Two Years, a Little Math, and the Surprise

The sad thing is that two years time can pass so quickly that sometimes you don't even realize where the time went. Of course, we know precisely where it went, if we sit down and think about it long enough. Let's see, 24 hours per day, 365.25 days per year (we collect that 0.25 day this year with leap year), 2 years, ... hmm, 17,532 hours. SEVENTEEN THOUSAND!!! I don't think I can account for all those, can you? I know I slept a few of them, worked several of them, went to church for a few of them, but how can that add up to 17,532? According to the best docs, we're supposed to sleep around 8 hours per day, I'm lucky to get 5 or 6, so that's a little over 4,000. Not a threat to Rip Van Winkle yet. Work. Oh yeah, that's where it went. Wait, about 8 hours a day and not including weekends or vacations, so that's less than 4,000 hours. I used to work a lot more than I do now, but please don't tell my supervisor! But between sleep and work, that's about half the time. Now, what about the rest? Church, about 4 hours a week, so that's 2*52*4, or 416 hours. A smidgen, I'm embarrassed. OK, we went on a few vacations, 7 days each, ... that's 168 hours a pop. Not even 1% of total time?? Mental note, more vacation time is warranted. Aha, Upward co-director and now director. That's it, that's where it went. I guess the old saying "Time flies when you're having fun" really is true. But the point is, do we really think much about our time and how we spend it? I guess that's why I only post once or twice every two weeks. The plan: Need to add some dates with Connie, some one-on-one time with Austin and Lily (and Lia, later on). And up the amount of time spent in prayer. There, I love it when a plan comes together. The next two years should be better accounted for.

OK, I'm sitting here thinking this is 2007 and trying to figure out how it is already two years since we saw the first picture of "Melissa" as she was known on Lifeline's web site. Then I thought "It's not 2007, I think it's 2008?" Let's see, we first saw "Melissa's" picture on 16 January 2006 and we immediately knew she was what God had in store for us for the rest of our lives. She even reminded me of my brother, with the look on her face. Not now, but certainly in that first photo, my first thought was "she looks like Wes?" Somebody help me out, it is 2008 now right? We told Lifeline that we wanted to adopt "Melissa" and began the necessary "stuff" immediately. Since God had this thing planned all along, He set everything on an accelerated schedule and by July she was ours. She had a new big brother and a beaming mommy! Her Dad was just trying to figure everything out. Little did he know how much fun God had in store for him over the next year and a half. Lily was born in the year of the monkey and she is more fun than a barrel of them. Every morning on the way to school, Austin and I laugh about what she did that morning. Every night, Connie and I laugh about what she did over dinner. Serious and silly, drama queen and comedian. Little girl and little lady. That's our Lily Grace. Yes, it's hard to account for every hour over the past two years, but we know in our hearts that time doesn't matter when God gives you a blessing. Just enjoy it and be thankful for it. Check out the dresses. This is a girly girl!

Christmas 2006

Christmas 2007

Oh, I nearly forgot the surprise. Lily had her three year checkup this past week and everything went well. She's inched up the growth chart, now weighing in at a whopping 5%. She is tall however, besting 25% of her peers in height (that's tall, right?). Her doctor says she's going to be petite - that must have been a tough call.

The surprise? Checkout the pictures below, I was hoodwinked, tricked, lead astray, misinformed, ... What's going on here? This wasn't supposed to happen until she turned 16. Maybe. Oh, well. I still have control over the age for starting dating. Right ???




Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, and Lily Grace (and Lia Faith somewhere)
Green, Party of Five

A Brief Interruption in the Christmas Pictures

So much to post, so little time. I haven't even finished Christmas and it's already past New Years. Amanda has come and gone back to college. There's lots of pictures and stories, we'll get to them eventually. But for now, come and celebrate with us the impending arrival of little Noah Smith. Our friends, Jeff and Becky will soon add Noah to their family, so we had a little party (Lily likes parties and so does Connie) for them. What a great turnout. We didn't know what to expect since the holidays were only recently completed and everyone might be all partied out. But when a new kid is on the way, everyone perks up. Noah, what a great name.

Now, we don't have many little boys in our Athens FCC group, so we're all excited about Noah. But first, there's cake to eat, punch to drink and pictures to take. It was an honor for us to host this little shower. Here's some pictures for you to enjoy, while I'm trying to figure out what Christmas and New Year's pictures to show. Oh, and there's the three-year old checkup and a little surprise to tell you about. But more on that later. For now,

Hey little Noah, Let it Rain! Here's the pictures of Jeff and Becky Smith's baby shower for little Noah! You know, tonignt it rained here more than any time in the entire past year and it just makes me wonder if God isn't telling Jeff and Becky and the rest of us that "Yes, this Noah is a good thing!" "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." Genesis 6:8!













It's not a red couch, but we got a picture!

Waiting for Noah!

About Those Christmas Pictures ...

We took a little vacation to the mountains for the New Year's holiday and I had planned to have a serious post-fest. You know, a two or three cup of coffee sit down with picture after picture and comment after comment. I figured that with all the bowl games on, I'd be able to sit back with the laptop and post away for hours at a time, maybe even while the girls shopped. Aahh. Relax, Get the TV going, looks like another meaningless game is on, so I'll just go ahead and get started posting.

Now, where's that laptop. Ah, here we go. Plug it in so as not to have to worry later about that nagging battery low indicator. Good. Oops, forgot the wireless card. No problem, here it is. Restart. Logon. Start Internet Explorer. Good, now find the network. ... ... ... ... "Cannot locate network service." ... ... ... Oh, maybe the router is not turned on. Now, let's see, where is that thing? Hello, Cabin Rental Service, I can't find the router for the wireless Internet service. What? I know it's a new cabin. We're the first ones to use it? That's apparent from the unpaved driveway on a 60 degree incline (it's raining too). Yeah, but you said it had Internet service. Oh, the owner is working on it? Where are they? Looks to me like we're the only ones here.

OK, so you get the message. No Christmas posts until we get back home (we're home now). So, without further adue or extraneous words, here's some of our favorite pictures from this Christmas and New Year's season. Hope all of you had a Blessed and Holy Christmas season and a great start to 2008.

"Me and Daddy went shopping and I got these for Mommy!"

After that, we went to Santa's Village and Met Santa Clause. I told him I wanted a Candy Cane.

Oh, this red-clad, grey-bearded guy is for real. A Candy Cane!

"Austin, what are you doing to that toy soldier? Santa's watching!"

"Mommy and Daddy took me to the Athens Christmas parade and it was really cold. Austin was marching with the East Limestone band, so he didn't watch it with us. Mommy and Daddy were real sad because this was the first year ever that Austin didn't sit in the truck and watch the parade with them. But at least they had me!"

"Check out my Athens FCC friends on the float! I was sick and Mommy wouldn't let me ride:("


"Contemplating an after parade snack!"

"Getting ready for Austin's Christmas concert with the East Limestone Concert Band."
"East Limestone Concert Band, Intermediate Band, and Beginner Band - Lot's of Kids!"
"Austin played several percussion instruments, but his favorite was the Kettle Drums!"

"Here's my present to Mommy and Daddy and Austin - me! They readopted me by Alabama state law on the 13th of December!"

To Be Continued ... Check this same post title over the next few days. We have tons of pictures to share, picking out just a few is a great (but joyous) task. We will just add on to this post as we add pictures.

Merry Christmas,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace (and Lia Faith, somewhere)
Green, Party of Five