Hello Love!

I am so behind in sharing what all has been going on... and my weird obsession with trying to stay in chronological order is going to have to be disrupted. So, even though I have other fun posts that happened weeks ago, I am choosing to post about this first. Bare with me folks!!

Well, a SUPER AWESOME and TOTALLY PRECIOUS friend of mine (KaTiE) signed me up on a local radio's website for free tickets to a CHRIS TOMLIN boutique concert this past Thursday night. Obviously, from the photo's... I WON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was so cool! The guy from the radio station called me a couple of weeks ago to let me know I won and I seriously thought it was a gag until I finally figured out who signed me up!

Anyway, when I figure out that Katie signed me up, I invited her to go with me. Sadly, she was unable to so my mom was my date for the evening! It was a blast!

There were only 300 guests and Chris only brought 2 other members of his band. It was very intimate and we had the opportunity to hear the stories behind many of his songs and the privilege of hearing many songs from his new album "Hello Love" that comes out in early September. On top of that, we were each given a copy of the new CD which Chris later signed when I was able to meet him at the end of the concert! EXHIBIT A:

I have to say that Chris is easily one of my favorite Christian artists and writers. He is so talented and such a blessing to use his talents to help others. This concert was a fund raiser for the local homeless mission, John 3:16. ALL of the proceeds from the concert were donated to John 3:16 by Chris. They raised over $8,000!!

What a once-in-a-lifetime experience!! THANK YOU, KATIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WORD!!!!

*A few of you might recognize this song... we sang it at church in the sanctuary last week!! LOVE IT!!*

Goodbye, Zachary...

On Friday, we received a call that a friend of Zachary's family was approved to care for him until his mom is able to bring him home.

It is a bittersweet time. We knew this would happen at some point, I guess we just thought Zachary would be with us longer than 3 weeks. In any case, this is our ministry. We are here to impact a child's life in a positive way whether it is for a week or a year.

We couldn't have asked for a sweeter first foster child. Zachary was an angel. Yes, we had to work on some things... and sleeping was not his favorite activity, but what a great first experience for us all. I hope he feels the same way.

We should find out on Tuesday who our next placement will be. As always, I will keep you all updated...

Because I have made this blog private, I feel comfortable sharing a couple of photos including Zachary. Most of you have met him at church, so you already are familiar with him...

Love you Zachary...

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James 1:27

Your Invitation...

Well, if you are reading this then you have discovered that I am taking steps to make my blog more private. Now that we have a foster child in care and safety concerns and considerations, I just wanted to be more careful.

I hope this extra measure of security will not keep any of you from checking in regularly to see what is going on in our crazy little lives!

I will be posting soon on our fun trips to the farm and to Grand Lake.

Also, you might have noticed that my post on "Zachary's New Home" has been taken down. In a panic, I removed it. If you were not able to read it and the neat God-incidence we encountered, please let me know in the comments and I will see if I can re-post it or paraphrase it for you!

Blessings to you all and thank you again for all your love and support!
B

Gatesway Balloon Festival

A couple of weeks ago we had the opportunity to attend the Gatesway Balloon Festival in Claremore again. Curt is on the board of Gatesway so we scored the VIP pass which was priceless because it gave us access to AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!! And on those two days, air conditioning was a MUST!

Holding a VIP pass not only gets you the sweet accouterments such as AC and grub, but you're also expected to help out a bit... mostly that means volunteering to be balloon crew. Not that big of a deal, we find it super fun and most balloonists are super-nice and like kids... bonus!

We all woke up before dawn to drive to Claremore Saturday and Sunday mornings to help crew. The kids loved it and Curt and I are big enough dorks that we are already talking of someday buying a balloon and trailer! Seriously folks...

We were fortunate enough to crew for a sweet couple from Kansas. They had a beautiful 3 passenger balloon named "Prairie Sunset". You can see why...

There are many fun things to do at balloon festivals as a balloon pilot. There are competitions each day such as target competitions where each balloonist takes off from a chosen location and flies over a target where they have to fly close enough to the ground to drop a small sandbag as close to the bulls eye as possible. Another competition is the "Hare and Hound" where a chosen balloon is launched and flies an unknown course while all the other balloons have to follow and the one who chases and finds the "hare" balloon first, wins.

There were lots of other activities to take part in at the festival... There was a killer car show, (I *heart* cars!) arts and crafts and believe it or not, a Mr. and Mrs. Balloonfest pageant.

I wish I could tell you that we were able to avoid that pageant like the plague... not so much. Not my daughter, but my *SON* ASKED to be in the pageant when they were on stage calling for contestants. Oh my, that was interesting!

He got 1st Runner-Up, he did! ~*Proud parents we were!!*~

You like how he is all decked out in his t-shirt and athletic shorts... yeah, we were not thinking "Pageant Contestant" when we were dressing to help with the balloon at 5 in the morning!!

They even gave Lg the 2nd Runner-Up gift because only 2 girls entered the contest!!

Ahhh, my two beauty contestants...

Finally, I will leave you with some pic's Curt took while on his balloon ride. Can't wait for Curt to get his pilots license so we can do this whenever we want!!!!

Who wants a ride???