Brian's World

Ultimate Ski Trip

2012-01-18T12:11:00.000-08:00

Our annual college ski trip was a lot of fun in the snow, even though only one person actually skied. (maybe we need to rename it Winter Trip or Snow Trip). Most people spent the day tubing and then they started a game of Ultimate Frisbee in the Snow. Not quite as fast moving as the sunny day in the park version but everyone seemed to enjoy it just the same. You can see both Brian and Dan facing the camera in the picture.

Florida Vacation

2011-12-25T14:12:00.001-08:00

We were in Florida in October for a conference and vacation. We stayed with Brian's folks and also got to see his brother who lives there now.

We visited Homosassa Springs on the west coast of Florida-it's a nature preserve with exhibits of native plants and animals (plus one carry-over from the zoo days - a favorite miniature hippo). We listened to a manatee talk and saw some rescued manatees up close.

The next day we snorkeled with manatees in the wild on a very cold and windy day.

We enjoyed exploring the Wycliffe Discovery Center in Orlando and had a nice lunch in their cafe. Brian had lunch on another day with some long time friends who are with Wycliffe Associates.

We visited another small zoo in Sanford where the bugs tried to eat us alive. (look at the size of them!) A kind lady from the gift shop locked up shop to go look for some bug spray for us.

Brian, his dad, his brother (on the left), and a friend from New Tribes (on the right) went deep sea fishing in the Atlantic Ocean on the east coast of Florida. Again the day was windy and cold. The trip acually was delayed a few days due to rough seas and bad weather.

Home Gym

2011-10-04T16:14:00.001-07:00

We completed our home gym in the back half of the TV room (where the office used to be)

We shortend the space for the TV room just a bit and put in lower bookselves as a divider. The only other real difference in the front of the room in the laminate flooring.

In the gym area, we have space for Brian's exercise bike and my traction unit. We put in thermal curtains to reduce the heat in this room from the morning sun coming through the windows.

The TV is used for exercise videos (and also for our game systems when Dan or the college group wants to play). The entertainment center also holds hand weights and additional equipment is in the planter at the end. We added a switch and light fixture by the door leading to the garage. This makes it much easier when coming in after dark.

Exercise books and other equiptment are in the cubby holes on this side of the divider. An eye-hook system is attached to the wall stud for ease of use with exercise bands. The large balls and floor mats find their spots up against the walls. The back of the divider is covered with a large white board for messages or writing goals.

And One More Thing!

2011-10-04T16:03:00.001-07:00

Cassy drove up from Maryland for two days while I was in New Jersey.
She came with us to the Thomas Edison Labs,
listened to music with Billy,
played Clue with Beth Anne,
went shopping downtown with Joy and I,
and met distant cousins at Sunday Dinner.
It was really nice to see her.

NewJersey Vacation

2011-10-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

Brian had to get back to work but I took another vacation and flew to New Jersey to spend time with my brother's family.

I was there to visit with family and relax but we did take a few excursions to nearby sights. Unfortunately, we were unable to get to the portion of the Appalachian Trail that runs through the corner of the state (due to roads not yet being opened after the Hurricane). Instead we stayed closer to home and visited some museums, antique stores, and did some geo-caching, including one up a tree (sorry no picture there). Best of all I came home more rested than when I left - that's what I call a successful vacation!

We visited the Great Falls on the Passaic River (which also had a cache). the falls were pretty impressive and there was a higher than normal volume of water due the the recent Hurricane (also a higher than normal amount of debris)
I was there over the anniversary of 9/11 so we didn't even attempt to go into New York. We did go the the 9/11 memorial on Eagle Rock which especially remembers those from Essex County that lost their lives.
The day we were there the view of the New York Skyline was pretty clear.
We went to the Lambert Castle Museum, which was originally built by a silk baron to showcase his extensive art collection. The building itself was a work of art but most of the original art work had been sold off during the great depression in order to keep afloat financially.
We strolled through the Van Vleck gardens. The spring/summer blossoms were past and the autumn colors were just beginning but we still saw some amazing plants - like the Cedar of Lebanon (in first photo below) - which was not at all what I envisioned when reading Bible passages about them.
We explored the Thomas Edison Labroatories at West Orange where many of Edison's inventions were developed - including his early movie technology and some of the first talking films produced.

Visit to Vegas

2011-09-01T15:10:00.000-07:00

We spent two week in the Las Vegas area of Nevada visiting with family (Brian's niece Cindi and her boyfriend Zack) and friends (Kristina, David, and Wyatt) with a side trip to Bullhead City to see our friends (the Dunlaps).We did some of the tourist sites in spite of the heat. Some of them were inside, like the Lion King. We were very impressed with the costumes/puppetry at the show and also with the stage itself - the story line, of course, was predictable.

We visited the M&M World and got a picture with the M&M race car. We also visited the Ethel M Chocolate Factory in Henderson and took lots of trips to Starbucks (which further explains Brian's big grin).

We took a tour of Hoover Dam. We had been there years ago with the kids. The tour has really been scaled back since 9/11 so we probably won't do it again.

One day we ate at the Harley Davidson Cafe. HUGE portions and the food was good too. Brian liked looking at all the bikes.

Cindi and Zack took us to their favorite place to get "Frozzzen Hot Chocolate"

We took a day trip to Zion National Park in Utah (and picked up a couple of geo-caches there - the first ones in Utah for us).
It was a hot day so we cooled off in the river after lunch.

We also visited Red Rock State Park for their "Super Summer Theater" which is put on by the University of Nevada.
We brought our picnic dinner and enjoyed the Fiddler on the Roof under the stars. I enjoyed watching the bats too.

Brian, as usually, found some handyman things to do around the house and little Wyatt was happy to help "Grandpa". He followed Brian around calling him Grandpa the whole time we were there - the really funny thing is that Brian is only 3 years older than David (Dad).

NTM Aviation

2011-08-11T15:25:00.001-07:00

Our recent trip to the New Tribes Mission Aviation headquarters in McNeal, Arizona went well, even though our group was relatively small (just 6 of us). We spent 3 days painting. Unfortunately of the 44 pictures taken 40 of them were of the first project - the picnic tables which were finished the first day.
We painted the trim and gutters on one of the trailers (2 coats of primer, 1 1/2 coats of top color - and then 2 coats of a new color as the first color wasn't what they expected). The metal roof was so hot that we had to get piece of carpet so that the guys wouldn't get burned through their pants.
We also helped to clean out a very dusty storage area and dispose of items that were no longer needed. They were all pretty dirty by the end of that job.

Every time we go out to McNeal, a favorite parts of the trip is the missionary speakers each evening. This year was no exception. We had three excellent (and completely different) speakers who shared how God called them into missions work and how He had led them along the way. A common theme was how God sometimes directs in a path all together different than we had planned and prepared for.

Home Office

2011-07-29T16:38:00.001-07:00

We recently "re-purposed" our front room into the home office (I don't know why we didn't think to do this last year when Brian was officing from home). The front room had been used to display my antiques and collectables but was not really used for anything than an extra table for a dinner party or college game night. The new office is much more useful.

Both Brian and Jo have their own desks (mine's the one with the desktop computer)
There is an old dresser for storage and a drop leaf work table.
And two comfortable chairs for a counseling corner. It's also a nice place to hang out and read the newspaper - and Brian was taking a nap here yesterday - maybe the chairs are too comfortable!

Monument Fire

2011-07-23T13:50:00.000-07:00

The Monument Fire started on June 12th near the Mexican border just south of Coronado National Monument. We had the "perfect storm" of conditions for a truly monumental fire. The hard freezes of the past winter killed many desert plants, the extreme drought conditions added to the dry tinder box of fuels, the high temperatures and high winds not only ramped up the fire but also hindered fire fighting efforts.

In the next few weeks the fire raged through over 30,000 acres including much of the Coronado National Forest southeast of Sierra Vista as well as a number of homes. I think the final count was 62 homes (including two church members) , 6 businesses as well as numerous outbuildings, vehicles, propane tanks, fences etc. At one point over 10,000 people were evacuated from their homes. Some were out of their homes for two weeks.

With the coming of the monsoon season at the end of June the fire was finally contained and people could begin to return home and clean up the mess. The rains, however needed, are causing their own problems with major flooding and mud slides since much of the mountain is devoid of vegetation to hold the soil. Several more families are now out of their homes with water and mud damage. It will be months (if not a whole year) before that danger is completely gone.

During the fire we were never in danger (living on the far side of town from the fire) so we (our family and a number of volunteers from the church) helped with evacuations and clearing brush from homes being evacuated, offered or found housing for evacuees and fire victims, kept pets, organized meals, collected and delivered replacement items, volunteered at the evacuation centers and of course prayed. Dan volunteered hours of video work with Cox to film and broadcast the informational meetings. He also made time lapse videos each day to post on you-tube (click on the link below to see the video - or click on the blog heading). Several of these videos were used by news stations and websites. Since the fire, we have been involved in clearing the burned out property of a church member (we will help them rebuild as well) and in clearing out a home filled with mud. We will also be helping with reforestation efforts in the burn areas.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpMp5uaaycQ

A Weekend To Remember

2011-07-23T13:47:00.001-07:00

A group of our Young Married's class enjoyed a "weekend to remember" marriage retreat put on by Family Life June 3-5.

