can't 'leaf' it alone!

the joy on these faces just about sums up what a pleasure it is to work hard together to accomplish a goal.....particularly with these precious ones!

life is 'grand'

 

So after getting the much-anticipated call from Brian that it was 'time'
to come to Tahlequah to care for Blake while he and Lara went to the
hospital to welcome baby brother, Luke, we set the alarm for 'early o'clock' (as if leaving on
an exciting 'road trip') and turned onto Briar Lane just after 7 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7.
Blake's initial suspicion, after waving 'good-bye' as Dad and Mom left, dissipated once we gave him the bouncy ball that lights up and flashes.  With advances in technology being what they are, the phrase "greatest thing since...." will soon precede "bouncy ball that lights up and flashes" rather than "sliced bread".

We also took with us the tiny foot-propelled trike that we keep here for the 'littles'.  Recently,
when Cora was here, she asked where 'her' trike was and we told her it was in the car so that we'd have it when we went to Tahlequah for Blake to play with while Luke was being born.  She smiled and said, "I share."  Nearly melted us, that girl!  So after the cloudy day warmed a bit, we let Blake explore the neighborhood.  That boy got up a 'head 'o steam' in the straightaways, for sure.

Later we played in the backyard for awhile till even he acknowledged that it was
getting too cool.  Daddy's shoes were handy and he stepped into them with ease and assurance.  Kind of a wonderful metaphor about leaning into and following his amazing
daddy as he grows into boyhood and manhood.  Will have to think on that, though, for the words and detail to come......heart's too full of emotion now.....just watching him move with such ease in those big shoes let us know this was a comfortable, safe place in which to move and breathe.

Brian kept us posted with frequent texts as their progress in labor at Tahlequah City Hospital moved along. (Looks like I got this smart phone and text plan in the nick of time, huh?)  The final text of the evening was from Lara, though, and it read, "9:47!", and sweet Luke Baine Searcy had arrived.

Happy (and exhausted) Mommy, Luke, and Daddy!
#fullofgratitude

The next morning started out pretty cool, so after breakfast and before a brisk walk in the neighborhood, Blake and Pop had some good discussions about the 'Planet Earth' segment they were enjoying together.
 

Just before lunch time, while Joy (Blake's sweet while-mommy-and-daddy-are-at-work caregiver) looked after him, we were able to go to the hospital to meet and hold precious Luke and see his daddy and mommy.  No words.



During that day, along with block building, ball bouncing, trike riding, eating, reading, and his exploring the contents of various cupboards and drawers, there was plenty of time for drawing lessons and fort building!

Tuesday morning was full of excitement all around, knowing that Daddy, Mommy and Luke
were coming home.  We still started out plenty lazy, though, enjoying the 'bedhead' Blake was sporting (which was the creative result of Pop's playfulness with his post-bath coiffure that night before), breakfast on the couch, another long stroller-walk through the neighborhood (so spoiled by their neighborhood with sidewalks!) and welcoming his big-helperness with some loads of laundry before lunch!



He was captivated, throughout our time there with what seems to be a favorite show: Super Why.  (We still find ourselves humming its theme song:))  And he took great joy, it seemed, in giving Pop (another 'techy') a tour on his Tabby (tablet).

Blake, little buddy, we thoroughly enjoyed our time with you and oh, do you have an adventure ahead of you.  Being a big brother is an important responsibility and soon, before you know it, little bro, Luke, will be stepping into YOUR shoes, watching and emulating everything you do.  And you can say to him, just like's been said to you, "C'mon, buddy, Daddy knows the way home."

Living a life of gratitude

Spending Thanksgiving (and the rest of our treasured ordinary lives) with these precious ones is just ONE of the many things for which we are thankful.

Our 'culinary' cutie

Cora spent the morning with us
on the day before our family
Thanksgiving gathering which
was on Saturday, Nov. 8.  Doing
the day-ahead preparation with
her has 'ruined' us for doing it
any other way!

