Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday.

He is one of my favorite people, and the best Dad a girl could have.

I could go on and on about how great he is, but I won't.

Instead, I want to share some pictures that I found today.

All my clients cancelled/no-showed today which gave me plenty of time to search for good pictures for my Dad's Birthday collage.

I found so many photos that show just how great a Dad he has been and still is:

As I was looking, I came across several photos of me, with my Dad off to the side or in the background.

I know (from experience) that my Mom took the photos, which is why Dad is in so many.

But what stood out to me is my Dad's expression in each of the photos.

His smile shows exactly why he is such a great Dad.

There is so much love and happiness in his smile it is almost overwhelming.

Maybe I'm just sick and emotional, and reading into the pictures too much, but I'm so happy I found these today.

I have been incredibly loved by both my parents.

They are perfect examples of Godly parents, and I hope I have the chance to love my kids like they loved me!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

JV Youth and Other Recent Happenings

Michael has asked me why I haven't blogged lately. 

I have wanted to blog, I just have nothing to blog about.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about things slowing down over here,

but it doesn't make for very interesting posts.

We have been consistently busy with the youth group though, so I might as well write about that.

We started the year by ordering some new youth group t-shirts.

 Our friend Kevin designed them (in no time!) and we love them!

 Our first event of the year was an Outreach Event and it was a great success.

We had several visitors, games were played, pizza was eaten, and Jesus was taught.

What more could we ask for?

That same week we took the youth to Mountasia, and told them to bring friends.

Again, we had several visitors!

It makes me so happy that these kids are not afraid to ask their friends and bring them to our events.

They are awesome!

We played arcade games, mini golf, bumper boats, and rode go-karts.

Unfortunately, we did all these things with about a million mosquitoes on us.

My favorite part was the batting cages!

I can't remember the last time I was in a batting cage.

We did 2 rounds of approx 20 pitches.

I did the slow pitch softball machine first, and then the fast pitch softball.

I didn't think I would hit any on the fast machine, but my batting average actually went way up.

I paid for it the next few days when I could not move my forearms, abs, or back.

Man it hurt!

Other than youth group, things are pretty slow.

I am still working, building up clients slowly.

Michael is busy with his 5 fantasy football leagues, and all the games that entails.

We have both been sick with a cold/allergies this past week.

And we are loving watching our Sooners rack up the Ws!!

Oh, how we love Fall!

600 on the Blanco

It is very rare that I can get Michael to take off on a Sunday.
I admire his dedication, but sometimes, I just want to go somewhere for a long weekend.
But last weekend, he finally agreed!
We were invited by our Houston family, the Sawyers, to spend Labor Day weekend with them in Wimberley, TX on the Blanco River.
The house, and wall of windows, were absolutely beautiful!

We kept calling it "600 on the Blanco"
I still don't know if that meant 600 yards, 600 feet, or just the address.
Doesn't matter what you call it, it was the perfect place to spend a weekend.
The weekend started with a little game for Michael by Claire.
She told him she needed him to complete a puzzle, while she timed him.
As soon as she said it was timed, competitive Michael came out to play.

^^ Notice the tongue sticking out
Lastly, she told him that he had to flip the puzzle over without breaking pieces off.
As you can see, Michael was very focused.
The puzzle bent in mid-flip, which led to puzzle pieces flying EVERYWHERE.

^^ Everyone was scrambling to put it back together,
and then Claire told Michael to watch her do it.

He was so excited!
We love this couple SO much, and couldn't be more excited for them.
Michael is already thinking about the wedding, and how to make it extra special for them.

The rest of the weekend was spent laughing, playing games, talking about the Office/Grey's Anatomy, wading through the river, having great conversations, and eating delicious food!

^^ This is what Claire and I woke up to on Saturday.
The boys all sitting close on the couch and watching some college football pregame.

On Sunday, after we had our own church service with the most beautiful singing, we took a trip out to Jacob's Well.
It is right outside of Wimberley, a little tricky to get to, but completely worth it. I'll admit, its a little creepy when you first see it.
And even scarier as you are jumping in to the blue abyss.

The blue hole is 23 feet deep to a ledge, that goes back 100 feet or so.
Apparently, there are lots of unexplored caves, but 8 people have died trying to get to them, so diving is no longer allowed.
Or, it is allowed, but only with instructors.
I don't really know. The water was too cold for me to spend any extended amount of time in it.

^^ I can't get over the faces we are making.
It was absolutely freezing!
Like, stop your heart freezing.
It really is too bad Claire and Kinsey had their backs to the camera, I'm sure they were great too!

We had the most wonderful weekend in Wimberley!
I can't say enough how blessed we are to have the Sawyers (and now the Jeffers) in our lives.
They really are our family here in Houston, and we are so thankful for all they have done for us over the years!