Well, we are a week into the new school year and I wanted to take some time to wrap up Summer 2009.  It was good and it was bad.  It was long and it was short.  Just like life, it had a little of everything.    I write this in honor of Cora Barbara Henson, 1909-2009, with love.

We started the summer off quickly with a trip with our church to a little place called Hamilton, Alabama.  We went for the 3rd annual “Kids Ramp” that Karen Wheaton ministries hosts.  It’s three days of worship, teaching and fun!  What we learned was “Rua” which means “Victory in Jesus!”  We have committed to claiming that over and in our lives.

We returned home ready to put our White Water passes to good use.  And that worked out pretty good for a few weeks.  A normal trip to White Water included me, Zach, Austin, Sammy & Jacob (two of my adopted sons~) We had a great time.

As July approached, my grandmother moved in with my Mom and Dad to have support taking care of my great-grandmother, who had just turned 100 on March 31st.  Within a week, Coco (my great-grandmother) had been put into a hospice.  On July 3rd, hospice called to say they believed she might be nearing the end.  Mom, Dad, my grandmother and me went up to the nursing home and spent the last few hours of Coco’s life, talking with her, with each other, laughing and crying.  She passed away about 1:30 in the morning on July 4th.  It was a blessing in so many ways, since she had suffered with alzheimers disease for many years.  I will always remember her greeting us in the wee hours of the morning, when we would travel to Asheville to spend the weekend, her love of animals, both domestic and wild, injured or whole.  She was a wonderful cook and was known for her famous chocolate pie.  She loved her family dearly and even in the darkest parts of her illness, would look at you and say, “I don’t know who you are, but I know you are my family, and I love you!”  And you had no doubt she meant every word.  15 years before she passed away, a little boy named Austin Thomas Johnson (now Chester) was born and we became a family with 5 generations.  Three and half years later, Zachary Alexandre Chester came along and gave her two great-grandsons.  We traveled to Asheville for her funeral service and her two great-grandsons, Austin and Zach, were pallbearers at her funeral.  It was a quiet, simple service that honored a simple, complex, lovely woman.

The last part of our summer was heartbreaking.  Two weeks before school started, I attended my transportation meeting for work.  After spending the better part of the day on this, I raced home to pick Austin up and take him to the high school for his football pictures.

Todd came shortly after me to pick up Zach to bring him up for his football pictures.  Arriving home, we ate some dinner, took care of the dogs and fell into bed.  Sometime in the wee hours of the night, I woke and realized that I had seen Shadow and Callie, but not Braveheart.  I shook Todd awake and asked had he seen him.  “No.” came the groggy reply.  I headed outside to call him.  No luck.  He loves the outdoors, but loves his family even more.  As soon as I called and got no response I became concerned.  I walked into the yard and continued calling for a few minutes.  Relunctanly, I went into the house and got back into the bed, praying.  Wednesday came and went.  Still no Braveheart.  When Todd got home from work, I asked him to go out and look for him.  I told him to check in the woods, because if something had happened, I was sure he would be in the woods that surround our house.  It didn’t take long for Todd to say, “Honey.”  Pause that seemed like forever.  “He’s over here.”  Isn’t it funny how just one word can say so much.  For me that word was honey.  I knew then how much worse this was going to be than I ever realized.  I thought the biggest issue would be telling the kids, especially Zach.  It turned out that I was going to be the bigger issue.  I sat down on the driveway and started to cry.  I don’t think I stopped for many hours. The kids had people at church praying for me becaue I was such a mess.  Zach and Austin actually handled it very well.  We left for church and my sweet husband found a place for him in our front yard, and set to digging the grave.  He won’t mind me telling you that he balled like a baby the whole time he dug that grave.  He also found four flowers (one for each of us) to put on it when he was done.  Let me just say that I have lost several animals over the years.  Ashes was the first cat that was only mine and she lived to be 21 years old before being hit by a car.  Now I was sad when she died, but she had lived a good long life.  Trixie was a cat Todd found abandoned and brought home when Austin was a preschooler.  Great cat, loved Austin.  Hit by a car.  I was very sad, especially because of what Austin had to go through.  But I have never experienced anything like this.  I cried for days on end.  I swore we could never more, because he was buried at this home.  I coudn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat.  One night I ended up on the internet at midnight, googling how to deal with the loss of your pet.  I am a huge animal lover, but I thought people who did these things were insane.  I had to meet with my boss a week after Braveheart was killed and I was telling her what was going on and how hard it had been.  She had had a cat creamated and it sat on her mantel at home.  Todd overheard me telling someone about this and very quickly said, “I’m not digging him up.”  I was just comforted by the idea of someone else reeling from losing a pet as much as I was, because I figured maybe I wasn’t crazy after all.