She was so focused and intense on every task.

Can you tell she was proud of her creation?

Checkin' on the turkey with Pop.

The Natural State

Yep, that's what Arkansas calls itself.....The Natural State....and we
frequently count among our blessings that we can get there so easily.  A 3 hour drive on a Sunday morning (Nov. 2) landed us at Mt. Magazine, the highest elevation in the state, just in time to join a guided hike, lead by a park ranger.
The 12 of us on the hike were well-prepared with stocking caps and gloves as the wind and 'real feel' temps kept it in the 20's.  The brilliant sunshine featured all the trees and plants that Don (the park ranger) educated us on and his dry wit was the perfect accompaniment to this good,
mountaintop hike.  We even got to taste berries (y' know you're not supposed to do that in the wild) because this guy 'knew his stuff' along the trail.   After our hike we enjoyed a splendiferous meal at the Mt. Magazine lodge....when you walk in and smell BRISKET do you even need to look at the menu.....really?  So good!

The next morning we arrived at our
destination for the week: Mather Lodge at Petit Jean State Park.  This lodge was built in the 1930's by the Civilian Conservation Corp and has recently undergone a renovation to
update the facilities and yet preserve much of the natural design. Our room wasn't ready yet and the day was sunny and warming so we set out on the Seven Hollows Trail (infamous in our family history as being called 'the death march' when we set out ill-prepared for this 5 hour 'moderate-to-difficult' hike with Laura, Allyson, and Brian in 1989).  We thoroughly enjoyed the hike, the ups and downs of it, the beautiful displays of color, crossing a stream and

climbing over Turtle Rocks.  We
stopped at the Grotto to have our snack about 2 1/2 hours in.

Reminded us of a 'Colorado sky'

You've been in situations like this:
the pictures just don't do it justice, right?

There were several cave openings to explore which all narrowed to 'crawl spaces' very
quickly.

We started out in coats and quickly
began to shed layers.

the next two days wee drizzly and
rainy, so we enjoyed the lodge and short
walks, wearing our ponchos.

The Great Rooms at the lodge, with their
pinion wood-stocked fireplaces and comfy chairs
were great places to read, talk and be inspired
by someone else's efforts on a jigsaw puzzle.  I
was so inspired by this one that I started one
of my own.



The tiered flagstone patio at the lodge was
the perfect place to watch the sunset (the first
night) and watch the clouds move through the
valley the next two evenings.

When the rain stopped, late in the afternoon
on Wednesday, we headed out for a 90 minute
hike on Cedar Creek Trail, taking care to gauge
our time so that we'd be back to the lodge
before sunset.

This is an amazing place, and one of our favorites, to enjoy the beauty that Arkansas
has to offer.  And the history contains a love story, so that's also an intriguing part of the
attraction.

http://www.petitjeanstatepark.com/


We will return!

some 'little man' time in tahlequah

We enjoyed our 'staycation' with our Tahlequah 'Cookie Monster' (a.k.a. Blakers, 'almost-big-brother', Blake) this past weekend so much!  This time gave us some 24/7 bonding opportunities and gave daddy and mommy some time in the Tablerock Lake area to commemorate their 10th wedding anniversary and a bit of a 'babymoon', to boot!  Happy Anniversary, precious ones!

We took with us (and assembled there) an early birthday present for sweet Blake.....a sand/water table for the backyard.  He was fascinated from the 'get go'!  Because sandboxes are so much a part of his 'Pop's' heart it was fun for both of them, trying out all the sand toys.

We enjoyed a nice walk to the school / playground near Blake's home & you could tell he was familiar with all the equipment... man, is he FAST!

Between breaks in the rain, we got our exercise by blowing and chasing bubbles.  We enjoyed watching 'Up' and 'Despicable Me' on auto replay.....

There's nothing more fun than dumping the entire tub of blocks (over and over again).... then knocking down the towers that Noni's built!  He's amazingly good about putting the blocks back in the tub, too!  Wonderful time with our boy!



