"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Joshua 25:15

Looking for Colors

2010-09-28T08:02:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend we all went for a drive to see the leaves changing colors..we didnt see very many colors but we did get to make a few fun stops and Jeff and Tonya bought the kids some hot cocoa and the while they waited the boys watched some football in the cafe. That was lots of fun for the kids and after that we stopped at some spot next to some river and that was the most fun of all. Bruno had lots of fun in the water and so did the kids...they werent supposed to get wet..and well you know how that goes. But it's ok, we made lots of fun memories!

Balloon Festival

2010-09-04T07:51:00.001-07:00

Yeah!!!Shelby lost her 1st tooth!!!

2010-09-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

ok she is growing way too fast!!

Meet Bruno!!!!!

2010-08-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

Shelby and Gracie playing with Bruno Sunday after church. Those are the skirts that grandma made! They look so good on the girls. Anyway this is Bruno. He was 5 weeks old today and we are puppy sitting. He has to go back tomarrow or Tuesday and we will get him for good in 3 more weeks. We cant wait. I am really sad for the mommy to go back. I really bonded with her and am finding myself very sad that she is not mine. But we are thankful to have Bruno.

Dutchess and her puppy Bruno

Gracie fighting with Bruno over her skirt! I seem to remember having the same fight with a puppy when i was her age except i was crying like a baby..lol...remember that mom??

wonderful pic of Seth he is so handsome

Fishing @ Monument Lake

2010-08-01T20:39:00.001-07:00

Jeff and Tonya were the cooks for this evenings meal!!! We were the most popular people at the lake..hotdogs and chili on the grill, and yummy smores for dessert(with reeses peanut butter cups...yum yum)

Wes waiting for his hotdog!!!

Seth caught his first large mouth bass! It was about 12 in and seth wanted to mount it!!! well really he just wanted to keep it and I had to explain that we cant keep dead fish...moms are soo mean sometimes..lol

Shelby and Jeffrey playing with the trout that Jeff caught.

Our new puppy...He needs a name!!!!!! Help!!!!

2010-07-22T17:13:00.000-07:00

We get him in 5 weeks and we cant agree on a name email if you have ideas!!LOL

Fred and Debbie and Savannah visit Colorado.....

2010-07-22T16:11:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pics of the visit with Fred, Debbie, and Savannah.Hope you enjoy them and we will have more later! love everyone

Heal the Wound but Leave the Scar

2010-07-03T11:17:00.000-07:00

amazing video that says what a lot of us are trying to say but could not find the words..the way God heals a wound is nothing short of a miracle and truly is amazing!!

More pics of eleven mile

2010-06-06T08:09:00.001-07:00

More pics of eleven mile

2010-06-06T07:40:00.000-07:00

Wheres Waldo....lol
if you look carefully Jeff climbed the rocks and in sitting on the big rock right in the middle....

Eleven-Mile

2010-06-06T07:20:00.000-07:00

The best $5 I've ever spent!!!! We had the best time I have ever had in Colorado!!this place is like a dream. Pictures just don't do it justice so everyone in Florida must come and go camping with us!! That is all we could think about yesterday was "how are we going to get our family out here to see this place!!!!!"i am going to publish another post with just pics....we miss everyone n love you all

Random Pics of the Girls

2010-05-30T07:52:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pics of the girls I took the other day, I will be posting some pics of Seth soon..its getting a little more difficult to get them...he runs! anyway these were taken in the back yard about 3 days ago. The other ones I'm not sure when they were taken, Gracie with the hat on, shes a ham for sure!!!

Shelby's Birthday Party

2010-05-30T07:34:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pics of shelby's 6th birthday party. It went great, thanks to my professional party specialist...Sarah Mixon!!!!LOL I could not have done it without her!! anyway we did have fun and Shelby had a blast. We had so much fun doing the cake(that would be the second cake...lol..first one is still being scrapped off the bottom of Sarahs oven...)that we cant wait until Gracie's birthday so we can do another one.

2010-04-21T19:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday we took the kids to "Garden of the Gods" they were celebrating Earth Day with all kinds of wildlife like these birds of prey. They also had wolves but we couldnt stay for that program. The kids got to make "goop" and see these birds.
The first one is a falcon, the second was a golden eagle, and the third was Lurch the turkey vulture

Clips of football practice

2010-04-16T12:16:00.000-07:00

Seth is doing very well in football. He still loves the sport even after getting banged up a bit! :) He came to me the other morning and the first thing he said to me is " mommy, my arms hurt!!" I had to laugh..

Hiking

2010-04-06T20:24:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple pics of us all hiking a couple weeks ago! It seems like you never run out of things to see out there!

Football practice!!!

2010-04-06T19:38:00.000-07:00

Ok dad this one is for you..... I know its not the best video but it was hard to get a good one from today. The wind was blowing like crazy and it was freezing cold...they didnt even have an entire practice. I will try to get another one soon. His first game is this Saturday! We are excited!

2010-03-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

Well Seth started football and I am so excited for him. I think that it will be good for him. He loves the sport and he really is working on not being so shy. He just completed his first week without pads and starting Monday they will wear their pads and begin to tackle. So I will try to keep some pics on every once in a while.

More Aquarium pics

2010-03-06T07:29:00.000-08:00

More pics of the Aquarium..

Seth is having a staring contest with the eel

This is the pic we took of the stingray over top of us!! he's smiling at us

The otters were having fun with the kids...i love the reflection on the glass of the girls face here

Denver Aquarium

2010-03-06T06:36:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we took a fieldtrip day to the Denver Aquarium. I know I had a blast and the kids did too! There were so much to see and it put the Gulfaruim on Santa Rosa Island to shame!!!! This place rocked!!!! There was a 4-D video called The Deep Blue Sea and that was exciting. Gracie sat next to me and she kept asking "mommy, are we really under water...,mommy, are those giant squid really that close, mommy.....mommy" There was a feeding tank for the sting rays and the kids got to feed them fish. They all got to pet them but Gracie was the only one who actually fed the stings ray. The way they eat is wierd and the others found it a bit difficult, the way you hold the fish and the way they eat. It was a little tricky. But Gracie saw Tonya do it and she did it just like her and it was cool. This fish was HUGE!!!
It is so nice when you take a trip like this and the animals all interact with the kids and play...this tiger was so funny to watch and we loved this part of the aquarium!We really want to go back, Jeff had to work so he missed it,so we have to take him. We also had fun with the otters but I am having problems uploading the video.

