Happy New Year!

First Day of School 2004 (Katie in 1st, Ryan in 3rd):

2005 (Katie in 2nd, Ryan in 4th):

2006 (Ryan in 5th, Katie in 3rd):

And 2007 (Ryan in 6th, Katie in 4th):

Ryan intentionally pulled the garden hose into the picture so it would match the others!

Here we go again! This time around, though, Ryan's at a different campus: MIDDLE SCHOOL! Whoo, boy!

Good mourning.

Morning sky on Aug. 17, our first official day of inservice

Last week I officially returned to work, and as I do every August, I'm mourning summer. It's so hard to see it end. I miss all that time at home with Ryan and Katie. I miss the lazy afternoons in the pool. I miss my morning walks. I miss the freedom to run to Target (and Sonic--oh, Sonic!) during the day. I miss Six Flags and museums and quick trips and music camp and VBS and extra time for blogging!

Once the students return and we're back in the routine, I'll remember how much I love my job. I'll be so thankful to be in a profession that directly impacts kids' lives and shapes the future. But these days of inservice are rough because I just flat out MOURN summer!

Instead of wallowing, though, I choose to see my grieving as a good thing. It means we're making the most of these 10 weeks that I have off. It means that I still love hanging out with my kids. If I had a different job with less vacation time, I might not know this feeling in the pit of my stomach, this sadness, but having these summers off is worth it! I'm also convinced I've found the career that blesses me in many ways--and not just in June and July.

So now I pray for wisdom, strength and patience so I can be the adviser, teacher and mentor my students need. At the same time, I thank God for giving us another great summer, and I thank him for this "good mourning," too.

Megann's birthday.

Today's Megann's birthday. How we miss her! There are so many things that remind us of her, and she's never far from our thoughts. Just last week at our district's convocation, I remembered LAST year's convocation when I ran into her just long enough for a quick hello.

Some of her friends and family are participating in the Walk for the Whisper next month. The walk raises money for ovarian cancer research and awareness. I can't be there, but I'm happy to support Team Megann!

Donate to Team Megann

Before Megann died, Katie prayed for her every night without fail. Beginning that awful day in May, Katie started praying for Megann's family--and she still does! We'll be saying extra prayers for the family today. We'll thank God for bringing Megann into our lives, too.

Book signing.

Brett was manager at the Hurst Lone Star years ago, and this Saturday he returns to sign copies of his book!

Kudos from Keith.

Keith Lancaster led our praise and worship time last Wednesday, and he had some nice things to say about Heritage upon his return home!

Keith's Blog Post #1 (This entry has a gorgeous photo of our building.)

Keith's Blog Post #2

It was another great summer Wednesday at Heritage! We've had an incredible line-up of worship leaders and speakers. What a blessing to have these people share their gifts with us!

The Force was with us.

A long time ago...

OK, maybe not so long ago. On Thursday, our absolutely last free summer day, the kids and I went to see "Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination." Like a lot of people, we had this exhibit (at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History) on our "to do" list all summer, and since I had a technology meeting that afternoon and then regular inservice on Friday, I figured Thursday morning was our last chance.

We arrived at 10 a.m., and even though the weekday crowd wasn't too awful, we were there with about 30 daycare/summer camp kids. All of the hands-on parts of the exhibit were beyond crowded! That didn't keep us from ogling all the props and costumes. Too cool.

And this? This was pictured on one side of my Star Wars lunchbox:

And this was on the other side:I felt like I'd eaten lunch with both of these every day of fourth grade!

What was great about the exhibit was the way it incorporates stuff from the old and new movies, having something for the older fans and the younger. I identified more with the props and costumes from episodes 4-6, but Ryan--our resident Star Wars expert--loved the stuff from episodes 1-3, too.
Kudos to the museum for bringing this exhibit to Fort Worth! The museum staff had T-shirts identifying them as "Jedi Knights." The signage was clever, too!

All too soon our course took us back to the parking lot. Good thing the Force was with us or the dinosaur might've gotten the best of us!

Six Flags after dark.

Our obligatory Chute-Out shot!

All summer we said we'd head to Six Flags late one day just to see Coobrila. With time running out on summer and the show, we made a run to the park Monday night just as the sun was starting to set. Considering the 100-degree heat, that turned out to be a good time to go!

We thought the show was cool! Brett and I were especially impressed with the balancing dudes.


After the show we got to take a turn on the Superman ride, and like most fast rides, it's even better at night! All those thrill rides seem more thrilling after dark!

Small group swim.

We met up with some of our small group Saturday for a swim party. We're so blessed to have our small group, and we were thrilled to have such a great place to play on this hot summer day.

The snacks really quacked Ryan up!

Three weeks to go.

By the time I get to the last 15 minutes or so of my daily walk, I'm usually pretty hot and sweaty. But something on my "Morning Walk" playlist gives me goosebumps every time I hear it. Every. Time. 95 degrees outside? Goosebumps. Sweaty from walking for a couple of miles? GOOSEBUMPS!
On my iPod I have the play-by-play of Vince's Rose Bowl-winning touchdown in English and Spanish, and both of them give me chills. Still! And it's been 19 months! (The final play is pretty cool, too: "Longhorns Campeons! Longhorns Campeons Nacional! Que un gran momento!")

I didn't shoot this video (I was about 20 rows lower), but this is pretty much how I remember Vince's game-winning TD: pure, chaotic JOY mixed with hugging, screaming, crying--



Have I mentioned how much I love Texas football?

Frisco Fest '07.

For a couple of years, Katie and I would plan a trip to Frisco during Ryan's week at camp. This year that didn't work out (see why), but we really didn't want the summer to pass without a jaunt up 121.

After making some finds at Sam Moon, we ate a delightful lunch at the Cheesecake Factory.



Of course, we had to ride the carousel at Stonebriar Centre.



And before we headed home, we made a stop at Ikea to find just a few more items for Katie's new room. I'd been to the store in Houston and had been dying to get to the Frisco location. It only took us a year to get there, but we made it!