Fishing!

We spent the Independence Day weekend at the cabin at Leesville Lake. It was a warm weekend, but very relaxing. Lincoln rode in the boat for the first time, and went fishing for the first time!Today we went down to visit the Craft family. It's been a while since we've seen Elise (we used to catch up with her on our trips to Arizona, but she's now in Minnesota), and it's been even longer since we've seen her brother, Eric. He's been serving in Afghanistanand Okinawa, and he's about to head over to Kuwait. So it was very nice to catch up and to see Baby Ryann, who's 8 months old and not a bit short on personality!

Vans

A shout out to Aunt Haley is in order!

Well, Lincoln slept through a good part of the Buckeyes' opener. That's okay, though... he didn't need to see the Buckeyes act like the game was in the bag in the second and third quarter only to make a game of it in the fourth. Don't sleep on Navy. He also needed to get a nap in before Elise's shower. Jenn and I got to spend some time with Elise and also got to see Michelle, Chris and Grady before we left. Michelle's currently looking at buying into a clinic,

Elise is just getting started.

which sounds awfully familiar, although the circumstances around her opportunity are quite different from mine: he former mentor and veterinarian died a tragic death and now the practice is for sale. Very sad to think about. So when she told her current employer about this, they offered her a buy-in to keep her around. What a dilemma. But back to Elise, it was a neat evening with some great food, and she got a good bunch of things for Isabella. Lincoln was a very good boy during the evening, and actually stayed up pretty late, well past his bed-time. We arrived home around 8:30ish, but Lincoln didn't want to sleep in this morning. Surprise.

Right now he's eating a whole piece of toast, breaking of a bite at a time. It's pretty funny to watch.

Sometime in the middle of the night, prompted by some recent events and encounters, I thought about how God so often works out good for those who aren't even seeking Him. Romans 8:28-29 comes to mind when thinking about people who love God, but I'm so glad that the LORD will literally seek out men and women who aren't interested in pursuing Him. I recalled the story of Jonah. Often the focus of this story is Jonah and the fish, but what ought to receive equal attention is that the LORD wanted to bring the people of Nineveh into relationship with Him. It is a prayer of the Gates family that those whom God is pursuing will respond to His love.

No Fiesta

News Bulletin: Jenn and Ryan have not fallen off the face of the earth.

It's been a while since we've posted, and I know the out-of-towners are anxious for more pictures of Lincoln, but Jenn and I have been busy lately, and we haven't had much to post about. I could go on and on about the Buckeyes, but I can summarize by saying they had flashes of brilliance and flashes of idiocy. And I'm just not thrilled with the strategy behind the Buckeyes. They're a conservative offense with some spice mixed in. I'd rather see a spicy offense with a little blah mixed in.

The latest news: Jenn is interested in moving. She's been talking with Joe (our realtor, an extremely good man) and Aaron (the branch manager at our bank) about houses, selling prices, mortgages, etc. If we can sell our house for a good number, we could actually upgrade to a house with 4 bedrooms in the Cuyahoga Falls area and pay about 10-15% less of monthly mortgage payment on a 30-year-fixed than we're paying right now. So we're in the information-gathering phase.

As a blast from the past, I'm now able to share some pictures with you from Elise's Bridal Shower that Jenn threw last summer.

Mom made the nametags for the guests and they were very well received.

Jenn went the extra mile with everything from settings to food to drinks.

It rained several inches during the morning before the shower, but Chris and I improvised and sheltered the deck.

You'll never get another coffee shop scone after you've had one of Jenn's scones.

The French Toast was unbelievable. It had a Praline Pecan crust that was like dessert for breakfast.

After brunch, there was a warm time of toasts, stories and gifts. (Jenn was a total knockout!)

Poop on a Plane

The story that must kick off this blog is the Poop on a Plane story. I've referred in previous posts to Lincoln's ability to be inconvenient. For instance, when he should have been napping during the afternoon in Phoenix he was crying, so Jenn and I took him on a drive. Rather than going to sleep, he talked to himself for most of the drive, then fell asleep when we pulled into Grandfather Dave's neighborhood. How convenient. So on the plane from Phoenix to Chicago, Lincoln had his own seat. He didn't travel the greatest, but he wasn't too bad. Having his own seat gave us plenty of space to move him around.