 

our little sacajawea

Our sweet 'grand', Kady Grace, as Sacajawea in the
Second Grade Penny Museum at Wolf Creek Elementary.

the 'one thing'

sometime in 1974...probably a sunny Saturday morning~but then aren't all Saturday mornings in San Diego sunny?~ after we'd been inspired by so many 'day-dreaming' trips to Chase Maple and Pine in Chula Vista (home to 'outrageously gorgeous and with prices-to-match' furniture) we adjusted our expectations, checked our budget and set our sights on the much more affordable unfinished furniture stores lining El Cajon Boulevard near our favorite Pizza Hut.

We were about to make a very symbolic purchase.....no, not the pizza.....although I'm sure we ate at that Pizza Hut that day.  You see, we'd been married three years and had recently reunited and recommitted to one another after a 9 month separation and intense individual and couple's counseling.  Because of the 'transitional' nature of our first three years, we'd lived in a combined total of 5 rental situations up to this point and so we'd just rented furniture along the way, as well.

Today we were going to make our first major furniture purchase: a table.  I'm sure we just thought we were buying a 'place to eat meals' as an alternative to sitting on the floor or on the couch in front of the TV.  Yeah, wouldn't that be what you'd be thinking?  How many of us actually get philosophical when buying furniture, really?

So we purchased an unfinished, round table with a substantial claw-footed base.  Should have picked up the sandpaper and stain on the way home....but the call of the pizza was probably way too compelling.

We threw a bed sheet over it and there it remained, unstained, for a year.  It was only the 'threat' of having friends over for Thanksgiving dinner that year that motivated us to uncover this beauty and finish the project.

 

That table has been with us 40 years, has traveled many miles, graced the kitchens of our 6 abodes during that time.  The chairs that have surrounded it have come and gone....but that table, well, it's 'family'.

 

In Shauna Niequist's book Bread and Wine, she describes 'the table' in a way that has come to have a lot of meaning to us:

 

"The table is the life raft, the center point,

the home base of who we are together." (p.30)

 

And when you think about all the things that happen 'around the table' you can see why that metaphor is apropos.  Our family archive of photographs, which documents our journey, features countless pictures in which this table is displaying birthday cakes, Thanksgiving and Christmas gathering dinners, and science fair projects.  You can almost mark Laura's, Allyson's and Brian's ages by the heights they were when photographed standing near the table.  One picture, a favorite of mine, captures our Easter egg-dying experience around that table when all three of our darlin's had chickenpox.

 

Good talks....hard talks were had at this table.  Tears were shed, problems were hashed out. Feelings were hurt at this table and forgiveness was asked and given and reconciliation occurred around this table.  Sometimes ones left this table in anger, slamming footsteps echoing into another room.  But they always came back and come back still.  Like you'd return to a life raft, considering the alternative.

 

It was around this table that Rob and I would work out the family budget, on green bar ledger paper, before the advent of computers.  Some of the budgets had more 'red' than 'black', but never once did we miss a meal or a house payment.  God's Grace and His Provision has been, and continues to be, abundant in this place.

 

During the season of 2002-2004, our table was the site of mapping out wedding budgets and the 'staging area' for the mailing of invitations, reception table centerpieces and the wrapping of gifts as our family grew in size and love as first, Allyson, then Brian followed by Laura each joined their lives to another.

 

We've gathered in their homes, around their 'life rafts', and we sense the same quality of 'welcome' and 'you're family' that we would hope anyone feels when they come into our home.  That's a good thing.

 

These days our 'life raft' is most often the setting for a simple meal for two, as the afternoon sun fills the room.  It serves as a comfortable gathering place for the pre-marital counseling and marriage mentoring that we do.......over 100 couples have joined us here over the past 10 years.  It still gets to be the 'staging area' when a long-anticipated road trip or camping weekend is in sight, as well.  And frequently it's graced with the sticky fingerprints of small, eager hands......bits of play-doh, crayons, paper airplanes, and magical drawings......delightful and precious reminders that our family, and the experiences around our 'life raft' continue to grow in size and the capacity to give and receive love.

