On Birthdays, College and Football...

Today our oldest daughter turns 18 years old. The years have flown by, but it has been such a joy so far watching Ashley grow into the wonderful young lady she is. We cannot wait to see all the great achievements and experiences she has ahead of her. Happy Birthday, Ashley! We love you and are so proud of you. Have a wonderful day!

This past weekend, we traveled to Abilene, Texas to attend Preview Day and Homecoming at Abilene Christian University. It was a quick trip, but was so positive! We had a great time and both of our girls loved ACU. Ashley said that she wished we could just leave here there right now and Chelsea asked, "Can I just skip High School and go straight to ACU? It will be like church camp for four years!" : ) It actually eased some of my stress seeing how excited they were. Now, even though I'm still not excited about Ashley (or Chelsea) being 900 miles away from us, at least I can rest assured that she is comfortable, happy and in a great Christian environment for her college education. It's really a weight lifted off of my shoulders! And I think it's a weight lifted off Ashley's shoulders too. She seemed unsure of what she wanted to do, but this trip seemed to help her make up her mind.

I still ask all of you to keep us in your prayers as we go through this time of transition in our family. After years of enjoying our children, raising them and watching them grow, it's now time to begin watching them "leave the nest" and it's really tough!

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Now, on to football...

Yesterday, Stephen and I were out running errands and on our way home we caught up with the bus caravan bringing the Chicago Bears to town. It was cool to see, but it sure messed up the traffic! We came home all excited about Monday night football, even though no one seemed to be holding out much hope for the Cardinals.

Well, what a game it was!! This morning I'm still in shock over the Cardinals/Bears game last night! We got so excited at how well Matt Leinart and crew did in the first part of the game only to watch them let a 20 point lead slip away and lose in the last minute of the game. Talk about a let down! I even kept dreaming about it last night!

To me this feels like "deja vu all over again" because I'm a Houston Texans fan and they seem to have the same curse that the Arizona Cardinals do. They can start out so well, almost get there, but can never seem to make it all the way! Yikes!!! So frustrating!!!

Oh well, I have to admit it made for some exciting football. I'm gonna keep on hoping the Cardinals will get their act together. I'm not giving up on them yet! After all, I've had lots of practice rooting for the underdog. ; )