Hurts So Good

We're back...after a long break recovering from a bunch of stuff. First, Christmas and New Year's. Second, my 41st birthday which Elisa and I hoteled in Big Bear hoping for some fresh snow but it rained and it didn't matter anyway because I was too sick to board. And third from the lingering aftermath of that sickness in the form of a hacking cough that just won't go away. This picture of Sammy pretty much sums up how I've been feeling, except there is no actual shirt over my head!

Having to clear snow hasn't helped much either and set me back, making me sound like a scratchy low baritone. But I have managed to have some fun between shovels sledding with the boys, who discovered that their boogie boards (if you can stay on 'em) go way faster than plastic sleds. Incidentally Aaron and I proved this ad loco when we took one off a jump, flew about 10 feet, and got the wind knocked out of us on the landing. Sammy wanted to join the insanity too, so I repeated all of the above with him, plus we managed to continue after the jump only to crash into the fence at the bottom of the run (we're fine)!

I also had a great time of spiritual growth at the annual men's retreat last weekend. Here's a pic of me and the boys shortly before I left for that (is Aaron looking a bit sad to see me leave?).
I was blessed to lead worship on Sunday morning with a last-minute mixture of Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear guys on my team, plus I got a little extra perk of playing lead guitar for another guy on Saturday night (his guy canceled out).

Despite a few lumps from the seasonal school of hard knocks, things are going well for us. You can expect some more posts here soon if all goes as planned.