Happy Birthday Mikee!!! Lori's Tribute

HAPPY 40TH BIRTHDAY MIKEE!!

When I got up this morning, he was doing his own birthday blog and I told him I had to do a tribute blog to him so he said "go ahead". He is at lunch with Earl and Jerry who took him out today for a birthday lunch so it's my turn to play on the computer. I figured out how to scan and add old pictures...yea!!! So here is a picture of back when it all started.....

AWWWWW...that's Mike as a baby with Mama Kay, Pop, Angela, and Jeff.....this next picture we found when we started dating and it is actually a picture of Mark's birthday (Mike's brother) and Mike is over to the left and that's me standing beside Mark, three over from Mike.......

Next, Do you remember this day? Many of you do......(sorry I was a little "uptight" that day for you all that were there).............

But I sure snagged a good one! Mike, you are the greatest husband a woman could ask for. Thank you for being so kind hearted, patient, gentle, funny, and loving. I could not have asked for a better father for my children also. He provides for them, loves them, teaches them, guides them, and brings them up in the "nuture and admonition of the Lord" plus he has all that patience that I lack. You are the greatest and I love you with all my heart (even if you did drag me across the country!)

Which one of these brothers do you think is the oldest????

(Mark, you are so in trouble come May....I found several old birthday pictures of you!)

So, Happy Birthday my dear husband!! May the aches and pains that are before you be few and far between!

I LOVE YOU!!!

LORI

Today is my Birthday

I woke up this morning 40 years old, and my neck was hurting like crazy. I guess it has started, old age. I hear it all begins to fall apart at 40; I must be getting a head start. I am sitting at the computer looking out of the window of our new home in Colorado. It is beautiful here this morning, about 30 degrees but the sun is shining brightly across the water and birds are flying everywhere. I saw a bald eagle a few minutes ago. The mountains are rising up above the lake and everything is starting to come to life. The boys are in school and Lori and Haven are asleep so I thought this would be a good time to reflect on my 40 years.

The problem is at my age you can't remember anything anymore. That doesn't matter because the stories I am about to make up will be more interesting anyway. (Kidding) I have been blessed more than most people I know. I have a wonderful family; a great wife and the three greatest kids ever. They love me, although sometimes I don't know why. They left all their friends and family to join me in the craziest thing I have ever done. (Actually they did it because they knew God was in it, but let me have my moment since this may be my last birthday). My kids are healthy and well. I know today not everyone can say that so I count that as a blessing. I have some wonderful friends. I have already heard from many of you this morning; thank you for loving and supporting us. Thanks for calling and emailing us. You will never know how that helps to keep us going out here. My friends and family at Grace Community Church have been our lives for years now and we don't want to lose you all. I think about you all today and wonder what you would have done to me had we been there today. I would have loved it of course.

There is no doubt I could stop this here and you would conclude I am a blessed man, even though I am an old.

The truth is though those things are only a small part of the blessings God has given me. Today I know I am saved and going to heaven because Jesus died for my sins. "But when God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit." (Titus 3) Also all of my children are saved, and I believe and pray that Haven will be saved when she is older. I get the opportunity to serve Him by preaching the word in places I never thought I would. I get to see parts of His creation I never thought I would see. God is good.

Today I am thankful to God for all the good things He has done for this 40 year old fossil. I hope you will join me today in giving Him glory.

"Blessed be the name of the Lord now and forever. Everywhere-from east to west-praise the name of the Lord. For the Lord is high above the nations; his glory is higher than the heavens." PS 113:2-4

So join me today in giving thanks to God for all He has done.

Thanks for your love and friendship. I hope to see you soon. Here or there. I have to go, I can't find my glasses and I need some Ben-Gay for my neck. Love you all.

Mike

Happy Veteran's Day!....and more....

Did your kids go to school today? Mine did and they even had an assembly with a guest who talked about his trip across several continents on a bicycle....???? On Veteran's Day? Where is the honor that the veterans deserve? Thank you to all those who have sacrificed their time, bodies, mental, and emotional well-being to serve our great country! We honor you and please know that your sacrifice was not in vain!

