Wild Adventures!

On Thursday the 28th we took a trip to Valdosta, Georgia to go to Wild Adventure Theme Park. We had never been there, but a lady at church had two free tickets that she wasn't going to use. We didn't know what would be ther, but went anyway. We had a great time. Reed got to ride his first roller-coasters. The height minimum was 36inches for most of the rides as long as you had an adult with you. He just snuck by to hit the line. We were all surprised how much he seemed to like the coasters and different rides...he isn't typically the most adventuresome type of kid. It was just a nice time to get away from everything and spend the day with the family.

Christmas Letter - Sustained Through Transitions

If we had to summarize the year 2006 in a word it would be transitions. As we look back we are grateful for how God has guided, blessed, sustained and loved us. In January 2006 Chad began discussions with a pastor in Florida (of all places!) Over the course of the next two months the Lord led us to accept the position offered at Faith Presbyterian Church in Gainesville, Florida. We were thankful for the Lord’s provision and guidance. Though farther from family, we believed God was leading us to Faith PCA. The next two months were filled with preparations to sell our house and have baby #2.
Meredith Grace arrived May 30th without any complications. She screamed so loud all the nurses and doctors commented on her cry. Thankfully she is a happy, healthy baby, who doesn’t use her exceptional screaming abilities too often. We are thankful for the Lord’s blessings. Reed and Meredith are so very sweet together. It is fun to see them smile and laugh at each other. Reed is usually gentle and seems to really love her. We hope that they grow to be the best of friends. Reed is full of energy and makes us laugh daily. His vocabulary grows daily with his newest words being “cheese ball” thanks to his dad and uncle Keith. We are thankful to the Lord for the gift of children. They are so very dear to us and we pray that they grow to love and serve the Lord.
After being in Charlotte for 4 years it was difficult to say good bye. The Lord really blessed us in so many ways. We miss our friends from Uptown Church, InterVarsity, Dilworth Pediatrics (and my OB), Starbucks and RTS. We are particularly grateful to see how the Lord continues to develop Greek Ministry in the Blue Ridge. It will be fun to be back in Charlotte in February for the Greek Conference.
We are thankful for how the Lord protected us in our house search process and led us to our new home. We are settled in and very content with God’s provision. The church has warmly welcomed us into the church family. God has been gracious in providing us with friends almost immediately. Chad is learning a lot about church ministry and how to balance work and family life. Erin is learning how to stay sane (even joyful) home with two little kids, while still trying to work quarter time with Greek InterVarsity. Most days are very enjoyable and we are grateful for where the Lord has us.
With all the transition, we are thankful that the Lord doesn’t change, even when life around us is stressful, confusing, disappointing or painful. This year we’ve watched various people go through very difficult situations with tremendous grace and trust in God. These people have challenged and encouraged us to draw near to God and do all we can to know and love Him more. As we focus on the birth of Christ and what that means for this world, we want to remember that the most important relationship we can ever have is with God himself, through Jesus his son. God sent his son to earth as a baby to pay the penalty for all our wrongs. With the penalty for our sins paid, we can be at peace with God and have a relationship with Him here on earth. Wonderfully, we are also assured to be with Him in heaven for all eternity as we “hold fast our confession firm until the end.” The promise of Heaven is a tremendous comfort now when we lose loved ones and a future hope that should compel us to get to know God better while here on earth.

May your Christmas and year 2007 be one of many blessings from the Lord.
With love, The Grindstaff family.

Christmas Pictures

Taking Christmas pictures with two kids is never the easiest thing in the world. You can't use a tripod because not a single kid will look at a camera by itself. Thankfully, our neighbor (who had the palm tree background) was home and took some pictures for us. It's easy to see why people pay someone to take family pictures. The kids are getting ready for Christmas--Reed at least understands more. He likes the "big tree" in the living room...I'm not sure he knows what all the wrapped boxes are, but he will in a couple of weeks.

Finally stuff from Thanksgiving

Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving, especially time at the Children's Museum in Indy. We had a great time in Indy, and I'm pretty sure Grandpa (GG) enjoyed the slide as much, or more than Reed. Reed also enjoys being thrown onto couches...and dad enjoys throwing him.

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Reed talking and eating

Trying another way of doing the video--enjoy all and I'll keep trying more.
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Trying the video option

Here is an example of what happens nearly everyday in our household. Today, the weather has finally cooled off a bit too. It was 33 degrees this morning when we woke up. Never thought I would be so happy to have colder temperatures, but at least it finally feels like it could be drawing nearer to Christmas. Although, we discovered that in our move we likely threw out all of our Christmas lights by accident--they were being stored in a garbage bag.
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Meredith Eating

Meredith has been enjoying eating rice cereal lately - though it seems as though a good bit of it ends up on her face, shirt and head more than in her stomach.

Jacksonville Airshow

Saturday we all got up and went to Jacksonville Naval Air Station for the air show. We didn't know how the kids would do, but they were GREAT! Reed got a bit scared of the F-16's noise when it was performing, but he did much better when the Blue Angels went. For him to make it all day without a nap was quite a feat--he slept in the next morning until 9 (about two hours more than usual). Meredith was such a joy as well--had a hard time coming home, but that was it. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Meredith and an inchworm

Not much needs to be said about this--except, I wonder what they're thinking.

Baptism & Pumpkins

This past Sunday we got the privilege of baptizing Meredith. Nana & Pop-pop (now changed to Poppaw by Reed) were able to make it down for the time and stay a couple of more days. We had fun with the family and they of course did their grandparent duty of spoiling the children however they could. Reed now has his own basketball goal and loves it (pictures later). He is constantly shooting or getting dad or mom to play with him--though he has a bad habit of hiding all of the balls under Meredith's bed. Reed and the family also got to go to a local pumpkin patch. For much of the time it was fun, though Reed had his moments but he was pretty serious about the pumpkin business--especially organizing them by size.

A Day in the Park

The weather finally has gotten to a place where it's not too hot to go for a hike with the family. Gainesville if full of little parks and we went to the first of many. It is nice to be able to walk outside now without sweating and the kids loved it--Reed really enjoys the "pack-pack" as he calls it--which he did as soon as we got started...Grandpa and Uncle Keith should be proud!

Tub Time and Sandwich Eating

What a big day we had! Reed successfully and joyfully ate a jelly sandwich. Up until this point I had still cut up his sandwiches into little pieces. He really enjoyed it and did great biting off his own bites. I cried because he seemed like such a big boy. I can't believe that he'll be two next month! Later that evening both kids got a bath together. Sometimes I marvel at the fact we have these two precious children. We are so thankful for them! They make us laugh (and cry) and bring us much joy!!

First posting

Welcome to the very simple start of a family blog by the Grindstaff's. This will be a place to see the family and find out what is going on in our crazy everyday life. Kids swimming to rolling over to saying nothing but "no." Family life is a joy and a gift from God and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Meredith

Two of Meredith's favorite activities-sitting in the exersaucer and looking around and being anywhere at anytime with her thumb deep in the recesses of her mouth. Nothing like the slime of a thumb-sucker.