I was really wondering...

One evening this past summer, Drew came in and
asked me to print off a picture of someone they really hated.
I was so confused and uncomfortable with the request ~ quite odd.
(I knew Britt was in the backyard, too, and I'm sure this made me even more confused.)
After Drew left my office unwilling to offer any additional insight,
I did an internet search for hitler and printed off a picture.
When I took it to the backyard, they both said, "Perfect!"
By this point, I was really wondering, so I hung out and watched what was up...
It was so funny I just had to take pictures! Airsoft battles with a different twist!

Waiting ...

When will Lost Season 3, 24 Season 6, and Jag Seasons 5-10 come out?
We've been waiting, waiting, waiting ...

She's Always There...

Miss Ashleigh had surgery last week to remove a growth on her lower lip. The biopsy results just came in... the tumor was malignant melanoma and her prognosis is guarded and unfavorable. For now, although deaf and hard of seeing, she is just as happy and healthy as she has been (which is far better for her 15 years of age than can be expected even before this tumor). But with that test result and feedback, her countdown of days is more on my mind.

As has been true all these years, she still follows me every where and is hardly ever more than a yardstick from my side (or feet). She's been such a faithful and loyal dog that has been very special in my life. When I ask myself what makes her so special, it's that "she's always there." And when I consider the end of my own life, I suppose that is something I hope that my loved ones say about me,
"the thing that made her so special is that she was always there."

So in celebration of the pup who has my heart,
here are some pix of Miss Ashleigh...

Our Visit to See Ryan...

When we went up for lunch with Ryan this week, after we filled our bellies at Olive Garden we went back to the house with him to be his 'rent slaves :) and help rearrange his room.

A few days earlier, Ry asked his rommate Tom what he'd think about a change and Tom replied, "You're the engineer, I'm the com major. You draw it up then I'll talk about it." Of course Ryan drew it to scale on graph paper, Tom loved the concept, I did the wiring, and Dave and Ryan moved the furniture. As expected, it came out great...

Ryan, Ryan & Taylor...Moving the bookcase...Relaxing on the couch with its new footstool...Thanks Dad!Watch out Mom!
(oh yeah, he forgot to say "watch out" when he lobbed the medicine bottle
at me while I was taking Dave's picture - goofball!!)
The room rearrangement was great. But what we enjoyed more was
(1) hearing about Ryan's consideration of changing focus from engineering to astrophysics (guess with a major like that it's okay that it's taking us a bit of time to get our arms around it);
(2) celebrating his calculus 3 exam on which he scored a full standard deviation higher than the class average; and
(3) having a few minutes to see Kelli between classes finishing and her trip to the eye doctor and work.

Have I mentioned lately how much I love the blessing of being a mom?

Oh yes, speaking of rearranging Ryan's room...

Oh yes, speaking of rearranging Ryan's room...
In my cache of many pictures I haven't yet posted, I should put up the ones of where Ryan is living this year. We moved him in August to the Annex House which is a christian ministry house at CU Boulder. It was formerly a frat house (closed down to numerous drinking violations) that was then purchased and refurbished by Dayspring ministries. There are 36 students that call this house home, including Taylor and Ben, Ry's good friends who share a room across the hall (Ben went to Kenya with Ryan this summer while Taylor is heading on a short-term missions trip to Thailand over winter break).

The house is awesome ...
and here are some pix from our August move-in day!

Jules had her house painted this week...

Jules had her house painted this week... I took pictures for her as the painters left...

First of the house...I also snapped one of Bronco loving & catting around outside
(he came out when the doors were being painted) And finally, a picture of Winston to round 'em out!
Winnie is her 150lb newfoundland who we babysat during the painting project. The story with Winston is funny ~ he was crowding me
as I was trying to take his picture so I got on the tramp for
a better vantage point ... and he followed me right on up!
I told him he had to smile for his mamma and to settle down, which he finally did...
And I got this money shot!

God is patient & pennies are plentiful...

When You Find a Penny ... an internet story sent by a friend ...

