Category: Uncategorized

What the heck just happened?

We saw friends.

The Steinwedell’s hosted our annual “Happy Birthday Jesus Party”. The kids all blew out the candles together, since that can be theologically confusing.

Have you ever done a “dirty Santa” party? This particular night, the “dirty” part was interpreted quite loosely, but the night was a blast.

The other guys opted not to see the nutcracker- that ballet storyline still confuses me, even though I’ve seen it 10 times now. Why do all those little kids come out from under the lady’s giant dress?

We saw each other

I didn’t get a picture of us, but you can just use your imagination that Taylor and I looked great and had fun on a date night before the craziness of Christmas got started.

We Hosted

For a couple years now we have been hosting the York family for brunch on Christmas eve. Most of us are sober-ish during this hour of the day each year

We visited

This year for the first time we did Christmas with Evan and the cousins- and had a pretty good time doing charades and singing some Christmas Carols.

Honestly, I am not even sure when we were at the Register’s house: was it before or after Evan’s house? Either way, the meal wasn’t something to forget: Ted got an amazing cut of meat, some Christmas Carolers came by, and Rosie and Mercy had a blast with their other cousins in town.

We Stayed Home

We did some “Logan Family” time with our own traditions: making peanut butter balls, church on Christmas eve, and our tradition for the girls to have a “sleepover” upstairs with us on Christmas eve. Rumor is that I snore, so they had to see first hand.

Our peanut butter ball tradition- maybe our 13th year? – is pretty darn efficient at this point. We have learned tons of things not to do.

Rosie got a bike, and Santa was pretty excited it was the right size. Rosie and Mercy pretty much get along and had a blast for Christmas eve/morning.

I know I know, one of the pictures above doesnt look like the other, but Taylor got this shot of the mountain of leaves that were collected from our backyard. I finally snapped and hired some teenagers wearing camoflage and a 1991 green Silverado to come get our leaves. It was amazing how good of a job they did, and it made hosting the Register/York family a little less embarrassing.

We surprised Rosie for her big birthday with a trip to the big city.

Where did you stay?

We stayed at the Motto by Hilton on 23rd street. It was between two subway stops- the red line and the orange line, and worked out great. Taylor is really motivated to get a good deal, so she picked the spot, and it worked out great. 

We arrived super early- leaving Greensboro at 6:15, and making it to the Hotel by 9:15 or so- way too early to check in, but we were able to leave our bags there, and check in by 3pm. The room had a queen bed/bunk bed situation which Rosie really liked, and I thought the view was awesome from the 25th floor. 

What did you do?

A few things were planned- this was Rosies big trip, so I wanted to honor her and the things she enjoyed. As a travel tip, I would recommend getting dinner reservations at the bare minimum, if you don’t want to eat street food for dinner. 

We saw all the touristy things around Rockefeller plaza, like:

FAO Schwartz, 

the Christmas Tree, 

the Lego Store, 

After watching all the movies to get the NYC spirit before the trip, Rosie wanted to see Central Park, which was a really fun tangent. 

Rosie is a dancer, so we saw the Rockettes- and it was WAY better than I expected. And Yes, I did cry towards the end during the nativity scene: it just reminded me of how many prayers were answered over the past 10 years for us to get to go on a trip like this. 

Going up to the top of a building had to be a part of the trip- and there are several options, but The Edge at Hudson Yards was where we ended up going- and it did not disappoint. The views were amazing, all the way around, and it had a glass floor for a part of it. Rosie loves a thrill, but the glass floor from 1100 feet up was almost too much for her. We got the all-day ticket to go any time we wanted, and I highly recommend it. 

Strolling on the High Line, walking through Chelsea Market, and seeing a few malls like Hudson Yards, the Oculus, etc. They were great spots to get warm. 

Rosie really likes the Broadway play Hamilton, and Alexander Hamilton is buried at Trinity Church between the NYSE and Freedom Tower, right near the place we went skating- so we stopped by there as well to see some of the names from one of her favorite songs: “The Schuyler Sisters”, all buried in the same place. Surprisingly, Rosie really enjoyed that spot- and her and I are going to see Hamilton at the Tanger Center in Greensboro later this month. 

Finally, we did Ice Skating to finish things up. There are a few places in the city to skate, and I was hoping to avoid the huge crowds if skating in one of the popular places like Rockefeller Plaza, so the Rink at Brookfield Place was where we ended up, and it was great. Rosie was really looking forward to that part, and she did great. 

Where did you eat?

