Four years ago today the man of my dreams asked me to be his wife. Thank you, my darling, for choosing me to be your wife! I adore you!

One of my strong desires as a wife and mommy is to instill in the heart of Becca a deep love for her daddy. Parenting is not a competition for getting our children to like us better than our spouse . . . to be the favorite parent. We are to esteem others better than ourselves, and I feel it is important for our children to see this between their daddy and mommy. As a wife and mommy, my love for my husband and the way I treat him and talk of him to others has an impact on Becca. I want Becca to adore her daddy like I do. And Lord willing, I want Becca to someday honor her husband in the same way: I want to pass that legacy along to her.

So, how do I instill a heart of love for Daddy in Becca’s heart? Right now we do simple things. We cheer for Daddy when he’s coming home. We practice running to the door and giving him a hug and kiss when he comes home. We talk about how Daddy is great. And most importantly, even right now, I try to always speak positive words about Daddy to Becca. That means I must control my tongue and watch my words and tone. How easy it would be to share with my child (even a 20 month year old) irritations against my husband. And what does it matter right now — she doesn’t understand! But yet it does matter right now; I’m setting up patterns for my life. I desire that Becca will never hear me speak negatively about Josh. This is my prayer.

Speaking of honoring Daddy, my dear husband was extremely sweet to me for my birthday. Wednesday night after church, he made me a little plate of fruit and whipped cream and gave me some gifts. Thursday night he took me to my favorite restaurant — Josh’s restaurant — and made me a delicious meal, including a Brown Derby birthday cake. Josh also made me a watermelon fruit basket.

Friday we went shopping for my present, a nice chair. I’ve wanted one for Becca’s room for reading and cuddling. We found a great chair at the Salvation Army Store – for a great price. The chair is in great shape and is a perfect fit for Becca’s room. It was also issued (notice tag in picture) on July 20, 1994, so we decided that it must have been meant for me since it was issued on my birthday. Yes, I have the sweetest husband in the world!

Sunday afternoon we normally do something as a family. This week we played in the fountain and in the UTA fine arts building. Becca enjoyed sticking her head under the waterfall and loved playing in the lockers. We’re grateful for the family God has blessed us with and for the time we have to enjoy each other.

Firsts this week:

• first time to have her toenails painted
• given her first pair of earrings (by our neighbors, who just returned from spending the summer with their family in Egypt)

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A very happy birthday to the love of my life! (Becca was afraid she would forget what to say, so she asked me to make a little video ahead of time.)

For the first 10 days of July, we had the opportunity to vacation at the Woods’ home. The Woods (a family from our church) asked us to house sit for them, and we decided it would be our summer vacation. Our vacation home came with a wonderful pool, a grandfather clock, stairs for Becca to climb, games, books, a house-wide sound system, and a Vitamix. And it was only a 45-minute drive from our home.

We agreed that it was the perfect vacation. It was the first time since our honeymoon to get away for an extended period of time (just the 2/3 of us). Usually when we travel we’re visiting family (which we love), but it means we spend less time together than normal. This was one of those vacations where we got to relax, spend extra time together as a family, and we weren’t tired when we got home (and it was very cost efficient!). We’re thankful to the Woods for thinking of us and to the Lord for providing this treat for us.

One of the nice things about our vacation was that Josh was still able to work on his research, so he didn’t have to feel guilty about not getting work done and wasn’t overwhelmed with work to catch up on when we got home. Josh worked on research he enjoyed, swam with us in the afternoons, and spent each evening with me having fun . . . games (Mancala, Cathedral, etc.), movies (Sophie Scholl: The Final Days, Persuasion, and Finding Bobby Fischer), food, and books (The Silver Chair and The Last Battle). Josh also bought us ice pop molds and surprised us with homemade yummy ice pops on Friday.

Becca, too, loved our vacation home. The Woods have grandchildren, so the house was very kid friendly. Becca loved the pool and went swimming twice a day. She always asked to see one of us jump off the diving board. Becca loved climbing the stairs and playing with the toys. She loved hearing the grandfather clock chime every 15 minutes. She even liked using the potty. It was the perfect place for her to spend 10 days.

