Closing Bell

My sister's husband, Dr. Scot Huber, is a scientist (organic chemist).

His company is Scynexis.

We got home from vacation today

just in time to see this.

Scot's company got to ring the closing bell 

at the NASDAQ stock exchange today!

I have always been proud of my

brother-in-law.

When I taught school, he came to my classroom and showed my students how "chemical reactions" can do all kinds of things - like make silly string.

When I was a preacher's wife and our church was doing a Vacation Bible School that was science themed, Scot came and showed the kids how "chemical reactions" can make things "explode."

Scot has always been a supportive brother-in-law and a terrific uncle.

And today, it was fun to watch him (via live-stream) 

as he took part in his company's moment in the spotlight!

Casey Paige - 18

Happy 18th Birthday Casey Paige!

Since I very first knew your mom (my 1st cousin) was expecting you,

I was looking forward to knowing you.

And I was also looking forward to providing you with a playmate in our family.

You see, I knew that Rob and I were planning our first child together then as well.

I didn't tell your mom that or anyone else for that matter.

God indeed did bless Rob and me with that new little life we had hoped for 

and my Anna is only 3 months younger than you.

This is the first time I ever saw you.  

You're in your dad's lap here and, 

of course I took a photo as soon as I walked in the hospital room.

This is the first time I ever held you and if you look closely, that's Rob in the corner 

videoing so I guess somewhere in my archives of movies, there's some video of you!  

It's also the first photo of you and Anna, I suppose, 

since I was 6 months pregnant with her in this photo.

I was very happy to get to meet you and to start getting to know you!

This is at my baby shower in our parsonage.  Aren't you and "Anna" so cute?

For all of your 18 years, I have tried to stay close to you.

Even when we lived 4 1/2 hours away, I would come and bring my children 

to your birthday parties

and we would visit as often as we could.

Your mom would come to visit us too.

I have been to every one of your parties except one

(and that just couldn't be helped)

but I made sure Anna was there.

I enjoyed watching you being a drum major.

I have enjoyed supporting you in every way I could.

I have loved watching you grow,

especially in your relationship with God.

That makes me smile.

So today, I was thankful I got to be there for this.

Your 18th birthday.

I can definitely say that I have enjoyed 

knowing and loving you over the last 18 years and 

I look forward to seeing where God takes you in your world.

You are a great young woman and I know God has great plans for you!

I look forward to watching it all unfold!

I love you, Casey Paige!

Always have! Always will!

  

Bryan and Jenny

Rob's brother, Bryan, married his Jenny on June 21st.

They were married on the 10th anniversary of the day Rob asked me to marry him.

So even if I don't get a card in the mail on time (like this year),

I never forget their anniversary.

I don't know if we said it out loud to anyone else on their wedding day or not but Rob and I joked all day long that day that Bryan and Jenny were throwing a big party to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Rob's proposal and my saying yes.  

Silly, I know, but that was my Rob.  And it makes me smile.

The day was a fun day.

Bryan and Jenny were so happy.

Rob officiated.

And they had the cutest little flower girl ever! 

My Anna

(who lost a tooth the night before).

Happy Anniversary Bryan and Jenny!

21 Years Ago Today

21 years ago today

he asked me to marry him.

21 years ago today

I knew God had sent me my man.

21 years ago today

I knew God had sent me my family.

21 years.

Hard to believe.

And even harder to believe it's the 3rd year I've passed the day without him.

I wrote a blog entry last night for today but then decided not to post it.

But today, my Crystol texted me and said, 

"Very thankful for the day my dad asked you to marry him. : )"

She also said, 

"I almost didn't say anything because I didn't want you to think 

about it if you weren't already but I took a chance."

I was so glad she remembered.  

Without him to remember with, sometimes it almost feels as if it never really happened.

And after thanking her for mentioning and remembering the day that happened 

not long after she had turned 11, 

I also told her that I will never NOT think about it.

I'm a date person

I remember dates.

And that day is going to always be in my mind.

Even if it's not spoken of out loud.

So for her to remember too was special. 

When I think of that day, I smile.

When I think of that day, I miss him, but I mostly remember the great day I had with Crystol and him.

When I think of that day, I remember the "feelings" of the day,

even before he asked me to marry him.

When I think of that day, I remember how purely happy we all were just being together

and I smile.

I asked Crystol what she remembered about that evening and the morning after when we told her he had proposed and I had said yes.

She said she remembers the same things I do:

"sitting on the beach together,

sitting in the hammock (which, by the way, is where he proposed after Crystol had gone to bed),

and just the feeling. I was happy."

We all were.

And, just as Crystol said, 

I am thankful for the day, 21 years ago,  that her dad asked me to marry him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What I wrote on the first June 21st without him.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

June 21

19 years ago today

my Rob asked me to marry him

I kissed him for a really long time before I said anything

He finally stopped kissing me back and asked, "Is that a yes?"

What I Made For Anna

I made this to surprise Anna when she gets home from camp tomorrow

(she never reads my blog so this post shouldn't spoil it).

She hasn't even seen her article yet 

(except in photos).

I made this for her to preserve the article and so it won't end up folded in a drawer somewhere, 

rarely seen.

I want her to have this to see often so she can always be reminded of that 

"first time published" feeling.

And to remind her to always...

keep dreaming...

keep believing...

and 

keep imagining! 

Anna Is Published!!!!!!!!!!

My daughter's writing has been published!

Anna is at camp again (a different camp than last week's) so she couldn't be with me today when I went to get the newspapers but I did text her a photo of it.

She is so excited.

So am I.

And I am proud of her.

For writing a great article.

For being a great writer.

And for just being her.

But I am especially proud to see her name in print.

Because I know her background.

How hard she worked, for years,

to overcome her dyslexia.

And how she not only overcame her challenges but also excelled and soared over them. 

So as I pulled the newspaper from the box this morning and hurriedly shuffled through the pages hunting for my girl's article, I was actually quite overwhelmed when I came across her name -

her full name - 

in print - 

over AND above her article!

For me, it was a "full circle" moment.

One I really enjoyed.

After I bought all of the copies in the paper box, 

I then drove to the newspaper office and bought a bunch more copies.

I am one proud mama!