New Year's Eve 2007

Reflections of the year gone by...wondering what the new year will bring...what are you doing this new year's eve??? Was it a great year, did it stink? Will this year be better? Will it be rougher?

No matter what this past year brought to you and no matter what the new year brings, I pray that you and I will always know that God is in Control and He is still there for us through it all. Through the happy and sad and through the healthy and the sick. I will be praying for you...will you pray for me?

I heard this the other day and love it...

PRAYING SHOULD BE ACTION....NOT A REACTION...

Don't wait for the bad things to happen before you take the time to talk to God...He is always there and wants to have a relationship with you. Talk to Him EVERY DAY! Let Him know what you are thinking and doing, share with Him your life by making Him your life and letting Him take control! He Loves YOU!!!!

What a great way to start off the new year!
HAPPY 2008!

Wishes and Dreams

We have returned from Orlando, and Disney, and it is Christmas Eve! Boy does time fly by! I just wanted to share some photos of Cinderella's castle and just how beautiful it is for Christmas! All the Disney parks were decked out for Christmas, and they are still singing Christmas songs too! I am so very glad!

Why do people who do not celebrate Christmas say they are offended, when Christians are not offended when someone says Happy Hanukkah or Kwanzaa? I'm not too sure. Anyway, it was BEAU - T - FUL!!! We had a nice vacation and got some rest and relaxation. The weather wasn't the warmest, but it definitely wasn't as cold as here!

Cinderella wanted a beautiful ice castle, so we all helped make her wish come true. Here's to you and that all your wishes and dreams come true too!

With God, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE!
Merry Christmas!

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign!

Signs are so very important and a big part of our everyday lives...check out these signs we have seen so far!




When we got to Florida, we went to Celebration where Sean lives. All over town you see signs all about the SNOW they have nightly in town! Yes, you read right! They have snow every night! We will be going there sometime this week, cause we never get to see snow...RIGHT!



Downtown there is a beautiful lake. It has aligators in it!!! So, this sign is needed!



We had some rain...along with the sunshine. The sign we got a RAINBOW!








We went to the Holy Land Experience on Monday. It was chilly outside, but there were many signs all around us! Yes, He IS RISEN INDEED!

The Ten Commandments and Living Water!Yes, Alicia, I did get to see the tabernacle...can't wait to share with all the girls! It was awesome to see what we had been learning about in our Bible Study!












But the best sign to know is this sign! If you haven't found Jesus yet...check out where you just might find Him!

I'm finally getting to write a few lines about Sunday...Church, with Patty & Jared Pachta in NP-3...what a GREAT FAMILY!! God Blessed us with many wonderful families here at LCC and they are surely one of them!! After church was the Children's Ministry lunch and White Elephant swap...all went well, I think. There was a few problems, like some kids got great gifts they definitely did not want to give up. But then there were some who wanted to get rid of their gifts, but didn't get to! Well, that's what happens in the white elephant world! Here is Heidi and her new perfume! It's new car smell! Mike wasn't too keen on it, but someone said if it was "new truck smell" he would be all over her!! Oh, no! Not at church!!!!

Steve got some beautiful red "Dorothy" shoes...but Meredith said they would never fit him. She was right, and she ended up very happy since she took them home!

The food was great, the people were great, and what can I say but...GREAT! I can't ever say enough thanks to all who make LCC children's ministry so great! We have so many wonderful people who truly love God and our children! YOU ARE GREAT BLESSINGS TO US ALL!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!! I would also like to thank everyone who donated to the lunch...it helped out TREMENDOUSLY!!




After the lunch, we cleaned up the mess in the Fellowship Hall and the kitchen. Thanks sooooo much for Alicia staying to help...but...especially to Geneva, Spencer & Kendall with a bit of help from William! They helped to clean, but then help me load all the gifts from the tree for the LIFE Giving Shoppe! We then all went to deliver them at the shoppe and talk with some of the ladies setting everything up! The volunteers at LIFE are soooooooooooooo very wonderful! They give soooo much of their time and love for our community, and we are blessed to have such a great ministry here in Loveland! THANK YOU TO ALL WHO VOLUNTEER AT LIFE! Since I am writing this on Friday, we (Geneva, Nikki & I) went back to help clean up after the shoppe closed. There were over 180 families that went through.

It is quite an honor to be a part of the community outreach! Did you know that YOU are a part of it? Not only did we buy gifts to put under the tree, but we sponsor them monthly through missions! Yep...If you give to missions at our church, you are part of this great ministry! WAY TO GO!!!

THEN...
back to the church for the Children's Choir Program!!


