At the last minute, we got the chance to come down to Ocean Isle Beach for the weekend, and it has been great. The weather was beautiful, and we got to sit out on the sand and play in the water- the week before Halloween even!
Mercy and Rosie played so well together. They are such different kids- but NO ONE makes Mercy smile like her big sister does. They played on the sand and just laughed, and got along so well. It was a great weekend, and their relationship just brings me so much joy.
Honestly, there isnt much new to post this week. We are just excited about going to Mexico in 12 days, and trying to lock ourselves down so no one tests positive for Coronavirus, and derails our trip.
The past few weeks have been busy with good things.
Mercy is closer to walking
Taylor did a retreat last night
went to Waco, TX to see Grandma Sue
Looking forward to Mexico in less than 2 weeks
Mercy is (almost) walking
Its wild how two siblings can be so incredibly different. Rosie, at 1 year old, was all smiles and excited about people. Some could argue that she still is that way. Mercy is a bit more reserved. If you are not mom, dad, or her sister- she might have an eye of suspicion about you until she warms up. She is almost 13 months, and just this week started walking with her toy walker. (Rosie was walking at about 11 months?). Here is a quick video from yesterday, she is so proud of herself!
Visit to Grandma Sue’s house
Grandma Sue has always been healthy. She grew up in the countryside, has always been active, and never had many health issues (at least, no health issues I have been made aware of). Almost three years ago she moved to Texas after her third husband died. She was living in Myrtle Beach at the time, and decided that she didn’t have any reason to stay there, so she looked at her options: Move to Greensboro to be closer to our family, move to MO to be closer with Sherry, or move to Waco to be closer to Margie. She opted for the third choice since Margie is a hospice nurse, and now that Grandma Sue is 88, that kinda of thing is important. Earlier this year, Grandma Sue had a big fall. It wasn’t noticed until Sherry called her one morning, and did not get a response from her usual daily check-ins. So, Sherry reached out to Margie, and told her something wasn’t right, she needed to go check on Grandma. Margie rushed over, and saw the most horrible site: Grandma slipped in the bathroom, hit her head, and there was blood everywhere. In the fall, she also suffered from a broken femur. The past several months have been in rehab, learning to walk and manage around the house again. After getting mostly better from that incident, she had a stroke that affected the right side of her body, and this is where I stepped up to make the trip to visit her. Not sure of what to expect, I found her fully capable and in great spirits. My job at Levvel is remote, so I found a direct flight from Greensboro, and visited from lunchtime on Monday until lunchtime on Thursday. During the trip, my mom had the idea to get a video of Grandma Sue sharing some of her life story. So I did: I prepared by buying a cheap tripod for my phone, and found a set of questions from a website that is all about this kind of thing. I am not a great film maker, and the video starts and stops at the wrong places, but here is the final result:
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What else?
Also, I passed my AWS certificate. This is a useful certificate stating that I know how to build web applications using Amazon’s web services (or, the Amazon cloud).
Taylor stayed the night st St. Francis retreat last night and is taking the day off of work today to do a personal retreat (along with a few ladies from her Bible study at work).
In less than 3 weeks, Taylor and I will be going to Mexico! We are beyond excited, as this will be our longest trip since our honeymoon. This is our delayed, 10 year anniversary trip- because our real 10 year anniversary trip was less than ideal: it was in the midst of a Covid lockdown, Taylor was VERY pregnant with Mercy, and we went to Blowing Rock for only 2 days.
We will be going to Mexico with two other couples- my best friends and their wives, who Taylor sees regularly.
Its hard to believe its been a year. And as Mercy gets older, it is so evident to see how much different she is than Rosie. One example was their 1 year checkup at their pediatrician (they both go to the same pediatrician). When Rosie went to her 1 year checkup, she was an ideal patient- all smiles, happy to see the doctor, and waited patiently on my lap in the waiting room. When the doctor came in, Rosie was all smiles- until he brought the needle out for her shots, to which she DID have this in common with Mercy- she only cried for a brief minute. When Mercy goes to see the doctor for her 1 year checkup, she was not content to sit on Mom’s lap- she wanted to tear up the paper coating the exam table. Then, when the doctor approached with the stethoscope- she batted it away. Again, not sure how to read the tea leaves here about what this will mean as they get older, but they sure are different, and man I love them both.
Mercy Highlights.
