~A few days at HOME! =) ~

Jesus has been giving us a great deputation (and we still have about a month left)...but we always LOVE IT when we get to be home for a few hours.
Especially now since I have our things we left stored in AZ...I'm wanting to PLAY HOUSE rather than ride in the van. =) 
And earlier I had told y'all that when one becomes a missionary they have to give up A lot!  
Well, I'm here to BRAG on my Jesus!  He's given basically everything back to us and maybe MORE! =)
~One of the things I'm so HAPPY to have back from our things in AZ is my antique sewing machine cabinet...for which our Uncle Mark made a granite table top.~

 ~Here's a colander of fresh strawberries sitting on it.~

~Earlier I had shown y'all a picture of our new-to-us china cabinet with my WHITE dishes in it.  Now I have our fruit china in it...so that meant I needed a place for all of my white dishes.  While going down the road I have LOTS of time to THINK!!  =)  So, one of those times Jesus helped me think of....~

~Using one of our book cases for my white dishes!  (and the bottom of this shelf has 2 doors for  storing other dishes. =) ~

~Our downstairs is FAR from finished. And for some reason (s) (Deputation, Deputation, Deputation =)...it's not really a priority with us right now. =)
So, I decided that even in the midst of wires and a dryer vent, etc. I could still decorate some to help my heart.
My sweetheart helped me hang a "clothes line" and I hung some of the kids tiny clothes to help "take your eyes away from" some of the wires, vent, etc. =)
I did a mixture of my Coca Cola things, and laundry things.
My friend Angie from AZ just shared some of her FUN Coca Cola things with me too. =)
(Yes, you are seeing right.  Jesus (and a friend and one of our supporters) have BLESSED ME with 2 washers!!~

~Click on picture to enlarge.~

~I hung the "Laundry sign" on the line with burlap strips. =)
I'm loving our laundry room's "Cracker Barrel Look".~

 ~And while we were in MO a friend gave me this fun old fan.
I love it setting on our "3 antique suitcases end table" in our living room. =)~

 ~Shortly after I got here...My sweet friend Connie from our church gave me this old window with the wreathe on it.  I LOVE IT!!!...and hung it in our entry way.~ 

 ~The colors of the wreathe don't really show up that well, but they match our new rug in our living room that Mrs. Joan bought for us before we came home. =) ~

 ~I then REALLY wanted a bench to put below the window.  

Jesus must have heard that desire....for someone gave me this fun OLD bench when we were in PA in April. =) ~

 

 ~Our entry way.  =) ~

We've been having fun at home for 3 days.  Now we leave again today for more services.
Thank you for your prayers as we travel. 

~Sight-seeing in AZ...before we got to see Grandpa and Grandma!~

(You can click on a lot of this pictures in this post and they'll get bigger! I'm traveling down the road while blogging, so please pardon any mistakes. =)
~We got to Dad and Mom D's house on Wednesday night, June 12th. So, here's some pics that happened on the Monday, Tuesday, and WednesDAY before we got to their house in Phoenix! Driving in New Mexico...heading to meet some dear friends..Seth and Melodie Yates. ~

~ Melodie attended GBS with us years ago.~

~They had a service that night, so we just had a few minutes to meet at a park and be together...the first time we'd seen each other in YEARS!  Melodie packed a very yummy picnic and we had a fun time being together!  They are missionaries there in New Mexico.  It was an encouraging time.  We prayed together, ate together, laughed together, cried together...while sharing our missionary stories with each other.~

~Then they rushed off to their service, and we...~

rushed off toward ARIZONA!!!  You should have heard the excitement in our van when we saw the AZ sign!!!
Phillip, Sarah, and Noah all were born in AZ, and Kimberly moved there when she was 18 months, so we all LOVE AZ! ~

~We spent the night in Flagstaff, AZ that night.  We have TONS of FUN memories from Flagstaff, for that is where we would go for a quick "vacation" when we lived in Phoenix.~

~The next morning on Tuesday, we ate at a local "Ma and Pa" type restaurant called, "The Place!"  We had eaten there years ago with my parents, and enjoyed doing it again.  We forgot that they have HUGE portions...and should have SHARED plates.  =) ~

~Look at MARY'S plate FULL of food....there was No WAY she could eat it all. Hash browns fill the complete right side of the plate, eggs in the middle, 2 pancakes, and 2 pieces of bacon.~

~'Scuze the blurry pic, didn't realize that this was the only pic we got at "The Place!"~

~And then we headed to the GRAND Canyon!  We really enjoyed the pretty scenery on the way!~

~There's few things more interesting to see than the Grand Canyon!~

~Our Sarah...becoming a young lady...whether we are ready for it or not!  =) ~

~Our Kimberly!~

~Kimberly and her violin at the Grand Canyon! ~

~During this deputation tour, God and a couple other people provided Kimberly a new...lots-nicer- than-she-had...violin!!  =)
I liked this picture that Kimberly took of her new violin....and the Canyon!~

~Us inside the old lodge there.~

~On Wednesday we headed down the mountain toward another one of our favorite places...beautitful red rocked Sedona, AZ.~

~It's hard to tell in this picture, but on the rock to your left is a stone formation that everyone calls "Lucy" and lying down below is a rock formation that looks like snoopy laying down. ("Snoopy's" big nose sticking up on the left and his feet sticking up on the right.) ~

~And we found "Cowgirl Sarah" and "Cowboy Noah"....and....

"Cowgirl Mary" and "cowboy Elijah" while in Sedona.  =) ~

~The girls and I in Sedona, wearing our matching Grand Canyon t-shirts.~

~Noah and Elijah in their cowboy hats. ~

~And it was a rather WARM day so we treated our kids to some ice cream.~

~In Down-town Sedona there was a statue of this couple on this wagon wheel and printed on the wagon wheel was this neat saying.
 "Marriage is a journey of Love...where two set out and arrive as one!"~

~Daddy and 2 of his sweet daughters. =) ~

~Then we snapped a few more beautiful pics

~We were singing and laughing and HAPPY as we went toward Grandpa and Grandma's house in Phoenix.  We should have been singing," Over the mountains and through the CACTUS to Grandmother's house we go!!"  =D ~

~Fun Pics Phillip took at the Sunset Rest Area on the way down. ~

~The mountain near Grandpa and Grandma's house!  We were ALMOST there!  =)  There was such HAPPINESS when we got there!  Such huggin' and lovin' like you've not seen in awhile.  =)  We had a WONDERFUL 18 days together!!!  Such FUN memories!  We LOVE our Grandpa and Grandma bunches!!!  and were so THANKFUL Jesus let us spend some days with them.  =)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 
Now, we're driving down the road, having just had a service and some WONDERFUL days with our DEAR Ponchatoula, LA people!
We hope to get to sleep in our own beds tomorrow night, before heading out on Sunday for another service. =)
Thank you for your prayers.