The kids all did a FANTASTIC job! It was a great show and we had 2 nights of a packed house! WAY TO GO KIDS! After the show Kaitlin sang for those that were left!
What a very full and rewarding day!

Late Night...need to go to bed!

I've been busy keeping William on task. He has an oral book report due tomorrow which had to have a visual aide. He read about Tom Browning, so it was all about the Reds during the "Big Red Machine" days! It was very interesting listening to him talk about everything and remembering some of the facts he was telling me about. Boy, does time fly!

I skipped out on city work tonight...oops! We had to buy poster board, so we met Grandma for dinner, borrowed her REALLY BIG suitcase for my trip, went to the Post Office to order a passport, (Sean says I need one!) did a bit of laundry, ordered some books online for Sean for Christmas, read emails, finished up on paying bills, actually bought a couple Christmas gifts for neices and nephews, and now, I am just sitting here thinking I'd better head off to bed! But, as always, it is nice to sit here in the quiet part of my day and relax!

I have a full day tomorrow, even tho it's my day off. Things to buy for our trip, more laundry to do, packing to start, work to do at the city, and I really need to finish up stuff at the church so it hopefully won't be tooooo crazy for all the volunteers this next week! I am also hoping I can get back to this blog and load some more pictures from this past weekend. Sunday was VERY busy and I have some really good photos to share!

You can see some I took Sunday if you go to the church website, and click on "photos". The children's choir performed "Fear Not Factor" and I took LOTS of pictures of the kids...check it out!They did a fantastic job! Many thanks go out to Jen Richard & Robyn Kerman for leading the children on this excellent adventure!

Well, I think I will sit and flip channels awhile b/f I head off to the bed!

Gooooooooooooooood Night!!

Show Choir Christmas at the High School!

Saturday I took a small break from working at the city to see my niece, Toni perform with the Showchoir. The High School and the Middle School all sang togther. My mom, brother, sister and their families all showed up for a great time of Christmas carols! It was a wonderful show! Way to go TONI!!! We are so very proud of you and love you very much!





We even got to hear our friend Samantha Baker sing her solo! We miss her...haven't seen her at church in awhile, so it was great to talk with her and give her a big hug! Nice singing and dancing Sam!!! AND...we got to see Rudolf and Frosty!!

Later that evening (after more hours at the city) I helped out at the Loveland Stage company with Angi by taking tickets and then helping Jared by doing the Hospitality. It was a rather FULL day! I ended the day by going to Larosa's at 10pm for my lunch? dinner? late night snack????

And...that's just Saturday...wait till I write about Sunday!
Have a happy day!

I LOVE SNOW!!

Our first real snow, and it was beautiful! This week William had 2 - 90 minute delays for snow and then icy roads. I think he would like to get used to that! A little extra sleep always helps! Plus, it was great packing snow...so...he likes to use his mom & dad for target practice! That's ok since we like to use him for our target too!

It was a great snow, since the roads got cleared easily, and now, today it seems we will keep getting rain and it will warm up to melt it all away. It is so sad...

Don't fear tho kids! We have a winter wonderland in NP-3 this week! The stage has been transformed and it is WONDERBAR!!! Thank you soooooo much to Nikki Irwin & Geneva Myers! It is soooooooooooooooo much fun working with these ladies...makes my job even more fun being with them!!! I am soooooooooooo very blessed to have them helping out in our children's ministry!

We have our Children's Ministry Lunch & White Elephant Exchange tomorrow after church. I can't wait to see the "beautiful & meaningful" gifts that are exchanged!
Should be an exciting afternoon! Our children's choir will perform tonight and tomorrow at 7pm...get your tickets online with Jen at jrichard@lovedtolove.org, or see her in between services at the office window. It's gonna be a GREAT SHOW!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend! See you tomorrow at church!

1st Band Concert for 6th Grade!

Ok...you know we did all this shopping for the concert. New black pants and shoes, which, by the way he went from a size 7 shoe to a 9 1/2...can you believe it??? Anyway, I went from work at church to work at the city to home long enough to scarff down some cold spaghetti. (yep, Bill made it today, since we had electric, but they ate earlier than me)Then, off to school.

William had to be there by 7:30. When we got there, Grandma B was already waiting with seats saved for us right up front! So, we sat and talked awhile then the kids started coming in and filled the gym. There is no sitting for the band, so we couldn't see William very well. He was back a ways. These pictures tell you how difficult it was to see him. Anyway, the concert began at 8pm with Mr. Hilliker welcoming us all to the concert. Then Mrs. Dennedy also welcoming us and letting us know how and where to pick up our children after the concert.

