It started with a wedding

Saturday morning, Bob, Pam, John and I drove up to Norman, Oklahoma for the wedding of Pam's good friend, Jess and her beau, Stew. It was a beautiful, worshipful ceremony. Jess looked radiant, and the couple, extremely happy. It was obvious that Jess and Stew had decided to make Christ the focal point in their marriage. Many Crossroads friends attended, and I felt very blessed to be invited to be part of this gathering.

After the reception at the OU Student Union (a lovely room!), the wedding and house party went up to "Bricktown" in OK City to eat at Abuelo's. Bob and I also went up there (it's like a West End in Dallas, though I thought it was nicer) and had dinner with two other couples from Crossroads, Pam and Kevin King (along with their very well-behaved children, Lauren and Brennan) and Debbie and Steve Sardone. All three couples have "yankee" roots, and we enjoyed visiting over dinner at Nonna's Restaurant. While the company was great, the service here was not so great at all. The waitress got everyone's meal mixed up, and the food should have been much better for the price we paid. But we didn't let that spoil our evening. Pam and John joined us after their meal at Abuelo's and we stayed and chatted until 10:15 pm. Some couples were headed off to Tobey Keith's for dancing. As much as we would have liked to have gone, unfortunately, we didn't intend to spend the night in OK, so we needed to get back on the road. Pam and John had been sick during the week, and we wanted to let them get a good rest before they headed back down to Austin on Sunday. Pam and I talked the entire three hours on the drive home, trying to keep Bob awake at the wheel. The last half hour was tough, but we did it.

Sleeping in was nice on Sunday morning. We don't get a chance to do it much during the rest of the year. Our day was pretty laid-back. Steve and Mish came over and we all hung out in the backyard, playing rumikub and swimming in the pool. They put Harley on a kickboard and floated him around the pool. It was a sight. Then Pam and John took off for Austin, Steve and Mish left to go to high school Sunday school, and Bob and I went to evening service. It was a wonderful way to wrap up the weekend.

Some thoughts of thankfulness:
- that my children are surrounded by friends that love Christ and focus on Him, and that my children allow themselves to be influenced by these friends
- that my children are blessed by others, and at the same time blessing others
- that I continually meet people with whom I want to start up relationships and get to know
- that God places people in our lives at just the right times
- that my children still want to spend time with Bob and I, and that we can have great, meaningful conversations (and alot of fun!)
- that despite my inadequacies as a parent, I have great children!
- that my children have found spouses that compliment their personalities, and have allowed them to be the person God created them to be
- and that I have a husband who doesn't mind driving, never complains about late nights and who will go to the store for me when I run out of cookie dough and ice cream right in the middle of making a dessert!