Even though we were on vacation, we still celebrated Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-Fil-A (as we did last year). I took a trip to the Good Will and bought white t-shirts for Josh and me and found a child’s skirt for Becca. A trip to Hobby Lobby completed my costume search – paint and ribbon. Josh and I painted our shirts and I turned the skirt into a dress for Becca (our vacation home also come with a sewing machine). We had fun making the costumes and enjoyed our free meals for our effort. I’m also convinced we have the cutest little calf out there!

We also took some videos this week of Becca doing nursery rhymes with me. Here’s “Hey Diddle Diddle.”

To celebrate our 3rd year wedding anniversary, Josh and I went to Dallas for a night. It was our first extended time away from Becca since she came home from the NICU. We missed Becca, but it was good to spend some time together without any other responsibilities. Meridith and the Lutz family watched Becca during our time away, and Becca did great! I didn’t do too good at winning any games, but I’ve already won the best prize – Josh!

We were in the pool for about 4 hours for the 4th of July. The pictures on the left show Becca jumping in. We decided the skip the 4th of July fireworks this year. Becca is to the point where she is afraid of loud noises, and we decided it would be better to skip the trauma this year and give her a better experience next year. I’ll soon be starting firework enjoyment lessons….step 1: hide and be really quiet –> then jump up and yell BOOM! really loudly (that’s a free step; if you want the other steps to helping your children enjoy fireworks, please send $10 to our address).

Tuesday, we had some special visitors; Jeremy McMorris and Ben Fetteroff stopped by on their drive to CA. We enjoyed our visit with them.

Our summer is going great. Becca and I are enjoying pools, parks, and playing. Josh continues to analyze the data he collected on his trip to NC.

Thursday two weeks ago, Josh left for a 12-day research trip in Raleigh, NC. Josh and Lap (one of his Jarai consultants) spent their time gathering language data from the Jarai that live there. Josh and Lap were able to stay with Lap’s parents. Becca and I didn’t want to spent all our time alone at home, so we took a week visit to PA to be with my family. We had a late-night flight on Friday and didn’t get to my parents’ home until 2:30am. Becca was wonderful on the flights – a ball of energy!

Saturday we visited with Emily. She was participating in a two-week CEF (Child Evangelism Fellowship) summer missionary training camp. We spent time with her during her free time in between training weeks.

Monday we went to NJ and visited with my Grandma and Uncle John and many other Sutter family members. Uncle John made Becca her very own milkshake – she loved it!

While we were in PA, Uncle Joey came home from D.C. to visit with us. Becca warmed up to him, once she realized he would let her play with his phone and computer.

During our stay, my dad got out a drum and cymbal for Becca to play. She loved it! Also during the week, Mom and I worked on some wall hangings for Becca’s room. My mom is the sewing genius; I was just the “factory worker” sewing straight lines, etc. If it were completely up to me, the product wouldn’t have been half as nice. I’m really pleased with what we made and how it brightens up Becca’s room!

We had a great time with my parents! They treated us royally. It was nice to spend time with them without a large number of people around. We kept pretty busy the days when we were there. My dad kept the fridge stocked with my favorite pickles (I’m starting Becca on them too!), made sure we always had a lot to eat (late night fried chicken and Chinese food), and bought tiny ice cream cones for Becca (seriously, they were the size of my thumb!).

But being without Josh for 12 days was dreadful! 12 hours is bad enough, but 12 days! This was the longest we’ve been apart since marriage and I’m not looking forward to the next research trip! I cannot express how delighted we were to have Josh come home Monday evening! It’s good to have my man back!

Today we celebrate three wonderful years of marriage. God has blessed me with the most amazing husband in the world. Darling, thank you so much for choosing me to be your wife. I am honored by your love and so delighted that I am your wife. You are the perfect husband and you show me Christ in so many ways.

Over the past three years, we’ve been through much, and in the midst of every situation, you have shown a servant’s heart as you lead our home toward Christ. Thank you for all you do for our family. Thank you for encouraging me when I’m down, holding me when I cry, being crazy with me, being a wonderful Daddy to Becca, being so romantic….for being my man. Thank you for loving me! I love you with all my heart!

This week we had an unexpected surprise…we got to meet Becca’s newest cousin, Colette Elisse Sutter. Becca absolutely loved meeting Colette. Colette turns 7 weeks this Friday. Becca really wanted to hold Colette, but she was a little nervous at first. We also had a mini impromptu Sutter reunion. It was good to spend some time with family. I love the pictures of my grandma’s and Becca’s blue eyes.

