Happy Bithday Hope

Today Hope is Four!!! It just doesn't seem possible and her dad commented on his way out the door that it is four going on fourteen. Very true! :-)

He really is a good boy

Just for all concerned, Hell's Half Acre is a canyon in Wyoming where the Native Americans would drive herds of Buffalo over the cliff to kill them. Someone built a restaraunt right at the edge of this place which is closed and all boarded up. Michael had a piece of wire in his pocket and when his Grandma J jokingly told him that she would like to see in there why don't they break in, he started poking that wire into the lock and with out even meaning to or knowing what he did he popped the lock. So they ll had alook inside. Nothing was broken or stolen and they locked it back when they left. So nobody turn him in. He is a good boy!!!

There's No Place Like Home!

Well we made it home all in one piece. Here is a brief over view of all of our adventures. Day one- Left home 6:20 am drove through Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming. Arrived in Douglas around seven and checked into the hotel. Then headed out to the Harmeyer Ranch. Patty and Flo were there already. Tom and Craig having trouble getting a flight, not sure if they will make it.Hope got to try to bottle feed the calf whose mother had died. She was not afraid at all and when the calf wouldn't take it from her she started offering it to all the others. Spent a nice evening sitting around afire laughing and catching up. We were all surprised when the phone rang and it was Glenda( the hated sister in law) calling to say she was in Douglas at the same hotel we were all at. I thought Patty was going to come unglued for a minute. luckily Glenda was leaving early the next morning so no one had to actually see her!:-) Went to bed way to late but very happy! Day two- Headed back to the ranch first thing in the morning. Tom and Craig couldn't get a flight so the headed back to Indiana. Kit, Mike, Patty, Flo and Jim drove to Hells Half Acre to meet Colleens dad and pick up a trailer. they came back telling stories about how Mike picked the lock and broke into the place. ask him about it sometime.Colleen Hope and I had a nice day just running around. Went to the feed store saw Phil at work, Brian was there and invited us to see his new place. Then went to the fairgrounds and saw Peppy, Pam's horse and saw Pammy for a little bit. Hope decided Peppy was a little to big for her to ride but she got to pet him. Everyone came back and we spent the rest of the day visiting and had a feast of Alaskan King Crab and Cod for Supper. it was wonderful. Day three- started with a delicous breakfast of homemade biscuits and gravy. I took a little nap while everyone went to the fairgrounds to pickup Pam and Peppy and bring them home from horse camp. Around five we headed up to the mountains to have the graduation celebration dinner at a neat little restaraunt. It was alog cabin type building, very western, in a small community of about ten-twenty cabins where people live year round. They had the most beautiful church . we went in and the view behind the altar was Amazing. I will post the picture later. after dinner we went back to the ranch to have cake and the graduates opened thier gifts. We got to bed way to late again. Day four- Hit the road to Cody. We stopped on the way so i could see Hells Half acre. got to Cody and went to the Buffalo Bill Museum which is actually five museums in one. We went through the whole thing very fast. The plains Indian museum was my favorite. There were quite a few things on the Blackfoot tribe. It was great. We ended the day at the Cody Night Rodeo. The kids really liked it but Hope slept through about half since it didn't even start until 8pm. Day five- On to Yellowstone! We checked into our cabin. i was very happy to see it was not quite as rustic as I had imagined! We saw Old Faithful and a bunch of springs and geysers. Everytime Hope smelled the sulpher smell she would say"Mike you stink!" We had dinner in the hotel dining room. It was very FANCY. real silver and china even! Mike and I had pan seared duck breast and Kit had a bison steak. Hope had chicken strips of coarse! It was all very yummy!! We saw tons of Elk and Bison and even a Bison calf with its mommy. We got back to the cabin to find a Bison right in the parking lot. Day Six- Started at the mud volcano, then went to the lower falls and the grand canyon of Yellowstone. Took a great hike up to the top of the canyon . Realized that we are really out of shape!! Drove up to Mammoth springs for lunch, a picnic in the grass. Saw Elk walking all through the town. It is a neat historic spot, I would like to stay there next time. Went to the coyboycookout after seeing the tower Roosavelt falls (where thelady fell the Sat. before) We rode wagons out to Pleasant Valley where the cookout was set up. On the menu, Ribeyes, potato salad, Rosies beans,coleslaw, huckelberry crisp ,watermelon and corn bread muffins. Yum!! Cowboy Bob played the guitar and told cowboy stories . We saw Tandy's twin working here and tried to get his picture. I think he thought we were stalking him! HA HA!! On the way back to the cabin we saw a real live grizzly bear! day seven-checked out of the cabin, headed south, stopped in Jackson Hole bought some souveniers and had lunch. Continued on to Vernal Utah. We ended up with a suite which the kids loved because they got thier own room and tv. We were so tired so we just ordered a pizza and stayed in the room. it was nice. Day eight- after breakfast stopped at the dinosaur museum in town then went out to the quarry where we went on a great tour and were able to see bones being excavated and even got to touch real dinosaur bones. it was ver cool! then we drove to Golden Colorado. We stayed at the Marriot. they had the nicest beds of any of our rooms. We ordered the kids room service. Travis and Christiana ( sorry I know that isn't spelled right) came over to the room and hung out with us for a while. It was so great to see them. I will never get over Travis being so grown up! Day nine- Went to breakfast with Travis and Christiana then we got to see His office, messy but impressive,and her office and lab also very impresive. Mike was in awe the whole time. After saying goodbye we hit the road for home. We drove it seems like forever but finally made it and there trully is no place like home!

