Gabrielle Elle Jelly Belly Sweet Bella Belle Schmells

Gabrielle turned 13 on Thanksgiving Day. My BABY is 13! She started her first day as a teenager with a landmark event: a one-mile fun run in downtown Atlanta. Yes, she WANTED to do it! Brian was originally going to run a marathon the same morning, but numerous injuries changed his plans. He spent the morning with us cheering on the Child After His Own Running Heart.

Gabrielle trained a short while before the race but never broke 9 mins and 30 seconds. We went thinking she would try to break nine minutes. Seven minutes into the race, Abby announced that Elle was in sight. We could not believe it, but it was true. Thankfully, I was able to catch her on the final stretch with my camera. Abby stopped her ipod timer at 7:43 as Gabrielle crossed the finish line.

Gabrielle was thrilled and shocked about her time. She thought she still had a long way to go and was pacing herself for a long run ahead. We had to scream at her that the finish line was coming up and that she should pick up the pace. She had not even broken much of a sweat! After it was all over, Elle announced that the race was an absolute blast and that she just had to do another one! We may bring her along to Brian's hopeful attempt at a marathon in the spring somewhere in GA.

We spent the remainder of the day with our friends, the Walters, and Amy (single friend), Kim (another single friend), and Vikki Walter's hospitable parents. We ate too much delicious food, played bingo for M&M's and indulged in a bit of Karaoke. The kids went ice skating in the evening. Everyone was blessed and filled and refreshed.

I am grateful for all our friends - near and far - and for all our families. We missed being with "real" family but enjoyed spending the afternoon/evening with our GA family!

I'm especially grateful that Gabrielle's birthday finally fell on Thanksgiving. It gave me a meaningful opportunity to reflect on the gift she is to me and to my family. Gabrielle is full of gratitude, love, life, loyalty for family and friends, and has a big, compassionate heart. She is growing quickly now - something her siblings never managed to do! In a few months, the baby of the family will be taller than all the other girls in the family - a minor triumph for the one who comes in "last" in so many ways. Gabrielle is also a great friend and servant to her dad and me. Gabrielle helps Brian with home projects and loves it. She cooks regularly for me and is always thinking of something to bake on the side. She cleans, cares for the dogs with no complaining, and works hard in school. If I need something to be assembled or repaired, Gabrielle is often my source of help. God knew what I needed! (Alzheimer's is kicking in....) I am comforted to think that she may be the last of the children at home with me, but then again, I cannot take that for granted. I will enjoy having her at home while I still can.

Our little April Fool's joke ("Yes, the pregnancy test IS miraculously positive") is a daily blessing and reminder of God's faithfulness to strengthen us and hear us when we call. We are so glad that God "sneaked" Gabrielle into our family.

We love you, Sweet Bella!

Thanksgiving/Elle's 13th Birthday

Tag

Puppy Love

I have been very busy but want to say a few words about the little fellow I am mostly responsible for bringing into our home! This fellow is our almost ten-week-old mini schnauzer named Calvin. Brian named the little guy before we even saw him. Calvin fits, so Calvin it is (with a "C" after all!). He is a delightful little furry guy - full of life, spunk, and a desire to please us and cuddle all the time!!! He has been easy to "schedule" and has only one rough night on his record. Calvin sleeps well, eats, well, and does all the rest very well - and outside when I don't forget to be diligent! He enjoys the great outdoors but shivers easily. Chasing leaves and eating them are his favorite past times. He is already longer and bigger, but still very tiny compared to Aspen. He loves to wrestle with Aspen and sleep with her in her kennel; she obliges so patiently. We now see Calvin's "sinful" nature coming out. We knew it would emerge eventually! He senses us hovering over him and dashes out of reach at just the last second to evade our grasp. We are consequently training him to "come!" when we call. So far, so good. He knows his name (sort of) and loves to run to us to get some loving. Brian is taking to Calvin and enjoys the fact that the little guy admires the man of the house so much. Now there is a tiny occupant in that happy, furry place in our hearts that spunky Sparky used to fill. We dubbed Calvin "Calvin- Key to Our Hearts" on the AKC registration form. We are the Schlossers, after all, and locksmiths must have keys. And yes, we have sneaked a deeper double meaning into that long name. :) I'll leave you to ponder.

