Duck Soup.....

So our weekend went well, and I hope yours did too. Cassie had a great time at the beach as she used a "boogie board" and body surfed the whole evening. Her coach told me that she never wanted to leave the water. She did come home with a "rub" and little skin irritation on her abdomen. She told us they made a nice fire, and had a great time. Morgan and I are glad she enjoyed herself.

Morgan and I enjoyed the Padre game. The tickets we received from the Padres were in the 19th row and a little behind third base. Very nice seats. Of course I did not know we were going to be so close, or I would have brought my camera. I assumed we were in the same seats as the last time we visited Petco Park. Oh well.

On Sunday, the church's motorcycle ministry, The Eternal Riders, had a very nice ride on Sunday morning. We went towards the mountains, and took a nice leisurely 50 mile ride around the area. After that, it was a BBQ at the leader's house (Randy & Linda Howell). Morgan and Cassie arrived a little after we started, and we all had a very nice time.

On Saturday night, we heard the testimony of Kimiko Soldati, a former Olympic diver, as our church's special guest speaker. She told a story that in some ways matches my journey to know Jesus. She had a very hard time letting go, and allowing Jesus to do the work and lead her way. She talked about digging, and then Jesus giving her a shovel, then when that was not working, Jesus holding out his hands to take the shovel, and do the work for her, if she would "let go" and have faith. The story got a laugh from Morgan, and it did hit home for me. Many times I try to give complete control over to Jesus, but then I keep putting one hand back on that shovel, instead of just "letting go". It is more "off then on" at this point, but I need to resist the urge to keep grabbing it.

Afterwards, Cassie bought one of her posters, and she signed it for her, and then spoke with us for a while. She was extremely nice, and Cassie was also impressed by her, and that poster has been carefully rolled up and "tubed" for her new room back in NC.

Let me tell you that you will not be able to see any wall in that room once that girl gets all her posters up.

We have been having two male and one female duck fly and use the pool at this house, and our two next door neighbors' pools as their own private lakes. Well, the males have been busy, and last night a neighbor called me over to see if I could help get eleven ducklings out of their pool. I was not able to help, so after dinner, Cassie and I went to the store. When we returned, we found all the ducklings and the mother in our pool. Luckily, the neighbor had called a wildlife rescue service, and the woman, Morgan and myself were able to corral all the ducks, and she took them to a place where they would be safe, until she could let them go back into nature. We had to make a ramp for the ducklings, so that they could climb up and out of the pool.

That was our nature excitement for the day. And, no, I did not have time or thoughts to take pictures, as I was too busy corralling the mother duck, who was not too happy with us.

She told us that if she did not come when she did, and if they would have stayed in the pool overnight, many if not all of them would have died from hypothermia. I'm glad my neighbors were able to get a hold of her, and we thank her for her help.

- Last All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium
- Please give us the password?
- Do you have your Dark Knight tickets?

Until the next time.....