Life with the Givans from A to Z

Hello family:
Hopefully, we can bring you up to date and share a few pictures.  It is in a different format than usual, but oh so me!  Enjoy.

A= Armadillo 

Yes, this is an armadillo skeleton that I found at the pasture, much to my delight.  Best find ever.

B=Books and Bookcases

  We are receiving some books and bookcases from a good friend.  It amounts to about 47 boxes of books but we are sharing with Pa and anyone else who might be interested in history.  Sorry, we are not sharing the bookcases.

C=Chris' Birthday

  We met Chris in Kansas City to celebrate his 21st birthday.  It was unusual.  We opened presents and ate cheesecake in a food court at the mall.

D=Days are longer. 

  I love the longer days. Although, now there is no excuse not to walk for exercise.

E=Eating Disorder Awareness Week

 Wearing purple and writing operation beautiful notes took up this week in February.

F=Fencing

  We are in the process of having a new back and side fence installed.  Hopefully, this will keep the canines in.

G=Great News.

  Our fund raisers in January and February were successful and we raised all the money for the service dog.  The dog will arrive in July 27 ad we should receive pictures soon. It is kind of like waiting on a baby to arrive.

H=Hot.

  I will admit we have gotten hot enough to turn on the air conditioner.  I know-what wimps!

I=I have become very busy at work with camp drawing near.

J=Jeni

  Jeni, my best friend for almost 40 years, came for an unexpected visit this last week.

K=Kindle Fire

  Tim joined the world of the electronic reader and loves it.  He did admit the other day that he is as hooked on new electronic gadgets as the younger generation.

L=Lovely

  I had a lovely birthday celebration.  Even received some toys.

M=Mandalay

  What is a Givan post without the pets?

N=Noel   Noel has decided that the dogs are here to stay and she might as well endure.

O=One year anniversary of Kate being home.

Kate and I celebrated by buying the second season of Glee, having a decorated cupcake and eating McDonald's.  Tim was in Colorado so missed the moment but did send flowers.

P=Packer

  This is Jeni's dog who travels with her.  He is about the size that Kate's service dog will be.  Extra Large!

Q=Quiet

  When Kate is in Wichita and Chris at school, it is too quiet at our house.

R=Read

  One of my few hobbies-I still love to read.  (to myself and any little great nieces that might be around)

S=Shona  She has no idea what is in store for her when the big brother or sister arrive in July.

T=Thomas    My poor boy has some issues.  His tummy is bare.  The consensus is that he doesn't fit through the hole in the fence and leaves a little bit of fur behind each time he goes through it.

U=U  We always love to hear what U are doing so don't forget to post when it is your turn.

V=Vacation  Once in a while we go on vacation.  To Colorado and to 

W=Washington D. C.    We had a mini vacation here when we picked up Kate in January.

X=Xtra Special People  

  You are all extra special.

Y=Yardwork

  Yardwork season is here.  We are trying to just do what we can actually maintain.  Sometimes we have a follow through problem with plants and stuff when it gets hot.

Z=ZZZZZZZZZZZ

Good night and good bye till next time.

Love Auntie and Uncle Tim

Updates from the David Johnston family

First of all, who doesn’t love this weather right now?! Adelynn wakes up in the mornings saying “Sigh? Oohs? Sigh?” (Translated: “Outside?, Shoes? Outside?”) She has loved riding in her stroller for some reason. (Odd, I know. But I do not argue.) We went on long walks nearly every morning this week. We would get home and she would say “More walk?” … so off we would go again! No reason not to! Here’s our personal updates:

Dave: Recently he and I discovered the BEST Mexican food in town. Adelynn and I met him for lunch one day at a place a member of our Small Group told us about it. It is Mexican food sold out of a truck. Sound sketchy? Yes. Want to know the name?

It’s Tacos Mary.

Even better, right?? They park on the corner of 4^th and Plum, just a little East of there on the North side of the road. It was awesome!!

His basketball season recently ended, but has one tournament coming up. They only lost one game, and Dave only had one tooth go through one lip during the season. Not bad!
He stays pretty busy with one thing or another. He’s usually fixing a computer or XBOX in the evenings. In fact, he has two for this weekend.

He has also enjoyed the Small Group we host and enjoys doing tech work at church and is looking to expand into doing the sound as well. He is on a committee called the Worship Leadership Committee. They have people from each department of church life; a pastor, a congregational feedback lady, a praise team musician, and elder, etc. Dave represents the whole tech department. Having him on that committee also has been an added bonus for me as a part of the decorating committee. He gets the handouts on each sermon series in advance, so I am able to start brainstorming ahead of time. Pretty handy!