But... on the plane from Chicago to Cleveland he didn't have his own seat. Further, we were sitting by a guy that wasn't the most friendly. So Jenn was holding Lincoln on her lap, and right in the middle of the ascent she looked at me and said, "I think he pooped." She extended her hand to me, asking me to smell her sleeve. He had pooped. We couldn't go to the bathroom because the seatbelt light was still lit. We had to wait it out.

It stunk. Bad.

Then she moved Lincoln and saw that there were large poop marks on her shirt. Holy cow. So we proceeded to change his diaper right there on Jenn's lap. The flight attendant had to bring us a Blackberry-Smelling-Spray to make the area smell better. Poop was everywhere (we had fed him acorn squash, bananas & rice cereal the previous week), and it was definitely taking on the form of a baby-eating-solids poop. That's a time we'll never forget. Now, moving on to more pleasant things...

I've mentioned Lincoln's Exersaucer in previous posts. He loves it. In fact, when we arrived back home from Phoenix, he was thrilled to be back in it. When he first stood in it his toes barely touched the bottom. Now, it won't be much longer until we have to raise the level on it so he's not too tall for it.

"I must put one in my mouth, which one should it be?"

"I'm not sure about the orange one."

"But the green one... hmmm."

"I can't decide!"

"I'll let you know when I've made up my mind."

But enough of that fun. Can you tell we like to take pictures of him? Lincoln's actually been enjoying watching us review the pictures on the MacBook. It's not as if he knows what he's looking at, but he'll figure it out.

Last evening Jenn and I drove down to The Pines Golf Club for the Kretow reception. Both the Crafts and the Kretows were wonderful hosts and they put on a great party. The biggest surprise of the evening was up on the big screen. Before 8:00pm there was a slide show playing of the wedding, then after 8:00 they showed the OSU/Penn St. game (what a downer). But in the middle of the first quarter, the game was turned off, and up on the screen came Eric Craft, Elise's brother who is stationed in Kandahar, Afgahanistan.

Michelle Wisecup & Elise Kretow with the bloggers

Friends of the Crafts arranged to hook up with him via satellite over the internet. And it was actually Eric's birthday, so everyone at the reception sang Happy Birthday to him. Wow. It was really neat.  (Please take a moment now and pray for Eric, that God will protect him, keep him safe at his job, and return him safely home.  Thank you.)

Also at the reception was the Wisecup family. Michelle was a classmate of ours at Ohio State (and the shortstop on our Championship Softball team). She and her husband, Chris, have a son named Grady who is 5 weeks older than Lincoln. What a cutie. It was amazing to see the types of things that Grady was doing and knowing that Lincoln will be at that stage in just a few weeks. Grady loves to walk with assistance. He doesn't like to crawl, just walk. Given Lincoln's anti-fondness to all things belly-side-down, he just may shun crawling in favor of walking, too.  And Chris and Michelle seem to be doing well, too!

Home life is going well, too. Lincoln is consistently going to bed by 7:30-7:45pm which gives Jenn and I good time to spend with each other. Jenn's been cooking some wonderful dishes for us lately and that's been fun, as well.

I've referred to our Community Group in the past that Jenn and I really have enjoyed. This is in a state of limbo right now, though. Hudson Chapel has been moving forward with expansion plans, and this includes planting a church south of Hudson in the Stow/Kent area. They've been recruiting members to be a part of that plant, and 6 of the 10 in our original Community Group have decided to move. That leaves us and our good friends, Shaun and Jessica Kiel, behind at Hudson. Plans are underway now to find other left-behind folks and new folks to start up a new CG. This has been both frustrating and somewhat exciting at the same time... tough to put into writing.

Things are definitely cooling off here and looking like a legitimate autumn. It's a time that the Gates family enjoys.  Thanks to all who have recently left comments on the blog. We love hearing from you. And thanks for visiting our blog. There are lots of ways for you to spend your time during the day, and we're appreciative that you're interested in how things are going with the Gateses.

