Family pictures from Joplin trip

These are pictures of our family at Joplin last week. Starting out I want to apologize for not getting a good picture of my wonderful mother. I started to take her picture once and she said, "Wait until Sunday. My hair is messed up." Sunday turned out too busy and I forgot. This picture is representative of the love and nurture my parents put into our visit. They were always in the kitchen making us good things to eat.

Quil and Grandma Janet

Grandma Janet and Micah

Grandma Janet and Micah

Grandpa Rowen and Micah

Grandpa Rowen and Micah

Randy

Quil helping with the mowing.

Quil in Uncle Tim's hat

Micah in Uncle Tim's hat

Micah in his carseat

Joy and Quil

Jeffrey visiting with Josh Anderson about their work trips. Josh went to Dominican Republic last summer and Jeffrey went to Haiti this summer. Josh is living with Tim and Brenda this year, working for ABE Painting, and helping with the kids' stuff.

Tim and Micah. The picture on the wall is Mother and Daddy.

Tim and Brenda

Tim and Brenda

Brenda actually had a moment to relax!

Jeffrey holding Micah at the program

Jason holding Micah

Emily with her hands full of nephews!

Beth and Micah

Beth, Micah, and Quil

Jason, Emily and Quil, Micah

My daddy, Rex Scoles

My sister, Brenda Owens and Quil

My niece, Rebekah, and Quil

My nephew, Andrew and Micah

30th High School Reunion

One reason for going to Joplin in July was my high school reunion. I can't believe it's already been 30 years! That's how all old people talk, I suppose. :)
On July 18, some of our class met at Shifferdecker Park. It was a bring your own picnic, or just show up and visit casual type of affair. It was very interesting to visit with these 'old' friends! :) When we thought everybody who was coming had arrived, we took this group picture. Of course, right after that two more of the class showed up!
Pictured below from left to right:
Duane Farmer, James Severin, Sally Jamison, Martha Walker, Gay Cragin, Debbie Wolf, Carlyss Bybee, Debbie Johnson, Gary Brewer, Marie Conlin, me, Kent Thelen, Marci Mueller, Ann Haughawout, Jimmy Mitchell

Marci, Debbie, Sally, Marie, Gay

Gay, Sally, Marie, Debbie, me, Ann, Debbie

In the evening, we went to Butcher Block Banquet Center for the evening meal. It was sure yummy! The following pictures were taken there. There were a lot more of my classmates there, as well as from Parkwood (our rival school when I was growing up), but I was too busy talking to get many pictures...
Christi Lowe and her husband, Jody Wells

Wes Dodson and his wife, Tracey

Marci, Ann, Gay, me, and Cyndi Watts

Ann and Kent Thelen, Paul and Cyndi Smith

Laura Doner and Marci Everson

Marci came all the way from Alaska for the event. It was so good to see her again. At the 20 year reunion, we had a table with the Thelens, Smiths, and Marci; we managed to do that again, adding in Laura, who was so fun to visit with after so many years!
Here is the professional picture of all of our class that was there.

VBS at Joplin

One reason we went to Joplin for 10 days was to help with the VBS there. On Monday, July 13, the ones who were available met at the church to get everything set up for VBS starting that night. The VBS had a Pioneer--Oregon Trail theme. On the back walls were the point chart and the map to Oregon. We put covered wagons on the point chart with each child's name and moved them up to the top as they gained points by saying the memory verse each evening.

We had "wanted" posters on the side walls of the church to put pictures of each child who came and the stickers they received for being there, bringing a friend, and bringing a Bible. We started with 41 children on Monday evening. By the end of the week, there were over 85 wanted posters on the walls. The largest attendance was Wednesday night with 70 kids. Even on Friday night, we got 5 or 6 new attendees.

Randy painted this background in his shop on painting tarps. Rowen, Jeffrey, and Jason built the frame work for it. My dad helped make the wagon and our kids painted it.

Brenda is giving a talk on Tuesday evening to the 3-10 year olds, right before Tim tells them the Oregon trail installment. The lady helpers wore prairie skirts and bonnets, and the guys wore bandanas and cowboy hats.

Brenda is taking roll.

Tim was a great story teller. Joy told the story for the youth (age 11 and above).
Joy wrote the story and it ended on a cliff hanger every night! I never got to hear Joy but she is a very dramatic story teller, as well.

Some of the children had a hard time showing attentiveness. (understatement of the year!)

Joy going over the memory verse with the youth in the basement chapel. When Tim was finished with the story, the 6-10 year olds went down to the basement and the youth came upstairs for their story. The 3-5 year olds went to the Sunday School room with me for their memory time and a Bible Story.

Some people are in the line for getting their prizes; others are having another drink of kool-aid.

Randy and Tim discussing the plan for taking the kids home on church bus and van.

Before snack time every evening was organized play. The kids were divided into their age groups, so the littler ones would not get hurt. We were playing "Doggie, doggie, who has your bone?" here.

