L leaves on a mission trip

L certainly made the most of her last day home before leaving on the church's mission trip today. After some of her friends left her party this morning, she walked with two others to Lake Street. Then they decided to go to the pool, and followed that with a trip to the grocery store. She didn't get home till after and she must have been up late packing - I found her sound asleep this morning on the sofa with all her luggage nearby and her checklist marked up.

Somehow, I managed to get all three kids ready to be at church at 9 a.m. to pack the vans for the mission trip. Here's L and her friend, R, waiting around after loading the van.

At church, the kids were blessed for their trip ...

and each one received a goody bag:

After church, there was a potluck honoring our youth minister's five years of working with the youth. Her name is Gloria and each kid read from a letter of her name and it was pretty funny. One girl said Gloria "makes church tolerable." We joked that should be the youth group's new motto.

My potluck contribution was this BLT roller recipe from Kraft (I doubled it, but left the cream cheese at 4 ounces as some of the reviews suggested). They're messy, but they taste good. Would make a good party appetizer.

4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) cream cheese, softened
1/4 c. mayonnaise
8 slices cooked bacon, crumbles
1/2 c. chopped tomato
1/2 c. shredded romaine lettuce
Flour tortillas

Mix cream cheese and mayo in medium bowl until blended. Add bacon and tomatoes; mix well. Spread onto tortillas; top with lettuce. Roll up tightly and slice.

I tried to get a picture of the whole group before they left for the mission trip, but the people in the other van - four kids and two adult leaders - were already in the van and ready to go before I could get my camera out of my purse. I was able to get a picture of L and the people she'll be riding with to Michigan. (B drove L home during church to get the Care Bear).

Since B was with me at church, I couldn't let pass up the opportunity to take him shopping for college before taking him home. I think he's pretty much ready. He travels light.