I'm so behind...

Man...Am I behind or what? It's been about 2 months since I've been here. Sorry for it taking so long to get back. Even now I can't come up with a good reason. Just the way it is...not a good reason huh?? I could say busy I suppose. Instead of making excuses, let's hit some highlights from the last 2 months:

Kaylee's 7th Birthday! WOO!HOO A chocolate party with her friends - a dual party with her dear friend Grace (who's birthday is 2 days earlier) - was SOOO much fun! The kids all had a blast, almost as much fun as the parents (Steve said it was the funnest kid party he'd ever been to...) From a chocolate fountain, to dancing Cha-Cha Slide or Chicken Dance, to Pin the Tissue on the Chocolate Kiss...to...did I mention the chocolate fountain!??

Noah & Little Gym - Noah is taking classes at Little Gym once a week. He hasn't gotten to do any "organized", well, anything. And so, with Hannah, he is going one morning a week and LOVES it. They do such a great job there. They have a theme each week - he loved Inside Out! and he is having a blast!!! The hardest part is that it takes place while Steve & I are both at work, so we don't get to see him flip, spin, balance, jump, dance, play...Chele gives great girl details, which we are grateful for...and Noah loves telling us when he gets home just what they did. He's growing up so fast...

Quest - Middle School Retreat! My 2nd venture to the state of Washington...with amazing middle school students. We had a great time talking about relationships - our "Fav 5" - God, parents, friends, enemies, and the world. It was a great time to build relationships with the students, to stay up super late, play Moose, laugh about Operation Big Brother, watch kids on the blob, learn how to do DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) and be truly amazed at how good the students were, have deep conversations, and...the cherry on top was getting to see a long-lost friend from Atlanta - Jason Bollback was the speaker for the weekend, and he used to be a youth pastor at an Alliance church not far from us, and we used to do retreats and special events together "back in the day." It was such a blast from the past to see him...and helped me remember just how small this world is...

Baptisms - ok...this was really cool to be a part of... All year I've been getting used to this whole being a youth pastor thing - something I never thought God would have as a part of my life - that I am humbled, awed, shocked, empowered, grateful for every day since I started. One of the perks (I'd say) is getting to baptize our students - to be there in the water with them as they make a stand before God and hundreds of others to say - Jesus is Lord and Savior of my life, and today I want everyone to know I am going to follow strong after Him the rest of the days of my life...and then...I get the honor of placing them in the water and pulling them up...and watching the smiles on their faces as they experience in a tangible way the presence of God on their hearts and lives. Whoa...it was truly an honor to do this...can't wait until February.

Jog-a-thon - Kaylee participated in the Jog-a-Thon at school and ran 13 laps in the tim allotted (I think it was 30 minutes)!! We were so proud of her! Daddy of course sees a runner in the future...she could really kick it too!!

Hayride 07 - Big events are always a blast...they always have their "opportunities"...but we always enjoy the ride! Hayride was no different. The first opportunity was that we determined fairly close to the event that the hayride wasn't going to be a possibility ... so we had to put on our creative caps and come up with a few new things. So...introducing shucking corn with your toes, jousting, and the favorite...giving away a new iPod Nano, and cleaning out pumpkins with your bare hands. Imagine 150 students all on the floor of a barn, cleaning out 80+ pumpkins of all the seeds and gunk. OK...you are probably smart like our parents, and see what is coming. Me --- just didn't even think about it... Yep - soon the gunk was flying through the air and was creating an orange hue throughout the barn. Everyone was covered. But wait there's more. We then dragged out the tarp that was covering the floor and created a slip'n'slide with the pumpkin guts at the end. I'd say the slide was about 30 yards long. It was freezing outside...but these students were diving head first and far and fast into the muck. It was great. Then we headed back into the barn to watch a Francis Chan video (you can see it at http://www.stopandthink.com/) with a very clear message of just how much God loves each and every one of us...enough to send Jesus so we can spend eternity with Him....it was a great night for all the students (and leaders) that were there...having a chance to make new friends and introduce some of them to church for the first time...and letting them have a chance to hear, some for the first time, about Christ was just the best!

A Trip to Atlanta - this was AMAZING!! I was heading back to attend the National Youth Workers Convention with the Student Ministries Team (5 others) from church, so of course got the thrill of spending time with family and friends... I'll have to write more about this one in a separate post...because it'll just be long...let's just say, I'm so grateful that I had the chance to be back in the ATL. I cherish the people there so much, and it did my soul well to be there.

Noah's 5th birthday - YIKES!! My little boy is 5!! I can't believe it! He's just so cute! Steve made the most amazing cake that was a rocket ship (the birthday had a space theme). This rocket ship, literally, was about as tall as Noah is. We actually have pictures of him on the ground next to his cake - oh, wait I can post that too...ok, let me see how to do that? That gets us through October & November. It was truly a whirlwind...and here we are in December. I'll make a separate post for some things that have happened already this month. We're only half way through, and yet, we've done SO much...but first...I promise I'll explain the trip to Atlanta.

OK...I'll get caught up...give me another day or two...but I will do it...