Secret Church

2011-04-23T16:00:00.000-07:00

We participated in a simulcast event on Good Friday called "Secret Church". The concept was created by David Platt for his Church at Brookhills after being involved in several teaching times in a real secret church in a country where Christians are persecuted and church gatherings are illegal. This is the first one that is has been simulcast - about 50,000 people around the world participated.

Secret Church involves 6 hours of intense Bible Study and prayer for the persecuted church around the world. The focus of the teaching this time was on the meaning of the cross and the doctrine of salvation - I can't think of a better way to spend the evening on Good Friday. The prayer focus was the country of India.

We had a relativly small group of only 20 people (some of which had to come late or leave early due to work or other obligations) but I think each one who participated came away with a greater understanding of God's grace to us as well as being better equipped to share these truths with others.

Vertical Church

2011-04-23T15:56:00.000-07:00

We took a small group (all of 4 people) to Bullhead City, Arizona to help a friend with a new church plant. Vertical Church will launch on Easter Sunday. (update: they had 90 in attendance on Easter Sunday.)

We hauled up a load of folding chairs that had been donated to the church (picture includes Pastor Kevin, the Associate Pastor and 2 church members with Brian),

helped fill 10,000 Easter eggs which will be dropped from a plane on Saturday,

and also helped place 2,500 door hangers to invite people to the Egg Drop and Easter Services.

And we drank coffee - at the Firehouse Coffee House.

Missionary Visitor

2011-04-23T15:50:00.000-07:00

We enjoyed a week long visit with Bekah, a newly appointed missionary with New Tribes Mission. I had gone to Bible School with her parents who now serve in Brazil, so it was neat to see this "child" who I had been praying for over the past 25 years, now going out on her own to the mission field. Bekah will be spending a year at the NTM headquarters in Germany and than hopes to settle in Brazil as her permanent place of ministry.

She shared at our church prayer meeting, at our college Bible study, and we took her to Bullhead City with us to share at Vertical Church.

We also did some fun stuff like visiting the New Tribes Aviation headquarters in McNeal, walking through Tombstone,and hiking in Ramsey Canyon - not to mention the multiple trips to get coffee.

Winter update

2011-02-03T16:59:00.000-08:00

we have been so busy this winter we haven't had a chance to blog much so here is a quick picture update of our winter events

Thanksgiving: spent with Brian's folks who come each year in November. no this was not our dinner - this turkey is my sisters pet Butterball who laid eggs and wouldn't leave the nest. There was no tom turkey around so they bought a few baby chickens and switched the chicks out for the eggs in the middle of the night - Butterball is a very happy momma - the chicks were hiding so they are not in the picture. Picture was actually taken on Christmas Eve

College Christmas Party: We had a Christmas outfit contest with prizes for most outlandish Christmas sweater, cutest Christmas socks and craziest Christmas hat. Lots of fun.

Christmas Eve Day: spent with my sister and her family eating, talking, and playing games

Christmas Day: spent sleeping in and lazing around - here we are opening presents with Cassy (over Skype)

Hiking near Tucson with family - we found the stone table

Family Dinner in Tucson - chimichangas and tacos in honor of my brother and his family visiting from out of state

New Years Football party at my dads - not only did we have three TV's going at once - for a while we also had a fourth game on a laptop computer.

Babies: no not ours but we welcomed several new babies into the young married group at church.

Today's Icicles: Record breaking low temperatures (following record breaking high temperatures in December and January). Maybe not such a big thing for those living up north but we had a low of -4 degrees and a high of 27 today (normal is 40 and 65). Many in town are without heat (major shortage of gas in the lines) or water (lots of pipes busted) - and some are even without electricity. We did have two breaks in the water lines out front but have heat and electricity - plus a nice fire in the fireplace right now.

And there you have it - the last few months in picture - and you're probably now wondering what exactly kept us so busy.

Hair Donation

2010-12-17T11:35:00.000-08:00

A number of people I know have been battling cancer in the past couple of years. There's not much a person can do besides pray. But I wanted to do something.

So I decided to donate my hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths (it's like Locks of Love only they make wigs for women instead of children). I decided to do this last summer and finally I got around to it yesterday.

I donated 11 inches of hair. My hair has not been this short since I was a kid. It is quite different and might take some getting used to.

I had forgotten that the hair at the back of my head is naturally curly (the weight of longer hair pulls the curl out).

And I continue to pray for those I know who are fighting cancer.

Brian's New Offices

2010-10-23T11:06:00.001-07:00

Brian moved back to the offices this week. Even though there are still things to do we have passed the final inspection and received our occupancy permit.

Brian actually has two offices: His main office (above). And a counseling office (below) . He is also in charge of the AV room and all the computers.

Minute to Win It

2010-10-16T15:42:00.000-07:00

A local radio station was broadcasting from the visitors center at the harbor. They had a table of "Minute to Win it" type games and prizes. Both Cassy and I tried the puzzle and we both failed. Both Cassy and Brian beat the cup game. Cassy won a DVD, and Brian won a T-shirt.

Video of Cassy doing the cup game.

Video of Brian doing the cup game.

Baltimore

2010-10-16T15:20:00.001-07:00

We spent our final day at the inner harbor in downtown Baltimore. We tried some caches, ate at the Cheesecake Factory, and looked at the boats.We had gone to see the movie "Despicable Me" earlier in the visit and Brian was describing everything with the phrase "It's so fluffy!" We finally found something at the Visitor's Center that fit that description.Most of our day was spent at the National Aquarium. We looked at all the exhibits, watched the dolphin show, and enjoyed the 4-D experience (a short 12 minute 3-D movie with the fourth dimension of wind, snow, water etc). Cassy especially enjoyed it, she squealed when the shark attack poked her back, and giggled when the bats flew beneath our chairs.

Antietam

2010-10-16T13:11:00.000-07:00

During the Civil War, Maryland was a slave state which remained in the Union. This was not so much an act of choice but more a result of indecision and procrastination. Motions were made, Motions were tabled, Meetings adjourned, no vote took place. Eventually, federal authorities removed most of the southern sympathizers in positions of power and so Maryland never joined other slave states in the Confederacy. Some people still favored the south while others were in support of the north. One story is that many people in Frederick kept both a Union Flag and a Confederate Flag and cheered whichever army happened to be in town. Other families were split; in one home the Union supporters lived upstairs and the Southern sympathizers downstairs. Maryland, along with the other border states, most truely felt the struggle of brother against brother. At the Frederick City Hall (originally the court house) is a fountain depicting, appropriately, the struggle between Cain and Able.
We visited the Civil War battlefield at Antietam (aka the battle of Sharpsburg). Lee knew he was outnumbered and lead his troops with skill and determination. McClellan thought he was outnumbered and moved with caution. This play back and forth throughout the day created many casualties. September 17, 1862 was the bloodiest day in American's war history with over 3,600 dead, and almost 23,000 wounded (some of these died later on). All the churches and other large building in Frederick were used as hospitals to care for the wounded.Although most agree that this was a Union victory, the debate continues as to who actually won the battle. With that many dead split roughly down the middle between North and South, I would say they both lost. However, This battle was a turning point in the war, the South never again had so many troops in Northern Territory.
President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation just five days after this battle making the Civil War not just about preserving the Union of the United States, but also about freeing the slaves. Had McClellan pressed his advantage (of both superior numbers and a copy of Lee's Special Orders No. 191 in hand) the battle of Antietam might have been the decisive victory that all but ended the war, and perhaps slavery would have been allowed to continue for many years before finally being abolished.
Another notable thing about the battle of Antietam was the photographs. For the first time ever photographs of war dead (by Alexander Gardner) brought the war home to civilians when they were displayed in a New York Gallery. Many people were shocked at the reality of war because their image of war was much like the bloodless patriotic art of the day.

On a side note - During the ranger talk, he mentioned the "substantial mountain range" between Lee and the Union troops. I meant to get a panoramic picture after we went outside but I forgot. There was nothing substantial in the mountains - looked to me to be small rolling hills.

Frederick

2010-10-16T09:47:00.001-07:00

We spent some of each day in downtown Frederick (one of Cassy's favorite places to hang out). We looked in some vintage shops, walked along Carroll Creek, and ate at locally owned restaurants. The atmosphere reminded me of Old Bisbee: artsy, earthy, and chic.
Cassy took us on a driving tour of Frederick showing us all the places she frequents. We took a walking tour of historic downtown (although it only covered about 2 blocks). The architecture reminded me of Connecticut with it's quaint old buildings. Frederick is known for it's church spires. Many of these churches were established in colonial times (although the current buildings are a bit later than that).
We saw the German Reformed Church where Stonewall Jackson attended a service (because the Presbyterian church was not open that day). He fell asleep (apparently he had narcolepsy) and didn't hear the sermon (a rousing patriotic one - if you are a Union sympathizer), or the prayer (in which the minister prayed for President Lincoln). As he left the building he congratulated the minister on such a fine sermon!