For breakfast, Bagels are the way to go. There are lots of lists of “the best bagels in NYC”, but out of the ones closest to our hotel, we ended up at Brooklyn Bagels and Ess-a-Bagel. The latter one- with Lox, Scallion cream cheese and red onions on an everything bagel made for some downright offensive breath, but a darn good bagel. Rosie struggled with her braces, but didn’t complain.

John’s Pizza on Bleecker Street is the best pie in town, hands down. The wait was about an hour, so Taylor and Rosie did some shopping around the area while I waited. At that point, I didn’t really even WANT a pizza after eating Bagels (like, GIANT bagels) for breakfast 2 days in a row. 

It was the best Pizza I ever had in my life, hands down. I think Taylor would say the same. What makes the pizza so good? We asked the waiter, and he said it was the 100 year old coal-fired oven that cooks at 1000 degrees. 

Taylor really wanted to include Ellens Stardust Diner on our list because she went as a kid and really enjoyed it. There are lots of things I did as a kid and really enjoyed and many of them did not hold up well- the Brave Little Toaster movie was one of them. However, in this case, it did hold up well. It’s a little diner on Broadway where the wait staff are almost all people trying out for Broadway shows- so they sing these amazing Broadway numbers while people are eating, and they are surprisingly good. Once again, it was a 1 hour wait or so, so I did my dad duties while the girls shopped, but it was worth it. I was cold down to my bones at this point. 

It is hard to get dinner reservations at some of the more popular, kid-friendly places, so we had dinner at La Grande Boucherie, a French place with great Christmas decorations. It was alright, and Rosie was falling asleep by the end of the meal. 

We also ate at Rosemary’s for dinner. It was really decked out for Christmas and had great music and decorations. The food was great. Sitting in one of those restaurant booths on the sidewalk, looking in through the windows at the restaurant while wearing our coats during the meal to stay warm, was not great. Once again, no one complained- except me, I complained to the manager that the seating was not cool- it was freezing out there. Because we complained, they gave us some more carbs on the house.

What else?

The subway worked great. I worked hard to read up on some of the routes before going- I was still trying to recover from getting two families lost on a hike in the woods two years ago and didn’t want to embarrass myself. 

Everything around Rockefeller Plaza was super crowded, but the second day seeing other parts of the city wasn’t too bad. 

There is something on Apple Maps called “Guides”, where you can save a bunch of spots on a map and look at all of them at the same time, instead of looking up things 1 by 1. This was super helpful to add a bunch of “ideas” of things to do at various places around the city, then just let Rosie pick what seemed best. 

It was really, really cold. We got a 6:15 am flight from Greensboro to Laguardia, and that may have been a bit too early. Rosie was a little slow all day, and I think we were too. A trip that early meant getting all your stuff out- including long johns and layers and layers of clothes- the night before. I am proud to say that no one complained. 

Hudson Yards is a really cool mall- they put out 2 million lights for Christmas- but the stores aren’t that cool for people that don’t have a million dollars like us. 

Having a few things planned, and a lot of room to be flexible, worked out really well. I took note of that from how Taylor has planned trips in the past. 

On the first day, we took our bagels to Times Square as one of our first stops and learned that Rosie was afraid of the pigeons. “They kept trying to eat my food” she said. She was right, they were trying to eat her food, but for the girl that is not afraid of a single roller coaster, I was kind of surprised to learn of this new phobia of hers.

What about Mercy?
She stayed at her grandma and grandpa’s house (thank you Zippy and Papa!). We missed her, but it would have been terrible to have her in the dirty, dirty subways around the city. Zippy sent us some pictures and it looks like Mercy had a great time. 

To summarize:

Where did we stay?
The Motto by Hilton. 

What did we do?

Hudson Yards

The Edge

FAO Schwartz

The Lego Store

Central Park

The Rockettes

M&M Store

Ice Skating at The Rink at Brookfield Place

Hamilton’s Grave

Where did we eat?

Ess-a-Bagel

Brooklyn Bagel

Johns Pizza on Bleecker Street

Ellens Stardust Diner

La Grande Boucherie

Rosemary’s

This season is always wild- it starts with the excitement of thanksgiving, and then Rosies birthday is right on the heels of the holiday.

This year we did some quick Thai food on Wednesday to get ready for the busy days ahead. As tay would say, “Momma is tired, and dont wanna mess around with cooking.” So, she didnt. I even went the extra mile and took the kiddos to the park to get some wiggles out at the end of the day, and that was fun.

