Special Spectators Day at Virginia Tech!

The Robinson Family is so proud to be a volunteers for Special Spectators.  We were introduced to this organization when David was in treatment and now we are blessed to be on the hostess side of this amazing organization that gives critically ill children a VIP experience at College football games.  The more events we volunteer and host, the more I love what this organization does.  

 Here is our group with John Laaser and Mike Burnop up in the radio booth.  Beautiful view from on top of Lane Stadium and these guys are class acts.  Earlier in the day I had a problem getting parking passes to some of our families and John Laaser asked if he could help since he was walking by and heard me talking to the Will Call lady.  He was truly worried about the two families that needed handicapped accessibility.

 We then caught the end of the Hokie walk and waited patiently for Coach Fuente!

 Coach Fuente was super sweet and welcoming to all of our Special Spectator kids.  Coaches are pretty intense and focused on game days but Coach Fuente took time with each kid.  Here is Dave shaking his hand.  He was so mad because he wanted to give him a message to "throw a hail mary" but he forgot.

 Several of our kids were currently in treatment for cancer and it was a long and hot day for those kids.  They were so excited they did not want to miss anything!!  This was the picture that was shown on the Jumbotron at the end of halftime.

 Dave practicing his skills on the practice field.

 Our group got to walk in the tunnel and low and behold Terrell Edmunds was headed on the field to warmup a little.  He was so sweet to Dave and tried to talk to Dave.  Dave went to shake his hand and he dabbed him!  Mike and I could have died from embarrassment!!!

 Daddy lifting big Dave to touch the Hokie stone.  One of our kids was in treatment and germ exposure is a big deal for a kid in active treatment.  He finally talked his mom into letting him touch the stone.  It was such a sweet moment.

 Our hot mess of a family!!!!!  It was a beautiful but hot day in lane stadium!

 Hope and some of our Special Spectator kids running on the field.

 Dave wanted to chase Luis, who was the photographer for the day.  He was a great guy who connected well with our kids and I am sure he got some amazing pictures.

 Dave apologized to Terrell Edmunds for dabbing on him and he was sweet enough to pose for this picture.  Dave asked him to pass on a message to the Coach to please throw a hail mary!

 The special fans were treated to a great tailgate and the Hokie bird even visited!

 The game was Military Appreciation Day and there was a flyover during the National Anthem.  It was amazing!

The game was a lopsided win but the Special Spectators had a wonderful day at Lane Stadium.  For a few hours on a Saturday they could foget about hospitalizations, doctor appointments, chemo, port accesses, and more time in the hospital and just focus on being a kid cheering on the Hokies and being treated like a VIP!  Virgnia Tech rolled out the red carpet for these amazing kids and families and I am just so thankful that we as a family could be there to host them and to see this experience through their eyes.  If you ever feel led to donate to a wonderful cause, check out www.specialspectators.org and also check out the photos from other gameday experiences.  This organization is near and dear to our heart and we are honored and blessed to be volunteers.

A New Season

I have sincerely been a blog slacker but it has been because we have been busy but in a good way.  We are in a new season of life around the Robinson household and it has been crazy but wonderful.  We are all adjusting to Mike's new job and therefore our new family lifestyle.  It is awesome. We are seeing so much more of Mike and he is so less stressed.  Life is good. He still is close with many of his coworkers from his previous job which makes him happy because he certainly loves those Smyth County School people-they truly are great people.

The boys are in a new season of life-Kyle is  settled into high school life and Dave is now a middle schooler.  This was hard on a Momma's heart to help both of her sons start over in a new school. Both orientations were on the same night and only an hour apart and after several hours in hot and crowded schools this Mommas was done.  Thankfully both boys have adjusted well and we are cruising through the school year.  Kyle has a tough fall semester including Algebra II and Honors English.  He is having to study which is a beautiful thing. Dave has a great team of teachers around him and he is working so hard and we are so proud of him. Little Miss is rocking second grade.

The weekend after school started this youth leader was blessed to get to assist in the baptisms of SEVEN of our youth.  After a busy summer at church including Nurture program, Mission trip, VBS, and confirmation class seven youth went forward with baptism at Hungry Mother Lake.  It was beautiful and this youth leader was overjoyed and humbled to get to be apart of something so special.  I love youth ministry.

We celebrated Mike's birthday in late August and he was a happy clam to celebrate his special day helping coach some boys he adores.  It was a dramatic day of basketball and here we are at Lover's Leap overlook on his special day.  Our kids one day will hopefully appreciate the fact that their Daddy chose them over a job and that they are the apples of his eye.

