Happy Birthday Bonnie!

Our very special friend from Grace, Bonnie Bowman, had a birthday yesterday and although we sent her a video message, I didn't get a chance to post a blog on her special day. Bonnie shows her love to us in soooo many ways and we could never repay her for everything she and Shane do for us, even while we are across America. She is one of the smartest, dependable, and most humble person that we know and can make a mean homemade pizza! We Love you Bon!!Thank you for loving our kids like you do! Hope your birthday was awesome! (That's me EATING some of that wonderful Bon Pizza!)

2nd Alabama Visitors...The Creel's are here! (Lori)

Hi guys! We've just been hanging out with Jerry and Jessica Creel who arrived here on Wednesday night, after a long day of traveling. Their 6:50 a.m. flight was canceled so they had to wait 5 more hours before loading the plane and flying in. Have you ever seen a weary Jerry? Bless his heart...he was worn out Wednesday....battling motion sickness on the plane and ending up with a headache. Thursday we hung out here in Vallecito, riding around and showing them the area. They started the day on the snowmobile and Jessica said she cried (Imagine that!) as she viewed the majesty of God in the mountains and felt the priviledge of getting to visit such an awesome place. Today, we traveled to Silverton and Ouray, and made a little stop at Honeyville for a little honey. The views were awesome and thank God, the roads were snow-free for the most part. Jerry has been able to see many, many doe's but hasn't got to see a much desired buck yet! They also got to see an eagle fly from tree to tree today. Tomorrow they are going on a train ride and we'll do a little shopping in Durango. We are having a great time and I appreciate all the laughter Jessica brings me....."it doth good like medicine!"

Happy Birthday Brent!!

I am a day late but I want to wish our oldest nephew, Brent Lawson, a Happy 23rd Birthday! His birthday was yesterday and we haven't been blogging as much so I just flat forgot to post a blog wishing him Happy Birthday! Hope your day was awesome!

Updates....(Lori)

Hello everyone! Hope all of you are doing good. We don't have much to report but people have been making comments that there's not as much on the blog any more so we will try harder to entertain you! Ha! Here are some updates.....

1. Weather- It has been great winter weather here...everybody from here doesn't want the "April" weather in February and I take full responsibility for it, as my God knows what I can handle and what I can't! It hasn't really snowed in a month so while there is snow on the ground still, the warmer weather is making it mushy. We haven't quiet figured out how to prepare Mason for baseball with snow on the ground or mud where the snow was. Do we play in the snow? Haven't in about 2 weeks.....Mike got the snowmobile out the other day and had to gun it to keep it from sinking! This picture was made from our front porch....I thought the cloud was unsual looking....

2. Church- It is interesting attending church with people from all different religious backgrounds. This is a baptist church but the only church in the Valley so there are people who were brought up Catholic, Penecostal, Methodist, Church of Christ, Lutheran, etc., and then there's my close friend Kyle who is Unitarian (who even knows what that means!!?) They seem to really be learning a lot from Mike and enjoying the way he teaches in such a way that they understand so easily. We did have a visitor Sunday....if we could just keep all the visitors...they all just seem to float in and out. The chili lunch was good Saturday and we probably had around 40 non church members come to it.

3. Kids- Haven's arm is fully functional again although we know that she is not completely healed. She is very good at reminding us to "be careful with my arm" when we pick her up. If you ask her how her arm is, she'll say "well, actually, it's my clavicle"...so funny! She is queen cleaner in our house but also the queen of messes! I cleaned the house Monday to get ready for our company today...then I had to clean again yesterday....and guess what, today my house doesn't look like I have done any thing to it! What's the use? It gets undone faster than it gets cleaned.....oh well....one day I be wishing the kids were home to mess up my house.....

