Colorado, Conference, Christmas

The Christmas break for us has 'officially' begun - kinda. Even though the interns and students are gone, my work still continues for a bit longer. I will be with Bob at a college ministry conference all next week in Kansas City. He and I will be teaching on Tuesday at the 'boot camp' of the conference. It is an event that I have attended several times with Bob, so we always look forward to it.

Tonight, though, the travel begins. The whole fam is heading out to Colorado to spend a week with Deborah's aunt, uncle, and cousin. Deborah has wanted to visit them for such a long time, and things worked out to where it was a possibility. So, we all fly out tonight, and I will hop over to KC on Monday morning and return to Denver on Friday night. We all will return to Athens on Sunday night. It should be quite an adventure!

Once we return, we will take a few days to regain our composure and then it is off to Marietta for a bit and then to Cumming for another bit. Our kids will be road and air warriors by the time Christmas is over!

We are attempting to finish and mail our Christmas season newsletter in the midst of all of this, so hopefully you will get that sooner than later. We would appreciate your prayers as we travel all over the country! Thanks!

clay for the kirklands

LINK

Hey everyone - I know, I know....it's been nearly three months since I posted. SORRY! And, to top it off, this post will be really short! Sorry again!

Anyway, if you have not already, please go to my facebook page and watch the WESLEY fundraising dinner video...it is awesome!

On a personal note, we failed on our first attempt to 'see' the gender of our baby three weeks ago! But, this coming Tuesday, we get another shot!

Clay

Are you serious.....Yes I am!

Why the title....because it is the question you will ask me, plus the response I will give you, when you read this next line:

DEBORAH IS NINE WEEKS PREGNANT!!!

We could not be more thrilled and excited about this third 'blessing' from the Lord! We told our parents a week ago, and now we are releasing it to the public, so pass on the good news!

Deborah has started to feel a bit queasy, which happened to her with both Fields and Cannon in the past. It is also a primary prayer focus of ours since she has two to take care of and also has two jobs! Please, please, please join with us in asking God for MERCY in regards to Deborah and her health.

As far as baby Kirkland goes, he/she is healthy, has a very good heart rate, and is right on schedule with his/her physical development. We are actually able to see the little arms/legs budding out on the ultrasound this week!

Many have asked/assumed about our desire for a girl this time; however, we really do not have a preference. Either way we consider ourselves blessed. It really is overwhelming to remember God's faithfulness to us throughout our journey into and out of infertility. He has been, is still, and always will be GOOD!

clay for the kirklands

Another Summer Update

Here is another installment from the life of the Kirklands. The 'bullet point' format seemed to work out last time, so I am going to do it again.

- CHILDREN - the kids are doing so well. Fields turns two on Monday! He has become focused on a few important things: plastic golf clubs (thank you, God), Barney, trains, and books. Each time he goes to bed, he has to have several/all of these items in his crib with him! Some of his highlights have been sleeping with a full sized guitar in his crib, a plastic tricycle, and two full sized beach balls....funny stuff. Cannon is now 8 months old his specialties include crawling and cutting teeth. This week we have found him sitting up in his bed just babbling about life or playing with this crib toy. He also has a passion for increasing the size of his upper thigh!

- NEW HOME - We moved! It literally was a whirlwind of a move, but somehow (God) it happened. On July 6th we received an offer for our house - it had been on the market for ten weeks - and on July 23rd we closed! So many of our friends and interns from Wesley helped us pack up and get out so quickly. Instead of buying a home so quickly, we were pointed towards a great opportunity to rent a home in a wonderful neighborhood in Athens. It is quite larger and nicer than we are used to, but the Lord directed our steps to this place. We signed a year's lease and will reconsider our options for buying something next summer.

- WORK - The interns of the 2010-2011 school year arrive on Monday! We have nearly 75 interns serving with us this year! Intern Training is one of my favorite times of the year - I often can barely sleep because of the anticipation and excitement of each day. It is a great and crazy mixture of fun, worship, wildness, good teaching, and wonderful community. UGA students begin on Monday, the 16th, and our first big service of the year will be on the 18th.

