So things got started with Mackenzie’s 16th birthday, and thankfully I managed to write about that already -- but that was a nice kick-off to the summer.
Along with the Birthday, came the driver’s license. After several hours at the DMV, she passed her driving test and not only did she get her license, but her picture even came out good!! ha You know, I thought I was going to have a heart attack every time she walked out the door to drive somewhere by herself, but it hasn’t been that bad. It’s actually very nice to have another driver in the family. :-)
Oh, and the picture here is of her new license plate... fitting, don't you think? :P
Shortly after the birthday weekend, our teen intern for the summer, Jami, moved in with us. She’s a wonderful addition to our family and it’s great to have her here. I should say that we’ve also adopted our other intern, Wes. Even though he doesn’t officially live here, he’s still here most of the time! I think he’s officially the son (and big brother!!) we never had. :-)
Next was the trip with the teens to Six Flaggs. I don’t know why it is, but for the second year in a row, a drive that should really only take 4 hours at the most, took more than 6 (!!) with stops and what-not… crazy. But the day at the park was fun and the trip home was much quicker. :-)
As you can see, Rodney was a little tired on the way home... I should have hung a 'do not disturb' sign on him!! ...but Jasmine and Lindsey were having a great time with Bugs Bunny...
Anna has decided to go back to competitive gymnastics, so she’s started back training at the gym 4 days a week from 11 - 2. She didn’t think she was going to like going in the middle of the day like that, but it’s actually been a blessing not to have to get up and out 
at 8:00am every summer morning like some of the other girls have to do. She hopes to be competing in meets again in the fall if she can get back up to speed after being off for a year. I really thought my ‘gym mom’ days were over, but here we go again! :-)
at 8:00am every summer morning like some of the other girls have to do. She hopes to be competing in meets again in the fall if she can get back up to speed after being off for a year. I really thought my ‘gym mom’ days were over, but here we go again! :-)
A week after the Six Flaggs trip, Mackenzie went with the teens to New Orleans on a mission trip there to help continue with efforts to clean up and rebuild in the aftermath of Katrina. They had a week of lots of hard work, but were very blessed by the trip and the chance to serve together.
On June 18th, we celebrated Jack’s 46th birthday -- old man. ;-) I can say that for the next 4 months until I turn 46!! ha I think I actually managed to surprise him this year with something he liked -- a new air compressor. He’s been wanting one for a long time, and with the help of my dad, we managed to go buy this huge thing and get it in the garage so it would be waiting for him with a big bow on it when he got home. :-) He was very happy. Yay! Um... now we just have to figure out how to rig up a ‘paint booth’ in our garage…. Ahhhh……. ;-)
Right after Jack’s birthday, we left for Jr. Impact with the teens.
This was Anna’s first year to go and she was very excited about it. She also had a friend from school come with her - Kerry. I really need a whole blog entry to talk about Impact -- it was a great theme this year (Hidden) and a fantastic weekend. I think I was personally challenged physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually by the whole thing -- as I know many of the kids were. There were lots of great 
things that came out of that weekend, the best of which was Anna giving her life to Christ. She was baptized on Father’s Day (June 21st) at about 6:30 in the evening by her dad and me. She had been thinking about this for a while, but she had talked to Jami and Katie (another counselor helping our group at Impact) that Sunday afternoon and then came to us to tell us that she was ready to be baptized…. We had a great talk that afternoon and she didn’t want to wait any longer, so we headed over to the pool along with all the teens and she was baptized. It’s actually kind-of neat that almost exactly 4 years ago, at Mackenzie’s first trip to Impact, she was also baptized there and it was on Father’s Day… so these are 2 Father’s Days “gifts” that their dad will surely never forget.
Right after Jack’s birthday, we left for Jr. Impact with the teens.