This gal started back to work at church in preschool.  I am a blessed woman because I love what I do at church -both in youth ministry and at preschool.  At preschool I have amazing coworkers and we may not get paid the big bucks but we certainly laugh a lot and we know we are blessed to teach little hearts about Jesus.  So far our year has been great and I love that at open house one of our returners wanted to take a selfie with me!!!! Be still my heart.....

Back to school also means VT football which is something I adore to do with my boys and my Dad.  We made it to the first home game and Dave was so excited!!  We also got to watch the Battle at Bristol on a big screen at a youth event but we will not talk about the actual football game.  Poor Hokies, that was not their night.

Dave has grown up so much right before our eyes.  He is such a hard worker and wants to please his teachers.  As always, God continues to place the right folks in Dave's life and we are so thankful.

This past month we have worked hard to get ready for Mike's Mom and Bob to come visit us.  It was obvious we have had a busy and crazy summer when we started preparing for company.  We hosted them for a week on their way to a wedding in Charlottesville.  I felt terrible for most of their visit with a bad cold because I realized today when they left I only had only taken ONE picture the entire week they were here.  I must have been really sick to have failed on the photo ops.  

I was also blessed to get to be the speaker at a women's event locally last weekend.  It always takes me by surprise when I am asked to speak at women's conferences because it blows my mind that God could and would use this hot mess for his glory.  Several years ago I told God that my life was His to use for his kingdom which often involves me speaking to groups.  That is not my confort zone at all, but if that is how God will use me then so be it.  I just pray I represent Him well. 

That is the update for now.  I will be better at blogging I promise. :)  

Service, Goodbyes, Basketball, and VBS!

Since we have been back from Nashville we have been so busy.  Summer is truly my favorite time of year and I cann't believe school starts next week.

All three of the Robinson kids have served in the Nurture program at church.  This program has blessed us all so much and these little ones we have served have been such fun.  Love this picture of Dave!

Last weekend we were able to spend some time in Gatlinburg for a basketball tournament.  Kyle loved playing with this group of guys and the competition was stiff!  Check out the size difference between Kyle and the kid he was guarding!  Ha! Kyle adores basketball.  Teams were there from all over the north and southeast and it was a great experience for Kyle.

Our hotel was only one block off of the main drag in Gatlinburg yet a cute little bear made an appearance each morning.  I kept wondering where his Momma was!

Hope has continued her piano lessons this summer with the amazing Mrs. Melody!  Hope was learning the blues scale this week so Mrs. Melody thought she needed to be in costume-cutest little blues player ever!

We came back from our Gatlinburg trip and jumped right into a busy week of Vacation Bible School at church.  I LOVE VBS and I had a great week with our middle school youth.  The first night we went to the community garden to help mulch and weed the garden, Tuesday night we went to a member of the church's home to have a cookout and play GaGa ball, and Wednesday night we hiked at Hungry Mother.

While I was with the middle schoolers, Hope stayed back at the church and did her rotations with her class.  This girl loves bible school as much as I do and had a blast with her friends.  Our theme was Cave Quest-finding Jesus the light of the World!

Thursday night was a special night of VBS for the middle schoolers, because we spent our time after our bible study baking lots of cookies for our local law enforcement.  We delivered them to our local sheriffs office and police station and prayed with the officers.  It showed our youth that simple acts of kindness done in love are so appreciated and that as followers of Jesus we must show love to others.  David's dear friend Sam happen to be at the station with his Dad who is a deputy when we came by!

This past weekend we were able to meet up with our friend, Morgan from West Virginia.  Kyle and I met her on the mission trip to Nashville and she was coming through Wytheville on her way home from the beach and we were able to meet up with her for lunch.  David was of course all up in Kyle's business and was the entertainment during lunch!

This morning in worship our children sang some of their VBS songs for the congregation.  Love seeing my girl singing!

Tonight was a special service at church led by our youth celebrating a huge summer of service.  Here is Kyle reading Acts 4:13 which was the scripture for our summer mission trip.  It was a great time to hear from our youth how their service has blessed them this summer.  Between our Nashville mission trip and our summer Nurture program, our youth completed 1.023 hours of service here in Marion and in Nashville.  I am so incredibly proud of their servant hearts and I adore everyone of them.  My heart overflows....

The big news in our house is that this past Friday was Mike's last day as Superintendent of Smyth County Schools.  The staff had an amazing lunch for him last week which we all got to attend.  It has been such a bittersweet goodbye.

Mike knows he has made the best decision for our family, yet he loves his work and loves his co-workers which makes for a hard goodbye.  Here he is with his chili trophy for winning the chili cookoff two years ago!  We are excited for this new chapter in our lives with Mike having a little les public job and hopefully more time home with us.  At his luncheon he told his staff that it ultimately came down to his kids and that they are his legacy.  I married a good one that is for sure!