Its Fall people

Hello Family,

It has taken me a solid month to collect a half respectable number of articles but, I know that life is busy so thanks to everyone who took some time this month to write an article. Remember the words of E.L. Docotorow, “Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia.”. So with that, enjoy your fellow family members schizophrenic outburst below.

-Justin

P.S. Make sure to Visit Aprils face book page here https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=7018557&sk=photos
to see some pictures of our newest family member.

This guy is a dad?

Kate

Well family, life has us wondering about our future. Brian has received funding for one more year. His professors are excited about his dissertation paper and want another year to work on it. Samford has posted a position and we have decided to apply to them alone. If we get Samford we will be beyond thrilled and if not then we will stay in Kville one more year. We hang in the balance of God’s plan. The earliest we will find out is late October. Pray for all people involved in this decision making process. If you know anyone in the Samford business department, send out a good word! All of that is keeping us prayerful and has Brian fighting stress. I’m fairly stressed myself with school. I had my first runner this past week. He had his breaking point and just took off out of my room and out the front door! He is my hardest student this year. He has major anxiety but I’m getting to help him learn to deal with it. I only have 13 students so it’s not terrible. I’m on 2 incredibly time consuming committees and those have me ready to have a kid and stay at home from work. Just sayin. And get a dog. Whichever comes first. OH another big prayer request is Brian’s dad. He has been back in the hospital and his health is still concerning. He also has two pugs and one of them was hit by a car and they had to put him to sleep. He has, obviously, been very upset about it. His other dog is the mother of the one they put down and she isn’t doing well either. Life is just hard for him and navigating that hasn’t been easy. Prayers appreciated. Love you guys!!!

Kate and Brian

Caroline

Hi family,

  I can’t remember the last time I wrote or what I have told y’all about my life recently but not too too much is going on! I just started my sophomore year at UA and couldn’t be more excited!! Tuscaloosa is awesome and continues to be a great experience. I am still an elementary education major and absolutely love it!! I am in a special education class and there is a possibility of me minoring  in special Ed but I haven’t made a definite decision yet. Just praying about it and seeing if this is maybe what the Lord wants me to do! So basically my life is school and hanging out!! But don’t worry Dad, I’m studying hard 😉 love y’all

Caroline

Ryan

Family,

Hello from Atlanta! Anna and I are still unpacking boxes and getting things set up in the apartment, but we’re officially Atlantans. We and 6 million of our closest friends. We are looking forward to the high crime rate, high cost of living, and of course the traffic! No, joking aside, we are excited. We have a sweet apartment set-up and there’s not a shortage of fun things to do here. We are are actually living in the same apartment complex as Justin and Brittany. We tried our best to find a better apartment, but this place couldn’t be beat (Walton on the Chattahoochee). We are right by the Chattahoochee river (really, right by it, people put in their kayaks and tubes right behind our clubhouse, come stay with us and “shoot the hooch” anytime you want), we have a coffee shop inside the complex (we don’t like coffee, but they have great wifi and views of the river), and we have a 3 acre dog park (Denali and Lucia love it).

Some of you may be wondering who Lucia is. Lucia is our new dog (boy, named Lucia for St. Lucia since we went there for our honeymoon). We actually got him three months ago, but most of you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting him. Lucia is from the human society. He’s part beagle, lab, Australian shepherd, pit bull, honey badger, hamster, and wolverine. The point is, he’s a true mutt, we aren’t really sure what all he has in him, everyone sees something different in him. He definitely has some beagle in him. He’s very vocal, likes to whine to go outside, and bark at us when he’s not getting enough attention, and makes all sorts of different noises for emotions he thinks he’s feeling. He’s a lot of work. He’s super energetic, I need to get back in shape to keep up with him. Thankfully, we are counting on him and Denali getting a lot of energy out at the dog park together.

Nothing new other than moving. Again, come visit anytime. We have an extra room with a queen bed in it!

Love,

Ryan

Lucy

Hello Family! What a fun spring/summer with the Dunne weddings! I can’t believe tomorrow is September .