Snow Snow Snow!!!

2010-02-27T09:50:00.000-08:00

Well we have had some snow here last week and even though it wasnt tons it was still pretty! Thought you all would like to see it!

Red Rock Canyon

2010-02-27T09:34:00.001-08:00

Last Sunday we went on a hike through Red Rock Canyon in search for a geo cache . Between Jeff Duddeks GPS and Wes' we still couldnt find it. There was too much snow. It ended up coming down real good. It was so pretty! Anyway, we had a nice hike then everyone came to our house for games and food! Here are a couple pics so everyone can see what we were able to see. It was so beautiful.

Here is Seth, we were next to a cave where some guys and their dogs were hiding out. They had a nice fire going to keep warm. We stayed and talked to them a while.

I thought this pic was so cool, it almost looks like a painting. That is me with my hair frozen to my face!!!LOL

Here we all came to a little cliff. It was cool. Seth ran right down and the rest had to think about it for a bit!! It wasnt bad but we kept slipping on the rocks so I was a little scared. But we got through just fine.

Jeff gave his good snow boots to Wes to use on this trip and he wore some old boots..oh I think he slipped like 15 times!! This was one of them! He really had a hard time.Sorry Wes, next time your on your own...haha

UGGG Tadpoles!!!!

2010-02-18T22:42:00.000-08:00

Ok so long story short, in Florida we got Seth a frog habitat for his birthday. Got to Colorado and got the nature table all set up in the school room and I asked Jeff to suprise him with a couple tadpoles. So Jeff goes to the nearest pet/fish store to pick up about three little tadpoles to put in his habitat, so he can see the life cycle of an amphibian! WELL about an hour or so he gets home with the biggest tadpoles I have ever seen in my life!!! Bullfrog tadpoles about 3 inches long at least!! They are TOOO big for the habitat! So we did the best we could with what we had and put them in a plastic "spring mix" salad container with a couple rocks and they seemed to be ok. So the next thoughts that went through my head and out my mouth was..ok, this only has to work for a little while, in a couple weeks they will grow their legs and lungs and we can set the free...right....WRONG! Seth seems to think these little big creatures will make a great pet(i think hes desperate)and talks Jeff into telling him he can keep them...so I said they needed a bigger home...WITH A LID!! Soooo, this morning while we were in school Jeff went out and got a tank so Seth and I are trying to recreate a habitat for these little guys whom we have taken a crazy liking to! They are kinda cute if you can get past the slimy, bumpy exterior...I guess! (Aunt Susan if you are reading this I hope you still love us...lol)so now is when I get on the internet to look up bullfrogs only to find out they are active at night they make a loud, long croaks..mating call done at night..it could take up to 3 seasons for them to develop back legs..sometimes longer, and the longer it takes to get legs the BIGGER they will be. They eat live crickets and meal worms and they can live average 7-10 years!!! ok lesson learned!!!!

All we need now are some plants and I think we did a pretty good job and it was fun.

Denver Zoo

2010-02-18T22:25:00.001-08:00

This Tuesday Jeffrey wanted all of us to attend the zoo trip with him to celebrate his birthday, so we went to the Denver Zoo! We drove the van and the Duddeks piled in their truck. We had so much fun. Shelby brought her camera and took SSSOOOO many pictures...at least 3 of everything!!!We were there all day and still didnt see everything there was to see. We ran into people we know, and met a really nice older couple. They are from Russia!(umm some people may call these little "meetings" fate...I say God knows what He is doing!!!)anyhow, I cant remember her name but his name is Isreal.They are a Jewish couple and we talked to them for hours. They invited us to go to their house and visit them. We exchanged phone numbers with them and spent nearly and hour with them. Their english is not so great so we are planning to take a translater with us when we go. SOOOO we had lots of fun at the zoo! Here are some of our pics! Enjoy

Back to Colorado and Charles visit

2010-02-14T17:50:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!! We are back in Colorado Springs!!! We missed our friends and church family here so much and we are so happy to see them all again ,only now I will be missing my friends & family in Florida all over again:) oh I know quit complaining..LOL anyway here is a pic of the kids in front of our new home.

There has been some snow the past couple days...enough snow to keep Uncle Charles in town a little longer. We started out Saturday at Garden of the gods where they were having a Long Horn Sheep Day! The kids learned all about the state mammal.They got their faces painted and did crafts and they were able to look out and see the long horn sheep on the hills. We all thought that was cool. They had touch tables set out for the kids to feel the fur of lots of Colorado's wildlife.

Then after that Charles and Jeff decided they wanted to go to the top of Pikes Peak so we went completely against my will!!!!( from Florida...FLATLANDS...ya know what I mean) So due to weather we could only go 13 miles up the road which was an elevation of 11,000 ft and the summit of Pikes Peak is 14,110 and the road was blocked off at Glen Cove.

We all got out of the van and took all kinds of pictures and met our friend Wilbur...the friendly fox!

We had so much fun. We went inside the gift shop took more pics and met Buddy Bear!

LOL we then decided we wanted to take Charles through Divide and into Florecent where we stopped at the best coffee shop ever to enjoy the best cookies and sweet roll ever!!!! It was snowing huge flakes and it was so pretty! We had so much fun and made all kinds of memories.

(Starting contest over the hot cholocate LOL)

So here are a few of our favorite pics from The Saturday with Uncle Charles!!!!

Gracie's Birthday

2009-11-12T05:41:00.000-08:00

OK so as usual....late with the blogging....anyway, here are some cute pics of Gracie's birthday! She is 4! Just before her birthday party at grandma Debbies house, Gracie kept asking, "am I 4 now?" My brother askes her, "Gracie, do you know what you have to do before you can turn 4?" of course the answer is, "no!" So Deric says to my mom, "tell her grandma, what she has to do in order to be 4!" Grandma says, "you have to tug your ears 4 times, turn around 4 times and then jump up and down 4 times, then you will be 4!" So after blowing out the candles on the cake that she decorated all by herself,(very interesting looking cake might I add)everyone including Gracie, tugged their ear and turned around and jumped up and down in order for Gracie to officially turn 4! It was so funny!!!

Here are a couple more pics of us this past week. Nothing huge happened,Seth went to his first hockey game and had a blast, pics of him with Uncle Charles and Daddy! Hurricane Ida, school, mom fell and had to go to the ER (she is fine),cleaned out mom and dads garage prepairing for a yardsale next weekend. That is about all. Please keep us in your prayers...

