Happy 4th!

We had a wonderful 4th with Scott's side of the family. We have a big bash each year-- lots of food and fun! Scott will spend all weekend smoking a Boston butt complete with his special bbq sauce! YUM!

The highlight is always the fireworks show that Scott, his dad, his uncle, and Luke put together for us. It has gotten bigger, better, and louder each year! All the neighbors come out to watch and cars even pulled over this year to view it! Uncle Chris hooked up speakers and we had patriotic music blaring for all to hear!

Happy birthday, America! We are so blessed to live here!

Luke passes swim test

A couple of years back, the Y instituted a new swim policy. In order to swim unattended without a vest, kids must pass a swim test.  They must do freestyle or breaststroke about 1/3 the length of the lap pool.... quite a good distance. We didn't even attempt this last year with Luke-- he was still not really "swimming".... But, thanks to swim lessons with Mrs. Becca earlier this month, he passed the test yesterday on his first attempt! He was so proud! :)

It is really amazing seeing your kids grow and mature-- watching them take on things and learning and developing their skills and talents. Makes me wonder what areas they will excel in and pursue...

"Time to Make the Doughnuts!"

Went out with some great girlfriends last night! So fun to have time with dear friends who have been by your side through the good times and bad for almost 20 years!

We shared about husbands, kids, family, and our crazy lives! One of the gals said she told her husband that so far this summer she had felt like the old Dunkin' Donuts commercial-- "Time to make the doughnuts!" Exactly! It has been a jam-packed summer!

We have had camps every week of June-- swim, baseball, gymnastics, basketball! Whew!

Scott and I also celebrated 18 years together in June! :) What a great time we have had! Looking forward to the years ahead!

Hello, Again, Hello

S0-- after much soul-searching and thought... I have firmly recommitted to blogging again. It's not that the draw to facebook has faded... it is that I realized I was no longer documenting any details of the day-to-day happenings of my life....

After witnessing the passing of a much beloved mother-- the grieving of her family and daughter-- and a visit to her BLOG... I decided I MUST blog. I want to be able to look back on these snippets of time and be able to re-read some type of archive of what took place during my brief time here... And-- perhaps Scott, Luke and Caroline will find comfort in it one day, too.

Perhaps it has not been the busy-ness of life that has kept me away as much as the daunting task of trying to keep up with it all! The concept of trying to recapture ALL that happens is too much! So-- I will try to limit my posts to the highlights and most memorable moments, thoughts, and adventures!

I'm off to a meeting now-- but, I will post more later!

AW

ZOE-- Midland, Texas

Just got back from a great weekend at the Golf Course Road church in Midland. A wonderful time of fellowship and praise.

You can see photos on the ZOE facebook fan page.

Off to New Orleans and then Malibu! April is a BUSY month! :) -- oh, yeah-- and there are the many Easter activities on the calendar as well starting this week!

AW

New Year Wishes

Well-- once again I have fallen down on the job as far as my blog goes.... I just can't seem to find the time to get over here-- or, more importantly... I can't seem to find the time to ponder anything long enough to have any thoughts worth journaling about!! :) My blog used to mainly be a weekly update about life in the Westerman house but now I pretty much just post photos and updates on facebook. Although quick and easy, it doesn't give me the lasting archive that the blog does... so, I am vowing yet again to start coming back here.

We had a great Christmas and New Year... Luke started playing basketball and had his first game. He is loving it! He got a Nintendo DSi for Christmas and wants to play it all the time. Caroline is as energetic as ever and such fun! Her Christmas ballet recital was precious! She makes such a cute ballerina!

I am gearing up for the next consignment sale on March 5-6th. I am also trying to coordinate the Women's ministry at church now-- and I have a lot to figure out as far as the best way to make that happen-- and not lose my mind in the process! :)

God is good... my kids are precious... I adore my husband. Who could ask for anything more?

Hope your 2010 is off to a good start, too!

Donald Miller & North Atlanta

One of the best reads I have had lately is Donald Miller's A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. The main theme of the book is centered around "story" and our role in the bigger "story" that God has planned for us. It struck a cord with me, and I was thrilled when I saw he was coming to Nashville. A gang of us from Otter Creek attended, and it was great! You can read some excerpts yourself here.

ZOE was blessed to travel to the North Atlanta Church of Christ this past weekend, too. They were in the process of celebrating a 40-day journey of compassion. The church gave away over a million dollars to its members and challenged them to use it in whatever ways they felt called to show compassion and the love of Christ to others. Sunday, the members shared the many ways they had encountered Christ through these acts of kindness.

It is always a powerful reminder to us that when we GIVE, we come to know HIM better.