Landon is same ole Landon with a little Colorado accent. Some of you noticed at Christmas and it is more pronounced now. He makes me sound like a hick! Anyway, while he has friends at school, he still has not found that "Devyn", "Joseph", or "Carter" that he really clicks with and is secure with that friendship. Everytime I get my list for the grocery store, he has gotten it and wrote "a dog" on it. One day he said, "Mom, dogs are man's best friend and I NEED a best friend." That did it for me! I contacted my cousin via Facebook to see if my uncle still had his dauschund puppies and he did so we have reserved one! As much as I hate dogs, I am trying to love this dog even before we get it, to be ready for the added hassle a dog brings, and am praying that this is just what Landon needs to be happy. He has named her Lucy and my cousin Rita sent us a picture of her. She is adorable and the kids were bouncing off the roof when they saw her picture. Haven wanted to name her Abbi but when she saw her picture, she immediately started talking about "Lucy" instead of "Abbi". So here she is....just 4 1/2 more weeks until we get her when we are home for Spring Break......so cute!

Mason has two more basketball games and then a tournament. His team is so awesome also! They are undefeated and are very agressive. Although he was sick to his stomach at his game Saturday, he made 10 points. Ended up with with a virus or "chili overload"one! The skills test for baseball is March 15. We sure are going to miss the Scotts this baseball season! Happy Birthday to Allie Scott, by the way, who is 5 years old today! Haven misses you Allie!

4. My Well Being! I am still doing good, trying to stay as busy as possible but it is terribly boring here. People have suggested different hobbies but I'm just not that crafty and don't enjoy doing anything much right now. I contemplated finding a job, but how can I go back to AL to visit every quarter if I have to work??! So, I am praying about and researching the possiblity of starting a seasonal children's consignment sale here. They are very popular in the south but not so much over this way yet. I absolutley love being involved at Kids Mart in Cullman so I think I would enjoy organizing it and then making traveling money with the proceeds, as well as dressing my kids with good deals! Pray for me in this because I certainly don't want to do something that God may not want me to so I want to know it is from Him. I will miss all that Kids Mart fun next month with my sister-in-law Denise Owen! Dawn and Mere, I will definitely be jealous come March 27th!! I have been growing spiritually and God is showing me many things about myself in His Word.....slowly but surely....I will accept this mission as a blessing!

5. Company- Jessica and Jerry Creel are coming tonight and will be here through Monday! They are friends from Grace in Cullman and we are so excited that they would take their vacation to come for a visit. Their flight was canceled this morning to it set them back about 5 hours unfortunately. Mike has gone to pick them up in Albequerque and they should get here tonight around 7:30 p.m. tonight! We anticipate having a blast as we show them the area and life here in Colorado. I told Mike they couldn't talk any until they got here so I wouldn't miss out on anything (yeah, right....we all know Jessica!!)!

Well, on that note, I need to clean up ...AGAIN...for our company! Love you all!

Lori

Hello Everyone - Mike

It has been a while since I have written anything on here. I guess I don't think I have much to report to everyone. I went ice fishing on Monday and caught 2 big rainbow trout. That was fun and they were really good to eat. Next time I am even going to cook them. We have had a couple of families visiting our church this week and that was good. Met yesterday with a man who used to go to this church years ago and I believe he is coming back as well. So some things are happening here and I am encouraged by that. We are having a Chili Lunch this Saturday for the valley and I hope that a lot of people will come to that. I really need Jeff Silvey to make some of his famous chili and bring it out. Anyway I just wanted everyone to know I was still alive, Lori has not killed me in some cabin fever fit ala the Shining. Of course winter isn't over yet. Hope to see you guys soon.
Mike

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! (Lori)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!! Hope you had a special day with your sweetie! As always, our special day is spent as a family together because we never have any extra money to go out! That's OK....one day it will be just us and we'll have plenty of time to "go out". We've had a great week. Mike and I watched "Fireproof" last night and during it, fireworks were going on at the bar next door. They were good ones too! It was neat! "Fireproof" had an awesome message in it so make sure you see it and make sure your loved ones watch it too.

Mason's team won both games today...the first one was 63 to 14 and the second one was a harder game but they won 36 to 24. We have discovered a new love for Landon and that is rock climbing! He absolutely loves the rock climbing walls at the rec center. This summer he will get to do some real rock climbing.

