Back.

I’m back. Mid-summer 2009 will be remembered as one of the crazier times of our lives. We went to Houston, Baytown, Abilene, Lubbock, Fort Worth and then back to Little Rock over the course of two weeks. We came back with a mother-in-law and a dog. The mother-in-law went back. The dog stays.

Ranger is a westie who belonged to our friends Brock and Sarah. Their son Brooks is getting pretty mobile and his wise parents decided that was enough excitement for their house. So they put Ranger up for adoption and we nabbed him. I haven’t had a dog since I was in high school, so it has been an adjustment. But he is so sweet and fun and cuddly and not nearly the trouble I thought he might be. He loves going places with us and one of our favorite things to do is to take him shopping at Petco. We’ve traditionally been cat people and cats HATE riding in cars. So putting an animal in a car who actually wants to go somewhere has been lots of fun.



Yeah, he's pretty great.






Also during our “let’s do everything at once” summer, my parents moved here. They’ve been here a week now. They live just a few minutes’ drive from us, which is great. My mom and I went grocery shopping together this morning. It was fun. (And she was SO impressed by my couponing skills. Saved $60 at Kroger, by the way.) And are we taking advantage of the free babysitting? YOU BETTER BELIEVE WE ARE.

And ten weeks this fall, I'll be going to another church on Wed. nights in Little Rock. That knocks me out of Refuge (our weekly teen activity), and I hate missing that, but I'm looking forward to getting to know some new people over at Fellowship. I'm also getting ready to teach the 5th and 6th graders at our church during the fall quarter. I really like teaching this age. They are fun kids, plus I get a chance to get to know them better before they move up into the youth group.

Now Julia is getting ready to start 5th grade next week, and Jenna will start preschool a couple of weeks after that. I’m staying busy with different writing projects and with the local chapter of American Christian Writers, of which I am vice-president. This means that if our president Lana Clifton is assassinated, I will immediately be sworn into power. So be careful, Lana! I’ve got enough going as it is.