Mike and I did some thrift store shopping today.....thank God for thrift stores!! (some of you may be saying ewwww!) As much as I thought that we were prepared for snow, no one mentioned the term WATERPROOF to me! Mike would say to people, "we've got to get some warm clothes to get ready for winter" and I would always reply "we have plenty of warm clothes." However, a few days in the snow helped me realize that everything you have on while playing in the snow needs to be waterproof. As you can tell in the pictures posted from Saturday's trip, Mason and Landon had sweat clothes on and they were drenched after an hour! So today we saved tons of money by finding some snow bibs (one piece snow pants that are kind of like waders), waterproof coats, and boots at the thrift stores. We still need to find those "perfect" gloves for everyone. I am also finding that it is better to "play" in thin waterproof jackets with layered clothes underneath than to put on the big, bulky coats. So now, everyone has a light weight waterproof jacket, a cloth jacket, and a big bulky jacket. I need another house to put all these jackets in!!

I am very blessed to be staying at home with Haven now but am finding myself to be a little stir crazy already. There is nothing really going on in the valley to do during the week so to prevent myself from becoming very lazy, I've got to guard myself with activity. In December, I am starting a play group for the Stay-at-home Moms in the valley as a way to meet other young moms and for Haven to meet some friends. For those of you who may not know, there are no families under the age of 45 or so in the church. Pray for that ministry that God will begin to prepare the hearts of the women HE wants to be there! It is a way to get them in the door and eventually introduce them to the love of Christ.....

Our church is sponsoring a community wide Thanksgiving meal on Thanksgiving Day and we had a supper meeting with the Outreach Committee to plan it last Friday night. I personally thought everyone got together with their family or families for Thanksgiving..........but not in the valley. Most residents here have family far away like we do and are planning to see them Christmas. So I guess this is a good thing and will help us take our minds off of the fact that we are not with our families on Thanksgiving. On Saturday night, we ate supper with Pat and Burt Armstrong who own Bear Paw Lodge. I've never seen Haven eat so much! She had three helpings of Mrs. Pat's chicken spagetti and fruit salad!

Sunday went good but no guests yet from all those we've invited. But....we are not giving up on them. God has sent us here to reach someone! We then went to The Market for lunch which is about 1/2 mile up the road. (mom, they told me Sunday that they are open all the time...even when the power goes out so don't worry....we'll have food!!). So far, every trip to The Market has been free because a member of the church slips up and pays for it......blessings!!

On Monday, we woke up with about 4 inches of snow. Haven got to play in it some...she loves sledding down hills over and over and over and over and over again! There was still about half an inch or so when the boys came home so the boys decided to make a snowman........

A dirty snowman that is! Lots of depris added.....we'll have plenty of time to perfect it and send you a picture Jacque S.!

For all of you that knew how much I didn't want to make this move, I want you to know that God has given me the "peace of God, which passes all understanding" (Phil 4:7), mainly because of you and your prayers. Thank you and Praise God! (I would move back to Alabama in a heartbeat though!). So all of you who needs peace about something going in your life, pray this scripture repeatedly and allow God to meet your needs.

By the way, Thursday is Mike's 40th birthday! Yep, it's a BIG one so try to send him an interesting email or e-card if you think about it. (He'll kill me when he reads this!)

I love you all and there's only 6 weeks until Christmas!
Lori

(PS>I know you all like to see pictures so I am going to post a couple of pictures from the past )that I thought were cute!Isn't this adorable! Mason and Landon with Devyn Tankersley and Chandler Wisener!Haven playing with her cousins Sydney and Carter with Cole, Caleb, and Morgan in the back ground!

Leave us a comment to let us know you have stopped in!

Can't leave Haven out!

Video

Fun in the Snow!

Yesterday, Saturday, we had a blast in the snow. Mr Earl, a new friend from church, drove our family about an hour away, up a mountain to about 11,000 feet where we could play in the snow. The views were breathtaking. It was one of the most beautiful places we have ever been. I am guessing that God rested on the 7th day and then on the 8th day made this place. It is called Molas Pass and you have to see it to believe it. (So come see it) Believe it or not it was only about 40 degrees up there but there was still almost a foot of snow on the ground.


We sledded and snowboarded and threw snowballs at each other and had a great time. I can't wait for all of you to come up and see it with us. The snow is so soft, powder they call it, so much more fun to play in than what we have down south. I am going to just put a lot of pictures up for you to see, I hope this will make everyone decide they have to come see this place while there is snow everywhere.

Paul said in Romans 1:20, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Having spent some time at Molas Pass, I understand what Paul meant. Anyone who can stand in that place and not give glory to the God who created all that, is without excuse. (And pretty dumb too.) Check out the pics below. I hope to see you soon. I love you all.
Mike