County Fair

Every other summer our staff conference begins with a fun night for families after a short meeting to welcome everyone. Carnival rides, games and food are set up on a parking lot and thousands of people pour into the roped-off area for a great night at the "County Fair." Grant and Kate look forward to this night with great excitement. Here are a few pictures of this year's "fair."

Estes Park

The kids and I took another trip into Estes Park the other day. We happened to choose a cool and rainy day, but we had a good time anyway. We enjoyed looking at the shops and walking along the creek. The kids were excited to try caramel apples for the first time. The drive back was just gorgeous! I love the mountains! It's times like these that I wonder why we ever left Colorado. But really, I know it is because God brought us to where we live and minister now. And even Colorado is not better than where ever God has called us to be. :-)

Kate by the creek


Grant on rocks by the creek


Caramel apples ~ Yum!

YMCA of the Rockies

This is one of my favorite views!
(Click on the picture to get a better idea of how beautiful the view is!)
It is what you see from the big porch of the administration building at the YMCA of the Rockies Camp near Estes Park, Colorado. In our ministry with high school students, my husband and I have spent a week at the Y~camp for many summers as we have helped put on our summer conferences. The camp has great activities for younger kids as well, like day camps, that Grant and Katie have really enjoyed.

Yesterday we drove to Estes Park and, of course, found our way to the Y~Camp. We sat on the huge porch in front of the ad. building and took in the view. The camp recently celebrated their 100 year anniversary and had a sculpture put on the grounds to commemorate the occasion. The kids enjoyed playing on it. :-)
















Isn't that a fun sculpture for a YMCA camp? :-)



Besides being a place that we love, the Y~Camp also plays a role in our family history. When Dave's father was a boy, his family spent many summers in a cabin at the camp. His father was a teacher, so he had the summers off and he spent them with his boys, fishing and hiking near Estes Park. The family always stayed in the same cabin and the two boys even built a tree house in a tree by their cabin.

Yesterday we decided to go find the actual cabin that Dave's dad stayed in all those summers. When we found it, we wondered, "Where did the boys build their treehouse?" We saw a big tree right next to the little cabin. Could it have been in that one? Guess what we saw up in that tree?














Can you believe it?! Those boards were put there by two little boys over 60 years ago!

It was exciting for our family to see the remnant of the treehouse still up there in that tree! It was fun to imagine what their summers were like and all the fun they had exploring and playing in the area. Dave grew up hearing stories of those summers. Now we tell our children stories about Granddad and his summers at the Y~Camp.

Birthday Parties Are Fun

Kate & Anna are ready to party!


The bubble-catching game was a hit! :-)


Birthday girl, Emma, Anna, Kate and Caeley wait their turn during a game.

Fourth Of July Fun

There is a tradition here for the kids in this apartment complex to decorate their bikes and scooters and ride them in their own little parade on the 4th of July. Grant and Katie were thrilled to be a part of it and set to work decking out their bikes in red, white and blue. At the appointed time everyone met together and a dad on a motorcycle led the parade of kids around the parking lots a couple of times, while moms and dads ran along to get pictures. It was actually quite fun and the kids were so proud to be in a parade! :-)

Visitors!

We've had some visitors! Our friend, Arthur, and his four kids stayed with us for a few days on their way to visit the kids' grandparents who live a few hours away. We had lots of fun with them! Grant and Katie last saw Arthur's kids three years ago when they visited us, but they picked up right where they left off last time and had a blast together. There were some tears when they left yesterday. We sure hope we will see them before another three years go by!

Dave and the kids hit the pool.


The boys were really focused on a video game ~ serious business! :-)

YUM! :-)

What do you do on a hot summer day?

Caeley, Emma, Anna and Kate enjoy freezy pops

Grant and Erik dry off by the pool

On the Road Again

A few days ago we packed up the ol' minivan and headed west. We are now mostly settled in an apartment in Colorado and this will be our home away from home for the next six weeks! The kids are thrilled because our apartment faces the swimming pool and because there are a lot of kids around here to get to know! :-) My husband is taking classes at the university in town for the next four weeks and then we will both be attending a training conference for the following two weeks. There will be a lot of information to stuff into our brains, but we are excited to be here and looking forward to what God will teach us this summer.

P.S. Thank you, Megan, for house-sitting for us while we are gone!!!

Katie and Grant were excited to FINALLY hit the pool that is right outside our front door! :-)

Katie made a new friend, Anna, who just happens to be the daughter of a friend of mine! How fun is that? :-) Katie and Anna are like two peas in a pod and their moms are delighted that God has brought them together!

School's Out!

Do you see those happy faces? Grant and Kate finished their school work for the year last week and they are officially off for the summer! Now they have time to play at the park and spend time with friends. That is their friend, Krystal, in the photos above, whose cat recently had kittens. :-)

Oh, Happy Day!

Today is Grant's "Gotcha Day." It is hard to believe that NINE years have passed since that day that God brought our son to us. Wow. We were so excited and nervous. Grant was placed in our arms and suddenly we were parents. All of the sorrow and pain and aching melted when we looked into his face. Oh, we still remember the journey, but the sweetness of having Grant in our lives has softened it and given purpose to the pain and the long wait.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
~Proverbs 13:12

Grant is full of energy, always bouncing and running about, rather like Tigger. :-) He loves to ask questions and express himself and he will talk your ear off if you let him. He has a great imagination and is lots of fun to be with. Grant loves people and makes friends easily. He is smart and capable and has compassion for people in need. It is such a joy to be his mom!

