Welcome to 2004! We hope you all have had a wonderful New Year's celebration. 2003 ended and 2004 began with wonderful weather here. It has been unseasonably warm. I wore shorts and a t-shirt while outside today.
CLOTHING ACCESSORIES. Sunday morning Ben was dressing for church. After he got his pants on he came running in to Vicki saying, "Mommy, I need a belt. My pants have fruit loops."
A NEW MILESTONE IN GROWTH. Nate is now a forward facing passenger in the van. We made a family trip to Rivergate Mall yesterday and it was his first time to ride in this position. He was sleepy and needed a nap but fought it for several miles due to the novelty of looking out the front windshield.
Jenna is very happy Nate's seat is turned around. Our van only has one sliding door. Jenna sits behind the driver's seat. She had two really tight squeezes to get past Nate's seat when it was rear facing.
A REAL CHEESER. Nate has learned this really cheesy grin. His nose even wrinkles up a little bit and he squints until his eyes are little slits. He is ready to entertain anyone with this grin.
STANDING. We are starting to see Nate pull up on furniture or the rails of his bed. He doesn't stay up but a moment but he is standing on the soles of his feet now. I am sure we will be reporting his standing and even stepping around furniture in a few weeks.
TIME WITH FRIENDS. We got to spend time visiting some college friends Wednesday morning. Jonathan and Sheila Leach and their daughters, Kelsey and Taylor came to our house for a visit. We had not seen them in a couple of years (and had not met Taylor at all). It was a lot of fun spending time with them. All five of the kids really enjoyed playing together. We wish they lived closer to us than Connecticut.
THE MOST DELIGHTFUL PEOPLE. That was how I described Mr. and Mrs. Krantz when I got back home from my visit with them on Wednesday afternoon. You will recall from last week's edition of my newsletter that I had planned to meet the fellow who was a gunner in a B-29 just like my dad. He did not know my father but he could tell me a lot about what his experiences were like. What really meant a lot to me was watching Mr. Krantz talk. While the stories he told me were very interesting it was his facial expressions, body language, and the way he used his voice to tell the stories that captivated my attention. Never having talked to a B-29 veteran before I had not experienced this. He communicated more to me with these subconscious, nonverbal ways than with any words he used.
BRINGING IN THE NEW YEAR. We ended New Year's Eve with a Sunday School Class party. Everyone brought food. We had a lot of fun talking and playing games. Since most of us have kids and lost our youthful stamina the party broke up around 10:00. We came home and I welcomed the new year curled up in bed with my pillow. Vicki stayed up to represent our family as midnight came and went.
A GOOD BOOK. I was loaned a copy of Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley this week. Vicki and I are both reading it. Bradley's father was one of the men in the famous photo of the Marines raising the American Flag on Iwo Jima in World War II. This book tells the story of those six Marines and that battle. It is a very good book. Bradley tries to be delicate in dealing with the atrocities that happened while being honest about the facts. If you read this book be prepared to read things that are equal to the Normandy Invasion scene in Saving Private Ryan. I guarantee you will have a new appreciation for those who serve in our armed forces after reading this book.
Joe