FAT FAT FAT

We are leaving in 6 days for vacation and I am desperately trying to lose weight but the harder I try the tighter my clothes seem to get!! I know it is my own fault for waiting till two weeks before we leave to get serious about it. Oh well there is always next years vacation to look good for! HA HA!! I have to leave here in one hour for Turning Point. I am not looking forward to it. I am definitely ready for this vacation. We leave here Friday morning and will spend the first three nights in Douglas, WY. While we are there we will see Kit's Uncle Jim and Aunt Coleen (or Aunt Clean as Hope calls her) Patty, Tom and their friends Flo and Craig will be there also. There will be a graduation party one of the days for Coleen(nursing school) and Pammy (high school) It should be fun. Then we will head up to Cody,WY where we will see the rodeo and visit the Buffalo Bill museum. Then it is off to Yellowstone and Jackson Hole, WY. We don't have plans after that. We are still discussing whether we will try to go to Vernal UT to the dinosaur museum or whether we will try to go see Travis on the way back. Guess we better make up our mind soon. Anyway I am looking forward to being away from Turning Point for a couple of weekends. But not you Kathy and Megan, I will miss you!

THE BEASTS

 

FROM OUR HOUSE TO YOURS

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

vacation!

we are counting hours till we leave now! i am so ready to get out of town.
i have most of my loose ends tied up at church. i went to staff meeting last night
and it freaked me out a little! i think this new guy is going to expect alot more from the leadership than i am able to do. we will see.
geoff's last turning point service went really well and i made it through without
crying to much!
hope is doing so good on potty training! she has been telling us when she needs to go
and has been staying dry most of the day. she loves the wizard of oz (or lizard movie
as she calls it) and does a great impression of the wicked witch! last night at dinner
i asked her if she wanted milk in her cup and she said "something with poison in it"
in her best witches voice! it was hilarious!!
!

mike is finally over whatever horrible bug got in his tummy. poor kid i never thought

a fun trip to worlds of fun would make him so sick. he is having a great summer so far

i think. he would move in with tuncle an a flash if i would let him or with granny annie.

i couldn't let him go though he makes me laugh too much!

i will have lots to blog about when i get back so watch for my update

and have a happy 4th OF JULY!

I hate annual conference!

It just isn't right that all the people in the church you would ever need to answer questions or that actually know what is going on should be gone at the same time!

It's just wrong I tell you!!!!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday to You!
Happy Birthday to my MOMMY!!!!!!!!
Happy Birthday tooooooooooo Yoooooouuuuuu!