Were Back!!!!

2009-10-28T17:23:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! So sorry it took so long to update our blog. It has been crazy. We have been back for a while now and we have had to tie up some loose ends and pull ourselves together again...just kidding. It's just that we have been very busy. We got right in to getting school going and that has been a chore itself. It has been fun but we had to find what we needed and yada yada! So that takes up the good part of the day. Jeff had been blessed with a job while we are here and while he doesn't "love" it, it provides an awesome place to witness. He is working installing office cubicles, and along the line of construction you get yucky language and you know the deal... but it is helping us get by and we thank God for it. He will be able to work there until we go back to Colorado. We are staying with my parents. When we first got home Jeff helped his dad finish the deck in his backyard and he helped the neighbor Joe with his lawn and a few things around the house. These are a couple pics of Gracie helping daddy! She was making sure she got all the tags off the wood once it was installed!

Here we have Seth building a bird feeder for the back yard with an empty milk jug. We needed some pics of the local birds for school and Mrs.Jacki has just been great to have around to help us with ideas to feed the birds and identify them. She makes it alot of fun.....and the girls when we went to the park one day last week or so. Grandma got them blue icees and that explains the blue lips! It was in Navarre and we went to the butterfly house while we were there, it was free, and we got to see a butterfly lay an egg right in front of us on a leaf! It was really cool.

Shelby got to go with Jacki and I to take Sarah's dog Sasha to the vet. Wow was she a happy camper! The vet was wonderful and told Shelby everything she was doing to the dog and why. She went in the back and brought back a baby squirrel only days old. They were so great with Shelby and she had a blast!
And last but not least, our Gracie in the window catching a fly! She is 4 today and she is a hoot. Well that's all for now, I will try to be better at blogging and please please keep us in your prayers! Love you all

It's been a while

2009-10-24T06:47:00.000-07:00

Well a lot has happened since the last blog entry and we have not been motivated enough to post anything. This is a short post. This is to say that we will try to post what has been going on in our life as soon as we can. I just wanted to give a quick shout out to everyone to let you all know that we are still alive and in Florida.

Gone to the Mountains

2009-08-18T10:59:00.000-07:00

Ok everyone, dont panic...we wont be emailing or posting for about 10 days or so. We are on our way to western Ukraine in about 15 min. We will be doing 2 more VBS and going to Uchgarod on the western border. Please pray for our safty. We will be back soon and well email then. Love everyone.
The Applings

Youth Camp Ukraine 2009!!!

2009-08-18T02:06:00.000-07:00

WOW!!!!

What a great time we had at youth camp. This was the first time for Steph and me to be part of camp like this. We had 26 youth attend the camp which is not as much as we were prepared to have but God is in control so these are the ones he wanted there I suppose. We experienced some very powerful and spiritual moments with the Lord during these 5 days of camp. There were two days in particular that God's presence was really felt. Every night Steph and I prepared a skit before the main service, but there was something unusual about Wednesdays service. Tonya Duddek came up with the idea for the skit that just happened to be the life story of one of our translator/workers Vita, Stepon's wife from Carpathia. After the skit she shared her testimoney and then Jeff Duddek preached for just a few minutes. That night 16 young people up front and prayed and asked Jesus into there heart. It was a very emotional and serious moment. The kids were just crying all over the place. Then later on Artyom who repented last year at youth camp made some confessions that he had not lived the life people thought he did. He would say he was a Christian but did not live the life of one. He asked us all including the Lord to forgive him and we did and God really has changed him. The past couple of days around him he has been so different. There has been a lot of stuff that he was holding on to that he is burning in the trash pit out back. Friday we had a really bad brush fire that started from another campsite and the wind blew it right in our direction. All of our campers and workers pitched in and getting water from the sea we were able to put it out quickly. God really helped us.

Our Friend Katrina

2009-07-30T23:00:00.000-07:00

Please pray for our friend Katrina. Yesterday she broke her ankle walking down a grassy hill in Crimea. Katrina,a missionary in Nova Odessa, took her friend Faith and the Duddek family down to see the Sanitsas in Crimea.Jeff Duddek is getting the documents he needs done so he can drive them all to Nova Odessa today. But Jeff and Jason are on their way to Kiev this morning to ride a bus down to Nova Odessa to pick her up and bring her back to Kiev to hop on a plane to go home in America for surgery.( that was a mouthful!LOL) I think Jason said she broke her leg in 3 places. I am not sure of all the details just pray that she makes it home safe and pray for youth camp. Katrina is in charge of youth camp and now she cant be there and it starts on the 10th. We love her and would like you to pray for her safety!

Bible Trip to Belarus border

2009-07-27T02:56:00.000-07:00

Well thank the Lord for His help this week. We were in north Ukraine by the border of Belarus for 4 days passing out bibles and tracks and other liturature. I did get sick the second night at our primitive camp site with the flu and it was a very hard night for me but with God's help I made it through. Thank you for all that were praying I really felt the Lord's touch. As far as we can tell 11 people gave their hearts to the Lord during this trip and I am not sure how many excatly but we gave out several boxes of bibles. These areas that we were able to reach have never been touched with the Gospel before. Some of them may have been to an Orthodox church but most of these areas don't have a even one of those. Many people could not even read. There were a lot of older people and not so many young people. They all moved to the city. These people that we talked with have had a very hard life. Many if not all were here during WW2 and endured a lot of hardship so the lives they live now compared to that are very good. One village that Jeff D. and his translator Artyom stopped in we really got to reach the people. Most of the men were drunk. That is how everyone deals with their problems here. We got to open air preach to them and gave them bibles and some asked the Lord to save them right there. It was very amazing. There are so many details it is hard to remember them all and write them all down. Thank you all again for prayerfully supporting this trip.

They are Home!!!

2009-07-25T06:13:00.001-07:00

Yes the guys are home! They had a wonderful trip. They got home last night (a day early) and Jeff D was on a bus to go down to Nova Odessa with his family! They decided to come home early because they were all tired and felt that they were able to accomplish a lot and wanted to get my Jeff home and Jeff D home and Jason had to get ready for Sunday and it just seemed like it was time. We haven't had an actual count but they seem to think that about 11 men were saved on this trip. They are going to set up the computer and put all pics into a folder and we are going to have a family night tonight and hear all the stories. Jeff will have more details for you later but I do know that they are already planning on returning in November to play the Jesus film and revisit the families who excepted them with open arms and received Bibles!I am so sad that I wont be here to go! I do know they did lots of open air preaching at bus stations and stores, and handed out Bibles by the handfuls! One place there were so many people crowding around the van asking for Bibles that they all had to get out, and put up a bench and began to preach!!! WOW! I know it was amazing!Jeff will make a post in a day or so but thank you everyone for your prayers. Thank you for following our blog and keep praying for the people in Ukraine. We love you all!

ALSO....please check out the "fav link" spot on my blog and visit Jeff and Tonya Duddeks blog as well as Jason and Joanna Sturtevant's blogs

Some more pics of Ukraine

2009-07-23T08:42:00.000-07:00

Thank you Joanna for letting get some of your pics to post on my blog!!! Jeff left with mine! Oh anyway, the 1st pic is Shelby at the water hole LOL. This was the last day of VBS in Ocekiva, it was our picnic,and it was HOT! The 2nd pic is the 2 teams coming back together for a meeting in the middle of the week. We had supper outside and were so happy to see our friends from Kanyazachee( I am sure I am not spelling that right) and the last one is so funny, Jason dropped us off in different places in the village before VBS so we could invite people from the village to VBS. While we were out the clouds opened up and it poured!!!! WE WERE SOAKED! But we had so much fun, but we were freezing after running home in it and while we waited we took the wet clothes off the girls so they could get warm and wrapped them in a sheet that we got from the church and waited on Jason and Joanna to get back.When they got home we took a pic. Some lady in the village brought Joanna's team into her house and gave them all clothes, that is why they arnt as wet anymore. What a memory!
We love it here!

Ukraine Pics

2009-07-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

Well here are some pics. The family one is on our way back to Ocekiva from Nova Odessa. We stopped on our way for some authentic Ukrainian food. The next one is VBS in Nova Odessa at Katrina's house. And the last one is Tonya and I helping with the crafts in that same VBS!

Update on Jeff

2009-07-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

Jeff is better today!! He is back out sharing the Gospel with the other men. They have been able to reach 3 villages at one time by splitting up. Another man got saved a few minutes ago, he was in his 80's and as far as we can tell there is no religion and very primitive. They said it was like stepping into a musum. Everyone has a cow and a horse and no cars only buggies. They are so amazed at how simple these people live. Keep praying for them. Jeff will make a post when he gets home to give you all more details.

Update from Ocekiva!

2009-07-23T04:41:00.001-07:00

Well I'm sure most of you have heard what we have been up to the past few weeks. We had two more VBS's here in Ocekiva and one in Kanyazachee(spelling)which went very well. 9 kids prayed with Joanna and Stepon and received Bibles. The kids really do love the program that she set up for them this summer. Jeff and Tonya were on the 2nd team with Ramon and Nadia. Thing went good although we have been fighting head lice. Several of the people here in Ocekiva got it from the village kids here then we found out that Romans family was dealing with the same thing. Then we found out that Jeff and Tonya and the kids were battling a stomach flu and as you know we got it here too. Then we noticed some spots on Gracie's head that looked just like a ring worm we went to the store and got some cream that we thought would cure it right up, and found out that Romans daughter in Kanyazachee had one on her shoulder. Well Gracie's did not heal like we thought it should so Ramon and Jason felt it would be best to take her to a doctor in Kiev. At this point what ever it was had spread all cross the crown of her head. Well they took her and found out what it was(don't ask I would not even be able to spell it out LOL)she gave us some medicine that would clear it up but she couldn't wash her head for 3 days and the medicine was yellow/green color and with every application we had to wash her head with olive oil...that would be 3 times a day!! SO....Gracie looked GROSS!! But we still showered her with lots of kisses and covered her hair with a bandanna!You should have seen the village people pointing at the girl with green curls!! Now thank the Lord she is better. That was a long week of stomach flu and stuff but when it was over we recover the next weekend with swimming and playing outside with the kids. Stepon finished the cellar and Jeff cut down some trees and Jason worked on the van to prepair for the Bible trek. We did keep losing power that weekend and had a great storm come through. There was not much rain but the wind was powerful. It blew bunches and bunches of cherries off the tree the clothes off the line. We laughed as we ran outside to pick up the clothes and Joanna ran outside with a bowel and we all picked the cherries off the ground and Vita and Joanna baked us a homemade cherry pie!!! Well that weekend was over and now the guys are on the border of Belarus on a Bible trek. The will be home on Sat. They have been having a wonderful time meeting families in the villages however one of the translators Artyome forgot his passport. If they get stopped he will have to stay in jail until we can get his passport to him. Here everyone gets a passport, its like a form of identification. They have not been pulled over yet but we are praying that it would not happen. Several villages have invited them back for children's ministry and have heard the Gospel and the guys are very encouraged. But last night I got a phone call from Jeff and he is not doing so well. He has this stomach virus and it is bad! He was a mess on the phone and I worried about him all night. We started a prayer chain with the churches back in Colorado to pray for him, and Joanna called her parents to pray for him. We all prayed with the kids.It is just hard to be so far away from home and your bed when your sick like that and having no running water or toilet or bed, but its pitch black and lots of mosquitos. We haven't heard from anyone today so I don't know how he is doing but I'm sure God has answered our prayers. Jeff was determined to stay, he said he wouldn't even consider coming home, so I'm sure he is feeling better by now. Thank you everyone for your support in prayer last night.They camped last night 2 miles from the border. I'm not sure what direction they will be going but aside from Jeff being sick they were encouraged! So meanwhile the kids and I are here with Joanna and we are helping her can. So far we have done pickles, pickled relish and cherry juice and apricot jam and pickled tomatoes and stewed tomatoes. We have been paying the kids by the bucket fulls of apricots! They will get paid tomorrow and we will take them to the bazaar to buy pocket knives and mugs for youth camp. Yesterday I found myself in the apricot tree shaking it and the boys were under it laughing because they were getting hit in the head and holding their buckets up in the air to catch! It was so funny! (Until had to figure out how to get down..LOL) But we will make some appricot juice and more jelly and jam and more pickles. We are learning so much. They had an expensive winter last year so this year Joanna wanted to have plenty to live on in the cellar! I don't think she will be disappointed. Well I guess that is all for now. I will try to get more pics on later. Jeff took the camera with him so I am without! I love everyone and thank you for your prayers.

Update on Jeff! He is all better! He is out visiting with the rest of the guys today. They have been able to reach 3 villiges at one time by splitting up and it sounds like God is really helping them.