Another interesting feature seen in several places was the realistic wall murals. Some of which we didn't realize were paintings until Cassy pointed them out.
The Community Bridge is probably the most famous of these murals (unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera to dinner the day we went by it - the photo here is from the distance). Completed in 1998 by artist William Cochran and several assistants, the bridge has 3,000 unique painted stones with 4 main mural paintings and over 160 "carvings" painted into individual stones. These images are symbols of different segments of society (such as race, religion) and unity (such as a cord of three strands, clasped hands). Together the bridge represents the "common ground" that all mankind shares. It was truly a fascinating work of art.Francis Scott Key (author of The Star Spangled Banner) was from Frederick - he is probably their most famous "son"

Visit to Cassy

2010-10-16T07:30:00.001-07:00

Cassy had a short fall break from school - and also managed to be off work - so we headed to Maryland for a visit. It was good to spend each day with her - although she still had a paper to E-mail in, and mid-terms to study for.We had hoped to be there for peak fall colors but it was still mostly green when we arrived. We did manage to find a few trees here and there that had a bit of color.We took a "fall foliage" excursion train. Didn't see much fall foliage but did have a lovely ride. The countryside reminded us a bit of Michigan. The line was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1869 (when the rail lines were being rebuilt after the war). The train was vintage 1920's and has been running as a tourist train since 1991.View of the Monocacy River The crossing guard drove his car around to the road and stopped traffic for us, then hopped in his car to head off to the next road. (there were no crossing gates) He waved like it was the first time he had seen us at each road. Cassy showed us around her school. Hood College was originally formed as an all girls school in 1893 and is one of the nation's highest ranked private colleges. It is relatively recently that they opened up the campus to males (it's student body is still about 70% women). The 50 acre campus is very lovely - although because it was Saturday and fall break we couldn't get into many buildings. They have a lot of student activities and Cassy is enjoying attending Hood, with all it long standing traditions.Brian and Cassy under the Truxal Pergola in the center of campus. Cassy bought us Hood College Dad and Hood College Mom tee-shirts.We introduced Cassy to the game of Geo-caching. She thought it was a lot of fun. We found Caches in Frederick and Antietam but failed to find the three we looked for in Baltimore.Cassy's first cache along Carroll Creek in Frederick.The old slave block was used at this location for 150 years as a place to display and sell slaves. Today it stands forgotten in a crowded corner of a gas station. A silent reminder of a dark time in our history.

Apple Annie's

2010-10-07T16:03:00.001-07:00

We took 12 families from our Young Adult's Ministry to Apple Annie's on Saturday. Apple Annie's is a "you pick" orchard and produce farm in Wilcox, Arizona . All this month is their Pumpkin Festival. Unfortunately, we forgot to get permission for family/kid pictures so all the cute pictures with kids didn't get posted (You'll have to make do with cute pictures of Brian).
We took a hay ride out to the pumpkin patch and everyone choose pumpkins for carving or eating. The kids all enjoyed the play area with horse troughs full of seed corn. They had corn in their pants, shoes, hair - everywhere.
A few families braved the corn maze while others picked apples. We all sampled Apple Annie's famous fudge and several people got slices of pie or bowls of ice cream. Brian and I brought back sweet corn, squash, hot peppers, apples, and a pumpkin.

We're done

2010-09-08T18:09:00.001-07:00

A year ago we purchased an abandoned building in our neighborhood. We have finally completed the rebuild project. Check out handsonbuilders.blogspot.com to see the finished project. You can click on the title of this post to link to the blog or click on hands on builders on our favorite links sidebar.

Common Ground

2010-09-08T17:55:00.000-07:00

Common Ground is the name of our Young Adult's Ministry (clicking on the title of this post should link you to our commongroundsv.org site). It is also the name of a new event at our church. Common Ground was chosen as a name because all our young adults (eveyone actually) is on common ground at the foot of the cross - regardless of our past, our station in life, our color, our income, our church affiliation etc.
A Common Ground Worship Service will be held on the first Saturday of each month. September was our kick-off month. This service will have a more contemporary style of music than our regular Sunday services - the music will be lead by a variety of leaders / bands from our church and others in the area.
Brian will be bring the message at these services - this month he highlight the common ground at the foot of the cross and that the cross can make a radical difference in our lives.
Common Ground is geared towards Young Adults in our church and community but anyone is welcome to come (we had a few youth and a few older people this time as well as the children of our young families). Part of what we want to do is build community between believers in this age group and provide a non-threatening place for them to bring their unchurched friends. As an aid to this goal we purchased an espresso machine. We encourage people to come early or stay late to have a cup of gourmet coffee and enjoy each others company.

Painting the Office

2010-08-03T19:08:00.001-07:00

We are taking a short break from the rescue house to work on the church offices. The rooms are ready for painting. Actually, they are already painted white. The design person came up with a palate of 6 colors that will be used in the common area (and coordinate with carpet). Each person is welcome to decorate their own office - as long as they use the color palate, buy the paint themselves, and provide the labor. That way all the rooms will match but not all be the same.Brian has two offices and he wanted color in both of them. He chose a beige with a greenish hue ("Earthy Cane") as his main color. A darker olive green ("Willow Tree") is the coordinating color, and an even darker reddish brown ("Root Beer") is the accent color (this is also the color that will be used on all the trim around the floor and doors). The painting is all to be done by next Monday. Brian wanted to get his rooms painted early before the drop ceilings went in (later this week) so we wouldn't have to "cut in" the paint - also he will be gone this weekend so didn't have a lot of choices for times to do it. We bought paint today and got the first coat on. Tomorrow morning, Brian will complete the second coat. The accent color will be added later in the week (after the paint has cured long enough to hold up to the taping needed for the accent lines). The counseling office is done in a traditional style.While Brian's main office has a more contemporary feel with the triangles on two opposite walls.

Work Projects at McNeal

2010-08-03T17:35:00.001-07:00

Our main project was to finish up the landscaping in front (and along one side) of the Fellowship Hall. A new retaining wall had been poured (waiting for flagstone on the front) and we needed to back fill it and level the ground behind it (which required removing some of the existing rocks and plastic), pull weeds throughout, replace the liner, and spread the rock.
Two smaller projects were also completed:
Installing a pathway made of large pavers and painting the steps for the entrance of a trailer that is being renovated.Weeding and replacing loose edge bricks on 4 paths which our group put in on our last trip (about 2 years ago)Our final project was to start on the irrigation repairs needed. New Tribes has about 250 trees planted in four rows as a wind break. We did some weed-eating around them to cut back the undergrowth. The hard part was digging up the ground to expose the irrigation line back to the main line(hopefully without breaking the main), replace the drip lines (also repair that main where we broke it), and recover the lines. We completed about 45 trees. I don't know if all the trees need done or just the row of about 80 that we were working on.

Missions Trip to McNeal

2010-08-03T17:12:00.001-07:00

A group of 18 (College and Career, one of our couples, Brian and I and my dad) spent the weekend at the New Tribes Aviation headquarters in McNeal. We enjoyed missionary speakers each evening and devotionals with Brian each morning.

We did several work projects (see the next blog) and got a tour of the facilities. We learned about what New Tribes Mission does (bring the gospel to tribal people around the world who have never heard the good news) and how the aviation headquarters helps to reach that goal (by training pilots and mechanics, by rebuilding, repairing, and testing planes and helicopters, by supplying people in the field with parts, etc) - the helicopter in the background is just about ready for shipping to one of our friends in the Philippines.

Of course, with a bunch of young adults there was a lot of food and fun too. Even saying the required Bible verse before lunch was fun as a few made up songs and hand motions to help them remember. We had pretty good weather for the weekend although we did have a rain delay of about an hour and the ground was pretty muddy after that. Some came late or left early due to other commitments and some of them had to travel miles out of the way as the most direct road was closed due to flooding a few times during the weekend, but they all arrived safely.

Family Camping Trip

2010-07-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

Our college group has always enjoyed our annual camping trip to Carr Canyon (each September) so we thought we would try a family friendly version with the young adult's ministry. We spent the weekend in the relatively cool pines. It did rain a few times but not for long, so it didn't interfere with anything and did cool things down even more. We had about a dozen adults and 5 kids come.We enjoyed the fellowship, games, crafts, and campfire (including smores one night and camp cupcakes baked in orange peels the next).My niece, Jessica, (who is a cat biologist with Sky Island Alliance) was our guest speaker. She shared on "Faith and Wilderness" reminding us that the all of nature declares the Glory of God. God created the wonderful world in which we live and gave Adam (and each of us) the responsibility to care for it. A wilderness retreat is a great time to get away from the hustle and bustle of our lives and refocus on God. Brian did a short devotional on creation on Sunday.She also shared about what Sky Island Alliance does (working to protect and restore wilderness areas and the natural pathways that animals use to move from one "sky island" to the next). The Sky Island region (found in Arizona and New Mexico, as well as a corresponding area south of the border in Mexico) is one of the most diverse areas in the world. Both tropical and temperate plants and animals are found here. I knew this was a great birding area, but I didn't realize that 50% of the birds from the entire continent of North America were found here. It was nice to be reminded what a special place this is. Jessica took us on a nature hike to demenstrate how they track and identify animals moving thoughtout the region. We found bobcat scat, a deer trail with tracks, black bear tracks, and lots of domestic canine signs all within about 1/2 a mile of our campsite.

Pictures from Brian's Grad. Party

2010-07-02T18:07:00.000-07:00

We arrived on site to find a large group of current and former youth (from Village Meadows Baptist Church) - one couple even drove down from Tucson. They were holding letters that spelled out "thank you Brian and Jo" Inside was a potluck dinner and a graduation cake.Brian was dressed up in cap and gown and given a "graduation" certificate. Jo was given a bouquet of yellow roses.
After dinner, people visited, told stories (mostly about Brian), and played games.
At dusk, the fire was started for s'mores - and later a science experiment (headed by our son, Dan) to see what kitchen ingredient's either change the color of the flame or produce some other visible change to the fire.It was a nice close to 10 years of being youth pastor here. Now--- on to the Young Adults Fortunately a number of our former youth are in our new group, and since we aren't changing churches we will continue to see even those still in Jr. High.

