Hoops of Hope

On November 30, the junior high ministry is participating in Hoops of Hope, which is an organization that helps to raise money for AIDS affected orphans in Africa. It's similar to a walk-a-thon where people go out and get donations, but instead of walking, we take free-throws. In fact, we take 1,000 free throws. I'm going to participate with the kids, and my goal is to raise $1,000. I figure I'll make around 300 free-throws of the 1000, which means I have to get enough people to get $3.33 per shot. If you would like to support me and give a quarter or dime for each shot I make, that would be wonderful. If you would like to support by giving a set amount, like $10, that would be great. I put a link on my blog that you can donate to, and I've created a first givings account that you can donate to which is www.firstgiving.com/johncampbell. Or, you can just let me know and I can write it down, whichever way is easiest for you guys. But it's a great way to help people around the world.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Roderick's Rules

I read this book in it's entirety on our plane ride to New Jersey. It was a real quick, real easy read. It still has a lot of the same characters and the same humor as the first one. It more focuses on the relationship with his older brother, Roderick, who can be tormenting to his little brother. I liked the first one better, but there were still some parts that were super funny and I would still recommend it to anybody who works with Jr. Highers or who is a junior higher, or if you're sense of humor stopped maturing around 6th grade.

Yo Gabba Gabba

This is one of my favorite "kiddie" shows that I watch with Parker. It was started by a guy who is the singer of a band I listened to about 10 years ago, the Aquabats. Check them out by the way. But they get a lot of cool stuff and cool people to come and be a part of the show. Way better than Telletubbies.

Homeless Ministry Pictures

Here are some pictures from Saturday's homeless ministry. We had a great time, and the kids did a great job. They all worked hard and were great about initiating conversations with the people who live under the bridge.

Vacation

Suzy, Parker and I had a great vacation. Suzy's parents live in New Jersey, just outside of New York City, and we flew up there on a Wed. There is a lot of Asian food that Suzy misses, so the first thing we did after we got off the plane was go to this Korean community and eat some Korean food. We mostly just hung around Suzy's house that day, and saw some of her friends.
The next day, we went to New York and saw the Yankees play. That was awesome, because it was the 4th to last game ever at Yankee Stadium. We were in the same place where Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio, Babe Ruth, and Lou Gehrig had played. I don't like the Yankees, but it was cool to be there to see a game. They played the White Sox so I also got to see Ken Griffey Jr. play.
Early Friday morning Suzy and I left for Boston. I had never been up there, so we decided to take a little rode trip. Parker got to stay with the grandparents, and Suzy and I had a little getaway, so it was a win-win. We ate lunch at Cheers, and then did some of the tourist stuff. We ate with Suzy's cousin who goes to Boston College. Boston is now my 2nd favorite city of all time behind San Francisco.
Saturday we drove up to Maine. We stopped in New Hampshire for lunch in Portsmouth, which was a pretty cool little town. Maine was beautiful. We went and saw a lighthouse and hung out on the beach. I couldn't believe that they had surfers in Maine. The waves were about the size of waves in Texas, so nobody was riding them for very long, but there were a lot of them out there. I could have stayed there for a few days, I really loved it. We ate at this little seafood place that was recommended to us. Suzy had a 2.5 lb. lobster. It was humongous. And she ate it all. We stayed the night in New Hampshire and came back to Jersey that night.
The next day we spent the day in New York City. We went to the Natural History Museum to see the dinosaurs. Then we went to the David Letterman show. It was pretty cool, but if you ever go, just be prepared to stand in line for 3 hours. I was so tired of lines by the time we actually got into the theater. But Dave made up for it, he was hilarious. Bill Clinton and Chris Rock were the guests. Chris Rock is super-funny. Bill was pretty interesting too, but I wished Chris was on more. Bill took up so much time that Dave didn't even do a Top 10 list.
Later that night we went to Little Italy and ate with a kid who was in a church I helped out at in Novato, CA. He goes to NYU now, and that was one of the best parts of my trip, hanging out with him. He caught me up on everything going on in his world and with his family. It was great seeing him.
We got back to Jersey late that night, and we had to leave the next morning to come back to Texas. I wish it could have lasted another few weeks (not so much staying with my in-laws, but staying up in New England). The leaves were starting to change colors, the weather was awesome, and there is so much that I've never seen up there. It was a great trip.

Here are some pictures: