Celebrating 25 yrs of ministry at Boulevard

We pulled off surprising my parents by coming in from Colorado to Muskogee and showing up on Sunday morning. They had not one clue and were so very surprised.

Let me start from the beginning.

A month ago I received a call from my sister Jamie. She said there is something I want to talk to you about Mom and dad. Thinking of what it could be I thought it might have to do with their wedding anniversary which was January 8th. However, Jamie was thinking of another anniversary. Their 25th anniversary of ministry with Boulevard. She told me I must call Lisa Able and talk with her about all they have planned. When I called her she began to tell me all of the wonderful things they had in store for my parents. One of which was to fly us down to surprise them at church on that Sunday. But we had a month to keep this a secret. I was not sure how were going to pull this off. But we did.

Paul and I flew in Friday night and the girls were such good passengers. We went immediately to Paul's parents house. We were going to stop by Tara's to say hi before heading into Muskogee, but Tara called with urgency to not come, because Mom was insistent that she come to see her gandgirls and to celebrate Tara's birthday, which was a few days before. So went went on to Muskogee. We stayed at Paul's house all day so not to accidentally run into anyone who may give us away. This was also a huge blessing to Paul's parents, because they were itching to see the girls too. It also happened to be Greg's birthday weekend.

Sunday finally came. We arrived at the church and waited for the cue to come in. When we did we were debriefed on how it was to go down.

Boulevard has two services. So at the first service Dad was surprised with the fact that he was not to preach, even though he had prepared a wonderful sermon for that day. Instead one of his really good friends came, who has a very busy schedule, but made room for this event, to preach. This come very unexpected to Dad and was pleasantly surprised to both hear and see his long, old, good friend.

But unknown to Mom and Dad, there was another surprise in store for them during the second service.

When one of the elders was explaining to those at the second service what had happen during the previous service. We, Tara, Ken, Jamie, Paul, Aunt Nada, Grammy, Uncle Carlos, and I walk in from the side with Piper, Miley, Haddie, and Eden leading the way. They were so very surprised, they had all their children there. It was a Success!

After church we had a lunch at Maylon's with leaders of the church, family, and a few friends.

Then we went home a relaxed a few hours, talking about the morning and with Mark and Carla Scott. At 5:30 we went back to the church for a banquet in honor of Mom and Dad's ministry.

There they were graced with many stories of Dad in his ministry. Jay then invited them to play "the price was right, couple addition." during which they won an Ipod and a 7 day cruise to the Mediterranean! This came as a huge shock to both Mom and Dad. They had no idea this was all planned for them. They both said they felt very loved and honored by all that happened that day. They also said they were just content with the first surprise of the morning, but that it just kept coming and were overwhelmed by the end of the day by the generosity of all who were involved. Thank you boulevard family for taking such good care of my family. Thank you for helping them raise us. Thank you for supporting my mom and Dad through their 25 yrs of ministry at Boulevard. Thank you for loving us!

I am in ministry because of my Dads great example and he is in ministry at boulevard because of you! THANK YOU!

a few of Haddie's favorites

Haddie has an addicting personality. Yes, she is always fun to be around and that you always miss her when your not with her, but this is not what I am talking about. What I mean is that she gets addicted to things and becomes obsessed with them. Such as Toy Story. She is in love with the whole cast and all the movies. She is especially fond of Jessie. She received a Jessie doll for Christmas from her Granny and has not put her down since. Anytime she gets a chance she asks to watch "Toy story" and gets so excited when either Woody or Buzz comes on. She even says "oh no, Jessie" when at the end of Toy Story 2 Woody is running after Jessie in the airplane. She is also addicted to or obsessed with snow and bath time. Also a new obsession is to the book given to her by her Granny. Is not just the book, its the fact that it is read to her by her Granny. Granny had recorded her voice reading the book. Haddie LOVES it.

Last night I went to read her another book and she whined, "no, no, Nana" (she gets confused sometimes between granny and her nana.) So I grabed the book that Granny recorded and said, "you want the book Granny gave?" Haddie was so excited! We opened it up and Granny's voice began to read the book. Haddie laughed and pointed to the speaker and said "nana," I corrected her with Granny, and then after each turned page and Granny began to read again, she would smile wide and say, "Granny!" so precious.

It makes me laugh, and I get tickled with her obsessions. But my favorite of late is with praying during meal times. She loves to pray and loves to remind us. Once we start praying she then repeats each phrase, such as "thank you for mommy!" "Danktu mommy!" "Thank you for Daddy" "Danktu Abigail" (yet another one of her obsessions).

She is so precious and makes me smile!

SNOW

I have always loved it when it would snow. An excitement rushes through me when I see that beautiful fluffy stuff falling from the sky. I get even more happy when I see that it is sticking to the ground. I become like a little girl on christmas day.The other day it began to snow, and each time I looked out the snow was getting thicker and thicker on the cars. We enjoyed a cozy day inside after church just enjoying watching it snow and build up on the ground and cars. Haddie was excited too, she kept climbing up on our couch to watch it snow. she would turn and say "oh no, snow!" She was actually really excited, she just thinks its fun to say 'no' and 'snow' together.

The next day we awoke with 8 inches of snow or more! Haddie was so excited she couldn't wait to play in the snow. So she and I got all bundled up to play outside in the snow.

Once we got out in the snow Haddie loved walking around in the snow that was past her knees. I then taught her how to make a snow angle. This made Haddie want to roll and crawl around in the snow. Mazie, our dog, liked the snow too. She jumped around and ate the snow. Haddie also liked to eat the snow. After around 30 min of playing in the snow. I was getting cold, so I knew Haddie had to be getting cold too. So I told Hadassah we needed to go in, but Haddie was refusing to go in without a fuss. So we played a little longer, until I bribed Haddie to come in with a Bubble bath. One thing Haddie loves more then snow, is a bubble bath.

Starting a bow buisness

I am in the process of starting to sell my bows. I started making hair bows just after haddie was born. I had bought several bows at a boutique in Joplin and got to thinking I could make these. So I began practicing how to make bows. I made several that I thought were GREAT, but looking back at them, they were not so great, but a beginning. I had to keep practicing over the year and half. Now I think I got it. Well, maybe.

I enjoy making them. It is relaxing to me to make bows. Which I think makes for a great hobbie. A hobbie I am hoping to make a few bucks off of. (or at least return my investment)

I am trying to build up an inventory so that I can take them to some local consignment stores in Canon City to see if they will sell them for me in their store. I am also going to be doing several craft shows this spring.

Paul is helping me create a web site, but until then I have a blog so others can check out the bows and prices.

If you know of anyone who would be interested in my bows, I would appreciate you passing the word along.

You can find me at www.myrtlegardenbowtique.blogspot.com