We’re finally
getting winter here! Today we have lake effect snow with occasional white
outs. Fortunately, I’m working from home today, so I don’t have to drive
all the way across town and back. I guess it’s not really fortunate that
I’m working at home, because I decided to do that because of pain I was having
in my lower left abdomen since Saturday, and I wanted to see my doctor
today. It turns out I seem to have diverticulitis. I’m on a liquid
diet for a couple of days to see if that makes it better, but if that doesn’t
fix it, I have a prescription for two antibiotics that should take care of it.
I remember Grandpa Taylor telling me, “Never get old, Greg” as he struggled
with his various aches and pains. I didn’t take his advice, and now I’m
suffering for it.
I was
cheering and encouraging the Seahawks yesterday to make the 2nd biggest
comeback in NFL history, but they couldn’t quite do it. In 1993, the
Buffalo Bills came back from 32 points down to the Houston Oilers to win their
wildcard playoff on the way to their third straight Super Bowl
appearance. I was hoping the Seahawks could come back on the way to their
third straight Super Bowl appearance, but it was not to be. I was even
wearing my Steve Largent jersey and drinking from my Seahawks cup (some
favorite Christmas presents), but even those extremely helpful measures were
not enough to push them to victory. Oh well. As long as someone
beats the Patriots, I’ll be satisfied.
Here’s the
news since my last update:
We had a
great Christmas. Other than Carissa, who went with her new husband’s
family to his mother’s house in Indiana, all of my children were home, and we
had a fabulous time. Caitlin’s fiancé, Ben Updegrove, came, and so did
Cai’s girlfriend, Amy Crocker, for at least part of the holiday time. As
I said last month, I had the week between Christmas and New Year’s off, so that
was wonderful to have a lot of time to spend with family and friends. We
missed Carissa and Matt and remembered Matt’s birthday (the big 3-0!) on
Christmas Day, but we managed to have a good time anyway.
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| Opening stockings early Christmas morning |
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| Hazel and Alma's matching pajamas on Christmas morning (with Aunt Abigail and Uncle Cai) |
We went to
our Christmas Eve service at church. Krista and I sang “Joy! Joy!” even
though we were dealing with various stages of colds, and that’s a musically fun
song, so we enjoyed doing it. Hopefully those listening did too, but more
importantly, I hope they realize the joy we can have no matter what circumstances
we are in because Jesus came to us as a baby to live and die for us. If
you don’t know that song and want to hear it done way better than we did it,
use this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EL3QMNWHR8I.
On December
27, we went over to the Niagara Bible Conference where Krista’s brother,
Jonathan’s, family was living to meet Jonathan’s daughter, Sarah’s, new
husband, Brady Nash. We had fun chatting, playing games, eating snacks,
and going for a walk around the conference grounds with them. Brady is a
top notch guy in my book, if for no other reason than that he is a big Seahawks
fan. Sarah met him while living in Washington State. Brady is from
Camano Island, and I liked him right away.
On New Year’s
Eve, we watched Holiday Inn, then watched the ball drop and used noise makers,
confetti poppers, and decorations to have a great celebration.
January 6 was
my granddaughter, Hazel’s, first birthday. It was a crazy celebration
with cake and ice cream and watching her eat her dessert. OK, she really
played with it more than eating it, but she’s cute so she can get away with it.
This past
weekend, the Deacons, Trustees, and pastoral staff of our church went on a
retreat to do some planning for this coming year. We wanted to make sure
we are all aware of possible issues and are unified in where we are
going. I came away very encouraged about the men I work with at church
and their love for the Lord and our brothers and sisters. No church is
perfect (all those sinners tend to mess that up), but I can see these men are
truly striving to live pleasing to Jesus, and that brings me joy.
I think you
are caught up now on the amazing adventures of my family, so you can now go
back to your mundane lives and try to survive until February’s update.
Seriously, I get some feedback from some of you that you enjoy these updates,
and I’m glad. I’m glad that you love me and mine enough to bear through
these each month when you need more help sleeping.
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| I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! |