Thanksgiving

What do you do on thanksgiving morning? Do you have any traditions? Around our house, it is all about one thing: The Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. We love to celebrate the commercialism of it.

Actually, we just like recording it, and then watching in various parts and skipping the commercials- and being as absolutely lazy as possible. We deserve it, right? So, I made a (small) breakfast. When the kids said they are still hungry, a gentle reply of “Good, it builds character” was all they got from me.

They also created masterpieces on the scale of Van Gogh and solved complicated puzzles:

Just because we are lazy, doesnt mean things werent busy. Games played, gymnastics, and whatever the girls did that almost seemed like hitting each other, but no one really cried so it was fine:

I dont know what this dance move is (maybe a back bend?) but it gives me the heebie jeebies every time I see it: this move is what the bad guys do in scary movies, almost inhuman like flexibility:

Ok ok, by this time (11:30), we have been as lazy as possible. The house is kindof a mess. Stacey Tester (Taylors longtime friend, and my 11th grade date to homecoming dance) stayed the night with us the night before, and was somewhat scarce that morning- I didnt get any great pics of her I now realize.

But, it was time to start getting ready to go to thanksgiving at Taylor’s parent’s house, 15 minutes away, and the farthest drive we make in a given week.

The day was great- Deborah (or “Zippy” or “Taylors mom”) does a great job decorating.

The kids- cousins from Charlotte- had a great time. Bourbon was great as always- don’t mind if I do 🙂

There weren’t a ton of pics, so you just have to take my word for it: it was fun. The food was great. Our bellies were full. Then everyone crashed when we got home, and Rosie and I enjoyed watching Home Alone 2, Lost in New York. Rosie thought that movie was selected at random, but I assure it was not:

The Rest of the Weekend

What else happened that weekend?

Our friend Abbey Remein stayed the night Friday night- she is an awesome longtime friend of ours from Virginia. We woke up, and repeated much of the same as the day before, without the Parade to watch. Just as lazy as possible, and I used the opportunity to move some of the furniture in the garage to accomodate more people for Rosie’s birthday party in 10 days. Mercy was still in the Mercy-verse. If you are wondering what that means, this explains it:

Taylor did some Christmas shopping (black Friday, duh!), and I ran to a few stores to investigate my two big items for Rosie this year (I can’t tell, its a secret), and our friend Abbey showed up that evening. At this point, we were sick of Thai leftovers, so we had to break for some Greek food at our favorite spot, Mythos. Once again, time for more pajamas, doing as little as possible, which means: puzzle time!

Let’s talk about trees. No, not those kinds of trees- that is still illegal in North Carolina. I am talking about Christmas trees- this is a family blog after all.
We usually get our tree from the farmers market, but for the past few years, we have been getting our trees from Freedom House Farms- the place that my friend Houston runs to help families get back on their feet.

This is the second year they have been selling trees, and they got it all decorated to look great for the season:

The tree looked great on the lot, and after a bit of work, a few pictures, and some help from the Freedom House Crew, we got on our way. Again, momma doesnt wanna cook yet, so we stopped to get some lunch on the way back.

Did I say home? Just kidding. There was more to do: trader joes for a wreath for our Advent Candles, and some eggnog- because this was a time to be merry, and as luck we have it, we ran into someone special while we were there:

Rosie had an idea for our house which followed our rhythm: adding one or two decorations every year. Previously we have added 1-2 strands of lights (only white lights at our house), but now we are expanding to do a bit more, and Rosie wanted to make our light posts into candy-cane stripes. So, we brainstormed how to do that, and I am proud of her. We worked together, and it turned out….alright. Not amazing, but it was good!

We have a special way we do the tree, and if anyone doesnt do it in the same manner, they are doing it wrong:

• Bring the tree in, and put it on the stand (dont put the stand on before going into the house)
• Make it straight.
• Cut the netting off
• Add the lights.
• Add the garlen (Is that how its spelled? The red beads to decorate?)

After that is done, we add the decorations. Each year I take a video, and here is about 17 minutes compressed down to 45 seconds:

Taylor always says she isnt creative- but I think her decorating really shines as something “creative”.

Ok, Thanksgiving is over. Remember how I said there is one more thing? Thats right- Rosies birthday always jumps up on us, and this year we surprised her in a pretty fun way for her 10th birthday.

