And a Merry Christmas to All, and to all a Good Night.

After waking up very early on a bright and snowy Christmas morning, we read both Luke and Matthew’s accounts of the Christmas story.

Soon after, we opened the presents under the tree and discovered five matching Santa hats!

Our good family friends, Vernon and Lois Wells, from (balmy) Beaumont, TX sent us stockings filled with goodies… most of them to remind us the frigid outside wasn’t everything!

After we opened our gifts we decided to try everything out. Corrie was hooking up her new portable external hard drive.

It was our yellow lab Tucker’s very first sizable snow- and he thought he’d woken up in heaven. He and Katie tore through the fresh snow, inspecting every smell.

We spent the afternoon running around with them, sledding, and thoroughly enjoying our first White Christmas in many years.

In all, it was a great Christmas Day. I’m so thankful for my family and the many blessings God has given us. May you always remember the love of our Savior: the true Reason for this most blessed Season.

To see all of our Christmas pictures, check out my MobileMe gallery.

Tags: Caleb, Car Grandma, christmas, Christmas 09, Christmas 2009, Corrie, Dad, Grandma Hays, Lois, Mom, Vernon, Wells

Summer and the Beginning

This is my last summer at living home, and it’s probably been one of the most exciting I’ve ever experienced. It’s been a little backwards… starting with an end (graduation) and ending with a beginning (starting at Pitt State), but it’s been completely worth it.

 

A week after graduation, I took off on a road trip with three of my friends (Bryce, Tyler, and Hannah) and we drove eleven hours to Beaumont, TX to see our friends Vernon and Lois Wells and, of course, visit the beach. It was our first venture (except for Hannah!) out on our own, and it was refreshing, exhilarating, fun, and tough. All of the sudden all of those “given” things, like what we’re going to do today, are gone… but along with that realization comes amazing freedom and responsibility, and let me tell you, it’s completely worth it. We had a blast hanging out with Vernon and Lois at their house and at the beach when we all took a trip out there and when we went alone. I’ll never forget Hannah pulling the car over to scold Vernon and Tyler… nor have I ever seen anyone hold their hands up in the air that long! The bird that escaped into the Yukon was pretty awesome, too. Especially since it pooped on Tyler’s seat…

Overlapping that trip was our (first of the year) family vacation. Mom, Dad, and Corrie came down to visit Vernon and Lois and the two groups were there together for about a day and half. Corrie was about to celebrate her 15th birthday, so the four of use decided to help her do it in style. We made a Wal-mart run and picked out some awesome gifts and we made her a tasty cake that we decorated ourselves. It was incredible. After my friends left, we saw some movies [I saw Ironman while they saw Indiana Jones... I'd seen it the week before] and relaxed in Vernon’s pool. Oh, and Dad and Vernon got in a huge water fight… that was pretty awesome.

I had Pitt C.A.R.E.S (Orientation) and my Honors College Overnighter soon after and met some new people (including my roommate for the fall) and got enrolled in all of my classes, a task that was, unfortunately, not any easier than high school.

Later that week, I left home once again for Joplin, MO and the Ozark Christian College Campus for Highest Praise 2008, The Voice of the Savior. Brad, Courtney, and Zack went, too. It was great to get to see all of my amazing HP’ing friends again and the savor my last year on tour. But, then, there were the eight hour rehearsal days: totally exhausting and totally worth it. We learned that music, oh my! If we weren’t eating or sleeping (who sleeps on HP, anyway?), we were practicing, practicing, practicing, but it was great fun. Then, we headed off for the Great American Southwest on a whirlwind tour that stretched from Broken Arrow, OK to Phoenix, AZ to Oswego, KS. Over the course of the days on tour, it was so cool to see and feel God working in my heart and in the hearts of my friends on tour and the in the audience, as well. It’s so breath-taking to realize that God is using you, but more than that, it’s humbling in the biggest way. Starting with HP, God started really working on my heart. Rather, I started to open myself up to what He had been saying all along: “I’m real, I love you, trust me with everything.”

That led into church camp a week later, where God took that seed He had planted and dumped a whole ton of Miracle-Gro on and said, “Go and do. Reach people for me,” and I really started to listen. It was difficult, though. I started the week with on of the worst colds I’ve ever had in my life, and I was miserable, but I felt that God was testing me and teaching me, showing me that He wants me no matter the circumstances.  I’m trying… I’m Ever Moving Forward ™… I’m still not there yet, but I’m getting there. I want to be wholly His, and He’s pushing me right along. This year at camp, I had an amazing and incredible camp family, too. It was kind of funny, too, because Brad and I were in a group completely made up of College Heights people… even our Mom and Dad were from College Heights. It was cool, though, because, well, they were basically just amazing people. Everyone bonded almost immediately, but our friendships definitely began to cement with the building of our Flower Power cross duct tape sculpture… nothing says sticktuitiveness like a roll of Duck brand duct tape!

And tonight, we just got back as a family from Beaumont, again, after taking somewhat of a sabbatical trip for Dad. He’s working on this amazing project (writing a book!) and it was a good time for him to be able to get away and actually do it. We took our bikes to the Galveston seawall and rode about twelve miles. Mom and I actually rode less because my bike got a flat tire on the way back, but walking is great exercise,too, you know. While in Texas, we ate amazing food and saw several movies, like WALL-E and The Dark Knight. Both were good, but I liked the Batman feature a lot more. Vernon, Lois, and I also checked out this huge, castle-like playground and splash park in Port Neches, TX on the banks of the Neches River. It’ll be a great spot for him to take his Praiseville kids.

I’ve still got some stuff coming up, like finishing up work at Oswego Public Library and VBS, but, for the most part, all of my big summer plans have been fulfilled, and it’s been good, and relaxing.

What about the beginning? It all starts August 23, bright and early, when I move into my new accommodations at Pittsburg State. It’ll be an emotional day, but it’ll be worth it. I’m moving on to another phase of life, and I’m excited and ready. I’m still working on buying dorm room equipment, like bedding and a new laptop, but it’ll all come together. As I’ve learned this summer, this is one of the most exciting times in life. I’m not going to waste it.

Tags: Brad, Bryce, college, Corrie, Courtney, Dad, Hannah, Highest Praise, Lois, Mom, Pitt, summer, Texas, Tyler, Vernon, Zack