Josh is having a profitable week of research. He’s been able to work with several Jarai speakers and is working on recording, translating, and analyzing Jarai stories. He’s also using the extra time with Jarai speakers to learn more Jarai. On Sunday he went to a special Jarai picnic for a group of Catholic Jarai. He heard the traditional gongs played at a picnic in a park and heard a Jarai Catholic priest speak.

Becce continues to be her very fun self! She’s sporting a new hairdo and is actually not pulling it out! She enjoyed playing the piano with Uncle Sam. A big thanks to Sam for the beautiful pictures he took during our visit with them.

Happy Father’s Day to the world’s greatest Daddy!!! Daddy, as you can see from the pictures, I’ve grown up a bit since Father’s Day 2010. My hair is longer…your hair is shorter. You no longer have to bottle feed me or burp me. Now you get to play hide-n-seek with me, chase me around our home, and take me for walks outside. You are a terrific father and I love playing with you!

Mommy wants to me to tell you that she loves watching you play with me. She’s delighted to be married to such a good, godly Daddy! You are better than the best! Thanks for loving me and taking such good care of Mommy and me. We’re so glad that we are your girls. We love you SO much!

I’ve been terrible about taking pictures this week. Part of this has to do with the fact that it’s not easy to take pictures when you’re wet. We’ve been enjoying the apartment pool and the water play area at the park. We’re so blessed to have access to water activities so close by. I’m completely enjoying being a mommy this summer. I can run in the fountains and play in the pool and no one gives me a second look — I’m just a mommy playing with her toddler. I get to have loads of fun without feeling guilty about other things that need to be done, since I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing . . . taking care of my baby. What a lovely gift God has given me this summer.

Don’t worry, Josh hasn’t been lost in the shuffle of his girls’ summer play. He’s happy that his girls are happy in the sun, and we’re always delighted when he can join us. Josh continues to spend much of his time gathering data from his Jarai consultants. We’re hoping that this summer will give him the bulk of the data he needs to write his dissertation.

Friday, we had our neighbor over for lunch. Friday evening, we enjoyed dinner with the Woods. Saturday, we had one of Josh’s Jarai consultants and his wife over for lunch. Sorry, no pictures; entertaining and watching Becca make grabbing the camera a distant idea in my mind. I did however, take a few pictures in the nursery on Sunday.

Yesterday at The Levitt Pavilion, we saw the Lannaya West African Drum and Dance Ensemble. Becca enjoyed the drumming, especially since I had just given her a drum lesson that morning. She needs a little work on her stick technique. Most of all, Becca loved the fountains. She walked in among them for the first time . . . brave little girl.

Today is the day our little one was supposed to be born, but God in His sovereignty said no. Our comfort is that God is in control of all things, even miscarriages. Our joy is that “Behind a frowning providence He hides a smiling face” (William Cowper, “God Moves in a Mysterious Way). For Mother’s Day, Josh gave me Piper’s book on Ruth. It’s been a great encouragement to me to see God’s hand in Naomi’s life to perform His good and sovereign will for her life and for eternity.

“Thousands of Christians who have walked through fire and have seen horrors embrace God’s control of all things as the comfort and hope of their lives. It is not comforting or hopeful in their pain to tell them that God is not in control. Giving Satan the decisive control or ascribing pain to chance is not true or helpful. When the world is crashing in, we need assurance that God reigns over it all.”  ~Piper in A Sweet & Bitter Providence p. 27

“The life of the godly is not a straight line to glory, but they do get there. The life of the godly is not an Interstate through Nebraska, but a state road through the Blue Ridge Mountains of Tennessee. There are rock slides and precipices and dark mists and bears and slippery curves and hairpin turns that make you go backwards in order to go forwards. But all along this hazardous, twisted road that doesn’t let you see very far ahead there are frequent signs that say, “The best is yet to come. ” ~Piper in A Sweet & Bitter Providence pp. 99-100

Welcome to our new apartment! Last fall, we put ourselves on a waiting list for some two-bedroom apartments near campus. In April, we received a call that a unit was available for us (at that point we were not planning on moving, since Becca was surviving in the closet). After looking at the apartment, we didn’t feel comfortable with moving there, but since we were in the looking mood, we decided to go across the street and see if the other nearby apartment complex had anything available. They did — an apartment that they were redoing. To make a long story short, we signed the papers and prepared for our move . . . but we didn’t think we’d like it that much, since we loved our first apartment.

