March Update 2016

On Feb 19 and 20, Krista and I attended a marriage conference at our church.  It was a live webcast put on by Matt Chandler’s ministry (for those of you who have heard of him).  It was very challenging and uplifting at the same time.  There was even good information about dating that we talked over with our unmarried children.

On Feb 22, Ella and Cody celebrated their 2nd anniversary, and the next day, we learned that Hazel will have a new sister sometime in July!  We are excited for Ella, Cody, and Hazel, and this new addition to our family!

The beginning of March found us in Philadelphia for Caitlin and Ben’s wedding on the 5th.  It was a beautiful ceremony in an old church (built in the 1800s), and the bride was absolutely gorgeous.  OK, the groom looked pretty nice too.  It was so nice to see everyone again, although it went too quickly to spend much time together.  I even remembered my brother, Ken’s, birthday on the 6th as we were driving home.

The Bride and Groom at their reception

When we returned from the wedding, we brought Cai and his girlfriend, Amy, home with us for their spring break week.  Amy left us about mid-week to spend the rest of the break with her family in Connecticut, but we loved getting to spend time with her and getting to know her better.

Zach received an award from the local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) chapter at our Civil Air Patrol meeting on March 10 for his exemplary work in CAP.  He recently promoted to Chief Master Sergeant, so now he’s only two promotions away from being an officer (2nd Lt).  He’s hoping to be an officer before we go to the New York Wing Encampment in July.

Zach (R) and the other cadets with their awards

We had a regional Awana event on March 12 at our church for the 7th – 12th graders (Trek and Journey).  Jemmie and Zach did Bible quizzing with their teams and did very well.  We only competed against one other church, but it gives all the teens good practice, especially those going to Summit in April to compete nationally as Zach will do.

We celebrated (from a distance), Kortney’s (3/17) and Carissa’s (3/23) birthdays this month since I wrote last too.  And on Saturday, 3/19, Levi competed with our church’s Awana T&T kids in the Awana Games.  They did very well and took first place for their group.

To close this out for the month, and to explain why it is being sent over a week later than I normally do, I will tell you about our trip to Mexico.

My son-in-law, Kevin, Hannah’s husband, has a membership with Hard Rock Resorts, so they invited us to spend the past week with them at Riviera Maya Hard Rock Resort, near Cancún, Mexico.  Tuesday, March 15, after work, the five of us (Hannah, Kevin, their daughter Alma, Krista, and me) drove to Toronto.  Kevin had figured out that we could save about a third of the airfare cost by flying out of Toronto on a direct flight to Cancún, as opposed to flying out of Rochester or Buffalo and having to make a connection somewhere.  So, he booked us a hotel near the airport in Toronto before our Wednesday morning, March 16, flight.

I have to say that overall Alma was an exceptionally good traveler.  There were some very long days in airplanes and cars, and she, of course, fussed some, but she only expressed what all of us were feeling.  I’m sure we all thought about screaming sometimes, if we could have gotten away with it.  When you’re really cute, like she is, for some reason it’s more socially acceptable.

The next morning, Wednesday, March 16, we took a shuttle from the hotel to the Toronto airport.  We were on a big Airbus plane in the very last seats.  Normally, being back there, I would feel like we were in steerage class, but it actually worked out very well.  In the middle of the plane, there are 3 sets of 3 seats across, but in the very back, it is a 2, 3, 2 setup.  So Kevin and Hannah (with Alma) were in one set of 2, and Krista and I were on the other side of the plane in another set of 2.  Since we were in the back, when Alma did get fussy, Kevin or Hannah could stand up with her and get her happy again.

The flight was uneventful (the best kind), and we arrived in sunny Cancún to await our shuttle to the resort.  It was about an hour’s drive from the airport to the resort, and the air conditioning wasn’t working too well in the van, so we were glad to arrive and put on summer clothes for the rest of the day.  Our rooms were down the hall from each other and had ocean views, Jacuzzi tubs, king size beds, and lots of other luxuries.  The AC worked a little too well in our room.  Krista finally figured out to just turn it off when we got too cold.  If we set the temperature higher, it took revenge on us gringos by making it colder.  I know Celsius is different from Fahrenheit, but 23C is still supposed to be warmer than 19C, but when we changed it like that, it put the room down to 17C.

