Happy Birthday Jacob!

It's official....my baby son is now 16 years old. It's so strange I can hardly believe it. I always thought "older" people were so goofy when they talked about how
time speeds up the older you get, but it's honestly true. We had a weekend-long celebration, starting with dinner at Gilardi's on Friday night. Grandad then surprised Jacob at home by passing on his 2003 Alero to him. Jacob was completely surprised, and completely thrilled. Dad (Grandad) gave him a good talk about being responsible, etc., and Jacob seemed to take it very seriously....at least we hope.

On Saturday, Darrell, Jacob, and Grandpa went to the shooting range so Jacob could try out his Uncle Jeff's shotgun, and then we all met up later at home for cake.

MeMe and Dave took us all to lunch at Red Lobster on Sunday afternoon, and on his actual birthday (August 25th), Jacob started his sophomore year.

Today will be attempt #1 at obtaining the coveted driver's license. I am picking him up after school to take him to Ozark (we hear Springfield is rather difficult). I am hopeful this will be the first and only try necessary as it will be much more convenient for Jacob to get himself to school at 6:15 a.m. for cross country practice!

Fall is Coming

I cannot believe this is the last official week of summer! But, as usual, I'm actually kind of looking forward to fall. The kids start school next Monday, and I think they're both actually ready. I'm certainly ready! With this being my first year working at the church, I'm learning the ebb and flow of things a little, and realizing that I really should've taken time off during July when things were slow. Things are certainly not slow now...yesterday was an unbelievable day with back to back things that just kept coming up and needing to be dealt with. The biggest mistake I made was making a "to do" list when I got here yesterday morning. Needless to say, I didn't get very far with that. Today has been somewhat better.

I'm really looking forward to this conference I'm going to in a couple of weeks (Innovate 2008). I was (and still am) hoping to take someone in the church with me who might be interested in stepping up to lead in the hospitality ministry, but so far, no one has become apparent. At this point, it'll be me, Matt, and Tim going....guess I'm a little outnumbered, but I can usually hold my own! I've just decided if we don't find someone else to go, I'll use this as a time to get recharged and come back with hopefully some new ideas that will be well received.

All for now!