Of Jesus and Dinosaurs

As promised, I will now share a few anecdotes from our trip to Texas recently:

Ken Smithson, one of the elders at Woodland West who was Randy's main contact throughout the interview process, invited us to go to the Ranger game that you've already heard about. He is a grandfather himself and we got to know him and his wife, Joyce, very easily (and incidentally, their daughter Vicki was a good friend of mine at Lipscomb--small world!!). He very quickly befriended the kids so when he came to our hotel to pick us up for the game, he asked if anyone wanted to ride with him and of course the kids volunteered. I got so tickled--at the very first red light we pulled up to, I looked ahead in Ken's car and he held up his hand to his rear-view mirror and made a motion with his hand like a duck quacking, which everyone knows is the universal symbol for "talking a LOT." Sawyer took to Ken like a moth to a flame and talked his ear off! I thought it was cute, too, when we were leaving the stadium and making the long walk back to our van, Sawyer kept falling behind but then picking up speed and running ahead so he could keep up with Ken. They really bonded, I'll tell you that. And I missed this conversation, but Ken said that as he was leaving our hotel to go home for the night, Sawyer told him, "Hey Mr. Ken, every night I pray for Jesus and dinosaurs!" I didn't hear it, but I totally believe that he said it!
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While at the baseball game, a couple from Woodland West named James and Mary Jo spotted Ken and came over and introduced themselves to us. This is exactly how the conversation began:

Mary Jo, extending her hand: "Hi there, I'm Mary Jo."
Me, taking her hand: "It's so nice to meet you, Mary Jo. My name is Andrea."
Sawyer, elbowing me in the ribs: "Mom, I think I'm going to marry her."

What??! Where did THAT come from??? Mary Jo just thought Sawyer was so cute but I had to point out that she was already spoken for, and speaking of her other half, James immediately sized up Sawyer and knew this was a kid he could have fun with--he kept making faces at Sawyer around Ken's head and Sawyer promptly stuck his tongue out at James. By the time we left the stadium Sawyer was grabbing on to James' leg and hugging him like he was his best friend!

I've got a couple of other stories but will save them for later since another day of packing awaits!