Summer Trip- Part 1

We flew out of Albuquerque at 7:00 a.m on Tuesday morning and had a lay over in Dallas. Both flights were very smooth and we landed in Nashville at 2:30. We flew into Nashville because tickets were half of what they were to fly into Birmingham. So we rented a nice van (which we would have rented anyway because none of our family has a car big enough to pick us all up at the airport) and headed to Cullman which is only 2 hours from Nashville. We went straight to Grace Community Church for dinner with our Grace family....it was fabulous! I don't know how many people were there but it was a lot and I want to thank you all for coming out. It made us feel so special and loved and we were thrilled to get to visit with so many of you on such a short trip......

There were many of you that I didn't get a picture of and I am so sorry for that. Special thanks to Bonnie and Becky for organizing the special night for us. We love you all and miss you terribly!

We spent the night with our friends Jeff and Tammy Silvey who came out in April to see us. Jeff cooked another great breakfast but sure wish we'd had some gravy!! (Just kidding Jeff!) We spent Wednesday at our house in Holly Pond.....I didn't take any pictures there because I was so ashamed of how it looked. The yard was like a jungle and the basement had major issues. We just have not had the extra money to pay someone to maintain it for us. Thank you so much Jerry, Jessica, Dawn, Bonnie, Shane, and Kevin T. for helping us out over there! We would not have been able to get it all done without you.....we owe you BIG time!!

Sorry Shane and Kevin...I didn't get your picture!! but your work was greatly appreciated!!

We then got to eat Bonnie's famous pizza for supper and then went to Grace for Wednesday night Bible study. Heather Green has been a part of our church family since we moved to Cullman in 1999. Mike performed her marriage ceramony, baptized her husband, mother-in-law, and father-in-law, and were there when their little Nevaeh was born. Heather was baptized when she was younger but did not truly chose to accept Christ as her Savior until years later. Because of that, she felt that her baptism was not in order so she called Mike the week before we were coming and asked him if he would baptized her . What an honor that was, so Mike performed the baptism on Wednesday for Heather!

We then spent the night with Bonnie and Shane who graciously let many of the kids friends come over to visit.

Thank you so much for your hospitality Tammy and Jeff and Shane and Bonnie!! We loved every minute of our time with you and wish it could have been longer......we love you!

For those of you who are wondering about what is going on with our house, we are still waiting for the short sale application but don't have a clue if the people who made that offer are even still wanting it. Meanwhile, while we were there on Wednesday, we got the best offer so far but it was still not enough. We countered back but they are not willing to take it. However, God is in control and all we can do is trust HIM! He has already been working this out for us and hopefully soon I will be able to share with you what He is doing for us.......I've got you curious don't I??!

We're Back!

Hi Everyone! We're back! We got home tonight around 8:00 p.m. and I have never seen 3 kids so anxious to get to their dog! Lucee was left behind at Nelson Bennett's house who, the first time he saw Lucee, offered to keep her any time we needed him to which made us feel good about leaving her. We had an awesome trip and couldn't have asked for a better one! However, I am going to have to pick up where we left off last entry with the baptism in the lake before we left since Mike said he would post some pictures. It's awful that all I could think about during the baptism is that dumb movie "O Brother Where Art Though"!!

The one being baptized was John Frederick and he is from Florida. That's his grandfather standing beside him who is an active member of our church. John came up to spend 6 weeks of summer with his grandfather and because his older sister was baptized in the lake, they wanted him to be also. John is 17, and while he has some special needs, he has been a joy to have around this summer.

We left last Monday, heading on to Albuquerque to visit the Rio Grande Zoo before our trip. It was a great zoo but ended up being a hard day as it was hot, Mason did not feel good all day, and Haven fell and hurt her knee. Landon absolutely loved every minute of it and didn't complain whatsoever except that we were leaving before it closed! He wants to be a zoo keeper one day so he soaked it all in and didn't even notice the temperature outside! Here are some pics from the day.....

The flamingos were so beautiful!

The giraffes are always my favorite but look close...there are two babies with their mom...so cute!

This little fellow came face to face with Landon (thru the glass) but it was so funny! Below, they are feeding the seals and sea lions

They had this nice wet spot to cool off at and Landon took full advantage of it! Haven had her accident at this spot so she didn't enjoy it as much. We then spent the night at a hotel near the airport, anxiously awaiting our journey to Alabama!

Ready for a Break!

Hey guys this is Mike and I am ready for a break. We have been steadily working and growing for 9 months now and Lori and I are tired. Things are going really well, with kids and young people coming to church everyday it seems like. Lori and I are doing Sunday's, I preach and she helps with Children's Church, then on Tuesday we have VBS, Wednesday we do Family Movie Night, followed by Praise Team practice and Thursday night Bible Study where I am teaching through the book of Revelation; then on Friday night we do Teen night from 7-10 that usually lasts until at least 10:30. It is all good and we are thankful for the success God has granted us, but we are ready for a week off. Looking forward to seeing you all next week. Keep praying for us that God will continue to use us here and that many will be reached for Christ. I am baptizing a young man in the lake on Sunday morning by they way, I will post some pics on Sunday afternoon. We love you all. "Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing." Eph 1:3

Durango Mt. Resort

Yesterday we went to Durango Mt. Resort (the winter ski resort) to the Alpine Slide...similar to one at Ober Gatlinburg. It was fun but the fun was cut short by the rain and we had to get a rain check to come back another day.

We went with Cathy Wilkening and these are her grandchildren from California that have been fun to be around the last couple of weeks.....

The ski is resort is so beautiful.....even in the summer....

They also had a bungee trampoline...here is Landon in the middle of a flip....can you find him??