One of my favorite things about Mercy is this: her response to worship music in church. Ever since she was REAL small, and we were allowed to get back into church as a congregation and worship together, Mercy has REALLY responded to the music. I love to hold her during these times- and she wiggles her legs, tries to sing along- and she just gets happy in a way she rarely does.
She loves her older sister. I know this blog is filled with that statement, but it is a source of great joy to see how she follows her sister with her eyes wherever she goes. My favorite thing is when they are in the backseat together, and I can look in the rearview mirror and see Mercy’s eyes as she is staring at her older sister- and giggling.
Birthday
One thing I love about Taylor is how she is content with who she is. She had a simple party for Mercy- without any undue stress of trying to have things a certain way to be insta-perfect. No, we just had a simple party with family to honor our girl. No need to get crazy with decorations. And it was sweet. Mercy- in true form- didnt smile hardly once through the whole night. The party was filled with her favorite things- her sister, balloons, pizza- and thats about it. Here are some pics of the night:
Mercy w her Grandmas
Opening presents with her cousins
Mercy and her new car- and her big cousin and uncle D
Mercy and Aunt Mallory
Mercy and her big cousin Everly
I love our small fam.
Time lapse of getting the leaves.
Because I am a nerd, here is a time-lapse video of getting a few of the leaves up before the party. We have several large oaks, so getting the leaves during this season is a weekly process if you want to stay ahead of it. r
Thats it for now. Currently I am at the airport in Greensboro flying out to see Grandma Sue for a few days as she recovers from her stroke last month.
This was a big week- Deborah and Mercy both had big birthdays. Deborah turned 60, and Mercy turned 1.
Happy Birthday Deborah!
For months, literally months, we have been prepping our house for this party. Some might ask, “what can you do for months to prepare for a party?” Well its funny you should ask. We moved in to this house about 2 years ago, and there has been this list of small projects that we needed to do, but right after we moved in, Covid started, so we didnt have any people over. In the midst of Covid, Mercy was born, so we were very busy with that. However, hosting a party for some 40 or 50 people was an impetus to get some things done, inlcuding:
pressure wash the driveway
touch-up painting
decorate the house (thank you Lori, the interior decorator)
get a new couch
run electrical wires in the studio
install a motion detector light.
add “italian lights” above the porch
replace a rotting board on the deck
rake and blow and mow the lawn
repair our outdoor furniture.
new furniture (used, actually) in the studio
Why list these things? Don’t tell Taylor, but it was actually fun. Watching a few videos on Youtube can make anyone confident enough to try out new house projects, and Taylor and I worked together and got a lot done, and it was awesome to open the doors to welcome so many people we loved.
Taylor did a great job pulling off the surprise. It went like this: We told Deborah that we were doing a combined birthday, for her and for Mercy, and that family would be there- so Deborah knew that some people would be there. Taylor followed up by sending a same-day email to everyone, saying that our neighbor was having a retirement party, to there would be a lot of cars on the street. Well played Ted (I think that was his idea). When they pulled in the driveway, Deb cried a bit- she is such a good friend to so many people, it was nice to see her honored. It was also strange preparing for a party without her, because Deborah is usually so hands-on with decorations and food and table arrangements, that Taylor was a bit at a loss. Gia Lineberry stepped up to the plate and helped with Table arrangements though.
Deborah was honored, and everyone had a blast. The whole night was amazing.
Flower arrangements
Deborahs friends
Most of the crowd while Ted gave a speech
Taylor and her twin-cousin, brooke
Some of the party decorations
Brooke, Dee, Luann, Mallory, Taylor and Rosie
Taylor with the birthday girl, dad, and brother.
What about Mercy’s birthday?
Mercy turned 1 this week! Her actual party will be next week, but we did get to take her out for pizza on Friday night to my- I mean her- favorite pizza place, cugino forno. By far, the best pizza in town, and if you haven’t been, you should check it out.
For her birthday, Taylor and Rosie woke her up (usually I do), and she had a few balloons around the house to play with. Because she likes riding in her little red car, we all walked Rosie to school together and Mercy really seemed to enjoy herself. Rosie made her a “rainbow loom” bracelet that says “sisters” on it, but she will really be celebrated next weekend. For now, here are some pictures from this week:
Rosie holding Mercys present
At the park, after the party
Birthday morning with balloons
One of her gifts- she found it herself
she loves pulling moms hair
I love my girls
the only thing we did after the party- a small bike ride.
When do things slow down? They say… when we are dead. Since the last post:
Rosie and I went camping
Rosie and Mercy continue to be inseperable
Grandma Sue had a stroke 🙁
We went on a trip to the lake with Matt, Evan, Lila, Amelia, and mom.
