About Our Family

This is Rachel and Isaac at her 12th Birthday Party This is Darryl and Granny (Russel's Mom) at his 8th Grade Graduation

Russell and Tina met in late July of 2004 and were married January 19, 2006. They own a home in Bedford, KY. Russell is the youngest of 7 sibilings. 4 of his siblings (2 sisters - Pat and Brenda and 2 brothers - Hank and Brad) live in Northern Kentucky, 1 sister (Debbie) lives in Phoenix, AZ, and 1 sister (Darlene) lives around Miami, FL. Tina is the oldest of 2, and her sister still lives near her hometown in Iowa. We celebrated his Mom's 85th birthday this past May, and my Dad's 71st birthday. We were lucky enough a few weeks ago to be able to take a family picture with Mom Spencer and all of her children, Mom's daughter, Debbie and grandaughter, Dawn were in from Arizona and as well as daughter Darelene, from Florida. We also took photos of her with the daughter-in-laws (Peggy, Glenda and myself), grandchildren and great-grandchildren (as soon as I get them from my sister-in-law I will post some of them).

When we blended our families, I gained a son (Darry) and he gained a daughter (Rachel) and son (Isaac). We were also given an opportunity to add one additional child to the mix for 2 years, Brooke. She came to live with us in August of 2005, she is Darryl's half-sister by his mother. Brooke left in June of 2007 to go back and live with her mom. She taught us alot about giving, tolerance, and patience (something I'm still working on). Brooke was at times a challenge, but she was a very loveable child. Just has had a few too many bumps in the road that all of our love couldn't fix.

We decided early on that it was really important for one of us to be able to stay home with the children to help us blend. With that decision in mind, we (mostly Russell) was be able to figure out how to make our budget work on my salary. This was truly a blessing for us all. The goal is for Russell to go back to work/school once Isaac is in all day school. That happened this school year (2007-2008). He is looking for the right job to fit our situation, as the children are very busy, especially Darryl and Rachel.

Darryl just started high school and is in the 9th grade. He has awesome musical talent. He plays the oboe for concert band and the tenor saxaphone for marching band. He can pretty much pick up a piece of music and just play it! I am in so much awe of his talent. He has finally (we think anyway) gotten that grades are important for college. He had the opportunity this summer to attend Stephen Foster Band Camp at Eastern Kentucky University, for 2 weeks. He was home for about a week and then went to Puerto Rico on a Youth Group Mission trip with our church to work at an orphanage. We are beginning the marching band competition season and will be busy on Friday nights, as the band performs at half-time and then again on Saturday's for competitions. We won't have our Friday's or Saturday's back until after October. He is also going to be trying-out for the fall high school play.....I'll keep you posted on the outcome.

Rachel just started middle school and is in the 6th grade. She too is gifted with music, she has a wonderful voice. She is trying out for the middle school choir and also plays in the band. This is her first year in band as they don't start until 6th grade in Trimble County, and plays the flute. She received several awards during the 5th grade promotion ceremony, as well as achieving straight A's for the entire year. She also started playing basketball last year and seems to really like, at least enough to sign up during middle school orientation to play on the 6th grade team. She too was busy this summer, she attended basketball camp that was hosted by our high school basketball team and attend 4-H camp for a week, went to spend a week with Grandma Hattie in Cincinnati, our very good friend in Cincinnati, Leslie (and her husband Scott and 4 boys, who by the way think of Rachel as their sister, and she thinks of them as her brothers). She also spent several days with her Grandma and Papa Schwarz in Cincinnati and while she was there spending time with them did some really fun stuff with her Aunt Nancy and cousins (Molly and Pete). She will be traveling to Washington, DC this October for a week to attend a Leadership Forum sponsored by People to People.

Last, but no way least is Isaac, he in the first grade this year. He is the child who spends the majority of his day in constant motion. He loves to be outside playing and working on his John Deere tractor. He has a pedal tractor that has a scoop on it and can play on it for hours. Give him a shovel, rake, dirt and sand and he is one very happy little boy. He can pretend like no other child I have seen. He and his big brother can spend hours building with his legos.....they come up with some pretty awesome creations. Isaac didn't have near as an exciting of a summer, but did several things in his own right. He attend "Pep Week" at school and got to learn about running and making fun things to eat. He also spent several days with his Grandma and Papa Schwarz in Cincinnati and while he was there spending time with them did some really fun stuff with his Aunt Nancy and cousins (Molly and Pete). He also got to spend a week with Aunt Laura in Cincinnati and went to the Newport Aquarium while he was there, and got to spend 2 days at college (Aunt Laura is program chair at Cincinnati State). School for Isaac is something that he has to do. He doesn't mind it, but is in way too big of a hurry to get everything done.

Okay, now that I have about bored you to sleep, I will close for the evening, but will be back in the next couple of days to add something new. Stay tuned for our next adventure......