I took Jonah to his first cubing competition (5/6/23). We left at 3:30am to drive to Denton, he competed, and we got home by 9pm. He met his goals (a sub-15 second average and a sub-30 in one-handed). We went to Arlington for the Dallas Pretzel Mania competition (8/25). Went to see the Fowlers while we were there, ate dinner and swam with them. He ranked 26th out of 242 competitors in 3x3. And the DFW Megacomp 2024 (3/15/24), where Jonah was a judge for Max Park when Park set the world record for 5x5 (32.52 seconds).
Daniel played Tweedle Dee in “Dorothy in Wonderland.” (5/7/23) And Satchel the tailor in The Emporer’s New Clothes (7/28). And the chef in Cinderella.
Uke Society w/ Daniel: Across the Universe (Beatles, 5/11/23), Try Everything (Shakira, 7/13/23), Dancing in the Moonlight (8/10/23), and I’m Still Standing (1/11/24).
Kaeta, leaving for school on 5/11: “I’m going to say goodbye to Mom, say goodbye to you, and then blow this popsicle stand… and go to the OTHER popsicle stand!”
We toured the LBJ Presidential Library with my parents. (5/20)
Daniel found a bee hive in a tree in our yard. We duct taped my phone to a pole and tried to video it (with moderate success).
Family vacation to Branson, MO. (6/5/23) Silver Dollar City, old timey photos, WonderWorks (lame), the Esther play (great!), swimming in Table Rock Lake, Comedy Jamboree.
Firebrand Hackathon in Park City, UT (6/12/23).
Daniel went to Lutheran Valley Retreat in Colorado with a group from St. Paul. The same week, Jonah went to Camp Lone Star with Thomas and Ben (6/18/23).
Removed the railing from the deck, replaced some boards, and stained everything. Jonah built the step down in the middle all on his own.
Bryan Beach with the Bishops and the Meyers (7/1/23). Daniel got stung by jellyfish larva (?). I got a terrible sunburn on the backs of my knees!
Dylan R. went to heaven unexpectedly. (7/3/23) Unspeakably sad. I missed his funeral (7/17) so I could go with Laurie to her PET scan. Later, heard the sermon, and it was like a surgeon setting a bone – painful, but it put things in the right place to heal.
Kaeta went to Europe with a group from CHS (7/19/23). Before that, she texted her Sunday school class: “Do you want me to bring you anything from Europe?” Ben M: “Yeah, what do they have?” She went to Paris, Lucerne and Mt. Pilatus.
Higher Things with Jonah in San Antonio (7/25/23). Got to know the Roths better.
Gus joined the family (7/6). Ferguson Archimedes Batman Fruitsnacks Meathook Kurth.
Kaeta got a conjunctival hemorrhage (blood red spot in the white of her left eye). No big deal, but it was there a while. (8/18/23)
Laurie. Several trips to Houston to take her to cancer treatments (infusions). Lots of praying and worrying. We (except Kaeta) went to Houston for her birthday party, which was very well attended. “I want to live.” Delirium for a few days in early October from a UTI, high Calcium, and the meds they put her on. My last call with her, Oct 20, to say goodbye and to thank her for being in my life. We drove to Houston after church on 10/22 (Mom, Dad, Kaeta, and me). Mom stayed with her that night, and she died at 4:30am on 10/23/23. Mom was reading her Psalm 62 at the time: “Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from Him.”
Pastor Harris retired 12/31/23. Lots of Call Committee work to identify candidates, write questions, get responses, and begin interviews. At his last Trinity voters meeting (11/14/23), as at his first, he reported on the state of the Church: “The state of the Church is just fine.”
Kaeta’s college search. Texas A&M gave her the “PSA” option, where she would have to start out at one of their other campuses. We visited UTSA (meh), Texas State (okay), and Texas Tech (way better than we expected). She decided to go to Tech.
Shane (Firebrand CTO) was fired in August. Andy applied for the job and almost got it. I bought a 10-year scotch to celebrate 10 years at Firebrand. Flywheel launched.
Kaeta got covid (8/31). Daniel got a Herbst appliance and braces. Jonah got Invisaligns. Dad’s eye became very droopy – they thought it might be a stroke, but it turned out to be a somewhat rare chronic condition called myasthenia gravis.
Kaeta broke up with Tim. Kind of painful. About 4 months later, she started dating Josiah.
Kaeta turned 18, Jonah 16, Daniel 14. Kaeta voted for the first time. Jonah got his drivers license.
Daniel and I saw My Fair Lady at the Long Center (12/10/23).
Jonah started playing the guitar. He got an electric guitar for Christmas, and he bought his own practice amp in April.
Several game nights with the Roths. Jonah took Emma to the ODA Winter Formal.
We repainted a lot of the house (entryway, kitchen, living room, and game room), and got new light fixtures in the kitchen.
Our first Trinity campout without Pastor. It was our family’s 12th consecutive year. Lily and Anabelle came, too.
We saw a total eclipse (4/8/24).
Kaeta was prom queen! And Josiah was king. (4/12/24)
We saw comedian Nate Bargatze at the Moody Center.