And here We go

I have to say, a good celebration with friends and family is such a wonderful thing. It really shows me God's design for family. We had a great time for my birthday yesterday. It started by hanging with mom, Jayden, Lauren Doggett, Amber and Nyckolas. I'd hoped we'd be able to grab breakfast at the Egg and I, though it didn't happen. Doggett had to take off so we ventured to Spring Creek BBQ for lunch, then had some running around to do. Mark Martinez and his GF Ally Hall came into town around 4 and Jayden and I ran with them to Dragon Bytes, then to Sports Clips for a haircut... ran out of time there so friends picked them up to go to the house while Jayden and I walked over to Genghis Grill. It was a great time. Matt Ford, Cody and Jessica Coe, My mom, bro, sis, nephews, sis-in-law, Claire Brister, Sarah Giles, Mark Martinez, Ally Hall, Caleb Carter, Chris Hemphill, Austin Norville, James and Alison Jenkins, Esther Burns and Melinda Malloy all made it! After dinner we all (minus Mark and Ally) headed to the house and had cake and ice cream and cookies and talked and laughed and had a great time.

It was nice having the feeling of a community of friends and family. That is something I miss here in Tyler. Sometimes I feel our house is, but I think we don't have enough conflict for it to be a true community. I think too many people don't address what they think and feel (myself included) so feelings kinda stay hurt and people stay frustrated. Interesting to think about. If we do it now, though, how bad will it be when we all marry?

Today was a good day too. More time with the family, starting with lunch at Don Juan's. Then, we came home and got ready and headed to Bergfeld Park. It was great to go out there with mom and the boys and Caleb and Chris, but I ended up talking to Brian Elliott for about 2 hours on the phone. It was nice. It seems we usually don't have matching schedules and I feel out of touch with him often...
After that we headed to walmart, then home for a bit until we went to eat at Applebees with the fam and all the roommates but Austin. Ann Curry and her mom joined us for a little while and Ann gave me an awesome photo album and super sweet letter. It was very nice!

It is a blessing to have the friends and family I do.