A Week of Family and Friends

I love spending time with my family and close friends, whether it's just hanging out, working out together, or celebrating life's special moments together. This week was a great week, because I was able to do a little of all of that.

First was Memorial Day. Last Memorial Day we had our whole Sunday School class over plus some other friends for a cookout at our house. We ended up with over 50 people - about half adults and half kids - in our back yard. Every one had a great time, but I ran myself ragged that day. (It didn't help that I was in the early weeks of my last pregnancy and no one knew about it yet.) This year, we decided on just inviting family and one of my best friends, so we had Preston's dad, one of my brothers and his finace, and Meredith Quintana. We cooked hamburgers and hotdogs and just had a fun, simple get-together. Once the kids went to bed, we played a board game called Imaginiff. It was so much fun! I laughed so hard that I couldn't catch my breath several times throughout that game, and we learned a lot about each other. Take, for instance, my crazy brother, Darrell. During the course of the game we learn that one of his favorite secular songs is the MASH theme song, and his other favorite one is the BeeGees' "Stayin' Alive". Someone points out that the real title of the MASH theme song is "Suicide is Painless". The total extremes of these two songs strikes us as hilarious, because it fits the extreme kind of person Darrell is to a "T". As a result of that night, we are planning a monthly game night for our little group. I can't wait!

The next night, I was able to hang out with my future sister-in-law, Cindy, and my friends Laura Atkins and Monica Slaughter at Monica's house for a girl's movie night. (I don't mean to imply in any way that Cindy is not a friend. If we had met before she met Darrell, we would have been fast friends anyway, and I am so excited that we are going to be sisters-in-law!) We are currently watching the whole "Anne of Green Gables" movie series. It's been so relaxing and fun. We come in our comfy clothes, and lounge around on Monica's sectional sofa and watch Anne on a huge flat-screen TV while munching on all sort of goodies - because calories don't count on Girls' Movie Night. Cindy and I especially are huge "Anne" fans, and we find ourselves quoting some of the lines along with the movie and laughing at the same parts. I discovered that watching these movies with a fellow "kindred spirit" or two makes the movies so much better!

Then, on Thursday, one of my sons' best friends, Joseph Falgout, graduated from Kindergarten at my old alma mater, Shades Mountain Christian School. I took both of the boys to see him graduate, while my sweet husband stayed at home with the baby. They enjoyed most of the program, and were especially excited to see Joseph up on the stage. (He did a great job with his parts in the program. We were so proud of him!) It was a good experience for Harris, since it will help him know what to expect next year when he graduates Kindergarten. (I must confess here that I grew teary-eyed a time or two during the program, thinking that my first baby will be graduating from Kindergarten this time next year.) After the program was over, we were able to visit with Joseph and his family, as well as other friends that were there that night. I also saw some of my former teachers and enjoyed visiting with them.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I was feeling a little depressed and lonely. Since then, God has been so good to fill my life up with friends and family who love me and with whom I can have fun. I am blessed to have each of you in my life!