Rosie and I went camping
This summer, for father’s day, my mom gave me a gift card to REI- so I used to to get a 4 person tent. Rosie and I were thrilled to take it for a test run in the back yard (it was a hot, sweaty night) because I wanted to see if she could make it through the night before committing to anything longer- and of course, she passed with flying colors. So, we got reservations at the Price Park campground, right off the parkway, and a favorite place of mine while I was in college. My goal- for YEARS- was to take Rosie to the Hebron Rock Colony, which is this place with MASSIVE rocks that line the river. Not too much fun for swimming, but GREAT for climbing around on, since rosie has shown so much interest in climbin recently. We drove through BOONE for lunch (and stopped by my old dorm, and old house at 229b west king st), set up camp, and did the hike. It was close to 4.5 miles, and kicked my butt. Rosie was pretty tired the last mile, but we did it!
My old college dorm being torn down
Our campsite
My old college house
Posing Rosie
Rosie at the falls
THe fire was almost a failure
Yes! Looking good and trashy for our campsite.
Rosie and Mercy are inseperable
These two girls are amazing- my heart is full. Mercy SQUEALS with delight when she sees her big sis. ANd it happens daily, this is such a sweet time I dont want it to pass. Mercy still refuses to walk- she is scooting around everywhere. Here are a few pics of them, as we inch closer to Mercy’s big 1-year birthday!
The lake!
For the past couple years, we have gone to the lake with Matt, Evan, Mom, and the girls (Lila, Amelia, Rosie, and Mercy). Last year Taylor was SUPER pregnant and had limited time on the boat (and maximum time at the house with Mom). So this year, she wanted to make up for it. Mercy wasnt really a happy camper most of the weekend. But the whole weekend was a blast. The food was amazing- everyone had great attitudes, the girls always have a blast together. It was just a fun time to hang out and mark the end of the summer. We are all pretty weird in the family, but we do ok together 🙂
This week is Taylor’s birthday. And one of the big gifts she got was an interior decorator(thanks Deb!).
Why is this so important?
We have been working through some to-dos in our house. Things that we want to do because when we moved into the house:
We were house poor.
We were about to have a baby.
There was a pandemic, and no one was coming over.
Fast forward 2 years, and now we are ready to have people over. Also, we have been locked down and looking at our house and creating a wish list. My list included re finishing the deck, a tv for the garage/studio outside, pressure washing everything, laying a gas line for the grill, etc. One of the big things for Taylor’s list was to buy a couch. As a male, there were many things I didn’t understand, but have since come to my attention: one does not simply “buy a couch”. One must consider the past, present, and essence of the couch. The color schemes (what?) the purpose of the room (huh?) what it will match wish (wtf?). And it can “feel so overwhelming” (just go buy a couch!). So, Deborah (my MIL) gifted Taylor some time with an interior decorator, and some of our “couch” budget was expanded to include….a lot more than a couch. Whatever it is, Taylor is SO happy, and the couch that we DID settle with, it is a dream. It is SO comfortable, and very easy to fall asleep on.
Closing summer.
For the end of summer, Rosie and I will be going camping for our first overnight camping trip in Boone- stay tuned!
Taylor and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary this weekend by going to 1618 Seafood. Deborah took BOTH girls for the night, marking Taylor’s FIRST night away from Mercy.
Several times during the night, the silence was perfect. There was no one begging for our attention, no one trying to be convinced to do something, or whining, or tv noise- just sitting with Taylor at a table with a drink was so….. nice.
I can’t believe its been 11 years. And I love her so much. We keep getting better, and with her hair done straight and wearing earrings, she looked like a total hottie (we didn’t get any pictures from our date night- this is a sign that things have changed since our early years, when she would never let a night go without a couple pics to mark the occasion). Covid, working from home, and nursing a baby have all combined for very few days of getting to dress up, so seeing her all fancy made me feel pretty special. I am a lucky guy.
Us on a family trip last month
Taylor and I at prom with Jimmy
wedding day w Jimmy
This picture I have always loved
Since there were no pics of our date night, I wanted to share pics from our engagement night at the same restaurant 11 years ago- on 12/23/09 (I almost ordered the same thing- tuna with wasabi mashed potatoes). There are a few other pictures here that I wanted to include- it is awesome that most of these people are still in my life today.