We now frequently talk about how much we like our new apartment.  We are thankful to the Lord for providing above and beyond what we asked for . . . even when we’d stopped asking! We love having the extra space — Josh can concentrate on his research, we don’t have to worry about waking Becca up when we’re in our room, and people can use the bathroom without going through our bedroom.  We also love having “all bills paid” — living with 75 degree air conditioning all the time is very nice! I was a little worried about using a gas stove/oven — but I love it, and I love having a big window in the kitchen!

We really like our apartment manager. He lives on site with his family (wife and 4 kids) and is very friendly. When the building’s air conditioning broke, he was out there at 11PM and then again the next morning trying to fix the unit. One evening last week, Josh and I were in our bedroom working on our computer (since we have wireless access on that side of the apartment — legally, since it’s UTA wireless from a nearby building), when we heard banging on our window . . . it was our apartment manager saying hi and telling me I had put our outgoing mail in his box instead of the outgoing box! [And I think it’s cool that he shares a first name with the found, ruler, and emperor of the Mongol Empire! -Josh]

The past two Wednesday mornings, Becca and I have gone to the free kids concert at The Levitt Pavilion. She doesn’t really enjoy the music, but she does enjoy the fountains. We plan to go every Wednesday this month for the kids’ concerts. Friday evening we went to a park that has water play. Becca loved it and we all enjoyed getting wet.

Becca is enjoying helping in the kitchen. She likes scrambling eggs in the mornings and really enjoyed helping me make pizza dough and brownies recently. We have lots of fun in our new apartment and are enjoying running around. Becca continues to fill our house with joy. We are so blessed to be married to each other and to have our precious little gift, Becca Bear. What a kind and gracious God we have!

The month of May has flown by for us. We began the month with moving to our new apartment and then leaving for our trip to SC. Before we left on our trip, we had everything unpacked and put in its “place” — only the pictures remained to be hung on our return. I hope to post pictures of our apartment next week for those who have been asking.

Josh graded his students’ final exam when we returned and is now working some hours for the adoption agency and continues to collect Jarai data for his dissertation. The picture on the left is Josh with Hendy, one of Josh’s Jarai consultants. During the school year, Josh met with Hendy on Saturdays; now that they both have more time they are meeting twice a week. On Memorial Day we attended the Jarai church picnic. We both enjoyed meeting more Jarai speakers.

I’ve spent my days playing with Becca. I’m delighted that she has finally learned to say “mama” – I love hearing her little voice call me. [When Amy is gone, Becca walks around saying “Mama! Mama!” –Josh] She loves going outside and now enjoys being in the pool. We got together with Yani and Amaris last Tuesday, and last Friday we went to a ladies and children’s pool party at the Woods’. We were also able to mingle with some of the Special Olympics – Texas players. They held an event on campus last weekend.  One of Becca’s favorite things to do is playing in the waterfall fountain on UTA campus.

One funny Becca story. This past weekend Becca and I were looking at the pictures in The Jesus Storybook Bible. We came to the picture of healed Namaan and I told her how Namaan was happy.  Then I turned back to the picture of Namaan with leprosy and Becca lost it – had a breakdown – yelped and turned and hugged me. She hates the picture of Namaan with leprosy. When she sees it she cries and flails her arms. It’s rather humorous. She continues to dislike the picture . . . but she still asks to see it by saying “illlllll” – what I said when I showed her the picture. (See video on facebook)

On Memorial Day (after the Jarai picnic) we had the Countrymans over for our own Memorial Day picnic. Josh grilled hamburgers and hotdogs and we all enjoyed dinner, water balloons, and swimming. Memorial Day weekend, Josh and I attended an outdoor concert to hear the Quebe Sisters Band. They specialize in Western Swing and sang like the Andrew Sisters. We enjoyed our evening out — thanks Yi Ling, for babysitting!

Gary and Karen Isham had a lovely graduation reception for me at their home. Everything was beautiful and very classy. I was honored to be given such a nice reception with our friends here in TX.