Posting Because It Has Been So Long Since My Last Post

Howdy! Yes, I am still alive and well. My family still lives and breathes and works and does school. I can't believe it is almost the end of October!!!! I wish the leaves were more colorful, but they are beginning to turn. It is appropriately chilly. End of the weather discussion.

Brian's ankle is better, but now his muscles hurt like crazy. All the time. He is unsure about the marathon. I hope and pray his body adjusts so that he can run the whole thing. Otherwise, he will run the half marathon - maybe. This means no Boston in the spring. Yes, you hear selfish motives in there somewhere, but I would definitely be sad for my hubby if he had to give up the whole marathon for a half.

Gabrielle is trying to prepare to run the mile race that same day - her 13th birthday. She WANTS to do it. (She can't possibly be related to her mother.) She ran a half mile today in great time, but had to walk some to finish. Brian is working her up bit by bit. We will all be downtown in the morning, trying to keep warm and enjoying something we've never enjoyed on Thanksgiving morning. Gabrielle and Brian should do well and have a fantastic time doing something new and different Thanksgiving.

Which brings me to my next point: I am very thankful for where God has us and how He is faithfully taking care of us! Brian's job is great and getting even better; Joel is surviving school and working hard and visiting every weekend; Aliya is working hard in school with a great attitude, passed her SAT's with college-worthy scores, and now has a driver's license! Abby is working hard in school, learning to work more efficiently, and is enjoying the beautiful weather outside with friends. Gabrielle is doing great in school and keeping busy. She is also looking forward to a birthday party in a few weeks. Everyone is healthy. (Stay away, flu.) Church is great and we love our new care group. We have also enjoyed getting to know some international students through the Friends of Internationals Bible studies (thanks, Friesens!)

I am grateful for my home, even though there are many things I want to paint, fix, and redecorate. If you know me at all, you know that these things will never completely get done until we move again. (And if we never move, well.... you do the math.) I am also happily preparing myself for the addition of a new "boy" into our family; a male mini-schnauzer who has been tentatively named Kalvin. I can thank my great grandmother for the opportunity to get the puppy. We are to pick him up in TN a week from Thursday. Brian named him for now, but we might change our minds when we see him. He comes from Karlshof Kennels, so we have been informed he will bear the kennel name before his pet name. This explains the spelling of his name. The name Kalvin is inspired partly by Calvin & Hobbes, and partly by the reformed theologian, John Calvin . Why not "Hobbes?" It just doesn't have a very nice ring. Sorry! Maybe if he were a hound dog - maybe.

In spite of the fact that the name means "little bald one," we persist for now. We HOPE our new guy has nice hair, and lots of it. He WILL be little, however.

BUT if we should decide Kalvin is a poor fit for our salt & pepper little buddy, please submit possible names for the future. So far, we have Hansi (awwwwww) as one choice.

If in a few weeks I am grumbling about lack of sleep, whining, yipping, potty on the floor, and bad puppy manners, remind me of this post, will you? I'll try to post pics of the little critter when I can. For now, we have Aspen's UTI to deal with (potty on the floor) and are expecting a pleasant visit from one Charlie - of Watkins labradoodle stock. He has graced our home before; it is always a party with Charlie here!

Our ladies in caregroup are having a social tonight. My friend Vikki had the idea of having a big hair contest. I had to scour old photos for a picture of me with big hair (complete with ginormous 80's glasses). I certainly found one - or several. I don't think I will win the contest for the biggest hair, but I wonder if 2nd place goes to the biggest glasses. Well, I am sort of in charge, so I can decide whatever I want, right? And by the way, if anyone ever wants to give this poor girl the gift of her own fashion consultant....

I am off to hunt for the perfect Big Hair Prize while wearing semi-frumpy clothing and smaller plastic-framed glasses. My teenage girls WILL still let me out of the house. Till next post...

