Rinn Reflections

Our sweet friends Jenny and Joel had their baby boy, Caden Michael, last Thursday morning at 1:15 a.m. We couldn't be more happy for them!

Jenny was in the hospital for a while before Caden arrived, so we went up to Baylor on Wednesday night to have dinner with them. It was a really fun time together; plus, our friend Tiffany, a NICU respiratory therapist at Baylor, was working then, so she was there, too!

My grandma made this beautiful afghan for Caden. Here he is on his way home!


Caden is truly a testimony that God is faithful! He hears our prayers and shares our tears even when we don't feel that He does. We are so thrilled that God blessed Jenny and Joel with such a beautiful baby! Welcome, Caden!

It's been a while since our loyal viewers have had a construction update, and, unfortunately, even longer since we've posted a picture of a crane. Well, today is your lucky day as I take you to the bridge in Eliasville (close to Graham), Texas.


This scene unfolded back in Sept. when the job started. Most jobs start with clearing the project area so it's suitable for construction to begin. Our job is to construct small sections of road and a bridge next to the existing bridge and then tie the existing road to our new bridge.


Just about every road involves moving dirt, and here we are loading dirt into an off-road dump truck so we can build up the grade of the new road. Driving these trucks is always an adventure, and as there is little to no suspension, you're in for a bumpy ride if the haul road isn't maintained... I've considered selling tickets for rides on the weekends!


Here we are pouring the columns for the bridge. I call this one "Billy IN the Can." Other than appearing to have fallen in, he's actually smoothing the concrete where the top of the column is going to be.


Right before Christmas, we set beams on the caps. This is always a big production because of the incredible weight of the beams and the very real possiblity of dropping one if something goes wrong. The next picture is a great shot of both cranes taking a beam off of the truck and preparing to set it. The tall crane has 130 ft. of boom on it!

Today is Dave's 29th birthday!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Dave from the last year...

Working on the crane...one of Dave's favorites!

Time spent on the gazebo...(which, despite our problems with it, Dave still hopes to complete!)

Lots of Scrabble games! (It's never good to have letters like this...)

Time at the golf course...

...and many, many wonderful times together!

Happy Birthday, Dave! I love you more than life itself and can't wait to see what #29 brings!

P.S. I'm sure Dave would love to read any birthday messages you'd like to leave for him!

I finished this incredible book last night! Like its odd title, this is an odd book in the fact that it deals with issues that we don't usually think about such as homelessness and befriending the unlovable. But, despite its unusualness, "Same Kind of Different as Me" is one of those marvelous reads that you absolutely can't put down! I borrowed it from my friend, Lauren, last Friday night, and it was all I could do to stop reading on Sunday night so I could get some sleep before school on Monday!

The chapters alternate between Denver, a homeless man living in Ft. Worth, and Ron, a wealthy art dealer. I don't want to give away too many details, but it's absolutely amazing how their stories intertwine!

The book has powerful, Biblical truths without overloading on "Christianese." The relationship that Denver and Ron forge through overwhelming differences demonstrates true friendship. Their writing is so real that, by the time I had finished the book, I felt as if I had sat down with them face-to-face.

If you're looking for a great read, I promise you won't be disappointed!

(Also, I was especially excited to see on their website that Denver and Ron recently signed a contract with the producer of "Pursuit of Happyness" to make their story into a movie!)

We also had a wonderful time with the Rinns in Colorado! Jon, his fiancee Kristy, and Kristy's parents came into town on the Friday after Christmas from Indiana. It was a lot of fun to have Kristy's parents, Kurt and Susie (both moms are Susie, which got a little confusing!), in Steamboat with us!

We opened presents once everyone was there (except for Michael, who was working in Denver and was definitely missed!). Dave got Guitar Hero (from me), and he was SO EXCITED!! Dave surprised me with the entire Gilmore Girls series, and I was SHOCKED! I had been wanting it so badly...can you tell how tightly I am clutching it? ;)


On Saturday morning we went to a bridal shower for Kristy. back row: Marylin (one of the hostsesses), Susie (Kristy's mom), Kristy, and me; front row: Susie (Dave's mom) and Sandi (the other hostess)

On Saturday night we all rode the gondola to the top of the ski mountain for a delicious BBQ dinner. I tried not to think about how high we were in the air while we were on the gondola, but the view over Steamboat was beautiful!!

And yes, I even convinced Dave to line dance with me! ;) Even though we didn't plan on being in Steamboat for New Year's Eve, we had a great time eating pizza and playing Balderdash with everyone! I don't think I've ever seen Tim or Susie laugh that hard as when we wrote definitions for words such as "nabob" (a wealthy, powerful man) or "bayadere" (a professional dancer in India). It was hilarious!

One last pic of Tim playing Guitar Hero! I knew Dave and his brothers would love it (okay, I love it too!), but I never thought Dave's dad and Kristy's dad would be so into it! :)

We had a wonderful time with the Bergstroms on Christmas Eve & Day!

After a wonderful Christmas Eve service at Denton Bible Church, we all headed back to Trophy Club where Mom made a delicious Christmas Eve dinner with amazing Swedish meatballs!
We opened a few gifts on Christmas Eve......including a *pink* soccer ball for Nate because he loves to go to the women's soccer games at UNT. ;)My parents and Dave's parents gave Dave a new shotgun for Christmas! He was so excited to open it once he figured out what it was! :)Our cheesy sister picture...
On Christmas morning, we ate my mom's famous cinnamon rolls & opened the rest of the presents.
Grandma Sorbel & I also spent a long time looking at picture books, one of our favorite things to do, remembering the "olden days." Kym & Bernie and Grandpa & Grandma Bergstrom came over in the evening, and we all played games of dominoes, Scrabble, and Ticket to Ride.
(By the way, I beat my Grandma Sorbel for the first time EVER in Scrabble on Christmas Day!)
It was a wonderful Christmas with the Bergstroms and Sorbels! It was particularly special to have all of our living grandparents with us to celebrate!