For the First Time in Seventeen Years . . .

We were able to celebrate my second-oldest (second-eldest?) niece's birthday . . . wait for it . . . WITH HER. Right in the very same room! As in, close enough to touch! I told you we had a good reason for moving to Texas!

Yes, my niece Savannah turned seventeen today, and my friend T told me I am officially an "old aunt." I'd be mad at her if she weren't right! My oldest (eldest?) niece, Chelsea, will be TWENTY this year. How can that be possible? I lived with Clark and Rebecca when Chelsea was born; I was there when they brought her home from the hospital. That was just yesterday--how can she almost be twenty??!

Anyway, it was so exciting to get to go out to Midlothian to see the fam this afternoon. A friend of Savannah's was there, along with Chelsea's boyfriend, whom Sawyer coaxed into wrestling with him in the backyard. Oh, and the highlight of the party was when Clark got out his Mac and turned on the camera feature where you can distort your face in all sorts of hilarious ways and take pictures. Listening to Sawyer and Clark belly-laugh as Clark held Sawyer on his lap while he made faces in front of the camera was priceless! I wish we could have stayed longer but we have had several late nights in a row and I always want everyone to be at their best on Sundays, so we headed back to Arlington at about 7:15, which had us pulling into our driveway at about 7:50--yes, we really live that close! It's awesome.

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Last night we were invited to dinner at the home of a globe-trotting couple from church; their son is one of our elders and he and his wife were also there, along with another sweet couple. This family has lived in, among other places, Japan, Germany and England (and I think France might have been a residence at some point as well), and they take fairly regular mission trips to Ecuador and Ukraine. Oh, the stories they told! We really enjoyed visiting with them and hearing about their experiences.

This morning we went to another funeral. Now I think if you're all honest, "going to a funeral" would probably not be on your list of Top Ten Favorite Things To Do. But this was a funeral unlike any other that I have ever attended. We went to pay our respects to a gentleman who was 90 years old and who had given his life to the Lord in 1999. He was the father of Tyler's current Bible class teacher and after hearing speaker after speaker sing his praises and tell incredibly funny and moving stories about him, I felt like it would forever be my loss that I never had the chance to know him. The service was nearly two hours long but every moment was incredible. So long, Sealy . . . until we meet again!