Beginning of another year of school

They are getting older, as we all know happens, but I am most readily reminded of this each year when I send them off to their first day of a new grade of school. It especially surprised me that my youngest is in third grade. I am thankful for the great Christian school that they are able to attend. They all have good friends and amazing teachers with a strong academic program. Wesley is in 7th grade; Andrew now entering 5th grade (last year of elementary); and as I said before, Brooke is going into 3rd grade.


Though starting school was a big part of their month, I think the biggest hi-light occurred this week. The Cowboys do their pre-season training in our town, and Gary recently learned that the New Orleans Saints would also be doing some of their pre-season training in our city. Wesley's favorite player is Drew Brees, so we were quite excited to tell them about it. Gary took them on Thursday, but they could not get any signatures. Yesterday, I took them after to school to get bracelets that let them in for autographs, and Gary took them back after practice. When I came home Friday night (I had my own girl's night out!), they were ecstatic about their signatures. Andrew got Drew Brees to sign his football jersey, and Wesley caught one of the player's gloves that he threw out to the audience during practice. The pictures below are some of my favorites, but Gary has enough to make a whole album :)

In the two above, the head is Wesley's head. He is getting autographs from Chase Daniel and Drew Brees. "GO SAINTS!" (That is Wesley's call).

Griffith Observatory

It is so often true that a person can live in a place but never do the "tourist attractions." While we live near one of the biggest tourist places in America, we do rarely visit these places. I have been wanting to go to the Griffith Observatory for awhile, so we ended our summer times with a visit. It was a cloudy day, but it gave a beautiful view of LA, and the clearest view I have ever seen of the notorious Hollywood sign. Yes, most of the people who were visiting were speaking foreign languages. We enjoyed our visit, and better yet, did not have to drive far to get home :)