Why I Do Not Have Many Pictures of My Oldest Son

Me: "Hey Gene, would you mind letting me take a few pictures of you?"
Into the kitchen he goes to get some drink.
Me: "Okay then if you won't pose, I'll just have to take them just like you are."
Me: "You better pose, I'm going to put them on my blog."

Anyway, here are a few pictures from that photo session of Gene......

Gene drinking water. Another angle of Gene drinking water....

Gene chewing a bite of food. Another attempt at our photo session, right before he is leaving for church.... (By the way I'm glad that I captured this look because I get this look from him quite often...)
Anyway, if one day Gene's kids accuse me of not having many pictures of him...please tell them why for me.

Beautiful Fall Weather!

The weather has been beautiful! Every moment that we can we head outdoors just be to outdoors! It doesn't matter what we do, we just want to be OUTSIDE!

The Roses and flowers are bursting forth with bright colors!

A few Sundays ago, we decided to head to the park. Kass enjoyed a little vitamin D while talking with a friend.
The rest of the gang played on the play set. The funny faces are on purpose! This weather just makes you want to have fun. Even the horse was running, snorting, and feeling good.

Walking the trail.
Balancing on the bridge rail.
Being Silly!

Digging in the sand.

Crank up the music! Roll the windows down! This video pretty much sums up how fall makes us feel!

A New Church - A Daughter Work of Our Church

Today was the first church service at our new Daughter Church. My brother in-law, MK, will be spear heading this mission. After searching for a place to rent to hold the services, the cheapest was about $600.00 per rent holding only abut 80 people (4 to 5 services a month would equal over $2,000.00 per month). This was too much! Finally, MK's brother suggested that he call the Veteran's Hall. The man that answered the telephone agreed to allow them to rent the hall for $250.00 per rent. This was much better and the hall holds 200 people.

After renting the hall, the next step was to find the people. My Holy Ghost bold brother in-law and his Holy Ghost bold brother decided that the best place to start was in the neighborhood where the hall is, and that is exactly what they did!

Knocking on door after door and giving out invitations, they were amazed at the majority of wonderful responses they received. My brother in-law, MK, who is passionate about living for God, has a huge burden for lost and hurting people, a Godly love for them, and a great deal of boldness knocked on the door of a big tough gangster looking man. This man in an aggressive and threatening manner asked them what they were doing around there. My brother in-law passionately said, "We are starting a church in your neighborhood. We going to take this whole place, and I'm not afraid of dying for it!" The man held up his hands, backed up, and said, "Man, you're scaring me!"

MK and his brother, along with his brother's daughter, continued throughout the neighborhood inviting people to the new church in the neighbor and asking them to become a part of this exciting work!

Today, when they drove two hours to the new church to begin service, they were not sure what to expect, but they were full of faith and excited about what God was going to do. When arriving they already had one guest sitting in the hall waiting for service to begin. Gradually more came, finally they had a grand total of 21 people. 13 guest who had no clue as to what to expect, one who was already filled with the Holy Ghost, and the group that came with them. The service was amazing. One lady received the gift of the Holy Ghost.

We are so thrilled with what God is going to do in this daughter work! God is real! He is not a myth! He is doing great things!

Arkansas

Last week we went to visit some new acquaintances in Little Rock, Arkansas. We attended the FPC of Little Rock while we were there and was given a grand tour - which by the way is the largest and most spectacular church that I have ever been in. If you are in the area you should try to attend. It is also a praying church, and if you should stop by at just about any time you will find people praying. You won't be disappointed.
Our new acquaintances. This beautiful couple was so sweet to us. They cooked us a delicious meal, took us out to eat at a wonderful restaurant and gave us a tour of some the locations in Arkansas. One of these places was Hot Springs, Arkansas, which is just about an hour or so outside of Little Rock.

These are natural thermal springs of Arkansas, which have been said to have healing powers. You can even drink this water. It's perfectly safe. One lady informed us that it has been said that it can heal cancer. I guess people still believe in its healing powers.

Another picture of one of the springs.

In front of a hot spring. Yes, two of my children are missing - a choice of theirs. One thinks he is just too big to go places with us now, and the other thinks he belongs with my big sis and her family. Seriously, he wanted to stay with them instead of go with us!

I'm not sure what kind of tree this is but we thought that the bark was quite interesting.

A close up of the bark.

Testing how hot the springs are.

The Arlington Hotel - Evidently this is one of the most historic buildings in the town. I thought the towers on top were interesting.

Anyway, while we were in Hot Springs, we stopped at the visitor center (formerly an old bathhouse) in the city. Once inside you can view an educational film about the bath houses, and tour an old bathhouse. These bathhouses were popular years ago, and many people thought that the waters had healing abilities.

In case you were wondering what they were like, here are some photos. It wasn't what I expected. There are some bath houses that are still operating today. I'm sure they are a great deal different than they use to be. The needle shower.

Another type of weird bath.

Kass pretending to bathe in one of the old hot springs tubs.

Relaxing in the cooling off room after bathing.

The town was very pretty with lots of hanging baskets with flowers.

We also went riding in a Duck on the Diamond Lake (At least I think this the name of the Lake. I'm really not sure)

My favorite thing that we did in Arkansas was walk across the Big Dam Bridge (I'm not cussing that is the name of it). At night it is lit up with purple led lights. This isn't the prettiest picture of it, but if you go to their website and pull up photo's you can get a better view of it at night. The wind was blowing and it was so pretty. I wanted to walk it again before we left but I didn't get the chance. Maybe next time.

This Calvin & Hobbes Made be Think of Ave

This Calvin & Hobbes made me think of Ave. All those who have ever tried to feed Ave will know what I mean. I really think the kid lives on air and sugar--when he can get some, and trust me he is this dramatic when you try to get him to eat something he doesn't want (which is almost everything). One time he desperately drank an entire cup of water for every little tortellini I made him eat. You would have thought I was feeding him poison. Click on the picture to view it better.

Mmmm Wonder What Happened to These Handsome Hunks?

I was just looking through some old pictures and came across this one. A little egg hunting anyone? I thought it was cute, and it also reminded me of just how quickly time slips away. Although, I still think my husband, brother, and brother-in-laws are handsome hunks (at least my sisters think they are), and more importantly great men of God, old photos just remind me that we must treasure today, treasure each moment, treasure each other, treasure what's important, live for God, and like my mother-in law quoted to me the other day (she said it was one of Sis. Tenney's old sayings), "Worry about nothing, and pray about everything!"

It's true we should always remember and remind ourselves--daily--to place our worries in God's hand. He gave us just what we need to make it through each day. So sit back, quick worrying, enjoy your day, pray, pray, pray, and treasure every little thing and moment that God has given us. Life is just a vapor--we are not promised tomorrow--so enjoy and treasure every little moment that you can! ...And on a side note, don't waste a moment of it living STUPIDLY!