LIFE GOES ON

I wanted to post a few small updates about life in our home (and out of it). I enjoy reading everyone else's posts, so just in case someone out there is curious, here goes. No need to hold on tight; this is more like the little kid boat ride at the amusement park than a full-blown roller coaster.

The girls are plugging away in school. They have endured a few test and quizzes in their co-op classes, and I am learning all the things I should have learned in high school by sitting in on Mrs. Ganster's composition class. I am so grateful the girls are able to learn to write and love literature in this setting! On Friday, I have the opportunity to put it all to work; I must help those budding writers improve their first essays. This will either be fun, humbling, or both. The truth will come to light on Friday.

As for Brian, he is still training for the marathon in Atlanta on Thanksgiving Day. Should he actually succeed in making it in one piece to the race, we will spend Gabrielle's 13th birthday morning watching Dad try to qualify for the Boston Marathon. I am praying he makes it; he has always wanted to do it. The problem is, potholes in our little haven of Woodstock have not been kind to him recently. He severely sprained his ankle on the last mile of his early Sunday morning run. My husband now has a tree stump for an ankle, and it is not looking good. He can walk on it, but is not supposed to walk on it. He attempted to install new basement plumbing while balancing precariously on a high ladder ON his swollen ankle. Maybe not the best thing to attempt, but we are grateful the new piping works great. Ice baths and packs have been his dearest friends over the past few days. We are praying for a miracle folks. Healing does not come as quickly when the body is on the upside toward fifty.

Joel is loving his first semester at Georgia Tech. We blessed him the other day by buying a house flag to fly his new school colors. He came home for the weekend to a "sweet" new flag. It brought a smile to his face. He took two tests on Monday and feels decent about them. There is another one tomorrow. We pray constantly for grace for him to learn and to be diligent. God is helping him do both. Joel is working faithfully and diligently in all his studies. He is enduring a few so-so professors (rather eclectic ones), and loving a few outstanding professors. Joel spends precious free time with friends, doing things like going to football games, buying Tech t-shirts, and playing ping pong with guys who can actually beat him! He is also keeping up with the latest political and economic news. (Who is this stranger?) He walks everywhere, works out regularly, and has lost seven pounds. I promptly took him to the store a weekend or so ago to buy him more food! I thought it was supposed to be the "Freshman, 10" not the "Freshman -10." (Joel would be grateful if I clarified that he is actually a Junior. :) )

I am enjoying the school year and am trying to keep my house in order, etc. Things are never as neat as I would like them to be, but the fridge is mold-free at the moment and we have food to put on the table and clean clothing to wear. (Though some of it is still sitting in my laundry room waiting to be put away...)

I love the fall, and it is just around the corner. It is only 74 degrees today, and the evenings are supposed to be quite cool this week. Yea! Callie, you should have moved to GA! This topography is beautiful and enjoys four real seasons. Thank you, God.

We just celebrated Aliya's 17th birthday (see other post) on Sunday with about 17-20 teenagers. They played foosball, ping pong, games, and ate food and watched football. We apparently had many Colts fan in the room. It was hot, LOUD, and fun. Thanks for coming, everyone! Pics taken were rather unusual; I am afraid they may end up on someone's blog or facebook. They were not immoral - just weird. Never leave the camera lying around.... I will not be posting any here unless I can find "real" ones.

I am going out with my hubby tonight. I can't wait. Aliya is going to be working on a school project with a friend, Abby is going to be hanging out at home, and Gabrielle is going to be babysitting for someone in the church. Joel will be on campus studying like crazy for his test tomorrow. So there you have it.

To be continued...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ALIYA!!!!

I am late recalling the story of how our first baby girl entered our lives eight days early. Aliya entered this world on September 11, 1991, weighing 7 lbs., 14 oz. Our lives have thankfully never been the same!

Aliya came into the world with a pronounced little will. She cried more piercingly and persistently than any other baby being wheeled through the halls. We could always guess she was coming for a nursing visit to my hospital room way before she arrived at the door. She managed to outcry all the other wailing babies with her.

She spent her first few hours in Daddy's arms. If there is any truth to that bonding lore, then she was definitely affected by those hours. Aliya is definitely a daddy's girl! Thankfully, however, she and I have developed a wonderful friendship over the years.