Then some Christmas songs, (or Holiday Songs...as they say at school) like Jingle Bells, Jingle Bell Rock, and Frosty the Snowman - and they played very well (I am a parent, you know)Anyway...the concert was over...yes, I said over at 8:08pm!!!!!

Talk about quick! It took longer for the parents to file out and find their children in the cafeteria! But it was good to see some of the moms & dads & kids we hadn't seen in awhile.

This weekend we will hear Toni sing with Cocoa & Carols with Santa at the High School and work more at the Stage Company for the Jingle Bell Rock...Christmas is coming!!! And...they say it will snow tomorrow...YEA!!! Maybe I will get out and buy at least one gift!

Merry Christmas to you ALL!!!

Where Does the Time Go?

Why do the weekends and kid's growing up seem to go so very fast?? This pix was from a shopping trip a couple years ago.

Friday night I went out to dinner with the family then met my small group at the Preston's. It was suppose to be a movie/game night, but Darren managed to sneak in a little Jesus stuff since we seemed to have a full house! It was GREAT!
I can't say the euchre games were so great tho...seemed to me that if 9s & 10s were the highest you could get, I would definitely have been winning but... Sorry Keith!! We did pull out one game tho! If you get the chance, ask Darren & Julie to do the "we're in the barn" mooooove!! Then we played a little catch phrase. I must say, there was a lot of white bread on the sock action ...what about it Randy??? We had a great time!

Saturday was full with cleaning and working and volunteering...it went quickly!

Sunday was the same. Church from 8 to about 1, lunch with the family at TOOTS! We hadn't been there in awhile, then to Kohl's for some new "band concert" attire for William. We then had to get to basketball practice, then to Blockbuster for a new rental game for the wii and stopped at Starbucks for a coffee/hot chocolate. Toni Marie spent the day with me and William. It was great spending time together again...just like the good ole days before she and Wm grew up so fast! We were heading for home when Bill called to ask us to pick up some garlic bread. He was making dinner!!! Spaghetti and meatballs!! YUM! Well, you might know, might not, but it had been raining ALLLLL DAY! Sometimes harder than others. And, as you also may know, it ALWAYS seems to rain harder when you are "outside" of your vehicle, rather than harder when you are "inside". Needless to say, I was SOAKED! I made Tooooo many trips to and from my car! And it was a bit chilly yesterday too!

Well, we got home and guess what...no electricity! Yep, no lights, heat, and NO TV and No spaghetti!! What will we do??? Well, Bill lit lots of candles and we waited for Duke to send their man to fix it, and William ate the meatballs! The electric finally came on around 9:00pm, just in time for Bill to watch the Bengals, and get mad at them and go to bed.

It was a very full day and went so very fast, but was nice spending time with William and Toni...hopefully we will do it again really soon!

It's Saturday! YEA!

William and I have been cleaning a bit, he is bugging me now for food! Guess I better feed the child and then get to the city for a few hours. After that I must help out at the Loveland Stage Company...

What a great and relaxing day! Yea, right!

Hope all is well with you!

Egyptian Day at LIS!

They made headdresses and costumes in art and at home. They spent the last few weeks learning all about Egypt and their customs, then celebrated today with games, food, plays, songs, and a movie. It was even a half day so they loved it! Even the teachers dressed up!



Where's your mummy???


This mummy got to help in the game room! I did make ricekrispy treats and cucumbers for the snacks. I even made my name in hieroglyphics! I like signing up to help...I get to be one of the kids!

Blessings in Many Ways!

Yep, here I am at 4am and can't sleep! I do this occassionally when my mind is full of new ideas and exciting things coming up! I can't rest, thinking of how to make these ideas a reality and wondering who all will be a part of it!

Most people are over Thanksgiving and moving on to the busy Christmas season. I, on the other hand have been working on not just December things, but 2008 EXCITING EVENTS!

I don't have one (1) Christmas gift yet! And, did you know that tomorrow is Dec 1st??
It's really hard to believe! I am hoping it snows soon so I will get out and do some shopping...anyway...

We spent the whole Thanksgiving weekend moving our rooms around. We did accomplish this, with still many things to finish off. But, the rooms are moved, and William is in a much bigger room than before. He is estatic! Not only that, but his big brother decided that the Wii that William has been wanting would be a great gift for his birthday! Yep...it is sooooo much fun!! I love it too! I will hopefully get the rest of the things moved and straightened as soon as I can. The windows are in. They look and feel soooo much better! We still have many projects to do, but they will have to wait.

