December 2020 Update

We had a great Thanksgiving with our local families.  It was more than the 10 people our government recommended, but they were all people that we see all the time anyway, so we decided it would be safe.  As usual, there was tons of good food and fun football and great times together.

 

It was even yummier than it looks!

We also celebrated Zach’s birthday (11/23), Amelia’s birthday (12/3), and granddaughter Josie’s 3rd birthday (12/5).

 

I guess other than getting ready for Christmas, it wasn’t a very busy month, because that’s all I can think of from this past month.

Merry Christmas!

If you can't read the fine print on the card, it says:  "Since COVID kept us from getting together in 2020, this is 2019's group picture. Two new additions: Gus born to Kortney and Mat, and Abigail's engagement to Bernie! The Greg Matthews Family"

Next update in 2021!

 

November 2020 Update

Our weather has been weird here lately.  Last week we had record highs—around 80—and yesterday we had the first noticeable snow, but just a dusting.  Today is still cold, 20s and 30s, but tomorrow and Friday it’s supposed to be back near 60 again.  No wonder my sinuses are confused!

 

In sports, the Bills had an amazing drive down the field to get a go-ahead touchdown with less than a minute to go in the game, only to be foiled by a more amazing Hail Mary pass that made them lose.  And the Seahawks forgot to show up against the Rams.  Russell Wilson is fading as an MVP candidate, I’m afraid.

 

In the news, my chorus started doing rehearsals again, but we changed the format for COVID safety to a drive-in.  Our tech guy has an FM transmitter, so he gives us all mics in our cars, we tune to an unused FM station, and rehearse in an empty parking lot.  It’s pretty cool.  Next week, we’re going to make a video of two songs from our cars, one Christmas and one other, for a district virtual Christmas concert.  We’re doing “Hark the Herald” and a song called “The Chordbuster’s March.”  My quartet is also going to submit a video.  Since we’re (obviously) a smaller group, we’ll meet in a room, distanced, and record two songs.  We’re going to do “Do You Hear What I Hear?” and “Happy Together.”  If I have access to the video(s) when they’re done, I’ll share them.

The Chorus of the Genesee doing a drive-in rehearsal

Here are links to the two recordings that my quartet submitted.  Happy Together https://youtu.be/73T3RlNX-dg .  Do You Hear What I Hear https://youtu.be/MFn7hVCqhlU .

Have any of you watched “The Chosen?”  Krista and I watched it a while ago, and really liked it.  It’s a series based on the gospels.  We’re watching it again as a family, and I think the kids like it too.  So far, there’s one season out that only takes the story to the woman at the well.  They are making season two now.  To watch it, you have to download the app on your smart phone, but then you can send the video to your TV if you have the tech to do so.  Anyway, I highly recommend it!

 

My granddaughter, Daisy, turned 4 on October 28, my son, Levi, turned 16 on November 14, and my daughter, Carissa, and her husband, Matt, celebrated their 5th anniversary also on November 14.  Since Halloween was pretty much COVID-killed this year, the local grandkids just came over in costume to get candy from us, but we didn’t have anyone else come, so we suffered through eating the candy we had bought by ourselves.  You do what you have to…

 

Since Levi turned 16, he’s starting all kinds of new adventures.  We went for his driver’s permit test this past Monday, and he passed with flying colors.  Now we just have to figure out when I can take him driving.  We’re also working on getting him his working papers so he can carry on the tradition of getting his first real job at our local Burger King.  He has his application ready and a promise to be hired once everything is in.  All 11 of my kids will have worked there!

 

Question:  Is there anything about 2020 that is normal?  Answer:  No.  It’s a presidential election year, but even that is weird.  We think we know how it turned out, but I can’t say we’re 100% sure even now two weeks later.  One thing I am sure of:  Jesus is still the King!  I rest in that unchanging truth!

 

Talk to you in December!