Aliya has come a long way from the baby who used to roll stealthily around the family room eating newspapers before Mom found out. (If it was quiet and Aliya was missing, trouble was in the works!) She is less sneaky and much more honest! She is still persistent. However, this persistence increasingly shines in her God-given determination to grow into a godly young woman. She is more outwardly focused, yet inwardly focused in the sense that she is sensitive to areas in her heart that need change. She loves the Lord and is continually seeks to grow in Him and apply what she learns through daily devotions and weekly sermons. I am grateful for her tender heart that yearns to please God. She is quick to come back again to God when she fails. God uses Aliya in all our lives to remind us of his never-failing grace.

Aliya also loves her family, sports, literature, music, math, science, art, writing, and administrating her life and those around her. :) She often serves as my second brain by planning for me and remembering details I always forget. She is full of drama, has very big dreams and too many things from which to choose in life. I think she still identifies at times with Louisa May Alcott's character, "Jo." Hers is not a predictable path. God seems to use Aliya as one joyful surprise in our lives.

Aliya, you are a blessing to me! Your smile makes me smile. I love your laughter, your drama :), your zest for everything, your sense of humor, your left-handedness, your willingness to learn and work hard in school and in life, and your beautiful, blue eyes! You are still my soft, cuddly, sweet, baby girl!

Happy 17th Birthday!!!

Aliya Nicole: "To go up to the city of God victoriously"
Keep climbing by God's grace, Sweetness!!

"Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ?
Who may stand in his holy place?

He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false. ^[a]

He will receive blessing from the LORD
and vindication from God his Savior." Psalm 24:3-5

Education and Intelligence

We started school 8/18. Today marked the first day of the second school week. Now that we have a full schedule (all co-op classes included), the days are already longer and patience has already been tried. Overall, everyone is doing well and working hard and learning well. I love the structure of school. We all manage to accomplish so much more with a defined agenda. Summer was fun and lazy, but it is good to get back to reality.

It rained most of the day today, and now the sun is finally out. The rain resulted in a typical problem: Aspen would not do her duty in the rain. Schooling meant little time to devote to a finicky dog. At one point, I just gave up and made her stay outside until she went. Aspen was already wet, so why should she continue to try to avoid getting "wet" by going out into the bushes or yard to do her thing? I figured she should surely realize that if she would just go #2, then she could come in out of the torrential rain.

Dogs don't reason like humans. Aspen did oblige me by adding to the already wet grass. She did not oblige me by taking care of other matters. I let her in. Elle gave Aspen a bath, dried her off and let her loose - all with my blessing. Aspen slept for a while on the girls' bedroom floor while I checked science questions.

A short while later, Aspen's MATTER was quite visibly deposited onto my family room door mat. No surprise there, but I still managed to feel incredulous. Who is less intelligent, the dog or the mom? (And who's homeschooling three kids?)

Buddy Boy

At the end of July, my baby boy (Joel) turned 19 years old! This is his last year of being a teen; I know it will go more quickly than the last 19 years each have.

We celebrated his birthday very simply; we each gave him something to help him on his way as both a college student at Georgia Tech and a roommate to three other students. When Brian came home from work, we surprised Joel (and Aliya!) at work by bringing cupcakes and singing happy birthday in the restaurant - quietly, of course! :) Joel took the remaining goodies to the kitchen to share with his co-workers.

I spent one week thereafter remembering Joel as a baby, a little boy, and now a teenager who is quickly growing up into a thoughtful young man. All while remembering things about Joel, I realized he was going to be living downtown to be closer to school and to avoid the snarl of ridiculous traffic that Atlantans everywhere have come to dread. (Abby has great pics on her blog - check them out!) Joel being here even less; that is a sad, strange, empty feeling. The endearing part is how Joel has continued to hang around home even though he has been paying for an apartment he has yet to move into - until this past week, that is. I have not complained once about his delay; neither has he or any of the rest of us! But now his things are there and he shall stay downtown during the week.





