HAPPY 36th BIRTHDAY, TIM!

Baby Michael Paul Stephens (3 days old)

Proud Auntie

Tim and Gabriel on Billy Cotten's jet ski (not every 3 year-old gets to ride a jet ski!)

Every summer, we turn down the temperature in the hot tub to make it more like a lukewarm wade pool

Hard to believe this gal is a big sister!

Let me start this blog posting by wishing my husband a HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY 36^th BIRTHDAY today.  Words can’t express how much I love this man…we’ve been through A LOT together and I’m thankful for another year to spend with him.

In addition to birthday wishes for Tim, CONGRATS to Laurie & Ken Stephens on the birth of their precious little boy Michael Paul Stephens on July 21st.  I was hoping for him to arrive on my birthday (the 20^th), but I suppose he wanted his own day.  He was almost a week late and gave Laurie a rough time during the delivery process (as most 9 1/2-pound babies do), but thankfully, all is well with both mom and baby.  

More exciting news in the family: Dawn and William Moore announced they’re expecting a baby boy at the end of this year or in early January of 2015 (perhaps a New Year’s baby???).  So far, Dawn and baby Charlie are doing well and under the care of the EVMS OB professionals. 

As for us, sorry, but we’re done expanding the family tree on our end.  I may announce that we have a family dog many years from now, but even that isn’t a blip on my radar.  Chase and Gabe are more than enough for us.  We’re thankful for them and wouldn’t trade them for the world, but our hands are full right now!

Chase and Gabe are well into the Summer Camp program at FOEC.  I was a bit nervous for Gabe since this is his first preschool experience, but he has adjusted extremely well.  His potty training wars continue and his speech still hasn’t progressed to where it should be at 3 years of age; however, we just praise God for the small victories.  Gabe will start the preschool program with the 2 year-old's in the fall.  Our hope is he can be moved up with the 3 year-olds once he masters potty training and his speech evolves a bit more. 

Chase, on the other hand, continues to talk enough for his brother and himself.  Both boys have already had a slew of fun this summer with bowling, zip-lining at their Aunt Laurie’s house, watching 4^th of July fireworks (in spite of the rain), taking countless trips to the park and pool, and doing many other activities with FOEC.  Chase is jumping off the diving board and swimming in the deep end of the pool totally unassisted; keep in mind, this is the same boy who was hesitant just to go down the slide in the shallow end at the beginning of last summer.  Meanwhile, Tim and I continue to work (and, Tim has to work in the heat which is quite exhausting); even though we may not get to play all day during the work-week like our kids, we sure appreciate our weekends and remain extremely thankful for our jobs!  We still have two OBX beach trips to anticipate this summer to help motivate us through the work-weeks.

Before you know it, I’ll be posting an “end of summer” blog update.  If you’re going through a rough time this summer (perhaps your circumstances go way beyond just enduring the heat), remember that God has a reason for all seasons and that He will carry us through the “deep water” in our lives.  Even I have to admit that I hit a patch of discouragement over the past month after hearing so much negativity in the media (not that I should be surprised by any of this negativity because that’s how the media thrives).  It seems like so many folks in our country choose to be offended (yes, my friends, being offended is a choice!) over everything rather than choose the path of forgiveness.  If everyone could just get over themselves for a few moments and stop fretting over stars-and-bars and rainbows, then perhaps we could focus on tackling the more important issues in our country.  It gives me a heavy heart that our country is steadily becoming more self-centered (is anyone else tired of seeing duck-face selfies on Facebook?..or how about the constant reports on what Caitlyn is wearing?). Obviously, the majority of our country has turned its back on God; however, I just have to remind myself that all of this “deep water” (ironically, it’s shallow thinking that got us here) will soon pass.  God is faithful and will carry us through…  

“When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.” –Isaiah 43:2