Leah start VPK (volunteer pre-kindergarten) a week ago. They take it very seriously at her school. She already had homework this week! It is a new school for her but she is adjusting well and enjoying meeting new friends. Her teachers this year are different from last year and I think it’s harder on me than her. They were very lovey dovey and warm last year; this year I feel, so far, it’s more like we are getting down to business. I do like her teachers but I guess the change has been hard for me. The other exciting news is that Leah got her ears pierced. We do it in the clinic where I work so I got to do it! We both thought it was fun! Annie is growing and developing each day. Her language is blossoming (thank goodness!) and she is communicating very well for her age. She loves her school and does well there. She loves to eat so we always have to watch what we leave on the table. Before you know it she will have climbed up and will be destroying the food. As for Mike, he is doing well. He just officiated his 2nd out of 4 weddings for the year this past weekend. Things at the church are going well and keeping him busy. He is becoming very involved in our community. The Lord has blessed him with more opportunities than he can take on. As for me, I’m doing well. 11 more weeks until this girl should arrive. I’m starting to really feel the weight gain…but just taking it one day at a time. We hope everyone is doing well!

Trent

Hello Family,

    I can’t really remember the last time I wrote and article, so here goes nothing. This summer was pretty dang good. The only thing that really stunk about this summer was not having a Burgin family beach trip. For myself, it just didn’t feel like the summer was complete, although I was able to see everyone this summer (I think) it still felt incomplete. Now that summer is over, school is in full swing. I can’t complain too bad considering I’m taking scuba diving, recreational games, and golf class. Needless to say, my schedule isn’t too bad. Football is taking up most of my time, but I try to have a good attitude considering this season brings a lot of last times. Hopefully we can make it my best year in college yet. It doesn’t quite feel right that I graduate college in May. It seems like just yesterday I was just a freshman coming in to fall camp. I think my body is ready for me to quite hitting 300 pounders everyday  and I thinkI am ready to be in the real world. Sometimes I’ll be in practice dreaming about playing ultimate frisbee on the beach with everyone. I guess I should start paying attention in my class now. Love and miss everyone.

Love,

Trent

Jennifer

Hello everyone,

Hope all is well! School has started back for me and it’s my senior year. Wow. Where did time go? College is flying by and it is kind of sad!! But besides that sad part, a happy part is that  this year I moved to a new apartment with two of my friends and we are loving it!! It’s closer to campus which I love and I am basically Caroline’s neighbor! Well senior year will probably be my easiest year yet due to me only taking 13 hours of classes. I’m excited because I am taking criminal justice this semester to finish my social behavior credits! It should be interesting and fun! Besides school, this weekend i am headed up to Delta State to watch Trent play football on Thursday and then onto Dallas after that, with my parents, to cheer on the Crimson Tide! I’m so excited for football season but sad that it is my last one as a student! Bittersweet for sure! Well hope to see everyone soon and hope all is well with everyone else! Love yall!

Helen

So, I’m late in writing this article (only by 3 days).  Hopefully it will still make it in the newsletter.  Right now I cannot remember what I wrote last and I can’t remember who I saw and who knows what LOL… Lack of sleep lately, slightly!  For whatever reason, Will has been having horrible dreams and waking up several times a night screaming.  I’m praying for a better night tonight!  Other than that, what’s up at the Nabors’ house – Cory is working his tail off on a bathroom in our basement.  He’s doing everything himself – I’m impressed!  As always, there’s been some kinks to work out that we did not expect, but this weekend we made some progress!  All the plumbing is finished!  He’s put the shower in and done part of the wall over the shower – wow! YAY CORY!!!!  Will and Luke had their first day of ‘school’ on Friday (September 5th).  Thankfully they loved it!  Will did not make it home with his back pack, Luke did not nap, but otherwise, they had a blast.  Luke turned 2 at the beginning of Aug, we’ve gotten to visit with Grandy twice in August, and we also have gotten to visit with Grandmother and Gran twice in August – so it was a good month!  Let’s back up a little farther to July – July 4th weekend, I told Will that if he wanted to go to school that he had to wear underwear and no more diapers.  He said ok!  I had prepared myself for such a battle and it wasn’t one.  He had a few accidents the next week, but then after a week at the beach (where you can use the bathroom whenever LOL and watching Jonathan, who had become a potty trained pro), the has never looked back.  Then, Luke turned 2 and we got rid of the pacifier.  We boxed them up and shipped them to Lucy 🙂 or at least they think!  So, Lucy, if they ask, you got them and you so appreciate their generosity!  Because yes, even though it is has been over a month, Will asks if he can call Lucy and get them back,  But then before I answer, he says he knows he’s too big for it but he does miss it, but he knows that Baby Annie needs them more 🙂 As for me, work is good.  The month of August was a nice break for me!  Got to have some weekends with no gymnastics 🙂 and definitely enjoyed the time at home!  Things pick up some after Labor Day.  Got lots of routines to choreograph, meets to judge, a meet to host, etc.  But God always supplies exactly what we need when we need it and for that I am grateful!  Love each of you – more than you know

Leigh Ann

Hey family!

