Family

This picture was the first time Great-Grandpa got to meet Brennan! It was July 26, 2006, and Brennan was four months old.

Every day when my computer brings up this page as my home page, I am filled with guilt that I have gone so long without blogging or updating. But then I get over it. I have enough things in my life to worry about! Besides, my reasons are really good ones. It has been an exceptionally busy, exciting time for us these last five or six months. Once we left for Serbia we did do lots of blogging, but we did it on the Taste of Serbia website. Then, after returning from that amazing experience, I attended lots of staff development for the upcoming school year, we celebrated our five year wedding anniversary, and... we found out I was pregnant! (To answer the ever-popular question, no, we did not get pregnant overseas.) I proceeded to make my way through the first trimester, waiting with anticipation to share our great news, struggling with many complex emotions and adjusting to changes in my body (which included nausea and vomiting, of course). Immediately after the first trimester ended, I suffered from pleurisy, an inflammation of the lining between my rib and lung. It was an incredibly painful, frightening two weeks, but God was gracious and ever-present, granting me more peace than I could have imagined. When that was finally over I was well into my fourth month and I finally started feeling like myself again.

This was taken at the Galleria Mall in Dallas before we went ice skating.

Sharon, my mother-in-law, has inspired me by her new interest in blogging. Jim is helping her to get some things set up on her own website, www.jimandsharon.com, and it is such fun to read her comments. It never occurred to me that people might want to read the random and frivolous things I have to say, but I have so enjoy reading Sharon's blogs that I am going to commit to blogging more often myself. If nothing else, it helps me to keep track of my own days and thoughts!

This Christmas we had a house full of people! My sister flew in from Richmond, VA and my mom drove down from New York with Jim's parents. Unfortunately, our parents hit some major weather along the way, and it took them days to get here. The good news is they arrived on Christmas Eve, and the six of us were able to spend Christmas day laughing, cooking, eating, and just being together. Since it was Mom's first trip to Texas in about four years, it was fun to show her around a little more. And because Jenny beat everyone here by almost two days (due to that crazy storm), we were able to go ice skating, do some cooking, and lay around on the couch like we did when we were kids.

Jenny looks more like a Texan than I do! (But I speak more like one than she does!)

Jenny loved torturing Claude during her visit to Dallas in October '04.

The last few months have been great opportunities for visiting with friends and family.

In March I had a great visit with my grandfather here in Dallas. He was able to see our house of three months and to lend a hand in the yard. We enjoyed a trip to the Dallas Arboretum and a day trip to San Antonio to visit with my uncle Dave (Grandpa's son) who drove up with his wife Patti from language school in southern Texas to visit us. We toured Mission San Jose while we were in San Antonio, and Grandpa got a real taste of Texas.

In May I flew to Richmond, VA for my sister Jenny's college graduation from the University of Richmond, and I was able to spend a memorable few days with my mom, sister, and grandfather celebrating Jenny's accomplishments. Jenny actually graduated on Mother's Day, which was a wonderful way for us all to spend the day. Mom, Jenny, and I shopped together and helped Jenny get settled in her new house. It was wonderful to just be together.

Lissa's sister, Jennifer/Jenny/Jen, plays acoustic violin in this alternative rock band. Sound clips and concert information can be found on this site.