- OTHER STUFF - Deborah and I celebrated 9 years of marriage on the 28th of July! Our anniversary dinner was a culinary journey at the Woodfire Grill in Atlanta. Kevin Gillespie, a Top Chef finalist, is co-owner and head chef there. We did the five course tasting menu, and it was out of this world. Below is a description of each course:

Five Course tasting menu:

- Chef’s treat #1 – amuse-bouche – local carrot, pickled beets, Moroccan spiced aioli

1. 1. Local glazed carrot, applesauce smear, German style red cabbage

2. 2. Olive oil poached shrimp, golden raisin tapenade, crispy fried eggplant donut

- Chef’s treat#2 – amuse-bouche – heirloom tomato with pickled cucumber relish

3. 3. Berkshire pork belly, fire roasted okra, sweet corn puree, local fire roasted glazed quail, roasted tomato vinaigrette

4. 4. Sous-vide and smoked lamb loin with Yukon gold sauce, braised pistachios in beef broth, pickled mustard seeds

5. 5. Blueberry and cornmeal cake with blueberry ice cream, white chocolate ganache, and sweet corn sauce, blueberry syrup, with crumbled cookies on the side

- Chef’s treat #3 – 2 chocolate truffles

It was fabulous - I mean, FABULOUS!!!!!

clay for the kirklands

SUMMER UPDATE

Life has been really busy around the Kirkland home these days. Here is the readers digest version of the our summer activities:

- Beach

We went to the beach with my parents and my brother and his family at the end of May. Spending a week in a Amelia Island with five kids ages five and under is both fun and challenging! This trip has become an annual event, and each year more and more children are added to the mix. The great news is that our kids loved the water, both pool and ocean, and they would wear themselves out and sleep well at night. Pictures will tell the story better so look for them at the end of this post!

- Bees

Here is something that you might not have known about me: I have had beekeeping on my bucket list since I was a young boy. Three weeks ago, I was able to erase that entry on that list! In the back right corner of the lot, I have two bee hives! It has been a lot of fun, even though my neighbors probably think that I have come back from NASA space camp when I walk around the yard with my outfit on! The bees are in the process of developing their 'home base,' and once they do, I will be able to add more boxes on top for honey production.

- House

We have put our house on the market. Before you send me emails about how bad the market is/are you moving away and where are you going, please keep reading on! We are NOT moving away from Athens, and we realize it is not the ideal time to sell a house. But, we are attempting to be obedient to what we believe the Lord is leading us to do. If it sells, that would be wonderful and we could look for a house with a bit more space and in a better school district. If it does not sell, then we took a shot at obedience and we hit the drawing board again!

- Wesley

The summer is actually one of my more busy times throughout the year since it is the time that I have to regroup and forward think about the upcoming fall. With the number of interns that we have coming in this year (over 75 + the 14 directors), I have a LOT to do! Intern Training begins on August 2nd, which is a two week period where the staff comes together and prepares for the year. I, along with Daniel Simmons (my partner in all of this), plan, create, and administer those two weeks. It is a labor of love, and each year it sets the tone for the staff.

- Kids

Cannon just turned six months, and Fields is two months away from being two! Cannon is now sitting up, eating baby cereal and bananas, and teething like a madman! He is a very happy baby and is often content to just sit and be. Fields, on the other hand, has had the energy levels cranked up lately! He is talking all the time - sometimes in English, others times in an Asian/African dialect. Fields is now in a booster sit at the 'grown up' table and is in the beginning stages of potty training.

ENJOY THE PICTURES!

End of the Year Wrap Up

We have 'officially' brought our school year to an end at Wesley, although our work for this fall has already begun. Last Thursday, we had Intern Appreciation out at Deborah's uncles house in Gainesville. Traditionally, we always have it at Wesley, so we led our interns this year to believe that we were going to be at Wesley this year as well. However, once they all congregated at Wesley, a charter bus came and picked them up! They were extremely surprised and excited about the off campus evening we planned for them. After some really good food (yes, I cooked it all) and some very encouraging words shared to the interns, we concluded the night with a fireworks extravaganza! It was so wonderful, and I truly believe that every intern was blessed by it.

