College Graduation and The Living Christmas Tree

Yesterday was a marathon day. Jim and I dropped Joshua off at Holly and Aaron's house in the middle of the night. Or, what is commonly known as 6:20 a.m.

Except SATURDAY.

Of course, anytime we have plans to go anywhere that involves driving, my husband will get up at 4 in the morning, and go on a long run. And then it's like, "so...tired...can't...drive..."

Marty is not impressed.

Jim and I headed to Morgan-the-daughter-in-law's college graduation. It was at 10 a.m., and we wanted to be there by 9. There was no traffic, because SATURDAY AT 6:30 A.M. When we rolled into town with nearly 30 minutes to spare, Jim...in the spirit of Tim Allen...said, "well, we made good time."

(name that movie)

(The Santa Clause)

(one of my favorites)

We got to see Morgan for a split-second as she ran into the convocation center, and then we met up with her parents and little brother...and then Logan came in, and we found our seats.

As usual, with these things, it went ON AND ON, and I found myself wishing some of the speakers would fall into a deep hole remember back to THEIR commencement ceremonies. It is a big deal, graduating from college, but don't most people just want to get their diplomas, have their picture made...and then go to On The Border for lunch?

No? Yes?

Anyway, we had to leave before the thing was over. We did get to see Morgan walk across the stage. THANK THE LORD she and Logan are married, because her maiden name starts with "S" but our name starts with a "G."

GARLAND FOR THE WIN.

I hate, hate, HATED not getting to stay after and take pictures and go to lunch and all of that. Ugh. But we had to beat it back to Little Rock by 2:30, and it was a 2 1/2 hour drive.

Side note: We went through the Wendy's drive-thru on our way out of town, and decided to just eat in the car. Jim and I typically split a spicy chicken sandwich and fries. The meal comes with one drink, and Jim said, "That's fine...WE CAN JUST SHARE A DRINK." And, like a crazy person, I agreed.

WELL.

I was driving (SEE ABOVE) and so I didn't want to eat while I was in town, because of traffic, turns, construction, etc. I wanted to wait to eat until I got out on the big highway...which I did.

SLIGHT PROBLEM: barely any drink left.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

So now, not only am I STARVING...I have a mouth full of SPICY CHICKEN SANDWICH...annnnnnd no drink.

Marty was not impressed.

Jim was, like, "what? I saved you half."

Maybe half of the ICE.

LESSON LEARNED. I'll take my own drink, thankyouverymuch.

Where was I? Oh, yeah...

Two months ago, I bought tickets for the Living Christmas Tree at our old church in Little Rock. Years ago, I sang with the choir up on that tree, and Jim did various things. I think one year, he was a shepherd or something...and another year, he worked with a technical support team. I'm not sure what you call it, or what, exactly, he did. I do know that some of the guys got in trouble for bringing water guns and shooting the legs and feet of the choir members as they were up on the risers.

Grown, married men.

Yes, they got caught.

Yes, they got a "talkin' to."

Yes, it's some of their most favorite memories of The Tree. Last night, they were talking about how they should have shirts printed up: "The Tree...The Early Years."

Oh, the stories they could tell!

They haven't had The Tree in about 15 years, so this year was a big deal! We were so excited to get to go!
I bought plenty of tickets, so that we could all go. In the end, only 6 of us could make it, and that's fine. It was AWESOME!

Besides the fact that not all of our kids could make it, the only other disappointing part was about the camel. They had several animals in the program: goats, sheep, donkeys...and a camel named Humphrey.

Well.

Apparently, during the dress rehearsal, Humphrey got spooked with the lights, and let the contents of his intestines fly.

In the sanctuary...in the hallway...AND UP THE WALLS.

People said it was epic.

I'm not much on camels, but I kinda wanted to see this one.

Humphrey is no longer allowed in the church. He has to stay outside in a fence for the kids to see.

After the program, we all went out to Chuy's for Holly's birthday dinner. Clark had driven up from college to attend The Tree with us, and he went to dinner with us. The food was yummy!

Then, we took Clark back to his car at the church. He headed back to school, and we headed home. He has finals this week, and then will be home for a month. Yay!

I was worn out, but it was such a fun day!

"So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11