 

I'd love to know what story this table would tell, if it could. 

I want to remember all the details. I've tried to imagine it

here, but I'm sure I fall short.

 

Where's your 'life raft'?  Can you hear the story it's trying to tell?

2nd Chances....

Today my wife, Cathie, and I celebrated the 40th anniversary of our reunion, our 2nd chance at marriage, after 9 months of legal separation that ended March 31st, 1974. We paused to humbly remember, say a prayer of thanksgiving, and celebrate a meal with our children, their spouses, and our grandchildren. It is often easier to believe in 2nd chances for others than it is for yourself, certainly that was the way it was for me back then. While today we serve a God of 2nd chances, until it is personally experienced in the arena of life, the appreciation and understanding of what forgiveness and redemption means in a life, a marriage, a family, can be lost. With God’s intervention in my life, our lives, some solid Baptist marriage counseling, encouragement from my father, and my friend, Ted Shown, my wife and I journeyed through a horribly dark and emotionally wrenching time to get to a point to be able to start our marriage again. A ‘do-over’ where the awareness of what was almost lost was keenly felt and acknowledged, as if we could actually peer over the edge of the precipice into which we almost fell.

I say this to encourage you, to always be asking God “what am I to be learning from this experience?” It could be most anything…. life, marriage, work, children. As it’s said, God never wastes a hurt. I believe that all life experiences are to mature us spiritually. 

Thank you Jesus, my Lord, for what you did, are doing, and will do in my, and our, life. I humbly acknowledge that You redeemed my marriage, and I am deeply grateful. Please keep the experience fresh and in the forefront of my awareness all the days of my life. You are an Awesome God!

 

Oh, what a beautiful morning......

Our sweet kids and grandkids, knowing that we enjoy learning, having new experiences and touching the great outdoors....oh, and wine........ gifted us with the opportunity to learn and participate in the growth and nurture of our very own grape-producing vine, which we've dubbed as 'Stanley' (there you go, brother!).  So today we visited Whispering Vines for the first time, received instruction in pruning (counting vines from main trunk, recognizing good producing shoots from not-so-good, cutting on an angle just under the third node, etc.), tagged Stanley, a hearty cabernet sauvignon producer, and thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful morning and this new venture.  Even got to hear a train in the distance, so, you know, that made our day!

it's a 'wrap'!

We carefully planned out our
last full day with Silas and
Cora to make sure
that we'd be able to include the
remaining
activities on the 'things to do
this week' list.

 So we were at Hunter Park for some hook-baiting
and casting
and waiting and watching and
long enough to
see some fish-loving birds
getting the fish that we weren't.

We told Silas that sometimes you catch a fish
and sometimes you catch a memory.  He seemed
good with that.  And the sunshine was so good
that everybody was happy.

Then we headed to Brookside
and ordered frosty mugs of root beer floats
with a side of corn dogs for lunch.

Chillin'

This corn dog for Silas turned
out to be an appetizer.  He ate two more
of them once we got home!

Uncle Brian, Aunt Lara and
Cousin Blake came
from Tahlequah for some play
 time in the afternoon.

 The kids ended up 'wearing' as much bubble
solution as they used to blow bubbles!

Blake was smiling
all afternoon and added
a new word
to his rapidly growing vocabulary:
BUBBLES!

Silas loved 'feeding the fire' with
handfuls of dried leaves.

Cousin Love!

Everybody got in on the 'sandbox action'!

Time to toast marshmallows!

One crispy critter!

A curious boy and the good earth........

........nothing finer.  Really needs no words, right?

While we created dinner, they created
with Play-doh......everybody has a job.

Silas made a Welcome Home Flower
for Dad and Mom.