The ultimate gaming experience

The condo we're staying in has a 50" Flat Panel TV in it - perfect for Mario Kart Double Dash, which we got for Christmas.

Christmas Beach Trip 2008

As has become a tradition after Christmas, we are at the beach. This year we're again visiting the Sandbridge section of Virginia Beach - a relatively secluded and quiet area. We're staying at a condo in the Sanctuary resort, which is owned by our friend's parents. Here are a few shots taken with Sharon's new digital camera she got for Christmas.

5th Birthday Party

This weekend the little guy celebrated turning 5 with a family party at the new house here in Mooresville. He wanted a "Speed Racer" theme, as he saw the movie earlier this year and really liked it. THe movie, of course, was one of his presents. As were, of course, several transformers, which still tops the list as being his (& Daddy's) favorite toy. It was a really great day, and we're tickled that he is really growing developmentally by leaps and bounds. He can now write his name, and is really expanding on his creativity. Here are some photos from the big day.

Apple Mouth

I've now successfully taught my son the bad habit that is "apple mouth"

Daddy Day?

This past Saturday morning, the little guy came in to crawl into bed with us. Having been confused about what day it was he said "Don't I have school today?" Mommy said "No, it's Saturday," to which he replied: "Oh, it's Daddy Day?" Wow. It's really heart-warming to know that somebody's whole sense of joy comes from knowing that you'll be around ALL DAY for them.

I Don't Like Shots

It was annual checkup for the little guy the other day. I hadn't intended on staying with him, but he asked me too. Later, when I asked why he wanted Daddy to stay, he said "Cause you're my buddy." End of story - daddy stays. These days you need all the buddies you can get.

He ended up having 5 shots. Yikes! All I heard the whole way home was "I don't like shots!" He got the shots in the legs, so I tried to tell him when he gets older they sometimes do it in the arm instead. He then told me "I don't like them in my leg, or my arm, OR MY BODY!!!" Well said.

Even Autobots like Starbucks

The little guy and I enjoyed an after school visit at Starbucks. He insisted on sitting outside, where we had a nice refreshing beverage and played with Transformers.

Three heads are better than one

Believe it or not, I would have had all 4 pets in the shot if I didn't have to hold onto Prinny while holding the camera. Molly was just outside the frame sitting in the window.

My Sea of Screens

Further proof of how nerdy I am: Laptop with extended screen on desk at church, while backing up the Pastor's files on his laptop.

Hunter "Green"

Sharon took this picture of Hunter waiting patiently on the little guy to finish his bath. This bathroom in our new house was recently repainted. We wanted to make it a bit more "tropical" and "kid-like" in color, so we went with a green aptly described as "green vibe." It's a bit on the bright side - but we like it.

The Little Guy as Bumblebee

Sharon decided to go costume hunting early this season. Although set in his mind to be Spiderman again, the little guy fell in love with the Transformers Bumblebee costume he saw at Wal-Mart. I couldn't be prouder of his choice (Although I'm somewhat wondering why he didn't choose Optimus Prime). Oh well, Bumblebee is still a very noble choice. And of course, he had to try it on to show Daddy when he got home. I thought it was pretty cool - I was jealous. I wish they made them my size!

School Picture - sort of

A few days ago, the litle guy wanted me to take a picture of him at his new school. He was very insistent even though it wasn't the ideal location for a photo. He seems to be really enjoying the More at Four program he is a part of at the local elementary school.

Chris Bridges
- sent from my smartphone

Molly Milestone

A milestone occurred in the Bridges household this week. Molly, our shy and toddler-wary cat finally approached the little guy on her own. She rubbed on him as if to say he was now accepted. I though this was a good photo op.

Chris Bridges
- sent from my smartphone

Hangin' with Prinny

We finally got our dog Princess back from "on loan" so to speak from my parents. They had her until we got our fence built. So, tonight, Nathan and I had some fun with Prinny as well as "picking weeds."

