Rockies Rock

Jason and I have enjoyed being together in Denver, Colorado these last 48 hours. We are here celebrating the marriage of Josh and Emily Radcliffe, now husband and wife! Jason did an awesome job officiating the ceremony today. It was so neat that all of the Wings were here, minus Reagan, of course. (Thanks to Mom and Dad and Becca for watching her while Jason and I are here!) Phil led worship, Amber was a beautiful bridesmaid, Gibson was the ringbearer, and Maya was one of the flower girls. It was a gorgeous day for a gorgeous wedding. Yesterday, however, was just as awesome for Jason and I. We ran some errands in the morning and decided to drive into the Rocky Mountains. We just kind of headed their direction and ended up in the beautiful snow capped mountains. We were well over 10,000 feet above sea level and it was truly amazing. We drove through the curvy roads in silence for a while, just looking at all the trees and at what was ahead of us. We talked a bit and then listened to "Beautiful" by Phil Wickham. How appropriate! I'll never forget yesterday and the mountains God created for his glory and for our enjoyment. We wil be back someday with Reagan and Gideon, and maybe any other children God blesses us with. We are thankful for this trip we've had together, though! No matter how grand these mountains, we're ready to be with our Reagan.

What if I just want to?

Well just like I had the "hurry up, autumn" syndrome, I now have the "hurry up, Christmas" syndrome. I'm really thinking about putting up our Christmas tree this week before we head for Denver. I know I'm crazy for thinking that--I have not the time for such things. But I can't help it, I love Christmas. (How cute are these two from last Christmas?)

This upcoming Thursday will be bittersweet for us. Jason and I will be going to Denver for a wedding Jason is officiating! However, our little Reagan will be staying back in Dayton. My parents will be watching her for us while we're in Denver for the weekend. I'm not going to do well saying goodbye to my little one--I'm dreading Thursday, yet I'm so ready for time with Jason. We'll enjoy his last few days of sabbatical together focusing on our marriage and what the future holds for us in the areas of family, work, and the holidays.

Looking forward to: Quads on Wednesday night, Denver on Thursday, the wedding on Saturday, seeing Reagan again on Sunday, watching more West Wing (whenever the dvd is returned to the library so we can borrow it, immediately), going to Pennsylvania to spend Thanksgiving with my grandparents and Uncle Al, watching more West Wing, Recipe Club, West Wing...and Mike and Maggie coming back for Joey and Jenny's wedding!

This is how we do it...

Jason and I have been enjoying his sabbatical...many good talks, lots of play time together with Reagan, and lots of watching episodes of the first season of The West Wing. It all started a few weeks ago when the Bravo channel was playing lots of episodes of the West Wing. Jason said, "I think I could really get into this show, can we start watching the first season together?" That was music to my ears! What could be better than watching my favorite show and hearing Jason say he wants to join me...at the beginning! I wonder if that's how Jason would feel if I said I'd want to watch football with him. Something to think about--but not too seriously.

A few more...and some personal growth

This week has been a whirlwind! I do apologize for not keeping up my blog as much as I could...but we all know what craziness is like. Jason has been on his sabatical for the past week and a half. He's been so helpful when he's able to be around...most of the time he's working on his papers for seminary. Thankfully, two are finished and he has one more to go. Then he'll be caught up with the rest of his class. I will say the Lord has been growing us in uncomfortable ways during this break. It's almost as if the time of rest and renewal we were supposed to enjoy was eaten up by arguing and miscommunication. The Lord has shown me how important it is to first of all, NOT have expectations, and second, to not hold him to those expectations that I haven't even informed him of. He's had his share of struggles which he'd admit--but the Lord laid our time of frustration aside Wednesday night. I had just finished sharing with my quad girls all that had been going on when Jason called me and asked me to meet him on the back porch. After working at Apex with his quad guys, he picked up some beautiful roses and brought them to me! We had a good time of hugging and I of course cried. Side note--the Lord has been confirming in my heart that it's OK to share what I struggle with...in moderation of course. Sometimes it's tough being a pastor's wife because there's this expectation (probably self-induced), that our marriages should be without blemish. So I tend to clam up when I need to ask for prayer the most. I do thank God for the girls in my quad and also for Amy who's been very encouraging. Back to the main thought--it was just so nice to receive beautiful flowers the minute after I shared what was on my heart. I feel like God showed me that it's ok to share struggles and ask for prayer among believing women...and then He rewarded me with flowers from Jason and an awesome remainder of our week. So now it's Sunday and I've written a novel...I'm very excited to see what the rest of this sabatical has for us.

Looking forward to: going to Bath and Body Works today, watching more West Wing episodes with Jason, dentist appointment tomorrow (seriously, I love going to the dentist), Ikea trip with Amy and Traci, check up for Gideon, house church Thanksgiving meal, hanging out with fellow stay at home moms while Jason works on his paper.

Wing Family Pictures

Here are some of our Wing family pictures that Amy McSwegin took for us a few days ago. Thanks, Amy!

And he shall be named...

Gideon Justus Wing

After many weeks of knowing we're having a son but not knowing what name to call him, we finally decided. There's much relief now that we've made the decision and we're both very excited to meet our Gideon in under 16 weeks!