Jake and Sofia with Friends

(still playing catch up) We went with our Grace friends to see Jake and Sofia a bit ago. Ross was quite over Sofia but loved Jake! So fun to go with our friends! 

The cotton candy came with Jake hats.

Can you guess the cotton candy color?

Anna Beth and Emily cheesing it up for the camera.

Big group pose with their loot from the show.

My favorite picture of the night. Swords perfectly put away. :)

Luau at School

I will be playing catch-up for a little while on the blog. I've fallen behind. 

AR Baptist had their annual luau for K-5 a bit ago and I volunteered to help. The kids loved it. They had several different stations set up for the kids to rotate to. There was a bubble and chalk station.

Ross wrote me an awesome message. 

Ethan is a friend from his class. So sweet!

A few more friends. They actually fussed as to who would get the glasses with no lens.

Photo Op by the face painting station.

Ross got sun and waves.

Fishing - they caught Swedish fish. 

Limbo!

Sand table!

Snack table. They made octopuses out of marshmallows and pretzel sticks.

Paint table.

Icing on the cake is that the ice cream truck came at the end of the luau. Such a fun day! 

Momma

As I'm sure you all know by now, my Momma, Teressa Jackson, passed away last Tuesday at 2:50 PM surrounded by family and friends.  The ordeal that preceded her death was without question the worst experience of my life and I'm sure in the lives of my brothers and sister and Pop.  I've never felt such a helplessness in my life and hope never to even approach it again.

While the circumstances were tragic I'm reminded that in each event there's perfection because of the hand of God.  It's easier to see in happier events - like the birth of a child, but even in situations like this there's good, or at least an opportunity for good.  My prayer is that the good I've seen through the last week and beyond continues.  I could spend an inordinate amount of time talking about the good, but here are just some of the things.  I know full well I'll miss some so please bear with me.

* My family has grown closer
* I'm convinced there's not a better place to be from than the communities and towns back home
* My church family is fantastic
* God is still on his throne, answering prayers, and delivering miracles
* I have my kids in the right schools, surrounded by the right people
* My faith in humanity has been increased in seeing the number of people who volunteered during the search
* I have the best in-laws in the history of the world
* My friends back home in their acts of kindness and support remind me we're more than friends

Surely there are other things and I don't want to slight anything or anyone.

This picture above is an enormous blessing to me.  My siblings and I are spread apart by many things; years, miles, families, etc.  Here's a fact of which I'm sure, however.  I love those three with me in the picture above.  I've always loved them, always looked up to them, and always been proud of them.  Today it's a little different though.  It's stronger, deeper and it will remain unbroken.  Thank you Bug, Keith, and Steve (in order of appearance) for your families and for being my brothers and sister.

Love to you all who follow this blog for your prayers throughout the last week and your continued prayers.

Don

Sparks Visit - (late on this post)

I kept thinking I had taken pictures with my good camera on this visit but I suppose all I have are cell pictures. A few weeks ago the Sparks girls came for a visit to adopt a dog so we got some play time in with them. Ross had it all planned out and of course it involved the slip-n-slide. 

Anna Beth and Mrs. Amber came over to play too! The girls seemed to love it as much as Ross! 

Aves even played a little. 

Walt - the reason for the visit. He was so good with all those kids acting crazy. 

After water play we had Chick-Fil-A and ice cream treats.

Saying bye is never easy for these lunatics but they seemed to enjoy getting in a couple of smooches.

Finally a decent pose. I have zero clue what was going on with Avery in both of these pictures but it appears that she had a bit of trouble walking. :) 

Fun times with good friends - nothing much can top that!