We're Slackers

Okay, we haven't updated our blog in about two years. We're slackers, alright? Actually, we think that Nate Harper is so good looking that everyone would want to log on and see him first. Plans are in the mix to put his profile up on our banner. I am completely kidding.

The real story is that we are currently compiling pictures from the Thanksgiving season, which are on several different cameras. In the meantime, here is a picture of Jon & Karen Mitchell with Mary Kate. Jon and I were friends at Toccoa Falls College. He and his wife Karen stopped by to visit us on their way back to Birmingham on the Sunday following Thanksgiving. Shots of Jon's sister Rachel and her awesome husband Nathan are forthcoming.

MK Meets Uncle Nate

Mary Kate got to meet another of our friends from college on Wednesday night. Nate Harper, one of my roommates for two years of college, stopped by after a shopping trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond (I didn't ask why he chose that store...)



There are many things we know about Nate: He's a hit with the ladies. He has a heart for serving others. He knows much about Islam and the Middle East. He is a Steelers fan, having grown up in the shadow of Three Rivers Stadium. He is the best ultimate frisbee player to come out of Toccoa Falls College. He lived in Mexico for a while. But as they say, you learn something new everyday, and we learned this: Nate is VERY good with babies. He held MK for almost an hour, carrying her around the house like he had done it for years. While doing so, he shared a story from the time he lived in the slums of inner-city Philadelphia doing mission work among the urban poor. He told of caring for a newborn baby whose mother was a crack addict, and how he fed, bathed, and cared for the baby for a few months. He tells this story, I see how good he is with my daughter, and I'm thinking, "This is the guy who ran across the TFC campus naked to win a bet?" We had a great time of fellowship as always, and after getting his cigar, Nate headed back to Toccoa and the wonderful world of social work (his current ministry). I'm glad he finally got to see MK.

Carol Byars Brinson, Rest in Peace

Last Saturday, the Bojo's lost a dear family friend to cancer. Carol and my mother met in junior high, and were best friends for 38 years - through high school, college, grad school, teaching the same high school subjects, church, my sister being born on Carol's birthday, living in the same neighborhood, giving wedding and baby showers for Jenny and my sister, the works. Carol lost her nearly one year battle with cancer this past Saturday around 8:00pm at the age of 50. Aunt Carol leaves behind her husband of 24 years, Chester - a great man of God who needs our prayers desperately in this time. At the graveside, Chester's brother Allen told me that he planned to get Chester out on their hogs for a week-long bike trip. I hope that gives him some good time to reflect and pray. The whole thing seems surreal...like the next time Jenny and I go to church with my parents at Fellowship Baptist Church, we will grab lunch afterwards with Carol & Chester at Gondolier's just like always. But alas, 'tis nevermore to be. Life sucks sometimes.

On a positive note, MK got to meet some of her family she hadn't met before and see some she already knew. Here's MK with her cousin Owen from Arizona:



Click here for more crazy stories about the antics of Owen and the rest of the Starr family.

Here she is with my maternal grandmother, Charlotte Britt:



And my maternal grandfather, John Britt. This rounds out the great-grandparent tour: MK has now met all six out of her six living g-gparents.



And, she met her Aunt Jennifer for the first time. See more of Jennifer's life, kids, and creativy here.



Next, my Uncle Tom:



My cousin Ann Marie also came over, but refused to hold MK. "I'm dirty from basketball practice" she said. I gave her hell for it, since that's what Bojo cousins do to each other.



MK got to spend lots of time with her Pops, who this time wasn't so scared of breaking her:



And her Nana, too. MK and Owen both lit up her life after losing such a great friend:



Here's a shot of me, Jenny & Owen. This picture is proof that the deer-in-headlights look runs in the Bojo family:



Here is one of those pic's we will hang onto forever: Owen, Grandma Bojo (Pops' mother), MK, and my cousin Rebekah:



One last shot of Aunt Jennifer, MK, & Owen:

Hot Stuff for Halloween

For Mary Kate's first Halloween, we dressed her up as...(drumroll)...a chili pepper. No, I'm not kidding.

Great Grandparents are....Still Great

Yesterday MK met her fourth great-grandparent - My paternal grandmother, Catherine Bojo. I suppose now is the time to mention that her mother, Katherine Sokol, is where we got MK's middle name.



Grandma came to visit Jenny during the day, and has that mystical power over babies that all great-grandmothers seem to have: Getting her to sleep in no time. Jenny tells me she offered Grandma the spare bedroom. Also on the trip was my Aunt Joan and little Cousin Rebekah:



It was great for them to come. MK has tons of family, and we can't wait for her to meet all of them in time. Here's a shot of Jenny and the baby, put here for no other reason than it is good for my heart to look up from whatever I am reading to see this:



One last shot of our little bundle, showing the world her "getting ready to wail" face: