closing ceremonies

...through tears this last blog comes from an absoulutely empty house on Remington Drive in Cleburne Texas. What a tough day...an emotional roller-coaster...all the memories...laughter, tears, the birth of our son, too many sweat equity projects to even count, special, special times. We are unbelievably grateful to God for giving us this home and the wonderful times here in Cleburne. So today we are officially ending one chapter and look forward to living the next chapter that God has already written. There are so many people whom we will miss seeing regularly!

Oddly enough today, the day of our "closing ceremony", also marks the end of the 2008Beijing Olympic Games.

Hallelujah!

We closed on our house today!
God is good!

thank you for all your prayers, e-mails, and calls. We still don't know much about where we stand as far as the sale of our home goes...

just to keep you updated...

We were scheduled to close yesterday. However, that didn't happen. Honestly, we don't know what is going on. We've been told it is because of a tiny credit issue with our buyer that is from "a long time ago". They rescheduled our closing for next Friday. We are confident that we didn't close yesterday because there is a plan much more perfect than ours and maybe we'll understand it here in a few weeks, and maybe we won't.

We covet your prayers for closing next week as scheduled, that our realtor, their realtor and the lender,loan officer and closing agent will all have their best foot forward and work hard to make this happen. It has been a long journey (a year on the market...two other contracts that have fallen through b/c of financing) At this point, most of our belongings are in storage and we just really don't want to have to put the house back on the market and retrieve enough of our things from storage to maintain a semi-normal existence. That prospect seems agonizing especially given the fact that school is starting at SCS very soon.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will direct your paths.

Proverbs 3, 5-6


God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

closer to closing...

I am quite sure that Allison is feeling that closing date closing in...my evidence? We had a garage sale this weekend. Never before in her life has she had anything to do with a garage sale. Then Wednesday of this past week she said, "I'm going to put an ad in the paper, get a permit, and have a garage sale...Saturday!" She has been a warrior lately, packing up boxes on a regular basis, staying up late, and making trips to the storage unit in Ft. Worth. But given the information that I was having oral surgery on Friday and she picked the very next day for the garage sale, I have come to the conclusion that the prospect of moving to Ft. Worth has caused something not all-that-unlike her maternal craziness that kicked in just before Case arrived in April of '06. It is actually pretty magical to watch, especially if you are on a regular diet of Tylenol 4 pills...
Here is a picture from the garage sale...she made a pretty good chunk of change, I might add. That's my girl.

We are in prayer...asking God to lead us to our perfect house...and to allow a smooth closing on our first house here in C, a house that has brought many joys, the house that 2 years ago we brought our baby home to....it is a bittersweet time, but we are excited and like I said, prayerful about finding a wonderful,new place to call home.

Proverbs 24:3-4
"By wisdom a house is built, and through understanding it is established; through knowledge its rooms are filled with rare and beautiful treasures."

hiatus

hi·a·tus noun, plural

1. a break or interruption in the continuity of a work, series, action, etc.
2. a missing part; gap or lacuna: Scholars attempted to account for the hiatus in the medieval manuscript.
3. any gap or opening.

Well, if all goes well we will close on our house in early August, so until then I feel quite sure we will be very busy, packing, trying to decide where in FW we will live...Not to mention preparing for the beginning of another school year!
I'll try to post a pic here and there, but for the most part we're going on summer hiatus! love ya!

more from China

We've moved on to our final destination here in China. We are not in Tianjin, it is the 3rd largest city in China (about 11 million people). There are buildings as far as you can see in every direction and people absolutely everywhere. We have been treated well by everyone that we come in to contact with and have loved the experience of assimilated into the culture, don't get me wrong...we are stared at everywhere we go, but the Chinese need to get used to the pale faces as the Olympics draw ever closer. Tianjin is hosting soccer, handball, and ping-pong, the people in the city are very excited.

greetings from China!

