September 2016 Update

Hello family and friends, and welcome to another exciting update from the Greg Matthews Family!

In order to properly enjoy our hot summer, we decided to all go to Seabreeze, our local amusement and water park.  My family, Hannah’s family, Ella’s family, and Krista’s sister Nanita’s family all went on Saturday, 8/20, and enjoyed a day of sun and fun.  My wrist didn’t give me any problems, which I wasn’t sure about going into it, although it was a little sore the next day from holding tightly to the rides (I love roller coasters).  I never even got my phone out to take any pictures, so you’ll just have to imagine how cute my granddaughters were on their rides.  No, it was cuter than that.  Try again.

I only have one PT session left, and then I just have to continue doing my home exercises until I’m completely back to normal.  The nice thing about having PT every week is that my boss has let me work at home each day I’ve had PT (once a week).  I had PT on 8/22, which was also Krista’s and my 36th anniversary.  So I took a long lunch that day, and we went out for a nice lunch together.

My Mom would have been 88 on 8/23, and Dad would have been 88 on 9/15, but they are both happier now without having birthdays.

On 8/26 and 27, Levi and I took Cai back to college at Cairn University outside of Philadelphia.  We briefly saw Carissa, Matt, Caitlin, and Ben.  We slept at Caitlin and Ben’s house Friday night, played some games with all of them, and then all went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch before we had to drop Cai off at school on Saturday afternoon.  Then Levi and I headed home.  It was a long driving weekend, but by God’s grace, everything went very smoothly.

We caught Matt replacing his kitchen flooring (see the small patch of old flooring?)

Playing games

On Labor Day weekend, our family fantasy league had its draft.  I got a very bad draft grade, so I guess I better keep my job and not try to break into managing an NFL team.  Although the Bills are winless this season, so I couldn’t do much worse than whoever is doing that job there now.  I had and still have much higher hopes for the Seahawks, although Sunday’s loss was just embarrassing.  Can we convince Marshawn to come back from retirement?

On Labor Day itself, we labored in the morning (isn’t that what the day is really for?), then played in the afternoon and evening, with rousing croquet matches, grilled chicken, and lots of family and fun.

At church this fall, I started teaching one of the adult Sunday School classes.  My topic is “What Is The Gospel?”.  It’s been a good study for me, and I trust God is using it in our church family’s lives to help us better understand what we may be mistaken about or take for granted, and be thus better able to share it with others.  The simple outline is:  God, man, Christ, response.  1. There is one God who created us all, and because He is the Creator, we are all accountable to Him.  2. We all, every one of us without exception, have rebelled against His rightful authority over us.  3. Instead of condemning us to death as we deserved, He sent His only Son, Jesus, to take the death that we deserved.  Christ willingly came and died in our place, and God raised Him from the dead to prove His ultimate victory over sin and death.  4. When we respond in faith, trusting only in His death and resurrection for the payment for our sins, we are redeemed and saved from our sin, and allowed to spend eternity in heaven with Him instead of separated from Him forever in the eternal torment of hell.

Please pray that God will use that amazing truth to penetrate my own heart more and more, and to win souls to Himself through this class.

My son-in-law, Mat, celebrated his birthday on 9/12.  Please pray for him and Kortney as they are preparing for their baby’s birth in mid-October, and Mat was recently laid off from his job.  This seems to us like awful timing, but they are trusting in God’s sovereignty in their lives.

That’s all for now, so until October!

Oddly enough, all the rest of my pictures are of my adorable granddaughters.  Who'd have guessed that?!?!

