Check It Out!

Thanksgiving holiday finally gave me the chance to catch up on the blog. I have posted pictures of the girls at Halloween, a video of the final moments of Cynthia's volleyball team winning the City Championship, special memories of PaPa's 90th birthday and one of my favorite Thanksgiving poems. I have also added two new links under the Andrea's Favorite section. One is to my friend Jennifer Albright's blog. Jennifer lost her husband to cancer this summer. The other link is to a women at church who is fighting heart cancer. Both of this stories are truly inspiration and once again help us see how thankful we should all be for our health.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was a wonderful break from the hustle and bustle of our normal lives. The older I get the more I appreciate this holiday. Speaking for myself, it is difficult to not look around and see how many things we have to be thankful for.

I love this poem taken from Anne Landers' column (2001).

Things to Be Thankful For
Be thankful for the clothes that fit a little too snug, because it means you have enough to eat.
Be thankful for the mess you clean up after a party, because it means you have been surrounded by friends.
Be thankful for the taxes you pay, because it means you're employed.
Be thankful that your lawn needs mowing and your windows need fixing, because it means you have a home.
Be thankful for your heating bill, because it means you are warm.
Be thankful for the laundry, because it means you have clothes to wear.
Be thankful for the space you find at the far end of the parking lot, because it means you can walk.
Be thankful for the lady who sings off-key behind you in church, because it means you can hear.
Be thankful when people complain about the government, because it means we have freedom of speech.
Be thankful for the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours, because it means you're alive.

I hope that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday as well.

PaPa's 90th Birthday Party

Right after Cynthia's big city championship win, the whole family headed down to Paducah for the annual Halloween bonfire. This year was really special because on Sunday we all came together to wish PaPa (Chris' grandfather) a happy 90th birthday. He still shows everyone up on the dance floor.

Cynthia wins City Volleyball Championship

Cynthia's SMM volleyball team won the City Championship in October. They were undefeated all season and it was great fun to watch them play together.

Halloween 2008

We had unseasonably warm weather for Halloween this year. This combined with the holiday falling on a Friday night made it a wonderful event. Each of the girls did something a little different this year:

Cynthia dressed as Tinkerbell. She invited a large group of friends over to trick or treat with her in our neighborhood.

Rachel's costume was Minnie Mouse. She went out with a friend in her neighborhood.

Amanda's final costume choice was an M&M. She started out as a vampire but liked this funky look better. She also went out with a friend in a neighborhood close by.

Bridget was Demi Lovato from Disney's Camp Rock and Eleanor was a very cute Madeline. I took them through our neighborhood.

Everyone received too much candy and had a great time!

Andrea runs the half marathon

Ok, so she didn't save any Greek soldiers, but Andrea ran a lot further than most of us can. The Metro Parks hosted the run yesterday. Chris and the kids met her at the finish line.

U-505

Chris and friend Joe French went to Chicago last weekend. The German U-505 submarine was the only U-boat captured in WWII and the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry opened a new exhibit with the boat a few years ago. Very cool thing to see.

St X / Trinity Game

Beautiful weather contributed to the record crowd at the game which drew over 38,000 people. We had fun tailgating before the game. It was Bruce's (Andrea's dad) 50th class reunion which was all the more special since St X was victorious in the game.

Blessing of the Rats

Amanda brought her pet rats to SMM for the Blessing of the Animals. Father Steve did a great job in when he was interupted by someone when he said "we bless the Trinity" and someone yelled out "Can you bless the St X". Of course, this was 2 days before the big game!

Beavin Family Reunion 2008

We had a great turn out for the Beavin Family Reunion despite the fact that it fell at exactly the same time as the U of L / UK football game.

Rachel's Birthday Sept 29

Rachel had a sleepover with 5 friends to celebrate her birthday. She had a great time. She was very excited by her gift from the Jeff Beavin family and Uncle Mike - an ipod shuffle.

Eleanor's First Day of School

We now have all the girls at SMM. Eleanor has adjusted to SMM very well. All the girls are doing very well in school. Rachel was invited to take the ACT through the Duke Talent Search Program. Cynthia took the ACT last year. We were very proud and amazed at her score. She has again been asked to participate in the SEEK program which is an exchange program between the Catholic schools.

David's Visit

"Uncle" David (Andrea's brother) stayed with us during the Ryder Cup. Even though we did not have power most of that week, it was great to have him around.

We won the Ryder Cup!

Chris and Bruce attended the final day of the Ryder Cup, held at the PGA's Valhalla golf course just a few miles from home. It was a great experience!

The lights are back on!

