Seems to be the story of our lives anymore. We just made a flyin' trip to Colorado and back this weekend and--although the trip was great--we are sooooo glad to be back home!
We left on Saturday morning and drove the 11 hours or so up to Colorado Springs. Checked into our motel on south Nevada Avenue (isn't that the bad, bad, BAD part of town, Mom?!), then grabbed a bite at Denny's before calling it a night.
We got up on Sunday morning and headed to Memorial Hospital to visit Brother Kelly, who had been admitted there on Saturday. It was soooo good to see him! He actually looked quite well, I thought, and we had a nice visit and a good prayer before leaving to meet the Hays family for lunch at the Mason Jar--James' favorite restaurant in the 'Springs.
I'd best get in there. Talk to you later!!!
We had a good time visiting with Dustin & Jamey and the kids, as always. I'm going to go ahead and say this here, in hopes that Dustin won't catch wind of it. (It would be humiliating to actually say something kind about him publicly and him know of it!) Every time we are with Dustin and Jamey we have the same conversation afterwards. "They are just the neatest couple. They are soooooo amazingly mature--spiritually--and their actions and reactions to people and situations are just so... mature!!! They don't at all act like the 25 year old punk kids that we know they really are deep down! (Had to throw that in there!)" And on and on we go. And it's so true. They are just so sincere and dedicated--and so faithful to ALL of the church functions, "manditory" or not. Their heart is to serve the Lord, work for the Lord, be a part of everything they can possibly be a part of, and be a blessing in every way they can. And they do--all of it! Oh, to have 10 more young couples just like them! Maybe WE'LL be one some day! Ha!
ANYWAY, after having lunch with them we headed over to church to be in the first half of their service with them. Weird, hu?! They held off on Sunday School and went right into their worship service, then James preached. Afterwards we took a break, of sorts, and said goodbye to everybody before they had their Sunday School. We had to skip out on that part in order to drive down to Pueblo and make it in time for the second half of their service! We made it just in time--they were just dismissing from Sunday School when we walked through the door. So we were there for their song service and then James preached there. We were only able to visit with Keven & Michele for a few minutes because of our next appointment (!), but we thoroughly enjoyed it, as always. They are some of my very favorite people in the whole world, too. And I'm always sooooo blessed by their LOVE for souls--especially young people--and the way the invest their lives into ministering to them. In fact, they had 10 kids with them in church yesterday: their own four, their current four foster kids, and two kids who used to be their foster kids. Amazing. What a rich reward they'll have in heaven--and who knows the souls that will be there because of them! They are just... amazing!!!
Well, Katie just came to me and said, "Mom, it's 11:20 and I just can't fall asleep!!! What should I do?!" She ended up taking a nap this afternoon and I guess she was still zapped from the trip because she slept for two or three hours--we had to wake her up for dinner! So I'll go lay down and talk to her for a little while. Poor kid--I know the misery of laying in bed WIDE AWAKE for hours on end!
We stopped in Canon City to get gas and run threw the Wendy's drive through, then stopped to get our room at the Broken Arrow motel in Howard before heading on to Salida for their 40th Anniversary Service. The Church of God in Salida was organized on October 29th, 1967, so we had a special service to celebrate! It was really neat. Several people drove two or three hours to be there, all of whom had connections to the Salida Church in one way or another--except faithful ole' Dustin & Jamey Hays. They have no personal connection, they just wanted to be there because they like being in church, especially with other people--and can't bear to miss out on a chance to fellowship, either! It was great. Brother Clarkson shared some history of the Salida church, James gave special recognition (and some gifts) to Brother & Sister Clarkson, and to Sister Flora Porco who has been a faithful member of the Church in Salida for ALL of it's 40 years. She even sang a special for us. :-)
We shared some memories, some tears, and a few laughs about our time in Salida and some of the wonderful things that have taken place in that church and through it's ministry. It was a really special night. We ended it by Brother Dustin reading a letter from Chris Clarkson (who, of course, was unable to be there due to their recent move to Arizona!) and Jon reading a letter from my Dad that made us all cry. I hate it when he does that. And I love it. It was just a really neat and special time. More than anything, it was just special that everybody cared enough to BE there for it.