Roper Lake

2010-06-22T09:50:00.000-07:00

Brian wanted me to blog about our trip to Roper Lake last week. We are doing a Family Friendly Camping trip next month and Roper Lake had been recommended (since it has flush toilets and showers). We had never been to Roper so we went up for an overnight to check it out. We stayed in one the their Camping Cabins next to the group site. There were lots of birds (we had a pair of cardinals around our campsite the whole time). We enjoyed the campfire and watching the stars come out (although the bugs came out too which wasn't so nice).

The lake was pretty but very small and smelly. The group site was pretty small and they require at least 10 paying cars for using it (it had 15 camp sites but many of these did not have fire pits, BBQ or picnic tables and the entire area had only one water spiket.). If we had 10 families with 2 kids each the place would have been so packed there would be no room to move. The deciding factor though was that it is very hot there, and the group site had almost no shade at all (the Cabin we stayed in had AC). We chose to go with Carr Canyon which has pit toilets but also cool pines - it's also closer to home for those who can't stay the whole weekend.

In the morning as we were packing to leave we realized that we had a flat tire so we spent a few minutes unpacking and changing it and then drove 15 minutes into Safford to get it fixed.

New Youth Pastor

2010-06-18T11:40:00.000-07:00

Saturday, TJ (our new youth pastor), Bekah and the kids arrived in Sierra Vista. A number of people from church (including college and youth) arrived early at the house to clean inside and outside. We also loaded up the cupboards with items donated for the "pounding" (food and non-food items) including a birthday cake for the twins who turned were turning one.
After a rather long lunch brake, the family and moving van arrived (later than anticipated) and more people showed up to help off load and get things put away. TJ was ready to take over the youth on Sunday Morning. Brian is now "just" the Young Adults Pastor (and counseling pastor, and IT guy, and.... but not youth anymore.) I forgot to ask permission from TJ to post pictures - so there are no pictures here of the new Youth guy.
On his last Wednesday as Youth Pastor, the sponsors, youth, and former youth had a surprise graduation party for Brian - It took him over 25 years but he is "finally" out of High School. It was very nice. They had a cake, cap and gown, and a graduation certificate which said that he "has completed the duties and activities required by this church to graduate from youth ministry." It granted "all rights as a grown up" and "the right to forego lock-ins, camps, and 18 passenger vans." Since it was a surprise I didn't have my camera and no one has given us picture yet. I'll post some later if I get any.

Cassy's Graduation

2010-06-06T18:09:00.001-07:00

We weren't able to be at Cassy's graduation last month (Associates Degree) but she sent pictures that we wanted to share - the first one is from her awards ceremony where she recieved 4 awards including one for outstanding leadership which came with a cash prize.

Operation Paintbrush

2010-06-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

On Saturday our Young Adults' ministry took part in a community outreach called Operation Paintbrush. This Hands of Love project was sponsored by The Spark (our local christian radio station). Various churches and organizations committed to painting a home for a needy family in our community. The paint was all donated by Home Depot. Lunches were supplied by Landmark Cafe (and the home owner made a chocolate cake for everyone). Our group painted the trailer and sheds of an elderly lady who is low income. We had about 15 of our young adults participate. All together 6 homes were painted.

Last full day in London

2010-05-20T09:49:00.001-07:00

Last night Uncle Brian made his grilled peanut-butter and marshmallow sandwiches for everyone to try - Billy didn't care for it but Joy and BethAnne did. - sticky!
Today we visted the Transportation Museum following the changes from horse and buggy to the modern public transportation system. We figured it was fitting as we have traveled around by Underground (TUBE), train (both British Rail and Irish DART), bus (double decker public bus, double decker tour bus, and coach style tour bus in Dublin), plane, taxi, and by foot - we walked between 3 and 6 miles a day (that's about 2-5 miles more than I usually walk in a day). The public transportation system here is very user friendly (Ireland not so much).
As a final outing in London we went for High Tea at Fortnum & Mason St. James Restaurant (a swanky place). This restaurant has a full gluten free tea (most of the other ones we found only offered one gluten free pastry). High Tea consisted of tea with cream and sugar, of course ("one lump or two"), some starters, finger sandwiches, scones with clotted cream, strawberry jam and lemon curd, and a variety of sweet pastries.

We have less than 24 hours left in England - and it looks like the ash cloud will allow us to fly. it has been nice visiting my family and seeing a part of the world that is new to us.

Windsor Castle

2010-05-19T12:48:00.001-07:00

We traveled to Windsor Castle today - Brian was hoping for High Tea with the Queen but she wasn't in. She usually lives at Buckingham Palace here in London but does like to go to Windsor for part of the summer and some weekends (not to mention her other choices across the UK).
We took the tour through the grounds, State Apartments, and St. Georges Chapel. I enjoyed Queen Mary's Dolls' House. This house was not made to play with but as a scale model of all the latest and greatest things available in the kingdom (including working plumbing and electricity). We also saw the Jubilee Garden which was given to to the Queen for her Jubilee celebration (it used to be an employee Car Park) I didn't get a picture as it is just starting to bloom. All the plants were chosen to be at their peak in June when the Queen is holding Court here.
We also spent some time in town for lunch and caching. We found the smallest cache we have ever found (actually Joy found it) - can you spot it in Brian's hands?
We also found the "Crooked House of Windsor'' apply named.

London Eye and Tower of London

2010-05-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

Today we celebrate 25 years of marriage - Yeah!
we visited the London Eye - Built for the Millennium it gives a 30 minute "flight" high above London with a 360 degree view of the city below.
We passed a section of the original wall of London built by the Romans in about 200 BC.
Next we headed to the Tower of London we took a guided tour with a Yeoman Warder (AKA Beefeater) hearing tales of prisoners, torture and executions.
In spite of its gorey reputation, the Tower of London was primarily a royal residence and stronghold. Of the prisoners held in the tower only 1 out of 10 were executed and 1 out of 42 escaped.
We toured the White Tower (orignally the royal apartments and armory) with it's displays of armor and weapons
and the Beauchamp Tower (where prisoners were held) with the graffiti etched into the stones by those held captive.
We viewed the carefully guarded Crown Jewels (no pictures allowed inside),
and the of course checked on the status of the ravens. Legend says that if the Ravens ever leave the tower, then the kingdom and the stronghold will fall - just in case the Ravenmaster clips their wings.
Lastly, we got a good view of the Tower Bridge - often confused with the London Bridge that is half a world away (much closer to home).

down through history

2010-05-16T06:48:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, we spent the day tracing years of British history.

We started out at Westminster Abbey which has been the site of Royal Coronations since that of William the Conqueror in 1066. We took a guided tour which gave us a lot of information about the history of the Abbey dating back to a Roman temple prior to the first Benedictine chapel in 960 BC all the way up to the funeral of the Queen Mother in 2002. We got to sit in the quire, visit the Henry VII chapel, and see the ancient Coronation Chair which is still being used (currently being repaired). There are thousands of people buried in the Abbey and still others memorialized with plaques or statues. Besides the royal personages there are areas dedicated to famous scientists, musicians, poets, authors, etc. Among the names of Handel, Wilde, Newton, and Shakespeare was a surprising one Charles Darwin. He is buried in honor at the Abbey not for his theory of evolution but for all the good science that he did before. We also visited the Grave of the Unknown Warrior (the first unknown solider grave anywhere). This is the only grave that is never walked on. the grave was adorned with flowers as VE day (that's Victory in Europe day from WWII for the young folks) was just past. (we had seen a lot of veterans and the end of a parade last Sunday) No photos were allowed inside the Abbey. One thing that I thought was especially nice is that Westminster is still a working church. Amidst all the tourists the loud speaker would come on at the top of each hour and ask everyone to pause for prayer. In the time we were there we participated in three prayer times where God was thanked and praised and where petitions for national and world events where made.
We headed down the street (through a large group of protesters wearing purple and calling for election reform who were headed the other direction) looking for a place to eat (didn't find anything) to Churchills Bunker and War Rooms from which he dirrected the military actions during WWII. (We ended up eating in the Switch Room Cafe - but fortunately were under "special rations" and so had a variety of filling dishes to chose from)
From there we moved to the Imperial War Museum - we only had about an hour of time left but with the Museum being free figured we would get our money's worth. We spent the time in the Holocaust Exhibit so it was a bit of a grim day from the start of so many graves to the finished of war and crimes against humanity. A bit of overload of historical information as well but very interesting.
The sermon today covered Ecclesiastics chapter three, part of which talks about injustice in the world - I thought of the Holocaust and that the world has not gotten any better over time - and that only God will bring truth, justice, and peace to any of us - all in His perfect time.