I know this part is supper long, but stay with me here.  To fully understand, you must know a little about Braveheart’s personality and also about how he came to be ours.  A little over nine years earlier, Mom and Dad found a mother cat and her two kittens, a girl and a boy in their yard.  We quickly realized that the two kittens were most likely ferrel kittens (born in the wild for the non-cat peoples).  They were terrified of humans and would hide anytime someone came around.  After weeks, Mom eventually coaxed first the Momma, then the female and slowly but surely, the male,  into coming onto her porch for food.  She had even managed to be on the porch with them when they were eating.  When Braveheart (named so because he was so NOT brave) was a few months old, Trixie, Austin’s cat, was hit by a car and died.  He was heartbroken, so Todd and I naturally wanted to help in anyway we could.  Braveheart looked so much like Trixie that we knew right away a good addition to our family when we were ready.  We brought Braveheart home and he was anything but.  He hid from all of us, under furniture, in closets, etc. etc.  This went on for a few weeks, until one night we came home and found both of our cats pacing and meowing.  I knew something was not right.  We started walking around the yard calling for Braveheart.  Well, low and behold, he had gotten himself stuck up a tree about 30 feet and could not figure out how to get down.  Here comes another example of how wonderful and kind my hubby is.  He gets a treestand out of the house and climbs up into this tree, 10:00, 11:00 at night, pitch black outside.  He gets to him, puts him down inside of his jacket, zips it up, and brings him down.  Braveheart never even clawed Todd.  That cat was never the same.  He became the best, most loving and friendly cat I have even seen.  He would greet you at your car door and meow at you all the way into the house like he was a dog.  He would sit next to Todd when he shot his bow and arrow.  When Todd would walk down to retrieve his arrow out of the target, Braveheard would walk with him.  Todd would wakl by to shoot again, with Braveheart by his side all the way.   He was a big time Daddy’s boy.  When Mikko came along 7 years ago, and became a Daddy’s boy, Braveheart snubbed his nose at being “replaced” and became a Momma’s boy. And really was until the day he died.  He loved everyone and showed it often by head butting you, meowing his affection.  But at the end of the day, he would make what Todd would call “token” visits to everyone else and then curl up in my lap or beside me on the bed.  I think that is what made this loss so devastating.  He was so devoted to us, me in particular and the most amazing cat I’ve ever loved.

God made humans with an unbelievable capacity love, and with it comes unimaginable pain when you experience a loss.  He also made us with an unbelievable ability to heal from the pain.  Slowly, day by day, sometimes moment by moment.  I visited his grave everyday for a week.  Then a few times the next week.  And so on.  Now maybe only once a week.  I sometimes walk into a dark room and see one of our other cats and my first instinct is that it’s Braveheart.  But then I remember, I smile, shake me head and give love to the cat that we are stilled blessed to have.  Braveheart, we will miss and love you, always~

Well, since my last post was welcoming the new year, it seemed appropriate to now be welcoming summer!  Purchases to prepare us for summer: White Water passes, a new grill for Dad, lots of sunscreen, salad fixings, lots of fruit!  A tradition we started a few years ago involves having a luau the last day of school.  The kids were invited to spend the night with  Mom and Dad the last night of school (date night for us-yeah~); and working around Austin’s vast social calendar meant we had to postpone our luau until tonight, our first official day of summer break!  When we started this tradition, I would decorate with tiki torches, lanterns, cook kabobs on the grill and have fun, frozen drinks.  This year, with the kids 15 and 11, they don’t quite appreciate the little touches and I, rather than be disappointed in this turn of events, enjoy the simpler side of this tradition.  We have kabobs and corn on the cob on the grill, a watermelon cooling in the fridge, and a internet search for making fun frozen drinks out of mountain dew!  Some things I get nostalgic about and insist on every detail of the tradition, even if it is just for me, and other things I am happy to remember in the past, but put to rest for the future.