We had a nice day around here today. Got unpacked and settled in at home... again. I cooked a nice dinner tonight: smothered steaks, potatoes, mushroom gravy and corn--with cherry cheesecake for desert. Yum! Everything turned out PERFECT. It was all still on the table when the realtor called and asked if she could show the house in about 30 minutes. So we did another high speed cleaning and hopped in the van. Took it down to the car wash and by the time we were done there and drove back by here the people were leaving our house, so we just drove around the block and waited for them to pull away (isn't that weird?! It's OUR HOUSE! Why should we feel weird about going home when other people are there?!) and went on home. I spent some time reading with the kids tonight. Some of their old favorite books that we haven't read in ages: The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes (always makes me think twice!), Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type (lots of fun, but Kate and Joe are about to outgrow it), and Arnie the Doughnut (which none of us will EVER outgrow! It's terrific!). Then Joe read us a page or two out of his Calvin and Hobbes book. It BLOWS MY MIND how well he reads--all due to that crazy comic book! NO KIDDING--this is the page that my 5 year old Joe was reading, "Ow! What am I doing on the ceiling? Hmm... Nothing else fell up. Just me. This is very strange. Even if I try to jump to the floor, I land back on the ceiling! My personal gravity must have reversed polarity! You'd think this would be the type of thing we'd learn about in science class, but no, we learn about cirrus clouds. Having my personal gravity polarity reversed is a real nuisance..." Can you believe that?! He stumbled over the word "polarity," but only the first time. As much as Joe hates school, I count it a real blessing that he has found such joy in Calvin and Hobbes--it is the reason he can read anything at all, and the ONLY reason he can read so well for his age. And it's pretty fun for Mom, too. ;-)
We shared some memories, some tears, and a few laughs about our time in Salida and some of the wonderful things that have taken place in that church and through it's ministry. It was a really special night. We ended it by Brother Dustin reading a letter from Chris Clarkson (who, of course, was unable to be there due to their recent move to Arizona!) and Jon reading a letter from my Dad that made us all cry. I hate it when he does that. And I love it. It was just a really neat and special time. More than anything, it was just special that everybody cared enough to BE there for it.
Afterward we all headed over to a souped up garage (really!) for some refreshments. It was so much fun!!! We had a total of 12 kids and they all ran around screaming like a bunch of banshees, wrestling and shooting each other with cap guns and otherwise being unorderly and out of control. But every one of them had been sitting in church services and strapped into a car all day long and they needed the break! So we just let 'em go. Either that or we figured we couldn't stop it anyway! Ha! I kept hoping that somebody would thump Sam real good, but it never happened. That kid plays way too rough and never knows when to stop. I figure if he gets beat up real good a time or two he might start figuring out how to play within the limits. Maybe it'll happen while he's staying with his Smith cousins during Ladies' Retreat since it didn't happen in Salida. Although--Ha! This is so great!!! Sam came running up to me whining and pulling at the back of his pants in the middle of all of the commotion. I couldn't figure out what he was saying, but Levi (Sister Flora's 16 year old grandson who showed up) was following close behind him and explaining nervously (as if HE would be in trouble) that Sam wouldn't quit hitting him so he finally gave him a wedgie to make him stop! Ha! Little twerp deserved it, but I don't think it slowed him down much.
Anyway, the kids had a blast playing together and I can't speak for the rest of the adults, but I had a blast, too! It was so great just sitting and talking with everybody. What fun! I think we should do it once a month. ;-)
We got back to our motel room and in bed by 10:30 or 11:00, I think. We had the worst mattress I've been on in years, but we slept straight through the night until 8:00 the next morning! WHOA! The long drive to Colorado the day before, then the hospital/church in 'Springs/drive to Pueblo for Church/drive to Salida for church thing just wiped us out!!! The drive home yesterday was good, but forever long. The last 3 hours felt like an eternity. It's hard to take such a long trip in such a short period of time! We'd done nothing but sit in the van (or on church pews) for three days straight and we we bored out of our gourds! But we finally made it in at about 10:00 last night, I think.
Anyway, the kids had a blast playing together and I can't speak for the rest of the adults, but I had a blast, too! It was so great just sitting and talking with everybody. What fun! I think we should do it once a month. ;-)
We got back to our motel room and in bed by 10:30 or 11:00, I think. We had the worst mattress I've been on in years, but we slept straight through the night until 8:00 the next morning! WHOA! The long drive to Colorado the day before, then the hospital/church in 'Springs/drive to Pueblo for Church/drive to Salida for church thing just wiped us out!!! The drive home yesterday was good, but forever long. The last 3 hours felt like an eternity. It's hard to take such a long trip in such a short period of time! We'd done nothing but sit in the van (or on church pews) for three days straight and we we bored out of our gourds! But we finally made it in at about 10:00 last night, I think.
We had a nice day around here today. Got unpacked and settled in at home... again. I cooked a nice dinner tonight: smothered steaks, potatoes, mushroom gravy and corn--with cherry cheesecake for desert. Yum! Everything turned out PERFECT. It was all still on the table when the realtor called and asked if she could show the house in about 30 minutes. So we did another high speed cleaning and hopped in the van. Took it down to the car wash and by the time we were done there and drove back by here the people were leaving our house, so we just drove around the block and waited for them to pull away (isn't that weird?! It's OUR HOUSE! Why should we feel weird about going home when other people are there?!) and went on home. I spent some time reading with the kids tonight. Some of their old favorite books that we haven't read in ages: The Man Who Didn't Wash His Dishes (always makes me think twice!), Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type (lots of fun, but Kate and Joe are about to outgrow it), and Arnie the Doughnut (which none of us will EVER outgrow! It's terrific!). Then Joe read us a page or two out of his Calvin and Hobbes book. It BLOWS MY MIND how well he reads--all due to that crazy comic book! NO KIDDING--this is the page that my 5 year old Joe was reading, "Ow! What am I doing on the ceiling? Hmm... Nothing else fell up. Just me. This is very strange. Even if I try to jump to the floor, I land back on the ceiling! My personal gravity must have reversed polarity! You'd think this would be the type of thing we'd learn about in science class, but no, we learn about cirrus clouds. Having my personal gravity polarity reversed is a real nuisance..." Can you believe that?! He stumbled over the word "polarity," but only the first time. As much as Joe hates school, I count it a real blessing that he has found such joy in Calvin and Hobbes--it is the reason he can read anything at all, and the ONLY reason he can read so well for his age. And it's pretty fun for Mom, too. ;-)
Well, Katie just came to me and said, "Mom, it's 11:20 and I just can't fall asleep!!! What should I do?!" She ended up taking a nap this afternoon and I guess she was still zapped from the trip because she slept for two or three hours--we had to wake her up for dinner! So I'll go lay down and talk to her for a little while. Poor kid--I know the misery of laying in bed WIDE AWAKE for hours on end!
I'd best get in there. Talk to you later!!!
~Bec~
P.S. -- I don't want to take the time to arrange these pictures with the text since I've got a little girl waiting on me in the other room, so I'll just slap 'em up here at the end.
James had a tie made for Brother Clarkson that had pictures of the Church Flag all over it, and gave him a Fields of the Wood paperweight as well. Sister Clarkson got a tote with a scripture on it, and a bunch of lotions and such inside.
Sister Flora got some lotions, too, and a framed picture of a little country church with the sheet music to Amazing Grace (one of her favorites) at the bottom.
This is the crowd that was there. Minus me. Somebody had to work the camera, you know. ;-)
The cake, of course!
Some miscellaneous shots from our fellowship time
In pursuit of a GOOD picture of Abigail... No...
No...
No, again... Ha! What a goofball!!!
Thought posing with a cousin might help...
Not really! Ha! Anyway, here's a picture of ALL of the kids before the true mayhem began. It's just a big pile of trouble waiting to happen, really!
Okay! That's it!!! Have a great night, y'all! Or day. Or whatever!!!
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