A Very Full House

Before I jump to our Thursday evening activities, let me quickly put this pic up.  This is Laurel and I at a local fro yo shop.  Laurel and I's lives cross paths in a number of ways.  We first met her and her husband through CCF - and in fact, their's was the first wedding we attended of the collegiates we had grown to love in our first year of ministry.  She works in the middle school group as her and her husband's ministry - so we cross paths with her through Brayden.  (In particular, she has a mentoring friendship with a particular girl that Brayden has a "close friendship" with....more to come on that topic later this week).  Last year, Laurel volunteered to coach Mikayla's soccer team and did a fantastic job despite the fact that our team definitely pulled the short straw in terms of soccer talent.  And, most recently, Laurel has taken over the teaching of the Group Power workout I attend on Wednesdays at Eugene Swim and Tennis Club.  Somehow it makes the pain of lifting weights to music when I have a friend who's teaching the class!

So, in light of all of this crossing paths, we decided it was past time to get together and hang out.  We both indulged in key lime coconut cream fro yo with graham cracker crumb toppings....so yummy, and fantastic conversation too.

Alright, on to Thursday night.  It turned out a little busy as not only did I have my Thursday Night Ladies over (the plan to celebrate Heather and Suzie's birthday at Heather's farm got rained out), but Brayden had his buddy, Solomon over for a very rare school night sleepover (Friday was primarily just an Activity Day at the middle school...seemed as good as time as ever to let the boys live it up).   In addition, it turned out to be the best night for Kenjon to come over for his time of mentoring with John.

The plan for dinner was gratefully taken over by Heather who worked primarily with Kaela to make pizzas grilled over the bbq.  They were delicious and it was fun watching Heather try to spin the pizza dough.

Meanwhile, Suzie spent some time with Whitley trying to feel her kick...love that expectant expression on her face!

 

So, speaking of expressions - and returning to that subject of "behind the scenes" transparency....this look on my face - it's an attempt to mask my irritation.   I've had one of those weeks that make me recognize exactly what time of the month it is, and at this point I'm kind of put off by having to try to figure out what the group is going to watch/do for the rest of the evening.  Upon seeing the rest of the pics, you'll notice that everyone else looks kind of....um, bored?!  Not entertained?  I was not prepared to supply that for everyone for the evening and so inside that fake smile, I'm kind of brewing (especially when no one could agree on any suggestions I set out). 

We ended up settling on watching the CMT Awards - Carrie Underwood does a good job with entertainment.  =)

Eventually, things livened up a bit when Kenjon opted to kindly join the kids playing "Homerun Derby" out on the court.  Solomon was so thrilled to get some actual court time with a local sports hero and then it turned into a jaw-dropping display of Kenjon's athletic skills as he did some slam dunks.

 
Yeah, when I jump, it looks like that too! =)