Middle School Missions

Our church does a fantastic job with youth ministry. Aiden and Court have both jumped into being part of our church (with no pressure from us!) because there are a ton of youth and the leadership is vibrant and engaging. In the summer, there are lots of different mission trips that our church goes on and they even offer mission trips for the middle schoolers. Talk about earning an extra place in heaven right? Taking a bunch of middle school knuckleheads on a plane and into Austin, Texas for a week to work outside sounds pretty dreadful to me. Aiden and Court both wanted to go earlier in the Spring (when we paid the money) but as we got closer to the dates, Aiden was having reservations. No one he knew was going; he was going to have to miss some rising 9th grade bball workouts; Austin was in the midst of a heatwave; they had to arrive at the airport at 6am, etc. Court was a little nervous but still excited to go because there were a bunch of other 6th grade boys going…which was another reason Aiden was NOT excited to go. We had no contact with them for the week but when they got back, they both had an amazing time. That was Aiden’s word: “amazing.” Who knew that weeding a community garden in the Austin heat could bring you closer to God? Scott and I are so grateful for stumbling into a church that helps make our kids better people.

At the airport ready for the trek to Austin

The one big “fun” activity that was planned was to go to an Austin FC game. Aiden and his buddies somehow got into the superfan section close to the field and had a blast.

Start to summer

What’s not to love about summertime? More flexible schedules, fun adventures, lots of pool time, and no packing of the lunches! We are already off to a great start. Happy summertime to you!

Our college friend, Ryan, and his son, Jude, came through Charlotte for a baseball tournament. So, we had a little college reunion – Dauntae, Ryan, Scott, and Dave.

And those knuckleheads above brought these beautiful children into the world. Incredible!

We got a chance to visit with Aunt Cheryl, see her gorgeous new home, and meet her sweet new pup, Robbie.

For the summer, we have instituted a formal Taco Tuesday tradition. Every Tuesday, we visit a new taco restaurant in Charlotte in hopes of finding our very favorite one. Two thumbs ups so far!

We took Grandma and Grandpa golfing and to lunch for an early Father’s Day outing. Aiden played well and the rest of us, well, we had fun. Grandpa was an incredible caddy!

Aiden says Goodbye to AG

Aiden has officially been promoted out of middle school. I am not really sure why schools make such a big deal of 8th grade promotions since the alternative is to remain in middle school another year. But, I am always game for a celebration, so we went and cheered for our boy. The ceremony was held in the Myers Park High School gym and it was SO hot. The lights were lowered so it was hard to see. The microphone wasn’t working so I couldn’t understand much of what was being said. It was way too long and had too many awards. All of this complaining just adds character to the whole thing. I am very thankful that his school tries to honor the students’ achievements. And at the end of it all, Aiden was even MORE ready to go to high school.

Steven, Aiden, James, Jack, John, and Kieran

Happy Birthday Bubba!

We took a quick trip to the mountains to celebrate Bubba’s birthday. We made burgers, had a massive 8 layer chocolate cake, watched TarHeel Baseball win, and enjoyed the amazing weather in Flat Rock.

End of May

We closed out May in lots of fun ways. Court went to a paintball birthday party for his friend, Warren.

We have been spending lots of time in the pool. The night before his Math 2 Final (which is a class for high school sophomores), he was even studying in the pool.

After much convincing, Aiden went to his 8th grade dance. I am not sure if he would have gone if his buddies hadn’t invited him to dinner (pizza!) beforehand. I don’t think he did any dancing but at least he went.

Golfing

We recently discovered (shockingly!) that Charlotte has a few public golf courses. Aiden was begging to go so I said that I would take him. $30 per person with a golf cart included? Why not?! Then, Court said he would go too. Then, Scott said he wanted to join all of us! Great! TWO golf carts are always better than one. So, we went. I borrowed Court’s clubs (since we are the same height now) and we played Charlotte’s finest. And it was so much fun. I was so awful and just laughed the whole time and the kids laughed along with me. We didn’t hit or kill anyone which was amazing since the fairways were WAY too close for health and safety standards for anyone playing golf who isn’t a professional. But we made it and we only lost two golf balls.

I lost my original golf ball but in the process of looking for my ball, I found this classy gem. We laughed about it the rest of the day. It was called a “Noodle.” Sadly, I also lost Noodle by the end of the day but it will always live in our memory.

Memorial Day

We had the most relaxing and fabulous Memorial Day weekend. We had no lacrosse, no basketball, no parties to attend, no places to be at a particular time. We had nothing planned. That was the first time in a long time that our weekend was just wide open. Please don’t misunderstand me, I LOVE going to all the things that Aiden and Court do. It makes me so happy and proud to see them working hard at whatever they do. But, it was really nice to do nothing for one weekend this year. We took full advantage. It looked a lot like this:

Confirmation

After a year of youth group meetings, retreats, service projects and participating in worship services, Aiden celebrated his confirmation at our church. It’s not something that Scott or I went through when we were in 8th grade but it is a really cool thing to see him so sure of his faith. What a kid. He is so much wiser than me.

His celebratory meal: Chipotle. After giving him the choice to go to any restaurant he wanted for lunch, he chose Chipotle.

F1 in Miami

Tyler Epp is now the President of the Formula 1 Race in Miami and I am not sure what Scott has done to keep getting the invite to go to the race three years in a row but it gets better and better every year! It is far and away the most posh event we go to every year – a suite to watch the race, celebrities everywhere, endless free delicious food, ridiculous access to the cars and track (for people like us who are only fans and not actually working at the race). On top of all that, Tyler, Melissa, Trey and Malone are so kind to let us stay with them, feed us, provide us with transportation to and from the airport, I could go on and on. Their generosity is endless. We are so grateful! This year was extra fun because the Fredericks and Tyler’s brother Paul were there to pal around with while Tyler (and Melissa) worked the events at the race.

Tyler gave us access to two suites during the race – one indoors with food and drinks and one outdoors over pit row with food and drinks. The view was spectacular! Who do we think we are?!!

At the Sprint race on Saturday before the Sunday Grand Prix. Notice the ice cream in Aiden’s hand; let’s just say that was not the only one of those he had that weekend.

Aiden with Pierre Gasly

Aiden and Yuki Tsunoda

Aiden and Fred Vasseur

Aiden and Lewis Hamilton. I promise that Court was at the race as well but Aiden is really tenacious about finding racing celebrities to get a photo. Court isn’t nearly as interested in that part.

Aiden and his mama. On the track right before our tour of the track on a flatbed truck. Pro tip – try to get on the truck early so you can get a place to hold onto. Standing in the middle of the truck in a wedged-shoe is a real challenge to your balance!

At the start of the race: Tyler is standing just off the red carpet with a gray coat and blue pants. What a rock star!

Melissa with our London friends, Ricky and Gemma

We got an exclusive sneak peak at the Bonham’s auction cars which were out of this world

The view right below us

At the podium celebration, we got to see Lando Norris (one of Aiden’s favorite drivers) get his first F1 race win.

Strawberry Season

Our first round of strawberries from the garden