Kalei

On Thursday, July 28, 2011 God took this little princess to live with Him in His palace.

We love you Kalei and look forward to seeing you, Toree and Papa again!

Normal

Is there even such a thing called "normal"? If so, we have not found it yet. Right now my Chris is traveling and sharing with others our excitement about church planting. We are so excited and humbled by those who are partnering with us. I have been working working working. Someday I will have to share a picture of my work shirts. Until then, just imagine lots of colors in tie dye form. Elianna is struggling with the potty training thing. We have actually resorted to bribery. Lets just say its not a good thing to have a jar of M&Ms in the bathroom. Not much accountability in there.

I actually have stuff to post about but Chris has the computer and that is the only way (I know) to get pictures on here. So you will have to wait. It's our new "normal."

A Mouse!

While we still lived in Jersey, one day Elianna and I were playing with her "purse". It was empty and so to entertain her, I pretended to throw something at her from the bag and yelled MOUSE! It has become a source of entertainment to throw air something and yell MOUSE! Fast forward to last night at church... There was a missionary there who had a little baby boy about 6 months old. Elianna was quite enamored with him and was all up in his little face talking to him. The missionary mom said something to me about Elianna having a cute little voice. I answered her by saying that she was louder at home but for some reason when we are out and about, she has a little mouse voice. The next thing I know Elianna threw "air" at the baby and yelled MOUSE! Poor little guy was scared and the mom looked at me like I was crazy while I bust out laughing!

A MOUSE!

A Week in Pictures

The video I wanted to post would not upload the last couple of times I tried, so to compensate, here is a week in pictures. To those of you who follow me on Twitter - so sorry - you get to see them all again.

Elianna had a run in with the rocking chair. The rocking chair won and Elianna has a nice shiner.

Elianna's baby doll was getting a ride from Harley.

Harley got a bath tonight - now he smells like Tropical Fruit Sensation.

Baby went for a ride on the dinosaur.

Elianna loves to swing - this about the only time she is still for longer than 3 seconds.

Mommy and Elianna

Elianna and Papi on her "Harley cycle"

Elianna hitching a ride with Mommy on the "Harley cycle"

Colorado

For those of you who have stuck through minimal posts the last month or so - thank you! It has been an adjustment and we still have not gotten in the groove as of yet. I hope to be a bit more consistent from now on.

Now onto the reason why this post is titled "Colorado". Chris and I are excited that God has clearly called us to plant a church in the Denver area. About a year ago, Chris began to have unrest in his heart. He wasn't exactly sure what that meant but it was clear that at that time God was planning the next step we were to take in the ministry. After a year of closed doors, we began to see that God was directing us toward planting a church. We believe the lessons we learned in New Jersey on culture of ministry, expectations in ministry, work ethic, the ability to work with people and the stamina needed for ministry were critical to what we will be doing in Colorado. We are grateful we had the opportunity to learn those lessons.

In May we took a survey trip out to Colorado where God made it very clear to us that this was where we were to minister and this is where we are to call home. This past weekend we once again traveled to Colorado for some training with Berean Church Fellowship. We had the opportunity to spend time not only with several couples who have already planted a church, but several couples where we are - ready and willing to plant a church. The bond between the church planters within Berean is so awesome! We are excited to be joining the Berean team!

My Chris has a blog "A Church Planter's Journey" where you can read his thoughts on our church planting journey. He includes in his first post several statistics about the Denver area and the great need for new churches. I hope you jump over there and read it!

We are so thankful that my Grandmother has allowed us to come stay with her for the Summer! We are taking this time to make financial partnerships and prepare to move at the beginning of the Fall. Please pray with us as I work and my Chris travels a bit sharing our passion about church planting.