We made (Ok, TAYLOR made, she gets all the credit on this) a scavenger hunt for Rosie to learn that she is going on a quick trip to New York City to celebrate her special milestone. Most of the scavenger hunt would be pretty boring to watch (it is fun for me!), but here is Rosie reading the last clue in the scavenger hunt and putting it all together:

AS IF THAT WASNT ENOUGH, Rosie is the only girl I know lucky enough to have an unexpected snow day on her birthday, school closed! So, we had an impromptu trip to get a very, very uncaffeineted drink at a coffee shop, where I used the opportunity to tell her her birth story. Not the crazy details, just how we had a hard time getting pregnant with her, so we prayed a lot. It was a special time- I had a vision and knew we would get pregnant 10 months before, and it happened. God is good.

So, stay tuned- I cant wait to share more about our trip to NYC!

Happy Birthday Houston!

There isn’t an easy way to honor Houston. Who is Houston you might ask, if you are a cousin of mine living in Florida and have no grounds for reference? Well, Houston:

• and I went to Irving Park Elementary Together
• Did a small group Bible study together from 6th-12th grade
• was my roommate in college, all 4 years if you count next-door apartments for 1 year
• Was the best man at my wedding
• Is the most loyal person anyone could imagine
• Lives his faith
• Does something important with a non profit here in town that is a Christian based halfway house for mothers and their children; I think he is the CEO?

Here is a fun collection of images from Houston over the years:

Houston turned 40 and managed to rent a beach house for some of us guys to go to for a long weekend. The first night Charles, Houston and I went camping and the weather could not have been more perfect:

We just talked, uninterrupted from our kiddos, and enjoyed the evening. Then, in typical Houston fashion, he made the fire way too big for what was appropriate, and we had a great night overall.

But that wasn’t enough: next, we got a few days in Topsail Island to play beach games, drink really good Bourbon, eat great seafood, play games on the beach and just enjoy the days; not gonna lie, when getting this group together, we are quick to revert to our college mindset, but our 40 year old bodies just arent as resilient as they once were:

We managed to get one great pic of the group. Houston, Im glad you are in my life. You are a great man, and I am proud of the man you have become, and the way you depend on the Lord in mighty ways, and I believe He has honored that in your life. Thank you for being the friend that you have been, often when I haven’t been great in return. May the next 10 years be even better!

Also Halloween

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. There isn’t too much to say about it, most of the fun is tied up in the pictures, so here you go:

Mercy has a friend

The second (or middle, or younger child as it applies to some families) doesn’t get the same experience that the first born child does. What I mean is, we set the bar pretty high for Rosie in terms of keeping her busy, scheduling play dates, getting her involved in activities, etcetera.

For Mercy, I think it’s safe to say that we haven’t gotten her as involved with social events like play dates, birthday parties, etc. with other little kids her age. However, she has this awesome friend at school: Marin.

When I pick up Mercy from school, her class is on the playground and she is ALWAYS playing with Marin. They are really, really cute together, and Mercy won’t get in the car without finding her friend and giving her a hug good bye. And this happens every day.

So we had her friend over for the day, and it was sweet. They played, and the sometimes WILD little kid inside of Mercy remained pretty calm: there were no fits, she listened well for those few hours, and she was just beaming with so much joy from having her friend over.

Tragedy Struck

After getting home from Houston’s birthday a few weeks ago, Taylor and I took the family to the church Fall Harvest Festival. We go to Church of the Redeemer, an Anglican church, and what is special about it (among other things) is that they have a farm, and every year they do a Harvest Festival where they prepare some of the vegetables grown on the property, along with a potluck, and we just have a good old fashioned church meal.

It has grown every year- there might have been 200+ people this year, with bouncy houses, face painting, music, and tons of fun.

This year, there was an accident on one of the small rides, and a seven year old kid got pretty hurt. Taylor and I were about 40 feet away when it happened, and it was aweful. I don’t want to go into details here, but it was something significant for both Taylor and I to witness.
The little kid, who is 7 years old, is ok- there has been a lot of prayer to cover him and his family, and I truly believe these prayers helped save this situation from going in a different direction.

I have never seen such an accident for a little kid firsthand before; I share this because it is significant, and the image in my head is something I can’t easily shake. It has been 2 weeks now and time will heal, but it makes me want to hold on to my fun little kiddos a little tighter and spend time this month being thankful for the good fortune and health our family enjoys.

But time to celebrate!

In the morning we mourn (as we did in Church, praying for that little boy), but in the evening we celebrate the wedding of Kate May and Thomas Law!

