Sorry we accidentally put our blog post on this one, but we fixed it- jandrscott.blogspot.com! Merry Christmas fellow Scott's!

Christmas Performances

Aidan and Ashlynn were both participants in today's Christmas service at Calvary Church. Aidan did an outstanding job of following direction and singing with the rest of his class. Ashlynn distinguished herself in other ways. Thought you might enjoy a short video presentation. In the first video, Aidan is the cute little Bobby Jones look-alike on the left. In the second, Ashlynn is the dancing queen--hard to miss. Just look for the one in her own little world. Enjoy and Merry Christmas from the Virginia Scotts!

Like Bing... Only Smaller

The Best Things Happen While You're Dancing

You better not pout, you better not.....Oh, well

As you can tell, Christmas has come to Germany. Luke is a bit upset that his grandparents will not be able to spend Christmas with him. ( At least that is what I suppose, what else could it be?) Someday this picture will come back to haunt him and maybe by then he will have forgiven his parents for this trauma! We hope you are all getting in the Christmas spirit.

Steve & Judy

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Just remembering how we were together with Mom & Dad last year and now they are celebrating in Heaven together this year! We miss them but are thankful for such a wonderful legacy of faith. Judy and I are feeling the absence of three family members around our table today. God has been so faithful to all of us this year even in the midst of our losses. We wish all the Scotts a great day of thanksgiving. Please know that the name of every child, grandchild and great grandchild (the "dear ones") are being lifted up to our Heavenly Father each day. We love you all!

Thinking about Family

I have been thinking about Dad today. It would have been his birthday. What I have been thinking is how much I appreciate each of you and the family nurture that takes place. We are spread apart but I want you to know that you are in my prayers.

Pardon the sentimentality but I am often working with families who do not seem to share the bond that we have. I want to foster it as much as possible.

Thanks

30th Reunion of the Class of 1977 at ENC

We spent last weekend at ENC with our 30th reunion. I don't have pictures of all the people we saw but below is a picture that I was drawn into of Ryan's NazNet buddies, Dennis Scott, Bob Evens, Mike Schutz, Corlis McGee, and me. They wanted me to stand in for Ryan since he wasn't there. (Although I think Corlis was dragged in also.)

We also got to spend time with Philip. Below is a picture of Philip and one of his roommates, Matt Kaufman (son of Don Kaufman)

We also saw a whole lot of little blond kids at Mark's house since David and Angela's families were there as well. Below is Beth holding Christian.

October in the Estes Park

Beth and I spent a day at one of our favorite places, Estes Park, near the beginning of October. We try to get up there a couple of times a year and would be glad to put it on the itinerary when you visit with us. Here are a few pictures.

The Legacy Lives On

Well Scotts, someone has to break the ice and begin to get the Scott Blog rolling again. Dad and Mom made family a priority and so it is up to each one of us to keep in touch. We, Judy and I, have had so many people speak to us about the influence Mom and Dad were to them. We are a blessed family because of what our parents have taught us. I see a new generation of Scotts with beautiful Christian testimonies being lived out in their lives. It was great to see all the cousins interacting and establishing friendships at the funeral.

Life sure is different in Salisbury but we have been well prepared for what is ahead. The trailer is slowly being emptied and I was able to give some of the furniture to a person who desperately needed some help.

It is now time to get this blog moving with all the exciting happenings that are going on in your part of the world! We need to be intentional about getting together and keeping each other informed about our lives.

Dad Doing Physical Therapy

Dad was moved last night to a rehab room at the same hospital. He is in room 3121 and the phone number is 1-410-219-1322. They will have him doing physical therapy each day with the goal of getting him moving again.

Steve's Medical Update On Dad

We had some tests done on Dad yesterday August 23, CT scan, chest x-ray & brain scan. They showed that Dad has some clotting in his lungs and possibly pneumonia in his right lung. We put him in the hospital last night August 23. They are going to thin his blood for the clotting issues and sometime today put some kind of a blood filter in his neck or abdomen to keep any further clots from forming. They assume the clots came from his leg. This explains his loss of appetite, etc. This is the good news we wanted to hear. It appears that there is no further spread of the cancer. His scans and x-rays look good. It would seem and the doctor agreed that when we get this lung thing cleared up that he should get his strength back and get back to living a normal healthy life.

The doctor says he really had no signs of the problem. No shortness of breath,etc. At least we found the problem and it appears not to be the cancer. All these are positive because we can get treatment for them. Dad is in Room 5536 and the telephone number is 410-219-1591. I don't know how much he can talk but just wanted you to have the info. Call me on my cell phone for any other questions you have. My cell 410-251-8556. Dad is staying with us and his phone rings here.