He has led himself well and gotten all his finances in order, his schedule in order, and his new home in order. He starts school at Georgia Tech in three days to finish a degree in electrical engineering. Lord willing, he will finish in about five semesters and consider graduate school somewhere else. It took a long time to pick his life's vocation; let's see how it all goes! He can't wait to start school again, and we can't wait to see him thrive and work hard and learn new things and meet new friends.

That having been said, I will miss his fuzzy face around here - and I do mean fuzzy. I think he is handsome as ever. I will miss his happy voice, his clever, sometimes ornery sense of humor, & the way he banters with the girls and engages with them. I will miss the mess he leaves on his bedroom floor & doing his greasy work laundry (theoretically). I will miss pouncing on him in the morning with stolen kisses on his sweet, sleepy head. I will miss hearing about all the complex physics problems (blow-by-blow) and not understanding an iota of it. I will miss the late-night talks about God and life and matters of faith and Scripture. I will miss sharing struggles and prayers together and long drives in his car with the windows down. I will hearing his bass rumbling upstairs, and his whistling and humming. I will miss seeing his beautiful smile every morning before he heads off to school. The great thing is, I will only have to miss these things for five days... Thank God for the weekend!

So Joel, my friend, I love you and think you are the best son God could ever have given me! I am grateful every day for the gift of you, and cannot wait to see how God shapes you into the man He has planned for you to be. You continually provoke me with your faith, your perseverance, your convictions, and the boyishness which wants to hang on for dear life! :) I love you, my son, my only one.

Vacation, Life, Etc.

My family and I went to Virginia for vacation for the first part of July. We stayed with various friends and had a very relaxing, refreshing time. The weather was a bit rainy, but it cleared away the smoke from the Dismal Swamp and made for an endurable beach day. No thunder or lightening, so sitting on the beach in the cold rain (for all of ten minutes) was kind of fun! The weather cleared a bit, but the clouds stayed on to keep it cool. We went again on a sunny day. The flags were red, but it did not deter us from tackling the waves.

We saw D.C. in one day. That was both amazing and exhausting. By the end of the day, Brian was hoisting Gabrielle up onto his back for the final trek into the art museum. (Our favorite event of the day, by the way - the museum, not the hoisting.) We enjoyed seeing all the sights with older eyes as our kids were too young to enjoy the nation's capital when we lived in Virginia. We'll never forget the Potbelly Deli.

Going to church in Chesapeake was a blessing as well. We saw many familiar faces, including ones either visiting from HERE or moving from THERE to HERE. We enjoyed the messages, the worship, and seeing a bigger picture of what God is doing in the hearts and lives of so many. Going back gives us a chance to reflect on what God has done and what He is currently doing. Ironically, it helps to keep us looking forward with anticipation.

Thank you to all who made time to get together to play Mexican Train dominoes once again! We must make it at least a semi-annual tradition. I so much enjoyed seeing all the grown up children and hearing what God is doing in your lives and hearts and prayers. What an amazing time of fellowship in the midst of cut-throat dominoes. Christel remains the reigning champion, but we will be back... You all have inspired me to pursue a more faithful prayer life, and to seek more of the Holy Spirit's work and power in my life - all of our lives.

Thank you to all who hosted us and so generously provided places for us to rest and relax. You will hear more from us in detail! (Good old-fashioned mail!) We are grateful for all of you and for our friendships that have lasted through many years any many address changes!

Thank you to those who invited us over to reminisce, share, laugh with us!

Thank you to all who invited our kids to various events and parties and functions! You are very kind and gracious!

The girls were faithful to document much of our trip with their trusty cameras. They ran out of batteries and charges near the end of our visit; some main events may be missing. Check out their blogs to see what was captured! "Elvis" the photographer won the picture contest. (You know who you are...) You can see his snapshot of Joel on the main page of this blog. (The haircut looked much better by Day Four. The cut was not Joel's fault...)

It is good to be home again. Good to be in our own beds, in the hot and humid heat of our current state, which we shall probably never become completely accustomed to! Good to see the faces of new-found friends again, and to hear the frogs at night, fight off persistent mosquitoes, and clean our own house, wash our own dishes, do our own laundry, and fall back in line with the daily routine of reality. Yes, it has taken a week to adjust, but I'm getting back on track.

