A City Life For Me

There’s not much new going on in the Hamilton household.  We are still living in Upstate NY (Orange County, about an hour north of the Bronx) while we wait on our house purchase to be completed.  We DID make a lot of progress on that this week, and now we are just waiting for the seller’s bank to grant an approval for the short sale.  To prepare for moving, we started packing up some of the extra stuff we have accumulated while the rest of our life is in the storage unit.  We are still plugging along in school.  I started teaching Elaine piano, though it’s been hard to be faithful in lesson and practice times.  We’re still working on that.  We also enjoyed a field trip to the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan.  It’s one of the museums that is “suggested donation” so it’s more economical for a big family to go.  I made a scavenger hunt booklet for the kids to keep their interest.  It worked up until the end, when the fact...

There is a Nor'easter moving up the coast, so we decided to move our travel plans up a day.  The road from home to Ben's parents in the Berkshires (MA) is a two lane winding road, so we didn't want to drive it in 8-12 inches of snow!  Having arrived around midnight last night, we enjoyed watching the white winter wonderland develop as we made preparations for a "white Thanksgiving".  Here are a few shots from the day...   The kids couldn't wait to get outside, so Ben took them out to the parking lot to play in the snow.  He wrote their names in the snow!  I was happy to watch from the window in my PJ's and with my coffee in hand!   Giant snowman with not too much snow on the ground yet!      Waiting to get out the door!  This is the first snow storm they've really been able to play in...   She didn't seem to mind falling very much!   Everyone enjoyed playing outside for a while!   I thought she...

Here is the latest status on our church as we work through the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. The damage to our church building was extensive.  The 4 to 5 feet high crawl space under the floor of our four storefront church buildings filled to overflowing. About 18 inches of water filled all our buildings taking out everything in its wake. We will have to replace our flooring, part of the walls, songbooks, Bibles, literature, cabinets, as well as many church supplies. We’re not sure if our pianos will survive. The flooring was damaged to the sub-floor as well, so we basically lost everything. The Lord has been working and has led our Pastor to Operation Renewed Hope.  They are sending a team of seven men from Maranatha Baptist Bible College to us cleanup.  They have also helped with some funds, as well as funds to help us distribute needed items to our neighbors in Sheepshead Bay.  This will be a great opportunity for us to share the Gospel as well. {cleanup ...

At our parents’ suggestion, we decided to stay at Ben’s parent’s house in Pittsfield, Mass. and wait for Hurricane Sandy to pass over New York City.  We were just returning from a short vacation to North Conway, New Hampshire, for our 5th Wedding Anniversary. We returned to heat and power, but we do live on a ridge.  {That’s why our neighborhood is called Bay Ridge }.  Many in our church did not fare so well.  Our church is in Sheepshead Bay, very near to Coney Island and the ocean.  This area was hit very hard, and there was extensive flooding.  We don’t have any cell phone service right now, but we have heard reports of the following: One couple had their basement apartment flood to the ceiling.  They lost everything. Our Pastor and his family are without power and phone.  They had 5 inches of water in the basement. Other families in our church lost power. We have a couple of families who live on t...

Winter has finally descended on the Big City.  We have about an inch of crispy, icy snow.  Elaine couldn’t wait to get on her snow pants and go outside to play.  We made it a family affair and headed to the park.  Elaine got to ride along on the sled, even though there wasn’t really enough snow for sledding.  This is Nolan’s first snow.  It’s a litlte late…his snow suit barely fit!  Guess it’s time to move him up a size!   Elaine & Nolan on the sled.  Nolan was so bundled he couldn’t move!  Then Elaine insisted that Ben sit on the sled so she could pull him! Elaine kept losing her mitten, so Ben gave her his gloves.  She looked so funny with her giant hands!

My family was in town for Thanksgiving last week.  There were ten of us total.  My Grams and my sister-in-law Becky had not been to NYC before, so we gave them a whirlwind tour on Friday.  Among other activities, we took the Staten Island Ferry from Manhattan to Staten Island, and back again.  It was sunset, and the view was spectacular! We watched the City go from this… {the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline} …to this beautiful orange glow reflecting off the glass buildings…. …to amazing shades of purple! Lady Liberty gave us a show all her own. {“Pa” and “Ma” as Elaine calls them} {P.D.A. – public display of affection} {Ben, Elaine, Me, & Nolan in front of the Verrazano Bridge} {Kenny & his bride Becky with Lady Liberty in the distance} {Wesley & his niece} As we watched the sun set and the sky turn deep shades of colors, I was reminded of this verse written by King...

It is snowing right now.  According to the weather channel it was predicted to start tonight and we might get an inch.  After enjoying a late brunch of eggs and pumpkin pancakes, we looked out the window to see the large wet flakes beginning to fall.  It didn’t take long before the swimming pool and lawn furniture in our neighbor’s back yard were accumulating the white fluff. Elaine was a little more than excited to see the snow falling.  We donned hats, mittens, coats, and snow pants to go for a quick tramp out front in the snow.  There wasn’t much to be had because the snow isn’t sticking to the ground yet, but Elaine was thrilled!   We read on the news today that this is the earliest snow NYC has received since the Civil War!  This is Nolan’s first snow, but since he is still napping he doesn’t really know what he is missing!