Taylor was Kate’s mentor while she went through the Greensboro Fellow’s program, and Kate’s family is a gigantic one here in town: Her dad is one of 9 siblings, most who still live in town, and their family has always been around in one way or another.

The wedding was great: we danced our butts off, and still kept up with the younger people. Taylor and I were both feeling a bit old: her knee hurt, and we didnt know many of the songs being played, but Tay is an awesome date and we both enjoyed going to a wedding (a GIGANTIC wedding) full of people we care about around town.

Aunt Pep passed away. She was 91 years old, and lived a remarkable life. Her daughter, Kathy, put together a touching obituary you can read by following that link, but even that doesnt quite capture enough of Aunt Pep’s life. She leaves behind a husband of 70 years, uncle Jim, who is 93 years old.

Who was aunt Pep?

It all started with these 5 brothers; the one on the left is my grandfather as a child, Gordon; his brother, Jim, is pictured on the right in the first picture, and Aunt Pep was Jim’s wife; my dad’s aunt.

All of the families of these 5 boys grew up together in New Jersey, and their bond as cousins was special.

The funeral was held at Johns Island Presbyterian Church, where Aunt Pep volunteered in a number of positions during the 30+ years of her time there. The service was special, and her husband, children, and grandchildren painted a strong image of a life well-lived by an incredibly strong, industrious, loving woman. She was intentional with her time, and loved others well through her service in countless ways, through countless organizations over her years.

The part that stood out to me was how the goodness of a family rises to the top. Sometimes I am not amazing with my choice of words, so bear with me on this one because I want to convey it properly.

There are hiccups in our family. I think there are hiccups in every family. Hiccups like strained relationships, divorce, financial challenges, disease, death, and heartache. The list can go on, but that is not the point. The point is that those things are only in passing, and in the end the strong relationships that honor one another, support one another, and live a life to bless others are the ones that out shine all of the other “hiccups” that inevitably arise. I know I fall short in this area often in a lot of ways.

The stories that were shared about Aunt Pep and Uncle Jim showed how they were a lighthouse to their family over the years: loving their two children well at all points in their lives, and loving and welcoming their grandchildren in the same way, all through college and beyond. Jim, who is the last of the five brothers, became a patriarch of all of the families, and his family was as welcoming to the extended family (all of his brother’s families) as they were to their own. This was something different. This was something special. This is something rare, and something I think all of us can aspire to. Uncle Jim and Aunt Pep set the bar pretty high.

After the service, we went back to the hotel, and hung with the family until almost midnight. I know, its crazy to stay up that late. We told stories. We laughed. We reminisced.

Not all of the pictures are available, but Brenna caught me in this pic, as we were arranging for the family photo. It was in this moment that I missed my cousin Ken- his zingers would have been special during these few minutes while we organized everyone to get the perfect shot of the group.

Lot’s of great pictures were taken by the group, and I wish that I had taken more to share.

I will share this though: here is a picture of my great-great grandfather. He is the one that came over from Scotland many years ago. Also, a picture of me with my uncle Steve- who (in my opinion) is the spitting image of Dickie-Bird Papa (thats my great-grandfather’s name):

It’s hard to do this weekend justice in a blog post. There was so much to share, great conversations. It was fun to connect with Tyler and Ashley and Ellie and Erin. We missed the cousins that couldn’t make it.

The next morning, my dad and I hopped back in the car and did the 5 hour marathon drive back to Greensboro: unfortunately, I didn’t get any pics during his visit on my phone, but it was a pretty great drive. I’m used to driving with a small kid, so it was rather great to drive without having to stop for potty breaks every 40 minutes.

Mercy is four.

Mercy had a birthday party this weekend. Each year on her birthday, I remember the journey it took to meet her. I wrote about it before and you can read about it if you are interested, but the short of it is that she is a special kid we prayed for over many years, and it is special to celebrate this unique, wild girl:

The picture above is great, but she has a lot more spunk than you would think by going off of that image. She is fearless, tough, sad, and happy. She loves her sister. She loves her cousins, and uncles and aunts and grand parents. She loves to read books at night before bed. She dances (like her big sister), sings, smiles, laughs, and is just a wonderful kid.

The princess party was fun- thanks to everyone who was able to make it. The face painter was awesome, so were the try-on princess dresses. The bounce house.

Once again, I didn’t get any good pics of my dad: driving 10 hours in 2 days left me with the jitters, but it was totally worth it. A special time to honor Aunt Pep with the family, special to share some time with my dad, and special to share my world here in Greensboro with him.