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| It was a LITTLE windy |
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| Proud to be dressed just like daddy |
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| Trying to prevent him from running away down the flightline... |
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Catching Up - Wentzel Jet Photos 2015
I had a friend in the squadron snap some jet photos for us before we began taking them for everyone else. Since James is in a "deployed" position with Air Force Central Command right now, he has to wear a desert (tan) flight suit to work every day. So he decided to document that in our photos. It's a little weird because it makes it look like he's about to head downrange. But hey - this is our crazy life right now! Here are some of our best shots for your enjoyment. :)
Catching Up - Jet Photos
This year, I once again had the opportunity to take portraits of friends in the squadron in front of the jet. This is always a big morale booster and something people particularly appreciate right before Christmas card season! So many special memories. Thankfully, Grandma Nancy was able to come out and visit at that time so she could keep an eye on Kaden while James and I were out there working all day. It was very tiring, especially since I was about 25 weeks pregnant at the time. It didn't help that it was super sunny (almost blindingly bright), chilly and windy. But thankfully I survived, and we got some great photos. Here are some of my favorites!
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| Cute newlyweds |
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| Our commander and his wife. I did not prompt their son to do this. SO funny! |
Catching Up - Faith Commitments
One of the greatest things about living in Sumter is the church we've gotten involved in. It's called Christ Community Church, and is a growing non-denominational church here in town. It's very similar to the church that we loved in Phoenix and several of our AF friends attend, so we immediately felt like home when we started going in April. The music is great, they have solid preaching, a quality children's ministry, and some wonderful programs that we've gotten plugged into including a couple's Bible study and a mom's ministry. I'd say that a large majority of the church is made up of younger people, but there are some older folks as well. Our Bible study is mostly made up of couples who have high school and college-aged kids, so they have been great mentors to us as we're just starting out as parents. The mom's ministry is also wonderful. There are many older moms who have decided to start meeting with and encouraging younger moms as we all grow through Bible study and prayer. We so appreciate the wisdom they share!
Because we love this church so much, we felt comfortable taking a few big faith steps this year. First, we actually took their membership class and decided to become members while we're here. Second, we finally participated in a baby dedication and publicly committed to raising Kaden to know Christ. Our pastor, Mark, enjoyed getting to know Kaden as we prepared for the dedication and made sure everyone in the audience knew he is ALL BOY. (As if that wasn't obvious by the way he was squirming and jumping around on the stage the whole time.) After Mark introduced us, he had us share some scripture that summarizes our prayer for Kaden as he grows. Then we went down into the audience and several of our close friends came up and surrounded us and prayed over us, which was very special. Here are some photos and some of the information we read out to the church on that day.
At the beginning of November, James and I decided to finally get baptized by immersion. Because we both grew up in Presbyterian churches, we were sprinkled as infants. But as we've studied the Bible and participated in other churches, we've realized that it is important for every believer to make the decision on their own to accept Christ as their savior, and get baptized as a public declaration of that faith. The church leadership encouraged us to do this, and appreciated how difficult and awkward it might be doing this late in the journey as mature believers. But we are excited to now say that we've checked those boxes!
The church recorded a wonderful video of the baptism service, which I'll post below. (We were the last 2 of 5 people baptized, if you want to skip ahead. They had us come in a few days prior to the service and interviewed us about how we came to faith and why we've decided to get baptized. Then we both got dunked!) I thought it was really special that Mark invited James to stay in the water and be there while I was baptized, as a sign of his spiritual leadership in our family. We also joked with Pastor Mark about how I'm pregnant and, although the church does not believe in infant baptism, we're sort of taking care of 2.5 members of our family here. ;^)
Because we love this church so much, we felt comfortable taking a few big faith steps this year. First, we actually took their membership class and decided to become members while we're here. Second, we finally participated in a baby dedication and publicly committed to raising Kaden to know Christ. Our pastor, Mark, enjoyed getting to know Kaden as we prepared for the dedication and made sure everyone in the audience knew he is ALL BOY. (As if that wasn't obvious by the way he was squirming and jumping around on the stage the whole time.) After Mark introduced us, he had us share some scripture that summarizes our prayer for Kaden as he grows. Then we went down into the audience and several of our close friends came up and surrounded us and prayed over us, which was very special. Here are some photos and some of the information we read out to the church on that day.
We chose the name Kaden Michael Wentzel because Kaden means "fighter", and Micahel is for the archangel Michael, who is the leader of God's armies. Our prayer when he was born, and as we dedicate him, is that he will grow up to become a strong spiritual warrior.
James read this scripture for Kaden: "I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart..." Jeremiah 1:5 (NLT)
We hung this verse in a frame inside Kaden's nursery. We love this short excerpt because it illustrates that God created Kaden and knows him completely, and that he has set our child apart. But we also love it within the greater context of the passage (Jer. 1:4-10) because God calls a young person to do big things, and tells him not to worry about his youth or inexperience because God will send him, protect him, and teach him what to say. Our prayer is that Kade would come to know God that intimately, answer His calling and be obedient in following whatever path God lays before him.
