Firsts

This week we marked a few "FIRSTS" with our crew.

The first FIRST (is that appropriate?) would be the first anniversary of our very own Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Andrew Smith! No, I can NOT believe that it's been a year since they became husband and wife.

I guess my first mental image from their wedding day will forever be the picture of Meagan standing at the altar, eyes focused on her beloved, mouth open wide with joy as he recited his vows. Her own eyes literally sparkled during that portion of the ceremony.

Another favorite moment, of course was her dance with Daddy!

And I love the picture of Meagan dancing with Nathan's grandfather. (Mr. Smith, Sr. is a regular "high stepper.") That picture reflects a feel of generational blessing and abundant love shared. It also reminds me of answered prayers for my girls.

For this first anniversary, Meagan and Nathan were blessed with a great package get-away to the vacation capital of the world - Orlando. (Which is an hour away from here. But when you're on a second honeymoon, who cares where it is?!)

Happy First Anniversary, MegaNate!

The second FIRST for this week was Abigail Grace's very FIRST visit to Poppa and Nana's house for family dinner! I did manage to put a picture of that on facebook. Her little, tiny three-week-old self snuggled under Daddy's whiskered chin. So precious!

My classic chicken casserole failed me for the first time ever. (I added a package of onion soup mix for something different. Big Mistake!) So Spencer and Nana just ate extra watermelon to make up for it. Not sure what everyone else did.

We were all so tired from the past ten days that we just sat and watched a movie together. We took turns playing ball or reading books to Spencer; changing diapers; jiggling Abby; answering phone calls. Thankfully the plot for the movie wasn't very deep!

By some standards, Abby's first visit was uneventful. But that's the way we prefer it.

Our third FIRST was a sad one. Our dear friend, Ronnie Godwin went home to be with Jesus. This was our first funeral for a founding member of the church. Nearly one-third of our congregation was either related to Ronnie, had attended church with Ronnie over twenty years, or had worked with Ronnie in some capacity.

His loss is keenly felt by us all! Meagan's first comment was, "Now who's going to tease me when I come into church every Sunday morning?" Ronnie is remembered as one who could dish it out and take it. He loved life, his family and his God!

The fourth and final FIRST (oh, how I love alliteration!) involved a simple hug.

On Saturday, the sisters wanted to all get manicures. John was busy cleaning up from youth camp. Poppa was on a bike ride and Uncle Nathan was at work. Enter NANA! Gladly, of course.

I have to admit that I was a bit intimidated at first. But Abby had already eaten breakfast, Spencer was ready for oatmeal, and Mickey Mouse club sat cued and on the ready. Besides, you can do anything for an hour and a half, right?!

Abby dozed off and I sat reading with Spencer on the couch. As boys tend to do, he got bored with the book and started squirming a bit. So I tossed the book aside and started tickling him. That progressed to the famed Zerbert Move.

"The Zerbert Move?" you ask. You know, the favorite move of every grandparent. The one where you place your lips on their sweet little neck, then Zerbert them until they lose their breath laughing!

At one point, I stopped just long enough to get another deep breath. And in that instant, Spencer reached back, threw his pudgy arm around my neck, gently patted the back of my head, then squeezed; giving Nana the most precious hug ever.

No time for tears (although they welled up) because the squealing started all over again which meant, "AGAIN, NANA! DO IT AGAIN!!"

My FIRST unsolicited, baby boy hug!

Deep contented sigh!