And here's Mason.....as fun as it looks, Mason was ALOT of pain and did not enjoy it one bit due to the harness.....

Mason on the rock climbing wall.....

Mike almost had this chipmunk eating out of his hand....they are all over the place here

Can you identify this animal??

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HAPPPY SWEET 16 COLTON!!

My nephew Colton turns 16 today!! Happy Birthday Colton!! He is the oldest child of by brother Robby and his wife Patti. Colton is very athletically talented as well as smart also. He is the one cousin that my boys idolize (because he is the only boy cousin that is older than them) and so far he has been a great example for them to follow! Hope your 16th birthday is awesome Colton!! Hope to see you next week!!

(Again, sorry for such a small picture...these are not on my laptop so I transfer them from snapfish and for some reason their tiny! Will get plenty of pictures of this family if they get to come down next week!!)

Congratulations Grace Family!!

I am excited to announce that Grace Community Church voted in Tim Lynch as their pastor yesterday!! He and his wife Christi and two children will be moving to Cullman from North Carolina. I am especially excited for her because she will be living closer to her family! It is so awesome to hear the excitement back in everyone's voices and writings on the computer and we are extremely happy and anxious to see what God is going to do in and thru GCC. I will confess that I am a tad jealous of Tim and Christi because of the awesome church family they just obtained. You guys are so incredibly special to us and I know you will be to them also. Tim and Christi....You are so Blessed!!!(I heard that they've checked out our blog but not sure if they are keeping up with it or not).
To our Grace family....you will ALWAYS be considered our family no matter who is pastor. We love you and ask that you never compare Mike and Tim to each other. They were both sent to Grace for a season....two separate seasons. Be open to change and the visions that God gives to Tim. Hold Tim in high regard for he is the man that will be bringing YOU a WORD from GOD every week....and even if you may not agree with him all the time, pray for him daily....that he will be STRONG IN THE LORD, JOYFUL, HUMBLE, ENCOURAGED, AND SUBMISSIVE to the HOLY SPIRIT. May GOD receive GLORY for ALL the things HE HAS DONE!
Be willing to let God use you to change Holly Pond, Cullman Co, Alabama, the US, and the world!!! We love you and are so excited for you!!

Summer Fun!

Little fun going on around here this week.....

Monday, Mike and the boys went horseback riding up to Dan's camp on top of the mountain that separates Lake Vallecito and Lemon Lake....here's a couple of shots from that trip.....

As you may notice, BIG improvement with Mike's hat on this horse ride!! For Father's Day, the kids gave him a new hat and ditched the other one! (Now we have to work on getting Landon a new one!!!) In this next picture you can see Lake Vallecito in the background....

Yesterday, we went tubing and had a blast. The people here are very generous with their stuff and Don Delamont told us we could use his pontoon boat any time we want to. So , I bought a tube last week and the boys loved it......

I thought this was a really neat picture....Landon tanning but look how it turned out......

Mike is playing golf today while the kids and I hang out...the boys are actually in the lake swimming behind the house (with their life jackets on Mom!)....and then movie night tonight! I have been blessed with lots of cabins/houses to clean this week also. Can't wait to come to Bama in two weeks!!

(VBS report=31 kids this week!)

I'm Back!

Hey everyone it has been a while since I wrote anything on the blog. It has been difficult sharing all the things that are going on in our lives. I have been dealing with the move and loss of our church back in Cullman and all our friends, and dealing with the unhappiness of my family out here and I just really haven't felt like writing anything. I have seen however things changing recently though here; Lori and the kids seem to be finally adjusting to this new life we have; the kids have friends now to play with and do things with and the church is really going great. God has lifted those burdens from me and we are starting to find joy here in our new assignment. I am also starting to be able to let go of the feeling of sorrow from having to leave Cullman and Grace Community Church. I am really excited about Grace finding a new pastor and moving forward into all that God has for them. I still miss everyone and still love that church but I am content that God has moved us here and He is doing a work in me, my family, our old church and our new church. That is good.

As you know when we came here there were a hand full of people and no children in our church. This week we have seen 27 children in bible school; 25 young people in our Friday night Youth night; 25 children in children's church this morning and a church packed with people. There were very few empty seats in our church this morning. God is good and He is accomplishing His will here (I am sure in spite of me most of the time). I love you all and ask you to keep praying for me and my family. See you soon.
Mike

God Bless America!!

Happy 4th of July and may God bless America...land that I love!! Hope your day was filled with an air of excitement as you ate good food and fellowshipped with good people. We started the day at the Bayfield 4th of July parade which was was different than any parade we had ever seen. I forgot my camera but there were many neat floats.....some political, some with people square dancing, some with live bands playing, some spraying water on all the kids that ran behind it to get wet and cool off, but my favorite was the one "celebrating the 21st amendment bearing the right to drink beer at the Billy Goat Saloon" with their saloon girls dancing! They then had arts and crafts and food and a band playing at the park. After leaving there, the Vallecito Service League had an Arts and Crafts area at the bottom of the dam but it was not quiet as good as Bayfield's. Later in the afternoon, We had a yard FULL of people as the Camp Kanakuk kids came, cooked out and played in our church yard as we waited for the firework show....







Look as this awesome display of God's promises that He blessed us with before dark.....it was the brightest rainbow we have ever seen!

It was a really neat day as their was an air of excitement all around being a holiday in a vacationing area. The fireworks were awesome as the boom from each one echoed off of the mountains. I forgot to mention that next door at the bar, they have a band playing on a stage outside REALLY LOUD now and for the greater part of the afternoon. I didn't like them until I heard them signing "Sweet Home Alabama"!!

(Teen Night Friday night= 25 kids there from 6 different states! May God bless the seed that was planted and may fruit be produced from these kids all over the US)