the game

saturday morning at lambeau

Tim and I got up early and went down to Lambeau Field and then drove by Brett Favre's house. A very nice morning!

green bay

Tim and I flew into Milwaukee today and landed in a blizzard. We were just about the last plane to land before the airport closed. The 11o mile drive from Milwaukee to our hotel just outside of Green Bay took 3 hours. Glad to have arived safely. I have a round of church meetings tomorrow, then the Packers game on Sunday! God willing, home Monday.

christmas day

We had a very nice day! Steve's mom, Elanore, flew in from Ohio and George and Yilly joined us for dinner. The killer gift was a Wii. Massive tournaments of bowling, golf, tennis and baseball.

Merry Christmas!

When my priest associate from Liberia, Anthony Kowbedieu is asked, "how are you?", his response is always, "Well, I'm alive." I appreciate his gratitue more and more each year. We are all alive, and for that, I am very thankful.

2007 was a good year for our family, and, many of our highlights have been noted on this blog.

Jacqui continued her nursing studies and is now halfway through her coursework. She has yet to get a "B" on her report cards - much to the chagrin of her sons. Of course, school comes on top of being a mom and wife, and "first lady" of the parish. She handles all with her characteristic grace and laughter.

Aaron continues his schooling. He changed majors from computer engineering to computer system technology. This was at the advice of his current employer, one of my parishoners, who helped him discern what his true computer interest was. In addition to full-time school, Aaron is working 35 hours a week for a computer networking company. This has been a good opportunity for him and he has learned quite a bit from a very kind boss. Amusingly, the company Aaron works for has the sub-contract for St. Andrew's network and Aaron has been assigned our account. I enjoy seeing him around the church on business, and he has been very quick to help employees and solve our dilemmas. He and Julia continue to date. Julia is on track to gradute next December with a teaching degree. She is a blessing to know and we are thankful for another female presence in our very male home.

Tim is a senior at Bishop England High School. He's feeling the pressure from just about every quarter to decide career and college. At the height of the stress something broke. When I asked him why he suddenly seemed peaceful he said that he had a sense God told him no matter what he did, he would be ok. Sounds like something God might tell a stressed-out 17 year old. I've had a lot of time to spend with Tim this year and it's been nice. This past spring we took a trip to NYC - pics on the blog elsewhere - and had a blast! Starting in the summer we've golfed just about once-a-week, every week. He's been a joy to be around.

Nick is in 8th grade at Moultrie Middle School and will most likely attend Bishop England High School next year. 2007 has been an amazing year of growth for Nick. He's probably going to be the biggest of the boys as he checks in at 5'10'' and 175 lbs - not bad for a 14 yr. old (Tim just hit 6'0''). Nick was very active in sports, most especially soccer. He played on the local team, and while the team had a rough year, Nick did well. A few weeks ago Nick and I had a chance to go to Washington DC for the consecration of my former boss as a bishop. We had a wonderful time. Nick is a somewhat intense, but fun-loving kid.

Sammy, now 10 yrs. old and in 4th grade, really never changes. He is still a very sweet and delightful boy. Sammy had a busy year of soccer - both spring and fall - this year moving up to a travel league. While a bit on the lean side, he's lightening fast. The highlight of his soccer season was playing "up" a few divisions, for a game with Nick's team. Nick played in a U-18 league and it was pretty amazing to see Sammy at 10 yrs. old holding his own against kids up to 8 yrs. older. As you might imagine with 3 older brothers, he's pretty tough. Drawing - aliens and cars, especially - consumes quite of bit of his time, much to his teachers' dismay. And when not in school or on the soccer pitch, you can find him in the neighborhood - or creek - with his best friend, Stuart.

Our biggest wish for the New Year is that we get to see more you in it!! Jacqui was able to catch up a bit when she went back to Ohio for the wedding of the young woman who was our flower girl! And a few friends were able to drop in on their way to Florida, but we missed seeing many of you! Please know that we always have a place for you at the beach in SC!

Anyway, this year closes with us healthy, content and grateful for the many mercies we have experienced at the hand of a loving Heavenly Father.

With Christmas joy and prayers, on behalf of us all,
Steve

dc with nick

This past weekend Nick and I went to Washington for the consecration of Roger Ames, my former boss, as bishop. When we arrived there was a lovely blanket of snow across the ground. It made for beautiful scenery and muffled sounds. After a few days, though, we were glad to return to our 70F weather in almost always sunny, SC. Here's a bit of what we saw:

mr. muscle

The picture says it all.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I like to be with family and friends soley for the purpose of giving thanks and remembering our blessings. We had a great day. George and Yilly joined us.

sammy's big weekend

Quite by surprise Sammy had a great weekend. It all started innocently enough by going to Nick's soccer game on Saturday morning. When we arrived, Nick's team (an under-18yr. old team) was short a couple of players. So, since it's u-18 and Sammy is u-18 (he's 10) - he played! He was on the defensive line - right side. Sammy said he was so nervous that his legs were shaking. But he did amazing! He outran several players, stripped others and set up a goal by clearing the ball to a midfielder who passed to the forward that ended up scoring. Great confidence booster!

