional...The UNC-Asheville Head Coach called to inform me that Tim had been accepted to UNCA and that he would like to sit down and talk about signing him to play Division-I Soccer in the fall. Tim is very excited about the prospect of that and studying Mechatronics (a combination of Mechanical, Electrical and Computer Engineering)...When I got home, my realtor called to say that after going back-and-forth with counter-offers for three days, the couple interested in our house has come within $1,000 of my last price... so it looks like we have a buyer!
(that will let us live in the house through Tim's graduation) And then, lest you be tempted to think I haven't had time to live "in the moment"... I snapped this picture of some of the 20+ wild turkeys hanging out at the entrance to the convention center...

Presidents' Day

It's Lana's mom's (and her husband Laurie Brady's) 13th anniversary... she'd been married to Lana's dad 40 years when he left this earth in '92. The picture is from her son Mitch's wedding in St. Lucia last May... Happy Anniversary, Mom & Laurie!

Valentines Day

Well, didn't get to spend Valentines Day with either one of my girls (Kara & Grace), but Tim and I made the most of it: Church, lunch out, Sunday siesta and a pick-up game of soccer...

Saturday, February 13th

The puffy white stuff is everywhere... here's the street-level view of our house; apparently someone got stuck at the base of the drive last night, and just left their truck...

Friday, February 12th

Tim and I braved the snow to watch our defending state champs beat their cross-town rival Carolina Day... it's really nasty out on the highways; in fact, tomorrow's soccer game has already been called off. Video footage of Tim's section of the stands; the team asked fans to dress in white for this big game...

Mom and Dad's 54th

My mom and dad pledged on this day in 1956 to love each other "til death parted them"... they were true to their words!
Their time together lasted 51 years, 8 days...
(Dad left this earth February 19, 2007)39 years later, with first-born son and his family...On their 50th Anniversary Cruise with their 5 children, their spouses and 12 grandchildren (the first 3 of whom have since married)!

Blizzard Watch

We almost got in a full day of classes today... had to release students @1:00 when the weather forecast called for possible "white-out" conditions at our regular dismissal time... Here's what it looked like from my back porch around five o'clock: Calm before a storm?...

1.83 Years

1 and 10/12 years since Lana got to go Home... this picture was taken (at my brother Mike's house in Bradenton, Florida) shortly before we left for Nicaragua (summer of '96.) Lana and Kara are holding our niece Kailey Kynast...

Monday, February 8th

One of Tim's classmates invited her principal to a "sneak preview" of an open house promoting her new line of unique handmade jewelry... Shelby started her business partly as a way of supporting two ministries that are near and dear to her heart: 1. "Train Up The Children" a non-profit arm of HIM that supports Christian schools in India (a country where she and her parents have spent months on extended short-term missions); and 2. "Renewal House" a local home that offers young, single women an opportunity to "carry their unexpected pregnancies to term instead of turning to abortion." Shelby's not waiting to graduate before having a tremendously-positive impact on her world... Shelby has done a beautiful job of displaying her creations...
...and refreshments for her guests!
If you're in the area, stop in anytime 3:00-8:00 tomorrow (26 Sunset Dr. Swannanoa, NC 28778) or order on-line at
peculiarpossessionsjewelry.com

Super Bowl Sunday

Grace is cheering for the Saints because she likes their backup quarterback Mark Brunell, who played for the Jacksonville team (The Jaguars) from 1995-2004... Tim's at a Super Bowl party back "home" in Asheville...

I took a four hour nap after church and am planning to drive back after the game/be at work @7:15!

Saturday, February 6th

Here's what it looked like on I-26 coming out of the mountains yesterday...

Snow Day #4

Our fourth snow day of the year already... this one is what they call a "wintry mix" (snow, sleet, freezing rain... not a good formula for people, but especially inexperienced drivers to be out on the road.) This experienced one, however, is headed to Florida soon as he can to spend a little time with Grace... 18 days since my last opportunity!

Thursday, February 4th

This is the second anniversary of my first online journal entry... the first six months are still available at:

www.caringbridge.org/visit/lanakynast

As of this evening, that page has had 57,409 visitors... wow!
Such an encouragement to me and my family to know so many have taken time out of their busy schedules to check on us, especially those last months of Lana's time on this earth. I switched over to the current format August 5, 2008 and have made over 500 entries since... your feedback continues to bless me as Kara, Tim and I begin to find our way out of the valleys life has taken us through the past six years!

Wednesday, February 3rd

Joseph Edward, first-born of Mike and Lauren Deibert, entered this world last Friday...
I hired Mike to teach History and Lauren English at Nicaragua Christian Academy years ago; they have since married and run an exciting vocational ministry in the Managua area. Want a great cause to support?
Try:
www.esvoministries.com

Tuesday, February 2nd

Working together we got the office cleaned up this weekend... Tim has made good use of it already; he's shown here chipping away at his AP Calculus homework; he says it's starting to make sense, and that there are tutorials on YouTube that have been helpful...

Monday, February 1st

My sister Betsy ROCKS! Here's her latest big news: Husband Mike was asked to lead the Disney Resort Hotels/Downtown Disney Development of a new Parks & Resort destination currently in negotiations in Shanghai, China!
Mike will be working on the project for a couple of years from his office in Southern California and then move the fam to Shanghai for 2-3 years... that's somewhere even Kara hasn't been... yet ;-)

Sunday, January 31st

Nicaraguan hammocks are not really made for these conditions... this one seems to be holding up OK, not that I'm tempted to take my Sunday afternoon siesta in it...Tim said the ground was actually "soft" enough!