 

October 2020 Update

 In the news this month, we ended our quarantine on September 28 and no one got sick, so we thank God for that!  We celebrated Ella’s birthday (9/21) with a family get-together on the 20th, and we celebrated my granddaughter, Alma’s, 5th birthday (10/6) on the 3rd with a party her parents had at their house.  We had great food and fun party events like coloring, making bead bracelets, and pin the petal on the flower.  We also got together yesterday 10/18 for my birthday, which is today.  You don’t NEED to send money, but…

 

Krista made delicious pumpkin buckle for my birthday dessert, and all the local family came over, so that made getting older, which I can’t avoid, more pleasant.

 

Now that churches are opening, and we no longer have to quarantine, we have been able to attend church again, and it has been very spiritually encouraging to sing with people and hear God’s Word preached.  It’s nice that we have the online option when we can’t attend, but it is not God’s design—we need the fellowship, accountability, and God’s family relationships that church provides!

 

My barbershop chorus just elected me as Membership Vice President for 2021.  That means I need to follow-up with any visitors that happen to come to rehearsals to see if they want to be members, and I need to work with current members to bring their thoughts on the chorus to the board.  And I have to attend a monthly board meeting, but those have been virtual lately.  I think it is a role that I can hopefully do well and contribute to the betterment of our chorus.

 

Krista has been working on painting and fixing up a guest bedroom at our house.  One warm day when I was in there helping, I stubbed my bare pinky toe on something, and thought, “Wow!  That hurt!”  But I kept going around the room.  Then I looked down and noticed my toe was listing to port.  It didn’t hurt much, and I could move it without pain, but I knew it wasn’t right.  This is when it’s really handy having a son-in-law who is an Emergency Department Nurse Practitioner.  I called Kevin, and he came over and popped it back into place.  It didn’t hurt when he did it, but it’s been three weeks now, and it still hurts a little, although it’s much better than it has been.  If you get grossed out by stuff like that, don’t look at this picture.  You’ve been warned.

 

It's not supposed to look like that, is it?!?!

Our big news this month is the engagement of our daughter, Abigail, to her boyfriend, Bernie Shaw.  They met at work at Highland Hospital where Abigail is an RN and Bernie is a PA (Physician’s Assistant).  Bernie took her to Letchworth Park to see a sunrise and proposed there.  They haven’t set a date yet, but are hoping sometime in the summer of 2021.

 

In sports, my son, Levi, played soccer again this year with a local Christian school’s team that allows homeschoolers to play.  They finished their season last week.  They won the championship in their bracket, and I was able to go to several of his games after our quarantine ended, so that was fun.  One game was near where Krista’s sister, Nanita, lives, and she and her daughter, Anna, came and watched with me.

 

Anna, Nanita, and I at Levi's game

I’m also very pleased with how my original hometown Seahawks and current hometown Bills are doing, although I’ll certainly have a dilemma when they play each other later this year and even more so if they happen to meet in the Super Bowl!  Let’s see…  the Seahawks are 1 – 2 in Super Bowls, and the Bills are 0 – 4.  Hmm…  Ah, I’ll worry about it when (if) it happens.

 

For the weather report, it’s getting colder.  We’ve had some frost already, and lots of chilly days and nights, but that’s to be expected in the fall, you know.  The leaves are changing and looking beautiful, and pretty soon I won’t have to mow anymore.  Instead I’ll have to shovel snow!

 

I guess that’s all for now, so we’ll talk in November!

 

Some of you may remember Grandma and Grandpa Wilson's (Dave and Onalee's) bird bath. You'll be happy to know it's still being used for bird pool parties.

September 2020 Update

 

Starting off this month’s update with the celebrations since last month’s:  Krista and I celebrated our 40th anniversary on August 22.  It was pretty low key, except for one “best anniversary present ever” which I’ll talk about later.  The other celebration was my son-in-law, Mat’s, birthday on September 12, which we got to be there for, and I’ll talk more about that later too.  I also remembered my Mom’s birthday on August 23 and my Dad’s birthday on September 15. 

