Author: daustin23

I love Vermont! We’re blessed to be able to spend the next 6 weeks there whenever we want..

As I write this morning, I am reminded of several important life lessons I should know but apparently do not… This one involves the theory of gravity and the old adage “What goes up, must come down…”

Typically this is written to inspire or to warn. For example, don’t get too excited if your Disney stock hits $180 a share… because what goes up, must come down. This can also inspire, for example your mortgage… “What goes up, must go down.”

So this has been some phrase I have held onto for a long time… What I was reminded today is something equally important! What goes down, must go up!

So life gave me a reminder today… to remember gravity and to lay off the IPAs

What’s 1,252 pieces and takes three school days to put together?! Gotta give him credit! Doopster spent every waking moment since we got back from Florida doing homework or putting this thing together…. Amazing! 😊

Sometimes a picture can say a thousand words…it was good to get out in the woods today… after a week of beauty in Florida… it was great to see a hill 😊

They say God shows his presence in our lives in mysterious ways… for me, today, it was the ability to watch the Giants at 20,000 feet… Southwest had given us a few headaches this week but they were all really 1st world problems. We enjoyed our time with family, enjoyed the sun and … absolutely loved the Giants making the playoffs for the first time in forever! Thank God for technology! 😊

2022 was, by all accounts, a good year. As with every year, there are ups and downs but all-in-all it was good!

Looking forward with an open mind and heart to what 2023 has to bring! Love to all my friends and family!

As we say goodbye to 2022 and welcome 2023, I realize that over 5 years has gone by since I last posted here! My philosophy in 2017 was that social media had become the new blogging and I’d just move the stories there… what I hadn’t planned on was Facebook and Twitter turning into the space of negativity that it’s become… complete with advertisements 😊 Now, don’t get me wrong… I still frequent the platform but I want to own my own content and control my own story a bit.

So, here’s where I’ll post our adventures again! There will be good and bad and happy and sad but it’ll be our life and we won’t trade it for anything!

8 years ago today our gentle giant entered this world. A month early and a whopping 4.4 pounds, he could fit squarely in the palm of my hand. The next two weeks would be scary as he recovered in the NICU… at the hands of some great doctors and nurses. The next two years would prove challenging with many sleepless nights and worries. Through all of that, Mr. Man has turned into a smart, caring and loving little man…when he reads this blog in ten years he’ll get to see some of the adventure and learn just why we love him so much! Happy Birthday Ry Guy.

I had not planned on posting anything for Memorial Day. My social media feeds were covered with everything thing I wanted to say and it seemed everyone who knew my friend Tim didn’t need my help remembering him… so I was content to just remember him in my own way…. and then Google hit me with this video of the last 30 days of my life!

It was an innocent message! “Dave!,” Google said to me, “Take a look at the “Best of this past month! Your life is something special!” Annnd it hit me. My life is something special! Then it hit me again… my life is special… it’s special because my friend Tim made it so…and all of our veterans who paid the price for freedom…so yes, it is special. How can I ever repay that kind of gift?! It’s actually pretty easy… if we all live our lives with love in our hearts and remember that the opportunity was paved by the love of those who’ve fallen… and we can’t waste that sacrifice…. if we can remember that and remember them… our debt will be repaid.​​​

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Once a year The Austin Boys celebrate the many sacrifices that Jenn makes to keep us alive. I’d like to think I’m exaggerating but fear I am not. Of course, being the oldest and most “physically matured” I’d definitely last the longest…but the end would come for me… probably in the winter… after a year of eating pasta with mustard… when i forgot to wear a jacket and caught pneumonia. I don’t think the boys would make it as long on pasta…

In all seriousness, if you consider parenthood a tag team effort, there is no better partner i could ask for!  

If you consider marriage a lifelong devotion to that partner then there is no more beautiful, loving caring and funny person than Jenn.  
When the boys read this blog in ten years I hope they see just how much I love their mom! The Austin boys would be lost without her!