1618 engagement dinner
1618 engagement dinner
I proposed at our church youth room, setting up pictures and candles of us together over 9 years at that point
And summer is coming to a close, sad. This has been a great summer, filled with:
Family trip to Charlotte to visit the whitewater center
Many camps for Rosie, including spy camp, Vacation Bible School, Tennis, Muirs Chapel, first year of Swim Team, dance camp (starts today)
Emily Hawkins babysitting 2-3x per week.
A lot of time with Rosies friend.our neighbor Sydney.
A lot of time at Hamilton Lakes pool
Rosies first car camping trip
Watching mercy “scoot” (she doesn’t crawl).
Family beach week, a great success!
And excitement for our upcoming trip to MEXICO in November!
Ok, gotta go, Mercy is waking up (at 6:43, at 10 months old, another great success!)
This is a short post, not lengthy by any means, because Rosie, who is 6, might wake up at any moment.
However, I just got back from Grammy’s funeral, and it was nice.
The first time I saw Jake, this deer was with him.
Never thought Id live to see the day
Times Square
Love this pic
Me, Jake, Matt, and Dad
Grammy and Grandpa Gordon
Grammy throwing Bouquet at her wedding.
Grammy and her twin, Beatrice
Cousin Ken
Where grammy grew up
Kiyoe cleaning tombstone of Beatrice
Taiyo and Hiro
Tombstone of Beatrice
After the graveside
Dad-5 Gordy-3 Liz-3 Steve-3. That is a total of 14 grandkids, and 12 great-grandkids (and counting, I am looking at you Richardson fam!). The awesome part, is that ALL grandkids show up. The preacher told us how rare that really is.
Seeing all of the family was amazing. Uncle Steve keeps getting cooler and cooler the older he gets. As a kid I was a bit intimidated by him. Now I love his punny sense of humor. And his marriage w Aunt Chris is something anyone should strive for.
Taiyo and Hiro are getting tall. All the cousins are getting older and seem to be doing great career-wise, and this was such a cool site to see.
Jake is an amazing human being. His heart for others is something I strive for. I always say to myself that relationships are the most important thing- and they are. But Jake lives it out better than I ever could.
The part that tore my heart out was this: seeing the tombstone of Beatrice Wilcox Roome, Grammy’s twin. She died of pneumonia at two years old. Aunt Liz relayed that during Grammy’s last couple years, she would frequently ask, “When I see Beatrice, will she be an adult? Will I be a kid? Will she remember me?”
Grammy probably thought of her almost every day of her life. And that left me with something: Grammy’s life was tougher than I ever realized. She had hurdles in her life, but didn’t draw attention to them. She was tough, and looked upwards for strength. I think she found that strength.
She prayed in tongues. And, according to cousin Suzie, a dove landed on her chair one time when she was praying.
Ok, Mercy is waking up now. Attached are some pictures. Next up Ill add some more picture of my trip to Manhattan.
So here is my site, and it is rarely used. I want to use it as an alternative to Facebook.
And here is why.
Last year when it was revealed that certain types of posts, especially as they relate to politics, are filtered, it just seemed like a good time to take a break. No matter what your thoughts, I like to read them, and if a friend got too carried away (no matter what their leanings), I would mute/unfriend/ignore, whatever. I haven’t gone so far as to delete my account.
This week, I downloaded Facebook onto my phone, and out of curiosity did some exploring in the settings. It turns out, after installing, it immediately stole all the info from my budgeting app. Without asking me.
That was another impetus for not returning to Facebook regularly any time soon.
Taylor and I love being part of our church, Church of the Redeemer in Greensboro, NC. They use the Church Calendar, and now we are in the “Season of Epiphany”, a time in which we share what the Lord has done. They asked us to do a blog post for the church blog about how the Lord has worked in our lives in the year 2020, and I wanted to put it here as well. Enjoy!
Images selected by Taylor to be added to our church blog post.
2020 was an exceptional year for everyone. As of this moment, not enough time has passed to truly allow us to step back and take stock of the year. However, I wanted to share a little bit about how God moved in our family in 2020, and the blessings that came.
2020 didn’t happen in a vacuum- but it was a continuation of a larger thread of God’s hand moving in some ways we prayed for, and also in a few ways we were NOT praying for as well. God started answering our prayers when we spiritually (and financially) let go of OUR plans, and gave them to the Lord, way back in early 2019. Allow me to explain.
