More from the Summer Vaca

Where were we last? Still with my folks, I think. On Monday, Mom and Dad drove us to San Antonio, from which we flew to Houston before arriving at Raleigh/Durham. Passing through airport security, we were delighted to find ourselves alongside a friend and familiar face from St. Helena's - Mitzi! It was good to see Mitzi, and she was a God-send as we tried to navigate the conveyor belt with Annie's small army of luggage.

Once in RDU, we booked a rental car and began reclaiming the once-familiar roads. We passed the Marriott that had hosted our wedding reception. We marveled at the loblolly pines as they hid the horizon and pointed us up to the clouds. I remember remarking that the trees were taller than any hills we had back home.

We spent the first night with the Scoggins (much more on them later), and left after lunch the next day for Winston-Salem and our dear friends Jared and Laura. At one point, Jared and I lived in the same town, hall, or room for something like five or six consecutive years. Jared and Laura even housed me for six months before Rebekah and I got married. They are remarkably themselves all the time and rooted deeply and visibly in the love and faith of the triune God. While with them in "the Dash", Jared observed that we don't really catch-up when we get together; we hang out. Jared was finishing up his mission statement for his upcoming residency interviews. Laura, for her part, made an amazing Greek meal - gyros and baklava! - and made my heart at home when she invited us to pray at the end of the day. It was a quick 26 hours or so, and then it was back to Durham, and while the Gallahers would show up later, we were blessed by this short time with them.

The Gallaher home in "the Dash".

This is so much 'them,' for reasons I can't explain.

Beautiful painting overhanging our bed - by Laura.

Bek and Annie in the living room.

Bedtime Bear

Bek and I embrace structure and routine in the wild adventure that is our parenting. Every night, the goal is a 7:15 p.m. bath time, with final feeding, stories, teeth brushing and prayers in that order. We hang out together. The prayers are pretty simple at this point: Bek tells Annie to remember "that Mommy loves you and Daddy loves you and God loves you and He is with you." Then it's my turn: "Thank you Jesus for Annie," I say, and I make the sign of the cross on her forehead. The last two nights, just as Bek is finishing her nightly reminder to Annie, Annie has looked at me with earnest eyes and gently touched her hand to her forehead. Sometimes I wonder if she understands the things she does, but mostly I pray for the simplicity of her trust.


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more annie-versary pics

August 22: Annie's b-day!

A break from the glorified vacation slideshow today in order to celebrate Annie Lyn's birth a year ago today. Amazing to think back to those first few hours in the hospital. Shortly after, Fr. Ned taught us a new daily prayer: Thank you Jesus for Annie! The road together has been humbling, blessed, and full of unexpected grace. To celebrate Annie's first birthday, Bek made a cake, Mom and Dad came in for the weekend, Dad gave Annie her birthday blessing during our morning worship at St. Christopher's, and Michael snuck by for a quick birthday hug. A sweet, sweet day. Thank you Jesus for Annie. Amen.

The ladies of the hour.

Grammy outfitted Annie in this snappy designer number.

The three bears.

Annie and the Grampy bear.

Love you, A-bear!

One more thing...my daddy's b-day is August 11th, a day on which we're often on vacation at the beach. So this year we decided to celebrate Annie's b-day alongside Dad's on the 22nd. Annie kind of stole the show, what with the bear ears and all, but we tried to surprise Daddy after Annie had gone to bed with a plate of chocolate chip cookies. He was surprised, but maybe as much by the small fire that caught on his cookies as by the chance to celebrate his birth. We love you, Daddyo!

Vacation 3

Last of the pics from before we flew to NC. It's just the two of us, which might be vain or superfluous (what with the three pics), but whatever.

A friend asked me the other day if I remembered anything about my wedding day (5 years ago, this coming December). He didn't say it, but I wondered if he wasn't expecting some version of the usual "it was a blur" or "all that stress beforehand and I don't remember a thing." The truth is just the opposite.

I remember sitting next to Beks in a moment that still feels suspended in time, holding hands and singing 'Let all mortal flesh keep silence.' We both knew it by heart and so were freed from the book as we watched the congregation come up for Communion. Family, friends, family not yet friends (I hadn't met them yet). I remember being completely overwhelmed by the altar guild and others from the church who accepted the open invitation. Paula Gilbert gave of her New Year's Eve night to work the sound board that night. Hannah Kimbrough carried the cross. I remember the love of so many friends and the unbelievable good news that Rebekah and I were beginning an adventure that we knew and prayed would draw us closer to God and one another in the Body of Christ, with God as our goal and our path, life of the Spirit. All joy. I squeezed her hand tighter.

I get sappier than she does. So I have to trust her that she hears me when I tell her how unspeakably blessed and humbled, awestruck and grateful I am for the love we share with each other and the God whose love comes as gift. "May His love be ours forever, as forever He is One."

I love you, Bek. ;)

Family Vacation: Part 2!

More photos from the pre-cation with Mom and Dad in Gonzales.

We arrived Friday in time for lunch, and Dad drove us to the airport Monday morning. That's right - a Sunday with my parents! We don't get many Sundays together, and it was a joy to sit in the pew next to Bek and the Bear - and also to watch as Dad led us in worship. Worship has always been a special marker of vacation time for me. I remember the German Katholische Kirche we visited one Sunday in Munich, and struggling to thank the priest in his language for the gift of that service. We understood so little, and so were relieved of the burden of understanding. The liturgy held us; the prayers of others sustained us; the Holy Spirit embraced us. I remember another vacation - last year, in Charleston, SC - and the kindly lay reader who sought us out in the garden and invited us to Noonday prayer, where the prayers were for the weary and traveling. No hopes for added numbers. Just compassion on those they welcomed. Back to this vacation - up to this point with my parents - Rebekah and I would be unspeakably blessed later on in the week by the Noonday Eucharist celebrated at Holy Family, Chapel Hill, and our time with Mother Michelle. Similarly, this Sunday, with my dad and my mom and the people of the Messiah Episcopal Church in Gonzales, Texas, was a holy consolation. The Communion of Saints is a living thing when we travel, and I am so grateful for the saints who set the table and the living God who meets us there.

Annie, at a table of her own.

Grampy-bear time.

What's that??

Never mind.

family vacation: part I

As of two hours ago, Bek, Annie, and I are freshly returned from our family vacation. We left July 30-ish, and today is August 17th, easily making this trip our longest rest time together. And while traveling with an almost one-year old makes even rest time fair game for adventure, it was a blessed adventure, and one for which we're grateful. We shared time with my parents, caught up with dear friends in Durham and Winston-Salem, visited the church at which Beks was confirmed and where we were married, and spent the better part of a week with Rebekah's family at Sunset Beach, NC. There just aren't words enough for the balm these friendships are to us and our delight in sharing extended time with family - by birth and by baptism.

Additionally, I'm thankful that Bek spearheaded a house-cleaning charge before we left, so that we came back to what seems to be someone else's house. That said, we have the usual laundry piles to rescue from their moldering bags before tomorrow and daily routines to set up again, so I'm pacing our posting of pics from the trip. Ideally, a new post a day. This one has us at the trip's beginning, with Mom and Dad. Specifically, the occasion is Annie's receiving a new doll (named 'Maise Baby') that Mom had made for Annie. Annie has never had a doll; immediately, she scooped Maise up, gave her a great big hug, and began patting Maise ("may-zee") on the back as they nuzzled together. Maise was a hit, and the adventure was in full swing. :)