Anyway, the rooms were very nice and convenient to everything else at the resort.  We took a short tour of the cove, beach, and other areas, and met our first wildlife, an iguana that was about 3 feet long.

We had lots of opportunities to be grandparents (abuelos, since we were in Mexico—I threw that in for you, Nicole and Eduardo, and BTW, congratulations on your new son! J) as the resort was divided into one side family and one side adults only.  Some of the restaurants and the spa were on the adults only side, so we would take turns watching Alma while some of us ate or had massages, facials, pedicures, etc.  They could only talk me into a massage.  I’d have to say it was a little weird for me, but still pleasant.  I got to be abuelo all by myself once when Krista, Hannah, and Kevin all went for pedicures.  Kevin made sure they didn’t put nail polish on him this time as had happened on a previous visit.  Alma did very well, overall, with us when her parents were gone, although there always seemed to be a point in time after a while when she would let us know she was ready to have her parents back.

We tried almost all the restaurants over the week (Hibachi, Mexican, French, Brazilian steakhouse, pizza, Italian, buffets) since this was an all-inclusive resort, so all the food costs were already paid.  You may remember that last month I said I was down 10 pounds.  Forget that.  After this week, those 10 pounds I lost found me again.  Well, almost all of them anyway.  Back to the diet with me!

There were also lots of other things going on all the time.  One day a man walked around with a monkey that would pose for pictures with you.  We didn’t do that, but we got a picture of him.  There were also wild monkeys that visited the trees near the resort.  We went looking for them a few times, but never got a good glimpse of them.  They had various parties and concerts and activities you could do or not as you please.  One day, Krista joined in with some water aerobics.  She said all ages were participating, and it was fun.  She and I also went kayaking in the cove one day and saw lots of interesting fish.  All of us except Hannah tried a rope walk across the cove too, and we all made it across without falling in, although it was close a couple of times!

Kevin got a perk for attending a pitch session that allowed him to get 2 tickets for a half day tour of a Mayan ruin city called Tulum.  He sent Krista and me on that, and it was very interesting.  It was really hot that day, but the history of the city was fascinating, and we loved it.

Besides the iguanas and the elusive monkeys, we also often saw a rodent that looked like a small dog.  We googled him and found out he is called Sereque or agouti.  You can learn more about him here if you want:  http://www.mexiconewsnetwork.com/adventure/sereque-mexico/.

All in all, it was an amazing trip that I never thought I would be able to do, so many thanks to Kevin and Hannah for inviting us along!

In the Toronto airport

Happy travelers on the way to Mexico!

Beautiful traveler on her way to Mexico!

Waiting for the shuttle at the Cancun airport

Driving from the Cancun airport to the resort

We're here!

Checking in

Our room

Checking out the cove

Beach selfie!

Beauty and the beast

Alma with her abuela

Enjoying the pool

At the hibachi restaurant

Girl getting her picture taken with the monkey

The maid made a peacock out of our towels (or is it a turkey?)

On our way to Tulum

Mayan temple selfie

It it a walled city--this is an exit tunnel

Krista and a reclining native

At the Brazilian steakhouse (all you can eat meat! What could be better?)

Kevin and Hannah getting ready to feast

Seats all gone? No problem. I'll sit in the tub

Can you see that fish?

The view from our room

Until April, with another trip, this time to Washington DC!

February Update

Greetings from the frozen wastelands of western New York State!

The view out our front door during the 2/16 winter storm

Here’s the happenings of me and mine since I last wrote:

Jemmie officially became a teenager on 1/21.  We waited until Sunday the 24th when everyone was over after church to have her full party.  Krista made her an amazing chocolate cake (we got the idea from Cai’s girlfriend, Amy, when she visited us over Christmas).  Our local grocery store, Wegman’s, has what they call an Ultimate Chocolate Cake.  Well, this was better, and led to a recent decision of mine to go on a protein diet to try to work off the excellent cake and too much other good food.  So far I’m down 10 pounds, so that’s good!