So as we prepare to venture into the lazy, hazy days of summer (quite literally), I take a moment to reflect on the last few months of whirlwind activity that is our life.  We started our year off with my brand new high schooler turning the big 15.  Very hard age for Mom to watch him turn.  That realization of him being able to drive is pretty overwhelming. A week after his birthday, I let him lay out of school to go and take his test for his learner’s permit.  He passed (of course) and then refused to drive when we left the DMV!  I took him to Cracker Barrel for a celebratory breakfast (yummy) and offered the keys again.  Still no.  So I pulled over at Avery Elementary, which is just about 1/2 a mile from our house and made him take the keys.  He did great!  We also started the year out taking Mudd(our new puppy) to obedience class, although some days I stop and wonder if we learned anything (for those of you who don’t have pets or have pets and have never taken obedience, owners are the ones being trained, not the pets.  Pets know how to behave, it’s just a matter of us asking them the right things to do)  As I type this, Todd has just gone out on the porch to check on the very yummy smelling food, and Mudd ran back into the kitchen because he could see Todd through the window.  How cute!  He was adorable enough for Mom to let him go out with Daddy.  In February, the kids had a great time spending a week  in Disney with my Mom and Dad.  They visited every single park, twice and had a great time.  March helped Todd and I celebrate our 12 year anniversary (yeah).  The kids and I were off on a road trip for Spring break.  We went to Charleston, S.C. to see Chris Tomlin in concert.  Austin got 10th row tickets as one of his Christmas gifts and we enjoyed a truly powerful concert.

May helped us wrap up another school year, with superb grades, great friends and lots of wonderful memories.  Austin has been dating his first real girlfriend for the last few months and walks around much like a puppy dog in love!  Sydnie is very sweet and beautiful and seems to bring out the best in Austin, which I love to see!!

So I look forward to a restful summer with lots of fun and more wonderful memories!

Austin, Zach, Grand & Papa TJ @ Disney-Feb. 2009

Chris Tomlin concert

As we usher in a New Year, it’s hard not to be grateful to be starting fresh, anew- after quite a turbulent 2008.  It’s very hard to look past anything but the last few months of financial crisis in our country, political division, and what appears to be the continuing loss of morals everywhere you turn.

For our family personally, we have truly had a memorable year.  We have certainly had our share of difficulty, but we have also had a year of incredible blessing and milestones.  Rewind 12 months and you will find Zachary with more scalp than hair, an elementary student struggling with how different he is compared to his classmates/peers; Austin still very much a boy and counting down the days until middle school was over.  As the days and months came and went, Zachary’s hair, by the grace of God, has come back as thick and beautiful as ever, maybe more so.  He has also started middle school and is quite the ladies man (much to his mother’s chagrin!).  Austin has gone from a boy to quite a man and is so proud to be walking the halls of high school.  How sad was Zach’s last day of elementary school (yes, I cried-several times).  Sadder was the end of summer when I had to take Zach to his orientation at the middle school; and then Austin, who was ever so grateful to have me stand aside while he went to each classroom and introduced himself to his teachers.  I am so proud of each of the boys, who have each had their individual challenges over the years.  When I tell of how they each excel in their academics, others may simply hear grades.  I however know of the obstacles that have been put in their path over the years, the pathway the Lord has used to build their faith and make them strong, stronger than even they realize.  I have been around for the tears that can only be shed in the shelter of a home that gives them comfort and unconditional love. That encourages and tries it’s very best to guide them.  What a challenge that is for these two mere humans God put in charge of these two amazing young men.

As I watch 2008 depart and the arrival of 2009, I pause a moment to give thanks for the blessings that sometimes get lost in the midst of the “big picture.”  The little blessings are truly where the voice of God can be heard, if you only stop a moment to be still and listen.

