Grandma's Arrival

I flew to NC today. It's a good thing I didn't plan to turnaround trip in one day, as my second flight was delayed.
We had dinner near the local university,


then walked the center of campus with our ice cream.

This was the first I met Kevin's 15 year old stepbrother. A typical 15 year old who loves to make faces for photos and playing video games.

Kevin's excitement was to collect fireflies. We stopped at a Starbucks for a cup to keep them in. We had to convince him not to open his fist full of bugs once we were inside Starbucks!!!

The Dedication of Karin's Cross

Today Summit Evangelical Covenant Church had a dedication ceremony for the cross erected in memory of Karin and to the Glory of God. A song sung at morning worship was one of Karin's favorites and one that I often sing to her when I visit her grave -- "How Great Is Our God" --

The splendor of a King, clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice
All the earth rejoice

He wraps himself in Light, and darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice
Trembles at His voice

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God

Age to age He stands
And time is in His hands
Beginning and the end
Beginning and the end

The Godhead Three in One
Father Spirit Son
The Lion and the Lamb
The Lion and the Lamb

Name above all names
Worthy of our praise
My heart will sing
How great is our God

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God, and all will see
How great, how great is our God

Since losing Mommy, Kevin always wants me to stay with him in his class at Summit. In fact, he sits on my lap for the first part of the class until he becomes more comfortable. Their lesson today was about "rules and really silly rules," based on the story of Daniel being thrown into the lion's den due to a silly rule. They played a game of toss to illustrate rules, changing the rules with each new game. Kevin does not like to lose, so tears ensued when he was out, and the tears did not stop. He continued crying as we went outside for the dedication, not wanting to be there. It became evident that the tears were exacerbated by the upcoming ceremony remembering Mommy. Daddy had to hold him. After church, others were talking about the sermon, how powerful it was on the topic of adultery -- to beware of the lust of the flesh; to not begin something which could go down a slippery path. Pastor Eric said it was difficult to preach and friends said it was difficult to listen to. I was told it was worth listening to, and it is! Fabulous sermon! Can be heard at -- http://www.summitnc.org/926/series-on-the-book-of-1-john-part-4/ The YouTube video used in the sermon can be seen at -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QASREBVDsLk

Pastor Eric Geil led the liturgy of the dedication.

Pastor Greg Harper recounted Karin's life at the church, her involvement, and her deep commitment to Christ.

The family presented the cross to the church in memory of Karin -- our daughter, wife, mother.

It was wonderful to see so many of Karin's friends today.
Friends not from Summit who came for the dedication were Kathy Robinson, Amy Zaremba, Heather Edmonds, and Dick & Carol Miles.


Heather, Kinga, Steve, Suzanne Sadler, Amy.


Dick & Carol with Jean Goodale.

Kevin had some difficulty with the memory of Mommy.

John Adams is responsible for the creative design and construction of the cross.

A miniature of the plaque to be placed in the church was presented to me.

Steve enjoyed introducing Kinga to his friends.

As was typical, the Faulkner clan always was the last to leave -- staying around to chat with all their friends.

Kevin hanging out with his friends and watching a video game.

Heather (Kevin's former nanny) and Kevin.

Heather and Nina.

After lunch, we stopped at the cemetery to insert a summer floral arrangement on Karin's grave. Steve is the brawn -- pulling out the old and inserting the new.

Kevin and I are the creators. Kevin is holding the spring flowers we removed today.

Kevin also adds something especially from him everytime we visit. He is pushing in a red rose for Mommy.

Kevin's bedtime prayer: Thank you for the good food. Thank you that we had dessert. Thank you that we got to have a ceremony for Mommy. Thank you that we have faith. Help us be able to get the cross on the roof right. (The cross cannot be permanently placed until the city has responded on the exact way they determine it is to be installed.) Help it to not get struck by lightening. Amen.