Grant's Gotcha Day is also Dave's birthday! What better birthday present could he have ever gotten than the gift of a child and the privilege of being a father? :-) We are so thankful!

Slip - N - Slide

Whenever the temperature reaches the 70's, my kids start begging to play in water. We have a small hill in our yard and my husband put down a long piece of plastic to slide down on. We turn on the hose and, voila!- instant slip-n-slide! :-) Soon neighbor kids joined the fun and we had a slip-n-sliding party going on...and it's not even summer yet! :-)

Homeschool Class at the Zoo

Last week the kids took part in a class for homeschoolers at the local zoo about animals in the African Savannah. I was impressed with what a great job the people from the zoo did at presenting the information in an interesting way and letting the kids have fun as they learned. Part of the time was spent in a classroom and the rest was spent outside looking at the animals.

After class, we explored the zoo a little longer and the kids got to ride a carousel in the park, before we started for home.

Baby giraffe up close and personal. :-)


Fun on the carousel.

Mother's Day 2007

I am a mother because of God's gift of these two precious ones.


This is what Grant wrote on the card he gave me. I love it! :-)

Neighborhood Garage Sale

When Dave and I first moved to this area, long before we had kids, we saw some signs advertising for an upcoming neighborhood garage sale ~ involving 200+ families! Now, I love garage sales, but I had never heard of so many sales in one place at the same time and I couldn't wait to check it out. That Saturday, we drove to the neighborhood where we had seen the signs, and the closer we got, the worse the traffic got. We finally parked in a grassy field by some other cars and set off to see the sales.

Oh my goodness. It was unbelievable. Throngs of people filled the streets. There were garage sales at several houses on each street. There were people selling hotdogs, hamburgers, pop, coffee, bottled water, cotton candy, cookies, chips, doughnuts and candy. There were even port-a-potties! It was like a carnival. We stood there with our mouths open for a minute and then my husband said, "I have never seen anything like this in all my live-long days!" That was about 12 years ago and we have gone to this neighborhood sale almost every year since. Even my kids save their allowance and look forward to this particular day of garage sales.

Well, today was the day. Grant and Katie brought their money and looked for kid-sized bargains at each sale. I brought the old baby stroller along to hold our purchases. We shopped. We bought snacks. We saw friends. And, we even visited the port-a-potties. (At least Grant did. :-))

Many years ago, Dave saw the money-making potential at this event and now uses it to help high school students earn money to attend our ministry's summer conference. So, the kids and I shopped like crazy and Dave grilled 350 hotdogs and 175 hamburgers and we are all exhausted. :-) But, it was a great day. Now we can start saving for next year...

Grant waits in one of the port-a-potty lines. :-)

The "grill master" and students raising money. :-)

Katie and Grant at the end of a day at the sales.

Mother’s Day Giveaway

5 Minutes For Mom is having a Mother's Day Giveaway! Check out the link below for great prizes you can win!

Happy May Day!

The kids made May baskets today to give to some of our neighbors. They flew through their school work so that they would have time to do the baskets. They had a blast making them and then leaving them on doorsteps, ringing the bell and running! :-)

Not braces...yet

Grantie recently got a retainer that he has to wear as much as possible for the next six weeks. He is only supposed to take it out for meals and playing sports. After six weeks, he won't have to wear it quite as often, but will have to wear it some for a few months. He has really been a trooper about it so far. And he is learning to speak pretty well with it in his mouth, which isn't all that surprising because he always finds a way to talk! :-)

Spring

Happy Easter!
April 8, 2007

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. ~ 1 Peter 1:3

Where does the time go? Easter was over a week ago, already. The days have been sunny and warmer and the kids spend every moment possible playing outside with their friends. It is a relief to see the sun and feel its warmth. Spring has really come!

I could not resist buying a bunch of tulips at the grocery store today. Such a simple thing, but they make me smile every time I look at them. They are beautiful and seem to be bursting with joy. I love tulips! :-)

Happy Birthday, Grant!

It was early morning and the house was quiet. Everyone was sleeping. Well, almost everyone. All of a sudden, we heard a happy voice shouting, "Wake up, everyone! It's my birthday! Wake up!" And that is how Grant's 9th birthday began.

After a breakfast of cereal and jelly beans, Grant opened presents from Katie, Dave and I. Then we loaded up and headed out to...Chuck E. Cheese's. Yep, we did it. We had a birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese's. Wow. There is so much stimuli there...lights, bells, whistles, games, prizes, videos, music, dancing, cake and pizza. Grant and the other boys at his party could barely manage to sit at the table long enough to eat and watch the opening of presents before launching themselves back to all those games, just showing their faces when they needed more tokens. :-)

This is the first time one of the kids has had a party that we have not hosted in our home and I have to admit it was rather nice not to have all the prep and clean-up. It was definitely a different kind of party than we've had before, but I think everyone had a good time.

Happy Birthday, Grant! You bring so much life and joy to our lives. We are so thankful that God has blessed us with such a wonderful son as you!

Construction Zone

We have finally begun to finish the lower levels of the house! Dave and the kids started with the area that will become Grant's room. These pictures were taken the first day Dave started working and he has gotten a lot done since then. It is so exciting to see walls going up and closets and doorways taking shape. It sure makes it easier to imagine how it will all look now! :-)