Brad Paisley concert

We were invited to attend the Brad Paisley/Blake Shelton/Jerrod Niemann concert with our friend, Beth and Stephen, last weekend.  They are actually related to Brad's wife, actress Kimberly Williams Paisley, and asked Brad to donate concert tickets, a signed album, and signed photo for our church to auction off for our church's upcoming mission trips.  How cool is that?!  Other friends of ours won the auction and we all sat together at the concert.

It was my first country music concert (I don't count sitting outside the Dean Dome and listening in what must have been a good concert for Garth Brooks back in 1992).  We parked our car and started the hike through tailgate city when I realized that I did not get the memo to wear cowgirl boots and a dress and/or jean mini skirt.  An outsider for sure!  :)

Our seats were great and we had such a fun time.  So glad Blake Shelton played song, "God Gave Me You", which was originally written and done by the talented Dave Barnes (who my brother knows).  When Brad Paisley hit the stage and the crowd went wild.  He is an incredibly talented guitarist and singer and was truly amazing to watch.  He played song after song after song - I lost count. 

Blake Shelton

Brad Paisley and his mascot

Brad at a mini stand in the middle of the crowd

He ended with "Old Alabama", which is my favorite.  Oh, it brings me back to the days of singing "Mountain Man" with my brother in our little homemade band!  Ty, wish you could have been there with me!

Jackson's Baptism

On the weekend of Jackson's baptism, the weather turned suddenly cold.  Seriously one day it was 93 degrees, and the next was a high of 66.  So... Lake Day/Baptism was a chilly one! 

Daddy and Jackson with Nate, Kate, and Jack - who all got baptized that day.

It was truly a special day!  I struggled to keep myself together.  Baptisms always bring me to happy tears, but seeing my husband baptize our son prompted such immense joy.  Jackson has wanted this day for a long time. 

We are so grateful for the family and incredible Bridge friends that came out and braved the cold to celebrate with us.  Thank you!  You each made that day even more special.

Our friend, Stephen, made a great video that I hope to add to this blog soon.

Oh how the time flies...

So, yeah... it's September. I'll try to recap our life with a few pics (only a few because I have rarely taken out the camera in the last month. oops.).

Our little no-fear guy has been very hesitant about bike riding.  I blame the fact that we live on and around big hills and I have overly stressed the importance of being careful!  At the park he did GREAT on the grass, but not on the blacktop.  We think there is a mental battle going on there.  :)

Hannah is working on getting the pedaling down.

Always the stinker... I went upstairs to change clothes and came down to this.

I've been experiement with new recipes.  This roasted chicken recipe is a new favorite!  This pic is before cooking... didn't manage to wait for the after before we dug in.  My father-in-law LOVED it.

Hannah and Rees playing with a cool toy tractor that is daddy restored.  They are such sweet buddies!

This summer our church held a bunch of Summer Kids Clubs. They were SO fun!  Mike and I led them together (with some help with parents) and got to channel our past camp days with the silly songs, games, and Bible stories. 

Jackson's team racing to build the best Armor of God.  :)