Happy Labor Day weekend planned

This was a pretty typical, humdrum work week.  A big deal was that Austin officially started kindergarten!  I haven't seen him all week, but I will this weekend.  Can you believe that the chubby baby boy that wooed my heart to State College five years ago is now a tell, slender boy going off to real "school"??  Sometimes I just hate how quickly time goes by and how these babies grow up so fast. But really, every stage is new and fun.

The other week Lisa posted this collage of Sophie - her first "first day" of preschool and now her first day of fourth grade already!!!  This girl is taking piano and voice lessons and loving them.  Occasionally Lisa sends me a video and my heart just BURSTS!

The "push" all this week has been to get everything done for our big weekend.  We are leaving today from Dick's shop promptly at 5:00 and driving (no potty breaks!) to Manheim for Bjorn's first football game.  It starts at 7, so I know we'll be late and will probably have to park a mile away, but we did buy reserved seats and tickets, so at least we'll have a place to sit when we get there.  Their games are usually standing-room only.  We can hardly wait to see him play.  He texted me last night, "I am very excited for tomorrow!"  I assured him that we are too!

Most Friday nights when we drive to his games we will have to drive right back home afterward, since Dick works Saturday mornings.  But this time he has off for the holiday weekend, so we're staying down overnight and will be coming home tomorrow.  We're getting COMPANY this weekend!!  Sam, Jenn, Sammy, and baby Bianca!  It seems impossible that I haven't seen her since the weekend she was born (3 weeks ago!) and Dick has not seen her at all yet!   Sammy is so excited to be coming to "Mahna's" house!

Here's a sweet picture of Bianca that I took from Jenn's sister's pics posted last weekend.  Jenn says she's loud and feisty.  Haha!  I can't wait to get acquainted with her.  I'm loud and feisty too.

Jeremy is so busy we hardly have time to talk on the phone anymore.  But occasionally he posts some pics of what is keeping him so busy.  For the past months, in addition to his regular demanding job for Regency Furniture, he has also been in charge of the interior design of a new restaurant, actually an old building being refurbished into an upscale restaurant.  A few weeks ago he showed a picture of a brick wall onto which he had put a design of pipes and fittings.  Everyone seemed to think it was really cool, so I figured it must be.  

But then this week he showed the wall with lights added.  Now THIS is cool!  Good work, Jeremy!!

A really cool thing happened for Ray and Thyda this week.  Ever since February Ray has been living and working in Lancaster County because they had been planning to settle there when Thyda's time with the Navy was finished.  However, with a promotion she received, they decided it would be better for them if she were to re-enlist, which she did.  So the goal has been for him to find a job in VA Beach and move back.  We've been praying about a position he was hoping to get.  

This past weekend he was down and had an interview.  On his trip back to Lancaster County (less than two hours into his trip) his car broke down and needed to be towed to a garage.  Thyda came and picked him up.  That was discouraging.  And then he got a call with a job offer!!  That was encouraging and such perfect timing! When he called me, he took so long to get to that part of the story, he had me on pins and needles, haha!!  He starts the new job next week!  I'm so, so happy from them.  I'm also happy that they will be moving to a nicer place, out of military housing.   I'm so proud that they have stuck together for better or for worse, through togetherness and separation for seven years!