Settled

Yesterday we drove to our Dr's appointment at UVA Medical with our car all packed for the long stay here. The appointment went well and found out that I am now dilated 2 cm.  The Dr. asked me if I wanted to be induced on Sunday....it was tempting, but I declined.  We want her to cook as long as possible.

Last night for story time, Colby recounted the last two years of our life and all the different places and houses we've lived in.  Haley remembers every detail of this journey and it was fun to talk about all we've seen and learned through it.  Occasionally someone will show sympathy for our anything-but-stable lives and be apologetic.  They must not understand the rich experience that we've been granted and how invaluable that its been.  I think it's been the greatest thing.

We are all settled in Charlottesville now (actually a town west of it called Crozet). We are staying in a 4 bedroom, furnished house with a huge playground and tree house in the backyard. People actually sit on their front porch and talk to each other.  A neighbor baked us bread today and assured me that if I went into labor in the middle of the night, she would be there to help.  We are at the foot of the Blue Ridge Parkway-- the very mountains where Colby proposed nine years ago.  I love the raw beauty of this area and am SO grateful for a respite as we wait for this to all go down.

9th(??) Annual Garman Beach Week

In May when I went to my first Doctor's appointment at UVA, I asked tons of questions...One of them was, "Can I still go to beach week in July?" When he said, "I don't see why not," we were both surprised. What a fun week of cousins, waves, games, sunshine, biking, good food, Colby getting stung by a jellyfish, and many other memories. You can see the rest of the story here...

Next Stop Charlottesville

On July 8th we were driving home from one of our hospital appointments in Charlottesville, VA (about 1.5 hours from where we are currently staying) and we were trying to figure out the details of having a baby that far away. We were trying to figure out when we would go to C-ville. We were trying to figure out where we would stay during the likely surgery. We were trying to figure out where we would stay during the recovery time. We were trying to figure out how we would make sure Haley and Darcy would be able to be with us as much as possible and how Annie would be able to recover from having a baby while still waiting for the baby to come home from the hospital and staying in temporary situations in the meantime.

As we were driving home, it was sort of clear that we had no real satisfactory game plan. We were on the waiting list at a few places provided for people in situations like ours. We knew that we could always stay in a hotel if we needed to, but there are pluses and minuses to hotel livin'. As we drove home I voiced a prayer to God, asking for Him to provide a situation that would keep our family together and make the upcoming experience a little less stressful.

Now this doesn't happen every time I ask for something, but when we got home I opened my e-mail to find an offer for a place to stay from July 29-August 29th about thirteen miles from the hospital. Thanks to Crozet Baptist Church, figuring out this next month just got a little easier. So on July 29th, we will go to a doctor's appointment at UVA and then settle in for the month there in Crozet and wait.

Fourth

I have to say....being back in America for the Fourth of July was SO amazing. It was the best Fourth I can remember; I appreciate my country more than I ever have. We were able to go to three different fireworks shows. For the first one, I just stepped outside and was able to see the firework show from our front porch. It was like my own personal worship service as the sky filled with lights and I just thanked God for our freedom. This year, as the national anthem was sung, I listened and hung onto every word.

The parade that our community threw on July 3rd, however, was the quietest parade I'd ever been to. The kids brought bags to collect all their candy and were stoaked to participate in a good 'ol American parade. Darcy collected ONE Werther's Original and ONE peppermint wheel. The parade mostly consisted of elderly people driving by in old cars....every 4 minutes. At one point during a big lull, a teenage boy walked on the street past us. Colby, ever the comedian, started clapping for him to provide some humor to the people around us. Darcy looked up at Colby and with honest amazement asked, "Did that boy fighted in the Civil War?"

My Top Ten Favorite Things about Living at the Jessup Lake House

10.  Having two bathrooms (Oh, the things you take for granted...)
9.  A King-sized bed (How can we ever go back to a double again?)
8.  A themed kitchen (Haley said the other day, "Wow, they must really like apples)
7.   Listening to the rain fall on the sky lights
6.  A bathtub (I don't think they believe in bathtubs in Europe)
5.  A big yard and a long driveway for the kids to ride their bikes on (My new favorite words to say:  "Kids, go OUTSIDE and play!)
4.  A tape player/cd player/ radio (Seriously.  I have wanted a boombox for so long)
3.  Having our own private beach (Well, kind of private...)
2.  Spending mornings on the porch listening to the birds and praying before the kids wake up
1.  Having the Cliftons as neighbors (We even have walkie-talkies!)

In Memory of Manute Bol

When I was a kid, Manute Bol was a spectacle of the NBA. In the eyes of a young boy, he was something akin to a traveling circus attraction and I remember watching him on TV in wonder. When I heard that he died last week I saw a few articles about his humanitarian work in his native Sudan and was impressed. Then I saw this article from The Wall Street Journal and thought it would be good to pass along. It may be possible to describe my life in two stages: The first stage in which sport stars were the pinnacle of what I looked up to and the second where Jesus became my greatest treasure. I probably would not have selected Manute Bol for my basketball dream team, but from all that I have learned about him since his death, it sounds like he succeeded in the things that mattered most. You can read the article here.