LET IS SNOW, LET IS SNOW, LET IT SNOW

January 20, 2009

Most of you are probably still sleeping in enjoying the wonderful snow that arrived last night and this morning. The alarm clock sounded at 6:00 am this morning and Rachael was the first one to come downstairs and ask if school was out. I informed her that I had just saw the list of closings and Union Grove Christian School was one of them. She gleamed and shouted "yes!" Now for Rachael to get up at 6:00 am in the morning and come downstairs with such excitement is rare, very rare. She only gets this excited in the mornings when school is out and snow is on the ground. We took some pictures and I told her to get ready so I could drop her off at the Garrow residence for the day. We had already touched base with them yesterday at the ballgame and Breanna, Leanne, and Rachael planned their day of fun if it snowed. I'm glad she has friends to hang out with on days like today when their is no school and her dad and I work. There was not as much snow as she would have liked, but she was happy just to be out of school. It's amazing that I cannot get her up any other day of the week but she can get herself up on a snow day. These are things I will remember as she continues to grow up into adulthood.

My drive into work was not bad although I did slide as I was leaving the Garrow's neighborhood. I don't know who the man was driving the white pick up truck coming down Ridge Rd but the Lord obviously made him stop for a reason. My vehicle was coming down the incline and as I started braking, it continued to slide. I was barely moving but still was not going to come to a complete stop. I said a quick prayer and safely made my turn onto Ridge Rd with no traffic to the left or right. I looked at the man that had stopped on Ridge Road (he had seen me coming out of the neighborhood) and gave a big wave of thanks! I then took an extra second to thank my Lord for protecting me. Its wonderful to know that he is always with us, watching over us even when we don't always take the time to think about his presence around us.

We had our Reformers Unanimous workers celebration event at the house on Saturday night and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We had a total of 50 people that came and celebrated another year of RU. It is a chance for Jimmy and I to show our appreciation for their service to the daycare and RU group. Jimmy fixed barbecue and we had some appetizers as well. Everyone ate and enjoyed the fellowship until around 9:00 pm. Jimmy and I were amazed at how much Wes Burnette could eat and still be so small. (Wes, we are so jealous!) To be so small, he sure can eat. We also know that Tom Wilt loves Raspberry cheesecake. We are glad everyone enjoyed themselves. We love to see people enjoy themselves at our home. We know we are blessed beyond measure and want to share what God has done for us with others. Jimmy has said many times, "our home is not ours, it belongs to God."

The game at Woodland last night was great. Our JV girls won and Rachael did something that does not happen very often and probably will not happen again. They were in the 2nd quarter and the clock was running out with less than 8 seconds left. UG threw the ball in and Rachael started down court. The crowd and Mr. Gilmore yelled "shoot!" and she shot. She was half court and the ball went in the net just as the buzzer sounded, "swish". It was all net. The crowd went crazy. Everyone was laughing and later Rachael came to me and her dad and said, "you know, I can get a free hot dog for that!" Apparently the coach of Woodland told Rachael that anytime you make a half court shot, you get a free hot dog from concessions. Rachael opted for pizza instead and paid. We all laughed about her "half court buzzer beater shot" on the way home and wished we would have caught in on video. It was one of those awww moments.

The varsity girls lost but put up one good fight. Rachael got to play quite a bit and did great. She was definitely on her game yesterday. All the Varsity girls did very well and I was extremely proud of how they came together as a team. They tied the game up at one point 46-46 but Woodland pulled ahead after Allison Steinhaus fouled out and Tiffany Pack and Rachael caught their 4th fouls. We had to be careful so Woodland took advantage of our weak defense and went on to win the game.

My weight loss is going good this week and I have walked every day. I look forward to seeing the results on Wednesday. I'll post as usual and let you know how the journey is progressing.