As of Thanksgiving, we signed a contract to sell our home to a family from Michigan and we are to close a few days after Christmas. We have just begun to look for a new place in Taylor, Hutto or Coupland – all north and west of where we are now but much closer to Jim’s workplace and Josh’s college (and a Wal-Mart). Keep checking this page so that when we do have our new home address, etc., we will post it here.

Richard and Laura are alive and well and anxiously awaiting the arrival of their little girl, Emma Grace, due on December 9. Ethan, almost 2 now, knows that Emma is in Mommy’s belly and will gladly point her out to whoever should ask. They recently bought a house in the Spring area, just south of The Woodlands, and are enjoying a place of their own—and it’s much closer to his work. Richard is still playing and teaching piano and Laura is enthusiastically involved in helping young mothers like herself learn about being the helpmate to their husbands and teacher/trainer of their little ones as God teaches in His Word. Most certainly this verse rings true: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” – III John 1:4.

Dawn is currently living in Houston staying with Richard’s family and the Holley’s (Brien and Brenda) to finish her Ballet certification training with Excelsior Dance (formerly known as Sonshine Christian Dance). When someone recently asked how things were for her she expressed the thrill of getting back into dance and so quickly able to pick up where she left off but, most importantly, it’s exactly where God wants her to be at this time in her life. She’s hoping to complete her training when the studio will be having a Ballet production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (part of the series of C.S. Lewis’ books, The Chronicles of Narnia) in early June. She’s not sure at this time what’s next but is praying for God’s plan for that step.

This is the last year of high school/home schooling for Josh and an extremely busy one so far! He works three days a week with the Mansfield brothers cleaning an office building, teaches guitar and piano to four students, is captain of the Varsity basketball team, has two classes – Calculus II and freshman English – at the local junior college and somewhere in there has Bible study at home with Jordan and helps Dad with music ministry at church. (Whew! It's exhausting just writing about it!) God willing, Josh plans to attend Blinn College in Bryan/College Station for his first two years and then transfer and finish out at Texas A&M majoring in Architectural Engineering, with a minor in Music. (Yes, they do have a music program at A&M.) Oh, and by the way, a BIG help to Mom is that he was able to buy a car this fall for him to get around in. (It’s nice not having to go everywhere!)

Jordan has learned a lot about broken bones this year. In early summer he broke his wrist while at basketball practice. That soon healed but then in early October he collided with another teammate again during practice and ended up with a broken collar bone. He’s saw the orthopedic doctor this week (just after Thanksgiving) and heard from him that he can begin to practice once again and even play in about four weeks (Just after Christmas.). We were hoping the doc would tell him to wait until January or even later. Jordan is 5’7” now and still growing and wears a size 11 shoe and just turned 13 in September. We think he’s got the tall Rector genes. As far as school goes, he would love it if we did science experiments and played basketball all day. But there is a new interest showing up in learning Latin of all things…there’s hope yet.

As for Carole and Jim? We greatly miss visiting with Richard and his family and our daughter a whole bunch, and Carole's family as well, but are very grateful for the time that we do have when it comes. Co-Op was a good learning experience for Carole this past semester as it was the first time she taught three classes back to back – Mechanical Drawing/Drafting, Journalism and Architectural Drawing. She so enjoys introducing new and different skills but she's at the same time learning the need of being a much better teacher. Jim's staying busy at work. He transfered into a new position at his company in September and is having to learn lots of new stuff. Even though it keeps him busy he enjoys it a lot. Jim has also recently photographed a wedding and would like the opportunity to do more. Be sure to check out his photographic "blog" at http://blog.wondershots.com. We also have a family blog at http://blog.jrector.com

Can you believe that Carole and Jim will be celebrating Their 25th wedding anniversary next April?! We’re hoping to spend some time away somewhere like the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee but we don’t know if that will work out as there are many other important events taking place around that time of year, like Josh’s graduation in May and the National Homeschool Basketball Tournament in March and so on. Maybe in the late summer or fall.

We leave you with this thought: “Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name; Worship the Lord in holy array…O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” (Psalm 29:1-2; 34:3)

I know that I've been neglecting this site since the New Year. Seems that I get so busy with stuff that there's no time to update this.

So for you that are interested here's an update of the Rector family. First the exciting news! Laura and Richard are expecting their second child. The baby is due towards the end of November or first part of December. We praise God for creating another miracle in Laura, Richard, and Ethan's household. It should be a fun place a few months from now. Of course Ethan's growing like a weed. He's walking all over the place and can't seem to get enough food. He likes to eat!

The rest of the gang just got back from the Saved By Faith Youth Conference (SBFYC) in Bolivar, MO. It was a great time and the Lord planted some seeds not only in our family but all the youth of our church. For a recap of the trip see Jim's article CBC Youth go to SBFYC at Bolivar, MO. on the Cornerstone Baptist Church website. YOu can also see pictures at the CBC SBFYC gallery.

We're all staying busy and the summer promises to keep us that way. Dawn's looking for a job and trying to determine which direction the Lord wants her to go. Josh is also working odd jobs for a little cash and will have his driver's license by this time next week. Look out everybody! We'll that's all for now. I'll update the site when more things happen. -Jim

This is the home page of the Rector family. Welcome! We're glad you found us. This is the new and improved web site with many options for our visitors and family.

Here are a few things that are great about the new site. First the site uses a full blown content management system (CMS). What this does is allow easy updating. If the site is easy to update it will probably get updated more often. The CMS also allows for users to contribute content. If other family members or friends want to add something, they could. Second, the links area has been updated. There are some great sites there. Please note that we don't necessarily agree with all of these sites or agree with everything the sites that we generally support print. We just want the links to be fun and thought provoking. Third is the "News Feeds" link. The content available on this link is dynamic and update often using a technology called RSS. We will have another article explaining RSS and what it can do. Fourth, a calendar is included. Hopefully this will keep you up to date as to what we have going on.

Most of you know that Jim is very interested in photography. Be sure to visit his photo website at www.wondershots.com. He's very excited to be getting into wedding photography and still enjoys nature photos taking advantage of Texas photography sites around Central Texas.

We'll update the front page often with what's happening. Jim is also starting a blog that will be linked from this site. Be sure to look for it.