Quinci's Adoption

From A...

We went to court today with my sister's family to finalize the adoption of her 16-month-old little girl, Quinci Beth! (named after me, my middle name is Beth) :-) Quinci's been in her custody as a foster child since she was born. Quinci definitely knew the day was all about her and enjoyed having all the attention. I am thankful that all of the things that have delayed us enabled us to be part of such a wonderful celebration!

Texas State Fair

From A...

We're up in Amarillo with my sister again this week, looking for some temp work. The fair was in town so we took the kids - the highlight was the petting zoo (and the greasy food - specifically the cheese on a stick!)...

Travel update

Some of you may be wondering why you haven't yet seen any pictures of us traveling across the country. Well, that's because we're still in Texas for a variety of reasons. To make a really long, but interesting, story short, we are being reminded that an "adventure of faith" is all we knew we would get for certain when we left Nashville. And we are getting that! This adventure is leaving many things out of our control - including the multiplying RV repairs, the financial provision in California, gas prices for a motorhome that gets 10 miles to the gallon, etc. There have been lots of ups and downs, but it has been a really rich and wonderful opportunity to reconnect with family and friends. We are still waiting for some things to fall in place for us to get to California, but we're just not sure when that will happen - weeks, months?? Until then, we will try to post at least once a week with updates on how we're spending our time around Texas. We hope everyone back in Nashville is doing well, we sure miss you!

Get Your Guns Up!

Mike here...

Adrienne and I went last night to watch a Texas Tech football game (their mascot is the Red Raider and they like to say "get your guns up")...We went with her cousin and his wife and had a really good time. It was a nice evening and Tech won the game.

The night before the Tech game we went to Adrienne's high school homecoming and watched the ferocious Slaton Tigers pound away on some poor little opponent. It was a lot of fun to see Adrienne in her old high school football stadium where she was a cheerleader. We sat with some of her old friends and teachers and it was exciting for all.

Grandpa Metzig

From A...

One of the high points of being delayed in Lubbock indefinitely with RV repairs has been that Mike and I have been available to spend some time with my Grandpa (Dad's dad). He has been in the hospital with pneumonia, and we spent the night at his house for several nights as he transitioned back home. We were there on what would have been his 64th wedding anniversary with Grandma (she passed away this past June). We enjoyed our time reminiscing and watching baseball games - Grandpa used to play professional baseball, so he a Mike spend a lot of time talking baseball.

Mike adds...

Adrienne mentioned that her grandfather used to play professional baseball. He actually made it to the major leagues and played in several games for the Chicago White Sox in 1944. You can see his actual stats here. After his playing career ended he went on to manage for several years in a variety of places around the country (mostly in the mid-west and north). He was eventually offered a job managing the Lubbock Hubbers in Lubbock, Texas and that's how Adrienne's family ended up in Texas. So if you think about it, baseball is not only one of my first true loves, but the game actually is responsible for bringing to Texas my real true love (how's that for sappy and schmaltzy?).

The Tonsils Had To Go

From A...

Just finished up a week at my sister's in Amarillo, helping little Jeff recover from a tonsillectomy. Even in his Superman pjs, he took the full 10 days to recover...

James smiling for the camera

Quinci showing her muscles

Hurricane damage

Mike here...

I've been glued to the television for the past several days watching the news reports from New Orleans and Biloxi. I struggle to find the right words to describe how tragic this has been, and looks to remain for quite some time. Some of you know that Adrienne and I have close friends in a small town about 30 miles west of New Orleans. I have had e-mail contact with our friends and they are okay. Their area suffered a lot of wind damage (fallen trees, debris, etc.) and it will take about a week to clean up. But they were spared the flooding the rest of the area is experiencing. I was thinking last night about the frailty of our life here on earth. We work hard to structure our lives in healthy and comfortable ways but the reality is that we are not in nearly as much control as we'd like to think. Talk to everyone soon.