Connor lost one of his front teeth today.... He was so excited, and couldn't wait to wake me and let me know. The day before he asked if we could yank it out with a remote controlled car (he saw it on America's Funniest Home Videos), bu I told him to cool it a little. It had been loose a long time. Chloe is mildly impressed. Caleb is just happy to be walking around!
कोन्नोर लोस्ट ओने ऑफ़ हिस फ्रंट तीथ टुडे। हे वास सो excited

Here's a photo of my sister Lisa and her boys Gage David and Max, with Annette and Connor, on the street in downtown Indianapolis. We got to meet up with them as I attended the Southern Baptist Convention in June 2008.

Our friend, gospel singer and minister Alicia Williamson was at the convention, and we got to see her for a few minutes. Alicia and her husband Richard were kind friends to us in Mobile, and a few years ago Alicia ministered to our church in a mighty way one Sunday.

















My nieces Baylee and Laura visited us with their mom, Annette's sister Alyson, this weekend. Connor and I took them to see "Kung Fu Panda" at the Palms, and on the way home we stopped by to get a photo at the famous Vegas sign.

A few days ago Connor and I were playing in the play room (where else would we play?). He was playing the part of Bible Man, the title character in a TV show he loves. I think the show is great, and that he wants to be Bibleman, but Connor always wants me to be a bad guy. I keep telling him that I don't want to be someone who is against God, but he persists, so I sometimes give in.
Well, the other day I gave in, so Connor proceeded to arm himself with the armor of God- the helmet of salvation, the sword of the spirit, the breastplate of righteousness- you know. He starts fighting me, with all the sound effects and drama that only a five year-old can. He zapped me to the floor, where I writhed in pain. He stood over me, and yelled, "Baptize Him!" So I shook a little bit, squirmed around, then calmed down. I looked up at him, smiled, and said, "Now I love Jesus." Sensing he was going to lose his playmate, he paused, then pointed at me again, and shouted, UN-baptize him!"

Here's the first of several photos I'll post from our Indianapolis trip. These are from my sister Lisa, who came to visit Connor and I with her sons Gage David and Max.

Last week Annette and I got to visit with our dear friend, Fred Heumann. He was in town from Nashville to meet with and share ideas with the worship staff at Central Christian Church here in Vegas. Fred and Judie Heumann, and their son Joel, were dear friends when Annette and I lived in Nashville. Fred works for Word Music, and was one of the first to introduce worship music from the UK to American churches. This was Fred's first timje to meet our kids, so that was special. He and Annette and I stayed up late in the night one night when he was here, visiting, laughing, and catching up. We love you, Fred, Judie, and Joel!

Here's my baby girl Chloe, wearing a San Diego Padres t-shirt. No biggie, except that it's the one I got it for my nephew Justin back in 1984, and it's been handed down and worn by no less than eight of my nieces and nephews, although not at the same time. Chloe's just keepin' up the tradition. Hopefully she'll keep it nice for Caleb...

My niece Morgan has signed to play softball for Bethany College in Kansas, an NAIA School. She is beautful, and such a great young lady. You can't know how proud I am of my Morgan!





Lady Matadors’ outfielder signs with NAIA power in Kansas

Yuma, Arizona – May 13, 2008 -- Arizona Western College is proud to announce that AWC Softball player Morgan Evans has signed with NAIA school Bethany College in Kansas. The announcement was made this afternoon in a press conference on the AWC Campus, and comes three days before Commencement ceremonies at Veterans Memorial Stadium this Friday.
Evans worked hard to show her coaches the facets of her game that would earn her extra playing time, and by the end of her 2-year career, she had secured an important spot in the Matadors’ offense. The Cibola High School alum spent much of the early part of her freshman season learning the game as a pinch-runner or a late-game defensive replacement, she took full advantage of her time, and impressed then-head coach Pam Stone enough to earn more starts as the season wore on. ‘Mo-Mo’ started 28 of the Lady Matadors’ 59 games in 2007, and participated in 42 games overall that year. Despite getting only 70 at-bats, Evans scored 18 runs and stole 6 bases during her freshman campaign. With a new head coach and an influx of new players in 2008, once again, Evans started the season without a starting outfield job, but didn’t let it deter her at all. Evans continued to work hard to impress AWC Head Softball Coach Angel Shamblin, and by mid-season, Morgan was the team’s starting right fielder. At the plate, if the Matadors were starting a rally, Evans was usually in the middle of it, and her .356 batting average ranked her 4th-best on the Matadors’ team in ’08. Shamblin used Evans to manufacture runs several times-as evidenced by Evans’ 10 stolen bases and 25 runs scored (5th).

Okay, we don't usually let Connor read Star magazine (we're People people- but he doesn't read that either), but we made an exception this week when we found out that my little sister, Connor's aunt Lisa from Decatur, Illinois, is in this week's issue. I posted a week or so ago a photo from the Decatur newspaper of my sister getting her picture taken with Matt Damon. Well, that photo made it's way to Star, so we had to go out and buy a copy for posterity. Oh, and by the way, the movie being filmed in Decatur is still in production, so this weekend Lisa got Matt Damon to sign her copy.

















My niece Baylee (Annette's sister Alyson's daughter) came for a brief visit last week, and the kids were in heaven. I haven't gotten to see Bayleee in a few years, so I was a little shocked to see that she's grown a foot and a half, changed hair color, and is a beautiful young lady.

I usually take my camera bag to the Las Vegas 51's game, mostly because it's a good way to bring in all the goodies Connor requires to watch our national pastime. We love the 51's, and always have a great time.

















Connor and 51's catcher Danny Ardoin.

Ramon Troncoso.

Connor and dad watched starting picher Jon Meloan warm up. He had a bunch of strikeouts against the Nashville Sounds last night.