Sometimes I just want to talk to my dad

Happy Birthday, Daddy!
Are you celebrating in heaven? Or do you just celebrate the day you got to heaven? Or maybe the day you were born again? Hmm. We miss you so much, but I know there's no place you'd rather be.

I'm texting Kelli right now. She's so awesome--you would be so proud of her and Jason. And they're having your third great-grandchild, did you know that? I'm ready for another baby in the family. Especially one that won't keep ME awake at night. :)

Mom is doing good. I mean, she's sad today, and always misses you, but she is always ministering to somebody. Her widow friends, young moms...me. :) She's even stronger than we knew. And she's not letting Parkinson's keep her down. You'd be proud of her, too. I bet she's watching the Arkansas/Aggie game right now. I'm watching it, and using Mike as an excuse to cheer for whoever has the ball. It's a win-win situation for me!

Mike is on a retreat with 31 of his students. His BCM is doing so great this year! He's running 75-90 students every week! Did you know he got his doctorate? DMin, so he always downplays it, saying it's not like he got a PhD or anything. But he worked really hard, and other people are even using his discipleship material! But the retreat means he's missing the game. Arkansas has been really stinking it up this year, but he's not taking anything for granted. Just like you always said, that's why they play the game. (The Aggies just tied it up, by the way.)

Jessica is really growing up--so much it hurts my heart a little. She's taller than me and even than Mike now! She really takes after you. Remember when you bought a watermelon and put it in the garden so she would think it grew there! Ha! And when you showed her the turtle and she said, "That's not for touching." So precious. We've been homeschooling for the past 5 years, which has been fun. I wonder what you would think about that. She's going to go to public high school next year--she'll be in 10th grade, can you believe it? That's the first year in high school here, and we wanted her to have some school experience while she still lived at home, before she goes off to college. She's a good girl.

They're all good girls. Mikayla would crack you up. She's so quick and witty. And silly. I have no idea where she got that. :) She's in 7th grade, and actually grew a little this summer. Everybody keeps telling me she went from looking like a little girl to a teenager overnight. But sometimes when I look at her I still see her little shorty-legs striding so confidently around the house. She has the sweetest friends--she's loving being in youth group. Remember how musical she always was? I was convinced she would be the musician of the family. But right now she's the only one who doesn't want to learn an instrument. I guess she'll be our singer. She's reading over my shoulder right now, so I won't talk about her anymore.

I'm sorry Rebecca never got to meet you. She is such a love. Very sweet and sensitive and affectionate. If you were here, I guarantee she would be in your lap every minute when we visited you. She accepted Christ this summer, and Mike baptized her! It was beautiful. Our pastor has each person fill out a testimony page to add to our church's "Book of Life" when they get saved, and I read hers. I cry when other people read their kids, but I didn't cry reading hers. Isn't that funny?

I've been really busy since school started. I'm homeschooling, plus trying to keep the house up, plus leading 2 Bible studies and older elementary kids choir. Phew!

I miss you. I would love to hear your voice right now. And your laugh. And get a great big hug. I love you. See you someday-
XOXOXO,
Kecia