Pics from McPherson Christmas Ball 2007

I can't believe that it has already come and gone. But last friday was our big party. And we really had a blast. Here are a few pics from the night.

Zoe Grace's Freestyling

I love to watch her do her thing. She doesn't enjoy so much being told how to dance, where to go and what comes next. She prefers to freestyle. There is something to learn from this.

Christmas Parties

This was the week for Christmas Parties. Jen and I host the McPherson Christmas Ball, which, we hope, is becoming a Mena tradition. Last year we decided since we already have done much of the work, why not let the kids host a party as well the next night. So this year, again we threw two huge parties. When we got back from Atlanta the preparation started in earnest and soon all the furniture was moved and we were string lights from the ceiling. Within a few days the living room was transformed into a party pad. All in all around 90 people through the house in two days. But it was so cool.

Our party was fun, lots of people dressed up, some of us danced and we generally had a few laughs. Not the least of which centered around a "Naughty" Book purchased at Old Navy for a gag. You can only imagine where all that went. Good times.

The kids on the other hand, really knew how to break it down as you will see in this video. We only had two major injuries. One boy broke out his front teeth on the concrete floor and another little girl got her glasses smashed. Both are o.k. and I don't believe any lawsuits are pending.

Thanksgiving in ATL

We absolutely love being able to go to my home town and stay with my mom and dad. It was great to be home for a short time around Thanksgiving. For us it is so relaxing and fun to be able to hit our favorite shopping places, music stores, and motorcycle shops, as well as our usual restaurants. Plus, there is always something to do.

This particular trip was very full because Jen and I attended the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Conference at the World Congress Center. It was great as usual. We came away relaxed, very happy to be married to each other and oh yeah, inspired.

Then we had Thanksgiving with the families and really enjoyed ourselves. It's hard because you don't know how much you miss people many times until you are face to face. I need to do a much better job keeping in closer contact with my extended family. We enjoy being together so much, It's sad that we can't more often.

We were strangely attacked by a weird stomach virus after midnight on the night before we left. So with little sleep and "varmitting" kids we took off for Arkansas long before daylight. We made it with no major problems and were excited to be home.

Fun with Friends

God has blessed us with some great friends all around the country. Many of our crew, we can pick up with just like we have never said goodbye and carry on just like old times. For Jen and I, richness of life comes from the experiences you have and the people you love. Our family and friends are dear to us, so we try to make choices accordingly. November was an especially great month with some good memories. One more word on friends, we're real thankful for friends that you can go out with or hang around with and feel comfortable, but probably more important than even that is that you can laugh together. On a night in November, I laughed so hard my face started to ache.

Here are some pics of hanging out with friends and family recently.