Merry Christmas from the Lindsays

Greetings family and friends! Here is our annual end-of-the-year rundown.

After much prayer and consideration, we decided to go ahead with adding a second floor to our house this year. The project kicked-off in late April with plumbing and foundation work. On May 17th the framers started tearing away the existing area where the new section was going, and by Memorial Day weekend they had the new upstairs more-or-less “blacked-in”. A couple more weeks of framing followed, and then in June the A/C and electrical rough-in, and roofing and masonry work was completed. July saw much of the interior work get going, including installing the insulation, hanging and floating the sheetrock, and starting the trim carpentry. August got really exciting around here as the interior painting was finished, and the bathroom and electrical fixtures were all installed. Finally, in September, the flooring, vanities, window blinds, and driveway extension were all completed, finishing the project, as a great kickoff to football season. Everyone please feel free to come visit us soon, and stay a night or two. In the end we added a playroom, 2 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms upstairs, then a garage/storeroom and bathroom downstairs. In October, Luke and Cameron moved into one of the rooms upstairs, which made room for Cole and his crib to move in with Levi (downstairs), and gave Miriam and Micah their own girly room too.

We are so thankful to our general contractor Wayne Dodge (Construction), who did a fantastic job with a very complex and difficult project, having to endure 6 months of Craig’s fastidious and hyper-meticulous nature. Also special thanks to Wayne’s framer Wes Hart, whose crew did an unbelievable job of making sure no rain ever got into our home, during the framing days. A final big thank you to Rick (the best dad and father-in-law in the world) for putting in a limestone driveway and 3 catch basins, allowing us a way to drive back to our barn, where we parked our vehicles during the project.

Craig (38) – He continues to sing with the Parkview Praise Team and Choir and lead the Children’s Choir; and, he finally retired his last aquarium, and got to see the Saints win a Super Bowl and a Johnny’s Pizza open in Baton Rouge in the same year (yay!). He also continues his instrument engineering work at Jacobs Engineering, where he got the opportunity to work with 2 new clients this year.

Candi (35) – She is busy homeschooling the kids and continues to blog about homeschool and family activities. She once again participated in the Mommytography 365 project and continues to learn more about photography. She even had a couple of photo shoots…a wedding in May and senior pictures in November.

Luke (7½) – He is in 3rd grade this year and loves math and geography. He really enjoys football and many other sports, and played Upward Basketball (Rattlers) at Woodlawn Baptist, coaches pitch baseball (Cubs) at Istrouma Baptist, and YMCA flag football (Cubs). Luke also enjoyed playing his first year of fantasy football.

Cameron (6) – He is in 1st grade this year, but in general doesn’t really enjoy school. This year Cameron became a lot more interested in football. He played YMCA flag football (Red Dragons) again and was often the quarterback for his team. He will play Upward Basketball, starting in just a few weeks.

Both Luke and Cameron attended 2 music camps this summer. The first was a children’s choir camp called “Art-Is-In”. On Friday night of the camp, they presented a musical called “2 Tickets to Hollywood.” Luke played the part of an actor named “Basil Filamore” and sang his first solo. Cameron was one of the bull-fighter dancers in the same song. The second camp was a week-long fine arts camp where they learned how they use fine arts to worship God. They also got to attend many football games (high school & LSU) with Daddy.

Miriam (4½) – She is doing more structured preschool work and already knows all of the letters and many of their sounds. She continues to love “girly” things like jewelry, purses, and especially make-up and lipstick (Thanks to Aunt Laura & ZeeZee). She really liked the Father/Daughter Sweetheart dance that Daddy took her to in February. Currently she enjoys taking care of Cole and helping with her cousins Grace and Elliott when they are visiting.

Levi (2½ 3½) – He is doing some preschool work while the others do their schoolwork. He knows his shapes, colors, and numbers and now can “write” his name. He really enjoys playing with the train set and riding his bike. Levi got to go to his 1st LSU game when they played McNeese State.

Micah (2½) – Micah does some of the same preschool work as Levi when she’s interested. She’s a girly girl…she loves to play with purses and shoes! She’s definitely in the terrible two stage right now, trying both Mommy & Daddy’s patience!

Cole (5 months) – Cole Benjamin was born on July 3, 2010 at 3:50 pm weighing 8 lbs and was 19.5 inches long. He is a very content baby and loves being around his older siblings.

Here are some highlights of family activities this past year – Grace’s baptism (Jan), Vacation Bible School (June), 10th Dating Anniversary @ Cheesecake Bistro (July), Birth of Elliott Lane Busby to Eric & Laura (Oct), New van (Nov)

Trips – Houston (Jan), Monroe (May, Aug, Nov), Arkansas (Aug, Nov), Gulf Shores with all the Stanford’s (Sept), NC vs. LSU in Atlanta (Sept), Clinton (Oct, Nov), LSU vs. Arkansas (Nov)

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year, and please do not forget the reason for it in all the busyness.

“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:17