A Boy Scout Sleepover ?

Several weeks ago I received an email from the Denver Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America.  I get emails periodically from them, mostly with updates regarding Council news and upcoming camps.  But this one was different.  This one contained information regarding a "Boy Scout sleepover" at the Pepsi Center, home of the Denver Nuggets.

For a reduced ticket price of admission, any attendees would get to participate in the sleepover, including a few other events: shooting baskets on the floor after the game, watching a movie on the giant big screen above the court, sleeping on the club level overnight, and enjoying some late night snacks and then donuts and juice in the morning.

Of course I purchased tickets for my two Boy Scout sons, and I was able to get two additional tickets for my friend Aaron and his son Nicholas.  Together the 5 of us enjoyed a great evening of professional basketball (so what if the #1 team in the NBA beat the Nuggets like they were high school players), some card games, and fun conversations.  We also learned some valuable lessons for the next time including where to try and "camp" as a group (there are four "open" boxes that face the court/ice, as well as a restaurant area where they turn the lights off at night - the rest of the club level was lit up as bright as could be ALL NIGHT LONG which made sleeping a tough endeavor).

We all also got a special patch for the boys' sashes.  I think it's pretty cool, and certainly one that none of the other boys in their troop will have.


Song Of The Day:
The pictures above tell plenty of other stories, but I saved one to include here because it goes specifically with today's song.  "Good Morning" from the movie Singin' In The Rain is probably more about the amazing dancing, but the phrase it's great to stay up late, good morning, good morning to you was running through my mind as I walked around the arena in the early morning hours ...
and subsequently snapped this photo of the sunrise.

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Remember Pen Pals ?

I remember having a 'Pen Pal' back in the 3rd or 4th grade.  I do not remember much about the experience, but a few things stand out.
 - It was cool to get a letter from your pen pal
 - It was enjoyable to learn how you were similar to your pen pal
 - It was interesting to learn about someone else's life
 - Most of the time, it was fun to write these letters ... even if you hated writing



I am sure Jeremy will never
forgive me for using this picture
from our Disneyland trip in 2008.

Without any intention to do so, I have become "Pen Pals" with a good friend of mine, whom I have not seen but once in the last 10 years or so.
I got to know him through church because our wives were friends and we sorta started hanging out as small families (we each had just 1-2 kids at that time).  His job took him to AZ and then recently to TX, but we have kept in contact through email all this time.

We sometimes go several months without having time to write one another back.  We haven't "hung out" in a long time.  Our families have grown quite a bit (7 and 4 kids, respectively) and perhaps our stomachs too.  :(  But we are still connected and each email is just like a compilation of conversations we would have had if we still saw each other more often.

Through it all, the same things I remember about my grade school pen pal experience are still true now.  It's great to hear from him, no matter how long it's been.  We still share so many similarities and it is fun to hear how things are going for him and his family.  And I always love writing him back, especially because he doesn't care about punctuation or rambling sentences and thoughts or even when I randomly jump from one subject to the next.  Thanks for being my pen pal Jeremy!

Song Of The Day:
One of my recent favorite songs is "Heaven's Highest Hill" by Blue Jupiter.  The song is actually about a husband/father who is grieving the loss of his wife.  But the bigger message of 'love don't stop' is why I'm using it in this post.  I look forward (in no hurry though) to the day when I'll be surrounded by loved ones in heaven, enjoying each other's company and what I'm sure will be some amazing views!

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