BHS Track

Andrew is doing track for a second year at the HS.

He's absolutely loving it. I'm not exactly sure why as I'm just not a track guy. But I'm glad he's getting some exercise and having fun with it. Here he is running the 100. He's on the inside lane #1.

This is his 4x100 relay. Sorry for the bad camera footage. Andrew is the 3rd leg. He's on the JV team. He's also running the 200 which is his main race. But he loves relays.

March Madness

The family has been having our own 5 person March Madness bracket challenge. It has been a lot of fun trying to guess who will win. It's funny that for the past 3 years, I have never won. The boys have both won, but not me, and not Emery or Sandy. But this year, I finally took the crown!

I guess it's hard to see, but thanks to Villanova beating Michigan. I just barely edged out Andrew and Matt. Here is the hall of champs:

• 2015 - Andrew
• 2016 - Andrew
• 2017 - Matt
• 2018 - Dad

Emery and mom have gotten better every year so maybe next year, we'll finally have a female champ!

Joshua 1:9

We've been doing verses all year, but here's my first one for the 2017-2018 year. We're starting the year off with one of the most encouraging and comforting verses out there. What have we to fear when the one true God of the universe is with us? We can always obey God's Word no matter what giants we face in life because He is with us!

Joshua 1 ⁹ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Drumline

Matt is doing drumline again this year. He got promoted to bass drum!

This is only their second competition so it's still the basic performance. The theme is "Wanderers." They continually add to it throughout the year. By the end of the year, it's quite a bit longer with more elements to it.

How about Matt having a solo! Well, not really a solo. More like a featured wave? Or a featured part? Whatever it is, it's pretty cool. Nice job for the kid who hates having attention directed to him!

Happy 20th!

Sandy and I have been hoping and planning to get to Hawaii for our many years. I think we started to think about it for our 10th but all the kiddos made it hard. Then we planned on it for our 15th, but a certain spell of unemployment derailed our plans. Thankfully, our persistence and God's grace allowed us to go to Kauai for our 20th anniversary.

We stayed in a little house on a farm. It was very farmy. I was surprised at how agrarian Kauai is.

We were warned. And they were correct. There are lots of chickens.

We splurged on one really nice dinner.

I couldn't get the view and us to be in the photo with proper lighting. So the first pic is us. The second is the view!

They treated us to some free celebratory champagne and dessert too. It was a real treat!

It was actually kind of chilly there for a couple of days. But we managed to get in a little beach time.

We loved our time together. Kauai was beautiful and wonderful. But even better was spending time together with my beautiful wife and celebrating God's faithfulness, grace and goodness to us for 20 years. It's been an amazing journey through so many joys and tears, times of bliss and tumultuous times, and the most difficult things along with the most gratifying times too. I never expected our 20 years to go like this, but I am so happy to have gone through it with you hon. Love you forever.

Look out!

We have our first driver in the house! Andrew got his permit.

I've heard that so many kids aren't interested in getting their driver's license these days. I remember that I got my permit the first day eligible, and I got my license the first day too. I couldn't wait to drive! And I am proud that Andrew took the initiative to study for and pass his permit test at 15 1/2. He keeps progressing in his manhood! Good job Andrew!

Lee Family Retreat 2017

The annual Lee Family Retreat was scheduled for August 2017. But my little compartment syndrome episode the day before, put it on hold. Thankfully, we managed to get away for the retreat in November.

This year, we stayed at a place near Grass Valley with a big old pond.

It was very scenic and a perfect place for our retreat. And guess who loved being in the boats?

I'm not sure you can see it, but Andrew's doing a little fishing from the boat. The boys and girl love to fish. Unfortunately, like most fishing, they didn't catch anything. I think the fish were dormant since it was so late in the season.

As we reflected on the past year, we had much to be thankful for. God, as usual, was so faithful, so kind, so good, and so active in our lives. Personally, there was more healing and more growth in contentment. It was also so good to see how much the boys and girl had grown this past year too. It's so amazing to see God work in the lives of our children.

The past year we managed to add the following memory verses to the collection:

• John 1:14
• Hebrews 4:15
• Genesis 50:20
• James 1:17
• 1 Corinthians 10:31
• John 1:1-2
• Ephesians 1:3-4
• Proverbs 15:3
• 2 Timothy 3:17

And read the following books together:

• Ezra
• John
• Proverbs
• 1 & 2 Chronicles

With Andrew completing his first year in HS, Matthew completing his first year in MS, and Emery completing her first year in public school, there were a lot of changes. The boys and girl are going out more and more into the world and doing things on their own. The choices they made with their friendships, their academics, and their extra-curricular activities have been good. I have really been impressed with their follow through to invite friends to evangelistic outreaches at church. We have intentionally tried to cultivate a love for the lost as the boys and girl are a part of this world. It's a very different world now, parenting these teens and tweens. I have been working hard to give them more freedom and more space to make their own choices while still working on growing our relationship and the connection to talk through things. I hope they will develop a biblical worldview through it all, but they have to make their own choices based on their own reasoning. It's very humbling as a parent now.