Ukraine Pics

2009-07-08T08:53:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,
Here is a couple pics of Ukraine. We miss everyone and have way too many pics to show everyone when we get home. But until then, this is us on the train going to Nova Odessa with Joanna. And Gracie playing in the rain and mud and Shelby and Josh in a summer kitchen at the VBS camp in Ulanivka. We have had such a great time helping Jason and Joanna. We really do feel like missionaries. We realize how busy they are and how much of their time is taken up with these kids. But I am also amazed at how well our family has taken the culture in. It is not as bad as we thought it would be. We have eaten some authentic Ukrainian food on the way back to Ocekiva and thought it was pretty good. We stopped at several different places and had a variety. I cant wait to see what God is going to work out for us, but so far I praised Him for the experiance we have had to get to know the people. Jeff and I feel like we have known Jason and Joanna and the kids forever and we have only known them for 3-4 weeks!! Its amazing! Our kids have never been so free to be kids. They spend 2 hours in morning helping parent and the rest of the day they play and they play and they play and not one of them gives me a hard time when it comes time for bed!! Thank you everyone for your prayers! We miss everyone and cant wait to get home ( wherever that may be to you,colorado or florida lol) and show you all the rest of the pics. love
Applings

Here are some pics of everyone snacking on the mulberries, and Gracie playing in the sand at the black sea and some local ukrainian lady teaching our kids to play with their food...lol they love baby chicks..

2009-07-08T08:22:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,
this is the VBS we had in Nova Odessa. This was the last day, picnic day. We took the kids to an open area and fed them lunch and played games with them. We had fun. Our kids really took a liking to many of those village kids and it was sad to say goodbye. In the pics the kids are playing a game where they throw the balls up in the air with the shoot, and Jason was tossing water baloons in the mix. That was fun!Anyway, more pic to come...

Vacation week!!!

2009-07-08T07:47:00.000-07:00

Well this week has been our vacation week. We are in Ocekiva with Jason and Joanna, Stepon and Vita. We are having a wonderful time. The women have been canning( Vita did it)and the guys are working on the cellar and the yard. They have to pour cement and build up the walls around the staircase going down there. We are planning on going to the second hand bizaar tomarrow to get some more clothes and later on tonight we are going to go to the forest to get some rasberries. We are really enjoying our week of rest!!!LOL Today Seth and Josh and some of the village boys went fishin'! They brought their sticks and bait and walked to the pond. After a while I went to check on them and they were ate the mulburry bush(i dont know why they call it a bush....its a tree....) they stopped to get a snack on the way home. They said they didnt catch any fish, so they caught frogs instead. Jason asked why they didnt catch fish, and Josh said," I dunno, they figured out how to catch the bait, but we just couldnt figure out how to catch them!!!" I had a good laugh. Shelby and Gracie are having a great time too. This week they have ate more cherries and mulberries then I have in a lifetime! The other morning we went for a walk and that was all we did was walk around the village and eat berries and cherries. Their clothes are all stained.LOL. Yesterday the women decided to take off for a while for a swim, so girls only, jumped in the van (yes Jason let me drive...)and we took off to the lake and had so much fun trying to teach Vita how to swim, well first she had to learn to float..LOL. In the pics Jeff is eating borsht at a little side shop we found on the way back to this village, and Seth was helping Stepon for 2 hours braking up dirt and shoveling it into the wheelbarrow and using it level our the lawn. Working hard on our vacation week but loving it! Well we will try to keep up with the blog updates its hard cause were always doing something. love everyone. Applings

Kids at Play

2009-05-17T19:24:00.001-07:00

Here are a couple pics of the kids at play. Shelby trying to wear the skates that Savannah gave her and she still cant fit in them. But just like her mother....shes still gonna try! Seth on his skateboard and scooter, Gracie riding her bike.
Last week we took the kids to the Vision Van,sponsored by Lenscrafters, to get Seth's eyes checked, we suspected he may need them,(glasses,not his eyes) and they said they would look at Shelby too since she was there, and Seths eyes are fine, Shelby needed reading glasses. So these are the ones she picked out. She only needs them while doing school and reading etc.
The stranger in the pic is our good friend Steve. You may have heard the kids talk about him, he hangs out with us alot and we even have a Steveday! He comes for dinner every Thursday and usualy Friday too, and sometimes on Saturday...(I think you get the point..LOL) but we love him. He makes #10 in our family...LOL
The pic with the girls in the dresses, our friend Judy made them for the girls and another 5 year old at the church named Michelle. So they all had matching dresses on Easter Sunday! They were cute!!!
Anyway, I think that is all, sorry that it has been a while since our last update, its been busy.
Love you all,
S

Thank You

2009-04-21T07:49:00.000-07:00

Thank you everyone for your kind encouraging words. We do appreciate your prayers. We have received a flood of emails from so many different people in response to Jeff's email, some good and some pretty bad, we want to stay encouraged. It has been hard, and I know we have just begun, and without the help of God, we would not have made it this far. He is faithful to give us strength when we need it most.

"From my distress I called upon the Lord;
The Lord answered my and set me in a large place.
The Lord is for me; I will not fear;
What can man do to me?
The Lord is for me among those who help me;
Therefore I will look with satisfaction on those who hate me.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in man.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
Than to trust in princes."
Ps 118:5-9

Update

2009-04-21T07:34:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

This is an email to all who are in our contact list. Some of you already know what is going on in our lives so this will just be a reminder. For others this is an update on what God is doing in our lives today and a request for prayer for some very specific needs. We have been here in (right now very snowy) Colorado (it's been snowing for two days straight now and we have several inches on the ground and it just keeps coming) for a little over a year, and our Lord has done some amazing things in our life. We have grown closer to each other as a family and have learned how to truly rely on God. If I were to write about all of the miracles that have taken place out here this would be a hundred pages long. To start, God led us to the church that we are currently going to last August through a very specific request Stephannie made in regards to finding a place where we could fellowship with other believers and here the truth of God's Word. Since then God has really been at work and everyday is showing us new things that He would like for us to work on as parents, husbands, as wives, and as His children. He has given Stephannie and I new passions for people that do not know who Jesus is.

Recently an old passion in me flared up for people that are homeless and we are planning an outing soon to take food and other things to people who live on the streets here. My heart has really been burdened for these people. We have had opportunity to share our love to Ukrainian orphan kids here in the Springs. We have met a young couple from Russia/Ukraine that is teaching us the Russian language to prepare us for the mission field. Just recently through an Arms Around the World convention at our church we met Steve Sturtevent who has been a missionary in Papua New Guinea and in Ukraine. He was a huge encouragement to all of us. His son and daughter in law, Jason and Johanna and there kids are currently serving over in Ukraine right now and have invited us to come for the summer to help with 5 vacation Bible schools, a youth camp, and hopefully a backpacking trip into the mountainous region of western Ukraine were some have never seen Americans or heard the Gospal of Jesus Christ. Places where there are no roads. I didn't even realize these places exsisted in Ukraine. I thought such a place would only be in the jungle of South America or Africa. I realize there are people here in the States that have never heard the Gospal and we want to reach out to them as well be we know God has called us to Ukraine.

We are planning on leaving no later than June 10 and would be back around August 25 or so. As of right now we don't know how God is going to provide but we are praying and expecting God to get us there. Tickets for 9 people are not cheap going overseas. Jason and Johanna are already preparing us all a place to stay. We would appreciate prayer for this trip and a future trip to move over there more permanately. We are planning on going on deputation beforehand to earn some support for the time that we are there. It is not about asking for money but giving people a chance to be apart of ministry in a forien field without acctually going over ther. I used to be against this kind of thing because I didn't think it allowed for us to trust God but I see it differently now. We are just thankful for a church and a Pastor and other Christians that pray for us everyday. They say that we have been an encouragement to them but they have really ministered to our hearts these past months. It is likely that AAW (Arms Around the World) will be backing us up. There are still a lot of preparations that have to be made and some meatings with board members that have to take place. It is hard to because we are chomping at the bit right now. But God is patient so I guess we have to be too.

Our wives are also concerned about school once we are over there. The kids are homeschooled but it might be hard for them to stay on track while trying to be in ministry over there. The one thing we want to do is just be involved in the lives of the people around us and be available for service whenever it is needed. One of the hardest things will be being so far from our family in Florida and other areas. It is hard to be where we are now but Ukraine is 6000 miles away. Tickets are about $900 per person round trip. We are so excited at this opportunity to go and to serve God and people who need Him. Me and Jeff Duddek might have opportunity to preach in those areas in the mountains in some small house churches.

With whatever happens we are trusing in God. The same faith that we have in Him that our sins are forgiven is the same faith that we are exercising concerning this trip. God doesn't just snap his fingers to give us more faith. He puts the faith we have to the test and with each time we can look back and see how He did it. It is never the same. And everytime our faith is strecthed to the limits. But God is faithful and promises not to give us more than we can handle. He says if we cannot have faith in small things how can we trust Him for much larger things. He is only limited by how much we believe He can do. What we have to learn is to get out of the way and not have our own ideas about how things should go. It seems that "man's" expectation of what we "should" be doing goes against the grain and the world. We are not purposely going against the tradition of "man" just to be rebellious but I feel that the Lord's ways are not understood by most, even a lot of Christians. If it's not done the way they did it or if it doesn't happen the same way it happened for them than we are automatically wrong. The key is to know what God expects from us, not people. Gal. 1:10 says "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." That speaks volumes to me. The scripture says that we are to be a light to the world but unbelievers are afraid of the light and drink up the darkness. So somewhere along the way we are going to ruffle some feathers. In fact some say if you don't your not getting the message out there. People are offended by the Gospal. Who are we to sugar coat it. Anyway I am done preaching...for now.

Well to conclude I am sorry this seemed a little scattered. It is hard to collect your thought and put them all in order and make it sound ok. We love Jesus with all of our hearts and our goal and desire is to serve him whole heartidly. My spelling may not be the greatest as well as punctuation and grammer. I may not have all the answers to all the questions about where money will come from or where we will stay or how we will get around or other similar thoughts. I may not have all my ducks in a row or have it all together. I may not have a college degree. I may not have a lot of what the world says I need to survive. But I serve a God that is Awesome. A God that knows all, sees all, hears all prayers and petitions, and takes better care of our needs than we realize. All He asks of us is to be faithful servants, willing to do what it takes to get the Gospal message to those who need to hear it...which is everyone. Mark 16:15 "And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature."

With Love from the Appledumlpin Gang!!!

P.S. As more information comes our way we will be updating everyone on all that is happening. If for some reason you do not wish to be updated please let us know. Feel free to check out our blog and if you do make sure you check out the link to the right listed Jason Sturtevant in Ukraine.

"I am a Christian"

2009-04-20T22:17:00.001-07:00

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not shouting

I'm clean livin,'

I'm whispering 'I was lost, Now I'm found and

forgiven.'

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this

with pride.

I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong.

I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say.. 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success.

I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect,

My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain...

I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say... 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou,

I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace,

somehow!

AAW Convention

2009-04-07T20:39:00.000-07:00

Well this week was the Arms Around the World Convention our church. We met so many wonderful people with so many prayer requests it's hard to remember them all. Missionaries from Papua New Guinea, Nebraska mission radio, prison ministries, Mexico and so on. But meeting Steve Sturtevant was the highlight for us. His son and daughter-in-law, Jason and Joanna are missionaries in Ukraine. We expressed our thoughts with Steve about our call to Ukraine,our love for the people and he continued to encourage us! This summer Jason is organizing 5 VBS camps! He could use some help!!!LOL And as you all know, we would love to go!!!! Please pray for us, as we pray that we would know God's will in this matter. We would love to go but God would have to make a way!!! Thank you for all your prayer support!!!
-S

Another Open Door

2009-03-26T23:39:00.001-07:00

The other night Jeff used a gift card that he got for his birthday to take me out to dinner. We had no idea where we wanted to go to eat so we just drove to the next exit off the interstate which happened to be Circle Dr. (close to where we used to live) and we found a Macaroni Grill. Neither one of us had ever been so we thought we decided to give it a try. The food was great but is not the best of it. While we were eating the manager came to greet us, we told the server we had never been, anyway she came to greet us and after a couple questions we began to tell her why we were in the Springs all the way from Florida. We told her about Ukraine, and she just could not believe it and went and got our server. Garth is his name and He and his wife Debbie are in the process of adopting 2 Ukrainian girls in May. He was so excited to tell us his story and we couldn't wait to tell him ours!! We stayed a long time talking to him about what God is doing in our lives, and he shared about how God was working things out for his new family, and he also feels a call on their lives for the orphans in Ukraine as well. Jeff and I were so floored!!!! When the girls get here we will be able to let them meet "our" kids. Until then we are setting up a date for Garth and his wife to join us for dinner and we can get to know each other better. It still amazes me how God continues to open doors for us. We are not going out and looking for these opportunities, every time, they have presented themselves to us, we didn't do anything, we just except them and thank God for them.