At the beginning of November, James and I decided to finally get baptized by immersion. Because we both grew up in Presbyterian churches, we were sprinkled as infants. But as we've studied the Bible and participated in other churches, we've realized that it is important for every believer to make the decision on their own to accept Christ as their savior, and get baptized as a public declaration of that faith. The church leadership encouraged us to do this, and appreciated how difficult and awkward it might be doing this late in the journey as mature believers. But we are excited to now say that we've checked those boxes!
The church recorded a wonderful video of the baptism service, which I'll post below. (We were the last 2 of 5 people baptized, if you want to skip ahead. They had us come in a few days prior to the service and interviewed us about how we came to faith and why we've decided to get baptized. Then we both got dunked!) I thought it was really special that Mark invited James to stay in the water and be there while I was baptized, as a sign of his spiritual leadership in our family. We also joked with Pastor Mark about how I'm pregnant and, although the church does not believe in infant baptism, we're sort of taking care of 2.5 members of our family here. ;^)
Tuesday, December 15, 2015
Catching Up - Thousand Year Flood
In early October we weathered the historic "Thousand Year Flood" that devastated so much of South Carolina. The term "thousand year flood" does not mean this only happens once in a thousand years. It actually refers to the statistical probability of a storm like this occurring during the year. But still - it was really, really bad.
We got stuck in the middle of a strange weather pattern, where a line of strong storms just kept building and moving through the same area dumping feet of rain on us for days on end. It started like a normal rain storm, with consistent heavy precipitation. People predicted it was going to be a big deal, but we didn't realize how bad it might be.
I remember waking up around 3:45 am on Sunday, October 4th and hearing incredibly heavy rain pounding against the side of the house. James and I got up and peeked out the windows and were alarmed to see that the level of our pond out back had risen dramatically and was beginning to flood the back yards of our neighbors across the water. Needless to say, we had a hard time sleeping through the gale. At six am I finally couldn't take it and got up. The water was continuing to rise and all of the local weather agencies were declaring a state of emergency as there was no end to the downpour in sight. I didn't know how long our clean water and power might last. (The cable went out for a while that morning which didn't bode well.) So I went into emergency preparedness-mode and started gathering flashlights and matches, clean water, first aid supplies, etc. We started filling coolers with ice while preparing enough food to feed us for a few days if we lost power or (heaven forbid) had to move upstairs because the lower level of our house flooded. By that time, the water was so high on the street outside that we didn't think we could safely leave. And anyway... where would we go? Everyone else had it just as bad, if not worse.
Thankfully, we were fortunate. The water level stopped rising later on Sunday afternoon and never came any closer to our house than our back fence line. But there were many, many others who were not so fortunate. After receiving 18-26" of rain in one weekend, there was A LOT of damage. Roads were washed away, dams burst, houses and businesses were flooded, vehicles lost. Much of the State was under a boil-water advisory for days afterward since the flooding messed with the sewers and plumbing. Another couple in the 79th FS were out of town for the weekend and came home to find that both of their vehicles had been swept away and their entire house was underwater. They lost everything! Below are a couple of images from the local area I pulled off of social media. You can see how there are houses about a 5 minute drive from here that were just sitting in water. It took weeks for many of the roads and bridges to be repaired after all the damage.
It was also humbling and inspiring seeing how everyone banded together to support those in need. People took homeless neighbors in, we donated food and clothing and anything else they might need to get back on their feet. Teams from our church, and many others, worked to help gut and clean out homes that were destroyed in the flooding, and to care for those dealing with this sudden, devastating loss.
I'm so thankful that we were largely unharmed by the flood. It was certainly inconvenient having to boil our water for a week. But it could have been so much worse. Thanks to all those who were praying for us in the middle of the crisis! We appreciate it.
We got stuck in the middle of a strange weather pattern, where a line of strong storms just kept building and moving through the same area dumping feet of rain on us for days on end. It started like a normal rain storm, with consistent heavy precipitation. People predicted it was going to be a big deal, but we didn't realize how bad it might be.
I remember waking up around 3:45 am on Sunday, October 4th and hearing incredibly heavy rain pounding against the side of the house. James and I got up and peeked out the windows and were alarmed to see that the level of our pond out back had risen dramatically and was beginning to flood the back yards of our neighbors across the water. Needless to say, we had a hard time sleeping through the gale. At six am I finally couldn't take it and got up. The water was continuing to rise and all of the local weather agencies were declaring a state of emergency as there was no end to the downpour in sight. I didn't know how long our clean water and power might last. (The cable went out for a while that morning which didn't bode well.) So I went into emergency preparedness-mode and started gathering flashlights and matches, clean water, first aid supplies, etc. We started filling coolers with ice while preparing enough food to feed us for a few days if we lost power or (heaven forbid) had to move upstairs because the lower level of our house flooded. By that time, the water was so high on the street outside that we didn't think we could safely leave. And anyway... where would we go? Everyone else had it just as bad, if not worse.
