Ross, Party of Three: Saying Goodbye

Last night we had our good friend Jon Brown over before he moves to FL. It's a bittersweet time as we've been praying for him to get a great job . . . but obviously if we got to pick the job out of all the jobs possible, we probably would have picked one in Charlotte. But there's not only a job in FL for Jon . . . there's this girl . . . =) So . . . as Greg told him, man-to-man, he made the right choice (it wasn't too long ago that Greg was weighing those options himself).

My family has known Jon since I was 7 and Jon was 5. We even lived across the street from each other for a few years at the end of high school. Oh, and we went to high school together. Jon and Chelle were in the same grade, but because of how Jon's class schedule worked out, I ended up having a handful of classes with him, too. We were on the school's praise and worship band for chapel services together (Jon played guitar, his brother Taylor played drums, Chelle played piano, and I sang). And we ate lunch together most days. . . with a bunch of our teachers . . . because we were all cool and popular like that . . . yea . . . Jon and Taylor have pretty much been the brothers that the 3 Baumgartner girls never had.

Greg got to know Jon through youth group activities at our church and then also played a bunch of jam sessions with Jon and Taylor one summer. And they are both, well, geeks, so they get along really well =) It's always been a huge blessing for me to see Greg's friendship with both Jon and Taylor and how excited he'll get when he has a chance to hang out with those guys.

So last night, we grilled some burgers, played some Farkle and then Greg and Jon pulled out the NES and played Dr. Mario, Mario Brothers and Mario 3 (I think those are the right games . . . ). As I watched them play I was cracking up as these 2 college graduates got transported back to elementary age as they played the games of their childhood. They were sharing shortcuts they remembered and getting super excited at getting 100 lives. I wish I could remember more of the dialog, it was priceless.

We're very sad to see Jon go, but so very excited for him as he makes this big change, starts a fantasic new job, and get's plugged in down in FL. Plus . . . everyone really should have a friend that they can visit who lives in close proximity to a beach =)

And to finish it off, here's a small sampling of pictures . . . some more embarrassing than others, haha.