Today I am going to school for an Egypt Day party for the 6th grade Endevor Team. I think I will be in the game or music room...not sure yet. I had to make treats and bring cucumbers. (what are they for?)We will see! I picked up supplies for treats for our Sunday Beefesians party. (Cow patties for everyone!)and also stuff for our Sunday school class. Not to mention, bread for lunches and my supplies needed for small group tonight. Yep...LJ & Jared P, you can be happy, I shopped at KROGER! Today will be full. I need to finish stuff for the office, type up a Huddle, work on our party for Sunday, the newsletter, pick up and take Toni to school, go to the city and work, and get to small group.

I'm really not stressed tho...it's hard to believe, but it is true. I got to spend time with some great ladies at the Bible Study yesterday. ALICIA WEBER...YOU ROCK! Then got to spend time with Nikki & Geneva as we worked together for our kids at LCC.It was great spending time with them! I am soooo very blessed by God! He has given me some really great friends/family and I sure do love them LOTS! Thank you to all who give so much time, love and energy to our children's ministry!I want to thank Karen Huffman for being WONDERFUL too!Thanks for always being there to help out!

This past 2 weeks (and before) I have been working on our 2008 schedule, but also what will be happening at LCC for our kids before that! We have our teachers in place, new curriculum and some great surprises! Kidmo Christmas is coming our way in NP-3...it will be great! Some great activities for our preschoolers, and a fun afternoon for all our children's ministry volunteers! Then, there is also the kids choir performances, Christmas Eve services and many Christmas parties! Woo HOO!

I met with Rosa and Cathy this week for some exciting VBS talk and got some great ideas from them for our new series in January called ZOOM. Yes, I know VBS isn't until July, but we work on it all year! Brian has been working on camp...so my mind is racing on who will come and share this great week with us and what all we will be doing!(in June)We have lazer tag coming up in January, overnighter in Febuary, SuperStart in March and also a Easter break activity (possibly another overnighter!), and Easter egg hunt...the list goes on!

No wonder I can't sleep! I can't wait!

2008 IS GONNA BE GREAT! Come and join in on all the fun ways to learn more about OUR GREAT GOD!!

Soooo busy!

Yep, that's right...fortunately all is going well...unfortunately, I don't get to write in here and let you know all that is going on...

Well, I'm off to the City to work! Hopefully tonight I will stay up late and write a few more lines!

Hope you all are well, had a GREAT THANKSGIVING, and will wait for me to find more time for this here blog!Have a great day!

Type to you again REALLY SOON! (I hope!)

Thanksgiving with the Baxter's

This year we all were invited to Chip & Jen's new house for Thanksgiving. We always celebrate early so we can all hit the other families we are in without it being to hectic of a day. We actually had this last Sunday night, but this is the first time I have had to write. I have LOTS more stuff that happened this week, and of course I always have my camera, so hopefully I will be adding more really soon! Anyway...



Chip bought the turkey...and saved money and then cooked it! Jen made the mashed potatoes...they worked so well together in the kitchen. It was a blessing to see them. All the rest of us brought more stuff to add to our feast! Sonny & Shelby always make the bestest dessert around! You should see the pies! We all waited patiently...kind of...for our meal!


The migration of family to the table to partake of the FEAST! Everything finished at the same time, and we ate, and ate, and ate! It was a great dinner! Thank you SO VERY MUCH Chip and Jen, you are the bestest around! It was wonderful to be with family and the food was FANTASTIC!

Looks like it was a great turkey! Really, there was a little left and Chip was going to share with his co-workers and Jen planned on turkey sandwiches for this week.

Today is the real Thanksgiving that everyone will be celebrating! We will head to the Pop & Mamma Kern's today for another HUGE feast! Holidays shouldn't be hectic and full of stress, so today, take some time and be thankful for your family and how about giving out some of those wonderful HUGS!

Hey...and...HAPPY TURKEY DAY!

We're still havin' a GRRREAT time in NP-3!

Yep, it's still happenin'. Lots of great times in our children's ministry every Sunday morning! Come on along and visit with us...We'll be keepin an eye out for ya! This Sunday is the GREAT STEVE, KEITH & GEORGE at 8:45 & 11:15am!


The gals are ridin' off to see Angi and Heidi...welllllll,

I thought it was Angi & Heidi! I'm not too sure who this was!?!



Our General Store is now OPEN! Yea! The kids got to shop 2 weeks ago! Last week was Family Sunday, so they need to bring back their MAP Book this week to get more trading points! They receive points for being here, bringing offering for Lomi, their Bible, and a friend also! The next shopping date will be on December 2nd during our Beefesians party!So...rack up them ther' points kids!

See ya all on Sunday!!