I mentioned last month that my quartet was going to have some singing opportunities.  On August 19, we sang for a gentleman’s 85th birthday.  My co-worker heard me arranging that when they called me at work, and he also hired us to sing for his wife’s birthday on September 1.  Both were short outdoor programs of only 5 songs each, but it was fun to be singing again even in a social distanced way. 

Easily the most exciting thing that happened this month was the birth of Clarence Augustus “Gus” Rhode on August 22, Krista’s and my 40th anniversary.  He is the third child and first son of my daughter, Kortney, and her husband, Mat.  He joins sisters Daisy and Bea, and they all love him so much!  In case you wonder, that makes 10 grandchildren for us, and we praise God for His goodness to us! 

We had arranged a while ago to visit the Rhodes early this month, and, although the airlines tried to prevent it, we managed to get it done.  We left on September 4 and flew via Washington DC to Minneapolis.  The Dulles airport in DC was the only really crowded place.  Rochester and Minneapolis’s airports were pretty empty.  The planes were all pretty full, but (so far anyway) we’re all still healthy.  We returned home on September 14, but this was a trip to meet Gus and help the Rhodes, not to sightsee, so my description of it might sound boring to you, but it was the best for us.  We mostly helped take care of kids, clean the house, make meals, and shop, and we just enjoyed their family.  We did get to be there for Mat’s birthday party, which was celebrated with delicious meat loaf and brownie sundaes.  We had to squeeze the sundaes in between birthday cake and donuts Mat got at work and brought home, plus his almost daily cookie batches.  We were very willing participants in this festival of sweets. 

The Rhodes also had Gus’s baptism while we were there, and Jem and Levi served as the sponsors for that.  Of course, we had to have special treats for the baptism too, which Mat’s parents provided:  two delicious Bundt cakes, one vanilla and one carrot, and homemade ice cream.  Kortney also made beautiful and delicious punch. 

I almost forgot that Labor Day was while we were there, since we were staying home, going for walks, and not working anyway.  I did notice that Mat got to be home an extra day with us, so that was nice.  We also remembered Patriot Day on the 11th, and Gus dressed very appropriately, which you can see in one of the pictures below. 

Our state has a list of states that if you visit them, you have to quarantine for 14 days when you return.  Unfortunately, Minnesota was on that list, and even though it came off the day after we returned, we are being forced to stay home for now.  So, I am working remotely, which works for about half of what I do, and I am having to ask people there to help me do the things that require a physical presence. 

But, as I said, we’re all still healthy, and God is good.  All the time. 

Talk to you in October!

I forgot to mention this in my update, but Levi recently got a new pet: a ball python he named Marvolo or Marv for short.

Zuzu went to the groomer's and came back super cute, but also camera shy

The dessert spread for Gus's baptism

Documenting a COVID baptism

All of the family who were at the baptism: Mat's brother Andy and his wife, Christina, Mat's Mom and Dad (Shari and Mark), Daisy (hiding), Bea with Kortney, Mat with Gus, Levi, Jem, Krista, Greg

The Rhodes

Krista and Bea watching the baptism

The Rhodes watching the baptism

The baptism (the pastor is in the middle)

Daisy and Bea at breakfast

Gus's perfect shirt for 9/11 (it says Little Chief and has a picture of a fireman's helmet)

Bea and Grandpa

Gus and Grandpa

Bea being a fashion queen

August 2020 Update

Hello again from western NY!  Here are the chronicles of my family since I wrote last. 

In the last month, we celebrated my granddaughter Ruby’s 3rd birthday on 7/25, my daughter-in-law Amy’s birthday on 7/31, my son-in-law Ben’s birthday on 8/12, my one and only true love Krista’s birthday on 8/16, and Cai & Amy’s 2nd anniversary today 8/18.  Some of those were not really celebrated here but we at least remembered them.  For Krista’s birthday, all the local families came over for fresh blueberry pie, which was oh so yummy.  I also remember that today would have been my Mom & Dad’s 70th anniversary. 