This was Anna’s first year to go and she was very excited about it. She also had a friend from school come with her - Kerry. I really need a whole blog entry to talk about Impact -- it was a great theme this year (Hidden) and a fantastic weekend. I think I was personally challenged physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually by the whole thing -- as I know many of the kids were. There were lots of great 
things that came out of that weekend, the best of which was Anna giving her life to Christ. She was baptized on Father’s Day (June 21st) at about 6:30 in the evening by her dad and me. She had been thinking about this for a while, but she had talked to Jami and Katie (another counselor helping our group at Impact) that Sunday afternoon and then came to us to tell us that she was ready to be baptized…. We had a great talk that afternoon and she didn’t want to wait any longer, so we headed over to the pool along with all the teens and she was baptized. It’s actually kind-of neat that almost exactly 4 years ago, at Mackenzie’s first trip to Impact, she was also baptized there and it was on Father’s Day… so these are 2 Father’s Days “gifts” that their dad will surely never forget. Rayne and Bayli were also baptized over the weekend -- and James was baptized when we got back to the church building on Monday... here they all are with "Flat Jesus" -- and that's probably a story for another time... :-)
This last weekend, Jack and I were able to go up to Nashville for the Good Guys Annual Street Rod show. It was a nice chance to get away for us -- it’s been a very busy month! - and he loves seeing all the hot rods. There were some beautiful cars -- but honestly, I don’t know when the last time was that I’ve been so HOT!!! The show was out in the par
king lot of the Tennessee Titan’s stadium and it must have been over 100 degrees on Saturday. But we survived and had a good time…This 1969 Camaro (Jack's favorite) was on sale for $160,000 -- we figured we could trade our house for it!! ;-)
So I think that brings me up to date on the ‘events’ of the month. It really is amazing to me that summer is going by so quickly. I’m already seeing school supplies at Walmart (oh, but THANK GOODNESS they finally got the Holiday Fruit Cakes off the shelves!!!! haha) and I’m beginning to get calls and emails about band stuff for next year. Did I mention that I said I’d be band parent president for the middle school this year? Yeah, check back with me on that around the beginning of September -- we’ll see if I’m still sane. :-o But before all of that gets in full swing, I do hope to enjoy these last few weeks of summer.
We’re headed to the lake this weekend for the first time this summer -- I’m looking forward to that… I need to get some sun on my feet - I’ve got a serious farmer’s tan going. (yuck) Lots of yard work and walks this year, but not much pool (or lake) time,,,
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This is a picture of some flowers I planted out front a couple of days ago -- I thought they were so pretty!
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This is a picture of some flowers I planted out front a couple of days ago -- I thought they were so pretty!So now that I’ve got my events of the past month down, maybe I can move on to post some things I’ve been thinking about lately… I’m in the middle of reading (and listening to) a good sermon series titled “Only the Lonely.” I know it sounds depressing, but it’s really good and it’s speaking to my heart -- so I need to finish that and post some links to the website… check back for that soon. :-)
So one last thing -- I had to pause for a little while and take Mandy out for a walk. Maybe that wasn't such a smart thing to do at noon -- it's hot!! We passed by a retaining pond, so since it looked like she was going to die without some water, I let her go get a drink. She decided to wade all the way in - which for a dog who doesn't like the water all that much is pretty funny. And she got all the way in up to her just the top of her head and back showing. Then she proceeded to duck her entire head under the water and start walking! I wish I had my camera -- she looked like a submarine! :-) Of course, then she came up sputtering and choking on water... which now begs the question: Can dogs hold their breath? Or would they even know to? I'll let you ponder that.... :-)
So one last thing -- I had to pause for a little while and take Mandy out for a walk. Maybe that wasn't such a smart thing to do at noon -- it's hot!! We passed by a retaining pond, so since it looked like she was going to die without some water, I let her go get a drink. She decided to wade all the way in - which for a dog who doesn't like the water all that much is pretty funny. And she got all the way in up to her just the top of her head and back showing. Then she proceeded to duck her entire head under the water and start walking! I wish I had my camera -- she looked like a submarine! :-) Of course, then she came up sputtering and choking on water... which now begs the question: Can dogs hold their breath? Or would they even know to? I'll let you ponder that.... :-)
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