Blessings in 2009~

Well it has definitely been a typical December for me.  Here it is just 3 days before Christmas and I haven’t written a post since we got our tree!  We have been so busy.  So much of it has been training, playing with and enjoying our new puppy Mudd-what fun!  But alot has been enjoying this wonderful time of year.  We took a trip up to Dahlonega the first weekend of December with Mom & Dad.  We watched the parade, ate a wonderful dinner at the Smith House, and saw the beautiful lights in the square.  That same weekend we went “Back to Bethlehem” with some friends from church.  It’s a wonderful re-creation of the night of Jesus’ birth-complete with the town of Bethlehem.  First you enter through the town gates and you must give the name of those in your party for the census. Then you walk through the town and experience the foods, the smells, sounds that might have been back then.  The are authentic to the point of throwing people out for breaking the law-I was accused of stealing(I dropped a piece of paper out of my pocket and when I went to retrieve it, a guard took it for stealing).  He then escorted me out, with a little encourgement from Donita-thanks again! Towards the end of the town, you come across a manger and get to watch his birth.  The final stop is the crucifixion  and resurrection.

We have had family parties, taken Zach to see Santa-quite possibly for the last time which is quite sad!  Tonight we finished up our gingerbread house that we have been working on for several days-we had such a blast and it turned out great.  Today I went by Michaels and got a few wooden painting projects for the kids to make and we had so much fun working on those together.

This season the media has talked much about our economy and how for many Christmas is going to be much smaller from a financial standpoint for many families.  Our own family has been concerned with our budget this Christmas, especially when Todd’s promised bonus took a 50% cut.   But because of all the focus on what we may not be able to have under our tree this year, it has been a great time to get back to all that we have around our tree this year.  We are incredibly blessed to have a family abounding in love; a home full of joy & laughter; and the greatest gift of all-faith in baby born in a manger so many years ago.

As you look back on this Christmas, I pray you remember this as the year you were able to step back and see what a wonderful opportunity it was to exchange more love instead of more gifts, decorate your house with more kindness instead of more stuff, and celebrate the true meaning of Christmas~Jesus~

May God Bless each of you this Christmas and in the New Year.

But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”  Luke 2:10-14

Every year it’s the same story.  We go to the Christmas tree farm and wander around for almost 2 hours debating, arguing, comparing, etc. about every tree on the farm. (Okay it’s not really every tree, but it feels like it by the end!). Some years I am fooled into believing it really will be different.  This year was one of those years.  Ten minutes into the hunt, we decided finding a tree to cut down this year was not going to be an option. The drought has taken a toll both this year and last year.  Since we immediately decide we will have to look at the already cut trees, I think this will be so much easier than usual.  Ha!  We still have to look at all of the “real” trees for Zachary’s benefit.  Zach hates getting an already cut tree.  Then we have Mikko (our 6-year old yellow lab) with us, who wants to browse.  Of course, we have to take some pictures.  We make it to the already cut trees about thirty minutes into it.  My Dad proceeds to tell Zach that if he can’t cut down a tree, he should at least be able to pick the most expensive cut tree. (Thanks Dad~).  We then bounce back and forth between the two sections of trees.  We pull trees out and compare them to other trees.   Zach and my Dad stage a protest over a very big, round tree that we all loved, but would have required us moving all the living room furniture into the basement. (No Zach that is not an option!).  Austin informs him if he is going to stage a real protest, he must tie himself to the tree with the cable that is dangling!  Yikes.  After much debate, Austin finds two trees we like.  We compare and pick one that is a little smaller than we normally get, but is very pretty and is green enough for Zach. (He is color-blind with certain colors and some of the greens were too blue).  Then Todd decides to make sure, so he & Zach proceed to look at every single cut tree (this time it really was every tree) to make sure we are all going to be happy when we get home.  All the while my Dad is pointing out trees costing $125 (for a tree?), or trees that are bigger around, or taller-just to make things interesting.  He also enjoys reminding me that he and Mom already have all of their Christmas decor put out. (They went over to the dark side a couple of years ago and got artificial trees).  They just go with us to pick out our tree because they enjoy the show we always put on.  It also reminds them of how they behaved and makes them grateful to have fake trees!!!

We pay for our tree and head home.  It makes us crazy to go and pick out a Christmas tree.  But I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.  It’s a tradition we have handed down to our boys, and the memories are priceless.  One day I plan to wander the tree farm with my boys and their families.  Then it will be my turn to laugh!

