Our Israel

Jon and I first met Israel when his dad (Jim) was the pastor who officiated our wedding. Actually, I had met him before that, but not much. Anyway, he was about to turn nine when we got married. Today, he is at open-house for college at East Carolina.
Israel is one of the coolest kids I have ever known. His capacity for love and patience is prodigious. His talent for art (painting and photography...especially photography!) is incredible. Also, he's pretty cute!
One of the things that has especially won my heart forever is how much he LOVES my kids. His whole family does, of course; my Katie started going to Candy when I went back to work when she was 9 weeks old. Micah is named after their son who lives in heaven now. I found out I was pregnant with Abbie about a week after they found out they were going to be adopting Jessica. Our family ties run deep. And of course, the way to win over any woman is to truly, deeply, madly love her children. Israel was our first babysitter (that wasn't my mom, Jon's folks or Candy). He came to Creation with us to watch Katie when he was only thirteen. About a month ago, Candy, Jessica, Katie and I went to Virginia for the day and Israel offered to keep my littles. They had a blast, and I got some GREAT pictures out of the deal. He also took some portraits for a project for his art class and one of Katie's pictures is now in the art show at Festival Park.
Just wanted to share a small piece of Israel's talent and his heart for my children.
If you read this, Israel, I love you!