Sad Situation

It's hot.  It's dry.  Very dry.

West and I went treasure hunting at the lake this morning.  We didn't find much, but we had a great time.

First Day of Kindergarten and 1st Grade

Sweet Sisters!






























After school.

Mayborn Museum

Our lunches were packed, the Northrups were loaded, and we were off on N. I35. This was Wests' first trip to the Museum where he was able to participate. He loved it! And so did all the girls.

Vegas Pictures

July 19-22, 2011


























Mirage pool, Karaoke night, Southwest flights, Mandarin Oriental High Tea, Strip view from our room, Breakfast of champions, Curved escalator at Caesars.

Witnessing in Las Vegas

I've been a lazy blogger lately and have heard your complaints and requests. I have a backlog of posts and will try to do better, but those of you who are late with your subscription payments need to do better too.
Jones and Georgia need new shoes for school.

Bear with me.  Some of the upcoming posts may not be in chronological order, but twenty years from now when my kids are reading this stuff it won't really matter.

Last month was the Brown/Scott Vegas Vacation 2.0.  We had great times, ate a lot of great food, and made good memories. 

Some of you have seen the "I Love My Wife/ I Love My Husband" t-shirts that Leslie and I got a few months ago.  Well, I wore mine the day we traveled to Vegas.  I wore it on purpose.  Armed with my shirt and a story about how it was the first just-the-two-of us get away my wife had had in almost three years (true story) I had the intention of getting an upgrade to a suite at check-in.  We didn't get a suite, but we did get upgraded to a strip view room and the desk clerk surprised us by sending a chilled bottle of champagne to our room along with a nice card.

Later that afternoon Ryan and I sat down at a blackjack table.  I was still wearing my shirt.  As we sat down the dealer said to another player at the table, "I like his shirt better than yours."

We looked over at the other player, a guy in his early 20's who was wearing a t-shirt that said "I Recycle Women".  I asked him what it meant and he said, "You know, I just hook up with them, use them, and put them back into the pool."

All I could say was, "Hm."

Then the dealer asked me if I really did love my wife.  Ryan and I both told her that we did love our wives, and that we had each been married for 8 years.

From the table chit-chat it was revealed that the recycles women guy was in town with his family for his cousin's wedding.  I asked him if she had been recycled.  He didn't say much in response.  "Well, what about your sister?", I asked.  He kind of backpedaled as he stumbled through his response to that, but I think he got my point.  All women are special to someone.  They are sisters, daughters, and mothers and are to be honored.  Not recycled.

After he left the table it was just Ryan and I with the dealer.  She told us that she appreciated our response to that guy and that she was happy that we were there with our wives and were proud to profess our love for them. 

Soon after, she dealt Ryan a Blackjack.  As she paid him, Ryan said,  "The Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you..."  

She said, "Thank you for that blessing.  Numbers 6 right?", naming the book and chapter that Ryan was quoting.

"Yes, it is." he said.

"Are you believers?", she asked.

We told her that we were, that we had met at a Lubbock Christian University, and a little more about ourselves and our wives. She told us how refreshing it was to see Christians in her line of work who were not so uptight that they couldn't come to Vegas and have a good time, but were not ashamed of their faith while there either.

I hope we brought a little bit of blessing into her life that day.  I know she brought a lot into mine.  

*Leslie will share Vegas pictures soon.

**To hear about some of the food we ate, check out Break the Chain.  Break the Chain is a new radio talk show that is taking the New Mexican airwaves by storm.  Some of our food experiences were featured on the July 31st episode.

***If you're interested in getting your own, we got our "I Love My Husband/Wife" t-shirts from Francesca Battistelli's website.  I'm not into pushy/preachy t-shirts, but these have been great conversation starters.

Butler Fun!

A day hanging out and swimming with the Butler family. Good times.

Something You Should Hear

I know that a sermon is a good one when I'm still thinking about it three days after I heard it.
Thank you, Scott Meyer, for the best Esau sermon I've ever heard.
Probably in the Top Five "this story has practical application in your life" sermons I've ever heard.

Heroes: Esau from Western Hills on Vimeo.

Summer Sea World

Aug.1-2, 2011

Lindsey and I traveled to San Antonio with five girls for a two day Sea World adventure. We had a great time exploring Lost Lagoon and seeing the new Shamu show with baby Shamu. It was hot( a 107 degrees), it was fun, and it will be a trip to repeat in the future!


























West had Mimi all to himself for two whole days.