I’m officially on my 8th week of California living, and so far so good! I live across the street from a mall, it’s sunny 90% of the time, and it’s a 35 minute drive to the Huntington Dog Beach. I just got hired at the YMCA as a lead teacher and start tomorrow (the 9th), so I’ll have to let y’all know how that goes! Nik and are good, we’ve been going to his church, Crosspointe, which I’m loving. The people are great, invested in their youth, and mission-minded. AND I’ve already been invited over to watch some football games with folks who understand the rivalries within the SEC. Roll Tide! Haha. I got to spend time with Lulu and Uncle Dennis on Labor Day which was awesome!! I loved seeing family. Nik and I took them to the Lazy Dog and then took their rented, yellow Camaro convertible to Farrell’s for ice cream. I really enjoyed that time with them. It makes me miss all of you so much! I love telling the people I meet about y’all. I’ve heard testimonies that really put things in perspective and I thank God every day for how close our family is. I love all of y’all and welcome any and all visits if anyone gets the itch to see the west!

Leigh Ann

Tricia

Hello family! As I sit to write this article, I am awaiting news from Joe on the birth of little Anna! I am so excited to have my very first niece, I hear it’s wonderful.

The Duff family is settling into the fall routine nicely. Adah Marie misses her siblings while they are away at school, but I think she enjoys the individual attention and nearly CONSTANT book reading. Nora Grace is loving preschool! She has the same teacher Bryan had for preschool and we are thrilled. If Nora Grace could go to school on Saturdays and Sundays I think she would be very happy. She is doing ballet again this year and is excited to be starting soccer with Bryan in a few weeks. Bryan isn’t too thrilled about soccer because apparently “astronauts don’t play soccer,” and if an astronaut doesn’t do it then it’s not worth Bryan’s time and effort.  Bryan is enjoying school as well. He actually told me this morning that school is no longer boring, but that it has now gotten interesting. I believe this is due to the implementation of highlighter use in his classroom or maybe the work is just finally starting to challenge him. Bryan could use your prayers however, as he is having a few behavioral struggles in school and has developed a tick like behavior that has prompted us to move forward with conversations with his pediatrician about high functioning autism spectrum disorder.

Tim is looking forward to the overnight relay race the boys are doing in Tennessee in October! I however, am taking a break from activities outside of the kids this fall as well expect to be receiving foster placements at the end of this month or beginning of October.  Our case manager informed us they are pushing to have us licensed before the end of the month to help them meet quotas that determine their contract funding from the state. All we are waiting on to complete our licensing packet is a radon test which is completed, we are just waiting on results.

We love you all and are grateful for your prayers during this hectic and uncertain time for our family!

See you soon;

The Duffs

Jeffrey

Sup familia,

I have been home for over two months now and have enjoyed spending time with everybody. I had eye surgery two weeks ago and have been very pleased with the recovery.  I’m regaining my vision much faster than expected. This past weekend I got to go see Trent play and then go to Carrollton.  I couldn’t really see what was going on on the field but Abby kept telling me how good Trent looked out there so i’m assuming that he either played well or that she thought he looked sexy out there on the field.  I lean towards the latter assumption. But Carrollton was a great time. I’ve missed being down there with everybody very badly, and am very excited about being able to spend Thanksgiving with you all.

Justin

Family,

Life has been a little busy and I don’t even have kids!! Work wears on me a little sometimes but I am still enjoying it and I love getting the opportunity to help build such a cool building. Brittany has been doing great at the Hospital, she enjoys the floor she works on and is learning a lot about hematology and oncology. Recently, Brittany and I joined a bible study called “Christianity Explored” that is a basic overview of the christian faith and an examination of the foundations of Christianity. The bible study is led by the head pastor at our church and he is a truly gifted teacher that Brittany and I are excited to learn from. This past weekend we went to Trent’s game in the Delta, it was great seeing Mom and Dad and Trent did great as the sole Caucasian representation on Delta State’s Defense.

Anyway, if you have made it this far reading my article then you have probably noticed that I just listed off the things that are going on in my life….. I desperately need to work on my creative writing skills.

I love you all,

Justin