{"id":12206,"date":"2015-04-17T11:03:10","date_gmt":"2015-04-17T18:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nettiesworld.com\/?p=12206"},"modified":"2017-06-28T21:05:12","modified_gmt":"2017-06-29T04:05:12","slug":"paul-nettie-sittin-in-a-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/old.adoptedjoy.com\/?p=12206","title":{"rendered":"Paul &#038; Nettie, sittin&#8217; in a tree&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><em>K &#8211; i &#8211; s\u00a0&#8211; s\u00a0&#8211; i\u00a0&#8211; n\u00a0&#8211; g!!!<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/adoptedjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/20150101_15062201_1webT1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-12208\" src=\"http:\/\/adoptedjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/20150101_15062201_1webT1-457x400.jpg\" alt=\"20150101_15062201_1webT1\" width=\"457\" height=\"400\" srcset=\"https:\/\/old.adoptedjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/20150101_15062201_1webT1-457x400.jpg 457w, https:\/\/old.adoptedjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/20150101_15062201_1webT1-206x180.jpg 206w, https:\/\/old.adoptedjoy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/20150101_15062201_1webT1.jpg 1029w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 457px) 100vw, 457px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><em>Happy 22nd, my love!!<\/em><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So, to recap the last 22 years, Paul and I:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Got hitched on April 17, 1993, at Gethsemane Episcopal Cathedral in Fargo, ND;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Honeymooned in the Black Hills (Devil&#8217;s Tower and Mt. Rushmore were highlights);<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Moved into our little 1 bedroom apartment in Bloomington, MN (International Village &#8212; I think he chose it because of A) the price, and B) the hot tub);<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Bought a house in South St. Paul, where we were living when<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Laurent Victoria and Megan Olivia were born, and during which time we<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Were briefly members of a Bible Presbyterian Church, in which we were the youngest members, and were somewhat theologically misaligned, and thus soon moved on;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Were briefly members of a little\u00a0PCA church in Farmington, and still count many\u00a0among our friends;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Moved to a south Phoenix\u00a0<em>barrio<\/em>, where we were the only people for blocks around\u00a0who spoke English (and more importantly, did NOT also speak Espa\u00f1ol), which was no obstacle\u00a0to fun for our girls\u00a0or the four Spanish-speaking neighbor kids\u00a0with whom they played every day;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Experienced our first major family trauma when 18mo Megan was run over by the neighbor&#8217;s Suburban and broke her left femur;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Welcomed the arrival of Geneva Melody 2 months later;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Bought a house in Glendale, AZ, in which we still happily reside;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Enjoyed close fellowship in a tiny Reformed Episcopal congregation until it disbanded due to members moving away from the area (sadly we have lost touch with the Cole family, but it was Amanda that taught me how to make bread, for which I and my family will be forever grateful!);<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">I gave birth for the last time, to my first boy, Jacob Theodore (aka Jacob The Adorable);<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Were briefly affiliated with the Communion\u00a0of Reformed Evangelicals, and still count many among our friends;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Made the most significant ecclesial decision to that point in our lives by joining Westfork Church, an inner city mission work, led by Pastor Steven R. Rutt (now Dr.!), dedicated to preaching the gospel, \u00a0feeding the poor, assisting addicts and ex-cons re-entering society, and working with neighborhood kids. When Paul began trolling the neighborhood in his big green van, looking for kids to pick up and take to church, and we began getting to know the families, praying with them, becoming their God-parents, working through crises and dramas, counseling, breaking up fights and bringing friends back together &#8212; little did we\u00a0know that 14 years later we\u00a0would still be bringing some of those same kids (and their friends, aunts, uncles, cousins, moms, little siblings who hadn&#8217;t even been born yet &#8212; and even their babies)\u00a0to church&#8230; little did we know so many, many things back then!<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Loved on numerous animal friends, including several parakeets and a cockatiel, a desert tortoise, a stray rooster (that was blessedly brief) and many canine family members. We said goodbye to Brandy, the\u00a0German Shepherd cross we rescued while in South St. Paul;\u00a0welcomed a Boxer puppy to our family; rescued a neurotically adorable mutt we named Bella, who ran off soon after we also rescued a Pit-Bull we named Guinevere; said our final farewell to 10 year-old Sissy; and most recently, inherited a mischievous Mastador puppy we named Ambrose, who, I&#8217;m delighted to say, is getting along famously with Mother-Gwinnie.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Discovered the challenges and blessings of our daily reality had a name,\u00a0when our son was diagnosed at age 10 with ASD (autism spectrum disorder);<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Homeschooled our four\u00a0children, two of them all the way through graduating at 16 and who now attend college, while the other two are continuing high school;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Said our final earthly goodbye to my dad, in 2009, and welcomed mom to our household in 2010, which was also the year that we<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Joined RCIA, and entered the Roman Catholic Church at Easter Vigil, 2011. THE BEST decision we ever made.