Fun with Friends - Installment #1

Yes, that's the theme for the last couple of weeks. Our "special memories bank" has had an abundance of deposits lately, of which, we're very grateful to those who've contributed so generously. Now I'd like to share with you the happenings through the eyes of a digital camera. Get ready for a lot of pictures!

Okay, to get started, my memory has to travel back a few weeks since I've been rather lazy about posting and keeping this site updated. Time has gone by like a blur -- a happy blur that is.

During the second week in February Nathan, Sarah, Moriah (what a cute little one!), and Josh Hebert and Rebecca Hall spent the night with us. As you'll see in the following pictures, we had a blast together. Naturally, we stayed up late talking and laughing (a few games of CatchPhrase too!). The following morning we ate brunch - due to our late night - and then took a refreshingly brisk walk. It was so nice to chat with Rebecca, getting to know her more. But I would definitely have to say that the highlight of their visit was getting to hold darling Moriah (what wonderful parents Nathan and Sarah are!) Here's a group picture:

Merritt holding Moriah:

Here's another one, except it's just of us girls.

That huge tree right behind us is causing us plumbing problems, but that's a whole other matter...

Want to see a couple photos of our rowdy CatchPhrase games?? :o)

The day the Heberts and Rebecca left, I (Chelsea) flew over to West Palm Beach to see a close friend. Not only did it turn out to be an educational weekend (learning about show jumping equines) but a fun one at that! In between watching my friend ride, walking the show grounds (I spotted a pair of $43 flip-flops. Outrageous! and no, I didn't indulge), catching some rays, following the Olympics, Starbucks trips (nothing like a peppermint mocha to get you going in the morning) we slipped in an hour or two of shopping -- we simply can not do without a girlie outing whenever we get together.

This last week is categorized as a "wind down" one for all of us. We slowed our schedules down and took it easy -- something we all need to do once in a while. Bright Lights was on Friday and that went really well. There were seventeen girls there, and we studied the subject of humility. When preparing the lesson I came across a neat story with unselfishness and humility as central themes. It goes something like this: "There was a kind young man in grade school, he was known as a leader in both academics and sports. One day a friend of his was over at his home and notice a plaque on his wall with these simple words inscribed on it, "I am third". In turn, his friend inquired as to their meaning and the young man replied, "It stands as a reminder to me that God is first, others second and myself third."" Mom liked the statement so well that she wrote on a piece of paper and stuck it to a pillar in our kitchen for all to see.

Over the weekend I watched two girls so that their parents could hideaway for their anniversary. Samantha and Olivia were such fun! We went to breakfast Saturday morning and then took Cowboy to a local park to explore and get dirty (that turned out to be a very successful venture as I found out in full detail yesterday as I cleaned out my car!). The girls, myself and Cowboy thoroughly enjoyed our outing. The day was magnificently beautiful as we marched along the sandy, palmetto lined trails keeping watch for "banana" spiders, snakes and streams. At one point we had the pleasure of meeting a rather large tortoise. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so there's no visual of that fabulous day. :o( We were famished afterwards, so on the way home we stopped by a fast food place and grabbed a burger, fries and a drink. It would be totally unfair to leave Cowboy out -- so he got his own Jr. cheeseburger. I found out that he really likes ketchup too. :o)

On Sunday afternoon we headed over to a local bowling alley to try and knock down a pen or two. We got a little rambunctious with the bowling while taunting "gutter ball". We, the Owen family, haven't bowled in ages so we were pretty pathetic -- but that made it all the more fun! Here's a couple of pictures from that hilarious afternoon (I have two or three short video clips, but I don't know how, or even if I can, upload them onto blogger).

Cale had a game last Friday night -- boy! was it an exciting one. I only showed up for the last two innings, but I watched the guys beat the best team in the southern part of the county 2-1.

Anway, this is going to have to be installment #1 since it's getting rather late. I'll have some more news and pictures tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!