It is Your Destiny

Some people know from a very early age what they are called to do...


In Cullen's case, he was destined for ring bearerhood even before he was born. Years before he was born. His cousin Kelly was very eager for us to have a ring bearer (not a baby, but a ring bearer) since she had already approximated the date of her wedding and pretty much everything else was in place. Nevermind that she wasn't even dating at the time.

I hope Cullen feels as called to this as Kelly has determined. But I would say at this point the pressure is now on her... to get married. Or at least engaged!

Autumn

As faithful readers will recall, I love autumn. I almost thought we wouldn't have such a thing in Virginia Beach, but in fact we do!

Here is one of the first neighborhood trees to get the memo.


Reminds me of the tree in front of our old house on Margareta Street.

Since we returned from Michigan, many more have changed colors as well - around the church and Regent University (where I walk, pray, read) there are many more to enjoy.

Speaking of Michigan, here's that same tree's cousin who lives in Michigan:


It's was nice to enjoy Autumn up there too!

Actually, that Thanksgiving snowfall was really nice...

Guest Blogger!

My sister Karen accidentally posted this to my blog instead of her own. But hey, it's all in the family! All five kids were home for Thanksgiving, along with some bonus folks: Karen's husband Mark, who won "Teacher of the Year" this year at his high school by the way, had family visiting. And more!

So, this blog was written by Karen but I think you'll enjoy it!

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Here's what we woke up to on Thanksgiving morning. Yep, first snowfall of the year. from fall to winter overnight.. it was a special gift to Mark's mom visiting from sunny Georgia!

Speaking of Grammy...Madison gave her a happy welcome by messing up her hair and just messing with her during her visit

cousin Kelly is home from school and is now 21.. and I had her try some wine for the first time... as you can tell by her face she won't be drinking any more of that stuff.
We were very happy to have Missouri Matt oin s for Thanksgiving also!

New family members -- Cullen and Zuri.. oh yea, and their moms were here too... Cheryl and Grace

Zuri's older sister Hosanna wasn't left out she had a blast playing all day with Madison... what a couple of cuties!

Secrets between cousins wish I knew what this conversation was about

You can tell these two are sisters!
Mark's mom's sister Joyce joined us this year .. hope the cold temps won't keep her from visiting again!What a cute couple! Doyle drove the sisters all the way from Georgia.. thanks Doyle!

The 5 Shomo kids all together! Jim.. Ken.. Karen... Lisa and Joni! It's been a while since all of us were in the same place at the same time.

Joni and her three girls.... plus a granddaughter and grand-dog!

The Shomo family is a camera happy family. I caught the paparazzi taking this photo.. It's a picture of the the 3 Matts. Indiana Matt.. Missouri Matt and Michigan Matt!

While they were visiting from Virginia I had a chance to take some pictures of brother Ken...
Cheryl and Cullen.

In case you missed Cullen's cute looks... here's some more...

cousin Cori and Madison couldn't let Cullen steal the limelight!

And finally.... All of us!
Really happy everyone could drive and fly to join us on this holiday!!
Thankful for family this Thanksgiving!

Thankful

A year ago, Cheryl returned from visiting her Bay Area brother for Thanksgiving. After that, everything changed. We suddenly found ourselves expecting a baby, changing plans, cancelling flights, and addressing an increasing amount of physical concerns.

Early in the new year, I responded to a church in Virginia Beach that had posted a need for an assistant pastor. I remember telling Cheryl, "This job description reads like my resume." We hadn't considered moving to the Mid-Atlantic, but Cheryl encouraged me to look into it. By this time, she was in bed almost 24/7, by the way.

To our surprise, we found ourselves part way through the year with a new position, new house, new city, new church, and a new baby born on August 17. I trust that readers of this site have noticed the pictures of the little boy - that's the baby referred to here.

The Lord graciously and creatively pulled so many things together for us over the past year. We are thankful for His kindness and care, and for showing that He can and does provide our needs. It's not always in our time frame, but when it's His time surprising things happen.

This Thanksgiving we are in Michigan with my family. We paid about sixty cents for the tickets, because we had credit from last year - when we had to cancel our Christmas plans.

"It is good to give thanks to you, O Lord, and to sing praises to your name, O Most High." Psalm 92:1

Thankful Cullen

Three month old Cullen after last night's Thanksgiving service. Cullen gave thanks for his moose and his mom.

Moose Season

Cullen went hunting this morning. The politically correct phrase is "tummy time," but in actual fact Cullen was hot in pursuit of a blue moose.

In pursuit...



No sudden moves...



If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!

Easy Rider

Cullen was very good on his four day trip to NJ.... he rode, ate and slept very well, never once getting off schedule! We will be trying him out on an airplane over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

Here he is at his great-grandparents:

A handy little travel crib was his home-away-from-home, courtesy of our friend Sharon:


Cullen at our friends Warren and Karen's house.... proud dads:


Leslie with Cullen... and Rudy, who wanted nothing more than to lick Cullen's toes. Our friends David and Leslie put up with us for a long weekend :-)


Cullen on Sunday morning, pondering what he will wear to church:

My cousin Raymond and his family, wife Lessie and their almost three-year-old daughter Natalie, who liked holding Cullen's hand:

Home sweet home!

Textbook Baby

The Baby Whisperer lists several different kinds of babies that one might have, and knowing what kind of baby you have can be helpful.

Angel Baby is the one that everyone thinks they want - easygoing, sleepy, and smiley. I probably fell into this category. Then there's Textbook Baby, Touchy Baby, Spirited Baby, and Grumpy Baby. We learned a while back that we have been gifted from God with a Textbook Baby.


This means that Cullen will likely grow up to be a theologian or professor, or both, or maybe an astronaut who really likes to enjoy a good book. At least that's what I take "textbook" to mean.

The Baby Whisperer also describes this kind of baby as one who "reaches all the milestones right on schedule," who among other things "has growth spurts like clockwork." This proved funny last night, because Cullen was acting upset and apparently needed to eat almost nonstop. Cheryl asked me to look up (in the textbook) when babies should have growth spurts. Sure enough, he should have one...right now!

Way to go, textbook baby!

We'll have pictures from our trip posted soon. The Lord blessed the trip to New Jersey in many ways, not the least of which was that Cullen knew he shouldn't start his growth spurt till we got back. I'm so glad we're not the only ones reading the baby books...Cullen is too!

Cullen to Go

We will be unable to post for several days. Cullen is eager to see great grandparents and some great friends in New Jersey. Here are some pictures to enjoy meanwhile...