Tuesday was pretty scary.  Scott’s dad had eye surgery, which went just fine.  In recovery, though, he had two heart attacks.  He was unresponsive till after midnight.  The doctors told Mom that she should call all the family in, so she did.

We drove in from Michigan, Nathan and family drove in from North Carolina, and Bret and family drove in from Ohio.  We all arrived within hours of each other.  By the time we got there, Dad had come to and was doing much better than he had been the previous night.   He continued to get better over the next couple of days…miraculously so!  The doctor sent him home from the hospital on Friday!  God was truly gracious!

While the situation wasn’t ideal, it was nice to see all the family.  There were actually two new little ones that have been born since we’ve all been together–and they’re a year and a half old!

It just doesn’t seem possible that our boys are as grown up as they are.  It seems like just yesterday they were getting on the bus for Kindergarten.  Now, Christopher has his license, he’s a Junior, and will be getting ready for college in two short years–in fact, he passed his Music Theory AP test, so he already has 2 college credits!  Ian got his permit today, he’s a Sophomore, and will be taking his first college-level class in the fall.  He’s thinking about playing tennis on the school team, but he hasn’t made a final decision, yet.

I guess it’s just been hitting Scott and I this week, with Ian’s milestone.  We’re thrilled for him, of course, but it’s forcing us to look a couple of years into the future.  We really like our kids and we’ll have mixed emotions when they go off to college.  We’ll be happy for them as they take on the new challenges of life–I mean, that’s what we’ve been raising them to do.  We will just miss having them around.  We are so blessed to have two wonderful sons who are so caring and loving.  They make us proud and we enjoy spending time with them–we really like the young men that they have become.

God has been so good and we feel extremely blessed!

We love you Christopher!

We love you Ian!

We took Ian out to get a little experience behind the wheel before he started Driver’s Ed.  He did a really good job his first time out!

Now, he’s a couple of days into the 3-week Driver’s Ed class and drove on the road today!  They’ve increased the difficulty of the class and the testing process, so he’s looking at considerable homework…just what he wanted to do over summer vacation!  Well, in the end, he’ll be able to get his permit, so I think he’ll live. 

Today was a pretty amazing day for Christopher. He turned 16 and got his driver’s license! He drove by himself for the first time and got keys to both vehicles. Ian totally loves riding shotgun, too! Tomorrow, they will drive to school, instead of taking the bus, which they are thrilled about!

This is a picture of Christopher’s birthday present. He needed a better instrument, since he is going to be pursuing a career in music education…and with being in Jazz & Symphonic Bands next year…it was just time. He had no clue he was going to get his new trumpet today, though–it was so much fun being able to surprise him!

Ian wrote an amazing report on Alzheimer’s Disease for Science. He wrote another really good report recently on Creation vs. Evolution, too. He’s really developing a nice writing style and ability to express himself in writing. Makes a mom proud!