News update from Saturday July 14, 2007

January '06 - June '07

New news from The Lacey Family

Tim continues to work at Wright-Patterson AFB as a computer-networking administrator. He teaches network security at the Air Force Institute of Technology and manages a couple hundred computers. Recently, he started working towards a PhD in computer science, hoping to complete it in 2-3 years. (April '06) While playing basketball with the big boys at work, Tim got his feet knocked out from under him and landed on his head and back. After lying on the floor awhile, he showered and called me from the car. He was talking very strangely and couldn't remember what he usually did for lunch and he didn't know why he had a couple of checks in his billfold. I told him the answers to the questions 2-3 times but it wasn't clicking. I called his boss, who after evaluating Tim an hour or so, convinced Tim to let him take him to the hospital to get checked out. He had suffered a mild concussion. At least he remembered who I was!

Tim and I (Sandy) had our first alone overnight stay in 13 years, (since Joshua was diagnosed with MMA). We went to the Newport Aquarium in Cincinnati, and then spent the night in Kentucky. We also went to Bone Lick Park. It was a wonderful getaway. We hosted four ladies of the Kiev Music Mission from Ukraine in October '06. Two played viola and two played violin. The younger gals spoke and understood some English, so we used a lot of sign language. I continue to see a NUCCA (National Upper Cervical Chiropractor Association) doctor for my head, neck, and shoulder problem. I am out of pain and want to keep it that way. I spent much of last spring preparing a "This is your Life" Creative Memories photo album for Daniel's graduation.

Daniel (20 in Sept) was our first home school graduate last June of '06. We had the graduation ceremony and open house on our property with around 100 people attending. Daniel continues to work at Xenia Iron and Metal and takes some night classes at Sinclair Community College. He'd like to have a computer degree of some sort. Not totally sure yet. He is a 2nd degree Black Belt in American Kenpo and does some instructing. He has been seeing a sweet young lady, Mandi Brown. They recently got engaged and we are planning an October wedding. A new adventure for us. We are looking forward to Mandi joining our family.

Joel (18 in Nov) got his Black Belt in March of '06 and continues to do strength training/body building (but not to the extreme). He's 6'2" and still Mr. Funny Man. For the time being, he too works at Xenia Iron and Metal. A highlight in Sept of '06 was when Daniel and Joel were able to spend 2 weeks in Matamora Mexico on a mission's trip. They helped Pastor Humberto Gomez, visited mountain churches by hiking dirt trails, passed out tracts, visited a city dump home to many people, and came home with a much greater appreciation of America.

Joshua (14 in Sept) had several special doctor visits over the past year. May '06 he split the back of his head open on his headboard bookcase, after he and Benjamin played tug-of-war with a rope and Benjamin let go (dirty trick). The doctor gave him three staples. Last Sept 25th, he had surgery on his left foot to repair a prolapsed ankle and lengthen his Achilles tendon. Joshua received the fisherman's award for this year's father/son campout. (June '07)

Jonathan (was 12 in May) decided he could pop wheelies on Joshua's wheelchair. Joshua timed him while Jonathan stayed on the two back tires. He'd balance and go back and forth down the foyer/kitchen area. He quit after 31 minutes. So guess what he got for Christmas? A unicycle! It didn't take long and he was all over the place on that thing. He even goes down our driveway to get the mail. Last Nov., Tim bought a violin at a neighbor's auction for $300.00. After having the violin, bow, and hard-shell case appraised, we found out it was worth $1,100.00. The Lord is good. Jonathan plays quite well on it, learning from CD/DVD instruction. But, his first love is the mandolin. I actually have to threaten to take it away so he'll get his schoolwork done. What a problem to have. He began taking American Kenpo under Daniel just recently.

Shauna (8 in Oct) has done a marvelous job with reading this year and is very expressive. She began piano lessons this spring and finally got the hang of riding a bike — no small feat, especially when you have a gravel driveway to practice on. She's enjoying two younger neighbor girls that moved in last fall.

Benjamin (5 in Oct) keeps up with all of the above. His expressions are not always that of a 4 year old - you can tell he has older siblings that he learns from. He loves to be outdoors, play in the sand, dirt, rocks, catch fire-flies, and other creepy creatures. He actually sang with the family on the title song of our newly released CD.

Last spring, someone dropped off a female calico cat by our driveway. As the kids would get the mail, she just "happened" to follow them back to the house. She became our outdoor kitty. Upon arriving home from WI in July, we found "Baby Doll" down in Joel's window-well with three newborn kittens. We all watched them grow and develop, then gave them to a pet shop to find new homes. As the fall chill started to come upon us, softhearted Mom (and Dad) decided to not only get her "fixed", but also have her de-clawed and made her a legitimate housecat. She joined Nickel and Aidon and is the only cat that is a lap cat.

And now to our Bluegrass news. We sang at our first Christian Bluegrass festival in Viroqua while in WI last July '06. We have sung at several churches and nursing homes, a VA Home, two gospel sings, etc. to name a few. We also have a yearly opportunity to sing at my brother's July 4th party and Labor Day Sunday services at Tim's home church in GA.

Last December, we went to Roanoke, VA to spend four days with Dale Perry, who engineered our second CD, "Light from Heaven". Dale was with Doyle Lawson for nine years and is presently with Dave Parmley and Continental Divide. We recorded all of the instrumentals Monday, and then did all the vocals Tuesday and Wednesday. We each were in our own "padded" sound room with headphones and controls. If anyone needed to do a retake, only that person had to fix the part and Dale would patch it in. Thursday morning, we listened to some other things concerning mixing, and then headed back to Ohio. Dale is a phenomenal musician and Christian friend and we are very pleased with this second project. You can keep up with our music happenings on our web site.

We got back in time for Christmas, had one week home, played for two church New Year's Eve services, then at 3 AM New Year's Day, Tim and I left for the airport to fly to Hawaii. Tim was chosen to present a paper at an international conference. He said he wasn't going to Hawaii without me (smart man :-), so we purchased my ticket and made arrangements for Shauna and Benjamin to stay the week with our dear friends, the Orens. Daniel learned to make Joshua's formula and tally his valine for the day. We stayed the week in a beautiful resort area on the Big Island, drove around the island to see huge falls, volcanoes, black sand beaches, a sleeping sea turtle, flew to Oahu to visit Pearl Harbor, saw the huge waves on the North Shore, went snorkeling, saw many humpback whales, went parasailing, and attended a Luau. It was a fabulous week and one we will always remember.

After returning home, we settled back into home schooling and finished the year in May. We are one big, very busy family looking forward to what the Lord brings our way this next year. Let us know if you have an e-mail address and we'll send electronic copies of future letters.

Tim & Sandy Lacey
4251 Cherry Grove Road
Jamestown, OH 45335
(H) 937-675-3578
TheLaceyFamilyBluegrass@yahoo.com
www.TheLaceyFamilyBluegrass.com

The Lacey Family

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