Typical day in the "AppleDumplin" classroom

2009-03-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

Typical school day. Thought you all would like to see the little ones reading! I cant believe how well they are doing. Tonya does a great job with them in phonics. All the kids are doing great in school. Even Gracie is keeping up with the k-4 class.

Whose Pink Bow!!??

2009-03-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

Well Emilee owns the pink bow, but all the girls like it. So we took pics in front of the fire place each taking a turn with the pink bow!! All the pics turned out great. They all look beautiful as usual.

Pics of the girls

2009-03-26T23:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a couple pics of the girls and Gracie's curly ponytail...Grandma made the matching pj bottoms and the girls loved them...."Thank You Grandma!!!" Our house is full of beautiful girls!!! They are so cute together.

"Power of Your Love"

2009-03-26T22:36:00.000-07:00

Well, this was our latest trip to Nathan and Haylee's house in Castle Rock. We had a lot of fun. Seth and Jeff had a BLAST!!! They got to spend the day doing what they love!!! Its hard to hear it on the video, the drums and guitar were primarily heard through the headphones, but they sounded wonderful!!! We just spent the day singing praise and worship music and recorded that song "Power of Your love". After that we went to the outlet mall and hung out for the rest of the evening. Give us a couple more weeks and we wont have the freedom to be that noisy at their house...cause they'll have a baby!!!! I can't wait!

"What are your thoughts?"

2009-03-04T15:53:00.000-08:00

I read this short poem in a book I'm reading called " A Chance to Die" The life and legacy of Amy Carmichael. When I came across it, I was immediately checked. What have my thoughts been lately? The scripture then came to mind:

"and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your MINDS in Christ Jesus. Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely whatever is of good repute, if there be any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things"

It goes on to say that if we practice these things the peace of God will be with us.

Amy Carmichael wrote:
"Think truly, and thy thoughts shall be
Spotless with God's own purity.
On every thought-bud let us bear
The stamp of truth and love and prayer."

What a reminder to keep your thoughts pure! Your attitude reflects whats in your heart. What's in your heart comes out of your mouth!
-S

Ballet

2009-03-02T16:59:00.000-08:00

Here are some pic of the girls. They decided to do ballet the other day. They were so cute! They had ribbon, buns, crowns, and "Real" ballet music...I think they were official, don't you! We suffered a smack in the eye, crash with the table, a pesky brother, ummm did I forget anything, oh yeah, and mom trying a couple moves of her own....LOL we had a good time.

Oh, Be Careful.....

2009-02-24T15:12:00.000-08:00

Well I know it's been a couple days since I posted anything so I thought I'd have the girls sing you all a song! Seth isn't in it...well you know Seth...not his thing:) I'll have more soon. Love you all
-S

The Transforming Power of Forgiveness

2009-02-24T14:26:00.000-08:00

Here is an article that was given to me and I thought it was great!

The Transforming Power of Forgiveness by: C.S Cowles

In his sprawling novel of the French Revolution, Les Miserables, Victor Hugo spins a remarkable story of forgiveness and its power to transform character. For the crime of stealing bread, Jean Valjean was sentenced to 19 years of hard labor. Upon his released, he wandered four days as a homeless vagrant. Finally, a kindly bishop had mercy on him and took him in. That night, Valjean rummaged through the cupboard of the family silver, stuffed in his sack, and crept off into the darkness.
The next morning, three policemen knocked on the bishop's door with Valjean in cuffs. They caught the felon in flight with the stolen silver, and were ready to send the scoundrel back to prison for life. The bishop exclaimed, "So here you are!I'm delighted to see you. Had you forgotten that I gave you the candlesticks as well? They're silver like the rest, and worth a good 200 francs. Did you forget to take them?"
Jean's eyes widened in disbelief, The police were incredulous. The bishop assured them that Valjean was no thief. "This silver was my gift to him."
After the police left, the bishop gave the candlesticks to his guest, now trembling with gratitude. He felt like a condemned man whose life had just been given back to him."Do not forget,do not ever forget," says the bishop,"that you have promised me to use the money to make yourself an honest man."
The bishop's gift of grace defies every natural instinct and social understanding of justice. He neither demands nor waits for evidence of repentance. He believes that true forgiveness is a "gift" that goes "before"the recipient has done anything to merit it.
Jean Valjeans's granite heart melted. He became a changed man, and devoted the rest of his life to helping others. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;the old has gone, the new has come!"(2 Corinthians 5:17)

Cripple Creek

2009-02-16T16:52:00.000-08:00

Well for Valentines Day we all went to Divide and spent to night with some friends. The next day we took a couple vehicles to Cripple Creek and they had Ice Fest 2009 and it was all ice sculptures! It was pretty cool. They had a maze made of ice and a huge castle. We had a good time even though it was FREEEEEZIN'!!!!:) It was a neat little town. We also drove up to a place called Victor, there is a lot of gold mines up there but because of weather the roads were blocked off. We were sad that we couldn't get all the way up there to see all the trucks and stuff but it was still a pretty cool drive(if you like narrow, twisty, make you want to throw up, is there any oxygen left in the air,kinda roads:) We had a good time but we were VERY tired when we finally got home. I've been told that the elevation really wears you out and you have to make sure you drink a lot of water or you will feel sick. Well if anyone is ever in the area I would recommend you take the drive up there. It is beautiful!!

Shelby's Art !!!

2009-02-16T16:15:00.000-08:00

Munchkin is a pretty fat cat! Here is a couple of pics. love you all!

"My show starts in 5..and I can't find my nose!!!"

2009-02-12T17:16:00.000-08:00

LOL This is great! Shelby found an old costume that Grandma made and she still go it on! She is so funny.

Grandma's handy work!!!!

2009-02-09T18:17:00.000-08:00

Mom made Gracie's pj's and the skirt that Tonya is wearing! Great job mom. We love them.

Check this out!!!

2009-02-08T17:33:00.001-08:00

Now look up laminin!!!WOW

2009-02-08T17:11:00.000-08:00

AHHHH!!!!!

