Let's Try This Again

19 months since my last post.  Wow.  Time flies by so fast.  I have often thought to sit down and write some posts but as writing is not easy and more of a chore than joy to me it is oh so easy to let other activities take my attention.  Now that I have my excuse out of the way, let me attempt to bring you up to date on what has been happening around these parts the last year and nine months.

     July, 2011 saw my wife and two of three children immigrate legally from the Philippines to the U.S.  The third child is attending college in the Philippines.  This immigration process is pretty slow and costly.  I often joked that it would have been cheaper and faster to fly them to Mexico and walk them across the border.  Once in the country, they would not be sent home since our government would not separate  a family!  Anyway, they are here legally.
     August, 2011 brought school days to this household in ways never experienced before.  Public school for the first time.  Since my first wife (Joyce) and I home schooled our children we were exempted from the "joys" of public school.  John (4th grade) and Shekinah (3rd grade) did really well in school considering they were handicapped in language and experiential knowledge.  They both ended up on the A and B honor roll.
     September - December, 2011  Two fun examples of experiential knowledge learned during this time would be:  Not only does snow cover the ground but it falls from the sky.  Having seen pictures of snow Shekinah knew snow covered the ground, but missed the fact that it actually fell from the sky.  So one missed question on an assignment due to the lack of experiential knowledge. Another example is when the temperature dropped to 70 degrees in the Fall, all three were freezing and thought snow must be just around the corner.  Never experiencing temperatures below 75 degrees brought days of endless wonderment as each noticeable drop in temperatures brought the prospect of snow that much closer.  Finally in October I told them that before snow came the trees would lose their leaves.  This declaration brought funny looks and countless questions and discussions and the realization that there are four seasons in the year.  Needless to say, it has been a year of learning adventures for these three new Americans.
     January - April, 2012 found Christie and I visiting a mid-wife on regular occasions in preparations for our soon to come baby. 
     April 13, 2012 is the day Zebediah Buyan Hall was born and my life reverted back 30 years to the last time there was a baby in my house. 

Which brings us to the event of the day.  This morning (August 2, 2012) at 3:30 a.m. Zebediah turned over by himself.   Forget the Olympics.  This far surpasses anything that will be accomplished in London today.  And so a new day dawns and it is onward and upward (and another diaper to be changed.) 

Also of note.  I will not wait another 19 months to post again.