In the summer of 2019, we were tired of battling our familial battle of infertility through the 4 years up to that point. We were tired emotionally from the tears that had been shed through an adoption that fell through. Our journey through an adoption service matched us with a birth mom, and we were so excited. We did the home-study, met with a social worker, filled out countless pages of forms, did background checks, and wrote checks. Lots of checks. Large checks. Yet, at the last minute, the birth mom changed her mind. Our hearts dropped. The Lord tells us to take care of the orphans, and that is what we were trying to do, so why did He not allow it to happen? It just didn’t make sense.
Before the adoption, we tried some less-invasive fertility treatments. The doctor in the area is an extremely successful one, and said Taylor is perfectly healthy, and everything medical says that the procedure should be successful. The pregnancy took. The heartbeat shows on the ultrasound. And then it was taken away. As I write, the lump appears in my throat and my eyes fill- what is this precious life that we want and pray for- and why do you take it away oh Lord? Why does Taylor have to suffer? How am I to comfort her? These were questions I just couldn’t find peace about.
During these times, the really hard times, I like to dig my heels in by going to a place of solitude and just talk to God. Sometimes I scream during these prayers, and the place I like to do this is one of Greensboro’s many hiking trails off of north Church Street, on a rainy day, to guarantee that no one will spot me on the trail and label me as a crazy person.
There were many hikes like this- and many prayers- and a few “words” from the Lord that didn’t make sense. Some of those words include:
“You will have a child, but it will not be in the way that you expect”. This was in the midst of the adoption process.
“I never move the same way twice.”
“You are not broken Luke. I made you this way.”
I didn’t know what those words meant at the time, but they make sense now.
Infertility is expensive. Between the medical expenses and the adoption fees from 2016-2019, “uncertain” was the best way to describe our situation. Because there was so much uncertainty about what we would do next, we were in a state of paralysis- unable to make any of the big life decisions we needed to make. Would we move? Would we try to adopt again? Could we go on a big family trip? Could we get a new car? No, no, no- we could not do anything because of the uncertainty hanging over our heads. Can I really trust the Lord with these things as well? Neither me, nor Taylor, could find an answer to these questions.
In that state of exhaustion in the summer of 2019, my sister-in-law took notice. She had a long conversation with Taylor, and said “You aren’t being yourself”. And Taylor Agreed. One thing I like about Taylor is her ability to take time and process her thoughts before verbalizing them- and this moment was no exception. Taylor prayed on these words she heard during that conversation, asking the Lord why this was? Why was she not able to be herself?
Taylor and I spoke after that conversation, and decided that we needed to stop putting our life on hold. We cannot be held captive to our fears. Trusting the Lord is what we need to do, and we need to stop delaying. We put our house for sale, and it sold in 3 days, and decided to trust the Lord with everything else going forward.
We were doing the Life in the Spirit class at the time with David and Sally Miller, and Taylor was pregnant through IVF. The Doctor pointed out that the heartbeat was lower than normal, so we asked our group to pray for us. In Spirit and in Truth, they laid hands on us to pray. This was no ordinary prayer, and it was NOT how I expected the Lord to move. There were tears, tongues, sweat, and the ground seemed to physically shake beneath me. This prayer called on the Lord in a way that was far different than anything I had ever been a part of. On the way home, the words were hard to come by, but Taylor and I both knew that something was different in that prayer- something happened. And a peace fell onto our house for weeks following that prayer.
Then she lost the baby. 2019 was another horrible, horrible year. This too, was not how we expected the Lord to move, and affirmed the Word from the Lord many months before.
After healing, both physically and spiritually, we were ready to try again in January of 2020. This time, the embryo took, and Taylor was pregnant. The heartbeat was healthy, and we were in tears.
6lb 6oz Mercy Ren Logan was born, on September 24th, 2020, named after the man that mentored me since the age of 12, moved me into college, baptized me, married me, and baptized Rosie- Jimmy Renslow.
The year was incredible, but the Lord wasn’t done- and this could fill up another complete epiphany story. After getting laid off in May, 2020, as a result of Covid-19, the temporary stress during Taylor’s pregnancy opened the door to a job that is a much better fit working remote out of a company in Charlotte. The salary came in higher as well. Personally, I think this part was just the Lord showing off what He can do.
2020 was great. After the trials infertility handed us in 2019, 2018, 2017, and even 2016, quarantining with this newborn was a delight. Having a few more square feet in our new home made it easier to quarantine- through a pregnancy, and remote work. Though 2020 was a nightmare for most, I can’t help but look at the ways the Lord showed up in our family.
Lamentations 3:22-23: His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning;