Finally we have power - yea! We got power back about 4:30 on Sunday after almost exactly one full week without it. Going without power really makes you appreciate how wonderful our modern days lives are. We are considering a no power day once a month just to keep us mindful. Thanks to all who have helped us during this time! Andrea

Still Without Power

We still do not have power after Sunday's strange category 1 hurricane like winds that hit Louisville on Sunday afternoon. The girls went back to school today but had a 3 day break due to power outages across the city. We had already planned on having a special week with my parents and brother staying with us for Ryder Cup. It feels like we are camping. Mom is getting very good at cooking on the grill. Chris has taken advantage of the lack of lights to get some great views of Jupier with his telescope. Keep your fingers crossed that we are lucky enough to get power back today! - Andrea

This is a picture of a car that Chris saw when he was trying to get home during the storm!

Jeff and Debbie lost a tree during the storm. Chris enjoyed helping them cut it up!

Cynthia's 8th grade year

Cynthia's friend had a big 13th birthday party the weekend before school started. Cynthia and her friends (including her "boy" friend Nicholas) had a ball. Cynthia is loving being the top class of the school. She is also still exploring her high school options.

Vacation #2 2008

Gulf Shores is a very relaxing vacation. You get up in the morning, eat breakfast and then decide whether the day will start at the beach or the pool. The beach is beautiful and the condo that we stay at is very nice. I personally like to get up early and walk the beach. - Andrea

Click the link below to see all the pictures from our Gulf Shores trip.
http://picasaweb.google.com/beavinfamily/GulfShores08#

Vacation #1 2008

Annual trip to Barren River Lake. I get to pick the bathing suits next year. - Chris

I love Barren now as much as when I was a kid probably more since we now have access to a wonderful house instead of camping in a tent. Chris, I, the girls and my mom and dad all love being on the water to tube, swim, boat, solo on the wave runner, etc. The state lodge is just a mile away by car and we can horseback ride, golf and swim there as well. We can see plenty of wildlife (deer, bugs, turtles) while enjoying all the modern day comforts in the house - dishwasher, microwave, TV, etc. This year, Chris' dad and niece joined us for a couple of days. which was very nice. - Andrea

Click the link below to see 141 pictures from our Barren Lake vacation.

http://picasaweb.google.com/beavinfamily/Barren08

Big Bang

Look here to see where they plan to build the new arena and why it takes longer to paint a bridge than get rid of a 9-story building.

Softball Tourney Time!

This week all the kids have their first tourney game for Lyndon Rec ball. We had a pretty good standing in the regular season: Cynthia's team placed 1st, Rachel's team ended up in 3rd in their division but had a shot at first, and Bridget and Eleanor's team (coached by Chris) ended up 2nd in their division. What will we do next week when we won't have games every night?

Bridget's 7th Birthday

Bridget had a great birthday celebration on Sunday June 22nd. We actually got to celebrate on her actual birthday. First, a couple of her school buddies came over. They gave her all kinds of great presents and then spent some time jumping in the bouncy we rented for the day. Then the family came over to partake in a wonderful chicken meal complete with cake and ice cream. Amanda did the decorations and "Happy Feet" cake. It was a very special day for Bridget.

Father's Day

Father's Day was spent with Andrea's dad on the boat at Taylorsville Lake. Then we headed over to Chris' dad's house for the traditional Father's Day cookout.

Cicada

Louisville was cicada central for a couple of weeks this summer. These are pictures from Henry's (Chris' dad) yard.

Break Time at the Pool

The YMCA right by our house has built an awesome water park. We have really enjoyed it. However, break time can get dull. This is what Cynthia and Amanda did to past the time.

Piano Recital

Andrea 40th Birthday Video

While Andrea was off in Italy being holy, I took care of 6 kids (the girls and Bruce), kept the house somewhat clean and found time to put 200+ pictures into this video. Never could have done this with her in the house cleaning up my stuff.

Eleanor's Graduation

Eleanor graduated from Tiny Tots! It is hard to believe that after 13 straight years we don't have a daughter there anymore!

Spring Break - Amanda & Cynthia

Amanda had a great time in Florida with my parent over spring break. She even sent us this unusual postcard.

http://postcards.go.com/mexico/retrieve?card_id=F014F36D1402FD5CC47705E4BA458597

Postcards From Mexico requires the latest version of the QuickTime plug-in. If you do not have QuickTime, simply click here (or copy this ENTIRE link and paste it into your Web browser) to download it: http://disney.go.com/help/software_center/index.html#quicktime

Cynthia went to the Caymen Islands with her friend Mary Rose Mullins. I think she had a great time despite the scary parasailing event.

Bruce Zaepfel (Andrea's dad) celebrated a birthday on May 18th. We took him to Texas Roadhouse. It was so much fun. They had him sit on a sadle and everyone in the restaurant shouted out Happy Birthday!