2009-02-08T09:23:00.000-08:00

I am so sick of everyone being sick!!!!! LOL. Lets see in the past week, Jeff D, Jeffrey, Shelby, Gracie, Seth, Emilee, me and Jeff have all been sick. With all different kinds sicknesses, from strep throat, cold, fever, acid reflux, to flu like symptoms! yeah!! Sounds like fun doesn't it. For the most part, the Duddek's are pretty much getting better, and my girls are feeling better, now it is Jeff and Seth, both with sore throats and fever. We will all be ok soon I'm sure, but until then... well I will try to get on later on today and post something more interesting. love you all, Steph

She's READING!!!!!

2009-02-03T10:42:00.000-08:00

WOW!! Shelby read her first words today in phonics! She read "nut" and "bat "!!!!!! Can you believe she is only in K-4 and next year when she starts kKindergarten she will be reading already! That is so amazing! Jeffrey and Gracie read as well. Gracie knows her blends pretty well.. she is not as quick as Jeffrey and Shelby but she can identify and say the sounds of letters separate and together in blends(ex: "ba" and "nu") then they add the last consonant and they have their first words! Amazing! Anyway. I thought you would all like to know.

Seth's B'day at the Hunts

2009-02-02T15:02:00.000-08:00

After church Wednsday night pastor Hunt and his wife invited us over for some cake for Seth's birthday. Seth loved his gift!! We are going to bring it back to the church next Sunday and try to see deer on the hill in front of the house. We always see big deer there and now Seth can get a close up!

" Looptie Loopin' "

2009-02-02T14:15:00.000-08:00

Well, there ya go...Shelby is looptie lopin....:)

2009-01-29T21:51:00.000-08:00

Not really sure how long Seth has been saving his money for now, but he finally saved enough to buy his BB Gun! Jeff(and Steve) took Seth tonight to go get. He has had his eye on it for a while He cant wait to go out and shoot it. Its a little difficult for him to pump it on his own, they looked at pistols and ones that didn't have to be pumped but this is the one he really liked, so he'll have to build some muscles!!!:)

Everyone needs an orphan...or 7 or 8!!!

2009-01-28T12:49:00.000-08:00

This summer we were introduced to several Ukrainian orphans that were adopted into families here in the springs. This particular Friday we had Russian missionaries, and a Ukrainian couple and their daughter over as well. We felt like the minority!!!It WAS GREAT!!!! We have 5 girls and 3 boys. We love having them over, and they seem to like to be here for the most part.

Since this pic was taken we have met ANOTHER Ukrainian/Russian couple. Dema is from Ukraine and Enna is from Russia. So God is placing all kinds of connections with Eastern Europe. He is Good! We had our first Russian lessons last night, and will continue them on Tues and Thurs...

Night out with the family!

2009-01-27T21:35:00.000-08:00

This Christmas we got some extra cash and we decided to use it to go to Denver, have dinner, go caroling and skating afterwards! It was worth it. As you can see we all had smiles on our faces! We took a hayride to do the caroling. It was cold. I think we all need some practice on the skates!!!

SNEG!! (SNOW)

2009-01-27T21:01:00.000-08:00

SNOW! SNOW! SNOW!

So here is the story...a couple days earlier we had snow,and the Duddek kids were unable to play in it, it was only about an inch if that and after Seth went out and trampled it all......well Jeff D felt bad for his kids. So he prayed a simple little prayer for 11 INCHES of snow! For the kids sake of course, and the next day we were snowed in with 11 inches!!!! We were so amazed. Even during the "snowed in Sunday morining", the weather forcast for the day was only calling for an inch,maybe. The clouds were suposed to pass right by, well those clouds hovered over our side of the Springs ALL DAY!! That night it was still snowing when we went to go sledding!!!! In one of these pics you can see Shelby on all fours...licking the snow.....I wonder where she learned to eat the snow..??...

LOL I thought that was FUNNY!!!

Christmas at Tonya Sicklers House

2009-01-27T20:42:00.000-08:00

Well this year for Christmas, a friend of ours that we met at church did a suprise Christmas for us, and we were suprised! She got us all kinds of things, both the Duddek family as well as us. We love her to pieces. She is always involved in what we are doing, our Friday nights, and things like that. Thank you Tonya Sickler for loving us! We love you!

Girls will be girls!

2009-01-26T21:25:00.000-08:00

The girls being girls

Classroom

2009-01-26T21:12:00.000-08:00

This is our classroom. It all seems to be working great. Sorry about the crooked pics. I cant figure out how to rotate them. Emilee is in 4th grade, Seth in 2nd, Shelby and Jeffrey in K-4 and Gracie tags along with the fun stuff. She is picking up alot. She is doing Phonics and numbers with the K-4s. She must have her daddy's brain:) anyway. Thought you'd like to see it

2009-01-26T21:03:00.000-08:00

Gracie turned 3!!!! Oct 28th. Happy Birthday Gracie-Ann

Green Noses!?!

2009-01-26T20:55:00.000-08:00

In order for you to understand what this pic is all about youll have to watch Punchinello "If I Only Had A Green Nose"

Baking Day with Mrs.Tonya

2009-01-26T20:44:00.000-08:00

Tonya had the 3 little kids help her bake cupcakes! I dont remember what they were for..I dont think it really mattered! They enjoyed making them AND eating them :)

2009-01-26T17:08:00.000-08:00

This past October my mom flew into Denver on her way to Utah to visit my Aunt Jeri. The kids and I went with her. While there we were able to help Jeri(as much as she would let us get away with helping her) and we were able to see family we havent seen in years! We had a great time. The kids LOVED Jordan and Michelle and Daxon. We recieved 11" of snow while visiting and I had so many pictures to choose from! We had a great time. We miss everyone there. We are still praying for Aunt Jeri's hip and so far things look good.

2009-01-26T16:56:00.000-08:00

This past fall we attended a baptism about 1 hour away from our house in the Springs. I dont remember what the town was called but it was very COUNTRY!!! We loved it. The kids chased the chickens and watched the 2 bulls they had outback, and if I remember correctly they even had a couple goats! It was great! Anyway, here is a pic of Emilee and Shelby holding chickens.

St.Louis

2009-01-26T15:46:00.000-08:00

This summer we drove home for a visit. On the way back to Colorado we stopped in St Louis at the Arch!! We had so much fun. Not only did we get to go in it, we spent some time in the musuem and learned about some American history. The kids (and Jeff) got a great summer Florida tan before having to come back to Colorado!!!!