Cassi: I’ve been busy, myself. Our decorating committee is making some major decorating decisions at the church, so we have been looking around and talking about budget, etc. We are still hosting Small Group twice a month and enjoying that. I’m still singing in the praise team and co-coordinating the nursery. We are making some big changes in the nursery as well. We are upping the security and changing some policies, just to make everyone feel more comfortable and secure in leaving their children there! That has also taken a lot of time. Since I am home a lot, I get a lot of ideas for the next things I want to do in the way of home improvement. I have so many paint ideas, decorating, landscaping, etc that I would do tomorrow if it wasn’t so expensive! There will be flowers in the front yard very soon! I picked up a short-term babysitting job that I am excited about. I will have a 3 year old girl and 1 year old boy on Monday and Tuesday mornings through mid-June. I met their Mom at Parents As Teachers. She has been staying home with them, but got a job as a youth pastor in KC. She has been travelling there on Saturday and coming back Tuesday evenings. It will continue that way until June, when they are able to move as her husband’s current job contract will end then. In the meantime, he has been working mornings and working from home in the afternoons Mon and Tues. So they get to come play at our house for a few months. I’m looking forward to it!

There’s always something going on at my blog! http://laughterandlattes.wordpress.com/. There’s a “subscribe” option on the right hand side bar if you’re interested! You get your giggles and caffeine right to your inbox.

Adelynn: is almost 2, going on 22. Sister knows it, too. She’s been busy modeling for Joy Baker, talking, talking, and talking. She has no walk speed, she just runs everywhere. She even likes to tip toe like her Aunt Sarah I believe it more every day that she looks just like her Dad and acts just like her Mom. Her baby pictures are Dave’s baby pictures and her personality is a carbon copy of my baby videos. It’s un.real. Borderline creepy. She’s been big into books, cooking in her kitchen, helping me cook or do dishes in our kitchen, Dora the Explorer, the color pink, the cats, basketballs, stickers, coloring, swinging and bath time. She’s recognizing some colors, beginning to count, and forming sentences. Her longest sentence was 6 consecutive words. Her motor skills are also improving. She’s getting good at throwing balls in the direction she is aiming, and catching when she’s prepared. She’s well rounded socially and emotionally. Although she has a mind of her own (which is good!), she is still generally very compliant and communicates well. She’s a typical toddler in that she likes to say “Mine!”, but overall is very concerned about other people. She’s also compassionate. We met a man in the mall one day who was blind (well, I knew who he was, his Mom was my former teacher – so he wasn’t a stranger). She gave him the longest hug. I literally had to tell her it was time to go and help her down. I love that her big heart shows in her life.

 

Sorry for the bombardment of photos!! It’s been a while since we have shared Joy wanted to use Adelynn as a Valentines Day model this year, so her smiling face will be used in her pamphlet next year (yay for free pictures!) She did the same thing at Christmas for us. She took Adelynn’s 2 year/Spring family pictures on Monday, but the wait time is still a couple of weeks on those. The family picture is one she did on a special occasion just for us since the church directory is going to be very casual this year with everyone submitting their own pictures. We’ve formed such a good friendship with her. She’s fabulous!

We know it’s been close to a year since we moved back to town, but we are still thankful every day that we can be so close to you all once again!!!!

Love,
Dave, Cassi & Adelynn

Tim, Vicki, Erik and Samuel

Hello all

I uploaded a picture! (It is from the day before Thanksgiving - but I'm just learning remember)

We have not had any BIG events other than Grandpa's birthday:) Southwestern is still keeping Tim busy. Right now he is having to PUSH other faculty members to recruit for next year so they can keep the person who was hired for one year contingent on how the department was doing.

He goes to New York the end of next week for a Music Teacher National Board meeting. He is on the board for this mid west region. He'll get to see Mary:)

My work was pretty slow for Jan and Feb but so far Mar is picking up. Have written new insurance for several house purchases. I'm still working with the hand bells at church. They were purchased 25 years ago so we are going to get out all 5 octaves for two pieces on April 15.

Erik says he is looking forward to spring break. We enjoyed having him home the weekend before last. He's a "new" handsome guy with his haircut. (I hope that is OK for Mom to say:)
He said there is a new baby turtle in the greenhouse. It's about the size of a 1/2 dollar. It is now in an acquarium and they are watching for others.

Samuel is also looking forward to spring break. He gets to start his this Thursday. His one big assignment is to clean his room! He is working on his violin solo and Ultimate frisbee practices are picking up. And checking fuses in his car today. It died last night two blocks from home.

Hannah and James are coming to visit the end of this week and Andrew and Katie will be home Thurs-Fri. We are looking forward to that!

Birthday celebration pictures