A Heart for Ministry

Mrs. Robbin, Kaelyn, Shelbi & Emily

For several weeks leading up to Valentine's Day, Kaelyn has talked about baking with my friend Robbin and making a list of people she wanted to deliver the baked goods to. This has been a tradition with her and Mrs. Robbin, which started several years ago. The first year it was just Kaelyn and Mrs. Robbin, then the following year Emily joined them. This year Shelbi joined in with them to decorate and deliver the baked goods. They don't deliver to just anyone. The girls think really hard about who they want to visit, then the list making gets under way. They take the cookies, brownies, cupcakes, etc. to people that are unable to get out of their homes very often and also to some of the "older folks" from our church. Along with the baked goodies they also made Valentine Cards out of construction paper. I was looking at some of the cards that they made and there was one that caught my attention (sorry I didn't get a picture of it). When you opened up the card on the right hand side a hole punch had been used to make a heart. Then on the left hand side were the words "You are loved a hole punch."

Decorating Cupcakes

This tradition of delivering Valentine "Goodies" is a good way to teach our young girls one of the many ways of ministry. The girls really enjoy baking and decorating, however I think the part they like the most is deciding who to deliver to and going to see those people.

Go-Karting, Skating, Golfing & Climbing.

Tyler & Kaelyn recently went on a field trip to Skate Station with their school. I'm really not sure if there was more excitement the day of the trip or the days leading up to it. They had no problem getting up out of bed that morning and getting ready to go to school (imagine that). I do believe they were both ready to walk out of the house 30 minutes before we had to leave. On the day of the field trip it was sooo cold outside (I don't think it got above 40 degrees that day). Tyler braved the cold weather and rode the Go-Karts. He was prepared, (well sort of) he had his jacket on and a hat for his head, didn't think about needing gloves. When he finished going around the track he told me, "Mom, I can't feel my hands their numb." Wow, I sure felt like the bad mom for not thinking about his hands getting cold.

Wonder if he has a future in racing?

While Tyler was out on the track, Kaelyn was inside skating. Now Kaelyn hasn't had a lot of skating experience but she was determined that she was going to skate and not give up. She did fall quite a lot (I kept looking at the knees of her jeans and praying I wouldn't have to patch them when we got home or even have to go buy new ones!).

Still standing up
After Tyler and I warmed up from being outside, what do we do. That's right we go back out into the cold. This time we took Kaelyn and her friend Emily along with Kathy (Emily's mom) with us. They were ready to play miniature golf. Emily and Kaelyn both got a hole in one, but that didn't stop Tyler from winning the game.

Tyler our golfing champion!

Kaelyn our 2nd place golfer!


Last but not least, Emily!
When we got back inside, Kaelyn decided that she was ready to do some rock climbing. Let me just tell you, she went over there and got harnessed up and started climbing. To watch her you would have thought she was climbing some big mountain. She absolutely loved it. That girl was determined to make it to the top and to the top she went. Tyler said that if Kaelyn wants to do something you better believe she is going to do it.

Starting out

Almost there

She finally made it!
Tyler and Kaelyn had so much fun. They are ready to do it again.

Update on Yard Sale

Okay, so our Yard Sale fundraiser was a huge success. We raised just over $700. That was enough to send in the deposit for each camper (that participated in the fundraiser) to go to summer camp. Praise to God for he is the true provider.

One Proud Momma

Tyler and his first deer, an impressive 10 point.

Let me just tell you how proud I am of my boy. Back on November 10th Tyler went hunting with his Dad at some friends of ours place. They were up and in a treestand before the light of day. I had an appointment in Perry that day and was going to do some shopping afterwards. Anyway, Crystal and I loaded up the rest of the kids (Kaelyn, Waylon and Wyatt) and off to Perry we went. As we were headed out the hunters were headed in. We stopped to see if they had any luck in their early morning adventure, needless to say the answer was NO, Tyler had missed a 4 point. They did go back out that afternoon and got back up in the treestand to see if their luck might change. Crystal and I had just gotten home and was in the process of unloading our purchases when my cell phone started to ring. I answer the call to hear my son Tyler in a calm but somewhat excited voice say "Mom, I got a 10 point." Not sure if I heard him right I asked him to please tell me again what he had just said. Again he tells me that he got a 10 point, still not sure if he is telling me the truth or just joking around I ask him to let me talk to his Dad. Chuck comes on the phone and says, "Tyler just shot a 10 point." I say, "Your kidding me.", "No, I am not kidding." By this time Crystal has heard my end of the conversation and knows that Tyler has shot a deer. I get off the phone to tell her about his first deer that he just shot. We get back in the car and head over to Mr. Dan and Mrs. Robbins house to see this "trophy deer" that Tyler got.

Tyler with his Dad

Crystal and Jesse sent a picture of Tyler with his deer in to the Woods and Water magazine. Crystal called me on Monday to tell me that Tyler's picture was in the February issue of Woods and Water. If you get a Woods and Water his picture is on page 63. So we have bought one and will save it for Tyler to be able to show his children when he is a father.

Not only am I one proud Momma, but Chuck is one proud Dad.

Tyler with his prized deer and cousin Waylon.

Yard Sale

We are kicking off our fundraising efforts for the youth of FSCC with a yard sale this Saturday (February 7th) from 7am to 1pm at the Church. The funds raised on Saturday will go towards the deposit for the students to go to summer camp. I have seen some of the yard sale merchandise, and there are some good treasures there. So if you are one of the many people who love to visit a yard sale, come by and see us. Who knows you may find something you just can't live without. :)