Several years ago, a friend of mine and her husband were invited to spend the weekend at the husband's employer's home. My friend, Arlene, was nervous about the weekend. The boss was very wealthy, with a fine home on the waterway, and cars costing more than her house.

The first day and evening went well, and Arlene was delighted to have this rare glimpse into how the very wealthy live. The husband's employer was quite generous as a host, and took them to the finest restaurants. Arlene knew she would never have the opportunity to indulge in this kind of extravagance again, so was enjoying herself immensely.

As the three of them were about to enter an exclusive restaurant that evening, the boss was walking slightly ahead of Arlene and her husband. He stopped suddenly, looking down on the pavement for a long, silent moment.

...... story continued in the comment section ...

This weekend while I was in London...

On Wednesday I went to London for the Global Board meeting of International Bible Society - Send the Light. It was about a 20 hour travel adventure sandwiching 3 full days of meetings and dinners at the hotel. We finally stepped out of the hotel to go to Queen's Theatre in London's West End and see Les Miserables which is an awesome musical about the power of God's redemption set in the backdrop of the French Revolution. The last time I saw this show was New York, July 2002 when I took Ryan & Drew for a tour of the big apple. Seeing it again fondly reminded me of our trip to New York so it was a special evening in many ways. I was blessed to travel with Gayle and it was an honor and joy to work with this incredible group to do the Lord's business... to get God's Word into more hands and hearts of more people in more countries!

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The first thing I missed as I left for this adventure was Reflections, our ladies bible study every other Wednesday morning ... I've heard that it was precious! On Thursday night, I then missed the kick-off of our monthly neighborhood ladies bible study, which also was very wonderful ... ... I was so disappointed to miss both of these special events that are very near and dear to my heart :(
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Youth group also went on without me...
Becky & Steven brought dinner and Gwen provided an exquisite dessert
(thank you!!)
And of course, our teens had a special time together!

After some fun time on the trampoline and playing basketball outdoors, everyone gathered for time together in study... which was spent talking about passions, and how we can use them to glorify God. The group looked at scripture and talked about how life looks when we are passionate about God. Psalm 73: 25 & 26; Psalm 40: 8 – 10.

And Roger shared I Chronicles 29: 17 & 18, which he prayed over the students... I know, my God, that you test the heart and are pleased with integrity. All these things have I given willingly and with honest intent. And now I have seen with joy how willingly your people who are here have given to you. O LORD, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac and Israel, keep this desire in the hearts of your people forever, and keep their hearts loyal to you... followed by the great dessert!

And also while I was away, Dave cleaned the boat preparing it for its winter hibernation. He then emptied the eagle, crating the contents, set up new shelves to put in the garage which he had reorganized and cleaned. Then he began the deep cleaning (a full detail actually) of the eagle in preparation for our sale of it this Fall. Yep, we're selling the motorhome and looking at having a tent designed that will top the boat for sleeping on the water.

Our neighbors Julie and Inger nursed Dave back to the health when he collapsed from heat exhaustion on Thursday after working on the boat (he forgot to eat and drink all day and was working hard in the bright sun)... I am so thankful for our loving and caring neighborhood, and that after a couple of hours on the floor wrapped in wet towels and drinking 150oz of gatorade, that Dave came "back to life" ~ what a scare the goofball gave us all!
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Sean's friend Sam spent the weekend and all of Trey and Sean's friends had lots of play time at our place while Dave worked on the garage and eagle ... bike riding and runescape were the big activities. Trey, Sean, Sam, Jake, Brett, Tyler, Zach, Quentin, Ryan, Josh, Benjamin, Michael ... am I missing anyone? Probably! Boys, boys, and more boys! They had a great fun weekend..
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And also on the list of things I missed,
some people from our lovely homebuilders class took an adventure
over Kenosha pass to enjoy the changing of the leaves followed by dinner together at beau joes pizza ~
What fun they had! The next class adventure is to a corn maze in October.

Colorado is beautiful in so many respects...
it is SOOO wonderful to be home!