Monday in Phoenix

Lincoln loves swim-time with his Mommy.

We've had a big weekend in Phoenix.  It took Lincoln two days to get back into the routine, but he was an all-star on Saturday and Sunday.  Haley had a couple of soccer matches on Saturday, and another one on Sunday that we got to enjoy (Lincoln stayed home... either too late or too much sun).  The scores weren't too good, but Haley played well.

Haley in hot pursuit of the ball.

Lincoln has continued to enjoy the pool. Without his Exersaucer, we've had to find some other things for him to do that he doesn't bore him quickly. Swimming has provided that for him and us. He's still not interested in splashing, but we'll work on that some other time.  The pool is situated very conveniently with about half of the pool in the afternoon shade which allows us to keep from covering him with sunscreen.  

On Sunday afternoon and evening we had our mega-birthday party for Great Grandpa Mullen, me, Elise & Haley.  We had some good food and some good times hanging out.  Elise and Paul are doing well and enjoying their first week of marriage.  It's funny how Jenn and I haven't been able to see them in many months, and after next weekend, we'll have seen them three times in a two-week span.  Crazy.

Jenn and I have had lots of opportunities to read to Lincoln, as well, on this trip. Right now we're in the middle of The Swiss Family Robinson in one of his Disney Books. I'd mentioned in a previous post how some of the stories are politically incorrect.  In this summary of The Swiss Family Robinson they make special mention of the family praying for thanksgiving and protection.  I'm not sure if they'll include that portion of the story in the movie that's set to come out next year.  It's funny to watch him while we're reading to him because he'll often play with his toys or do a lot of "talking" which may lead you to believe he's not interested in being read to, but as soon as we stop reading to him he looks at us as if to say, "Go on..." And then we get back to the story and he often gets back to his toys or "talking." It's quite humorous.

Morning Story Time: The Swiss Family Robinson

Today Jenn and I drove around to look at some of Scottsdale and WOW! are there some amazing homes and developments around here. We drove over to Pinnacle Peak and saw a gated community called Troon with unbelievable homes and a golf course. There were gigantic homes with (by Scottsdale's standards) enormous yards. The only bummer about the yards is that they're full of cacti. Anyway, we estimated that the homes are worth several millions, but you know what they say, if you have to ask...  Who knows, maybe when we're ready to purchase a second home we'll look into it.

On completely separate subjects:  1) I never thought I'd see a Jim Tressel coached team win a Big Ten game against an upper-tier opponent 45-7.  Saturday is going to be HUGE!  2)  Brady Quinn Time ought to be fast approaching.

Charleston down, Phoenix to go

Jenn and I are in the middle of our pair of October trips.  It's been a whirlwind, but we can handle it.

The porch of The Palmer Home looked out into Charleston Harbor.

Last weekend we went to Charleston for Elise and Paul's wedding.  The wedding was at The Palmer Home, and was beautiful, very intimate, and a pleasure to attend.  The reception at Fulton Five was wonderful, with great food and fun conversation.  It was a very small wedding, with only Elise's & Paul's parents, Paul's brother & sister-in-law, a friend of the Craft's, an intern-mate of Elise's from OSU, Paul's best friend, the pastor, and Jenn & me.

Jenn said these shoes, while they looked fantastic, were designed by someone very evil.

Fourteen in all... the smallest wedding we've ever been to.  Jenn looked like a total knockout, though her shoes did a number on her feet.  The uneven sidewalks throughout Charleston didn't help.  But did I mention she looked great!

The travel to and from the wedding... not so good.  It started on our first flight.  Jenn and I had awakened at 3:30 on Saturday morning to begin our trip.  We arrived at the airport on time, but we didn't board the plane on time.  No big deal, it wasn't too delayed, we thought.  As soon as the plane was boarded, the captain informed us that Air Traffic Control said that there was more traffic than anticipated in Atlanta and that we were going to wait on the runway in Akron for 45 minutes.  Interesting, because Jenn and I had a 65 minute layover in Atlanta, and have you ever been to the Atlanta airport? Additionally, the couple in front of us had a 75 minute layover before their trip to Shanghai!  Now I've been on delayed flights before where the flight attendants have been helpful by allowing those with the biggest rush to deboard the plane first.  Not this time.  Once we got to Atlanta after the 1:40 flight (we were told it would be 1:08), we were left on the tarmac past the E terminal, loaded on a bus that took us to the E terminal, and left to fend for ourselves.  Jenn and I ran to the B terminal and got on the plane 5 minutes before the door was closed.  Whew!  Dodged that one!

