September 24, 2012

Fowler Family Band

Yes, I said I was taking a break from this blog, but this story was too fun to not share.

This afternoon as I fastened Levi into his car seat, he began talking about playing the guitar. Upon further investigation, I discovered that Levi has an entire plan for our family band. It goes something like this:

Levi: Guitar
Shields Lee: Violin
Mom: Drums
Dad: Guitar and Vocals

It seems like all we need now is a name. Rock on.



September 22, 2012

Summer Recap

I've been hesitant to publish life details on the blog this summer, but it will do me and you, dear reader, some good to back it up, write it down, and move on. So, here is our summer recap.

On Memorial Day weekend, we had some major events happen. First, Lindon preached at a church where we believed there would be a need for a interim pastor, or at least a need for weekly. Turns out, the church was not in a position to talk with Lindon about either of those things. We had hoped this position could be Lindon's transition to pastoral ministry, but at this point it will offer, at best, an occasional chance to preach.

Before we had a chance to be disappointed about that, Lindon got a phone call from a friend offering him a job in sales. While the job description and salary sounded very interesting, the catch (of course!) was that for the first three months, Lindon would need to work out of the company's office in Lock Haven, about 3 hours from here. After lengthy discussions and a bit of moaning (by me, of course!) about why things could never be easy, we decided that Lindon should take the job. He started July 2.

In late June, we traveled down to Tennessee for Fowler Family vacation. We discovered that vacationing with small children is exhausting, but loads of fun - especially when there is lots of cousin time and gorgeous mountains.

In July, Lindon started his new job. We also had Shields baptized and celebrated a few birthdays. Lindon was in his friend Matt's wedding, too. And we got to see the Loaneys, some precious friends from St. Louis who came to the area for Matt's wedding. It was a joy to reconnect with them, even if it was just for an evening.

In August, my sister got married, and we traveled with Lindon to Lock Haven for a week. Lock Haven is gorgeous, and being there felt peaceful and rejuvinating. We brought along the double stroller and walked everywhere, exploring the many parks and playgrounds throughout this darling town. Every day I thought to myself, "I could definitely live here!" When I saw the Lock Haven Jaycees temple for sale right on the riverfront, I began scheming how we could purchase it and turn it into a Reformed church right in that lovely college town...


In late July Lindon learned that one of his former classmates urgently needed a place in St. Louis to live. And we had such a place! So now we have tenants for our house, and we are now looking for our own place to live. This process has been emotional, but knowing we are getting close to once again having our of space is comforting. We are so grateful to our families for letting us stay with them for eight months, and we want to show our gratitude by not overstaying our welcome!

And that, along with lots of trips to the parks, learning to hit a ball with a bat, and figuring out how to crawl, pretty much summarizes our summer.

So now that we have all of that written down, I plan to take a little break from posting on this blog. There are other things that demanding my attention, so it's better that I not even put this on my to-do list. Hopefully I can still post photos of the boys from time to time, but my longer posts will be gone for a while. But fear not. I will return when life calms down a little bit.

Don't laugh.

Moments like This

In July I got an evite that made my heart sink. It was an invitation to attend the Missouri Presbytery's installation service for our precious friend Charlie. In layman's terms, this means Charlie had completed the intense, extensive requirements for ordination and was going to be ordained as a minister of the Gospel in the Presbyterian Church in America. Basically, this is a big deal. It represents a lot of effort on Charlie's part and a lot of sacrifice for Charlie and his family (a LOT of sacrifice!).

And since Charlie and his wife Courtney were some of our dearest St. Louis friends (who we miss very much!), Lindon and I wanted so badly to be able to see the ordination service in person and rejoice with them. Knowing there was no possible way for us to go made me sad. It made me miss St. Louis and those special moments we spent with friends, moments when we could support and love each other because we had no family around to support and love us.

But that same weekend when Charlie was being ordained in St. Louis, we had a lot going on here in Pennsylvania. Friday marked two family birthdays, my father's and my nephew Avery. Avery turned two. Dad...didn't. And while we couldn't be in St. Louis, we could be here, with Avery and Dad, on their birthdays, for the first time in ages. For Avery it was the first time ever. Being able to give him his gift ON his birthday weekend and to snap photos of him opening his gifts was such a joy. Was it mass chaos to have three small boys in the same room with wrapping paper? Absolutely. But so worth it.

On that same Sunday when Charlie was ordained, we had a special ceremony of our own. In front of our biological family and church family in Slippery Rock, Dad baptized Shields Lee. It was a sweet moment, and I was so grateful to have so many family members around to witness the event. Afterward we had a luncheon at my parents' house, though Shields slept through the whole thing.



It was an exhausting weekend, but so much fun. And somewhere in the middle of cousins running through the house, it hit me that THESE are the moments that make me glad we live near family.  Having their support and love is a joy and privilege, and I am grateful for the ways they can love on my and Lindon and the wee ones.

So while we couldn't stand by Charlie and Courtney and their two boys, we still thank the Lord for them and for the moments when we can draw support from the amazing peole God has put in our lives.

September 4, 2012

Two boys, one mirror

It is such a treat when I can catch Shields Lee discovering the things I once caught Levi discovering...like a mirror in a hallway.

Shields Lee, September 2012





Levi, August 2010