Steve

Here is a brief video greeting from Grandpa on Father's Day 2007
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9192004336385661752

The Treatments are Done!

This is just a brief note to let everyone know that Grandpa Scott, Sr. has completed his radiation and chemo treatments. Today was the last one and the picture shows the diploma he received for being a good patient! He will be evaluated in about six weeks to see how everything is progressing and how effective the treatments have been. The goal for the next six weeks is to eat and gain strength. For the time being , Dad is staying at our house. His phone is forwarded here if you want to call or use our number. I am also putting a couple of pictures from Father's Day when Alan visited.

Wedding Details

So, apparently a couple of Scott Spot readers have inquired with my folks about the wedding. We should be sending out the invitations very soon, but until then I thought I'd share the basic information so those of you who'd like to (and who aren't moving overseas) can make plans.

The wedding will be on Saturday, August 4, 2007 (yes, that's this year) in Gallatin, Tennessee (Nashville-ish), at 7:00pm. I'm pretty sure Dad reserved a bunch of rooms at a nice hotel nearby if anyone's interested.

It's going to be the wedding of the year...

...in the Scott family. You can also e-mail me if you want more specific details,

The word from Penny & Keith as of this morning is: IT WORKS!!!!! The kidney is functioning well! It sounds like Keith is making good progress. They send thanks for the prayers. Marcia

Kidney for Keith

This morning, Pen and Keith received a call to go to the hospital in Tampa for a possible transplant. They usually call several matches and test them when they arrive for the best one. We are hoping and praying that he will be the one this time.

Keep them in your prayers. I will update all as I have information.

*UPDATE from Jeremy*
Hey all. I'm updating this post on behalf of my dad, who is traveling with mom to the West Coast of Florida. Keith is having the transplant done tomorrow!! Praise the Lord, eh? He was found to be the best match for the kidney and the surgery will take place in the morning.

Please keep Keith and Penny (and my folks) in your prayers as his body adjusts to the new organ. Thanks for the prayers thus far. We'll try our best to keep you updated.

Thus Spake Uncle Sam

Finally!

Mindy and I found out yesterday where our next duty assignment will be...drum roll...Baumholder, Germany! I posted a long diatribe about it on our blog, but long story short, I will probably deploy from there sometime in the next six months. The unit I'm going to is supposed to deploy sometime in that window, but nothing offcial has come out, and if I know my employers, nothing will come out until after the perfect time has come and gone. We're excited about the move to Europe, but it doesn't look like we'll get too much time to spend there before I leave and Mindy comes back to the states, since it's pretty pointless for her to stay other than to sightsee for 15 months (yes, I'm really looking forward to that). Needless to say it will be an interesting year for the three of us. We do get to stay around Georgia until the beginning of July, and if I get the leave time, I'll report to Germany at the end of July- sorry Jeremy, it looks like I might miss the wedding. I'll be sure to send a towel set, or something else appropriately useless. ;)

Keep us all in your prayers, as there are lots of unknowns right now.

In other news, Luke dances! OK, not really, but this picture Dad took last weekend makes it look like he does.

It's kind of an Ickey Shuffle or something... Here's another one of the Steve Scotts, with some stranger that wanted to join in the group photo. Oh, I'm sorry, that's Randy. Grandpa made us keep him in the picture, even though he's not really family.

Salaam! (I'm brushing up...)

Wedding Plans

Well, August 4 is coming closer and Jer and Amy are busy with all kinds of planning. While it is still a few months away, I wanted to let you know about motel housing arrangements. I will send emails to as many addresses as I can locate but wanted to get this information up as soon as possible. We have reserved a block of rooms at the Hyatt Place hotel in Hendersonville. These are suite rooms. Marcia and I stayed there a year or so ago when it was Amerisuites. Breakfast is included. The rooms are King Suites.

The cost is $129 per night plus tax. This does not include any discounts for which you may be eligible (AAA, AARP, etc.). Simply ask for the rate for the Scott/Shrode wedding and let them know what discounts you qualify for.

The phone # for Hyatt Place is 1-615-826-4301

The rooms are blocked for August 3 & 4 but if you wish to reserve on either end of those dates, the same rates will hold.

The rates will be good until July 3. If you have any questions, please let me know.

We are getting excited.