I’m trying to get both Amelia and Zach driving time and skills so they can get their licenses.  I should be really good at this now since I’m on my 8th and 9th kid to teach to drive—“should” being the operative word there.  It reminds me of this:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaUYQZR-y7I.  No, none of my kids were ever quite that bad, but some got close.  In the interest of family peace, I will not name names, but you know who you are, kids.

I was pleased that Denver won the Super Bowl, and Peyton got another championship.  I have no doubt Cam will get his soon, although I’m hoping for a Seahawks vs. Bills Super Bowl 51.  Don’t ask who I’d root for, because I’m not sure I know myself.  I’d probably wear my Steve Largent and Jim Kelly jerseys and be conflicted the whole game.  Maybe I shouldn’t wish for that after all.

On 1/29 and 30, our church had a men’s retreat.  The speaker was excellent, the food was really good, and the fellowship and challenges were great.  Zach and Kevin got to go too, so that made it more special.  We learned about our identity in Christ—that He makes us the men He wants us to be.  I’m now reading a book we got there called “Manhood Restored” by Eric Mason.  I’d recommend it!

On 1/31, we celebrated Abigail’s birthday (which is really on 2/2).  That Sunday we all got together at Hannah and Kevin’s house.  Kevin made us flatbread pizzas, and we brought over a Mississippi Mud Cake for her dessert.

I think Levi's afraid she's going to get burned with all those candles

On 2/6, our church hosted the regional Awana Truth & Training (3rd – 6th grade) Bible Quiz.  Levi is the only one of my kids left in that grade range (5th grade), and he did really well, getting a perfect score.  His team came in 2nd to another team from our church that all got perfect scores.  Overall, our church did very well, with 6 of our 8 kids that competed getting perfect scores.

The left 6 kids are the ones from our church who got perfect scores (Levi is the 3rd from left)

My son-in-law, Cody’s, birthday was on 2/11.  As usual, we saved our big family party for a Sunday, so we celebrated on Valentine’s Day, 2/14, which is also my brother, David’s, birthday.  That was a full day.  The temperatures here that day were below zero, with wind chills making it feel like 20 or 30 below.  We decided to cancel Sunday School at church that day (we just had our morning worship), and to encourage people to stay home if it wasn’t safe for them to travel.  We had a pretty small crowd at church, but the service was really good.  Our pastor is preaching through Philippians, and God is using His Word to challenge and grow us in our faith each week.  He has encouraged us often through that book to find true JOY by putting Jesus first, Others second, and Yourself last.

It was my turn to sing special music that morning, and in keeping with the theme of putting ourselves last, I sang, “So Long Self” by MercyMe.  You can listen to them do it and read the lyrics at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jUYQ71Uw0g.  Ella pointed out to me that I was singing a break-up song on Valentine’s Day, but it was appropriate to the Bible passage we were studying, and I thought it went well.

Today is Caitlin’s birthday, so happy birthday to you, Caitlin.  We are 2 weeks and 2 days away from her wedding day!  So, now you know what I’ll be writing about next month.  Until then!

Hazel put the baby in the stroller by herself!

This picture was after church back on 10/11/15

This one was just this past Sunday.  Some things don't change, but they did trade sides

January Update

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.

Opening stockings early Christmas morning

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.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

December Update

Well, my Buffalo Bills playoff hopes are pretty much gone for this year again.  I guess when you’ve missed the playoffs for 15 years in a row, what’s one more?  Thankfully, I have my original hometown Seahawks to keep me enjoying football.  My fantasy team did much better than expected, finishing 6-8 and placing 10th in our league.  At the beginning of the season, I was predicted to go 2-12, so I guess I overachieved.

Zach’s 16th birthday was on 11/23.  We celebrated a day early since everyone always comes over to our house on Sunday afternoon anyway.  He’s already driving as much as he can, whereas Amelia, who turned 18 on 12/3 doesn’t seem to care much about driving.  I’m trying to get both of them out driving anyway.  Amelia’s celebration was really stretched out.  We had cake and ice cream on 11/29, again because of the Sunday thing and the busyness of everyone at this time of year, but I think she only received her last gift on 12/11.

A bunch of us went and saw the last Hunger Games movie (Mockingjay part 2) on 11/24.  Overall, I thought the series was pretty well done.  Books are always better than movies, but it is fun to see how someone imagines and puts into a movie what you imagined in your own head.

