Another month gone
So, here we are again. I know, this is getting to be a habit. I find myself sitting here today with an attempt in mind to fill y’all in on what’s been going down with Team McElroy over the last month and a half. I don’t guess it’s been quite a month and a half since our trip to New York. However, since I haven’t posted since then, I’ll start there. In all fairness, we’ve been pretty busy. With the holidays, I’m sure most of you have as well. I know, New Year’s day was over three weeks ago. We’ve had a few other things go down as well though. And, since one of my sisters-in-law decided I needed to write a post and informed my wife of that decision last evening, I’m taking some time to write one now. I hope you enjoy, especially you, unnamed sister-in-law, you know who you are.
After our trip to New York, it took us some time to get back to normalcy. Actually, we’re still working on it. The day after our return, Laura got pretty sick and missed a couple days of work. Seemed some kind of bug was going around as we knew several folks that were sick with similar symptoms.
Thankfully, she was feeling better after a few days. This was especially good as we’d planned to attend the ballet with a bunch of peeps from church later that week. No, we’re not regular attenders of the ballet. I mean, I’m ok with ballet. I go more for the music. Yeah, I think I’ll stop there. Anyway, we were attending for a special reason this time. A girl from our small group at church was playing the role of Clara in the Nutcracker here in Fort Worth. That’s bigtime! So, we all wanted to be there to support her. She did a great job. I don’t think she was expecting quite the turnout though. She seemed thrilled though to see all the support. Again, she did a great job.
Here we are with her. Her name is Havilah by the way.
Here’s some of the group. There were probably 30 of us there.
Another Christmas has come and gone. I know, you know that already. We spent the majority of our time around the holiday in H-town with Laura’s family. This was the first Christmas without Mimi and I know it was hard. Everyone still seemed to have a great time. We also spent a bit of time with my folks on Christmas day and then my dad and I spent a lot of the next day hanging out with a good family friend.
Here are Laura and I in front of the tree at Pawpaw’s house just after church. It was the end of an era as the tree has made it’s last appearance. I’m sure there’ll be another one next year. Don’t worry, you won’t be disappointed.
Here are a few pics from Christmas Day at Pawpaw’s.
Laura’s Mimi was a seriously crafty lady. She knew how to knit, crochet and probably anything else. The girls pulled a lot of her supplies out and each took some. It didn’t really look like they made much of a dent. I’m sure they did though. Laura likes to say that one could find anything they needed to make a craft at Mimi’s. I don’t think she’s kidding.
A few days after Christmas, Laura and I departed Houston and drove west to San Antonio. We went for a few reasons. To begin with, my god-daughter Ema was being baptized/dedicated at church the following Sunday. You’ll recall that Ema’s mom is my college roommate Ernie’s sister. We enjoy seeing them as often as we can. We were also there to meet my friend Dave’s fiancee Janel. That Sunday also happened to be the five year anniversary of Ernie’s death in Iraq. So, it was good to be there with Ernie’s family, whom are indeed a part of my family, and friends like Dave. We were also able to spend some time with Dave’s folks and siblings. It had been a while so it was good to catch up with them.
Here’s Trystan reading from a book just given to him by Dave and Janel. Trystan also received a full Texas Aggie football uniform. He’s sporting some of it here.
Here’s Ema and her new castle.
The kids love popsicles.
Ema likes to play with phones.
Here’s Ema with Blaine and Carmen at church. She wasn’t a big fan of the water, not at all.
Ema was a little tired after church.
Here’s Gloria with Trystan, Ema and Coleman.
Ema’s playing for her mom, Carmen.
Trystan roughhousing a bit with Dave. He’s been doing that with us since he was a toddler. He still loves it. In fact, he usually attacks us almost as soon as we’re in the door.
Here’s Dave with Coleman and Trystan.
Got a phone call from Dave the morning of the day we were leaving for New York. Basically, we chatted for a bit about our trip and then he asked me if I’d like to come back up that way a few weeks later for his wedding. Long story short, Dave deployed to Iraq last week and he and Janel had decided to get married before he left. So, Laura and I made plans to be there. With the help of one of Laura’s company jets, we made it to Baltimore without a hitch. From there, drove up through Pennsylvania to the northeast corner of the state that adjoins New Jersey and New York state. You see, the wedding was in a small town in northwest New Jersey. However, the hotel was in Pennsylvania and we had to drive through NY to get to NJ. So, we were in three states in about five minutes time. Crazy. Overall, the drive through PA, NY, and NJ was really pretty, especially the parts of NJ we were in. Had no idea any part of that state was that pretty. The wedding was a lot of fun. Glad we were able to be there with Dave and Janel.
Here are Dave and I before the wedding.
All the ushers with Dave.
Glenn and I.
The dudes chatting it up pre-ceremony.
Here are a few pics of the service.
Capt. and Mrs. Dave Tolar.
Clif Kennedy and his little boy Clay. They made the drive up from the D.C. area. Mrs. Kennedy was able to be there too, Clif’s mom that is. Last saw her at a football game last fall.
Keith and Stephanie DeSonier. Haven’t seen them since their wedding. Good to catch up a bit with them.
Laura and I at the reception.
Us and the happy couple.
We might have done a little singing at the reception. A certain David Allan Coe song might have been playing. You know the one.
Myself with Glenn, Stu, and Blake.
Didn’t hurt ourselves getting up the morning we had to leave. Did get on the road a bit early though. On our way back to Baltimore, decided to stop in Hershey, PA. Laura’s a big fan of chocolate so we thought it’d be a good idea. It really was on the way, I promise. Worth the stop for sure.
Here’s the main factory.
A lot of the streetlights look like this.
Made a stop here of course. Couldn’t not stop. Found out all about how they make milk chocolate.
I still have no idea what that building is.
The next Friday, received a tough call from my dad. As many of you already know, a significant portion of my folks’ house had burned earlier that day. So, Laura and I flew down the next day to spend some time with my ‘rents and survey the damage.
Here are a few pics. Still quite surreal and a little heartbreaking.
Flew back to Fort Worth that evening and then drove back down to Houston a few days later. After much discussion with my dad, Laura and even my boss, we all felt it would be good for me to be down there to help however I could. Spent the next four days over at what was left of the house digging and helping to salvage anything we could. One of my sisters and her husband were also able to help out a few days. Some of my parents’ neighbors also helped out quite a bit. We got a lot done but I know my folks still have quite a bit left to do. If you’re praying types, please pray for them and the situation. Overall, they’re doing well. It could have been much worse. Still, it’s really hard. Probably a bit of an understatement there.
As for us here, Laura’s job has continued to keep her crazy busy. Mine on the other hand is a constant exercise in how to keep one’s mind occupied. Very little happening in my office. It all goes in cycles I guess. I’m thankful we have jobs. I know not everyone can say that right now.
Ok, well, that’s what we’ve been up to. I could probably go on but then I wouldn’t have anything to write about next month. Stay tuned. I’m sure I’ll have something up again sometime, maybe, I hope. In the meantime, please pray for my folks, my friend Dave in Iraq, his new wife, all the other men and women in harm’s way, our new President and our country. I’m out.