We celebrated V'day at Pizza Hut for lunch and had lots of chocolate afterwards! We also enjoyed getting to talk to Mere, Sandi, Allen, Dylan, Tyler, Chandler, Taylor and Devyn on web cam on this Valentine's Day!

Haven has fallen twice this week and hurt her shoulder again. However, today we noticed she is using her hand and arm more.

We got probably a foot and a half of snow this week. Jerry and Jessica Creel are coming in a week and a half and we are so excited! They are our church friends from Cullman. We are YOU coming to see us?

Eye Candy for all the Male Blog Readers!

In what would be downtown Bayfield, you can always see deer....they just walk around the houses and business and graze and look at you and graze!

Happy Birthday Chandler!!

Today one of the boys bestest buddies, Chandler Wisener, turns 11......HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHANDLER!! They got to talk to him last night via oovoo.com on a webcam...it was so neat! We love you Chandler and miss you! Can't wait until you get to come for a visit!

Accidents Happen! (Lori)

Hi everyone! Thanks for all the comments, emails, and the one phone message from Jeff Silvey that cracked me up!! They were all very encouraging and helped me greatly. Let me tell you a little about what has happened the last couple of days.....

On Friday, the Ladies Bible Study started and we had a really good meeting. Nancy Walb is leading it and she has a passion for Old Testament Prophesy and how it applies to today. So, I went in very skeptical and ended up with a blessing!

On Satuday, the men had a prayer breakfast that Mike attended. Then, the ladies had a mexican potluck to plan the monthly meetings for the rest of the year. We had a pretty good turnout and what they do monthly is meet for lunch at a local restaurant on the first Saturday of every month. Mason had a basketball game in Durango at 2:00 so we went to that and he played an awesome game with 20 points!

Then the kids did a little rock climbing and a little swimming after the game at the rec center.......

It is really a cool Rec center! No one here has outdoor pools so this is a popular spot year round!
We ate supper in town and then headed back to the house. Haven fell asleep on the way home and Mike brought her in and placed her on the couch on her side. Ten minutes later, Mason and Landon were playing around and Landon pushed Mason on top of Haven who awoke with a scream! Mason started apologizing to her immediately and she continued with a painful cry, holding her shoulder. Mason said that he heard something pop when he sit on her so we loaded back up and went back to Durango to the ER. They did x-rays and found that her clavicle (or collar bone) was broken on her right side. She did great at the hospital and they put her in a sling and told us that it would take 4 to 6 weeks to heal. They gave her a teddy bear holding a heart and a t-shirt because we couldn't get her shirt back on. We named the bear "Clavvy" (for clavicle). This is her after we returned home.....

She's been pretty good but has a hard time getting up and down without it hurting. She also couldn't use her legs until we got to church today and then her legs were miraculously healed! Ha-Ha! Her little best friend Maddie found out about it and then told me "I'm sorry Haven's hand fell off" So cute! This is her buddy Maddie....

Another precious blessing is that Landon sang on the praise team this morning! It was so precious! I knew it was going to happen so I taped a little to share...however, it tried 3 times to upload it and couldn't. Still waiting on house news so continue to pray that Jehovah Jirah will bless! Love you all! Lori

By the way, if you have web cam, let us know.....we'd love to talk face to face!

Blessing in Obedience....(Lori)

Have you missed us lately? We'll be honest, when we don't have any comments, it makes us feel like we have been forgotten which in turn does not motivate us to post anything. While I know that is not true (because several of you have told me in an email that you're still checking it), it still makes us feel that way. Sorry....my "thinker" has been all messed up these days anyway!