We followed the American tradition of eating too much and falling asleep (yay for tryptophan) watching football on Thanksgiving.  We got a fresh turkey this year from a friend at church (Mary McCabe), and Kevin cooked the 28 pound bird to perfection.  Besides that we had Carissa’s rolls (yes, Mr. and Mrs. Wilkinson were with us!), winter squash, cranberry jelly and relish, sweet potatoes, broccoli casserole, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pumpkin, pecan, apple, and blueberry pies.  I think just about everyone pitched in on the cooking, and it was all amazing.  Cramming into our house were Carissa, Matt, Hannah, Kevin, Alma, Ella, Cody, Hazel, Cai, Cai’s college roommate Roosevelt, Abigail, Seth, Amelia, Zach, Jemmie, Levi, and Krista and I.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:  no one parties like we do.

Our Thanksgiving feast

Once they returned home after Thanksgiving, Carissa and Matt were able to move into their new house

On 12/4, my work team had a holiday luncheon paid for by the company.  We had a buffet lunch at a restaurant that was really good and did a gift exchange.  We did the gift game where everyone is assigned a number and unwraps or steals a gift on their turn.  I gave a Buffalo Bills t-shirt that was pretty popular (it got stolen from the original opener), and ended up with a nice mini-flashlight.

Hannah’s family and Ella’s family and my family all went and got our Christmas trees on 12/5.  That’s earlier than usual for us, but they wanted to go then, so we cooperated.  Then we all rushed home and had a get-your-tree-up race.  I think we lost, but our tree looks good anyway.  We sacrificed speed for quality.

Our tree is lit...

...and fully decorated

Hannah and Alma admiring their tree

I’ve been working very little lately.  Yes, that is different than usual.  I have to use or lose my vacation days by the end of the year, so I only worked 4 days last week and two this week.  Next week I work Monday through Wednesday, and then I’m off until January.  It’s a rough life.  It has helped us get ready for Christmas since it has enabled Krista and me to do some shopping dates.  I think we’re pretty close to being done.

Our Christmas card is waiting until I can get pictures from Carissa’s wedding.  Our photographer is trying to finish her college semester, so the pictures aren’t to us yet.  It will probably end up being a New Year’s card, but that’s happened to us before.  Don’t worry.  Once you get it, it will have been worth the wait.

Sad news this month for us is the passing of my aunt, Ruth Kerns.  She was my Mom’s sister and probably the closest to a second Mom I had.  We will miss her for her family history tracking and knowledge, her quick smile, and her loving care.  Someday we will all have a glorious reunion in heaven!

The last time we saw Aunt Ruth.  She and Uncle Cordon were at Roberts Wesleyan in 2011 for the Free Methodist Annual Conference

This past Saturday and Sunday nights, our church had a combined kids’ musical and adult cantata.  I am still directing the adult choir, so it’s been a lot of work lately, but it went really well, and I trust that the gospel message was clearly proclaimed through both of those programs.  I hope you know that truth and have claimed it personally.  God created us all and lovingly and graciously gave us rules to live by so our joy in life could be most perfect.  But we rebelled against Him and went our own way, thinking we knew better.  All we got in our folly was sin and death.  Thankfully, God didn’t leave us in our sin and death as we deserved.  In His great love for us, Jesus willingly came to earth, the infinite God of the universe, in the form of a helpless baby.  He took our death and gave us His life.  He took our sin and gave us His righteousness.  “Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” 2 Corinthians 9:15.

This Kids' Christmas program

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Hanukkah, or whatever other holiday you are celebrating.  I’ll tell you about our Christmas in January!

OK, I was pretty proud of this Hearts game.  I am "Player" and the other three were players the computer managed.

Of course, there has to be a cute granddaughters picture

November Update

Topping the news this month was the wedding of our daughter, Carissa, to Matt Wilkinson this past Saturday, 11/14.  It was a beautiful wedding with a beautiful bride!  You’ll have to wait for pictures (on the web version) until we get them from the official wedding photographer, whom some of you would know:  Kayla Holcomb.  Until then, just take my word for its beauty.  We were blessed to have all of our kids and their families there, as well as all of Krista’s sisters with their families, or at least representatives of their families.  While we were there, we got to spend some time after the wedding relaxing in the hotel pool with family.