The Bridges Boys Eat Chinese

To conclude a very nice dad-son day of comic book and toy shopping, we decided to go to a local Chinese restaurant, where Lo Mein Shrimp is a favorite. Nathan is very excited about his three new minicon transformers and Dad is excited about his mint in package Bumblebee and some comics.

Chris Bridges
- sent from my smartphone

Olympic Fencing

I got to witness some fencing yesterday, but not the Olympic kind. After several weeks wait, our backyard fence was installed yesterday. So, we can finally bring our dog Prinny to join us soon.

Chris Bridges
- sent from my smartphone

Sharon

We found out today that Sharon now has a job in the school system. She'll be working at Woodland Heights Elementary as a 2nd grade teacher assistant. This is a neighboring school system (not the one Nathan will go to). This is a real answer to prayer.

Chris and Sharon Bridges
sent from our mobile phone

School shopping

Although Nathan's only going to More at Four this year, we couldn't resist equipping him with this cool Transformers backpack.

Chris and Sharon Bridges
sent from our mobile phone

The Sentry

Our faithful sentry watches the goings-on in the new neighborhood.

Chris and Sharon Bridges
sent from our mobile phone

Night with the boys

After church tonight, we went out to eat with some folks from church and all of the kids were boys - they had their own table.

Chris and Sharon Bridges
sent from our mobile phone

BFF

Nathan had a visit from one of his best friends from our old town yesterday evening. On the way to eat for supper, she told him they would be "best friends forever." Very sweet I thought. We joke with him often about this being his "girlfriend ." It was a nice dose of familiarity for the little guy, being in a new place and all.



Chris and Sharon Bridges
sent from our mobile phone

Piano Move

As our organization in our new home continues, a very exciting event happened yesterday. We had our piano professionally moved to the second story. Just when they started the big push upward, I grabbed the camera. Seeing your piano at this angle is an interesting sight.

Chris and Sharon Bridges
sent from our mobile phone

Smiley Nathan

I'm here waiting at Sharon's beauty shop for ny hair cut and Nathan is on the floor playing with toys. He actually smiled for this picture, which is sometimes hard to get out of him in a pose.

Chris and Sharon Bridges
sent from our mobile phone

Moving Day

Here is a shot of the truck we used to transfer our lives to our new home and ministry. Thanks to all of those who helped!

Friends and Transfomations

We are wrapping up what has been a wonderful week here at Ridgecrest for Music Week. If you would like to hear about our trip, check out my ministry blog at chrisatchurch.blogspot.com.

I've attached a few pics. The first is of Nathan and a little boy he befriended during the week named Gabriel. They kept running into each other during the week, where Nathan initiated many conversations on Speed Racer and Transformers.

And speaking of Transformers, I couldn't resist taking this picture of a decal on a truck I saw parked here this week. It says "Transformed." Awesome.

Which one's the hog?

My friend Tim brought his new Yamaha bike over the other night, so I thought it was a good photo op. Or, at least something for others to laugh at since those who know me realize I am definitely not a "born to be wild" type.

Moving Update

We have really appreciated the prayers sent up on our behalf in regards to the sale of our home in Dallas, NC. As of a few weeks ago, our house went under contract to a family who are viewing it as their "dream home" of sorts. Our close date was set for June 19th. This put us into a higher gear so to speak in regards to our house search in Mooresville to avoid having to "move twice". Fortunately, we were able to find a house relatively quickly, which we subsequently put an offer on and we were able to work out a deal. So, we're under contract on this property as well, too, also set to close on June 19th. The inspection on this property was today, and although there are a few things still to work out, we're still optimistic the Lord is helping us to complete this transition.

I thought I would attach a few photos of the new place, with the request that you all keep us in your prayers as we look to finalize getting new insurance, getting financing, etc. on the new place, and that there will be no further problems with "the old place." There's much to be excited about!

Nice spring evening...until...

