Does it get any better than this?

I posted about this after Thanksgiving and you can read Gregg's post here, but I wanted to revisit it. In my mind there are not too many things that I enjoy more than being outside next to a fire. Winter, spring, summer or fall, a fire is an amazing thing. I have enjoyed many memorable camp fires.

• Camp fires at our church summer camp growing up: Once the kids were all in their tents, the counselors would come out and have a camp fire. We'd sing, pray and chat. This is where I learned to love "the church". I got to know people who were older and found out that they struggled with problems just like I did.
• Fire at the new house on Lake Huron: When I was in college, I brought a few of my guy friends up to Alpena. It was early April. We went out to the house that we had just bought on Lake Huron. They were in the process of remodeling it. All of us took off our clothes and swam in the lake. When we got out, there was a huge fire of scrap wood by which to warm up.
• Guys' Weekend fires: I get together with some friends from college every year. Each year we debate what to do. The top priority on the list is always a fire. There is something about a fire that loosens our tongues to share what's going on in our lives. It is the time at which we catch up on what has happened during our year apart.
• Fires in our backyard: Now we have fires regularly in our backyard. Matthew is usually the one who sticks closest to me during this. It's a great place to hang out with the kids. Ben and Caleb are usually playing football or baseball. Molly has just begun to join us. I look forward to many more.

Do you like a fire? Do you have memories of some of your best ones? Share them in the comments.

Sick as dogs, snow up to our arm pits and no Vikings game

Sick as dogs

For the second or third time (depends on how you count) in the last couple of months everyone at the Gammons house was sick this past week. First Lucy, then Matthew and Molly, then Ben and Caleb, then Amanda and on Saturday it was me. It involved various combinations of vomit, diarrhea, fever and headache. Thanks be to God, we are all now fairly healthy.

Snow up to our arm pits

This weekend we got dumped on. Saturday while I was laid up, Amanda was out shoveling the drive. She was able to keep up with half of the driveway so that we could at least get out. For some reason we decided to get Papa John's on Saturday night. As soon as I left our driveway, I knew it was a bad idea. They hadn't even plowed our street. Thankfully, I grew up in Alpena and have driven in that kind of mess a time or two. The main rule is whatever you do, DON'T STOP. When you stop, you get stuck.

I was feeling better by Sunday morning so Ben and I finished the other side of the driveway and the end where the plows dumped the whole street. Our neighbor waited to do anything until Sunday and it took him hours to go through all of it, even with his snowblower.

No Vikings game

Mom gave us tickets to the Vikings vs. Giants game for Christmas. We prayed on Saturday night that I would feel better so that we could all go to the game. Then the Giants got stranded in Kansas City on their way to MSP. They postponed the game until Monday night. No problem! That actually was great. Then on Sunday morning the roof of the Metrodome collapsed. If you haven't seen the video, watch it.

They moved the game to Detroit. I called Mom to see if she wanted to meet us there. It's a twelve hour trip for us, but she said it was really bad weather there. It would have been a fun road trip, but not if we had to drive into what we just had. We are supposed to get a refund for our tickets so we'll see how that goes.

Small Delights

Our friend Teresa, just recently posted of how a cup of tea is a small delight for her. It got me thinking of the many small delights in my day.

• Matthew saying "Bub-bye Daddy," every morning as I leave for work.
• A hot cup of coffee at work.
• Cozying down under our down comforter when the house is cooling off.
• A fire in the back yard.

These are the mundane, everyday blessings that are often overlooked. How about you? What are the small delights in your day?

Payoff

Sometimes when I'm working with the kids and it's a lot more work than if I were doing it myself, I wonder if and when all that trouble is going to bear fruit. Well this was what has been happening this winter at our house.



I've only shoveled once so far. I'll have to do the real wet heavy stuff for a while yet, but I am very excited that my shovelers are working. So far they are enjoying it and thinking it's fun.

Caleb -1 Tooth

Caleb is definitely getting older. I tried to pull on it a little bit, but in pure Caleb fashion, he went to the bathroom by himself and emerged a few minutes later minus one tooth. He was very excited, so excited that he almost broke down. Those of you who are introverts know what it's like to be so excited you almost cry, right? Amanda said she could definitely relate. We'll celebrate his 7th birthday at the end of this month. Things seem to be moving very fast at the Gammons house.

The View Out Our Back Door

Last week we woke up to a few friends in our back yard. Matthew, of course, was the most interested. After he watched for a while, he and I put our coats on and sneaked out to get a closer look. Before we got too close, both of them ran into the neighbors yard. Matt really like to see their white tails flap back and forth.

Happy 4th Anniversary Gammons Fam Blog

Today marks the 4th anniversary of my first post on this blog. The picture above is from that first post welcoming you all aboard. Thanks to all of you (or should I say both of you) who have been reading this whole time. It has been a good conduit to keep up communication with those of you who are far away. It has also been a good way to meet new people, especially at church. Someone subbed in my Sunday School class a couple of weeks ago and said, "Did you go to Calvin College?" I said, "No, but I worked there." I then asked her how she knew any of that. She replied, "Oh, I was on your blog once." Kind of funny.

Whether you've been here from the beginning or this is your first time, welcome. Thanks for reading.