The New Normal

Things have returned to a new normal in Salisbury. We have all gone back to our lives of work, church and the daily routines that consume us. The new normal is different because the spunky little lady who was such a big part of the old normal is gone. All is different. The empty place at the Sunday dinner table is most notable for me. Dad seems to be doing alright in the coping department. He has some health issues that I believe are medication related or pain from lifting and helping Mom those last weeks. Doctor visits have been made, revisits and tests scheduled and results will be forwarded to all. If in any of your conversations with Dad, you hear him tell you anything that may concern you, please let Judy or me know. He lives 3 miles away but we don't always hear everything. Dad is walking at the mall several times a week so continue to encourage that. He is back at church and taking part in Wednesday dinners and class functions. I know he has many lonely times, so continue to touch base with him. If there are questions or concerns don't hesitate to call us.

Steve

Some thoughts

By now, most of us have returned to our homes. I am glad we were together. When I arrived at my office on Monday morning, there were a stack of cards from kids in the school. The one that touched my heart was the second grader who wrote "I know how you feel. My mom died 5 months ago." For her to write that was incredible. I had a different understanding of intercession. I was glad I was alone at the moment because I just began to cry.

Thought that was worth sharing.

Lots of us remember being in Caleb's shoes.

Matriarch

Matriarch: 1. A woman who rules a family, clan or tribe. 2. A leading or venerable woman. (Also see entry Doris Scott)

We are the sum total of those who have come before us. So thank you for raising up a son, who in turn raised up a son. I am grateful.

Amazing what you find on the web

I am glad that Steve has finally got a handle on his Coke problem. At least he isn't bottling it up anymore!

Last Week With The Colorado Scotts

Last week Beth and I got to attend the M7 Conference in KC. It really was pretty good. We had 6 opportunities to go to workshops and they offered 238 workshops! (Ryan Scott coordinated the 238 workshops for the event and did a great job. [Its not braggin' if its true.]) It was great to spend time with Katelynn and Ryan and see some Nazarene friends that we don't get to see very often.

Beth did great on the trip, even with a broken wrist. When we got back to town on Thursday, she got hit with the stomach bug that took her out for the weekend. (Sounds like Chris and Mindy's Georgia bug.) Yesterday she had the 3 pins (Larger than a hat pin but smaller than a railroad spike) taken out and a new, slightly smaller in circumference, cast put on. This has opened up some new wardrobe options for her!

While we were gone, Jordan went with some of his friends for an Explore event at NNU. 30 hours round trip by car. He is a junior this year and so far has also checked out Mid-America. All family members are welcome to apply pressure for you alma mater directly to him!

Philip is coming home for Spring Break on March 9! It was a busy weekend for him and a pretty busy second semester schedule.

Just thought I would pass on the updates.

Grandma Scott celebrates her 87th birthday!

Here are a couple of pictures I took last night as we celebrated Grandma's 87th birthday. They were taken with my cell phone and thus the grainy pictures. She is weak but hanging in there. I know I e-mailed these to some of you but I don't have all the e-mail addresses I probably should have.

Colorado Pictures

Here is Beth with her broken wrist at the Dessert Auction at the Teen Valentine Banquet at church Feb 13.

This was Pikes Peak when John and Marcia were here.

It's all in the perspective

I have been reading about all that snow in New York. I hear that Indiana is overwhelmed with snow and cold. I assume that Ohio and all those New England areas are "enjoying" winter weather.

Down here in Florida, everyone is bracing for the blast of cold weather forecast for the weekend. Now that means that the low for Friday night will be close to (or even) freezing. And some of the folks down here will be decked out in the same winter garb that we saw a few weeks ago in Colorado.

One of the children came to school the other day with the neatest looking winter boots.

Anyway we are keeping those of you truly dealing with winter weather in mind.

Thought everyone would enjoy looking at 4 handsome fellows with their parents. This was taken at Ryan and Katelynn's wedding.

All remains pretty much the same at Mom and Dad's.

Kansas checking in

Hello family! I figured that since Chris & Mindy are now reporting from Georgia, I had better represent the only Scotts left in the frozen tundra known as Kansas. As I'm typing this I can look out our window and see the exact same ice I've been staring at for 3+ weeks. I suppose we're not alone in this cold weather bout though... at least we're not in upstate New York with 7 feet!! AHH!

Things are going pretty well for us here. I finished student teaching, got my teaching license and have since started subbing in two of the local school districts. My applications are all in and finished to teach full time next school year - now I just need an interview! Ryan may end up posting on this himself, so I won't say too much, but he finished a two week module class that was relatively easy and is now working on a semester long class covering the book of John (not Uncle John... the disciple... just in case there was any confusion. As far as I know, this family only has the gift of the book of Alan). He is pretty swamped with class, but he's also in charge of a large majority of the upcoming M7 conference taking place right here in Kansas City (Feb. 19-21). I think once we get through February I'll have a husband back.

