hats off to TEXAS!

Tomorrow a.m. EARLY we are heading out to Texas to see some dear friends. Good-bye Colorado for 11 days and hello to Dale & Pat and Carrie & Tony and Mark & Jennifer and Greg & Jennifer and Gary & Leslie and Dino & DeAnne (we hope) and Shannon & Jacquelyn (we hope) and David Allen & company and Cody & family. Whew!!!!! See ya back here in a couple of weeks!

Friends

Our dear friend Cindy died this week. She had struggled with cancer in recent years and we miss her now that she is gone from this earth. This picture is from the last time we saw her. Her memorial celebration is this Saturday in Long Beach--the same day we begin our journey to Texas. Life goes on for those of us still here and our great comfort is God's presence and His love that it always with us. In our grief may we find deep and sincere thanks for all that God gave us in Cindy.

This picture is from the night before we left California last month. Scott (pictured in the center) was in Uganda at New Hope when we arrived 4 years ago. He and his wife, Lydia traveled up from the San Diego area to have supper with us and visit like good friends do!! This furlough has been filled with good friends and restful times and we are thankful!

Geoff and the kids are camping near Mt. Princeton the next few days. They will return full of stories, hot dogs and smores. On Friday we'll go to another Rockies game and on Saturday we leave for a 12 day trip to Texas to see dear friends.

Other than seeing friends and family IN PERSON (!!), one of my favorite things since I've been back in the states is receiving letters from the girls in the David Family. Two of them in particular are walking strong with the Lord and doing well in their school work. It encourages me that God is using us to impact the path of young people that might not otherwise have such an influence for Him in their lives.

If you are wanting to know more about New Hope, feel free to visit our website, www.newhopeuganda.org Obviously, since we are on furlough you might not find much direct information here about anything but how we're effectively resting and visiting with friends and family!!!!! :)

Oh, and last AND least, the answer to the previous "blog stumper" of the hamburger and fries . . . A local restaurant in Long Beach, "Hof's Hut" makes a unique dessert that looks like a main meal. The fries are pie crust pieces, the hamburger is a brownie, the ketchup and mustard are yellow & red icing and the bun is made of cake. Pretty clever and a treat for kids of all ages!!

ouch

In the previous blog I mentioned that we had been working to clean out our storage unit. After 4 trips to the New Horizons Thrift Store in Pueblo (an AWESOME ministry to the children of imprisoned mothers) and giving some of our favorite furniture away to some dear young friends who are starting out on their own, plus sending many things to California for family members to have and use---VICTORY!!!!! It is EMPTY!

We've spent numerous hours sifting, sorting, (wondering WHY did we keep this . . .) and, admittedly, even tearfully giving things away. It was difficult, painful and frustrating. As we drove away from the storage facility for the last time on Thursday, Geoff felt the need to quote Jesus. . . "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven." Ouch and yahoo all at the same time. I don't hide the fact that I was disappointed in myself that it HURT to get rid of things that I really liked. But, I'm also relieved to know that I am in a place of freedom having separated myself from THINGS and am not burdened by the STUFF. And my treasure is truly in heaven--not in things!!!

This morning, after having breakfast with Mom and Aunt Glenda, we watched them drive away with the STUFF in the rented truck. They should arrive in California on Monday or Tuesday. After all the hard work I can truly say I am glad that we cleaned out.

Here are a few pictures of the past couple of weeks.

I had a wonderful visit with my dear friend Lori Perz as she had a few hours of waiting in the Denver airport before traveling on to a conference in Colorado. We were at Pepperdine together and hadn't seen each other since her wedding 11 years ago.

We were treated to a Colorado Rockies Baseball game by Geoff's Dad. It was a fantastic day!!







Acacia was invited onto the field as the San Francisco Giants warmed up. The Rockies mascot held a mock baseball game with some of the young kids in attendance!! Acacia is in the middle of the picture.

While Toby was in California at King's Kamp, the rest of us went swimming at the local pool. Here are Acacia and cousin Mary having a great time!

Some reading with Grandma.

The kids' cousin Nicole had her 20th birthday party and we helped celebrate!










We went to a special lunch at the Olive Garden. Mary and Nicole sharing smiles together.

Kevin felt the need to paint his lips black with the icing from Nicole's pink and black iced birthday cake!

We were so excited to have Toby back from California!!!!!! Mom and Aunt Glenda came with him and it was a blessing to have them here with us.

Mom and Aunt Glenda took the kids swimming everyday while we worked on the storage unit.







Mom and Aunt Glenda took us to "Casa Bonita" in Denver. It is a HUGE restaurant that features divers who do specialty dives off of a water fall, magic shows, caves, a mock mine and carnival type games. The kids ventured into Black Barts Hideout!!!! (It was a cave/maze full of spooky things)

After our breakfast, we said goodbye and off they went towards California . . .

Then we drove a few miles south on the freeway and met up with some very dear friends, John and Jackie Horton and their kids. Toby and Joel, and Gabbie and Acacia pose for some photos we'll cherish of our time together as we sat and talked, laughed and caught up with each other.

solution and new puzzle

Congratulations to Davey Armstrong who correctly guessed that the previous blog puzzle reads, "Robbers and Bad guys" He should be receiving a bag of yummy ugandan coffee in his mailbox any day now. Look below (after these next two pictures) for a new stumper.

One of our favorite activities in southern California was to visit our friend, Cindy. She is very sick and is unable to move around much. She loves visits from friends and is blessed when the kids read their favorite books to her.

Toby and Acacia took turns reading to her.