Rocky Mountain High

Off this weekend to the Denver area. It's been beautiful. Blue skies, low 80's, no humidity!! Went for a very long walk today along the Platte River. The front range foothills are in the background of almost every vista. Great day.

our flower girl gets married

Can you believe that the little girl in our wedding is now a bride?! Jacqui and Sammy flew up ot Ohio to celebrate the great day.

soccer season starts

Soccer season started this weekend. Sammy moved up to the travel league and so we drove over to James Island for his first match. They have a great coach and his team won 5-1. Sammy played very well - and played the whole game. The top pic shows his grit as he hustles down field in pursuit of a loose ball. Click on any pic to see a full-size photo.

sammy hits the links

Sorry the picture didn't come out, but Sammy hit the links at Patriots Point today for his first 9-hole round. I'll try to get a photo next week.

We picked up some PGA kids clubs this afternoon and thought we'd give it a shot. We had an amusing start. He teed off from the forward tees and, as you'll see to the right, there is water immediately to the left of the tee box. First time playing a round, first drive and Sammy forgets to hold onto the club and sends it flying into the pond on his follow-through! We both about wanted to die. But, we discovered that his metal woods float! And with a strong wind blowing by the time we hit the green on #2 his club had blown across the pond and using the rake from the sand trap we retrieved it. Whew. Anyway, a great time.

a night downtown

It's not often that Jacqui and I get to play tourist in Charleston. Actually, it's not often that we cross the bridge and go to Charleston. But, once a year we like to have a night on the town.

After the bishop's election process last year the Vestry gave Jacqui and I gift certificates for The Fulton Lane Inn and Circa 1886. Well, 10 months later we finally used them. Playing tourist in Charleston is fun. I'd never noticed The Fulton Lane Inn before. It's just off King Street about 2 blocks below Market Street. It was quite nice as you can see by the photo to the right. As we walked in we were surrounded with the ambience of a time gone by. Our room had large windows, one of which framed the steeple of St. Philip's church.


For dinner we walked over to Circa 1886. At our 7.00 pm seating we were the first to arrive. Surprised, "if this is so good why are we the only ones here?," and a little nervous we were happy to see the place soon fill. The food was upscale Southern and very good. We had a quiet booth which was set back into the wall, as you can see in the photo. Quite romantic!


This morning we walked around town, did a bit of browsing in the King Street stores. Independently, Jacqui and I both found a small blown glass cruet at Elizabeth Stewart Design but she didn't have any idea what to use it for. I solved her problem - a water cruet for my single malt Scotch (for purposes of gifts, I prefer Lagavulin 16)! Settled, we made the purchase.

a nice lunch

Jack and I visited The Woodlands today for the first time. A couple we met at the Couples Conference asked us to join them. It was very nice and quite a surprise: a 5-star resort in the middle of Summerville, SC. Definetly a place to which we'll return.

a day on the links

Kurtz Smith, our Men's Pastor at St. Andrew's took me out to Yeamans Hall to walk a round yesterday afternoon. We'd gone out a few months ago and walked the front nine, so this time we walked the back nine. Yeamans is a great course. It has an "old course" feel to it and is listed as one of the top 100 courses in the US. We played an average round. Though, on the 18th, a 530 par 5, I missed eagle by two feet. Then tragically, I yipped the 24 inch birdie put and took par.

diocesan couples conference - the aftermath

We had a wonderful time at camp st. christopher. I'm guessing that there were about 30 or so couples. This, added to the 10 leadership couples, created a very intimate atmosphere. I liked the rationale to keep the numbers smaller as it allowed for good mixing and mingling. Ironically, concurrent to our couples conference the camp was hosting a "beginning experience" conference which is for individuals seeking healing from a divorce. Sobering. Jack and I had a great time tag-team teaching. It's not something we get to do very often and it was nice. Here's a shot of Jacqui making another brilliant point, and, as you can see, I am speachless.

diocesan couples conference

Jacqui and I are off this afternoon to Camp St. Christopher to lead the Diocesan Couples Conference. We're looking forward to the weekend and most especially what the Lord is going to be doing in all of our lives. If you think about it, pray for us!

on the links

Tim and I joined Patriots Point golf club this year and have been pretty good at playing together once a week. We had a great weather day today and took the chance to get out to the course. unfortunately, they were aerating the back nine, so it was closed. And the front nine, aerated yesterday, was a mess. I wish that was the reason why we played so badly. Sadly, we stunk up the place.

riverdogs

Nicky, Sammy and I went to see the Charleston Riverdogs play the Kannapolis Intimidators this week. The Riverdogs are the "A" level minor league team for the New York Yankees. They've been hot lately, firmly securing their first place grip in the SAL. Great game, good seats and the dogs won!

a night at the battery with two of our best friends

George , Yilly and fireworks!

driving at the speed of light

look out, ol' puzzoli's on the road. traveling at warp speed through our neighborhood, it was tough to get a clean shot - here's my best effort at capturing travel at the speed of light.

aaron turns 21!

who can believe it? our eldest son, 21! we had a nice birthday at home with the bizarre request of tacos for a birthday dinner. not to worry, though, we followed-up with a dinner at high cotton. here's a birthday shot of aaron and julia.

a few more bahama shots

man-o-war cay, abacos, bahams

Just returned from our first visit to the Bahamas. Words did not prepare us for the beauty of these islands. We had a great time on the water - and in the water!

a father/son trip to nyc

The Manhatten skyline from Liberty Island


A trip to "Monks" for breakfast



Times Square

Yankee dugout

Catching up the blog

We've had a busy spring. A highlight included a trip to NYC with Tim. Pics to follow.

christmas joy