A "GRAND" DOCTOR VISIT

I was always an avid record keeper and kept stats on my kids as they were growing up. Well, yesterday I was able to garner some stats on Isabella and Jarrett from their visit to the doctor for their summer physicals. I am happy to report that they are very healthy teenagers. (Jarrett is 15 and Isabella is 13).

Jarrett's height and weight: 65-1/2" tall and 116.2 lbs. I looked up to see how that compares with the national percentile and here's what I learned: At 15 years and 1 month: Jarrett is in the 33rd percentile for weight and in the 30th percentile for height.

Isabella's height and weight: 59-1/2" tall and 92.6 lb.s. At 13 years and 3 months: she is at the 27th percentile for weight and the 3rd percentile for height. (Glory~~ there is not an ounce of fat on that girl but a whole lot of muscle. She is working on her "six pack" and has a nice definition in her arm muscles. HA!)

Both made 20/20 on their eye chart exam and their blood pressures were very good.
I am thankful to the Lord for the good health that Jarrett and Isabella enjoy.

An Unbelievable Month of July....

Where has July gone? I can't believe today is the 31st. Where has summer gone? School will start back in a matter of days. (I can't get over my "old school" roots and the fact that we always started school the day after Labor Day. I still like that scenario and long for the old days. HA!)

I am enjoying Richard's retirement almost as much as he is!! We enjoy being together and doing things together but also respect each other's separate interests. He is an out-doors guy and enjoys working in his shed, working in the yard, working in the garage,. Whereas, especially in this summertime heat, I am an indoors girl and enjoy my housewifely duties and time on the computer. The later I spend far too much time with..... Anyway, we say he is puttering and I am fluttering. Hey, it works for us!!

We wondered if we could stay busy enough in our retirement years and have found that our lives our busy but with a different kind of busy. Here are the highlights of July 2008....


We had a wonderful 4th of July over at Brian's and Amy's with Brian's folks and his 3-year-old niece, an evangelist and his wife and 4 kids, my friend Joyce from church, and another man and his two sons from church.






Then I celebrated my 57th birthday on the 8th and enjoyed the doings with that and thank God for the dawning of another year of life.






We hosted our "D" Family Summer Reunion on the weekend of the 11th-12th. We had a wonderful time with family from out of town in our home all enjoying one another.







The highlight of the 2nd half of the month has been that of having Chip at home this week. We have had some sweet and precious family time with all of us together.






Otherwise this month, we had our dear friends John and Regina and their daughter Astrid over for a meal. Richard and I met John and Regina through Amy as she and Astrid were good friends in college. Astrid taught school in Herndon, VA since her 1997 college graduation but resigned at the end of this past school year as the Lord has led her to go to Saipan to teach in a Christian school there for at least three years. We enjoyed the fellowship with John, Regina, Astrid, Brian, Amy and our grandkids over dinner.


We were supposed to have Chip and his college students from their church in Huntsville over to our house for a cook-out on the 19th, but it turned out that the insurance on their van didn't cover them coming into Florida soooooooooooooo,we took the cookout to them on the beach in Alabama. That was a fun evening!




Amy returned to work (elementary principal) on the 14th so we have our grandson Jarrett (age 15) with us each weekday for 5 weeks until school starts. He and Grandpa have been working on lots of outside projects and have gotten a lot of stuff done which includes putting in two nice patios in our backyard using paving stones (that is the work in the picture.) Today they are starting the project of putting in a new shed. Belle and Josh are attending the Day Camp at the Sports Center (Belle is working there and Josh is a camper) and then Jaden is playing with his friends at the daycare for that age group.


Our very dear former pastor and his wife from back in the 80's dropped in from OK on the 22nd to say "hello." Dr. E and Brenda were so dear to call and come as they were in the area. It was a fun 5 hours spent with them.





We attended a wedding luncheon for a dear couple in our church. That was sweet and we saw the newlyweds at church last night ~~ our first time to see them since the wedding.

I had a health scare this month but it all turned out to be "negative" on the 21st. I thank God for that.


After being off for 6 weeks, we started back having the Bible Study at the retirement center and it has been good to go there for ministry on Fridays. This dear lady is 103 years old and is such a blessing to us each week.




Yep... we seem to find enough to keep us busy and have enjoyed this start to Richard's retirement years. On August 5, it will be three months already since his last day of work. Unbelievable!!! We continually pray and ask God to use us for His glory and thank Him for each and every day that He gives us.

July~~~ you were a good month. We hope to see you again next year!!!