Home again

On May 16, 2008 Ben completed his Master of Divinity degree at Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. Now the Hoyers are officially Floridians again. We've moved into our new house and have even begun some new projects (a sanding and restaining job that was only suppose to take two days....we're on day 4). Wes is enjoying exploring his new house, crawling, and climbing on anything and everything. He's also getting a lot more baths these days...ah humidity. Next up, Ben's ordination and installation, a week at the beach, and then two days at Disney!

Howdy

So it’s been awhile since the last blog (I really can’t wait until we get internet). There is much activity in the hobbit hole these days. We’re in the process of packing and Ben is trying to finish up school. We move to Lake Mary, Florida in about a week and a half and to be honest (even though I’m very excited and ready to get out of the hole) I’m having major motivation problems in the packing area. Perhaps it’s due to the fact that I’m packing and moving for the 4th time in 4 years?

In case you haven’t heard, we received the official word a few weeks ago that we’re going to be at Holy Cross. It will be really nice to be back in Florida and close to family again. We flew down to Orlando last weekend and found a house to rent in the town next to Lake Mary. It’s a 3 bedroom 2-bath house with a fenced in backyard and a screened in porch. It also has a HUGE Jacuzzi bathtub in the master bath (I’m mean it’s like you could put two people in it and be like they each have their own tub). It’s kind of comical going from no bathtub to Wesley’s own swimming pool. Anyhow, Ben graduates this coming Friday and then Wes and I will go to P-cola with my family on Sunday and Ben and his brother Jacob will move to Florida that Wednesday. We’re a little ready to say “bye-bye” to the hobbit hole, can you tell?

Wes is developing quite the personality. He’s all about talking, screaming, singing. Really whatever will get a laugh out of you, he’s all about. He is really close to crawling and we’re hoping he doesn’t figure it out until we move (that would make packing a little harder). He pushes up on all fours and rocks back and forth but he can’t quite take more than one “step” with his arms and legs. He just falls on his stomach and then does an army crawl to get whatever he wants. He’s had a bad cold this past week that somehow made it’s way to his eyes. So the doc gave us two different types of eye drops to give him twice a day. Let me tell how fun it is having to have Ben hold him down while I pry his each eye open four times a day. This is about the only time it would be nice if he were a little more docile.

So Ben’s installation/ordination is June 8th, 4 pm at Holy Cross. All are welcome. I’m sure we'll have something afterward as well so be sure to bring your party shoes!

Merry Easter to All!

Make it two years in a row now that it has snowed Easter weekend. Last year we were living in Denver and this year we went to visit Ben’s sister Sara (“the parakeet” to some of you) and her husband John in Chicago. Don’t get me wrong, even though I grew up in Florida, nothing beats an afternoon watching the snowfall or the look of a tree lined street with fresh snow perfectly perched on its branches. However, when I place this image in my brain I imagine it to be around the months of December through February and NOT the middle of March let alone Easter weekend! To quote my ever-witty sister-in-law, “Oh snow, I could just punch you!” Well said Sara, well said.

Don’t fret! We did not let the weather hamper our Easter fun. It was too cold and windy to spend too much time outside (let me tell you, they don’t call it the “windy city” for nothing-actually it’s called the “windy city” for another reason that has nothing to do with the weather but that is another blog-it was windy nevertheless). We went to the Field Museum, ate some deep dish, and even got to see one of our favorite people, Mr. Stephan Monteserin. A fun time was had by all.

Now we’re home and counting the days until Ben’s graduation. The cold weather seems to have passed but the rainy season is here. Sigh. I know one day soon Wes will get to see the outside of the “hobbit hole” on a daily basis.

Here are some pics from the trip and some other fun ones. Of course Wesley is in all of them. He’s growing up so fast. He even got his first tooth a couple of weeks ago.

The Amazing Wesley!

He smiles, he giggles, he can use his hands. He is the great Wesley Paul Hoyer!

A Miracle!

This just in...the "hobbit hole" made contact with the outside world today. We picked up an internet signal!

Update, Update, Update

SO…here is an update (finally). We made it back from our Christmas trip to Florida safe and sound. Wes did great! We only had to stop to feed him and he basically slept the whole way (way to go). We had a great Christmas and Wesley was the hit no matter where we went (which is no surprise). It was an electronic Christmas for the Hoyer family. When we were in Colorado last year, my mom, Ben’s parents, and my dad and step-mom, all came to visit (at different times of course). Well, we must have talked none stop about my brother Patrick’s Bose ipod speaker (which we had at the time) because we got three ipod speakers. We returned one Bose speaker (we got two of those) in exchange for a new TV (yea!) and then kept the other Bose speaker as well as a Phillips sound system that we figured Ben could take to his office next year.

We also were able to catch up with some good friends over the holidays as well. We were able to drive to Gainesville for New Year’s Eve to surprise Patrick Kee for his 30th birthday. We were able to catch up with Kee clan, the Kuykendalls, and Miss Tiffany Smiley. Then we drove back to Pensacola New Year’s Day (good thing Wes travels well). Then on the way back to St. Louis, we stopped in Chattanooga to see our friends Mark and Sarah Huffines. We got to stay in their new house, go to their church, and see where Sarah works. We even helped them try out a new Mexican restaurant (with great pleasure). It was great to see them, catch up, get a tour of Chattanooga (which I would never describe as “blue collar”), and drive up Look-Out Mountain.

We’ve also had some visitors since we’ve come back. Ben’s dad visited us for a day while he was here for a meeting at the seminary. Pastor Langewisch (Ben’s supervising pastor from Colorado) stayed with us while he was here doing interviews, and Ben’s grandparents stopped over for lunch this week on their way down to Florida. Wes has enjoyed having people come see him.

Now we’re back and starting to settle in on a routine again. We started interviews as soon as we got back and have had 3 up to this point. All of them so far are great options so we’re praying that God gives us some clarity as to where He would have us go. We also just attended a “Church Planter Assessment” seminar where they basically tell you whether you would be a good candidate to start a church somewhere. They said we would do very well in that situation so we’re excited about the possibility of getting to do that sometime in the future. It doesn’t have to be our first call but I definitely see us doing that sometime in the future.

So here are some pictures from our Christmas as well as some others to enjoy!