I have been really struggling the past week (or past 3 months!) with all the changes in my life. I have so much free time on my hands that I am bored a lot and the fact that this house I am in is so small doesn't help. I really know what cabin fever is! I actually miss working which surprises me. My visit with Mom was such a "high" that I fell way down in the "valley" so to speak, when she left. I'll admit that there are days that I am just mad at God for sending us out here. Do you ever get mad at God when He's doing things that your flesh disagrees with? I hope I am not the only one! When we moved to Cullman, as hard as it was to leave Pickens Co., I knew without a shadow of a doubt that that was where God wanted us to be. He confirmed it in so many ways that it was so clear. Here, I haven't felt that....it's been hard but yet I am more spiritually mature than I was then so God knows that I can handle the challenges of being here. Anyway, because I have been focused on myself instead of God's purposes, I really didn't want to read His word. I wanted to "woller" in my own self pity. However, with some encouragement from a special mentor of mine, I have dove back in His word as a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. I started in Psalm 1 and read it over and over and over. It's short but boy was it talking about me! It says "Blessed (or Happy) is the one that delights in the law of the Lord and meditates on it" for the ones that don't are like "chaff that the wind blows away". If I am not meditating on His word...His promises....I will stay defeated. I will stay unhappy. I will not be the wife, mother, and pastor's wife He has called me to be. I know that there are so many situations in the lives of my friends right now that are worse than what I am experiencing, but whatever your situation, that is real for you and BIG for you, even if others may not think so. Get in His word and meditate on His promise and He will carry you through it......

We have an offer on our house. Why there is no exclamation mark is that it is below what the payoff to the house is and because Mike wants to get out from under the debt, we will probably accept it and still owe to pay the realtor's commission. This is also hard for me to understand and I cried as I asked Mike "where is our blessing in obedience?" I loved that house and that town more than anything and sacrificed it to serve here and why can't we even break even on it? Of course Mike reminded me of Matthew 6:20-21 that says "But store up yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not detroy". I am so fleshy and I know that! Ok, this is a sacrifice of praise as I say "Thank you God that we have any kind of offer in this economy, thank you that we will be out from under a huge debt and into a smaller one that's more affordable, and thank you that we didn't have to go into forclosure which is what many people are having to do due to job layoffs."

I sure hope all my confessions will help at least one person who reads this! I am such a weakling but where I am weak, He is strong....Praise God!
So....here's whats been going on....
I have people that I can actually call friends now...Kyle and Sandi who both come to play group. Sandi is my exercise partner so I thank God for her because she has kept an extra 10 lbs off of me from being so lazy! Kyle is so opposite of me but has an outgoing personality and has really reached out to me and empathized with me being new here. We had a spiritual discussion the other day and I am positive now that she does not have a personal relationship with God. However, she does not recognize that (yet) and says she is at peace with God. God put us together to help each other in different ways so please pray for her and for me as God uses me to witness to her. She has been coming to church for a month now but still remains skeptical of "church". I love her to death though and can't wait until she recognizes her need for God!

We are starting a women's bible study tomorrow on Zecheriah. It's going to be very challenging for me to enjoy. Pray for me through this and if you want to know why...you'll just have to call me to ask me!

The boys are done with their basketball in Ignacio now! Whew...that's a relief! Now Mason is playing in the Durango league with the Bayfield boys on Saturdays and enjoying that. Landon still prays for God to send him a friend at school. He has been getting to swim at Ignacio everyday for the past two weeks for PE so that has been exciting for him. Haven is obsessed with Spongebob right now and is maturing so fast. She cleaned her room the other day without being asked for the first time and boy was it spotless!! She was so excited! I really build her up now and she loves to help Mama clean! She had a little accident the other day....Mike was pulling the kids on their sleds behind the snowmobile and went a little too fast around a curve and Haven fell off onto her face....bless her heart...it looks pitiful.....

In my sister-in-law Jen's words..."God love her!"

I'll wait and let Mike blog about church happenings! I have talked to 4 friends this week who are being attacked by Satan and worldly issues. Hang in there and run to God's word for your guidance(I certainly had to!). It's your only armor.....don't let Satan win. Love you all!

Happy Birthday Faith!

Faith Richardson (Robby's youngest) is turning 7 today! Happy Birthday Faithie!! We love you!

(Again, sorry about the small picture...I am having to transfer them from Snapfish b/c of our new computer. She is about 4 or so in this picture but it was the biggest picture of her I could find to transfer!)

Happy Birthday KAYCI!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR NIECE KAYCI CUMMINGS! HOPE YOUR DAY WAS SPECIAL!!

(Sorry the picture was so small...I can't figure out why some are so small....I had to transfer it from Snapfish because of the new computer)