August Already?!?

I look at my iCal and think, how did we get here?? 2011 has seemingly flown by. We are over the halfway point through the shift events calendar. We've almost finished our second summer with these teenagers. I just can't hardly believe it.

In some ways I feel like we've wasted the summer. The move took a lot of effort and time. More than I anticipated. But we've done a lot of awesome things too. I think it's time for a quick recap..

We started the summer with a trip to Six Flags with our youth group. Oh so sadly, that is the only time this summer that I have made it to Six Flags. We need to remedy that! Perhaps tomorrow evening??

Next we went to youth camp. Man, that was amazing. It's always neat to watch God move in the lives of our teenagers. Relationships with God and eachother are built at youth camp and I consider it an honor to be a part of the process.

Got home from camp and it was time to pack like crazy! We moved into our new place on June 21st (can't believe it's been a month already, I still occasionally drive to the wrong home). We took a week's vacation, but we worked like crazy the whole time, pausing long enough to take in Marriage Encounter in Houston. That was a really special time for Rob and I. We didn't really have any major issues to work on, it was just nice to slow down and have uninterrupted quality time.

Next we were in the midst of July 4th festivities. Yes, that is Rob playing an United States of America shaped guitar. It's always a special time at church, and then Pastor and Janet invited us over for swimming. The kids are always big fans of that! We are too, for that matter. Always good food and great conversation with the Roberts.

Later that week we hosted Spring First Church for a youth rally. It was a great time, their students showcased their ministries from Fine Arts. We got to catch up with some great friends of ours, Matt and Heather Rule.

Then I started a series of dental appointments to fulfill a treatment plan involving two crowns. Ouch! But I found an amazing dentist and I am super grateful to him and his staff pandering to my tender teeth. God abundantly provided for the ginormous bill and I am amazed again, even though He has a thousand cattle on a thousand hill, I'm still blessed to be His child. :)

Did a few photo shoots in and around there, including a family of fourteen, and then a HUGE family reunion (say 200 people or so).

Then our dear friends, Becca and Shane (Becca was a childhood friend of Rob's and one of my bridesmaids) did a whirlwind trip to San Antonio. Shane is a fellow photographer, in fact we've been talking shop every six weeks or so for about six months now. Anyway, we had a blast together, and wound up trading photo shoots. His pictures of our family are INCREDIBLE and I cannot wait to see the rest!!

We also did CT's Got Talent (I performed my vintage mime from highschool) and then the next day we loaded up 20 kids to take to Mustang Island to the beach for the day. It was epic. My children had a blast too. They are not afraid of sand or jellyfish or baby sharks... all of which we saw that day.

In and around all that we've had Frantic Friday every week, alternating hanging out at the church and various activities around town (bowling, Landa Park, Amazing Jump, Northstar Mall). And of course, Momentum, our summer long point based competition for shift. It's been a little intense. But good.

Oh, and my precious car got dinged pretty bad in the parking lot, but it's repaired now. whew!

So all in all, I think we've packed a bit in this summer. So yes, it went fast, but we lived it hard and made lots of fun memories. I am so grateful for our life, every insane minute of it!!

Tomorrow, I register the kids for their new school. yay! I don't know who is more excited about it, me or them. I also have an early dental appointment to fix my bite, boo. I do have another $600 worth of treatment to go, so I'm praying about that.

That is certainly not the extent of our summer, but a good chunk. We've had an awesome time, but it's not over yet. Still working on the end of Momentum (a crazy game night and formal dinner for the winners next weekend), the Health Fair, and of course, Sarah's birthday party. :)

Anyway, we are blessed. And fall is around the corner, we have some awesome things in store for us. God is so good.