2010 in review- Part II - May-August

2010 review continues. . .
May
Lindsay Wright's wedding was a big event in early May, as Lindsay had lived with us for 9 months and had become like part of our family. It was definitely wedding season at our house, as we prepared for Georgia and Lindsay's wedding in the same year. . Lots of wedding magazines laying around. . .We loved getting to help her with her wedding plans and we are thankful that God let us be a part of her and Brandon's life as they prepared to unite as a couple. . .both of them had been a part of our college Bible study group for a couple of years and we were especially close to them. .almost like second parents. . .I offered to be her florist for the event, which has always been a secret ambition of mine, and I learned alot . . especially that nothing is as easy as it seems, even when it comes to preparing and arranging flowers! Lindsay was beautiful on her wedding day and we loved celebrating this event before the Lord, their friends and family. It will be such fun watching to see what the Lord does with their lives.

May 15th was Georgia's college graduation and pinning as a RN. . .a huge accomplishment!  I wish I could say that the weeks before her graduation were easy sailing, but as I said in an earlier post, we all prayed and sweated with each exam she took, even up to finals week.  . . and after visiting with some of the other nursing students' family at graduation, Georgia was not the only one walking the graduation tightrope. It's just a very difficult program, so there was much to celebrate once the grades were in. The pinning ceremony was beautiful as all the graduates were in their white lab coats.  And graduation was great fun, as we knew many of the students graduating from the college Bible study that met at our home for 3 years and many of Georgia's friends.

June
Georgia immediately started studying for her state nursing board exams, which included attending a review course in Austin to help her prepare. . . On about the end of the 2nd week of June, I rode with her to Abilene as she took her state board exam. . . Well, it was a long, very stress test- about 4 hours, and when she came to the car, the look on her face was tense. . .she really felt like she had failed it. . .so we rode home in a somber mood and talked about options if she had failed it. . . .For a little extra money, she could find out in a couple of days if she had passed the test instead of waiting two weeks by regular mail.. . .so she paid the extra money and looked up the results on the computer. . I'll never forget it. . she said in a solemn voice. ."Mom, it says I passed.". . Really unsure whether to believe it or not, she did not get excited or celebrate. . .until a couple of days later, when she double checked with other past nursing students to see if the computer results were really accurate. . .THEN the celebrating started!! Not only celebrating, but a HUGE relief from the pressure that had been on Georgia all semester. . .really all through nursing school!  NOW she could relax and soon it was time for Georgia and Robyn to drive to California for the long awaited wedding week!

June 23rd- Six of us flew to Corona, CA on Wednesday before the wedding--Todd, myself, August, Sara Warren, Adam Skelton and Jordan. . .Austin and Brittany joined us later that evening, and the grandparents arrived to Corona a bit later. . .We enjoyed Wednesday night dinner with the Monroe Family, Thursday was Bachelor and Bachelorette Party day--with the guys going Paint Balling and the girls for a nice Dinner and time on the beach, Friday was "Zip Line" day with the Texas folks and Friday night was a very fun Rehearsal Dinner with different members of the family and wedding party providing the "entertainment."  Wedding Day , June 26th, was perfect, with 80 degrees, a cool breeze and lots on sunshine on Saturday afternoon. . .Lots of great memories that day. . . for all of us.

July
We flew home from CA on Sunday following the wedding and were home a week, then headed to CO for the July 4th holiday. . .Georgia and Jordan joined us for the last half of their honeymoon, which included the July 4th festivities and hiking, biking at Paradise Divide, north of Crested Butte and a quick trip to Lake City. We really enjoyed spending the holiday with the newlyweds! :)

August
We returned back to CO to host 6 of August's friends from his Teenpact internship for a week in the mountains. . .these students were from all over the US, and several had never been in the mountains before . . .we were "tour guides" all week. . mainly hiking, kayaking, and a little rock climbing in the Hartman Rocks area.  We are still thanking Jesus for protecting August when a rock gave away and he fell about 30 ft. off a cliff and tumbled like he was cartwheeling down the mountain. . I have never felt so helpless to be standing a good 300 yards away when I saw him fall. . .and Todd was completely scratched up from scurrying over sharp rocks to try to get to him. . .We really thought he was dead. . .He was pale, pretty shaken up and had skinned up his hands badly. . but otherwise he had no broken bones. . .it was a miracle. . .We spent 5 hours in the ER waiting for a doc to look at his hands because they looked pretty bad, and I think the whole experience was a lesson to the whole group that all college students are not invincible.

August returned back to A&M at the end of the month, and for the first time in 4 years. . .our house was empty.  .all the children were gone and the girls who had lived in the extra bedrooms had moved out. . . I think it was a good break for us. . .because communal living always has drawbacks. . but for the most part, it had been a blessing for all of us. . .but the house didn't stay empty for long. .

to be continued. . . .