Around Ireland

2010-05-15T13:00:00.001-07:00

Other random things we saw around Ireland:

At Howth Harbor we didn't see any seals but we could see Ireland's Eye (the small island)

The footprints of King George IV carved in stone in 1821

And what is Ireland without Irish Sheep (the white ones are Catholic the black ones are Protestant)
And Green Fields

And Spring Flowers

and Crosses

And Statues

and Cathedrals

and Chapels

And Protests (no we didn't get any pictures as we ducked down a side street back to our guest house but there was a protest march - with competing sides - down the middle of the street)

Ireland Through The Ages

2010-05-15T12:09:00.000-07:00

Our northern tour took us to Trim Castle (of BraveHeart fame) which is the largest Anglo-Norman Castle in Europe. the original structure was built in the last 1100's by Hugh de Lacy who was granted the land by King Henry II. Later a son and a grandson expanded the Castle. A later decendent moved the residence from the Keep which then became a storage house and eventally fell into disrepair. Abandoned for 400 years Trim Castle became the property of the State and was cleaned up, shored up, and opened up to the public. We had a guided tour of the Keep and wandered around the castle grounds, and learned a lot about castle (and common) life 900 years ago.

the Castle

The Keep (built in cruciform - a cross shape, perhaps as a "prayer" hopefully accepted by God in place of going on a crusade) The foot print of the new residence of the Lord and Lady when they moved from the Keep - (the light colored area was the great hall and public spaces - the small area where the stone walls meet was the private quarters)One of four battlement towers on the top (it was cold and windy up there)this area was originally used as a hidden harbor to resupply the castle (the river was diverted to form a mote and this harbor) - later (after they moved out of the Keep) this was used as a "cold" storage.
We then headed to an even more ancient site: The Hills of Tara (or Hill of the Kings). In ancient times this site was used by Druids in festivals as well as a burial site. During the times of the High Kings this was the coronation site and place where all the ruling parties gathered to discuss "government" business. After the business was completed the gathered people would feast and celebrate for several days. The proper thing to do was to wait until the High King lit his fire before any other fires were lit. One day (around 430 AD) the High King was about to light his fire when another flared up an a nearby hill - the High King called the man over - who happened to have the name of Patrick and who procedure to convert Ireland to Christianity.

Lia Fail (or Stone of Destiny) where the High Kings were crowned. It was believed that when the True High King placed the sole of his foot on the stone that the stone would cry out and confirm his Kingship. the High King must be of Irish or Scottish decent. Since Brian is both he thought he would try it - but the stone remained silent - perhaps because he didn't remove his shoe.

Duma na nGiall (or Mound of the Hostages) dates back to 2500 - 3000 BC. This mound contained three champers and over 40 bodies buried there.

We found our first "real" cache here - one big enough for trade items (but we hadn't brought anything to trade).

On this tour we also ate at The Man of War which was established in 1575 and is one of Ireland's oldest Pubs. I had a traditional Irish Stew.

Another stop as a Photo Spot in front of "the leprechaun house" is actually an excuse by the Tour guides to touch base with and take care of Annie - who is an old widow who lives on an isolated farm. While the tourists are taking pictures the guide runs accost the street to check in on Annie, sometimes carrying a bucket or doing some small chore for her but usually just stopping to chat.

around Dublin

2010-05-15T00:39:00.000-07:00

Trinity College home of The Book of Kells (no photos allowed in the library)

Christ's Church (we were too late to go inside)

the Millennium Spire (it lights up at the top at night but wasn't completed until 2003)

the Millennium Bridge (beatiful - and complete on 1/1/00 - but the cords have caused many deaths to birds flying up the Liffey River)

The Famine Memorial

The Jennie Johnston ( a replica of an Immigrant ship that took 16 or 17 voyages to America with Irish fleeing the Potato famine)

South Coast and Gardens

2010-05-14T10:13:00.000-07:00

Our southern tour took us along the southern coast past Dublin Bay, the Don Laoghaire harbor and Sandycove.
We turned inland into the Wicklow Mountains through Enniskerry to Powerscourt Estate and Gardens. The Castle was orignially built in 1300 and passed through the hands of several powerful families finally passing in 1603 to the Englishman Richard Wingfield. The Wingfield family owned the property for over 350 years. Richard commissioned the remodeling job that converted the old castle into one of the most beautiful estates of the times. In 1961 the estate was sold who opened the gardens to the public and refurbished the house also in view of opening it to visitors. A fire in 1974 gutted the building but the building was reopened in 1996 although it's function is now very different (housing among other things a furniture factory). the ball room has been restored and can be rented for weddings.the gardens were laid out starting in the early 1700 and extended through generations of owners till the early 1900's. these gardens include the Italian Garden (c.1840 with statues and pebble mosaics), the Tower Valley (c. 1910 with native trees from North America transplanted into a unique forest),the Winged Horses (c. 1870), Triton Lake and fountain (fashioned after one in Rome), the Pet's Cemetery, Dolphin Pond and fountain (purchased from Paris), the Walled gardens (housing the longest herbaceous border in Ireland) and a Japanese garden (which we didn't get out to see).

It rained all morning and it was cold - then the hail started. Fortunately the rain stopped about the time we got to the gardens - but there was enough hail for Brian to form a snowball.

For my son - this is a picture of the Sugar-loaf Mountain
We returned to Dublin through "the Scalp" through the Wicklow and Dublin mountains.

tours of Ireland

2010-05-13T12:03:00.001-07:00

We're back at Starbucks to check in for our flight back to London tomorrow (and enjoy a cup of coffee while we are at it).

Yesterday we took the Coast and Garden tour to the south. We traveled down the coast in the cold rain which turned to hail as we turned inland and up into the Wicklow Mountains. the rain and hail stopped about the time we stopped for the main event at the large estate gardens (forget the name of the place right now). The estate once belonged to some lord long ago who built the stonghold, his decedents added on to it but eventually they sold it in the mid 1900's. The new owners spent a bit of money restoring it. In 1970 they had a big event to unveil the finished product. that night the place was gutted by a fire. The estate is now primarily a garden stop with acres of wonderful gardens and ponds and fountains. the stonghold (stone shell) has turned into a furniture factory (of all things) which occupies the new 2 and 3rd floors. The bottom floor is full of touristy shops and a small area has been left in the gutted state with picture and video history. Oh - their was so much hail it looked like snow (I hear they got snow up in the Wicklow mountains today) so Brian gathered up a pile and made a snowball.

Today we took the Ireland Through The Ages. this tour took us north to Trim Castle which is the largest Anglo-Norman castle in Europe (for those film buffs this is the castle in BraveHeart). We also stopped at the Hill of Tara which dates back 6000 years to Druid festivals, High King coronations, ancient burial grounds, as well as tales of fairy circles. For us most notably it is one of the sites that Patrick preached the Word of God to a then pagan Ireland. It was supposed to rain a lot today but we just had a few sprinkles.

Later we went to Howth Harbor to see the seals - there wasn't a single one is sight. The trip back from there was an adventure as we purchased a DART (light rail) ticket back to Dublin City Center only to be told at a different station that this was the "end of the line - train going out of service". We got off and found we were only about 4 block from the other station so we just walked instead of trying to get on another train. On the way we were able to see the Famine Memorial and a ship that took hundreds to America during the famine years. this was especially interesting to me as an ancestor of mine came to America during the famine - perhaps in this very ship.

I'll update with pictures in a day or two.

Greetings from Dublin

2010-05-12T01:29:00.000-07:00

We are in Ireland for a few days, but don't have good internet connections here. Right now we are at Starbucks to write this note before we head out for the day. I will upload pictures from Ireland once we return to London and have the internet access that we need.

Yesterday we arrived via Air France (which served wonderful french pastries on the plane - that I couldn't have but Brian enjoyed - ignoring his diet for the moment). We took a look around the City Central (where all the touristy things are based). We chose our tours for today and tomorrow and then went over to Trinity College.

Trinity College is home to the Book of Kells - a Latin copy of the four gospels which is considered by some to be the most beautiful book in the world. It is lavishly decorated with rare and expensive (at the time) colors. Trinity College also has an extensive library. The Long Room holds 200,000 of their oldest and rarest books - cataloged by size! so no one ever checks anything out, and even the librarian doesn't know where anything is.

the Book of Kells was very beautiful - but it has a number of contents errors and "typo's" (including one whole page that was written twice). It seems the Monks produced it as an alter show piece instead of a useful copy of the Holy Scriptures.

We paid an extra Euro to have a guided tour of Trinity College. Due to the rain we skipped from shelter to shelter as the guide talked about things in the distance (instead of walking all over the place). the guide knew how to spread the blarney - It was hard to tell truth and fiction apart as he gave it all in a studious tone and with solemn gestures but with a twinkle in his eye.

today we are off on a bus tour south to Dun Laoghaire, Bray, Enniskerry and back again.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T11:51:00.001-07:00

Mother's Day in England is actually in March - but Brian and my brother took good care of Joy and I today. After church and a light lunch us mom's went up the road to the antique quilt exhibit at the museum (no photo's allowed). By the time we returned the husbands were putting dinner together. The kids set the table and cleared it and the husbands once again took to the kitchen to wash the dishes.

But before you think it's all work and no play - the guys had a night out to the movies yesterday while the girls stayed at home.

The Royal Wedding

2010-05-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday we traveled to Hampton Court Palace to attend a reenactment of the marriage of King Henry VIII to Kateryn Parr (she was the 6th wife who survived the King).

We also found the center of the oldest garden maze (we also found our way out), viewed the oldest producing grape vine (and perhaps the largest too), and enjoyed a number of royal gardens.