That pretty much sums up the month of May for us.

Thanks to members of our families who love to take pictures, we hardly took out our camera during our SC trip but still  have over 700 pictures from our time with family and friends. I’m using this week’s blog to highlight pictures from our time with both sides of our families. A big thanks to all who took pictures for us that week! Uncle Joey takes great pictures with and of Becca!

Visiting with Uncle Jon and Aunt Ashleigh. Becca loved their house and enjoyed doing a rain dance with Uncle Jon in his fire pit.

Grammy and Granddaddy Sutter

Aunt Emily – who always makes Becca laugh!

Meeting Cousin Colette Elisse Sutter. Becca is very happy to have another cousin! Becca also enjoyed her time with cousin Bella.

Visiting the mountains of GA with Grandma and Grandpa Jensen

Great Grandma Martin, Great Grandma Buecher, and Great Grandpa and Great Grandma Jensen

We enjoyed our trip to SC for my graduation. It was an especially exciting day for my side of the family, as my youngest brother, Joey, graduated with his BS in Accounting, my sister-in-law graduated with her MS in Accountancy, and I graduated with my Ed.D. in Instruction and Curriculum. Four years ago, when Joey started his freshman year, we figured that if I remained on track, we’d graduate the same year. I didn’t think it would happen . . . thanks for the extra motivation, Joey!

Graduation day was a bittersweet, emotional day for me. Sweet, because it was a celebration of the completion of hours of work and a testimony to God’s grace in my life, but also sad because I should have been walking across the platform with a big belly and about a month of pregnancy left. I would gladly trade my doctorate for the little one we lost. But I have confidence that the Lord’s ways are perfect and that all details of our lives are in His hands.

I am very thankful to my committee members for their assistance throughout this project: Dr. Brenda Ball (dissertation committee chair), Dr. Dan Turner, and Dr. Sue Quindag. I am particularly grateful to Dr. Steve Walter (committee member) who introduced me to the data from the Eritrea National Reading Survey and suggested that I investigate the effects of writing script. I am also thankful for many family members and friends who encouraged me throughout my degree.

A very special thanks goes to my sweet wonderful husband, Josh. I would have given up on my degree if not for his love, support, continual encouragement, and watching our daughter so I could have uninterrupted times of research. He also read through my manuscript multiple times and provided help with formatting details.

The completion of my dissertation is a testimony to the faithfulness of the Lord. While working on the initial stages of this research, Becca was born three months before her due date. During the final stages of this research, I went through a miscarriage with complications that lasted three months. During both of these times, working on dissertation research was the last thing I wanted to do. But the Lord faithfully carried me through and gave me the time and strength to complete my dissertation. The greatest thing I will take away from working on this project is the ways the Lord faithfully helped me through the difficult times.

We have lots of pictures from our visits with both sides of our families. If I have time, I’ll do an extra blog post, if not stay tuned for more next week. . . .

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More pictures to come next week!

Our big news this week is that we moved to a new apartment. The Lord opened up the door for us to move into a 2-bedroom apartment right across the street from where we were living. The move keeps us close to campus — where Josh walks to school and Becca and I explore — and it allows Becca to have her own room. Also, it is about the same price that we were paying for our 1-bedroom apartment. As you can see from the picture above,  our family has grown since we moved into our first home. We’ve been through many adventures in Apt. 253. It was a wonderful apartment and we have many good memories there.

We’ve spent the week packing and cleaning our old apartment and moving, cleaning, and unpacking our new apartment. We’ve very thankful for all who helped with our move: Micah and Anna, Pastor John, and Parke — and also for Lynnelle for watching Becca during our move and feeding us dinner that night, for Heather who made us a wonderful meal, and for Vitaly who lent us lots of boxes. All made our move smooth and we’re very grateful for each person’s gift of time and work.

As of today, I’m finished with all the unpacking. I’ll take pictures of the completed rooms once we finish hanging things and get rid of the boxes. The main things I have to get used to are not having a washer or dryer and cooking with a gas stove. So far, we’re pleased with our new apartment and are very thankful for the Lord’s direction.

Josh has been a wonderful husband during the entire moving process. He’s given up lots of research time to move us to our new place. I’m very thankful that I’m married to a man who has such a servant’s heart. Becca has gotten used to the new apartment and is enjoying the extra space.