Waiting for Suitcase

Then I turned to Jenn and said, "Our bag probably didn't make it."

At the Charleston airport we waited at baggage claim until all of the bags were claimed.  Except ours.  So we went to the Delta counter and were informed that our bag was on the next flight, but that they could deliver it to us in the city by 6:00pm.  The wedding was at 4:00pm.  The person smiled at us and suggested we wait until the flight arrived.  Jenn was not happy, nor was I.  We were going to be in Charleston less than 24 hours and an additional 2 (?) hours would be spent in the airport!

So our bag finally came, and, to make a long story short, we were essentially swindled out of more money by our two cab drivers (to and from the airport).  Not a bunch of money, actually less than $10, but enough to leave a sour taste in my mouth.

On the way home on Sunday, flights were delayed, schedules weren't adequately coordinated... we just weren't real impressed with Delta and the way things went.  So from this day forward, it's going to take a lot to convince us to fly anything other than Southwest.

During this ordeal, Lincoln was staying with his Grandparents Gates and was on his best behavior.  He slept until 8:00am both mornings!!!  He didn't cry at all during the weekend.  He was our little champ.  He even grew a little while we were gone.  Then when he came home, he cried for 40 minutes before going to sleep at night.  He definitely knows how to perform for his Grandparents!

Which brings us to our next trip to see his Grandma Laura and Grandfather Dave.  Days until Phoenix:  1!!!  Lincoln had a blow-out poopy diaper yesterday while Teresa (of ORU fame) was watching him, so he shouldn't be uncomfortable during the plane ride.  He can't wait to see his Aunt Haley!

On another subject, Lincoln was with Teresa during the late afternoon hours on Monday because Mom and Dad and Grandma Gates were at an event for my Aunt Mary Sue.  For the first time, an "All-County Teaching Team" was named, and Aunt Mary Sue was awarded the top Private School teacher in the county!  Of course the Teacher of the Year award went to an Akron Public School teacher (it's no doubt political), but that doesn't diminish Aunt Mary Sue's recognition at all.  What an honor for her and for Chapel Hill Christian School!

Calvin & Hobbes

It's the weekend and things are going okay.  Lincoln went to his Grandma Paulette & Grandpa Doug's house last night while Jenn and I went to The Olive Garden (yum), and he slept the whole time we were gone.  Figures.  

This morning I was having some fun with him with the camera, just taking lots of useless pictures, and he was making some funny faces.  It reminded me of the old Calvin & Hobbes comics when Calvin's dad tried to take a good picture of him and the entire comic was taken up with goofy pictures of Calvin.  Ha!  Then it got me thinking:  I need to read through the old C&H books.  Lincoln will be that age soon, and it's funny to get into the minds of little boys.

Nice to hear from Luk & Holly!  I've now linked you on the right.  Mullers:  I need to add your site!  It's nice to follow how other families are doing.  We enjoy checking in with the Hammersmiths, and we'd enjoy checking in with others, as well.

Pictures from Elise, Michelle & Grady's visit:

Post OVMA

We had a good time in Columbus.  It was nice to catch up with Elise, and we had dinner with Michelle, too.  Jenn and I also ran into some other classmates, but you wouldn't recognize any of their names.  Jenn found that sitting for hours at a time did not make her feel better.  She was much more comfortable walking around than sitting in lectures.  After a long day of listening, we'd go back to our room and she'd lay down to relax and her belly would move all over the place as Lincoln woke up from his nap.

We got the invitation to a shower that some friends from church are throwing for Jenn.  It's both cool and humbling at the same time.

It's also getting to the the point where it's hitting us that very shortly there's going to be a little person living in our house.  The pregnancy stage has (had) been cute, but things are starting to get pretty real now.