April Showers

This year April showers mean monsoon season. We have seen heavy rains. All the creeks and rivers are up and my phone has sounded with flash flood warnings several times now. On the brighter side, our trees have greened up enough they no longer look bare.

MOM IS HOME...
Mom came home Thursday of last week (the 19th), and she sure is glad to be back. About as soon as she got home she left for her hair appointment. Then Sunday she returned to church where she received a warm welcome from all.

Kenny has been putting messages up on our church sign for the last year or more. Most of the time his messages are encouraging quotations from folks within our church or greater community, a very interesting twist on church sign messages. On Tuesday Kenny posted this: Webster's Dictionary: Faithfulness--see Anne Swann.

Vicki and I took turns staying with Mom the first several nights she was home, but after seeing that she never called for help during the night she dropped that. I think we're getting back to a pre-heart attack normal now.

PROM
The big excitement around here last weekend was the prom. We decided to buy a nice suit for Ben rather than rent a tuxedo. So, Friday of last week (the 20th) Ben got all cleaned up and looked very dapper. He had decided not to ask anyone to go to the prom with him. He went with about a dozen kids--some with dates and others single. We, students and parents, all met over at Long Hollow Church in Hendersonville to take pictures on their campus. The kids then headed out out to eat at Demos' in Hendersonville before going to the prom. Afterwards his group went bowling and then out for an early morning breakfast at IHOP. From there the group broke up. Ben spent the night with a friend.

He hasn't said much about the prom itself to us, but he’s chosen to fill us in on every other part of the evening from the conversation he enjoyed at supper to getting up early with his friends and building a rock fort nearby their house. From the sound of it, they all had a really good time and that's what matters to me.

DRIVING ADVENTURES
I mentioned last time that Nate is driving now. He's doing pretty good for no more experience than he has. The worst thing he's done is put a scratch in the plastic headlight lens on my truck while trying to pull up to our mailbox and check the mail.

He drives us home from school most days. The good thing is that our commute gives him plenty of opportunity. He hasn't tackled heavy traffic yet, but he has already gotten on the interstate a few times. He has a ways to go when trying to park in a parking lot, but then my truck with its large turning radius is not the easiest vehicle to wiggle into a parking space.

WINDING UP THE SCHOOL YEAR
The boys and I have a few weeks to go before our summer break begins; however, Jenna will have completed her second year of college by Tuesday. The end of a semester always brings a lot of stress, and she’s looking forward to summer at home where she plans to work at her job, raise a garden, and read for pleasure.

The reality that she will be home again soon struck yesterday when I went to Trevecca and loaded up her big chair, fridge, and other things and brought them home. I left a mighty plain looking dorm room behind.

GETTING READY FOR HAITI
Every time I've reported on a mission trip to Haiti in the past it has been because Jenna went. This time Ben is gearing up to go! He’s raining his own money and needs about $1300 more. If anyone who lives locally has any work a 17 year old boy can do let us know. He'd love the opportunity to make some money! He has more and more time on his hands as the school year winds down.

Joe