Since we don't have any kids to post pictures of and neither of us are looking too drastically different from the last time we were all together, I figured I would leave a different sort of picture. This is a real NECCO candy conversation heart that Ryan & I found in a bag of them I bought for V-day. If anyone can tell me why this would be on a piece of candy, be my guest. AARP me!

P.S. - you can also visit www.xanga.com/pinkladykate for my regular "blogging." Not that I'm likely to be any better updating that one as I will be updating this one. ;o )

Salisbury Checking In!

If Pete would have used the font I did I am sure it would have been OK. He is the favorite!Remember that there are several grandpas and grandmas that have to read this blog. You youngsters will type so fast and so small we may miss something!

Seriously, it is good to read all that is going on. Grandma Doris is not having a good day. She is weak and not eating much. Grandpa John, Sr. is doing all he can but seemed a bit discouraged. Any of you can call me on my cell phone to get any information you may need. The number is 410-251-8556. After you talk to Grandpa or Grandma, you can call me to see what is really going on.

It is still cold here, but it is winter and it is February. This is our Faith Promise weekend at church. The missionaries are John and Sandy Cunningham. Alan should know them from ENC. We are looking forward to it.

Great Job Jeremy

What a great place to meet and keep up with what is going on among the Scotts. Jeremy is to be commended for putting this together!!! I think what I am doing though should be called "slogging" - since I am so slow at this blogging thing.

Beth is still recovering from her broken wrist. Hopefully she will see the doc on Thursday and have the pins removed which is the next step on the healing. Since neither of us have broken bones before, we now have much more sympathy for those of you who have.

Came back from a two day trip to Nampa and a executive committee meeting at NNU. They were having a "Revisioning Holiness" conference starting just as my meeting ended but I did not stay. About 300 attending. Not all of them were theology nerds. Some were real people. I passed on the conference. They are offering the main sessions on DVD from the NNU website should you all be curious.

Our Worship/Associate Pastor Brent Wyss is going to Portland Oregon 1st church to do their worship/outreach. Brent and I have worked together a long time. It is tough to find the right gift mix for the positon we have. He did much more than public worship.

This really brings the family together. Although being there is person is the best. Here is a picture to show you that we really were in Colorado with Beth and Alan. He took the picture.

Now I am challenged to figure out My Space and all that other tech stuff. Whatever happened to my simple pad of paper? (Parchment and quill?)

Another Old Guy Chimes In!

Hello everyone. I am writing in a blog, I have a MySpace page...whats next - learn to use an iPod? I can't wait to get all the Scott humor flowing all over the world. This could really be fun. But to answer Chris' comment about getting Grandpa (John, Sr.) to blog...I don't think so!! Who do you think would have to teach him?
I will try to keep you posted about Grandma's (Doris) condition as well. Today she seemed weaker. She has not had a lot of pain but she is failing. She gets out of bed everyday and sits up. The hospice people are wonderful. They are a huge help to Grandpa. He carries the weight of Grandma's care and that is the way he wants it. Judy and I check every day but he says it is under control. He has become quite the housewife!

Hey, you guys have three first names!

Good to see there's finally a place to go for those of us blessed/cursed with three first names. I'll really believe Jeremy succeeded when he gets Grandpa to post on here. :)

Hello from the Georgia Scotts...well, temporarily. I started my Signal Corps Captains Career Course here in Augusta (actually Ft. Gordon) in January, so we'll be here until May. Then I'm going to...well, I don't know; wherever the Army sends me. We probably won't know until April or so. Mindy is really loving being cooped up in our apartment with Luke all day. I know this because when I come home from class she hands him to me and runs away. (Actually, she likes being a stay at home mom. I think it's the money.)

Since I see lots of pictures of other anklebiting Scotts, I'll add mine- here's a picture of Luke in his new high chair. If you want to see more pictures of him- shameless plug alert- click on either my name or Mindy's on the right and check out our blog as well.

Welcome Newest Scott Spot Members!!

Hello all. This message is just to welcome you to the website.

Take some time and look around at the site...its features...and some of the previous "test" posts my folks and I have published. It should give you a good idea of the potential of this site.

Glad you're all here.

The new year begins

I just talked to Jeff and he was gloating about the unseasonably warm weather in DC. We found ourselves saying we would like a bit cooler weather here in FL so that we could enjoy a bit of winter feel.

Steve called to let me know yesterday that Mom was in the hospital. I talked with her this morning. She seemed tired and was already complaining about being "stuck" so much. I did my duty and urged her to make sure she was drinking enough fluids daily. But I am not sure how much impact my "wisdom" really has.

I am glad that Steve and Judy are nearby. Times like this, it would be nice to be closer to all and able to do more.