Key Dates

There are several key dates and anniversaries for each of my siblings this week and I thought I'd share them with you.

8.8 This was the 20th anniversary of my brother, Bobby's death. Shortly before my 9th birthday, my 15 year old brother died suddenly in an accident. He was a cross-country running, saxophone playing, fun, easy-to-get-along-with, outdoorsy guy. I'd love to hear any comments, memories, tributes to him from any readers that knew him (ok, Erica, I think you're the only reader who knew Bobby, so I'd love to hear some of your memories :)).

Bobby & I in Vermont, Aug 1989

8.14 Happy 10th anniversary Erica & Brian! Y'all are such a neat, fun couple! We always enjoy time spent together! 

Their beautiful family in 2006

8.16 My younger sister, Stephanie, started college orientation this morning at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW)! She's a smart, beautiful, fun young lady. She starts classes on Wednesday. I'm so excited for her.

before Stephanie's prom in May

Glimpses of Vermont

Here are a few shots from our time in Vermont. 

My family's cabin (in the middle). We love that there's so much room to run around and Lake Memphremagog is just on the far side of our house. 

My Dad delights in mowing the yard. He switches between this & a push mower.

Hudson played in a mud puddle and carried this bucket around for awhile one day.

On a mission to get back to the mud puddle

Brandon, age 7, did an awesome job paddling around in this kayak for awhile.

exploring

riding behind me as we biked through the countryside...Hudson was the only one dry after the short summer rain shower

We spent a couple hours walking around Burlington awhile we waited for other's planes to arrive. 

Stephanie (my sister) and her friend, Whitney at the top of Church St. in Burlington

cousins

The Green Mountain State

I'm currently in northern Vermont vacationing with my family. Hudson and I headed up here for the week, but unfortunately Trent had to stay in Texas to work. We are having an awesome time up here, just really missing Trent.



My dad was born in VT and spent time here as a boy. My family built a cabin here before I was born. We've done a lot of vacationing up here and it is absolutely beautiful. There's green mountains, wildflowers, an (often) sparkling lake, wildlife and lots of natural beauty. Pictures to come after we get back to Texas (and the camera cord there). Some highlights so far have been-- riding the tram up Jay Peak (www.jaypeakresort.com) and hiking back down, swimming in the lake, water skiing, running, taking walks, badmitten, reading, enjoying meals, biking, putt putt & staying at the Golden Eage (www.goldeneagleresort.com) in quaint Stowe for a night.

Cities & Knights with Jeremy

Here's a common night around our house...

dinner with Jeremy

We put Hudson to bed and then Trent, Jeremy & I stay up eating treats and playing this game

We are totally into it. We are even keeping track for a year who wins the most and from which position (since your position can change with each game). I know, we're total geeks. :)

Also, we normally get our music from pandora.com. If you haven't checked it out, you should. You just type in a music artist and they create a radio station of songs and artists that're similar to the one you chose. It's a great way to find out other bands/artists/songs that you might not otherwise know.

Grace Flows Downhill

This morning, Trent & I shared some snippets of our own stories and from our life together with the Young Married's & Young Families Sunday School class. The pastor who leads this sunday school class asked each of the 3 pastoral interns to take a Sunday and introduce themselves. I was delighted when Trent asked me if we could do something together. I really enjoyed using Hudson's naptime this past week to think through all the things God has done in our lives. A reoccuring theme we saw in our lives is the abundance of grace that God has lavished on us. It was hard to choose which stories to tell to highlight God's grace in our lives, but we decided on how God's grace flows to the brokenhearted, God's grace flows to the repentant prodigal and God's grace flows to the eager, but ignorant. Overall, we were saying that grace (from a spouse, from God, from others) flows to us when we humble ourselves. In other words, grace flows downhill. 

This saying "grace flows downhill" is not our own. We got it from Jack Miller (founder of World Harvest Mission) who in turn got it from the Bible.

One of the sections I spoke about was how God gives grace to the brokenhearted. I told the story of when my mother passed away from cancer. The passage from the Bible I relied on the most during the long, hard nights when she was really sick was Psalm 4. I don't think this is a very common passage for someone to seek out during those times. But, I did. I was always reading for the last verse "In peace I will lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety." Knowing that God, who does not sleep nor slumber (Ps. 121) was watching when I would lay down to sleep brought comfort. Anyways, I was reflecting on this a lot this past week and then this morning's sermon was on this very text. I have never heard a sermon on this text that I remember. It was a beautiful moment of God's grace. And his grace is sufficient.

Found Some Pictures

When I was looking through some documents on my computer, I just found 136 pictures from graduation and our month between St. Louis and Dallas. I quickly went through the pics and chose a few to post on the blog. I'm not sure if they're the best or even the ones I would want to post, but I just don't feel like spending the time to go through the pictures slowly. :)

graduation night...I guess this picture didn't need a label

with Trent's grandparents when they came for our graduation

Trent and his Dad...this isn't too far from Trent's parent's house

Blackwater Falls in WV

Fishing in scenic West Virginia

Trent's catch

at Grant's Farm in St. Louis

Four generations of Casto men

petting some goats

with Nana

Trent's 3 sisters are in this picture...Brianna (her birthday), Brittany is next to her and Nichole is on the right side of the picture

Playgrounds

We spend a lot of time at playgrounds, so I thought I'd take my camera along yesterday.  There are a few we are able to walk to from our house (they're all a bit of a walk, but anyone who knows me even a little bit knows I'm normally up for a walk). Although they're not that far apart from each other, I'm starting to realize that there are different groups of people that go to each one. I'm excited that there are several to choose from so we can mix it up each week.

surveying the scene

Making some new friends

yet another friend

although Hudson likes swinging & sliding, the wheels are always his favorite activity at a playground

he normally makes "car noises" the whole time while driving

pure delight