I love how Hazel and Abigail have the same expression

Yep, everyone in there is related to me somehow (sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, soon-to-be-son-in-law)

Hazel with her Mom-mom (Grandma) and great aunts Nanita, Conny, and Jolita

A close second to topping the news this month was the engagement of our daughter, Caitlin, to Ben Updegrove on 10/27.  Caitlin and Ben and Carissa and Matt were in Brockport to visit and meet Hannah’s new daughter, Alma.  While they were here, Caitlin and Ben went to Niagara Falls where he popped the question.  For my Matthews relatives getting this, our family has romantic history in Niagara Falls because that’s where my Mom and Dad shared their first kiss.  How sweet!  Caitlin and Ben are planning a spring wedding with an exact date yet to be determined.

Caitlin's sapphire engagement ring

Also while they were in Brockport, we had a family wedding shower for Carissa at our house.  Krista’s sister, Nanita, and her family were able to join us for that, and we had a grand time helping Carissa stock up her new home.

Carissa with some of her gifts

The shower wore out Hazel and her mommy

I don’t remember if I’ve already told you about this men’s ministry at Grace, but I want to tell you about it now since it is such an encouragement to me.  Almost a year ago now, we started our Ironmen ministry (the name is from Proverbs 27:17, “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another”).  Our then-Associate Pastor (now Interim Pastor), Matt Combs, divided us up into groups.  We meet twice a month as a small group and study God’s Word together, and fellowship and pray for each other.  I’ve grown very close to my group of men and treasure the times we have together.  My group, since some of you will know some of them, is Tony Barry, Aaron Smith, Matt Schofield, Drew Santos, Kevin Mickle (my son-in-law), and Eddie Burch.  Also once a month, we meet with all of the men from the church for Bible study, worship, and encouragement.  I believe God is growing our church in maturity and grace as He teaches us, through His Word and each other, how to be the leaders He has called us to be in our homes and church.

On 10/21, I remembered that it was my Dad’s heavenly birthday.  It’s been four years here, but there is no time there!  I know one day I will see him again!

At work, besides the monthly patch testing, we’ve been doing testing on Xerox’s last (hopefully) Windows 7 build.  We have a Windows 8.1 build that is in limited distribution, but our engineers are working on our first Windows 10 build that will hopefully deploy in the spring of 2016.  It’s been fun to play around with the new stuff in this job.  Besides getting first crack at newer Operating Systems, I also get first crack at new hardware.  Xerox recently wanted to develop a build for a tablet, so we got Surface Pro 3’s here in the lab.  Microsoft touts the SP3 as the tablet that can replace your laptop—maybe if it didn’t cost twice as much, but they are fun to use.

We had a Halloween party at Hannah and Kevin’s on Friday night, 10/30.  This past summer, Ella and Hannah had found cute little Elsa and Anna (from Frozen) costumes for their little girls at Brockport’s Arts Festival.  They were adorable, but Alma didn’t seem too impressed with dressing up.  Hazel really enjoyed frosting cookies with her mother—well, she enjoyed eating them anyway, even before they were finished getting frosted.

At least Amelia finished frosting hers first

On 11/7, Zach and I went to a CAP event where we sold wreaths for Wreaths Across America (http://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/).  We primarily do it to teach our CAP cadets to honor our veterans, but WAA does return a portion of each wreath we sell to our squadron’s account, so it is also a fund raiser for us.  We’ve done this for the past three years that we’ve been a part of CAP, and I always enjoy meeting people at this event.

After we got home from Carissa’s wedding, we had a family birthday party for Levi on Sunday 11/15.  His 11th birthday was 11/14, but we were all kind of in wedding mode that day.  But it was really sweet when, during the wedding reception, Carissa announced that it was her little brother’s birthday, and they had him come up front where he was given a double chocolate cupcake with a candle, and all of the wedding guests sang “Happy Birthday” to him.  Also, that night we went out to Chick-Fil-A (yummy!), and gave him his present wrapped in a Chick-Fil-A bag.

So far, November has been quite the month, and we haven’t even gotten to Thanksgiving yet.  But I’ll tell you all about that in December’s update!

Happy Alma!