Jonah got confirmed (5/1/22). "You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name." (Ps 61:5)
Daniel was Sherlock Holmes in the play Young Sherlock (5/2/22) and Edmund in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.
Saw the Schroeders four times! They came 5/14/22, and we learned about peanut butter whiskey. They came again 9/13/22; Karl went with Daniel to confirmation class. Karianne, Daniel, and I went to Massachusetts for Karl's confirmation on 10/30/22. John 14:27. And they came 4/8/23, so we celebrated Easter together.
Saw the Bishops twice. They came 6/10/22; the water heater leaked while they were here, and we had to shut off water to the house. They came again for New Years, and the kids put on a play called Mutated Passion. Jonah kissed a styrofoam head wearing a pink wig. Heavy use of the fog machine.
Daniel and Levi went to tennis camp. Jonah and Thomas went to Camp Lone Star. Jonah got an absolutely massive splinter under his fingernail that was stuck there all week and had to be removed by a medical professional. Karianne and Kaeta went to Milwaukee to visit the Wards (6/27/22).
Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court (6/24/22).
We took a family road trip to Montana for the Higher Things conference. We all rode around Lindsborg, Kansas on a quadricycle. In South Dakota, we saw the Crazy Horse memorial, Mount Rushmore, and Badlands National Park. In Wyoming, we went to Grand Teton and Yellowstone. In Montana, we stayed at a "Lutheran B&B" (a Pastor's wife's basement, very nice actually!) and went to Glacier Natl Park (not on our original itenerary, but there was flooding in north Yellowstone, so we changed our plans). In Bozeman, we spent a week at Higher Things with the Copelands.
Karianne's uncle Dave died (7/19/22) while we were on our trip.
Jonah and I got covid right after getting home from Higher Things (July '22). Mom and Dad got covid (January '23). Kaeta got mono (Feb '23); symptoms took about 2 months to clear up (mostly). Kaeta and I got strep (April '23).
Diana Pier, a friend of the Leikams, was murdered on the side of the road in Florence.
I went to the NetGalley Hack-a-thon in Utah.
Kaeta got her drivers license (8/16/22). Jonah got his permit (2/24/23).
The boys and I floated the San Marcos River w/ a group from church. I started teaching the 6-10 year old Sunday School class. I helped Pastor release an electronic edition of his book. We went on our family's eleventh church campout at McKinney Falls, where Jim Stewart set up a camp kitchen that blew our minds.
We got a new dishwasher. Life improved dramatically.
Vivax Pros painted the exterior of our house, and painted the front door blue.
Kaeta and I went to a Front Bottoms concert for her birthday. We went to Six Flags in San Antonio for Daniel's birthday. Daniel, Lily, Mom, and I went to Cirque du Soleil: Corteo.
Laurie found out she has stage 4 kidney cancer (10/23/22). Mom and I visited her and Sue for Thanksgiving (11/22/22). I did her taxes.
Jonah started coming to FOLD (10/27/22) and also began ushering.
Kaeta and Jonah got a cat (Skeletor) from Austin Pets Alive while the rest of us were in Massachusetts, but I made them return her. Kaeta quit her job at Chick-Fil-A (November 2022).
We celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary. We stayed at a B&B in Waco, nice dinner, Magnolia, Texas Ranger museum.
A massive ice storm caused tons of limbs to break off of trees all over the city. "Arborgeddon." I bought a chainsaw, and the boys and I hauled ours into a big pile in the front yard.
Starting in February 2023, Daniel and I begin going to the Austin Ukulele society each month. "You're Just Too Good to Be True" (Frankie Vallie), "Linger" (The Cranberries), "Livin' on a Prayer" (Bon Jovi).
Karianne started Little Somethings and quickly became a keychain mogul, making hundreds of "Shine" theme keychains for American Heritage Girls groups. And she had a table at Dale's in Walburg for Texas Independence Day (3/2) and San Jacinto Day (4/22).
Jonah went on a date (sort of) with a girl after sending her a candygram on Valentine's Day. It said, "If you were a triangle, you'd be acute one."
Daniel got fish (Strawberry the beta, plus 4 neon tetras).
Tim Meyer took Kaeta to prom (3/31), and they started dating. "My boyfriend is 6'4"."