Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

Our most humble apologies for the delay in posts. We know that you are on the edge of your seat, waiting for an update on what's happening around here. Well, you can sleep better tonight and breathe easier knowing that we're still around. Our computer quit working for us and it's been in the shop for almost a week. The good news is that it's up and running again. The bad news is that he didn't have a specific person in the family to blame so we have to say that something "just happened". We will begin regular updates in the beginning of August, after our beach trip!

Before

Mom likes to think up different home projects. They plan to move someday, probably not for awhile, but it's a good reason to start renovations. This time it's their bathroom. It is looking a little 70's-ish so with the expert help of her sister, Lynn, the work begins. We're planning on new paint and possibly some other stuff like mirrors and lighting.

Want to help?We'll keep you posted on the progress!

Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez

The story goes something like this.. Sunday softball game, bottom of the 7th with a tied score, 2 outs. Benny P. is 0-2 with two pop flies. The pitch.....SENDS IT DOWN THE LINE, coming into third base BP is told to slide. Caught up in the moment, he slides into third and is SAFE. He is ready to score on the next hit and the guy pops it up. Game over.Ben, good job at staying true to what we learned growing up. You followed the wisdom that we learned from The Sandlot, "Heroes get remembered but legends never die."

Way to take one for the team. The last time we saw him like this he had just flipped a go-cart when he was about 8 years old. Check out the sweet flip flop tan from working outside everyday!

What a Life

Chips has been stocking up on chewies lately He's got 5 right nowMom became CPR certified today. She is pumped and ready to start her refresher course for nursing. She made sure to book the best tutor in town. Dad was teaching her how to take proper notes. A tight squeezeNothing says summer like watermelon!!The golf pros played a round today. Possibly practicing for the beach trip where they will probably both beat Wes.Mom made an attempt at peppermint ice cream. Something was a little off, but it was close! We'll perfect it next time.

Shady Stylist

Around here, we cut hair in style.

Third Time's a Charm

Miracles? Yeah, they still happen. After 4 1/2 weeks of calculus, Dad and Kait survived calculus together. This may seem like no big deal; another course, another grade. That's way off though. Kait checked out of of anything math related around the 6th grade. Dad was the faithful tutor who struggled through the rest of the years with her. After a few math classes in college, we thought we were free from tearful math sessions together, but then came calculus. After starting and dropping the class twice, Summer 08 was the third (and hopefully final) time. We hit some rough spots of flying books and loud words (okay, maybe screaming) If we thought too long, we pictured ourselves sitting at the same table 5 years from now still trying to pass the class. Not only did we pass, we made a B+!!!A big thanks goes out to Anna for switching seats at the dinner table because her usually spot was covered in math worksheets. Also, thanks to Dad for being the tutor. He showed 3 characteristics while teaching math. They were humility, patience and compassion. The following are quotes that he said during the 4 1/2 weeks- they are examples of these 3 characteristics...

"Even a monkey could do this problem!" (Compassion)
"Shelly, am I sweating?? Did I just start sweating because I talked about math?" (Patience)
"I probably have the highest IQ in this house" (Humility)

Surprisingly, Dad and Kait's relationship survived the traumatic events of Math 122.
Getting this class out of the way can only mean one thing... graduation is going to happen on time!

The Great 8

It's hard to believe that it has been 8 years since our move from Philadelphia! We moved in June 2000 and it was a hard transition, but God is good! He has provided great friends, jobs, a new church family and much more. This is a picture of our old house. We miss it, but we are in favor of the Southern thing called "central air conditioning".This is a picture of us in July 2000, shortly after we moved. Take a look at what we've been up to in the past 8 years...3 car accidents

5 "new" cars

1 surgery

5 proms

3 high school graduations

1 church change

5 camping trips

4 failed driving tests

1 college graduation

7 beach vacations to Edisto Island

4 ex girlfriends

3 trips back to Philly

1 wedding

2 sad goodbyes to Grandpa Jack & Grandpa Vann

1 AARP invitation

A Glance Into The Future

It's a little creepy to find this magazine issue in your mailbox. Notice the resemblance?