So there are so many options in the world of blogging that I never thought I would get to this point.  Once I got my blog set up, there were even more choices to enhance your blog, that I started getting “blogged” down.  I finally reminded myself this blog was meant to record my family’s history through the art of writing-something I truly love.  And so I will write.  And I will embellish….my writing, that is.  And maybe one day, my blog!!!

So, let’s start at the beginning!  I was born in Atlanta, Ga.  36 years ago……no only kidding.  Let’s start with today.  Actually, I want to start with yesterday when Todd and I finally took the plunge (no not pregnant or trying-but almost as time consuming and rewarding!)……we got another puppy!  We have been talking about it for about a year.  Our original plan was to get one over the summer, so that the kids and I would be home to get him trained.  But hubby ended up with his leg in a cast for 5 weeks out of the summer, so I refused to travel into puppyland alone!!!  So by the time we got Todd out of a cast, football season was bearing down upon us.  That means practice for Austin 5 days a week until games start-then we go to 3 days of practice, 1day of game, 1 day off.  For Zach it’s 3 nights a week of practice-then a game on the weekend.  In other words, our whole world revolves around FOOTBALL!  So we promised the kids that the weekend before Thanksgiving break we would get our new addition.  That way we have a week off of school to get him trained.  So as the last week has quickly arrived, we had become a little concerned we would not find a puppy, since most breeders are planning their “deliveries” to be ready for Christmas, not Thanksgiving.  After picking up a paper yesterday morning on his way home from hunting, Todd combed the classifieds to try to find a puppy.  We ended up heading down to Peachtree City, a VERY LONG way from Canton for anyone who didn’t know. (I grew up on the south side of Atlanta, not far from Peachtree city, so I knew what kind of ride we were in for!  But it was worth the trip~  We arrived and the first thing I said when we saw the puppies(chocolate labradors) was, “Honey, look how big that one is!”  There was one puppy that definitely outweighed(in lbs.) all the rest.  The lady selling them said, “I’m sorry, but if he is the biggest one he is already taken.”  I quickly assured her that I wasn’t really saying, “Oh that’s the one”  I was just making a comment.  How was I to know my husband would quickly fall in love with that one.  We were kinda looking for a male, and he was only one of two.  A friend of the ladies had asked her to hold the biggest one for him and he would be there by 4:00.  We arrived around 3:30.  Seeing that hubby had already fallen for “Mudd”, she said we could have him.  She was a super nice lady, a christian and spent about 1/2 an hour talking with us, most likely making sure we were good “animal” people.   Next came the best part of all-lying to our kids!  Now, here me out.  You will really love this!  Since we knew already having one big puppy at home (Mikko is our 6-year old yellow labrador-if you have ever seen him crawl up in his Daddy’s lap, you know he is still a puppy at heart), we couldn’t possibly sneak a dog in on Christmas Eve without Mikko going crazy.  But since “Mudd” (Todd has had this named picked out for a chocolate lab for years) was a Christmas gift, I wanted to surprise the kids. So we called Austin and told him we really didn’t like the way the puppies were built, but we were going to look at another litter the next weekend.  We went by Petsmart on the way home and got a red and white fuzzy collar with jingle bells on it to put around his neck.  When we got about two miles away from my Mom and Dad’s house, I had Dad get the kids into the kitchen and we somehow managed to sneak in without them hearing us (nothing short of a miracle since Mom & Dad have two dogs of their own).  The look on their faces when we walked in that kitchen was priceless.  They suspected we were pulling their legs when we said we didn’t find a dog, but they had no idea we were in the house when we walked into that kitchen, which means we surprised them after all!!

So I could go on and on about how cute he is(he is SOOOO cute), and all the cute things he is doing, and how much we are enjoying him, but I won’t.  Like I said….it was worth the drive.  He is very CALM, bright, and cute.  Calm was obviously very important to us, especially already having a middle-aged dog, and being middle-aged ourselves!!!

Well, the clock has just struck midnight, so I began my first blog on November 25, 2008 and ended it on November 26, 2008.  I guess that proves just how very long-winded I am~

Wishing you blessings, mercy & grace~