Tours of London

2010-05-09T09:28:00.000-07:00

Friday was a busy day of touring London.
We started with a walking tour following the changing of the guard (both the old and the new) at Buckingham Place and St James Palace. We saw 4 sets of soldiers and one troop of mounted police.

Next we took the hop-on / hop-off double decker bus tour of central London. This took us past most of the major sites such as Big Ben and the House of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, Hyde Park, the Tower of London, St Pauls Cathedral and more.
We saw about 50 more elephants around town (there are about 250 all together)
We also took a river tour from Westminster Pier up to Greenwich and back - unfortunately it was too late in the day for us to disembark and see anything there before the last boat to return.

We finished up the day with a trip to the Theater to enjoy an Alfred Hitchcock satire/comedy - "The 39 Steps"

Kew Gardens

2010-05-06T07:48:00.001-07:00

Today we joined a group from the American Women's Club (yes Brian went too with 7 women) and toured the Kew Gardens - a royal garden park including the home of George III (which we did not go into). There were miles of trails leading to various gardens and greenhouses as well as plenty of birds. We spotted only one butterfly - but also saw an iguana. A favorite was the stroll through the bluebells - a 'sure sign of spring'
the Temperate House is a large glasshouse - used to be the largest in the world and is the largest surviving Victorian era glasshouse.
The Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway took us to the top of the trees for a nice view. We also enjoyed the strutting peacock at the bottom of the stairs.

The Princess of Wales Conservatory includes 10 'zones' - each representing a different type of climate from rainforest to deserts - this is where we spotted the iguana.
The sun finally came out for a while and we were able to get a GPS reading in the open park, and so were able to find two caches in the area.

First Day in London

2010-05-05T23:49:00.000-07:00

We arrived safely in London yesterday afternoon. The flight was fine and only a little bit late. We had no problems with long lines or large crowds.

We are staying with my brother's family who live in a flat in the Kensington neighborhood. There are a lot of cool cars here that Brian is interested in - here is his favorite:
This morning we took a walk in the area and visited the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Most of the museums here are free but special exhibits require an entrance fee. The line for the special antique quilts exhibit was too long so we will buy tickets on line and return another day. Instead we took a guided tour of the Medieval and Renaissance exhibits.

We also stopped at the Natural History Museum which was full of school children. We didn't go in but walked through the Wildlife Garden with sections representing the various types of habitats found in England. The elephant is not found in England but there are a number of artsy elephants around in a "parade of Asian elephants" to raise awareness and funds for saving the elephants.
In the afternoon we tried a bit of geo-caching but our GPS unit could not aquire the satellites, probably a combined problem of tall buildings, trees and heavy clouds. We were able to use other clues to find one of the caches nearby.

Couples Retreat

2010-03-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Brian ran a couples retreat at Huachuca Oaks Camp. The theme was Balanced and Blessed (a marriage study by Charles Lowery). We had 6 couples participating and enjoyed the time of fellowship, worship, study, sports and games.

Office Buildings

2010-03-22T18:27:00.000-07:00

We are busy working on the Offices (or Administration Building) at the church. Many of our young adults are volunteering time to help. The "red iron" is all in place, windows have been installed and as of last Saturday 3/4 of the insulation and metal sheeting is done.

Dare 2 Share

2010-03-22T18:07:00.000-07:00

Brian took our Jr. and Sr. High to Pheonix for Dare 2 Share. This is an awsome conference which not only challanges students to share their faith but also trains them to do so and gives them an oportunity to put it into practise.

The weekend was filled with teaching sessions, great worship, community service, and witnessings oportuintes.

One of the unique elements was a witnessing challenge involving popular electronic means of communication (ie Face-book, Twitter, Texting etc).
Unfortunately, this is the last year that Dare 2 Share will be in Arizona. They have been coming for a number of years and each year turnout has been too low to meet their expenses. With the economic difficulties today, it is too much of a financial burden to continue coming to our area. If Dare 2 Share comes to your area please encourage your youth pastor to take the young people from your church. This is a great conference that has had a real impact on our students - in fact, it was Dan's favorite event each year and the one that impacted his spiritual life the most (he got to go as a sponsor this year).

Ski Trip

2010-01-28T17:09:00.000-08:00

Our ski trip ended up being in the middle of the worst winter storm to hit Arizona in a long time. The ski area was closed due to power outages and blocked roads. Brian still took a group of 10 college students and High School Seniors up to the snow. They found a hill in town to tube and sled on, and even had a snow ball fight in the parking lot in the middle of the night. They also enjoyed the warm place to stay and roasted marshmallows in the fireplace to make S'mores. One of the students brought his guitar and they had some good times of worship and Bible Study. They did have to delay their return by a few hours waiting for a road to be cleared of rocks and snow that had blocked it.

Christmas this year

2009-12-26T10:19:00.001-08:00

We have been busy with Christmas celebrations all month. We hosted several parties (Youth Group, College and Career, Youth Staff, Young Marrieds) and enjoyed two groups of carolers who came to sing (one from our church - the other a family in our neighborhood).

On Dec 23nd we woke to gently falling snow and a small accumulation of the white stuff on the ground. That probably doesn't count as snow for those of you who live further north -but Brian did have to go shovel 1 1/2 inches off the unfinished roof on our rescue house.

We then headed up to Tucson for a elegant family dinner prepared by my sister to celebrate our parents 50th wedding anniversary.

Back to Sierra Vista for Christmas Eve. Morning was spent finishing baking. Afternoon Brian and Dan both had to go out to finish their shopping. In the evening we enjoyed a candle light service at our church, opened our stocking and a time of fellowship in front of the fireplace with our best friends.

Early Christmas morning we headed back to Tucson for Christmas breakfast with the family, opening presents, playing games, visiting and a wonderful Christmas dinner prepared by my brother.

Finally home again to open our own presents and head to bed early. Some favorite presents were: Dan's I-dog and display knives,

Brian's GPS dash mount and Carpenter's Pencils (his kept going missing on the work site)

and for me the 8th season of the Waltons, and a bird seed wreath.

But we all agreed that the very best gift this year was......

CASSY! My brother and sister had put together a surprise for my parents and for us by bringing Cassy home for two days (for the Anniversary dinner and Christmas Eve). We were told there was a large gift for us on the back porch and there she was!

Her flight left Christmas morning - hence the early morning trip up to Tucson with enough time to have breakfast with the grandparents before heading to the airport. I think she actually spent more time traveling than she did on the ground - definitely if you subtract time she was sleeping. It was wonderful to have her home, even though the time was so short.

Happy Day!

Concert

2009-11-24T18:11:00.000-08:00

Wednesday November 11th Brian and Dan had the opportunity not only to attend but also to help at a christian concert put on by the area youth ministries. Brian played chauffeur to the bands and both Brian and Dan worked security at the concert, Dan also was the "pizza guy"in charge of making sure the after concert pizza was accepted and delivered to the back. By the way, the concert had Building 429, Todd Agnew and Kimber Rising. Brian and Dan (along with a about 900 others) really enjoyed it, and they had great fun hanging out with the bands.

California Trip

2009-10-24T16:38:00.000-07:00

We just got back from a "working" vacation to California. The "working" part was one day of training for Brian to become a official presenter for "Real World Parents" (a parenting seminar put out by Mark Matlock and Youth Specialties). Sometime in the future (probably within 6 months) he will hold the seminar at our church and then be available to present it at other churches.

The rest of the time, we enjoyed spending time with my aunt and uncle. My mom was out visiting in California at the same time, and she took us by the church she attended as a youth - it's where she met my dad. It was neat to see this 115 year old church still alive and well. They are looking ahead (not behind) and ministering to the changing community around them. (And no, my mom and dad didn't go there 115 years ago - only 50.)

We took a short side trip to California Baptist University to visit Rebekah (one of our students from here). It was fun to surprise her, she had no idea we would even be in California, let alone come see her. She gave us a tour of the campus (very nice) and we went to lunch and Starbucks.

Fulfilment of a Dream

2009-10-13T14:30:00.000-07:00

Some missionary friends invited us out to New Tribes Mission - Aviation in McNeal to take a ride in a helicopter. This has been a dream of Brian's for a long time. Our friend took us out for about an hour and showed us some of the things that tribal pilots are trained for. It was really interesting and fun too. The helicopter and our friends will be headed to the Philippine Islands early next year.

The inside story

2009-08-12T07:02:00.000-07:00

I guess some of you may be interested in the inside of Dan's small trailer.
It really does have just about everything a college guy would want.

A bedroom (well a bed anyway and closet)

a Kitchen (almost - no stove but Dan has a single burner, electric fry pan, coffee maker,
George Foreman grill, toaster, toaster oven and microwave -
how much cooking does a college guy do anyway?)

A living room with the very important AC (the TV goes on the little stand in the corner - note in the previous blog the importance of hooking up the antenna)

A dining room / study table

all decorated in UofA colors

Not pictured is the bathroom/shower (it's all in one) and 5 gal. hot water tank.
He also has an outdoor patio set (still at our house) and hammock for an outdoor living space.

The Big Day

2009-08-12T06:48:00.000-07:00

Dan moved out on Tuesday. He will be living in a 17 foot Travel Trailer while he goes to school in Tucson (Pima Community and/or University of Arizona depending on the semester - working on a Media Fine Arts degree) . Temporarily, the trailer is set up at the grandparents house - until Dan gets a permanent job (he has a temporarily one) and picks a trailer park in which to live. We spent the morning getting things packed and hooking up the trailer for the road trip. In the afternoon we drove to Tucson and set the trailer up. We came home to a dark, quiet, empty house.