One quick cute story about Becca. Every morning Josh and I have devotions together. Becca used to sleep through them, but recently she’s been getting up before we’re finished. This week when we were kneeling to pray, Becca expressed the desire to pray with us. She knelt between us at the couch and folded her hands as Josh prayed a short prayer and then said “Amen!” at the end. It is so cute, I wish I could get a picture of it. Since then, we’ve had her pray with us each morning.

Ok, I know what some of you might be wondering . . . are Daddy and Mommy so busy with me that they’ve forgotten each other (hear the beautiful background music I’m playing as I speak)? Today we’re celebrating Daddy and Mommy’s 34th month wedding anniversary! I’m here to tell you that no, even though Daddy and Mommy have a lot of fun with me, they are still enjoying being married. And they tell me that they love each other more than they love me! Gasp! How can this be?!?

Friday night is “date/family night,” and I usually get to attend part of the evening until my bedtime. But last Friday night Josh and Meredith came over to play with me while Daddy and Mommy went out all by themselves. I had a great time playing with Josh and Meredith, and only cried when they put me to bed. As you can see, when I realized that the crying trick was not going to get me any extra awake time, I went to sleep.

Saturday night we had our neighbors, Samir, RJ, and Ahana, over to decorate and hide Easter eggs. Ahana is three and a half and lives in an apartment below us. Ahana and I loved decorating the eggs, and we had a blast finding them twice after our daddies hid them. I wanted to drink the egg dye, but Mommy said no. It looked so delicious that I tried anyway and now we have yellow spots on my chair.

Easter Sunday we had Aaron Countryman, René Rodriguez, and Barry over for dinner. I wasn’t sure what to think of all the men at the dinner table and was glad when Mommy finally sat down next to me. As you can see from the picture above, I’ve grown quite a bit since last Easter. For Easter, Daddy and Mommy bought me a new Bible story book called The Big Picture Story Bible. It’s purpose is to show how Bible stories all point to the big picture of God’s plan. It also has really big illustrations.

In other exciting news, I learned how to drink from a straw just in time to enjoy the free milkshakes Daddy and Mommy got from Chick-Fil-A for turning in their old cell phones. Daddy and Mommy bought me a new cup with a straw and I really like it.

Mommy says a lot of people are asking her what she’s doing with all her free time, now that she’s finished with her dissertation. Since she can never come up with a good answer, I thought I would let you peek into what we do during the week, or at least what I do during the week. (All the exciting stuff happens when I’m the center of attention!)

In the mornings, Mommy and I usually try to spend some time outside walking around campus. I think it’s really fun to sit in the car trunk while Mommy gets the stroller out and I usually ask her to lower the door on me. I’m a great explorer of the campus. I love climbing stairs and picking up sticks. On Mondays we like to visit Daddy at school. I see all sorts of interesting people while we walk to see Daddy. We try go outside in the afternoons too.

Eating is always a fun activity. I can say “eat” and I know what it means. This week I’ve enjoyed eating my sweet potatoes with a real fork. It’s really fun to poke the food and put it in my mouth. I also enjoy drinking out of a big cup. I get lots of practice in the bathtub with my stacking cups, but Mommy says it’s not best to pour water all over my tummy when I drink around the apartment.

During the day we do all sorts of other activities like coloring, lots of reading, playing hide-n-seek, going to the pool, singing, playing chase, and having all sorts of fun adventures. Yes, Mommy makes me take a nap too. But I make sure I’m only away from the excitement for about an hour. This past week, we participated in an apartment event for child abuse awareness. We had our silhouettes traced outside our door. I thought it was great!

By the end of the day, I’m very tried. I usually go to bed before 7PM. I’m not sure what Daddy and Mommy do after I go to sleep. But I think someone comes and cleans up all my toys during the night.

So there’s a little view into what I do all day. Now that I think about it, I’m really not sure what Mommy does with all the free time she has now that she’s finished with her dissertation. I’m too busy to notice.

Oh, this weekend we had Presley and Mary over for dinner. The last time we had them over was before they were married. They are preparing to go to Vietnam where Presley will be a teacher (and teacher-trainer) and Mary will be involved in social work. Presley was a classmate of Daddy’s a few years ago.