Ivy tummy time and head lift practice

Talking with Grandpa: happy

Talking with Grandpa: singing

Talking with Grandpa: even though he's strange

Talking with Grandpa: really strange

Alma and Hazel cooling off on a hot day

August 2016 Update

Today is about 13.5 weeks since my wrist repair surgery.  The doctor said it could take a full year to get everything back, and I’m definitely not there yet.  My hand is still swollen a little, but the thing that bothers me the most is the loss of feeling in the pinky side of my hand.  It makes it hard to type (which is sort of what I do for a living) when you can’t feel the keys your ring and pinky finger are touching.  The strength is lacking quite a bit still too, but I know I am improving bit by bit.  I still have weekly appointments with my Physical Therapist and daily exercises I have to do, so people often see me bending and contorting my wrist, hand, and fingers to try to get things back to normal.  They probably think I’m some sort of a wacko because some of those exercises look strange, and they’re right.

As I mentioned last month, Zach and I went to the Civil Air Patrol’s New York Wing Leadership Encampment from July 21 – 31.  Our weather has continued to be overall very hot and dry, and that week and a half was no different.  The food they give us there is very good, but thankfully the warm weather and the high amounts of walking that was required balanced out the good eating so that I came home about the same weight as I went.  Zach’s job was in Services (food prep, kitchen cleanup, etc.) so he had to be up very early every morning and stay up late at night as well.  My job was in Admin, so I was crazy busy at the beginning and end of the week when we were registering and out-processing cadets, and sort of slow the rest of the week.  I spent a lot of time helping people with technical issues (printing, network connectivity, etc.), so that was good to be able to use my skills that way.  I actually was rewarded with a “challenge coin” for my efforts, so that was nice.

The front and back of the Challenge Coin I received

I drove some cadet staff to encampment. This is us at a rest stop (Zach far right)

Playing volleyball. I was tempted but was a good boy and didn't play

Zach cleaning the food service area

Zach (center) serving in the food line

We got to see lots of cool aircraft during the week, like a Blackhawk and a Chinook helicopter, F-15 fighter jets, and a “Reaper” drone, and we got to fly in a C-130 cargo plane again this time, as we had two years ago when we went.  It was a lot of exhausting fun!

I slept in the camper in the foreground. In the background is the Blackhawk

Zach (Philip) and I listed for the C-130 flight

Looking at the Reaper (can you find Zach?)

C-130 selfie!

Lake Placid from the C-130

Whiteface Mountain

The pilot (we all got turns to go into the cockpit)

F-15s flying by (they are hard to photograph)

Possibly the highlight for me was going to a Jewish worship service.  We had a Jewish cadet at the encampment who wanted to go to services, so our chaplain found a temple near us, and another adult member and I took her.  The temple was beautiful with lots of stained glass and colorful tapestries.  We sang a lot of songs, all in Hebrew, and heard a message in English, thankfully, but the way he pronounced the Biblical names was Hebraized as opposed to the way I learned them, so that was really interesting too.  It was fascinating to have this cross-cultural experience in the faith group that is the foundation for my Christianity.

New service book

Old service book (we used this one and used almost every page, and yes, you start at the back and go towards the front)

The encampment graduation ceremony was really nice too.  They surprised a cadet whose father had been serving in Afghanistan by bringing his dad forward to greet him when he thought he was still overseas.  That moistened a lot of eyes!

Encampment Graduation

Krista and I and Jemmie and Levi made a quick trip to Philadelphia to visit Carissa and Matt and Caitlin and Ben over the weekend 8/5-7.  We hadn’t really gotten to visit with them in the wedding trips to Philly, so it was really great to spend all day Saturday with them.  We went to a park on the riverfront, played games, ate good food, and we came away feeling like we connected with them again.  Ben’s birthday was on 8/12, so at least when we wished him happy birthday, we really felt like we knew the man who married our daughter.  ;-)

Fast food selfies from our Philly trip

Early the following week, I was contacted by Olcott Bible Church.  They are currently without a pastor and were looking for someone to fill their pulpit the next Sunday.  First, Krista’s cousin’s wife, Lisa, who is a member there, called me to make sure it was OK to ask me, then an “official” representative of their church called.  I was excited for the opportunity, but with only a week’s notice, I had to use a message I had preached before.  In August 2011, death was on my mind when my church needed me to preach.  My mom had died in May, and I knew my dad was not doing well (he ended up dying in October of that same year).  So, I prepared and taught a message on the bad news of death, the good news that God is in control of death, and the best news that believers at death are immediately in the presence of their Savior, Jesus.

