What ranks up there with a new car? New shoes!! Brynne was psyched to get a bunch for her 16th! She will celebrate Sweet 16 on Saturday with three close friends. Our plans are somewhat of a surprise to her, but it will be a nice day to cap the week! 

Brynne knew right away that she wanted her S3 decal on the back window. What a cool organization - Students Standing Strong. This is the third year for the organization and it has swept the district, received lots of local press and even national attention. Check it out online
www.studentsstandingstrong.com Brynne and Lacey are both reps at the high school and have particpated at the middle school in addition to volunteering for various elementary events. 

It didn't take long for some friends to check out the new ride! The good news is that Texas law says that new drivers are only permitted to take one friend at a time. 

Call me crazy, but I suspect Lacey is pretty excited about being the first officer!! 

The new vehicle arrived on the 27th - a day early. She was thrilled to pieces and is excited about this new chapter in her life. 

Gregg was on a stealth mission to find Brynne a car for her 16th birthday. Her first choice was an Explorer and after searching all over the Metroplex he was able to find one in Houston that passed muster. He flew down and drove it home. For about a week it was left at the Hill's place where the vehicle received about 10 hours worth of once overs from Gregg. 

It was bound to happen now, wasn't it? Jacob is sporting his first injury of the new season. Not sure exactly what it is but we can call it a nasty looking bruise. Jake and his dad had some other manly name for it, but it escapes me right now. Thankfully we have pads for just about every part of the body you can cover with a football pads and tomorrow it will be his upper arms. 

Are you ready for some football? Jacob decided to go for another season. This fall (it is still 103 - not very fallish) he moved up to the Junior Division. He is on the black team, one of 5 teams in his division. Juniors are kids that are 9/10. Gregg really likes his head coach and then there are two assistants, both with a tremendous amount of coaching experience including at the college level. This is getting serious... Jacob plans to go to University of Texas and play football so perhaps this will be the genesis of a great football career - ha!








Typical Jacob shot...football player style.





Who is this??? Call me crazy, but this looks like a pretty genuine smile! 

That wraps up the summer and hello 2006-2007 school year. Jacob is a 4th grader at St. Vincent's and he is enthusiastic about all of the additional responsibility 4th grade brings. You will notice that Jacob prefers the serious look in many photos. He claims this is due to the fact that "football" players don't smile in their pics. Jacob is set to play his second year of football and doesn't seem to mind it is 103 during practice!




Brynne returns to the high school as a sophomore and Lacey joined her as a freshman. The school is huge with over 2400 kids. Brynne was excited to see the friends she missed so dearly over the summer and Lacey just glided right into high school life. I am tickled to be back down to two schools! 

Lacey continues to swim. She has been with the club team for one year now, having participated in rec swimming for 5 years. In addition she will be a Panther swimming for the high school. With all of that swimming she can eat my dessert too! 

We accepted the task of organizing a week of lunches/recreation at a local apartment complex. It was a ton of work, but left us with a significant sense of contribution. We discovered over the summer we are deeply touched by those we have been called to serve.
 

All three Mattson kids made return trips to Camp Crucis. This is a highlight of the summer for all three of them. Brynne was old enough to make a return trip as a co-counselor and she found that to be equally meaningful as participating as a camper.

 

Roberto...the little guy that stole two hearts. Roberto is 6 years old and just the cutest little fella. Brynne turns 16 in 2 weeks. She just said that she had a dream and a new car surprised her in the driveway. Roberto was in the car.
If you are inclined at this moment will you pray for Roberto...
 

After many years of hoping to join the church mission trip it was finally a reality for Brynne. And Elizabeth. One of us was gung-ho, no reservations. The other one of us was weepy with the notion of being separated from the rest of the Mattson family for 8 days, sure she was going to get violently ill, dreadfully unsure about 2 very long days in a van - shall I go on? When it was all over both of us said we would do it again.

 

Lacey turned 14 this summer. A trip to the blockbuster of the summer with some friends, swimming and cake. Brynne was close by to keep and eye on things and Jake was close by to...swim around with a bunch of cute girls.

 

It was bound to happen...40. Enough said.
Brynne ensures that the waitress knows there is a birthday girl present. Thankfully the singing trio didn't read English...or only sing to cute teenage girls.
Lacey and Jake are all smiles...give them another 26 and 30 years...












One thing I have counted on each year is the pink cake. I am not sure how many years that has been around, but a lot. The kids generally make it, it has been in every shape and size. One notable birthday it was covered in bite sized Junior Mints.