I hope you enjoyed your day.We can't wait to see you and celebrate tomorrow.
Hope is bringing you a candle to blow out. She is concerned that you would not have one.
I love You!!! Happy Day! :-)

Wake Up!

Today is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Psalm 118:24

Mother's Day

I really love being a mother!
Both of my kids bring me more joy than I could ever have imagined.
I never understood how my mom could look at me and never see any flaws
and truly believe that I could do anything I wanted. But now I know.

I Love You Mommy!

prayer cross 

Hope, chicken riding at Grannie's house 

they loved it!

the prayer corner, or "prayer grotto" was very well recieved and made a wonderful addition to our worship gathering last night!
My first attempt at planning worship went okay but not as sooth as it should be.
transitions, transitions, transitions! :-)
i will be at the church today again to meet with geoff and then with kathy, debbie and nicole.
then i will go to sam's club, come home work on laundry, pick up the house and fix something for supper. looks like a long day ahead.

roller coasters

I feel like I have been on many rollercoaster rides in the last week.
Last Thursday I got up with Kenny's alarm and actually got in the shower and got dressed like a grown up. I got the kids breakfast, took Mike to school ( because he missed the bus due to the fact that it takes me so darn long to blow dry all this mess of hair I have now) and took Hope to Kids First. What would I do without Kids First?!
I met with Geoff who prayed with me and I saw Joel on the way through who commented that my outfit was good( this was not harassment. I had previously consulted him on what to wear)
and that I would be representing Crossroads well.
Even with all this support and confidence,
I still felt like throwing up!
I was worried about being with all these educated people who knew what to expect, who knew what they were doing and were not walking into this alone.
Okay I know it was just a worship conference not a world peace summit but to me Thursday morning, it was a mountain to climb.
And I discovered that all these educated people who knew what was going on were there with the same questions I had and that in at least a few cases I was able to use our little worship gathering's experiences to give advice. It was an awesome experience! I met people from all over the country and who worship in every way you could think of and I learned so much from them I can't even process it all yet but I am trying.
I missed my kids terribly even though I was able to come home every night,they were in bed already. I think Kenny had a great bonding experience with them through it all.
Saturday we only met for half the day. I was only home for a couple of hours when the phone rang and it was Megan wanting to know if she could come out and bring me a copy of the CD she just recorded. It is a glorious thing and I can't hear it without crying! I know she is destined to do big things for the lord and I will be able to say I knew her when!
Sunday instead of having Turning Point we took a field trip to a church in downtown KC. It is an emerging worship community that has two gatherings on Sunday and draws 500 or so per service. I loved most of it ! The best thing for me was to see that we are not to far off what is happening out there! I am way too Methodist to ever suggest a two hour long service though!
Monday I spent a lot of time using my new knowledge of worship planning to try to get ahead a little.
Tuesday we had a really good practice, even though we were all so tired.
Kenny has been working so much this week I feel like I haven't seen him in two weeks! He will have to work tomorrow even though he is supposed to have Fridays off now. They are having a big shut down and construction which they will try to get done tomorrow so that they will not have to work on Saturday. Either way, he is so tired already that I imagine he will be sleeping anytime that he does have off and wake just in time to go back to work Monday morning.
I spent today at the church putting together a prayer corner in the sanctuary. I will try to get pictures on here this weekend.
This afternoon was beautiful and when Mike got home we all went outside and played together. Everything is starting to turn green and little sprouts of things I had forgotten are shooting up everywhere! I love it!
The garden has lettuce, onions, beets, carrots and peas coming up. No sign of potatoes yet.
Tomorrow the kids and I will head south to Stark. Mike is ready for his granny and grandpa to spoil him. Hope wants to stay too but not enough to go pee pee in the potty. Maybe soon!
I am just hoping for a cheeseburger and a nap!

