December 1, 2007

What a day! And a great one it was!

Our church was on family retreat in the mountains this weekend. Obviously, we didn't go. I knew there would be a lot of our bus workers gone on the retreat, so the kids and I got up and went to bus ministry. It was so much fun. We had a blast. It was good being in the midst of the little ones, hugging them and loving them to Jesus. What sweeties they are!

Playing


This is Brother Crotts. He's one of the new comers to working in the bus ministry.


Singing


After bus ministry, we came home and rested a little bit before leaving for Rest Home ministry.

They had a very pretty tree decorated and set up in the sitting room.

It wasn't long and our people from church began gathering for the meeting.

Mrs. Catfish, as we call her.

And her sister Bullet. There's a reason for these knicknames. I'll explain them later.

Daddy was in mid-sentence when I snapped this one. Looks like he's trying to pucker. LOL

Mrs. Massmore is here in one of her many hats. You can read about her hats here. You really need to read her story if you haven't done that. It's cute as to why she wears hats all the time. She is a member of our church and a resident here at this particular home.

This lady never wants me to take her picture, but she said I could this time.

Brother Lipsey made it to meetin'!

As the residents piled in, young Brandon passed out a small gift for everyone in attendance. The residents thought that was sweet.

He gave each of us a little nativity. He didn't know I collected them.

Mom and Bruce played a couple of songs to get us started while we waited for Brother Mark to show up.

Daddy preached on the Shining Light and we heard a couple of testimonies from people of when they first "saw the Light." That was a blessing.

Justin and Hannah were at a Sweet 16 party for a young lady in our church. This party was held, once again, at the home of Mike and Susan. Same home where the Christmas shower was and where I took pics of three of their five Christmas trees.

Here is tree #4. This tree is upstairs in the game room.

Susan is a Hospice nurse and escaped to the porch to do some paper work and phone work on a patient. She's sitting outside of her bedroom where in the window you can vaguely see tree #5.

But guess what.....since the shower, tree #6 has made its way into their home, gracing the staircase to the gameroom. This is the Candy Cane tree. Lovely, yes?

The birthday gril was Monica and she was here and there and everywhere and I never did get a picture of any of the kids. But I can tell you, there were lots that showed up. My Justin and Jeremy were actually leaving when we were walking in. They were spending the night at Jeremy's grandparent's home.

Tomorrow will be another busy day. So, stay tuned! They'll be lots of pics and stories this month!

When I was in the second grade, my mother was in a very serious car accident that nearly took her life. Daddy was testifying about when someone, he didn't even know who, had come and taken us kids to watch over us while he was with mom. He had come home from the hospital and was in the house alone praying when he felt the Hand of God.

Fall Festival and Rest Home Ministry

Saturday, our youth group worked our Fall Festival for the bus kids. They had such a fun time!
I don't know the girl's name on the left, but she came with LeAnna (on the right) and helped us with the festival. Kendra was our clown passing out balloons.


Hanging around waiting for the bus kids to arrive.


Brother RJ and Mrs. Liz reprimanding Mark. Just kidding...


Mrs. Liz and Brother RJ....finest youth Pastor and wife in these parts!

We had hair coloring and face paintings.....

A place to do sand art......

Clayton filled the balloons and tied them to the bucket. Next thing we knew, the bucket was in the air.....whoda thunk it?

And here come the bus kids! Ready for games, candy, and hayrides.

At this station, the children had the opportunity of milking a cow.

They also threw a bean bag into apple baskets.

And who can't resist a game of PLINKO!!!!

I don't know what this game is called, but they seemed to enjoy it.

Not to mention the bouncy thingy.

See how many bottles you can knock down.

Cork shooting

Balloon Darts

Hannah painting Celine's face. She wanted to be a kitty cat.

I believe the sand art was the most popular table

Horseshoe Throw!

Katherine painting hair

Photo shot with Celine, Mrs. Janet, Mrs. Amy, and Mrs. Marla under the candy apple, cotton candy, and popcorn tent.

Pastor Goodman and Mrs. Ava. We were all happy to see Pastor come in. He just returned from preaching in the Philippines where over 500 souls were saved. Praise the Lord! We'll be watching his video presentation this Wednesday night. Can't wait!

Fall Festival ended for the bus kids and the youth were left behind, clean up, and get ready for more activities.

We ate lunch and headed outside for a game of kickball.

The little ones enjoyed time on the swings.

After a couple of hours, the kids freshened up, changed into clean clothes and we headed out to eat. Todd is beside Justin, but you can't see him. And I'm not sure what Spencer is looking at, but doesn't he look interested in that cup while Justin is talking....as usual? HA!

From left to right is Ethan, Mark (smiling) Nathan, and Tyler.

Parker in front with Clint, Clayton, and John in the back.

Dustin and Ricky couldn't wait to dig in!

From left to right...Monica, Elizabeth, and Crystal. TROUBLE LOL

From L to R...Jessica, Cassie, Hannah, and Katherine.

Clint, Clayton, and John eating a HUGE brownie sundae.

After we ate, we went to the rest home to sing.

Singing, I Remember The Day.

The residents lit up like Christmas trees to see the youth walk in. They really enjoyed the service. The room was filled with standing room left. I believe there were about 75 people there.

Sons Of Faith sang. This was the first time Justin and Mark played guitars for their group and they did really good.

The time spent at the rest home was so precious. There were some of our kids that didn't make it that night. I hope they make it next time.

Sunday afternoon, we opened the fall festival to our church kids. Bruce just HAD to play the Horseshoe Throw. He was disappointed when they wouldn't give him candy though.

Again, the sand art was a popular table!

Brother Allison and his grandson, Titus. Brother Allison is a brother to a sweet little lady we went to church with at our former church. He and his wife are ALWAYS a blessing to be around.

Little Emily was having fun at the ring toss.

As you can see, the little ones can't hold on to their balloons unless they're tied to the wrist.

It was a nice weekend and we had a great time. Hope your weekend was a good one too.