I had an interesting opportunity a few weeks ago.  Our chorus had been asked to get a quartet together to sing for a local man’s 90th birthday, and I was asked to sing the baritone part for it.  The man was a Navy vet, so we sang The Star Spangled Banner and Anchors Aweigh.  You can see a local news story about his birthday starting at about 7:30 in the video at this link.  https://13wham.com/features/bright-spot/bright-spot-happy-birthday-charlie?fbclid=IwAR3olNdo0NTa_GEQ0CWYYZRlWqISqoMoBxCiXz7frmU_4HPf-GrxnA7Ajow 

This was not my regular quartet, but just a “pick-up” group of four guys for this occasion.  However, my regular quartet also is going to have some opportunities to do short performances tomorrow and on September 1, but I’ll tell you about those next month.  Classic teaser! 

As usual for our area at this time of year, we have had some interesting weather with days in the 90s, dramatic thunderstorms, and downpours.  One day we had a beautiful rainbow after a storm, which was the only picture I took this month. 

September’s update should have some more exciting news, some of which was already teased, but some of which I’m just going to make you wait for. 

So, until then!

July 2020 Update

Well, it was another rather uneventful month, but since I know you all live and die for these updates, I’ll tell you about the little that did happen.

My local family decided to do “Covid camping” over the July 4 weekend.  Instead of going to a campground or camping area of a park like we have before, the Mickles, the Sommers, and my kids set up tents in the Mickles back yard, and we camped there.  Krista, Jemmie, and I spent the days with them, but slept at home.  We swam at our house, ate camping-type food, and enjoyed fireworks that Kevin and Cody provided.  None of our local areas had big fireworks displays like every other year, but we almost feel like we enjoyed our own private fireworks shows better!  Cody and Kevin did a great job entertaining us with explosions of light and color.

I remembered my brother, Gary’s, birthday on 7/10, and we celebrated Ivy’s 4th birthday on 7/14.  Her birthday is actually 7/11, but Krista, Jem, Levi, and I were gone then, so we had her party on 7/14.  Ella made a really cute kitty cake (kitties are Ivy’s current thing) that was also delicious!  The other celebration this month was Hannah and Kevin’s 7th anniversary on 7/13.

I’m sure you’re all wondering, where were Krista, Jem, Levi, and Greg on 7/11?  Well, I’ll tell you.  I’ve kept you in suspense long enough.  We took an amazing, exciting, fun-filled, all-expenses billed to us trip to beautiful…

Well, the people were beautiful…

PHILADELPHIA!

Sorry if that seems anti-climactic.

We had talked about going there earlier this spring/summer, but Covid kept us from doing it.  Now our governor keeps adding states to a mandatory quarantine list, that if you come to New York from those states, you have to quarantine for two weeks.  As of now, Pennsylvania is still OK, so we went.  Also, Cai and Amy moved this past week to Kentucky where Cai will be attending Southern Baptist Theological Seminary to work on a doctorate in Old Testament, so we wanted to visit them in the Philly area before they were further away.

We spent Friday night with them, where they fed us and we talked and talked.  Saturday morning, we helped them with some cleaning of their old apartment, and then we all went down to the city to see Carissa, Matt, Ruby, Caitlin, and Ben.  Ruby did a great job entertaining us all, and Ben introduced us to the amazing “sport” of marble racing for those so desperate for any kind of sports.  Somewhere he had found YouTube videos of marble races that were actually more entertaining than you would think.

Sunday morning, we met at Carissa and Matt’s again and worshipped virtually together from their live-streamed church service.  It was nice to hear more people singing than just our own immediate family.  And Carissa had been a part of the worship team that recorded the song leading, so that was cool too.  After enjoying lunch together with them, we headed back home.

So, that’s our sort-of-but-not-too-eventful month.  And again I have no pictures or videos to make this more exciting.  Sorry.  Maybe in August, but no promises.

Your father, father-in-law, cousin, uncle, brother, brother-in-law, nephew, husband, friend, Greg

June 2020 Update

Last month I ended with “At least the weather is finally getting a little warmer, and our area is in phase one of re-opening, so maybe June will be more interesting.  But don’t count on it.”  Well, I hope you didn’t count on it.  We’re now in phase three of re-opening, but I don’t think our month was much more interesting.

