Rice Crispy Treat Chaos

So it was a crazy afternoon at the Smith house filled with marshmallows, food coloring, dots, red hots, licorice, and rice crispies.  Rice Crispy Treat Snowmen, Rice Crispy Treat Wreaths, Rice Crispy Treat Regrets.

Just another Reason I love Clearwire

A week or so ago I got a notification saying that I was able to upgrade my clearwire internet service to their new "clear" service, which is a 4G WiMax network.  So I signed up, a couple days later my new modem arrived, I plugged it in, and what do you know?  I got a connection at least 5 times faster for the same price!

What an effective customer service model; they upgrade their service, give you more for the same price, and do it all in a few short days!  I know they are the new guys in the ISP world and they have a lot of work to do to build a customer base when they are up against the big guns of Verizon, Comcast, etc....but they actually seem to make the customer experience pleasant and painless (a claim that neither of the aforementioned giants can claim).

Attention to anyone who provides a service to people:  make people feel good about the service you provide AND the way you provide it.  That's what drives repeat business and referrals.

Get Low & Get Mean

Olivia is at her basketball clinic this morning and they were doing some drills.  The coach said,"get low and get mean."  Well Olivia got low, but the smile never left her face...not so much mean, but that's ok with me.

Basketball Tryouts part 2

Ok so Jaz is at night two.  It's a new experience for her but it is always good to get stretched.  I totally remember trying out for the basketball team in junior high. 

It's pretty cute to see abunch of 5th and 6th grade girls who think they are Lebron.

Heavenly Date

So Sandy and I took advantage of the fact that all of our kids are in school, and Ava is in Idaho, and went out for a lunch date to Pen Thai in downtown Bothell..great food.  She had the heavenly beef and I had the garlic loverls delight.  So good!  We sat right in front of the window and watched all the cars and people go by.  Great food, great entertainment, heavenly date!

Oh and btw we had back to back dentist appointments this morning and tied on the plaque score...a whopping 92%, thus the celebration.

5th & 6th Grand Girls Basketball tryouts

Jazzy is trying out tonight for the girls select team. What the Smith girls lack in height, they make up for in hustle!

$35 and Counting

Olivia just pulled out her SEVENTH tooth up at grandma and granpas house after Easter lunch. Grandpa pays Five bucks Per tooth! I remember as a kid getting a quarter from the tooth fairy...so much for the down economy. I need to go borrow some money from my kids.

Everything in Moderation...except Catfood!

We believe in letting our kids take responsibility for thier animals, however the darkside of that is sometimes ugly!  Needless to say the cat was happy for about a week (just kidding...we made the kids clean it up right away)!

I should get Frequent Filler Points at the Dentist.

I took Olivia to the dentist today, and with a family of 6 and all of the appointments and follow ups, I think we have been here every other day for the last three weeks!

No big deal because we love our dentist, Dr. Raymond Hsu in Redmond. He's great, especialy with the kids.

Fire Makes Lunch More Exciting

Sandy and I had a great lunch with some of our favorite people in the world--Jason and Mar Shirley. We went to the Tokyo Steak House in Woodinville, which is always fun. The chef made an onion volcano on the grill, and proceeded to light it on fire! Good lunch, and more importantly, great friends!

Jay

Palm Sunday Options

Praise or sword fight, it's your choice. Today is Palm Sunday so fittingly we had palm fronds for everyone at church. I always love this day because of how it reminds us of the return of Jesus someday, that will be on a much more magnificent scale!
As you can see, my neice and daughters were enjoying the palms too!

Happy Birthday Bryan

Celebrating my good friend Bryan Wall's 30th birthday! You are a good man Bryan Wall.

Why I love Clearwire.

So the power is out here again (stop putting powerlines next to trees on hills) and I figured out how to stay connected!

(Clearwire + wifi + ac to dc converter) - electricity = me connected!

The end looks different up close.

For those friends and family who haven't heard yet, Sandy and I, after nearly TEN years of youth ministry here at Cedar Park, are taking a senior pastor role beginning in May. Now don't worry, because it isn't far away (sorry to disappoint a few of you)--we are going to be lead pastors at Cedar Park NorthShore, over in Kenmore (only 4.5 miles away, which greatly increases my commute)!

Over the past few months as we have been a part of this process of transition, we have spent most of our time thinking about what we are going to rather that what we are leaving from. However, this being my last official week as youth pastor at Cedar Park Bothell, I am experiencing a few different emotions. While I am more than excited about our future at NorthShore, and so glad that Brad and Leah Fox will be following us as youth pastors here, it is difficult to leave. As we say our goodbyes, and pack up the office, and give everyone hugs, things look a little different. Not bad different, just different different.

It really reminds me of the difference between making plans, and making progress. The latter does not always tranlate into the former. God has called us to be people of action, not just plans!

Think Safety!

I can't decide if the writing on the back of the hard hat is for the benefit of the guy walking behind the guy with the helmet on, or some strange attempt at subliminal impression for the wearer. Nonetheless I felt safer knowing it was there as we toured Eastridge's new campus after staff meeting today.

Timely advice to Timothy

Just read this earlier, and it made me think of a few things:

• How timeless the Word of God is
• How easily we forget the advice of the Word of God
  

2 Timothy 6
¹⁷Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. ¹⁸Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. ¹⁹In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.