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Watched our house burn two weeks\u00a0later, and over the next weeks and months of recovery,\u00a0experienced\u00a0God&#8217;s grace through the church, and in a multitude of outpourings from friends\u00a0and\u00a0family;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Helped sponsor around 14 (and counting) new members of the church over the next 4 years;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Accepted the responsibility of becoming foster parents to the little boy of one of our god-daughters;<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Went through training to be licensed foster parents, and accepted the responsibility of becoming foster parents to two more little boys, who we were blessed to have in our family for 6.5 months.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Are now preparing to adopt our little &#8220;Junior&#8221;, hopefully by the end of this year.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Whew! That&#8217;s a pretty good\u00a0nutshell\u00a0of a very adventurous start to our life together. Considering what we&#8217;ve been through so far, nothing that comes next should surprise me. With God, all things are possible!! I will close with two Psalms that were used at our wedding, 22 years ago.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #000000;\"><strong>Psalm 127<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 1 \u00a0Unless the Lord builds the house, \u2022<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">those who build it labour in vain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">2 \u00a0Unless the Lord keeps the city, \u2022<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">the guard keeps watch in vain.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 3 \u00a0It is in vain that you hasten to rise up early<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> and go so late to rest, eating the bread of toil, \u2022<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">for he gives his beloved sleep.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 4 \u00a0Children are a heritage from the Lord \u2022<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">and the fruit of the womb is his gift.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 5 \u00a0Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, \u2022<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">so are the children of one&#8217;s youth.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 6 \u00a0Happy are those who have their quiver full of them: \u2022<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">they shall not be put to shame<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> when they dispute with their enemies in the gate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #000000;\"><strong>Psalm 128<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 1 \u00a0Blessed are all those who fear the Lord, \u2022<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">and walk in his ways.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 2 \u00a0You shall eat the fruit of the toil of your hands; \u2022<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">it shall go well with you, and happy shall you be.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 3 \u00a0Your wife within your house<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> shall be like a fruitful vine; \u2022<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">your children round your table,<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> like fresh olive branches.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 4 \u00a0Thus shall the one be blest \u2022<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">who fears the Lord.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"> 5 \u00a0The Lord from out of Zion bless you, \u2022<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">that you may see Jerusalem in prosperity<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"> all the days of your life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">6 \u00a0May you see your children&#8217;s children, \u2022<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\">and may there be peace upon Israel.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>K &#8211; i &#8211; s\u00a0&#8211; s\u00a0&#8211; i\u00a0&#8211; n\u00a0&#8211; g!!! Happy 22nd, my love!! So, to recap the last 22 years, Paul and I: Got hitched on April 17, 1993, at Gethsemane Episcopal Cathedral in Fargo, ND; Honeymooned in the Black Hills (Devil&#8217;s Tower and Mt. Rushmore were highlights); Moved into our little 1 bedroom apartment [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12208,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43,3,215,598],"tags":[311,312],"class_list":["post-12206","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-celebrations","category-family","category-milestones","category-netties-world","tag-anniversary","tag-marriage","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.adoptedjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12206","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.adoptedjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.adoptedjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.adoptedjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.adoptedjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12206"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/old.adoptedjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12206\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12218,"href":"https:\/\/old.adoptedjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12206\/revisions\/12218"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.adoptedjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/old.adoptedjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12206"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.adoptedjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12206"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/old.adoptedjoy.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12206"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}