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| The street out in front of our house |
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| Our view out the back |
Thankfully, we were fortunate. The water level stopped rising later on Sunday afternoon and never came any closer to our house than our back fence line. But there were many, many others who were not so fortunate. After receiving 18-26" of rain in one weekend, there was A LOT of damage. Roads were washed away, dams burst, houses and businesses were flooded, vehicles lost. Much of the State was under a boil-water advisory for days afterward since the flooding messed with the sewers and plumbing. Another couple in the 79th FS were out of town for the weekend and came home to find that both of their vehicles had been swept away and their entire house was underwater. They lost everything! Below are a couple of images from the local area I pulled off of social media. You can see how there are houses about a 5 minute drive from here that were just sitting in water. It took weeks for many of the roads and bridges to be repaired after all the damage.
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| This was taken on HWY 521, just a little north of us |
It was also humbling and inspiring seeing how everyone banded together to support those in need. People took homeless neighbors in, we donated food and clothing and anything else they might need to get back on their feet. Teams from our church, and many others, worked to help gut and clean out homes that were destroyed in the flooding, and to care for those dealing with this sudden, devastating loss.
I'm so thankful that we were largely unharmed by the flood. It was certainly inconvenient having to boil our water for a week. But it could have been so much worse. Thanks to all those who were praying for us in the middle of the crisis! We appreciate it.
Catching Up - Fall Fun
"Fall" in the south doesn't properly begin until late October or early November. But we were thankful for SLIGHTLY cooler temperatures in September that allowed us to get outside quite a bit more and play. Kaden has developed quite the passion for golf so most weekends you could find us at the putting green on base. Other times we'd be out taking walks around the neighborhood or playing at local parks.
The change of seasons did bring a few chilly, rainy days with it. We celebrated by decorating the house for fall and baking some seasonal treats! Kaden loves to help in the kitchen and gets very excited every time I mention the word "muffin".
At the end of September, we hosted an open house for the squadron. It doubled as a fun fall dessert sampler and birthday party for James. We had about 9 couples show up and tasted far too many delicious pumpkin and apple desserts to describe. Mostly it was just good to be spending time with friends and building relationships after a rocky summer.
In October, the squadron ladies painted festive wooden door hangers at a "Cork & Canvas" party. We had fun painting, eating and comparing notes on how we prepare for the holidays. I was quite proud of my finished product (and it's currently hanging on our front door!)
Later in October, I had the opportunity to attend a one day women's retreat, run through our church. We all met at a farm about 20 minutes from here and heard a great speaker and spent some time seriously considering what it means to be emulating our Shepherd and serving as gatekeepers for our fellow believers. It was so refreshing to take a brief break from parenting and just focus on my faith and getting to know some of the other amazing women in our church! The scenery wasn't bad either. ;^)
On October 29th, my friend Jordan and I had a fun girl's night out. We drove up to Charlotte to see my brother's band, Judah & the Lion, in concert. As always, the guys put on a great show. I think our baby girl enjoyed her first rock concert!
We chose not to really celebrate Halloween this year. Kaden is easily frightened and we didn't think it would be good for him to be out seeing some of the scary costumes of the bigger kids. He did dress up in a flight suit for his preschool's costume parade (see his preschool blog for pictures). But we spent the evening holed up in our dark living room, watching Star Wars and hiding from overzealous trick-or-treaters.
In November, the leaves on the trees here FINALLY started to turn. We weren't able to make a trip up to the mountains to see the gorgeous fall foliage up there, but we did get a taste of the famous East Coast color right in our front yard!
We may not have had the energy to get out and do any big trips this fall, but we did try to find fun, smaller outings we could do with Kaden. I had seen the Carolina Children's Garden in Columbia advertised online and thought that might be a fun thing to check out one weekend. They had a big sandbox and some fun play houses and outdoor sitting areas themed like popular children's books. We could tell this would be a fun place to visit in the summer when the flowers were blooming and the landscape was better maintained. But Kaden didn't seem to mind. He could have played in that sandbox all day!
Over all, we enjoyed getting out and exploring the local area this fall. I had a bit more energy and so we got out of the house as much as possible. I'm so thankful James did not have to deploy so he could be here to spend so much quality time making memories with our growing boy!
Catching Up - Baby Girl!
We couldn't wait to find out the gender of our new baby, so we made an appointment at the local 4D ultrasound studio in town as soon as we could viably tell. The baby was very modest and refused to open its legs for a long time. But, finally, after several breaks to stretch and walk around, we caught just enough of a glimpse to tell: we were expecting a baby girl! That didn't really surprise us. With the way this pregnancy had been so different, it makes sense that we've got a little girl growing in there. Here are some of the announcement photos we took, and a couple (not great) ultra sounds!
We can't wait to meet our baby girl!
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| Adding a little pink to the mix |
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| Our little bean at 11 weeks |
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| Hiding during her 4D ultrasound |
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| Profile at 20 weeks. |
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| 21 Weeks |
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| 25 weeks |
We can't wait to meet our baby girl!
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