As I mentioned, next year's planning is in full swing. We spend three days earlier this week at our director's retreat, and I (clay) will spend two days away with Daniel Simmons (my partner in crime with the internship program) planning for next year. Why all this work so soon? Oh, it is because we have SEVENTY SEVEN interns coming in on August 2nd!!!!!!! A year ago at this point, we had just finished intern appreciation for our 38 interns, and we were wondering what we were going to do with 51 incoming interns! Now, 51 seems small compared to 77! With 14 directors, we will have over 90 people on staff at Wesley for 2010-2011. It will be crazy but fun for everyone to see what God is up to with this type of staff.

Our family will be joining up with my brothers family and my parents to participate in the annual Kirkland Beach Trip in Amelia Island during the last week in May. Since last year, by brother and I both have added a child, so we now are having to rent two condos to fit everyone. This will be the first time that I have ever attended this blessed event and not have to either leave early or study at night because of seminary. So, this will be a new experience for me! When we get back, I will post some new pictures of the kids. They are both growing like weeds!

clay for the kirklands

Jamaican Times

Hey Everyone - Well, the Jamaica trip was absolutely terrific! The Lord was so kind to us, and we could really feel His tangible favor upon us. The travel, the airports, the weather, the team, etc - everything was blessed by Jesus!

Our kids are normally very well behaved and live life really peacefully. In Jamaica, they were even better! Fields had a blast with the team, and he became quite the socialite during the evenings with the Freshmen. His crowning moment was getting in the middle of the group and dancing to the tunes of a Jamaican reggae band! Cannon was offically labeled a 'beach bum' all week. His activities included sleeping, eating, laughing, and sleeping some more! I dont think that either of them wanted to leave; they have actually seemed a little bored this week without their fifty three new friends around all the time!

We would not have had the trip we had without Deborah's sister, Cat, being there. She was terrific all week, helping with the kids and bonding with the team. She took a whole week of work off in order to make this trip happen for us (it was a requirement for me to have someone stay with Deborah during the times we were out on the work sites).

Deborah and I had a blast spending time with the students on the trip. With our positions at Wesley, we do not get as much interaction with the students as we would like, so this trip was a special blessing. We were amazed at how passionately in love with Jesus they were and how they really came together as team. They are a very impressive group of young men and women!

Enjoy the pictures...

clay for the kirklands

BLOWN OUT of the 'Blog Fog'

So, life with two kids has been both WONDERFUL and BLURRY! We certainly have seen a lot of our free time disappear, but it has been worth it. Our blog has most definitely suffered from this time warp - something that I have called the 'blog fog.' How do you come up with something clever to say when you cannot even think straight? I cannot remember half of what I used to know, thus the blog has been empty for a long time.

Fields to the rescue, though! Here is the background:

Things had been going really well for us with two kids during January. We settled into a great routine and both the boys were thriving together. During the past two weeks, however, Deborah and Fields have been hit hard with bronchitis. Both of them have been through a round of antibiotics, and just now they are showing signs of improvement. Cannon, poor little guy, tested positive for RSV, thus he has been on steroids and breathing treatments for a week. By the grace of God, I have managed to stay relatively well during this war zone.

Fields, at 18 months and 5 days , has had a streak going on that I have been personally proud of. He went the first 18 months and 4 days without ever having diarrhea!!!!!! Sounds strange, but he has been 'solid' for his entire life, which I contribute to his insanely healthy diet (mush rules). Well, after a week of antibiotics and snot being ingested, he finally caved. I was asleep this morning because I was on Cannon patrol last night (feeding and breathing treatments every 4 hours). Deborah got Fields around 7:30 am, and she was welcomed by a natural disaster....

PROCEED TO LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING PICTURES AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!!!!

Cannon was, needless to say, undisturbed by the whole thing!

Clay for the Kirklands!!!