Grand Opening

2009-08-12T06:27:00.000-07:00

Village Meadows Baptist Church has left the building...the old one anyway. We moved into our new building (the Family Life Center or FLC) this month. Our first "dress rehearsal" worship was held on August 2nd, followed by an all church BBQ lunch. The official ribbon cutting with the Chamber of Commerce was on Thursday the 6th. And our Grand Opening / Dedication Day was August 9th.

Early Service - Grand Opening

BBQ Lunch

Downstairs is the multi-purpose room (with Basketball and Volleyball lines inlaid in the floor), a warming room (non-commercial kitchen), and bathrooms. Upstairs are 5 rooms for the "young adults". Currently we have the College and Career Class (the one Brian teaches), and Young Marrieds or Couples class. A new Young Families (for the parents of all those new babies) will be starting soon and eventually another family class for parents of school aged kids. That leaves a room left over for a game room where all the classes can mingle for fellowship and fun (only not at the same time because the rooms are so small).

New (much smaller) college and career room (upstairs in FLC)

"The Upper Room" a meeting place for young adults (upstairs in FLC)

We are now completely on our new campus (and should close on the sale of the old one by the 17th). The office complex has not yet been built so a modular office was set up temporarily. Brian however is officing from home (except when needed for meetings and computer repairs).

Summer Visitors

2009-07-29T08:48:00.000-07:00

Wanted to share some pictures of some special visitors to my backyard butterfly garden. There were others but I only managed to get pictures of these ones.

Painted Lady

Bordered Patch

Western Pygmy-Blue

Woodhouse's Toad

Tarantula

the FLC

2009-07-06T10:07:00.000-07:00

Village Meadows Baptist Church’s multi-purpose building (AKA Family Life Center or FLC) is open for business. Well - we have a temporary occupancy permit anyway. We got the permit on Friday June 19^th – just in time for VBS the following week. In the picture above the main room is still set up from the closing program. We still have a lot to do (as you can see from the kitchen picture below) before our “grand opening” on August 2^nd and so have some busy days ahead of us. We welcome anyone who wants to join us in celebrating on the 2^nd.

Lake Tahoe

2009-07-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

Our second wedding took us out onto the water at Lake Tahoe. The wedding was for one of our former students from Benson. The wedding was actually on a 4 hour lake tour in a yacht. Lake Tahoe was absolutely beautiful – but also very cold (note the snow still on the mountains). We got to spend some time with several from our old youth group who had come for the wedding. It was nice to have a part of the group back together as they are now spread all over the nation. We also did some sightseeing (and caching) around Lake Tahoe.

Southern California

2009-07-06T09:48:00.000-07:00

Cassy Jo - Oct 1986 - playing in the autumn leaves in New England

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

…And God saw that it was good.

Gen 1:1, 12

"… Even though people’s thoughts and actions

are bent toward evil from childhood.

As long as the earth remains,

there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat,

winter and summer, day and night.”

Gen 8:21-22

There is a time for everything,

a season for every activity under heaven.

. . . a time to plant and a time to harvest.

Ecc 3:1-2

Shout to the Lord, all the earth;

break out in praise and sing for joy!

… Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King!

Let the sea and everything in it shout His praise!

Let the earth and all living things join in.

Let the rivers clap their hands in glee!

Let the hills sing out their songs of joy before the Lord.

Ps 98:4, 6-9

…The mountains and hills will burst into song,

and the trees of the field will clap their hands!

Is 55 12

O Lord, our Lord,

the majesty of Your name fills the earth!

Your glory is higher than the heavens.

Ps 8:1

The heavens declare His righteousness;

every nation sees His glory.

Ps 97:2

The heavens tell of the glory of God.

The skies display His marvelous craftsmanship.

Day after day, they continue to speak;

night after night, they make Him known.

They speak without a sound or a word;

their voice is silent in the skies;

yet their message has gone out to all the earth,

and their words to all the world.

Ps 19:1-3

The truth about God is known to them instinctively.

God has put this knowledge in their hearts.

From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made.

They can clearly see His invisible qualities— His eternal power and divine nature.

So, they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.

Rom 1:19-20

…‘Let us live in awe of the Lord our God,

for He gives us rain each spring and fall,

assuring us of plentiful harvests.’

Jer 5:24

“Where does the light come from, and where does the darkness go?

Can you take it to its home?

Do you know how to get there?

… Have you visited the treasuries of the snow?

Have you seen where the hail is made and stored?…

Where is the path to the origin of light?

Where is the home of the east wind? …

Who created a channel for the torrents of rain?

Who laid out the path for the lightning?

Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives?

… Does the rain have a father?

Where does dew come from?

Who is the mother of the ice?

Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens?...

Can you hold back the movements of the stars?

Are you able to restrain the Pleiades or Orion?

Can you ensure the proper sequence of the seasons

or guide the constellation of the Bear with her cubs across the heavens?

Do you know the laws of the universe and how God rules the earth?

Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain?

Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct it?

Who gives intuition and instinct?

Who is wise enough to count all the clouds?

Who can tilt the water jars of heaven,

turning the dry dust to clumps of mud?

Job 19-38

You take care of the earth and water it, making it rich and fertile.

The rivers of God will not run dry;

they provide a bountiful harvest of grain, for You have ordered it so. …

You soften the earth with showers and bless its abundant crops.

You crown the year with a bountiful harvest;

even the hard pathways overflow with abundance.

The wilderness becomes a lush pasture, and the hillsides blossom with joy.

The meadows are clothed with flocks of sheep, and the valleys are carpeted with grain.

They all shout and sing for joy!

Ps 65:9-13

He released the east wind in the heavens

and guided the south wind by His mighty power.

Ps 78:26

The trees of the Lord are well cared for—

the cedars of Lebanon that He planted.

Ps 104:16

Praise the Lord, …

O Lord my God, how great You are!

You are robed with honor and with majesty;

You are dressed in a robe of light.

You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens;

You lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds.

You make the clouds Your chariots;

You ride upon the wings of the wind.

Ps 104:1-3

Be exalted,

O God, above the highest heavens!

May Your glory shine over all the earth.

Ps 57:5

O Lord,

the earth is full of Your unfailing love; …

Ps 119:62

Bless the Lord God,

the God of Israel,

who alone does such wonderful things.

Bless His glorious name forever!

Let the whole earth be filled with his glory.

Amen and amen!

Ps 72:18-19

Wishing you all a wonderful Thanksgiving Day.

Visit with Cassy

2008-11-15T11:11:00.001-08:00

While in Ohio we discovered that Brian was only 6 hours away from Cassy -

so the road trip began - though autumn colors and winter snow to Maryland.

Brian was so glad to be able to see Cassy - it has been about 3 1/2 years.

Sue came along for the ride as well.

Sister Sue turns 50!

2008-11-15T11:02:00.001-08:00

Brian had the opportunity to surprise his sister Sue in Ohio for her 50th Birthday Bash. He then enjoyed spending some time with her and the family.
They visited a pumpkin patch with thousands of carved pumpkins on display.
They also carved some pumpkins of their own.

the last of the weddings

2008-10-22T20:13:00.000-07:00

Brian just officiated at the last of the weddings he has scheduled this year.
They were all beautiful ceremonies.

Carmody and Christy

Nick and Melanie

Jon and Simara

As most of our group is now in the Young Married Class we are in a rebuilding time in the College and Career Group. We have also started a monthly couples events alternating between a Couples Bible Study and “Cheap Date Night”.

FLC (Family Life Center)

2008-10-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

About 20 of our young people (Jr. High though College) gave up much of their Fall Break (Oct 13-16) from school to hang Sheet Rock in our Family Life Center.

This is the Multi-purpose Building which will serve as both a Sanctuary and Fellowship Hall once it is completed.

Together we hung over 20,000 square feet about twice what we had expected to do. We all signed "the last piece."

It is starting to look like a building on the inside now. The plan is to have it completed by Summer. Several Work Weekends are planned for various projects still needing to be done.

Mission Trip to Window Rock

2008-10-22T19:30:00.000-07:00

Brian and Jo joined some other church members on a trip to Window Rock from Sept 28 – Oct 2.

We were cutting fire wood for the Navajo Elders (not sure if this is church Elder or Tribal Elder or Just Older Folks).

Our team of 11 cut and delivered about 20 cords of wood in 4 days.

We had the privilege of flying up to Window Rock with Pastor Mark – a three hour flight up and about 9 hour drive back home.

Camping Trip to Carr Canyon

2008-10-22T19:18:00.001-07:00

Our College and Career Group enjoyed their annual camping trip to Carr Canyon September 26-28.

There were some huge bonfires, complete with S’mores.

Activities included Hiking, Geo-caching, Volley Ball, and Frisbee Golf.

The Man with the Broken Hand

2008-09-11T08:31:00.000-07:00

Dan injured his right hand few days before the trip to Nicaragua. Together we decided not to go to the emergency room; Mom didn’t think it looked broken and he was able to move it pretty well. The following day the swelling was going down and it wasn’t hurting so bad. He iced it and keep it wrapped. The morning he was to leave the swelling was down enough to be able to tell that something wasn’t quite right. But away he went to dig in the clay of Linda Vista.