Pastry and Photos

Kevin and I were up first while the rest of the family slept in. Such a gorgeous day, I asked him if he wanted to walk to the market street (about a mile) for a coffee and pastry. He had fun picking dandelions gone to seed to blow, then picked a blossom for Grandma's hair.

We saw butterflies.

He asked about a tree we passed. Its identification did not come to mind, and the owner walked out of the house. I asked her if she knew her tree. A hawthorne! Of course! We chatted about trees, and she told me about a fabulous app: "leafsnap"! Take a photo of the leaf and it will identify it!

Kevin had a little trouble selecting a pastry, so Grandma spoiled him.

With crumbs on face...

It was now about 11am, so I made a call to Daddy to see if he would come pick us up. At home, Kevin had fun with Mommy,

and cuddled with Daddy.

This afternoon, Daddy and Kevin went to the pool. Mommy and Grandma went shopping for a bathing suit for Grandma. We didn't find a suit, but we did find lots of other things! :) And we didn't make it home until the swimmers were burnt to a crisp! Daddy is fired! Some body parts were protected. Others, like Kevin's face and Daddy's tummy, were not.
Pebbles got away and ran down the street.


We had dinner at an outdoor cafe where Mommy and Daddy love the apple martinis!

While waiting for food, Kevin made the railings a jungle gym and asked to have his picture taken!

Then he experimented with taking photos. First faces...



"Mr. Mayor" even conscripted the couple at the neighboring table. He is such a "Ham Sandwich" as Mommy Karin used to call him! He makes friends with everyone, thus the Mr. Mayor name.



Then ears, but most were blurry except for the one I took of his ear.

Besides a sunburned ear, note he has ketchup on it!

He moved on to other objects.







At home, Kevin and I had to prepare a new floral arrangement for Mommy Karin's grave.

Mommy Kinga and Grandma modeled their new clothing. Grandma thought one of her dresses was navy and white and the shoes she bought were navy. Kinga insisted it was black and white and the shoes were black. The shoe box proved Kinga right. So I bought TWO pairs of dress black shoes. ugh! Kevin modeled a pair of Mommy's snazzy new shoes!

Kevin's prayer at bedtime: "Thank you for the great dinner. Help us to have faith, and to have love. Tell Mommy that we love her. Help us to get to church on time. Help us to have a good trip to Summit. Amen."

Technology is Security

Kinga picked up Grandma, and Steve picked up Kevin from school, and we all arrived at their house at the same time. After touring their lovely new home, Kevin took me to "meet" his playground at the end of the street! He has learned to pump himself on a swing since our last playground adventure many months ago.

Mommy and Daddy sent him off with a Walkie Talkie, so they can keep track of him, and he can respond to home with any questions or concerns. Technology is security!

He pointed out the path into the woods behind the park and was eager to explore it for the first time. Off we went on a hike. I showed him tulip, redbud, oak, and white pine trees. We saw little holes in the ground which he thought were snake holes. I knew they weren't, but was not sure what they were. I had forgotten about detail about the 13 year cicadas in Missouri back in 1985, but I soon was re-educated on them as this is the year of their return! We didn't find a live one, but we saw several wings, such as this one, and holes in the ground everywhere where they escaped from their 13 year development. There was no loud cicada singing tonight, so I think the wave of them must be past.

Kevin found a tree with a face on it! :)

We climbed to the top of a hill and came out at a school. I pulled out Maps on my iPhone (technology is security!) to see where we were in relation to their house. I showed Kevin the map and asked him to follow the blue dot (our location) on the map and lead us back to his house. He needed some help with the orientation of the map, but he did it! He found home!

On the way, he noted the leaves of the street-side trees and thought they were maples. I showed him they are sycamores and pointed out the unique bark.

He wanted to return to the playground to show me what he can do on the monkeybars. Actually, he got stuck up there and needed some help to guide him down. I'm sure he could have done it on his own, but Grandma likes to help!

On our return home, Kevin found a roly poly and had to play with it.

Tonight, big step-brother Cullin and his friend prepared our dinner. Yum!!!