Saturday Shout Outs!

It's been an exciting week here in the Jones household.  On Tuesday Marilyn and I celebrated our 25th anniversary.  On Wednesday I finished my class.  On Thursday we had dinner with Lisa Jewett (always a pleasure!).  Right now (1:15 AM Saturday morning) we're waiting for Will to get home after he and the Sickles High School Marching Gryphons played at their first football game of the season.  But there was much excitement in our extended youth group family as well, which brings me to another edition of Saturday Shout Outs!

• Jun and Jennifer Minnigan Kuramochi (FUMC-K) became the proud parents of Josephine Naomi Kuramochi this past Monday.  Little Bob (not her real name) was just over 8 pounds, 19 and half inches long, and everyone is doing well.  Keep them all in your prayers!
• Mike and Lisa Kraus Spires (FUMC-K) welcomed Abby to the world late Wednesday night.  She was several weeks early but a solid 6 pounds, 1 ounce and everyone is fine.  No one is prouder than big sister Sara.  Congratulations, Spires family!
• In related news, Ben Thompson (FUMC-K) confirmed that he is not now nor has he ever been pregnant.  That's a relief to us all!  :)
• Ashley Goad Broadhurst (Springfield Friends Meeting) and I both got direct tweets from Dick Vitale this week!  How cool is that?  Ashley actually gets all the credit, but who cares!!!  I got a tweet from Dickie V!!!!
• Speaking of Ashley, she tweeted yesterday that she thinks Friends is the best TV show ever. I went with Seinfeld.  Leave me a comment and tell us your favorite!
• Jeremy Godwin (Springfield) let me know this week that his wife Laura is now blogging.  I have been reading and it is awesome!  Check it out at http://alittleburdietoldme.blogspot.com/.  In related news, how is it that Jeremy, his pet pootapotomous Stinky and his twin sister Shelley are not yet in my Hall of Fame?  I need to remedy this soon...
• On Tuesday so many of our old friends from various stops along the way took time to wish us a happy anniversary.  So did many of new friends on Twitter.  Thank you all- you helped make the day a true celebration!
• Thursday on Facebook we learned that Ronnie Osborne, who was at Centre Friends Meeting the very first day I was ever a youth pastor and worked with me at Quaker Lake Camp in the early 80s, was having a benign brain tumor removed at Duke yesterday.  Our prayers are with Ron-Ron and his family as they face this together.
• A number of you, led by Meagan Hill Halquist (FUMC-K), sound psyched to really do an old school Disney Dash Ice Cream Bash at some point later this Fall.  Lisa Jewett (Wesley Memorial) thinks we need to play miniature golf as well.  Plans will be made. We can bring a group from Tampa and meet the Orlando area crowd at Beaches and Cream.  Travel plans will need to be made from NC.  Kitchen Sinks will be eaten.  :)
• Thanks to Andi Brooks Gillespie (Springfield), whose husband Kevin coaches at Page High School in Greensboro, NC along with Jeremy Godwin, I suddenly find myself rooting for the Pirates when Andi reports scores on Friday nights.  For myself,  a graduate of Western Guilford High School, this constitutes treason!  Page is the enemy, and yet I am happy they won last night.  I am so confused...
• And finally...I would love to have some of YOU (former youth groupies) write some guest posts for me on this blog, just sharing a favorite memory from your days in youth group.  It doesn't have to be long or fancy- I just want everyone to hear some of our stories from your perspectives.  Let me know if you would be willing to do this.  My e-mail is still Youthguy07@aol.com if you want more information.  WOW! Teresa Reep Tysinger (FUMC-K) just volunteered!!!!  Who's next?  :)

So that's it for now! I hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend.  And thanks to everyone who reads.  You'll never know how much it means to me!


Because of Jesus,