Laughter With Friends and Bragging Rights

Here I go again, a head full of thoughts that I need to get out.  The things are piling up in my mind faster than I can take the time to put them in order.  So there will probably be very little "order" to this post.  Like usual.

A WEEK until Thanksgiving?  Oh, my.  I cannot believe how quickly this year is going.  Again.  It's not creeping up on me, it's barrelling towards me.  I love, love, love this time of year.  I love that during this time, so many memories are made together as a family.  I love that I get to create memories for our kids, things that bind us together, things that we will look back on with great happiness.  I feel an entire post bubbling up in me on just that idea, and since I've been struggling a bit with even continuing this blog, I know I must grasp hold of any idea I have for a post.  Maybe tomorrow I will revisit that.

Last weekend we had a fabulous time at our marriage conference in Seaside.  We had a massive amount of time with friends, treasured friends that we don't see nearly often enough.  We laughed and laughed and laughed.  Laughed so hard our sides hurt...at each other, at ourselves, with each other, it just was a big weekend of laughter.  Great food, great fellowship, great times. 

the eight of us go back a long way.  one of these couples actually became grandparents this year, which makes me feel extraordinarily old.

no trip down the Oregon coast would be complete without a trip to Mo's.  The chowder disappointed, I'm sorry to say, but we had a great time.

Larry & Shelley...I love these two people so much!

And I'm pretty fond of this man, too.  Even if I think it's stupid to sing Buttercup.

This picture made me laugh because on the table is a box of acid controller that I pulled out because these nuts enthusiastically requested that I bake some stuffed jalapenos at 11:00 at night.  Marda was the stand-up comedy for the night.  She is such a hoot.

Girls I dearly love and wish we could be together much more often!

Taking a wide left turn now, and with no great segue (is that how you spell that???), I'll switch topics to brag on my son.  I've already bragged on this topic many times before, but once again he earns some bragging rights.  And one thing I've noticed:  my children love to read about themselves on this blog.  They unashamedly read with great pleasure when they are mentioned in any way here!  Here's the latest with my hard-working musician:

First, he was recommended by his high school teacher to participate in the Pacific Lutheran University Honor Band.  I know very little about this, other than it's...an honor...and he will head up to PLU for two days in January where he'll audition for a placement.  (The audition is to rank him into which group he'll play, not whether or not he'll play.)  His private teacher is thrilled, as Alex will get to work with his former teacher (the teacher's teacher), and this is a connection that has been suggested before.  A good connection for all.

Then, Alex had recorded an audition for the All-State band back in October.  Every other year is an "All-Northwest" year.  They select kids for the All-State groups, then select kids for the "All-Northwest" groups.  I received a text at the beginning of this week from Alex:

"I didn't get into All-State this year.  Bummer.  But that's okay, because I got into All-Northwest!"

So he will be playing in the band representing high school kids from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, Montana and Alaska.  He is the only band member from Olympia High School to be selected, and will be joined by two cellists.  In February, he will descend on Bellevue (SO glad it's close!!) for a few days! 

I'm happy for him, I'm proud of him, and I'm thrilled to see the fruit the Lord creates when you combine a God-given gift and a lot of hard work!