Monday Randoms

 I haven't been truly home in three days. We aren't gone...but we also haven't been home. Sitting to write coherent thoughts has been a little on the tough side. As we kick off this new week, I offer you some random thoughts!!

* Ryan has been watching the football hall of fame induction ceremonies, and I had to research the reason for the color of the gold jackets. (Apparently it's very important that they're called gold and not yellow.) If you can believe what you read on the internet, the reason is that the athletes who wear them are the gold standard of their profession. 

* Saturday was our first time to attend the annual fundraiser auction for Gateway Woods. We have heard many things about it, but we had not attended one before. I'll have to tell you more about it later, but today I shall report that the day brought in over $800,000. That was a record, I believe, and one we are very grateful for. We are glad so many people believe in the mission of Gateway Woods (which we're part of) and share consistently and generously so we can continue to work in this ministry!

* Yesterday we went to visit Ryan's aunt and uncle. He is the pastor of a church about an hour south of us, so we went to hear him preach and then had lunch with them. Their dog, Lucy, is the cutest, and she can do so many tricks! It was fun to watch (I think they're working right now on teaching her how to pray. ADORABLE!!!)

* We had planned to spend some time with Abby in our days off this week, but we ended up canceling that plan. We weren't sure Ryan would be up to being on his feet all weekend. It turns out we probably could have done it, but there is something just SO DELIGHTFUL about the idea of resting and scrapbooking at home. I'm so excited for our plan B!

* I'm grateful for good friends. They're good pray-ers, good listeners, and good supporters when days and weeks are long. I hope you have some of those in your life, too! And I hope I am the same for my friends when they need me!

* I'm going to miss the Olympics. It's been such fun to watch the events and learn about ones I didn't realize were part of the games - or sports at all. (Hello there, handball!)

* We learned that Gateway has patches and stickers for its different departments and houses. We purchased a WillowBridge sticker to put on Abby's travel wall. We figure since she lives here, she needs an official sticker!

* My concluding thought comes to you as I watch Peyton Manning give his acceptance speech into the Hall of Fame. He's doing a great job, but I have to say...these busts creep me out. Anyone else???

I have grand plans of getting a lot of sleep tonight and bringing you some more meaningful thoughts tomorrow!