Trick or Treat '08

We thought we had one more year to toy with before Ben became opinionated enough about wearing a costume, but we were wrong! We got him a Thomas the Train (actually James) costume from Target, and he wore it Friday at school for their Halloween Party, but that was it. Instead of a costume, he wore his Thomas sweatshirt and hat Friday evening. We used to pride ourselves on Ben not eating candy, but that all changed Friday night. It was hard to keep the cauldon out of his reach and accessible to the adults, so he dippped in a few times. Mostly taking out lollipops, unwrapping them, taking one good taste, then handing them off to the closest person to finish.
We pulled our firepit out into the driveway (that is a shoutout to you Lynne and Tripp!), and stayed warm when it got cooler. Our friends, the Mumpower's, came over with Ben's girlfriend, Emily, and helped celebrate. >
Menay, Ampie, and Uncle Taedo (Caleb) came over too. We met some great neighbors, and a few fellow Mountaineers!
The sugar shock was still present througout the rest of the weekend, but that was expected. Now if we could only get used to the time change...

Visit from Gina and Nathan

August was a very busy month. We were excited to get a long weekend visit with Gina and Nathan. Gina is one of my dearest friends, whom I've known since we were in 4th grade together. Gina's son, Nathan, is 5 months older than Ben. They had a blast playing together. We had fun relaxing at the pool, going to the beach, and hitting the water park. The boys played with every single toy in the playroom throughout the course of the weekend. We were sad to see them go, but know they will be back next year for round 3. And we hope to go visit them in PA beforehand.

Sometimes one of those forwards grips your heart and makes you speak from yours.

This was written after a forwarded email story really touched me, whether it was true or not.... God touches our lives in ways that we may not ever realize. We’ve been going through a tough time. Have been for over about two years now. Shane has developed a problem with his hip called Osteonechrosis. Minutes before we got his diagnosis, Shane received a call that he lost his job. We could have been really sour at that point. But we had faith that there was something better out there for us. As we waited for Shane to undergo surgery up at Duke, he amazed me. He enrolled in a Real Estate class, passed with flying colors, and landed a real estate job that isn’t normally giving to new agents. His persistence was untouchable. He now works for a wonderful company that is very compassionate about his health concerns. Two Mother’s Days ago, we decided we would put our house on the market and build our dream home. So in June 2007 we signed a contract to build a beautiful home that would be the perfect size for the family we wanted to have. In July 2007 we place our house on the market. Shane’s hip didn’t get better after his hip surgery up at Duke. As the closing date on our house got closer, we got scared that we wouldn’t get our house. Then the best thing happened. We DIDN’T get the new house. We took our house off the market, got our money back on the house we built, and awaited Shane’s next hip surgery in Dec 2007. There would have been no way to afford this new house with the surgery, his time off work, and slow real estate market. God once again looked out for our family and put our best interests first. Things may sometimes look like they are falling apart around you. Like you have no control over what is happening to you. That is because this isn’t YOUR plan. This is His plan. We have realized this, and are rolling with the punches. And they feel so much softer than they used to.
Shane is doing much better after this past surgery. We put our house back on the market Feb 2008 and decided to build a new "dream home". June 10, 2008 we closed on our old house. Funny to say that after 5 years, 112 Droos Way is now in the hands of a great guy and his girlfriend. They are starting out like we did when we moved into that cute little house. Several days later we closed on our new home. It will have all the space we need for now and many years to come. We’ve met our surrounding neighbors already and are excited for this next chapter in our lives. I just wanted to share how thankful we are, and thank all of you for supporting us through our roller coaster journey these past two years. Your prayers and thoughts were heard and felt.
Love always, Hannah, Shane, and Ben