radical hospitality

Tonight's scripture, Mark2:13-17
we had a meal during our service. the food was okay.just an extended family having a meal together and enjoying some good music. it was relaxed and happy.
the sermon right on!
then, communion.
we had one long table for us all. the bread and the cup started at one end and made its way down, each person serving communion to the next. Michael was across the table from me and i watched him(very proudly) as he took the bread and cup and then passed it on to the person next to him. we all watched in silence as the elements came around the end of the table. gary served me. hope was in my lap. the bread and cup came to me and i served hope and then kala on my right. then we watched as it reached the end of the table going from one person to the next and it was beautiful! there was some whispering along the way but mostly silence.
this is my favorite communion memory

daylight savings

i was never aware until i got married that there are people in this country who never do this time change thing. they happily go about there lives getting up and going to bed at the same time , they never spend weeks getting there bodies or their kids sleep schedules to adjust. they just don't do it! today i wish i lived there!
driven is going on the road this morning! we had always intended to do it. but the farthest we have ever gotten away from the church was to the community park swimming pool to play for our own church members. today we are going to independence to play at chris's new church. it is exciting to think of spreading the message to that many more people( about triple what we normally play for) it makes me a little nervous to sing in front of that many people i don't know.
this morning when i signed on my computer was full of love! it made me happy :-)
thanks nicole!
i love you to megs!

just swimming

yesterday I was in the kitchen doing my thing. i was vaguely aware of hope sitting in the living room in my red wingback chair, watching television. i think it was dora. when i finished what i was doing i went to see what was going on and there sat hope, butt naked and all i could hear was a drip drip drip noise. i immediately started yelling "did you pee in the chair?"
she very calmly looked up at me , smiled and said " no, i'm swimming" It was then that I saw the empty bottle of water laying on the floor beside her.
how can you stay mad at that kind of creativity?

update

okay here is the update.
Basketball season is over. Adrian white team finished third. Mike recieved a very cool medal and is already looking forward to next years season. I will try to get him in a basketball camp this summer.
They will do the first part of his tests to get into the gifted program any day now. The school counselor does the first test and the gifted program coordinator does the second part. I asked her when they would do it and she said sometime between now and the end of the school year. I will be so relieved when it is done.
Mike has also decided to become a drag racer and is obsessed with cars these days. All I can say to him is "go talk to your dad about that" If it goes very far beyond turning the key and pushing the gas or the brake I am lost. Last night at church he started drawing pictures of the car he wants to drive someday and trying to sell them to everyone there for $1. We had a talk on the way home about how I would really like it if he didn't do that at church anymore and if he wanted to sell his pictures to maybe put them on the front of greeting cards. He thought that was a great idea and will be hitting you all up shortly to buy his cards.
Hope is the reason they invented cabinet locks and electrical outlet covers. I swear she is trying to give me a stroke some days. We have given up potty training again. I know she is ready but with the virus she had it was too hard to stay in big girl panties. I just haven't gotten the gumption up to try again. I am shooting for next Monday. I will let you know how it goes.Dora be ready for a phone call!
Her new favorite phrase is "whatever" and she rolls her eyes when she says it.
I took the kids to the Easter egg hunt that the church put on. They had this person in a bunny suit and it scared her to death! she got tons of candy and had alot of fun but when we got home
the only thing she could talk about was that BIG bunny. I was afraid we would be up all night but so far no nightmares!
Kenny is on vacation this week from his paying job. He has a list longer than my leg of things to do here so I don't plan on seeing him too much. He loves driving Hilda Honda to work everyday. He also loves his new garden tiller. He put almost as much work into it as he did into the car and it is a beautiful thing! Our garden is ready to plant any day now.
I have been very busy with stuff for the church. The kids choir is awesome. We has our first performance with seven beautiful and talented girls. I am so thankful for these girls who know what they are doing so I do not have to teach them to much. They are actually teaching me a few things. Last week we got one new girl and Mike. Hopefully next practice we will have Justin too. I dreamed last night that i got to practice and there were 100 kids there.
I have also been doing alot of reading about Emergent or Emerging worship. It has become a bit of an obsession of mine. I am going to a worship conference on it in April and cannot wait!
I have alot more to add but no more time right now!

Rock

ROCK
Michael

Hard and cold
I am everywhere.
Strong and Bold.
People tread on me.
If I'm jagged
OW!!!
Run away
crying.