Grandpa's Pond

There are so many wonderful memories and images that we hold in our hearts everytime we meet at the fish pond with Brian's family. Usually, I spend most of my time taking pictures of people. This time, I decided to be intentional about capturing the images of our surroundings.

If you look closely, you can see the archway and read "Grandpa and Grandma's Pond"

I know the long winding road back to the pond provokes all kinds of fond childhood memories for Brian, and my hope is that one day, it will do the same thing for our children as well.

This cross is made from the original wood used for the barn.

The house is decorated with all kinds of special family memorabilia.

Grandma and her siblings

Of course, no trip to the fish pond would be complete without a few attempts at skipping rocks and learning to braid with pine straw.

Art Show

We were thrilled when we got the call from Micah's Art Teacher that he had selected some of his artwork to be put in the Art's Festival. This is the same festival that Savanna had her artwork in last fall. We had a fabulous time exploring all the different booths and vendors. It is remarkable to see what people can do with some creativity and talent!

But our main goal, was to locate the student art exhibit and scope out some super cool
Cave Man Art!

Way to go, Micah!

Micah just had to strike a pose in front of this cannon because ...
hey, he's a boy!
and this is a cannon!
Who could resist?

Me and My Batty Friends

In an 'ATTEMPT' to bless me, my crazy friends decorated my office for minister's appreciation month.

Since my adventure last Spring in defending my family against the attacker bat, they thought it would be funny to hang 50+ paper bats in my office. Each bat was secretly signed by one of my Kids' Klub kids as they arrived for Wednesday night worship.

As you can see from Savanna's expression, my own children thought it was absolutely hilarious!

And the truth be told, I couldn't ask for better friends than the masterminds behind the whole scheme. Thank you Angela and Candy ~ the 'battiest' of all my 'batty' friends!

Fall Festival

We celebrated our Fall Fun with a dress up night at church.

These sweet sisters definitely took the prize for the most creative costumes.

How do you like this little handyman's best tool ~ the tiny Bible tucked away in the bib of his overalls! Too sweet!

I truly have THE BEST adult volunteers!

Here's the gang all dressed up and ready to take note while we go through our annual carving of the pumpkin parable.

pumpkin guts!

Several churches in our community come together to plan one large fall festival event.
It is such a pleasure working to grow the Kingdom with other pastors in the area.

Our kids got a sneak peak and got to test everything out during the set up time.

Micah enjoyed the football booth, but he was way more impressed and entertained by Sister Sue's throwing skills. Who knew a pastor's wife could throw like that!

Silly Bandz were a much more popular prize than candy this year.

Savanna and her buddies were big help this year in helping run the stuffed animal walk. This is by far one of the more popular booths and it takes a good bit of man power and crowd control. I am so thankful that Savanna has moved up to helper status!

I was very impressed with Cody's tractor driving skills getting things set up for the hay ride.
Who knew a 10 year old could drive like that?!

I underestimated the popularity of the balloon animals and had to appoint Ben and Bizzy as my apprentice clowns to get some extra help. Mercy! My hands were so sore by the end of the night but I sure had a lot of fun! In fact, I was so busy, I didn't get a single picture during the actual festival! I am thankful that I at least have these "pre-game" pics to help capture our memories of the night.

Wednesday Walk ~ Spagetti Talk

Spagetti has always been one of my favorite meals.

But spagetti will never be the same for me!

You see, when Savanna was about 4 years old, we were eating a lovely spagetti dinner when she announced to us that she had Jesus in her heart!

I nearly dropped my fork in utter excitement at this glorious news!

Brian ~ being the more logical and level headed half of our partnership ~ began to question her to find out more details.

I will never forget her answer as she rubbed her collar bone very intently

"Yep ~ I am pretty sure that's Jesus' elbow right there!"

Ahhhh ~ what a lesson on the literal mindset of a small child and the 'Christianese' that we speak within the church! How important it is that we explain terms like 'saved', 'lost', 'covered in the BLOOD', etc...

God's grace and love is immeasurable ~ and since that spagetti talk long ago, Savanna has indeed 'asked Jesus into her heart' to forgive her of her sins, to be the Lord and Savior of her life, and secured her eternal home in heaven.

But ......spagetti will just NEVER be the same for me again! ;0D