As part of that message, I showed this video to illustrate God’s control over death.  WARNING!  If you cry easily, or have recently lost a loved one, be sure to have tissues handy when you watch this!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQYrF2g_48o  In 2011, after I got back up to continue preaching at this point, there were so many weepy people in the congregation, that I too broke down and sobbed and could barely speak.  This time I only got a little misty-eyed and choked up, so I guess that’s an improvement.

They also wanted me to teach Sunday School if possible, and I was preparing a lesson for our church for this past Wednesday night on Psalm 147, so I taught that in Sunday School.  I thought both lessons went well, and I trust God used me to encourage the believers there.

Then I was able to teach Psalm 147 this past Wednesday night for our church and was able to make some last minute changes based on how the Sunday School went at Olcott Bible to make it even smoother, so thanks to the OBC people for being my guinea pigs.

Backing up one day, we celebrated Krista’s birthday on 8/16 with a party at Hannah and Kevin’s house.  All the local family were there, and we had tons of fun and excellent food, as usual.

The birthday girl

At the party...

That was our full month, so I’ll talk to you in September!

Do you like my hat?

July 2016 Update

Today is nine weeks since my wrist repair surgery, and I am seeing some improvement with motion in my injured wrist.  I still have swelling and a good amount of flexibility and strength to recover, but I am getting better slowly but surely.  I have PT every week and see the doctor every three weeks now.  My Physical Terrorist Therapist is named Melissa (the Merciless).  She’s a little slip of a woman about the size of my 13-year-old, Jemmie, but she knows how to hurt a grown man.  I know it’s all for my good, but it’s still not fun.

In other news, we went to Krista’s Mom’s family (Rhodes) reunion on 7/4 like we do every year, and then went to her sister, Conny’s, to enjoy their pool.  Our weather here has been very hot and dry.  We haven’t needed to mow in weeks.  We did get some rain today, so maybe we’re turning a corner in that area.

Hazel and Ella on the carousel at the park where we had the reunion

I remembered my brother, Gary’s, last of his 50-something birthdays on 7/10.

The next day, July 11, was the big excitement of this month, when Ivory Joy Sommer was born at 4:03PM.  She weighed 7 lbs, 10 ozs and was 20 inches long.  She was in a bit of a hurry, and, although Ella and Cody had planned a home birth, she hurried right out and was born 5-10 minutes before the midwives could get there.  Cody handled everything wonderfully though, and Krista was glad to be there for all the excitement.  Baby and mommy are doing very well.

Hazel loves her little sister!

July 11 – 15 was our church’s evening VBS.  We only have one child, Levi, that is still VBS age, but Jem and Zach went too as helpers.  Jem helped with music, and Zach with sound.  Jem had to miss three days, however, because we’ve had a stomach bug going through our family that laid her low halfway through the week.  Not all of us have gotten it yet and hopefully some of us will be spared.

Hannah and Kevin celebrated their 3rd anniversary on 7/13 by working opposite shifts and not seeing each other all day.  Such is the life of nurses in grad school.  Actually, Kevin and Alma took supper to Hannah at work, so they did see each other briefly.  And the weekend before, they took a trip to New York City to see a Garth Brooks concert at Yankee Stadium.   Abigail watched Alma for them.  Other than a little trouble with subways not doing their scheduled routes they had a fantastic time, in spite of some trouble finding their car for the ride home.

Last Saturday Zach and I went and helped man a booth for Civil Air Patrol at the Genesee County Fair.  I hadn’t been to a county fair in years, and it was fun to see the animals and activities.  And yes, I did indulge in a couple of greasy (AKA delicious) fair foods.  It’s not reasonable to expect I wouldn’t.

