Fall Days are here

Fall days are here and they are beautiful! Even though the cold weather is not my cup or tea, I can't help but feel the coziness of being with my husband on a chilly day, playing catch with crunchy grass underneath me, and looking out at the lake with the remaining green framing the blue water. Here's to a beautiful first fall as a married couple! Thanks God for such a beautiful season!

Please Pray for

ZAO KIDS

Please pray for us as we launch the first ministry out of FBC of storm lake.

We advertised by passing our fliers, announcing it on the local radio stations, putting up signs and posters all over the town.

Through word of mouth and word of the newspapers.

We will introduce the gospel by living a life of Christ.

We will introduce the children of storm lake to the Joys of faith in Christ...

through an afterschool program, not a Bible club.

Not a church group, or another kind of Sunday School.

But through real living, and real people, whose LIVES reflect the Love of Christ. Please Pray for the children of storm lake...who have no idea what Jesus did for them.

Fall in our home

Found out this weekend how much my husband likes candles:)

We went shopping in Sioux City and I found him in the home decorations at Kohls.

He was smelling all the fall scents and gave me a big grin.

We went home with Pumpkin Spice, Harvest Apple, Roasted Chestnut, Carmalize Pecan, Sugar cookies, and Vanilla candles:)

He is so stinkin cute.

Coach Ryan

First agenda of launching a new ministry in town...

Get involved with the community to get our faces familiarized in town.

therefore...soccer with 3rd and 4th graders!!!:)

the birth of pralines in the midwest..

pralines are one of my favorite southern treats...thought i'd bring it to the midwest...first time trying pralines-it was fun!

watch the birth of pralines from this big ole pot of goo!

it was totally drippy and perfectly sugary...the crystals that you could crunch on were perfect.

they took a long time to dry, but here they are...beautiful beautiful, southern treats!!!

sooo perfect and sweet.

all wrapped up individually. i made like 24 of them! more than half are already eaten.

keep a lookout! might end up in a mailbox near you!

a REAL country fair...er, i mean, County fair....

after a fun time at the soccer fields with Ryan's 3rd and 4th grade team, we headed out to the Clay County fair, at the recommendation of one of the kids' mom. it was my first real country fair, and wow, was it interesting. i felt like i was in a country midwestern movie, with kids all over the place in cowboy hats and boots, and cattle walking around like it was their own little downtown chicago!

this fair had everything that Babe the movie would have had in it...or charlotte's web:

rides, people, and lots of food.

i got a giant pickle, and i found my my husband's favorite fair treat is taffy!

there were lots of little places to shop, it looked like a little market place...and then there were the barns to look at all the animals for sale and for show...it smelled like awful, like i'd fallen into a hole of poop...i held my nose for half of the way in-and then noticed people snickering around me as i tip toed my way around all the "mud" puddles.

there were old cars that Ryan loved.

weirdly enough, they put these little costumes on the animals...i think it makes them look spooky...and not cute whatsoever.

there were fluffy animals everywhere...i even caught some farmers vacuuming their cows!

and of course giant Tonka toys that Ryan went all googoo gah-gah over:) turns out these were the kinds of machinery he worked with in high school:)

there were animals with funky hairdos (i told them they needed to sue the person who did their hair...) and of course, Wilbur sat happily in his pen, snorting away! My bacon breakfast the next day did not look as appealing as it used to.

oh and check it out...people like to walk their COWS here in the midwest!

haha, well, here you all are, a look into what goes on in the midwest...just a bit of all i'm getting used to here!:)

Prayer Request: ZAO KIDS

ZAO KIDS

"a divine life from God for kids"

MISSION STATEMENT:

Zao Kids will exist to nurture children mentally, spiritually, and physically as they grow in Storm Lake, Iowa. Through homework help and tutoring, physical outdoor activites, nourishing snacks, and spiritual enriching, Zao kids will contribute to the healthy upbringing of boys and girls.

VISION STATEMENT:

Zao Kids is an afterschool program that nurtures children’s mental, spiritual, and physical needs through tutoring and homework help, guidance from lessons taught from the Word of God, and games and activities that support active lifestyles. This ministry will assist parents in raising children in a way that will support their children in a positive way. As a result, to bring kids to the knowledge and understanding and need for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

please pray for us as this ministry is launched on September 29th, 2009.

For mom: to show you our new fluffy comfy bed!!!

soooo soft and comfy...pillow top, and so high up!:) we're in love with the bed!

Keeping busy with...

Learning guitar, to enhance our ministry here with the students...

entertaining guests...this is alan and elaine mitchell:) our iowa grandparents.

and making stuff from scratch! currently, my new favorite to make are candies! here are the little candy caramels that i made today:)

and this is the finished product! lookout, they might end up in a mailbox near you!

a day in smallville...

on a lovely afternoon, Ryan and I drove out to Audubon to drove out to see my family's good friends, the Cerrillos. We knew them back in South Carolina and then lived in North Carolina at the same time, and they were the youth directors of our church. now they live in a tiny town of Audubon, where there are only like two thousand people! It reminded me of Smallville:) We went to see Ryan, sophomore in highschool, as he played in his first game. It was lots of fun, and Mr. Lou treated us to some Fareway brats:)

heres Stephen, Paul, and Mr. Lou and Ms. Sue

Luis and his buddies...and stephen:)

Ryan's kicking off!!

played a great game, and they won too!

we spent the rest of the evening with them over at their house, and it was such a refreshment to be with them. I left so encouraged and motivated by them:)

Check out Stephen's sweet little jersey...

Oh and Here's a pic of MY new guitar, given to me from Mr. Lou!!! I'm so excited to learn to play guitar! Isn't it so pretty?

Lake Okoboji

for date night (mondays are our date night), ryan took me on an all afternoon surprise adventure. He took me to Lake Okoboji! it is like the vacation sot around these areas. It was so cute and they had a little amausement park with unlimited rides. we really enjoyed the rollercoaster and totally got our money's worth on it..as small as it was, it was surprisingly a blast. a little wooden rollercoaster that actually made us both feel sick after our fourth time on it!

they have a marina that you can rent boats and jet skis and other water stuff:)

we had such a great time, and had such a nice day trip out there. my hubby totally knows what I like!:)