First thing I thought of was Nathan bought a car last summer just before school started!! We told him we would match what he had saved, and since he had worked with a handyman all summer he was able to pull together $1,000. So the question was, what could we possibly get that was any good for $2,000? Well, the Lord provided by putting us in touch with this sweet older Christian couple who had babied a 1997 (the year Nathan was born!) Toyota Avalon with only 93,000 miles on it. Even though the owner had wanted to ask $3500 he felt like he should sell it to Nathan for $2,000, not even knowing that's all Nathan had to spend!! It has been such a blessing to him and our whole family these past several months - we couldn't be more thankful! Here's a picture of Nathan and the owner and his wife - aren't they adorable?!
Another thing that happened this fall was that I was able to live a dream through my daughter - she became a cheerleader her senior year for our homeschool football team!!! She had had no interest in cheerleading and I never mentioned or pushed it, but when I noticed that tryouts were coming up I asked her just to consider it - no pressure - and just go to the tryouts to see if it might something she would possibly be interested in. She came home pretty excited because she knew many of the girls and started looking forward to the idea and finally said she wanted to do it! I had so much fun going to games and watching her cheer - she was a natural at it and had a blast! My sweet friend, Hollyhead, came to one of her games and snapped these pictures:

Then, November 16, the triplets turned 18!!! Ahhh!! That can't be true!! But it is - we now have 5 adults in the house. Here are some pictures from their fun and wacky 18th birthday party:


At the end of March I had the privilege of helping to chaperone some of the finest teenagers I've ever met on a trip up to the capitol in Tallahasse to participate in the annual State Assembly of the YMCA's Youth in Government program. I was really blown away at the professionalism and poise of these young adults, and had a great time seeing all branches of government represented by these fine young men and women. Nicole had the honor of serving as a DLA (director of legislative affairs - very prestigious!), and Nathan's bill had the honor of being 1st on the docket and made it past 1st and 2nd committee, was passed in the Senate and then passed in the House, and made it all the way to the Cabinet but the governor decided not to sign it into law (boo hiss!). Noah's bill won the best bill award! I was just very impressed with and so very proud of all 3 of them!!! |