What's With the Name?

Dear Anonymous Viewers: To understand where the reference to trees comes from, look up the Bible verses referenced under the blog name. :) Can you see the forest through the trees yet?

Er... that WAS bad. I will quit blogging now before I hurt myself.

Beef with Cheesy Names

Notice the food terms? I do like food. It does not like me as much as it used to; or better put, it likes me too much and wants to hang around much longer than I would like it to!

My girls like to tease each other (lovingly) by calling each other cheese nicknames. Things they do are translated into terms like "macaroni with cheese," "extra cheese pizza," "string cheese," ( for our diminutive daughter), "cheese puffs" (for our round-cheeked girl), etc. You get the picture. This is all done with laughter and joy. Really!

If I could just get them to redirect this creativity toward my blog. It was their idea in the first place! :) I do not like the name of this blog. So I am going to poke fun at it just for something to do on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

The current name evokes pictures of six unmoving and massive figures like those seen in the Lord of the Rings movies. Kind of creepy. I don't want to be one of those. I have often referred to my "Jensen" legs as "tree-trunk" legs. I really don't wish to be reminded of that every time I log on. That also reminds me too much of the food issue. Hmmm... how about a flowery name like Evergreen? Too reminiscent of an old pop song I never really knew well or liked in the first place.

Branching Out? Tree House? (Nut House in Certain Seasons), Greentrees? Willow? Redwoods and Saplings? Aspen Grove? The Orchard. THE Grove. Groovy Grove. Run, Forest, Run. Magnolia Blossoms for the girls. Alders for the elders. MAPLE for the boy (programming pun). Cedars of Lebanon.

OK, Mockernut Hickories it is. For today.

To see the fine features of this marvelous tree, cut and paste the following link:
http://www.trees-online.com/types_of_trees/mockernut_hickery.shtml

Thanks for enduring this post. And posts are made of trees, so it's all good. (And still corny....ahh, food again....) I'll spare you any additional pain. End of post.

Summer

The kids are back from Denver. They ended up on a different flight because of delays with their original flight. The wonderful folks at Midwest Airlines served them well! We got them back an hour earlier, even though they left an hour later than originally scheduled. This worked out well - even with the extra security check they had to endure. (Nothing was confiscated.)

They came home, full of excitement and refreshment, eager to show all their pictures and tell us everything that happened the entire time. It is SO good to have them back! Thank God they are safe and happy and blessed! Thank you to all who hosted them!!!!! You made their summer an unforgetable one! They enjoyed seeing you all again and enjoyed the beautiful mountain weather; albeit a bit colder than they have been used to!

Joel is back to work, Aliya is looking for paid work, playing soccer, and enjoying summer life. Abby & Elle have a clean-swept room (thanks to Elle and I while they were gone), and it feels great! They are enjoying friends, the pool, and getting tans with lots of sunscreen. I have tried my hand at the tanning with lots of sunscreen, but not much is happening for me. I have more freckles. The girls have a few more adorable freckles, and much more melanin everywhere else. How are we related?

The house is taking shape. Brian has repainted our kitchen, put up the moulding under the new counter tops, and is working on replacing the piping in our house (polybutelane). Then he can have a drywall party to help finish the basement. I can't wait!

I need to do some gardening. So gardening friends, infuse some of that love of the earth and the great outdoors into me. I have weeds growing considerably larger than my azalea bushes. Why do I not pull them? Because they are spikey and stubborn. Does this say anything about my spiritual life? Hmmm..... I have a flower bed up front with lots of various "leaves" and no flowers. Time to redo it. My gardenia bush is blooming, then failing. Time to prune off the old buds and allow some new ones to appear. They smell so wonderful! We have trees growing where we thought we had pulled them. How do we keep up? But I am not whining. I love my yard; I just need to love it enough to do more about it! That is on the agenda today. It is not quite so hot, so it is a perfect time to get going.

