I cannot believe how fast time flies. Matthew and Brett have returned from missions and Brittany is getting married. We have been looking at old photos and have come across pictures of the three of them together throughout the years. It seems just like yesterday that they were all just little kids. I look at them and they keep growing but I don't feel any older.

The wedding is now under 45 days. Brittany and Michael will be coming home for Thanksgiving. We can't wait to see them again. They have had a busy semester so far. I think that they are looking forward to the break and a little R&R. Don't know how much “rest” they will get. We have a number of things planned. Brittany has an eye appointment, hair appointment and a bridal shower just to name a few. They will get in early on Wed. morning. They are on two different flights. Brittany gets in after midnight and Michael doesn't get in until around 5:00 am. So Brittany is going to wait for him at the airport until he gets there and then we will pick them both up. It will be fun to have them here with us. They are working on getting everything set up on their end for married life. We only have a few details left on our end. The invitations should be ordered this week.

Christian has started working full time for Nancy at their emissions business. He has enjoyed the life of leisure but is ready to start earning good money again. He is hoping that he will have saved enough for his mission by the time he leaves. He will be putting in his papers after the first of the year. He can't believe that it is so close. He was recently called as the secretary of the Stake Young Mens Presidency. He was surprised with getting a stake calling but is looking forward to the challenge.

Cory is starting basketball with a rec-league. He is excited about getting to play more basketball. It will last until early February next year. He is hoping it will help him get better for when he plays church ball. He has been practicing a lot on our goal out front. There have been a couple of Eagle projects over the last few weeks. I have been gently encouraging (riding like a wet horse) him about the need to get his under way. We agreed to let him get his learners permit but he is not allowed to drive until he gets him project written up. Now he knows that he will not be able to get his license until he gets his Eagle. So he has a project in mind he just needs to get the OK from the park where he wants to do it. So I will continue to “gently remind” him about it.

Alicia is looking forward to her baptism this month. She is so excited about it. She has asked Michael to speak at the baptism. This will be one more exciting thing that Brittany gets to be apart of when she is here. Alicia insisted that we wait until Brittany could be there. Mom and Shirley will be coming down as well. It will be a great to have everyone there. She finished up soccer for the year. She has no idea who won. It wasn't her team. I don't think they even keep track of wins and losses. The only important thing to her is that at the end she gets a trophy and a pizza party.

We have been feeling the pangs of having older cars. We have been repairing one after another it seems over the past few weeks. The truck has over 200,000 miles and the van is knocking at the door of this same mark. But so far it has not been anything major and we have been able to keep ahead of it. We are hoping they will last us a few more years.

That's all for now!

Hello Family, September 2007

Well, we finally got to meet Michael in person. We picked him up at the airport around 5:00 am on Sunday. We paraded him around at church for everyone to meet him. That night he got a stomach virus and was throwing up all evening. Beth was afraid it was her cooking but no one else got sick. What a way to meet the future in-laws. Fortunately it was gone by morning and he was back at 100% by the end of the next day. The neat thing was that Christian was ordained an Elder on Sunday and he got to assist me in giving Michael a blessing on his very first day. What a great opportunity! We really like Michael. We are glad to have him joining our family.
I know that some if not most of you have done this before but It is a LONG... LONG .. .drive from Atlanta to Provo UT. Brittany, Michael and I drove her car out there so she could have it to drive this semester. We left on Thursday and arrived at Memphis that night. We spent a couple of nights there. I took the chance to meet with my customer in Memphis. Michael showed Brittany around Memphis where he grew up. So it worked out great. Then we left Saturday morning. for Utah. I think that they should combine Arkansas, Kansas and Oklahoma into to one single state. They all look the same. Flat, dry and boring! They can call it ARKANSLAHOMA. I could not believe that we had to pay to drive there. It cost us about $15.00 in tolls just for the privilege. We arrived in Denver at about 4:00am. We had arranged to meet Tom and Devin around 6:30 for breakfast. We arrived earlier than we thought so we found the the nearest parking lot and took time to catch a couple hours of much needed sleep. I drove during the day and Micheal drove at night. It was good to see Tom and Devin. I haven't seen them in a few years. Tom hasn't changed but Devin is all grown up. After a good breakfast we hit the road again. We finally arrived in Provo around 5:00pm. I got to meet Michael's mother, sister and brother-in law and get to know them. That night Brittany went to her new apartment and I went to stay at Rick and Berta's house. It was great to spend a couple of days there. I have only had dinner with them before. I got to dust off my Spanish and talk a lot with Berta. What a wonderful couple they make. Brittany is now all settled in and ready to start classes again. Well she is starting classes, I don't know if she is ready. I do know one thing, she is glad to not be working full time.

Christian has one more weekend of Lifeguarding left. He has been trying to to find another job. He is going to work for a man in the ward who has a construction business. This is not his first choice but it is a job. He will do this until something better comes along. He has been called to be the boys volleyball coach. They had their first game today. They won one game and lost two. But they had fun.

Cory is tired of not having any money and is trying to find a job. But there are not many places that hire 15 year olds. But he is still looking. He is getting used to waking up early for seminary. The only thing is that he gets tired by 9:00 at night. so if he has to stay up for homework or something he is wiped out the next day. Cory was a little concerned about High School and whether it would be more difficult. But he seems to have stepped up to the challenge off the bat and is making good grades.

Alicia got to go to a sleepover with several of the neighbor kids. She had a ball. They stayed up and watched movies and played. then they all “camped” out in the living room in sleeping bags. She was tired but loved it. She was so excited. She exclaimed to Beth that this was the “best day of her life”. She is already begging to have another one. She loves her new school and teacher. She is doing real well.

Welcome to our blog. Little about our family. Brittany is the oldest. She is starting her Junior year at college. She is engaged to Michael Lenahan. They are getting married this Christmas. We are all looking forward to the big day. No one more than Brittany and Michael though. We all had the chance to meet him for the first time last week. He came to stay with us for a week. It was wonderful to get to know him better and we welcome him with open arms as an addition to the family.

Christian is finishing up the summer as a lifeguard. He graduated from High School last year and has been working all summer. He is looking for work now that the summer is over. He is going to work for a year until next spring when he turns 19. He will then put in his papers for his mission for the church. He is looking forward to this and can't wait to turn 19.

Cory just started High School. He is excited about the transition into the new school. He has had a recent growth spurt and is now well on his way to getting taller than everyone in the family. he likes sports and cars and can't wait to get his learners permit and then his license when he turns 16.

Alicia is the youngest and turns 8 soon. She is excited because this means that she will get baptized and also start Achievement Day girls. She started her second season of soccer this fall and loves it. She is definitely an outdoors person. She loves to play out side with friends.

Beth and Jeff have been married for 21 years and look forward to many more wonderful years. It has been hard to believe how fast the years go by and are looking forward to the changes in the family that will be coming this year and beyond.