Upon returning from Nicaragua, the hand looked even worse: the pinky could not be lifted up and there seemed to be another knuckle. We finally got into see the doctor and after his examination, he said the tendon was probably severed. He immobilized it, ordered an X-ray and referred Dan to a hand surgeon. He was afraid the length of time since the injury might inhibit a complete recovery. The X-ray results came back 9 days later and showed that Dan had broken a bone and that it was healing incorrectly.

Finally we were able to get into the hand surgeon (almost 5 weeks after the injury). The hand surgeon examined the hand – no tendon or ligament damage. He took another X-ray (results back in less than 3 minutes) which showed that the bone has almost completely healed. However, the bone is no longer put together straight, the end of it is pointed down which has realigned the pinky finger (that is why it can’t be lifted up but balls into a fist just fine). He said that could be broken again and put back right but that there was virtually nothing that you do that needs your pinky to go up (except of course Tea with the Queen). So, the plan is to leave it like it is. The wrap on the hand and the splint on the finger were removed. Dan had to “buddy wrap” the pinky to the next finger for 3 weeks and work on regaining as much mobility as possible (5 weeks of inactivity tends to weaken your muscles). He has one week left to go.

So, a huge praise is that Dan does not need surgery and that he is almost all healed up. Even though the bone won’t be quite straight no one will be able to tell unless it is pointed out and the hand will function just fine. God protected and provided even when we were a bit foolish back when it first happened.

New Photos

2008-08-28T14:12:00.001-07:00

Due to difficulties in transmitting photos from Central America the picture quality on the Nicaragua blogs was not very good. We finally got the good photos uploaded plus the two new blogs about the trip. Be sure to look back at the previous blogs for the better pictures.

VBS

2008-08-28T13:58:00.000-07:00

Our team provided two short Vacation Bible School events for kids. One in the village of Linda Vista, the other in the town of Esteli.

We (Dan and Brian) ran the games and other team members taught lessons, did crafts, and provided snacks. The kids in the village were much more responsive then those in the town. It was interesting trying to teach new games to these kids who only speak Spanish. Surprisingly, the younger kids picked up the ideas much faster than the older kids did.

Of course the pinata is always a big hit.

In Nicaragua, you must first dance a little dance before you can swing the stick... very funny.

Water Project

2008-08-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

The water project we worked on was in the little village of Linda Vista. We worked with Sarah (the peace corp volunteer) in some of the final stages of bringing a reliable water source to the village. Previously, the well they had only worked about 6 months out of the year - the rest of the time they had to hike 8 miles to the river for their water.

Our group dug a pit which will hold the water cistern. Once the brick cistern is built a water purification system (from SWIM) will be installed to insure safe drinking water for this village of about 200 people.

We also dug trenches that will hold the water lines to a number of water spickets around the village.

Finally, we helped to install the pump in the well that was drilled the week before. Right now, the pump is hand operated but a battery operated unit will be added later.

We had to hand pump the water for three hours to get all the drilling oil and other contaminates out of the well. This was no easy feat. In a contest for who could crank the pump the longest two of us tied with 3 1/2 minutes each. Many people could only crank for 30 seconds at a time. Fortunately, many villages lined up to help crank as well.

Las Vegas

2008-08-06T19:54:00.000-07:00

So today we loaded into the back of the truck, and after about 3 hours of bumping along... we were in Las Vegas!!!!! yep that's right Las Vegas, just not the one with all the lights and sounds,,, this one had small houses and a school, and not a lot of people. We were there for a pastor's conference, we only understood about half of it... the half that was in English before being translated. After an hour and a half there, we took the 3 hour bumpy ride back to town, and we went out to eat tonight, and that was our grand day. : )

Half way done

2008-08-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

Hello, Well the rest of the team has left, and we are staying with a gringo missionary down here. So, we are finally able to relax for a few hours, this next week we will take some day trips to different communities to do some water projects. one trip will take us all the way to Las Vegas... Nicaragua. we are half way through our trip and doing well.

Rocks to Riches:

2008-08-02T17:28:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, we all loaded into the truck and headed out into the mountains. Up there is a group of people who take rocks... yes rocks, and use machetes... yes machetes, to carve sculptures and designs. It was fascinating to see them work away at the rock and come up with great products. Our team bought a ton of stuff, and Dan special ordered a bell... they have never made one before but said they would try and we will pick it up on Monday.

Of Sarah and Waterworks

2008-08-02T17:26:00.000-07:00

When we arrived in Nicaragua a week ago, we met up with Greg and Vicky Stout, who run the SWIM water program we are working with. We also met Sarah. She has been working in the community we worked in for two years now. (The community is called Linda Vista, which means Beautiful View.) She is down here with the U.S. Peace Corp. to help give safe water and food to the community. She has been a great blessing to the entire team. From translating in town, to serving us our food every meal in Linda Vista, to organizing the work, she has been working non-stop. She worked for two years to get everything ready for the well, and finally the well is in, and pumping water. She is very excited. She is devoted to the cause of giving the people safe water, and plans to extend her time here till March to ensure that the water system is at its peak performance before she leaves to return to the states. She has really been a God-send and has made this trip much more smooth, and added to the cultural experience .

Tubing

2008-08-02T17:23:00.000-07:00

hey all,

Today we went tubing on a river, and cliff diving too. It was fun. To do it it meant 4 hours total in a bus, we had to stand up for 2 hours of that, but it was worth it. Tomorrow the other members of the team leave and then it's just us two, so that will be a change. We don't know if we will have e-mail next week because we don't know where we are staying. Thanks for your continued prayers.

From The Nica Crew

2008-07-31T09:04:00.000-07:00

Hey, we are back from the village we were in. We worked on digging trenches for pipes and a hole for the water tank. The well itself was already drilled last week.

We had fun and did games with the kids for VBS. We rode on top of the bus on the way there and the way back, it was a blast.

Today, we do another VBS here in town, and tomorrow we go shopping, and to some canyons to go tubing. It should be fun. Hope you are all well.

Traveling

2008-07-28T13:06:00.000-07:00

Hey all, we are safe in Nicaragua. We have done a lot of traveling... 1 hour flight to LAX (from Phoenix 3 hours drive from home) , 5 hours to San Salvador, 2 hours to Managua, 3 hours by bus to Estili, and today we have another 3 hours by bus to the town we will be working in. So, we have done very little but travel so far. We did go to a local church last night which was fun, we are all very tired though. Hope all is well with all of you.

And Their Off...

2008-07-25T08:43:00.000-07:00

Dan (the experienced world traveler) and Brian (the older but wiser dad) started out on their missions trip this morning. They will stop in Tucson so Brian can get a few more international immunizations then head up to Phoenix where they will meet the rest of the team. Tomorrow afternoon they will fly to LAX and from there to Nicaragua. It is not yet known if they will be able to send updates while they are there.

The Epic Journey

2008-07-11T19:55:00.000-07:00

Home again Home again Jiggity Jog

We have covered 2572 miles, found 58 geo-caches and stopped in 8 states. We visited friends and family along the way and saw many new things. It was a trip of extremes:

From the Ocean to the desert

Eating in local sheds (literally) and fancy restaurants

Camping out in KOA’s or staying in upscale conference center hotels

Even the two churches we visited were opposites – one was large and ultra conservative, the other small and contemporary - both were friendly and had excellent sermons.

We wanted to see a variety of things and we successes in that. We visited historical sites, beautiful natural areas, tourist traps, factories, and modern places. Brian’s favorite site was the Tabasco Company on Avery Island in Louisiana. Jo’s favorite was the Florida Caverns State Park in Florida.

We both enjoyed visiting friends and caching (it’s fun and it’s free!). The worst state for traveling was, by far, Louisiana. The roads were horrible and the signage confusing (not all of that can be from Katrina). The food was good almost everywhere we went. We could have done with a bit less rain (the one constant on the trip) – and Brian would have loved to avoid the chigger bites and the power steering problem – but it was a great trip.

We really had a lot of fun.

Last Day of Vacation

2008-07-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

New Mexico and Arizona

It rained the whole way home but slowed enough for some caching in the afternoon. At one cache there were 3 turkey vultures guarding the cache. They flew slowly off as we approached and scared up the 5 or 6 mule deer nearby. We tok the picture of the vultures from the car but left the camera behind due to the rain, so we didn't get a picture of the deer.

We toured the Deming Luna Mimbres Museum as it was raining too hard for the outside things we had planned. They had a very impressive collection for such a small town. There was a wide variety of articles from toys to old office equipment, from Indian cultures and cowboys to railroads and soldiers. The Indian War Club (used in the Battle of Little Big Horn) in the picture is their most prized piece with a value exceeding the rest of the museum items combined. They also had hundreds of bells – Dan would have enjoyed it.

We also passed the Steins Ghost Town. It is privately owned and was closed so we couldn’t go it (besides it was still raining).

We finished the trip with a stop to see our best friends in Benson. We had dinner and shared pictures. We got home about 9:00 pm in time to visit for a while with our students who were still hanging out after college group.

New Mexico

2008-07-09T15:58:00.000-07:00

Desert Monsoons

We spent a few days in New Mexico visiting friends. We also took a trip out to Dripping Springs and White Sands. Took some short hikes and got pictures of some beautiful lizards. Just missed the downpour this time – the frogs are all singing down in the wash behind our friends house.

Organ Mountains at Dripping Springs

White Sands