Can you tell me the ingredients of this favorite American meal?????? It's not what you think!! Restrain yourselves, those of you who know.

And for a little update on what we've been doing . . . cleaning out our storage unit!!!!! Not fun. But, in the good news department, we spent Sunday with the Dangers family including Jay, Vicki, Josiah, Autum and their kids, Jamie, Jeremiah, Julia and briefly, Joyanne. We didn't get to see Andrew as he was out of town. It was refreshing to visit with such dear friends and share with each other.

a puzzle

The first person to tell me what this says will receive a souvenir from Uganda!

This gem graced our computer screen moments ago--our laptop is set to show random photos from our personal collection. The memory of this made me smile. Acacia wrote it in November of 2008 on our school white board.

Some people complain that it's too difficult to comment on our blog, so if you need to you are welcome to email me your guess.

Road Trip!!!!!

We took 13 days to drive from southern California to Denver, Colorado. It was an amazing drive: we saw friends, God's beautiful creation and truly enjoyed our time together!!

Lisa and Sarah Lewis: Geoff's sister and niece that we visited in Fresno, California.

Then onto Mary Jacobs' house where we stayed for 2 nights with her. We were blessed to visit with Geoff's longtime friend, Matt Jacobs, Mary's son.

Geoff, Matt and another good longtime friend, Sue Barnes in Vallejo, California.

We enjoyed a BBQ with Mike and Sarah Lavezzo and their family. SOOOO good to see friends!!!

Next stop: SAN FRANCISCO!!!!! We were surprised to see Jack Fruit for sale in the Chinatown market!!

No trip to San Francisco is complete without a visit to the Golden Gate Bridge!!! But, watch out--it's WINDY and COLD up there!!











Geoff couldn't resist posing next to this sign on the bridge (we walked 1/2 way across and back!)

Yup. The coldest winter I ever had was a summer in San Francisco!!!

Continuing up north brought us to the Redwood forest. . . land of the HUGE trees!!!

Ahhh, Daddy and his boys somewhere near the Redwood forest in northern California.


The trees are big enough to stand in . . .

. . . and drive through!!!!

We traveled for a long time along the beautiful Oregon coast before heading inland toward Vancouver, WA.

Gold Beach, OR, where we spent a night . . . the hotel clerk said we were lucky to have gone there on a day when the wind was not so strong! WHAT???? Didn't seem very tame OR warm to us!



Cold or not, Toby and Acacia insisted on going barefoot in shorts!

As we drove on toward Vancouver we stopped to eat lunch in a small town and were happy to find that the restaurant served lunch in vintage cars!

A dear friend from Pepperdine University, Rosy (Vela) Gunter who, with her husband, is a faithful
supporter of New Hope Uganda.


After visiting with the Gunter's we traveled onto to the Hood Canal across the sound from Seattle to visit with Geoff's Aunt Martha and Uncle Wayne. Their place is gorgeous and so peaceful.


The kids had a blast driving the GREEN MACHINE--Uncle Wayne's John Deere "get around" cart.


They played with their cousins Nolan and Max.

Picked Berries, yum yum.
Us with Uncle Wayne and Aunt Martha. With Geoff's cousin Barb's family.



We had a treat of a visit with Tal and Tiffany Anderson and their kids when they stopped by Aunt Martha and Uncle Wayne's on their way down the Hood Canal. It was truly God's timing that we were able to meet! Tal is the manager at New Hope Uganda and he and Tiffany are fellow Pepperdine alums. They are also on furlough for the next few months.

We were also able to make a brief visit to see my cousin, Eric and his family. Again, the cousins had a great time playing together!

On the way to Yellowstone we saw a lake that was filled with dead trees. Curious, we stopped at a roadside sign to read about why. In August 1957 there was an earthquake that cause a huge mudslide. The slide dammed up the lake and flooded the valley. Many campers died in the flood and the entire landscape was changed forever. The lake is now called "Earthquake Lake."
Finally! Yellowstone National Park. WOW!!! If you haven't been, you NEED to go. I don't know how anyone can see the beauty and creativity displayed in that park and NOT see the hand of our creative GOD. His work is AMAZING!


Rock climbing the sheepeater cliffs.

Having just spotted a real moose and her cub, they couldn't resist posing.

The colors in Yellowstone are unparalleled.





orangesyellows and greens

and the power and beauty of Old Faithful.

The lower falls. We hiked a mile to get a good view of these beautiful falls. If you can manage to see it, there is a viewing point to the right of the top of the falls and there are people crowded on the overlook. That helps give some perspective of the size of the falls. We chose instead to hike farther away for an overall view.

We thought this was an interesting spot. This picture may look like a winter landscape, but it was HOT here as there was much geo-thermal activity. It turned the soil white and killed the tree. You can see the steam from a geyser in the background. A stunning turquoise-colored pool. The rising steam indicates the intense geo-thermal area.

Driving south from Yellowstone you immediately enter the Grand Teton National Park.


These mountains are majestic and towering. It is an awesome drive--you almost can't keep your eyes off of them.

Actually, this picture is supposed to be before the Yellowstone ones. Once we left Washington, it was into Idaho, then Montana, and then Wyoming where Yellowstone National Park is located.

Crossing the Continental Divide in Wyoming. Yes, I took this picture while I was driving! I don't recommend it.

Day 13--dropping down into Colorado. The landscape suddenly changes and there are more trees and greenery.

Reaching our destination: Papa and Grandma's!

We'll stay put for awhile before the next road trip. In late August early September we'll head out again to Texas for about 10 days.