Pics from the lake...

Oh yeah! How sweet it is!! Actually, Michelle shot these as I was too busy---in the water!!

Matt Austin's solo

This is one of TJ's best friends, Matt Austin giving improv a whirl at last week's All State Jazz Band concert!!

That's my boy!!

This is TJ Smith improvising yesterday at All-State Jazz in Tulsa! I am very proud of him! I feel terrible, though. I accidentally erased his other solo from my camcorder. Stupid Jeff!

Been gone a while...

I just wanted to give an update to the readers of the ol' blog (thanks mom!!). I just got back from Freedom Camp last week. The Lord did some great things in the kids' lives as well as mine. He set my priorities straight (they were off just a tad) and turned us upside down & let the baggage & junk fall off our shoulders that we carry around and treasure so much. You can read all about the week at http://ontheedgeyouth.blogspot.com/ ---become a follower over there! I am so proud of the 9 kids that went with us and also very proud of the 8 kids that went with our host church, Sageeyah Baptist Church. It was a blast!! It's so cool to have God rekindle the fire that was dwindling because of choices that I had made....

More boat tales....

Okie dokie....my starter problems are gone. But, the real problem is that the engine is somehow ingesting water into the right bank. I thought that the gasket between the exhaust manifold & the riser was suspect, so I replaced it, took it out to the water to test, and no dice....still ingesting water after it sits about 30 minutes in the water. I'm thinking that I just ain't supposed to have a boat!!!

I am thinking that the exhaust manifold is cracked, allowing water to bleed into number 6 cylinder. When I get back from camp, I'll look into this....

In other news, this may be the last blog entry for a bit. I am heading up to Winderemere Missouri on Monday for youth camp. Yes, I am taking 8 of our youth to camp!! It will be our first trip this far away, so pray for us!! This is the same group of kids that have been with us on several Mission of Compassions...I'm very proud of them!!

As the boat turns....

Ok, new starter installed last night and guess what?? No fix! Just grunted so I decided to prove or disprove my hunch that I was afraid to realize and pull the spark plugs. Guess what? I have water in the cylinders!!!!!!! Since the engine is new, this could only be due to a couple of things. 1. a cracked exhaust manifold--it is a "wet" exhaust system. 2. A bad gasket in between the exhaust manifold and the "riser" that looked suspicious and should have been replaced upon reinstalling the engine.

Tonight after church I am replacing the riser gasket in hopes of finally resolving the problem of me being mad at the boat and very grouchy:-)

I'll update later...