Thanksgiving and 30th Birthday Recap
I can’t think of anywhere I would have rather been on my 30th birthday than spending the day playing with my niece Chloe and nephew Zach. They are such sweet kids and have personalities all their own. Chloe will be 2 in February and she loves to run! Usually when we saw her this weekend she was running from one side of the room to another. She loves playing with a ball (and even an exercise ball that was twice her size!) and blocks.
She also read the sale ads with “Nonna” (Chad’s mom, Cathy).
Zach is 3 months old and the cutest little snugglebug! He has that “new baby smell” (and some other smells too, of course…) and loves to smile and “talk” that cutesy baby talk.
Chad and I traveled to Alabama for the holiday weekend and we had such a wonderful time. His grandmother, Louell Maples, turned 90 this weekend (she and I share the same birthday, November 23, 60 years apart! I turned 30, she turned 90.) and we had a huge reception for her at her church building. What was so momentous about the occasion was that the entire family was there. ALL the kids, their spouses, grandkids, their spouses, and the great-grandkids were there. I think the group numbered to around 60 people.
You can click on the small picture to get it full-size. Chad and I are on the right-hand side in the middle. What a group, huh? This is the result of Bruce and Louell Maples getting married many years ago. The number of faithful Christians is remarkable, and many have gone on to be ministers, Bible class teachers, and Christian parents. I am really proud to have married in to such a wonderful bunch of people. I am very blessed!
I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Christmas is coming and I am almost done shopping, thank goodness! The Proctors will all be in Norwich for Christmas, Lord willing, and I haven’t seen my brother Jeff and his wife Laurie since LAST Christmas! That is just not right! Oh well, I guess the Friendly Skies fly both ways, now don’t they?
Fall Meeting
This week is our annual gospel meeting at church. I always look forward to this because it’s one morning and four evenings of spiritual enrichment. This year is especially good due to our speaker, Richard Foster, the pulpit minister at the Stafford Church of Christ here in Kansas. Richard is a former youth minister and director of our church camp. He is regarded (wisely) as one of the preeminent youth ministers of this generation in Kansas.
Richard and his wife Cheryl are living, breathing examples of Christ’s servant heart. They have both been role models for me since the age of 9 years old. Richard is just one of those speakers that I could listen to for hours! He is so captivating and enthusiastic for the gospel. As a small-town minister’s wife, Cheryl is one of those people I look up to, and I pray that I can have the same gracious spirit that she has had ever since I have known her. Thank you, Fosters!
Sweet November
No, I’m not talking about the sappy chick flick starring Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves…I’m talking about the fact that November and December are my favorite months of the year! It’s finally nice and crisp outside, and downright cold during the night. I make it through 100 degree days in August dreaming of these days.
Did anyone watch The Office last night? It was hilarious. Pam, Toby, and Oscar started a club called The Finer Things Club, where they bring china and petit fours once a month for lunch and talk of finer things…no work-related talk allowed. It was great.
I wish I could have a real Finer Things Club! I miss that part of my life from when I lived in the Big Cities of Memphis, Wichita, Huntsville, etc., there was always something “cultural” to do. I went to the opera in Memphis, musicals and concerts in Wichita, etc. (and I realize I’m just 30 miles from Wichita now, but….) I would love to be a part of a book club or something where I could have philosophical conversation. At home, I talk to the hubby about football or mundane everyday things, and well, yes, I also talk to the dogs. But it’s not like Henry is going to elaborate on the symbolism in “Memoirs of a Geisha”. And Chad wouldn’t dare read a novel! 