Since our AC in our house was out, and the weather was pleasant this evening, we decided to go romp in the backyard. I snapped this nice moment with Mommy and Nathan on the swingset with the cell phone camera. The AC repairman came this evening too, but wasn't able to fully fix the system. In addition to a blown circuit board, our dog, Princess, who has been sleeping under the house, found a way to tear down some of the duct work as well. This could add several hundred dollars to the total bill, and about 3-4 more days without AC. Sigh. However, in some ways this is a praise, because if it wasn't for the blown circuit board, we wouldn't have discovered the ductwork. If we wouldn't have discovered the ductwork, we may have either made some other repairs we didn't need to, or left the future owner of our house a very unhappy camper.

We do have some very good news about our house selling and searching that I'll save for another post in the next two or three days.

Saving for sister/China update

I cleaned out a bunch of pennies that had fallen behind the bookcase in the home office. Waking up early (with the hopes of playing Mario), Nathan comes into the computer room and asks what all of the pennies are for. I told him he could have them for his piggy bank, and he said there were too many for him to carry However, he said he would take them "three at a time." Okay, I said. On the way back to his room, he kept trying to tell me what he wanted to buy with this new found wealth. I kept encouraging him that the piggy bank was for saving, but he should also think about giving some to the church. Then, on his own, he told me that he wanted to save up to buy something for his baby sister. How sweet, I said.

Since the wait for China has gotten astronomically long now, it has been very discouraging for us. It has definitely tested our faith. This, plus the logistics (and financial burdens of the upcoming move) has really dampened our spirits a bit. In fact, we have toyed with the idea of being open to domestic situations, should they happen to arise over the next year. The current timetable for China doesn't have us even having a referral now until late 2009.

It is moments, though, like the one with Nathan this morning that keep us going, despite the every so often "Why China?" comment from someone who doesn't understand our heart or history. It also makes me proud of my son.

I guess I have too many CDs...

Today was the culmination (or close to it) of a project I embarked on to get rid of all of the jewel cases for all of my CDs, consolidating them into a single binder (that fits about 250). Well, I filled that one up and still have about 50 plus left over. In fact, even with some blank spots left in for some late additions in certain categories, I was barely able to zip it up. Therefore, I may have to go back and take out the paper inserts I kept with each CD just to make it thinner. After all was done, here was the mountain I created, which I thought would make an interesting picture.


P.S. There is a cat well camoflauged in this picture. Can you find her?

Bite the Bullet

A few weeks back our roof over the sunroom was replaced, and some other touch-up roof work was done too. Somewhere over the main house, one of the roofers found an interesting shingle. One with a hole in it. Well, that's not that unusual. What caused the hole was indeed unusual - a bullet. Scary, right? I just now got around to taking a picture of it, as it's obviously an interesting souvenir of our house. It seems to have happened a long time ago. most likely when someone in the neighborhood perhaps shot up in the air. And after all, even bullets have to come down somewhere. Glad it wasn't my head!

In the "pits"

A friend of mine who works as a gas man for a Craftsman Truck Series Nascar team hooked me up with a Pit Pass for the race at Martinsville last weekend. It was a surreal experience to say the least. In addition to being in the pits with th 11 Red Horse Racing Team, I was able to catch glimpses of some famous drivers, and see beginning to end what goes on behind the scenes at a race. It was great! Here are some pics.

Goodbye to Joe

My friend Shawn and I from the time we were kids, were notorious Transformers and GI JOE traders. I was always more of the Transformers guy, and he - GI JOE. Recently, I discovered I still had the GI JOE Skystriker Jet and Bridge Builder. When I disclosed this to Shawn, he made a proposition I couldn't refuse - a trade for the 25th Anniversary Optimus Prime and Masterpiece Starscream. Aside for a few small things still in the attic, I said goodbye to the final larger items in my GI JOE collection. Nathan had fun with the GI JOE toys before the deal went down, as these pics will attest.

Living at Two Places/Easter Goings-on

It's been a while since the last post, as we continue to get used to our new church and the commuting situation we're in. Sharon commented this week that it was if we're "living in two places." For all of you readers out there (all 2.5 of you), please continue to pray for the quick sale of our house so we can get more firmly planted in our new community.

Here are a few pictures from our Easter Weekend. We had an egg hunt at the church, and also spent some time with Sharon's family.