A City Life For Me

Today we had our 20 week ultrasound (I am actually nearly 22 weeks).  The report is good…baby is 1 pound, 1 ounce, & the heart, liver, kidneys, spine, and brain are developing normally.  On the screen they colored the blood flow so that we could see it cycling throughout the baby’s body.  We also saw & heard the heartbeat (this was the first time Ben had heard the heartbeat).  It was neat to see all of the little organs and body parts developing.  The technician pointed out the two arm bones, the eye sockets, one ear, and the chin.  We were able to see a “footprint” complete with all five toes.  One fist was visible and each little finger could be detected.  The “aerial” shot of the head showed both sides of the brain.  The close-up of the heart showed the four chambers and valves.  It was pretty amazing!   We want to be surprised, so we didn’t find out the sex.  Even if we had wanted to know, we would not have been ...

While in Colorado I was able to visit with some old friends.  First, my dad owed Katie & Stephanie Kubick lunch for helping him do some work at the church.  (Stephanie was the flower girl in my wedding and Katie is her younger sister).  They put it off for a week so that I could come along.  I went to Littleton and picked up the girls, and we met Dad for lunch at Fatburger.  Stephanie’s birthday is November 4th, so they are voting that I have the baby a day earlier!  (Mike Anderson, the ring bearer in our wedding is also a November 4th birthday!)     A funny side note…I helped Mom with the Primary Sunday School opening on Sunday morning.  I had taught 1st grade and 2nd grade during two summers when I was home from college, so many of the kids were the same.  Mom was trying to introduce Father’s Day, so she asked, “What is special about today?”  The response was, “Andrea’s here!”  After a little probing, the kids rememb...

Here are some more “heritage” pictures that I helped Grandma digitize.   This is my Grandma, MaryLou Paul, collecting eggs on the farm. This picture is old, so the scan wasn’t great, but these are my Mom’s siblings – from left to right: Robin, Marty, Scott, JoEllen, Mom/Sherry (she’s on the tractor), Nathan.   This is my Uncle Scott, my Mom, and Uncle Nate at Cottonwood Pass in July, 1971.  Isn’t my Mom a cutie?   These are the Paul cousins – (from Left to Right, Back Front): Kyle, Brian, Cassi, Andrea (Me), Nicole, Nic, Michael, Kenny, Wesley (he used to be cute!), Nathan, Aaron.

I recently took a trip to visit my parents in Colorado for a week.  It was nice to be “home” but I missed Ben at the same time!  Technically speaking, I was flown in to fix the iTunes and the Pictures on the new computer.  Things got a little scrambled in the transfer from one operating system to the next.  Since I know more about these programs than Kenny does, the project was left for me to handle.  I accomplished a lot – sorting and filing over 2400 pictures, recovering lost podcasts and editing music files.  Somehow…we still had plenty of time for scrapbooking and card-making!   I pulled off the week with only a couple of klutzy moments.  I closed the front door a little too hard (if you ask Mom, I slammed it) and Wesley fell off the wall.  Twice.  The worst thing that happened was the night before I returned to Virginia Beach.  I was scanning a couple of pictures.  I guess I bumped the stuffed pig just right, or rather w...

It was nice to be in Colorado with my parents for Father’s Day.  Traditionally, we go to Grandma & Grandpa’s house and grill steaks for Father’s Day.  Today was no different.  It was the first hot Colorado day this summer and Grandma doesn’t have air conditioning, so I was a little warm, but it was a nice afternoon.    I also enjoyed seeing everyone at Highlands Baptist Church today.  Pastor Musgrave preached a great message from 1 Peter.  The music was excellent, and the Sunday School kids were all grown up.      Mom, Andrea (& Baby), and Dad at church on Father’s Day   “The Girls” at Grandma’s house – my cousin Nicole, Mom, Andrea, and Grandma   Uncle Scott & his kids Michael & Nicole.  Michael gave Scott a whale for Father’s Day – he adopted a humpback whale named Diego for a year.   My mom and her dad   This is what Ben & I gave to Dad for Father’s Day.  It’s a T...

Take a minute to watch this video of a great song – Obamaman Can, a spoof on the Candy Man song.     I love it… “Who can pick the teams that are in the Final Four?” “Obamaman can because he mixes it with hope…” “Who can take tomorrow…spend it all today?” “Who can buy an iPod?  Give it to the Queen?” Watch to pick up more great lines!

I have recently been inspired by two things to learn more hymns.  I am reading “A Chance to Die” by Elisabeth Elliot.  It is a biography of Amy Carmichael.  Amy was herself a great poet, and a lover of all things beautiful and lovely.  There is so much doctrine in the old hymns.  They are wonderful to mediate upon.   The second thing which inspired me was an interview on Revive Our Hearts in which Nancy Leigh DeMoss interviewed Robert & Bobbie Wolgemuth and their family.  They use hymns as a tool to teach the youngest of children about the Gospel and doctrine.    I have been blessed to have a great teacher (my Mom) and I think that my brothers and I know a lot of hymns – we are both familiar with many, and have a great many memorized.  I am surprised even at our Baptist Church how many hymns the people do not know.  Sometimes Ben will choose a song that we both grew up singing, and after the first stanza it is apparent th...