I think that’s it, so I’ll talk to you in August!

Alma and Hazel test driving a double stroller

June 2016 Update

I’m slowly healing and making small gains every day.  Today I was able to cut my own fingernails for the first time since I broke my wrist last month.  It’s such a small thing, but significant in my mind.  I’m still typing and doing most things with my left hand only or minimally adding my right, but I’m noticing more flexibility and use in my right hand.  I’m in a removable splint now so I can shower, and the pins were removed earlier this week, so that wound can heal.  It felt better immediately once the pins were out, and taking them out really didn’t hurt at all.  I was afraid it might because the skin had swollen almost completely over the head of one of the pins, but my doctor was very gentle in working them out.  I now have a wound to care for at the pin site, and I think I have the splint for four more weeks at least.  I have pictures I can text to anyone who likes to see rather gross things, but I won’t be posting anything more graphic than x-rays here.  If you want to see the gross pictures, text me.

Xray showing the Y-shaped plate and the pins

My removable splint

Now that we’re done with the medical news, we’ll get on to the rest of the family news that’s fit to print.

Levi is playing baseball again this summer in our community league.  I don’t know their record, but I’m guessing they’re around .500.  Several of us have gone to his games, and I always enjoy them and try not to be one of those obnoxious parents, especially since his coach is a friend of mine from church (Mark Holcomb).  I haven’t gotten ejected from the stands, so I guess I’m doing OK.

Hazel loves watching Uncle Levi play baseball!

The week before Memorial Day, the whole family (Krista and I, and all our kids and their families) spent the week in Virginia Beach at a rented house.  It was tons of fun just spending time together, even though my activities were limited by my wrist.  We played at the beach, sat by and played in the pool, played board games, had four-square and euchre tournaments, and Cody organized another Mole game like he did two years ago at Outer Banks.  We also took turns cooking our main meal each day, which explains my weight gain.  I am blessed (cursed?) with a family of excellent cooks.

At the beach

The water was cold, but that didn't stop Mat, Levi, and Cai!

One of our amazingly delicious meals

Brother/sister love

On Memorial Day, Zach and I marched with our CAP squadron in Batavia’s parade.  OK to be truthful, Zach and the other cadets and senior members marched, and I drove the CAP van behind them.  No, my job wasn’t to keep them moving, but just to show what organization the marchers were from.  It was easy to drive one-handed since I was only going about 3 MPH.

Normal driving is still a bit challenging for me, although I can do it.  But since my usual commute takes me from the west side of Rochester where I live to the east side where I work, my boss agreed to let me work from home a couple days a week until I’m more healed.

Hannah’s birthday was on 6/6.  Those who live here get together at Ella’s house each Sunday night to play games, so we celebrated at our 6/5 family game night.

This summer, Zach and I are going to the CAP New York Wing Leadership Encampment, as we did two years ago.  Zach will be cadet staff working in Services (food prep and clean-up).  I will be a Character Development Instructor and help in Administration (check-in and –out, records, etc.) and anywhere else I can be useful.  We went to required training this past weekend at the Air National Guard base near Schenectady where we’ll be meeting.

Kortney and Mat celebrated their 2nd anniversary on 6/13.  I just realized I never announced here that they are expecting their first child in October.  I was supposed to do it last month but wimped out with some lame excuse about it being too hard to type.  Anyway, my birthday is 10/19, so I’m voting for a birthday grandchild, but no pressure, Kortney.  In case you’ve lost track, that will be grandchild #4 for us, with Ella and Cody’s second child due in about a month.  I did tell you about that one, didn’t I?  Yes, in March.  Nice that we can look back on the old updates on the web.

To end, some cute grandchild pictures:

Hazel loves ice cream!

It's fun to be tall!

Where's my magnet to play with?

Until July!