This is a picture from "The Temple of Heaven" in Beijing. Google it, it's pretty interesting. We have been all over this city and have had some awesome experiences. I am here with the Chinese Bridge for American Schools run by the College Board and Hanban (Chinese Language Agency run by the Chinese government). It has been a privilege to be here and have this chance, what an opportunity! I will post another picutre tomorrow, I am off to the Great Wall today! This last pic is at one of the welcoming ceremonies...we've had camera crews and local TV station all over us since we've been here. Pretty cool.

fishing fun, and still more prayer needs...

Mommy wanted one last swimsuit to complete her shopping for Mexico so Case and I took the opportunity to run out to the river. We had a big time (as usual) caught a few fish on the fly rod, touched them all (eeeuuuh, slimy daddy!), threw some rocks, and got to drive daddy's car! Too much fun. Here's a few pics.

Thank you for the prayers for Allison's mom, she is at home for a few days but still struggling a bit, we know she will be ok. We'll keep you updated. Also pray for us as I embark on my trip to China tomorrow. Allison and Case will be making the Texas Grandparent's Tour so pray for their safety!

prayer request

please keep Case's KK (my mom) in your prayers...she is currently in the hospital....no info yet...they are running all sorts of tests...all I know is that they have ruled out a heart attack based on enzyme levels .

6/21/08 Update . . . thank you for your prayers, emails and calls. KK is still in the hospital. They are thinking that her 'episode' was a result of a blood pressure spike (high bp runs in the family and she is already on meds, the meds just weren't working like they should) they are adjusting the meds. No damage to the kidneys & liver according to the ct scan. No cardiac issues (thank God)and no sign of Stroke (very possible when blood pressure gets that high) Her Crohn's disease is flared up and causing some irritation, but they think that is more a result of what is going on currently and not the cause of Wednesday's episode. Pulmonary test results weren't very good and she will meet with a Pulmonologist today. We area also waiting on a few other results that are coming from regional labs instead of local, so since it is now the weekend it may be next week before those come back.

6/22/08 Update . . . Mom was released from the hospital, but will continue to see a Pulmonologist, meds will continue to be adjusted as needed, etc. Thank you all for your prayers. Case and I are going to see her (and Papa Doc) later this week while J is gone. She insisted that we not rush to A during all of this, that we come when she was out of the hospital and feeling a little better...so that's the plan.


love,allison

MARRIAGE

8 years today! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO US!!!! :)

Visit with KK & Papa Doc

C & I went to Abilene for a short visit while J and a few buddies were in NYC for the Yankee games...I'll leave the posting of those pics to him.

bebe bleu

Enjoying a warm {almost} summer evening with a dip in the pool.

We celebrated Memorial Day at the lake with "Nanny and PawPaw". We had a relaxing, low-key visit...fishing...swimming...fish-fry...
Case thoroughly enjoyed himself. Here he is lounging in his little pool, eating strawberries!

Pretty Bird

Gotta love this pic of C's cute "Great Nana" (A's Nana) in her new,red T-Bird convertible named "Pretty Bird" ...celebrating Memorial Day in style...

Today's obsession:

BOOTS!!!

2 days ago Case went into my closet and came out with my boots on....he wore them the rest of the evening...yesterday first thing he wanted "my boots, my boots" and was adamant about it....today I decided that it might be time to break out HIS boots (cute little Nordstrom boots...courtesy of The Fisher family) they are still a little big, but Case is not phased by that....we've had them on since 7:00 this morning and no sign of them coming off. Nevermind the fact that all he has on otherwise is a droopy diaper that he's currently refusing to let Mama change! :)
Love it! Too bad he won't always be this easily entertained.
J has the camera or I would post a pic...
Oh, and I forgot to mention that he insisted that I put on my boots as well. The next big trend...you ready for this?...layered cotton tanks, soffe shorts and brown snake skin tipped Justin boots! COUTURE FOR SURE! lol!
pics to come...

http://www.stevencurtischapman.com/

heartbreaking for all of them, but her brother will carry the guilt of this accident for as long as he lives... :(

luau!

We went to the SCS Senior Luau last night, had a great time, took pics of families, visited, had a great meal...thanks to the Jones Family for opening your beautiful yard/home!

the countdown is on!