Not Bad, Not Bad

It may not be a very saintly bribe, but I told Carter if he made sure to get up and go to 8 o'clock church with me this morning, he could drive home.

It must have helped to have plenty of time to pray about it ahead of time, because I was somewhat at ease.

I said somewhat, not completely.

We had to stop to get gas so he learned how to do that. And then we were on the 4-lane for awhile but did not get anywhere up to 65 mph, thank God. Then home. He really did pretty good.

In fact, he was concentrating so hard, he did not even know I snapped a picture! That's good.

He got a chance to drive some more a little bit later, too. After hubby got home from church, the three of us went over to Appleton to visit a dear friend who is in a nursing home recovering from surgery. She and her husband used to babysit Carter once in awhile way back when he was just 2 years old and living on root beer and Popsicles -- when he could get away with it. So they've seen him grow up and it was good we could bring him along.

On the way home, he got to drive the final 5 or 6 miles. He needs to slow down a bit around the corners (two-wheeling won't be good in winter time), but otherwise did just fine.

Tonight we had the end of season cross country banquet. I use the work "banquet" loosely. It was just a sort of potluck collaboration with good food and the coach's awards. The coach was very proud of what our young team (5 sophomores and 3 freshman) accomplished this year -- as individuals and a team. Carter lettered again so that was nice.

The MVP award went to one of the freshman who consistently finished first among our team AND with really good times. The MIP (Most Improved) went to a kid who managed to shave off more than 4 minutes from his PR of last season.

That kid was Carter Austin.

Proud parent moment, that's for sure! He says it's probably because last year he was just that bad. But we think part of it is his dedication and commitment this year. He really wanted to do well, and tried. He definitely is going out again next year.

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday. Seeing our son drive. And seeing him driven.