Some Fun Pictures

Last night Jadon and Haven were in a mood to have their pictures taken. It doesn't happen often that they both want to pose so we pushed bed time back and had a spontaneous photo session. We had so much fun laughing and they enjoyed coming up with the next pose.

Here's a few shots from our night.

Gavin's Snake Party

This past weekend Gavin turned 8 and he got to have a snake party. It was also nice that it landed on the weekend that the Bischoffs would be in town, so he got to have his cousins at his party. He had a herpetologist come and he brought 4 different snakes with him. At the end of his demostration he let the kids choose between holding a boa or a king snake. Lindsay took pictures of each of the kids that wanted to hold a snake and put their picture in a key chain for them to take home.

I have to admit that I was a little surprised at how interested my sweet little girl was in the snakes. She was the one that sat as close as she could to the snakes. When I saw her work her way to the very front I thought that's okay because once the snakes start coming out she will end up at the very back. I was wrong, she not only stayed up there but she couldn't wait to touch it and hold it. When she was handed the snake she hugged it and let it crawl on her shoulder. Jadon and Jude also held the snake. They are definately their daddy's children.

Jadon, Haven, Jude, Lucas and of course Gavin were the only ones in our family brave enough to hold the snake. Bailey, Micah and Ruth Ann chose not too, I'm with them.

The birthday boy and his snake cake that Erin made.The cousins enjoying the cake.

We had found a shirt at Gymboree that had a snake on it. It was also on sale so Nana bought it for Jadon to wear to the party. It was definately a hit.

He Can Move The Mountains

In between worship in the mornings and the ministry sites at night there was plenty of time for us to have some fun as a family. We were able to go hiking in the mountains on two different days. The first time we took everyone, the second time we took just Jadon with us.

The first day we went to Estes Park and hiked in the Rocky Mountain National Park. We got to see Alberta Falls, a beautiful waterfall, and Bear Lake.

Right before leaving for Denver Todd had found a zoom lens for my camera on the Internet. They were asking $100 for a brand new lens, so Todd offered them $75 and they accepted it. We were hoping that it would come in time for the Denver trip and UPS brought it the day before we left. I was so happy. I was even more happy when I got to use it while hiking through the mountains.

Pictures of us at the beginning of the hike and at the end of the hike at Bear Lake and of our friends that we went with.

Todd and Matt on top of the rock they just conquered. The day started off foggy, but by the end of the day the sky was a beautiful clear blue.Some wildlife that we were able to see. We were surprised at how close the chipmunk would let the kids get.The second trip to the mountains was to St. Mary's Glacier. It was definitely a different hike as in it wasn't as pretty as the prior hike. But once we got to the glacier it was absolutely beautiful. Todd and Jadon played in the glacier. There was a definite climate change the closer you got to the glacier.
To give you an idea of how big the glacier is in the middle of picture on the right hand side you can barely see two people on the glacier. They were on skies hiking their way across it.

We have found Jadon's thing, he loves hiking and climbing rocks. He becomes a totally different boy once we put him in the mountains. He is usually a cautious fearless (I know those don't sound like they go together, but that's Jadon, he loves to do new and daring things, but he's going to go in prepared and cautious) and we're convinced his body if full of nerve endings since he has absolutely no pain tolerance what so ever. But put him in the mountains and he becomes a wild man climbing everywhere.

Just Like In The Bible

After being home from China for 10 days my family took off for Denver to a mission trip led by Global Encounter Ministries. Donna and I drove out with the kids on a Thursday and Todd flew out that next Friday after work. The kids did awesome with the 15 hour drive, they honestly couldn't have done any better. At one point I heard Haven ask how much longer before we were in Denver and Jadon leaned over to her and said, "remember mommy said it was going to be a loooonggg drive, I don't think it's been long enough. You will be okay." I loved it, encouraging his sister.

The kids have been counting down to Denver since several months out. We went last year and they absolutely loved it. Jude was just a few months old last year so it was going to be a different experience for him.

Our week was definitely blessed. Todd got to speak at 3 of the morning worship services, we spent our evenings going to the different sites and letting the kids participate in that group's ministry while I walked around and took pictures. It was a blessing to see all these students loving on the kids.

Our first night of ministry we went to the city park and another park, both just down the street from the church we slept at all week. I got to take pictures of some precious little kids and Todd got to stop a fight and physically walk a kid off the park. All was good until a mother of a couple of the kids attending the Bible club started rounding up her children. We weren't done or getting ready to be done, so I asked if everything was okay. She didn't know that Todd was my husband and she looked at me and said that she was worried that the kid Todd just confronted was going to go home and get his older, bigger brother who has a gang and come back for that guy (as she pointed at my husband).

That is not at all something you want to hear. I'm looking around wandering if I should grab the kids and at least put them in the car. I said something to Todd and of course he sees no problem... men! So, we have a watch out group and then he's spotted. The kid comes back with a group, we are told by locals his brother is not with him. Thank you God for your protection because his brother was not home when the kids went to find him.

That was the beginning story to D, that's the kids name. The rest of the story includes him coming back to Bible Club on Wednesday, the night the gospel was shared. D along with a couple of friends were led to Christ that night. The next evening at Family Night D went up to the youth pastor that had been at the park all week and asked prayer for strength to live his life for Christ amidst his environment and prayer for his brother because he really needed this. Brings tears to my eyes even now. So, if you think of D please join us in praying for him and his family.

D is the one in the Colorado Rockies hat. This picture was taken at Family Night, the reason for the painted face on his friend.

Another amazing God thing was the evening of Family Night. Isaiah Caldwell had a kid come to him with questions and he was led to Jesus. He then said my cousin needs this, left went and brought his cousin to Isaiah, who was led to Jesus. After praying he said my brother needs this, left went brought his brother to Isaiah and he was led to Jesus. This went on 2 more times until there were 5 kids in that family saved that night. Wow, isn't that what we read in the Bible, one person comes to Jesus and their entire family is saved. It was an amazing night of God showing Himself. We were in a highly Muslim area and we got to see one Muslim man saved and planted many more seeds with the children that were allowed to join in the activities at the parks.

Some pictures of the kids that came and Jadon and Haven enjoying the Bible Clubs.

This is the Pastor and his wife of the church we slept at. They are an amazing couple. They have a huge heart for those around them. Pray for them as well, they now have the task of making contact with all the families of the kids we that came to the Bible Clubs.