Spent some quality time with my teen this weekend and tried something we have wanted to do for a while.  Great Saturday night chasing gar on Canadian river.

I came across this in a blog from Focus on the Family.  These are tips to share with your children.  

Where did my baby go?  Julie is 10 now and in the 5th grade.  We have started week 3 of school and everyone is settled in.   Let the homework, activities, soccer and football games begin.  It's funny how I plan my year by a school calendar where as Mike thinks of a new year in January.  

It was an early morning.  Julie's bus came at 7 AM and the boys followed shortly after.  Summer if officially over!  It was hard to watch them all hop on a different bus and head off to school.  This is the first time I haven't had a child at the elementary school in years.   Beau is a freshman, Jack 8th grade and Julie a 5th grader.  Now I can't wait for them to come home so I can hear the stories about their day!

Slaughter Pen is a bicycle trail system in Bentonville AR.  I rode it recently with my 2 teenage sons and had a blast. We rode most of the trails in Phase 1 and 2 and look forward to visiting again.

Michelle was out of town for the weekend and I enjoyed a game that lasted over 3 hours with the kids.  Dad lost....

Kids are at New Life Ranch this week.   Mike and I celebrated our 17th wedding anniversary on Saturday so we have been celebrating it all week!  Summer has not slowed down one bit as boys have basketball and Julie has been keeping busy with VBS camps during the day with her friends.  With the kids gone I have no one to take our picture so here is an old pic to enjoy and a selfie from this week!

Kirk of the Hills will be celebrating One Nation Under God this Sunday at 6:00pm.  Come and enjoy the Kirk choir and listen to the guest speaker....  yours truly, Lt. Col. Michael Jansen, Ret.  This is an annual event held by The Kirk.   Mike is honored to be asked to speak.  If you want more details you can log onto The Kirk.  

During my Air Force career, I commuted by bicycle often from home to base.  With the river trail system in Tulsa, I have a manageable 11 mile commute one way from home to my office and am back on the bike!!  It's the time of year when bikes, motorcycles and kids are out a lot more.  Put down your phones and pay attention when driving!!  Have a great summer.

Family night playing dominoes.  My cousin Mary was visiting from St. Louis.  The adults beat the kids!!  It was so great to catch up with each other.  We are looking forward to summer as kids are out of school this Friday...it can't come quick enough.