Summer winding down

It has been a LONG time since I have updated! Summer has been crazy busy!!
The kids are now both back at school! Bailey in 10th grade and Grif in middle school! Donna didn't like the fact that Grif is in middle school! He is very excited and likes all the new experiences so far!
Bailey got to pitch in her first Varsity game on Saturday and threw a 1 hit shutout! We were very excited for her and proud of how hard she is working to get better!
Being a part of the interim worship team at church takes up more time than I had originally hoped it would, but it is going well so far. The team has gotten a lot of positive feedback on the worship sets that we have done over the summer!
City Council is going GREAT! I enjoy serving the city! It is far more rewarding than I could have ever expected!
Donna is back at school and is looking forward to a great year!

1955 Bel Air convertible that I got to drive the bride and groom away in!

Our niece got married this summer and I haven't had a chance yet to post the pictures, so that is why there are so many pictures this time!!
C

Prayers and Life

There is a lot going on!! (Isn't there always?) Anyway.....
We are praying for 2 families in our life! The Startup family has a child in Egleston. Copeland quit breathing and his Mimi performed CPR and brought him back! God has had his hand in that whole situation!! We are praying for complete healing for Copeland with no lasting effects!! If you would like to read Will's blog, click this link:
http://willlaurenstartup.blogspot.com/ (you may want tissues before you start!!)
We are also praying for the complete healing of Bob Collier! Melanie was Shep's consultant on his campaign and I got to know Melanie and Bob through that process! Bob's cancer has come back, and only God can fix it! I am praying God will do just that and give Bob a beautiful testimony to share with the world!

Bailey's softball team won their tourney this past weekend!!! Woohoo! We played extremely well and I hope this is just a little of what is to come!

Grif is full on into VBS this week and playing outside as much as possible!! I remember those days as a kid very fondly! I hope he does as well later in life!

Work and City Council are going well. Church is going extremely well considering we are sending two pastors off into the mission field! My prayer is that our church family will work hard to keep things going in the right direction while we are searching!!

This weekend is the Euharlee Que Festival!! Many craft and food vendors and great activities for the kids! Come on out and enjoy Euharlee this weekend!!

Spring Happenings

SCHOOL is out!! woohoo. Yeah, if you could hear the tone in my voice when I say woohoo, you would catch the sarcasm!! It is very difficult to get out of bed in the morning to head to workout and then the office, when everyone else in the house is getting some serious sleep! Jealous.
Spring is always very busy for us. Grif's baseball season has ended though and it is a little easier! They didn't win a game, but he got better. Grif seems to WANT to be great, without putting the work in to be great. I'm trying to instill in him that without the effort, results won't be good, but he doesn't get it yet!
Bailey is doing well at softball and now school summer practices have started as well, so there are days when she has school practice in the morning and travel ball practice in the evening! She DOES understand that results match effort and she works hard! Makes a couple of parents proud!

We had a great memorial day weekend!! Grif and I rented a kayak from Euharlee Creek Outfitters and went for a ride down the Euharlee Creek, into the Etowah River all the way to Hardin Bridge Road. We had a BLAST!!! Sunday, I helped lead out in worship at church and it was INCREDIBLE worship!! Sunday afternoon we all just rested! Donna and I went with some friends to eat and had a great time!
Monday we relaxed all day and had a neighborhood cookout in the evening! Which involved a corn hole tournament! Bailey and Donna finished in 3rd place!!! Grif and I went undefeated and won!!
We had a great weekend full of great memories! I hope the rest of the summer is as wonderful!
C

Wonderful spring!!

Baseball for Grif is in high gear, as is softball for Bailey!
It unfortunately is the time of year that Donna gets stressed over her kids taking the CRCT!
Work for me is very slow, which is a little scary.
We are getting to spend a lot of time doing things that we like to do together (which generally involves a ballpark somewhere!)
I have taken a one-third role at church of interim music until we find a new music minister. A little scary, but a lot fun.
The City Council is going great and I am enjoying my time there more than I could have ever dreamed, so I am very thankful for this opportunity!

This past weekend Donna, Bailey and Lorraine headed to Alabama for a wedding shower, so Grif and I got a great guys weekend in! He had a ballgame Friday night! Saturday's game got rained out, so when the day cleared off pretty nice, we headed to the river to wet a line! No fish, but we had a blast together! Probably need more of those outings with him!!

That about covers it!
C

Struggling a little!

We all go through stuff in life! No doubt being able to lean on God, friends and family helps during those times. I have the best wife in the world to partner with in these times and that makes a lot of stuff bearable!
Bailey had her first ever "serious" trouble! She is learning a valuable lesson. It has broken our hearts to have to discipline her, but discipline is as much of love as hugs and kisses! Having Donna to hold to, cry with, and snuggle up to has made this week better!
Many other things to mention.... A lot of time and energy going into City Council right now! Our worship pastor is leaving to become a lead pastor at a new church! That is amazing for him and our church to be planting a new church, but from a choir leadership perspective I can't help but be a little concerned over our ministry! I'm trying to give those concerns to God, but right now I'm hanging on to the fear with both arms!!
C

February busy

Continuing our life theme right now.... the Guyton's are busy!
Bailey's travel ball is gearing up (first tourney on March 10th). Griffin is about to start baseball. Both are working hard in school. Bailey is heading to Savannah this weekend for All-State.
I just got back from Athens and the Georgia Municipal Association's newly elected officials training. I had a good time meeting people, but it was an overwhelming amount of information!
We are trying to find a weekend to slip over to Birmingham to see the newest addition to the family, but are struggling with finding the time.
My workouts are going well, and therefore my health is doing very well right now.
Life continues to be good and God continues to bless us beyond what we deserve!
C

Warm winter days!!

It has been beautiful in North Georgia for "winter"!! Above 60 degrees during the day! I'm actually wearing a short sleeve polo shirt today! (if you read this in Cleveland Janet, sorry for rubbing it in!!)
Grif's basketball season is over and it won't be long until we are full swing into baseball and softball! I hope to enjoy a month or so down time first!
I have a trip coming up for Newly Elected Officials training and we are looking for a weekend when we can sneak over to Birmingham to see our great niece!!
My January cardiologist visit went extremely well!! He was very happy with my blood numbers and my heart looked "beautiful" during the echo-stress test! He was pleased and so were we!
Bailey and Grif both have some improvement to do in school! I wonder if the mid-year doldrums have set in? Either way, I've got put a boot to butts to get the doldrums out!!
I'm looking to see if there is a political race that I can get neck deep in this summer!! A couple of good possibilities, but we will see.....
I'm looking forward to a great weekend chilling with the family!
C