One interesting thing happened. We had petunias (?) growing in our front porch pot last year. We bought a million of all the same color and planted them everywhere in all the pots we had. This was my idea of creative gardening. We let them die out at the end of the season and did not, ahem, do anything about cleaning them out and replacing them with seasonal flowers in the fall. Now we somehow have a new, freshly blooming pot of petunias on our front porch. I have done nothing but let them grow.

So is the lesson that I really just need to let nature take its course? Or do I really need to pull those weeds? Don't answer that.

Too MUCH sugar???

Bridgette Ellise

I cannot resist. We were at the pool last night with Elle, Bridgette (sp?), Annie, Maggie and Camille Ellise. They had a wonderful time trying to cool off. Elle came out of the pool at one point with a tiny cricket in her hands. Bridgette saw the cricket ready to leap as Elle opened her hands to show me the little guy. I heard this tiny, cheery voice (Bridgette's) call out so earnestly, "Hop away, little guy!" Sounds silly, but it made me laugh! Thank you, Gidge, for being so CUTE!

Charley

With our three oldest kids in Denver on a mini vacation, we have had the pleasure of keeping a neighbor's labradoodle, Charley. Charley is a delightful, fluffy, very large, and perpetually smiling fellow. There is nothing not to like about Charley! Aspen has pretty much tolerated him, but there have been no fights or ugliness to speak of.

Today was a breakthrough for our usually timid Aspen. She began the day today by zipping frantically around the furniture and house at full speed - commonly known as the schnoodle burst of energy. In tow was Charley, who bounded right after her. He could never match her low center of gravity or her blazing schnoodle speed, but he was a great sport and all game. Aspen established herself as the top athlete in agility today. Charley established himself as the faithful, ever-ready buddy, always looking to play, regardless of who wins.

His enthusiasm seems to have rubbed off on Aspen. She has been picking play fights with Charley today and making him chase her. They have run, wrestled, teased, and rested together all afternoon. Yesterday, Aspen spent all day in the corner of the loft away from Charley and her crate. Today, she is curled near Charley's giant paws as they both lie in the middle of the loft floor. They have become friends at last.

Quiet Around Here

It has been very quiet around here. Joel, Aliya & Abby flew to Denver last Tuesday. They are having a lot of fun catching up with friends, seeing old sights, and trying to adjust to the time change difference of two hours. Aliya has enjoyed staying with her friend, Rachel, whose graduation Aliya attended on Saturday. Congrats, Rachel! Abby has been enjoying her time at the Longtines, and is giving and getting her fill of silliness, singing and laughter. She is grateful to have time to spend with her dear friend, Stephanie. Joel has enjoyed hanging out with his good friend, Bryce, doing things they used to do "way back when," and sleeping and eating and hanging out some more. Joel also had the chance to work for his first boss, Mr. Doyle, for a few profitable days. What a blessing! Joel also had to cram for a chemistry subject test (SAT) to take this past Saturday. He felt like he did well; we shall know soon enough. If he gets a certain minimum score, he can skip re-taking chemistry (which did not transfer to Tech from FRCC) and jump right into his electrical engineering major at Georgia Tech this fall.

Here at home, Gabrielle has had quite the busy social calendar. Thanks to her friends, she has had plenty to do; swimming, sleepovers, baking, visiting, babysitting, etc. Saturday evening, we met some friends at a mini bluegrass concert at the Red Top Mountain Restaurant/Lodge. We drove a mere half hour away to feel like we were in the mountains in the middle of nowhere, listening to some rather entertaining songs and lyrics. Many of us came to the conclusion that one of the musicians had the exact profile of our friend, John. I still think John resembles Craig T. Nelson. :)

Brian and I have been enjoying the peace and quiet at the same time we have been missing our three oldest offspring! The kids can attest to the fact that they are being perpetually bothered by daily phone calls, text messages, etc.

Soon they will be home, with many memories to keep with them. I hope the next few days seem to go slowly for them and quickly for us!

New Place

Howdy All:

I'm trying this again. Still uninspired, I am attempting to rebirth my blog and keep it going!
Have fun waiting for the latest - and hopefully reading, listening, and seeing the latest as well!