For Memorial Day, we sort of cheated this year, and instead of grilling our own hamburgers, we bought them from Burger King.  At least we bought them from a place that grills them.

We celebrated Hannah’s birthday on June 6, and remembered Kortney and Mat’s 6th anniversary on 6/13.

In other exciting news, my hair place reopened, so I could get a professional haircut again.  Krista did a really good job in the interim, but we both agreed we’d rather I went there.  Also reopened was our local Tim Horton’s.  For the past few years, a couple of my friends and I have been meeting there once a month for a Bible study and prayer time.  We had to put that on hold during the virus shutdown, so it was good to meet with them again.

So, yeah, that’s about it for this update.  I don’t even have any pictures to make this more interesting, but if you’re really bored, you can go and look at old pictures and updates here.  That would also work well if you’re having trouble sleeping—it will knock you right out soon, I’m sure.

May 2020 Update

This month, we remembered Cai’s birthday on 5/5, celebrated Mothers’ Day on 5/10, had the celebration for Kevin’s 5/14 birthday yesterday with delicious diner spaghetti and pineapple upside down cake, went for walks and bike rides, tried to keep our spring flowers from freezing, and watched some World War II planes fly overhead.  The flyovers were done by our local War Plane Museum.  They flew over every hospital in Western New York as a thank you to the workers there.  One of those hospitals is just down the road from us, so we had a nice view of the two planes.

Walking with the Mickles at Holley Falls park, and Alex had to carry huge rocks

I love his shuffle as he lugs the rocks up the trail

Biking with Krista at Hamlin Beach

Trying to keep our peonies from freezing

World War II planes flying overhead

Grandkids watching the planes fly over (if you zoom A LOT you might see the planes in this picture too)

For Mothers’ Day, we had a fancy steak dinner with baked potatoes and grilled asparagus.  Then the local families came over with a present for Krista, and we shared dessert together.

Quarantine life being what it is, our month was pretty quiet.

At least the weather is finally getting a little warmer, and our area is in phase one of re-opening, so maybe June will be more interesting.  But don’t count on it.

April 2020 Update

I have a feeling this is going to be short because, as I imagine is true for most if not all of you, we haven’t been doing much in the past month with everything canceled and being told to stay home.

I got my last professional haircut about a month ago, and I’m due again, but fortunately since I’m mostly bald, I think between Krista and myself, we can take care of it without me looking unfit to appear in public.  And I don’t appear in public very much anymore anyway, so we’ve got that going for us.

Family birthdays this month are Carissa on March 23 and granddaughter Bea’s first birthday on March 24.

We’ve taken more walks than usual lately since there’s nothing else to do, with short trips to Hamlin Beach, Holley Falls, Mt. Albion Cemetery, and various places along the Erie Canal to try to experience different walk locations.

Krista at the top of Holley Falls

Holley Falls

From the top of the tower at Mt. Albion Cemetery

Don't lean back too far just to get a good picture!

Found these graves in the cemetery. I wonder if we're related?

We were surprised recently by some spring snow—only a “sugar coating” that soon melted, but this week has been especially cold, and we’ve woken up to a dusting of snow for the past several days.

For our Sunday worship at home, we’ve been watching a sermon series from a local church, Northridge Church in Rochester, called Unfiltered Jesus.  We’ve been enjoying them and being challenged by them.  If you’re interested, here’s the link to the series:  https://www.youtube.com/user/NorthridgeRochester/videos.

April 11 was National Barbershop Quartet Day, and I celebrated by wearing my barbershop chorus shirt and missing singing with my quartet.  ☹

Our Easter was quiet, as I’m sure all of yours was too, but we had a great home church service and excellent ham dinner, even if it was with only the five of us here.  But our difficult circumstances don’t change the eternal joy we have because our Savior conquered the grave and lives forever.  Because He lives, we too shall live!

Maybe by May, we’ll be able to have our crazy, busy lives again.  Is that something we want?  Hmm.