I never heard the little girl standing up say a word all week. Her brother interpreted all her silences for the rest of us.

Here we are playing "Duck, duck, goose". Beth and Jeffrey helped me a lot with my group. We had from 7 to 21 in our class!

The middle group playing volleyball.

The youth had their own playing field.

On Friday, the project for the day was filling water balloons-1000 of them-for the picnic activities the next day. My sister, Brenda Owens, and her family were visiting Joplin, so we had Rebekah and Andrew helping us fill the water balloons.



We didn't get any pictures of the water balloon toss or the water balloon fights on Saturday, because Jason participated and didn't want his camera to get wet. Rowen and I were not at the church on Saturday because of my high school reunion activities. So these are pictures of the picnic on Saturday.





The following are pictures of the program on Sunday evening. Below is Tim and Brenda's 6-10 age class either singing or saying their verses.

Randy speaking to the group. There were at least 13 family members, and about 40 of the children who came.

The "wanted" posters on this side of the church were for the 11 and up group.

The "wanted" posters on this side of the church were for the 3-10 year olds. Not all of them are showing as they filled this side of the church. Brenda was talking to the group.

We were very glad we were able to be there this particular week to help our family with the VBS. Those kids were a big handful, and needed "all hands on deck, ur, prairie schooner!"
I have not been around so many needy children at once; some of them have no concept of attentiveness or respect. They are there for the free candy and maybe to see if they can cause trouble. We tried our best to show them God's love.
We thank the Lord for the gospel seed that was sown in their lives. We pray it will bring forth much fruit. At least one young fellow was asking very interested and probing questions about getting right with God and making right choices.

Jason drowned four live worms!

Last night, for the fourth time this summer, some of our family went fishing at our local reservoir. The setting sun was just great for this silhouette scene. Neither Jason or Emily caught anything, and I only caught one 5" pumpkin seed sunfish, which I tossed back. Oh well, it was beautiful evening to sit by the lake in northern Colorado!

Bitter / Sweet Independence Day

One of the first things that I did this morning, was what many "red-blooded" Americans have done for generations; I put our family flag in its holder on the front of our house. As I did it, I wondered again why I was doing it, what it really means to me, and what it might mean to others as they drive by our house.

Does it indicate to observers that I am firmly in support of our current federal government, and all that they are standing for and supporting? I certainly hope not!

Does it mean that I want to identify with things like they used to be, say on the original Independence Day? Well, I think so...

Could it mean that I wish to elevate the importance of the U.S.A. above all other countries and peoples on earth? NO! I have too many close relatives living in, and serving the people of countries around the world to ever have that thought...

Is the God of the Bible ever pleased when His people show allegiance to an earthly kingdom, perhaps more, or at least more visibly, than they do to Him? Oh, Lord help us!

Soon after installing the flag, I went and retrieved the morning newspaper from the driveway. In it was a Hobby Lobby full-page ad, which they are famous for on significant holidays. Please click HERE to read it, if you haven't seen it in your local paper. It inspires many "God and Country" thoughts and feelings that I have always held dear....

Later I checked email, and found that a relative had written a letter this very morning, about his observations this week, where he is in the troubled Central American country of Honduras. Here is an excerpt:

"Here is what is happening here right now. The Honduran Congress, Supreme Court, the armed forces and the majority of the people were not in favor of the leftist trend that the president was taking here. Hugo Chavez from Venezuela had helped put this president, Zelaya, in power and he is trying to keep him in this position. Zelaya was trying to change the constitution, Chavez style, so that he could stay in power. The people of this country did not want this style of dictatorship nor a leftist government. This problem, along with 17 other issues, caused the Congress and the Supreme Court to ask Zelaya to step down as president. This would be like an impeachment in the States. However, Zelaya would not step down, so the Court asked the Army to arrest him and get him out which according to the Constitution here was legal and the proper procedure.
Well, Fidel Castro, Chavez, Ortega, and the other leftist presidents didn’t like this, so they started making a big issue out of it. The president of the United States, President Obama and Hillary Clinton, decided to go with the communist leaders and that has made the situation worse. Obama would not receive nor listen to a delegation from the present government that wanted to explain the situation to them. Instead they gave this government 72 hours to allow the ex-president back in the country and turn the government over to him again! Why would Obama and Hillary side in with Castro, Chavez, Ortega, and the other leftist presidents to try to force a leftist government back on the country of Honduras? As a true American and a loyal defender of American liberties and democracy, I feel that we have been betrayed! The newspaper yesterday said that there were more then 25,000 people who are ready to surround the airport to keep the ex-president out! What has Obama done? He is demanding that Zelaya be reinstated as president of Honduras! The street news yesterday was that the U.S. might allow the ex-president to fly back into Honduras through the large military base just outside of Tegucigalpa! What are we coming to? What has happened to American thinking? The majority of the Honduran people are pro-American and do not want Castro, Ortega, nor Chavez communism to rule their country? Is this their right? Now some of the people here who used to be backers of Obama are seeing another side of him and are turning against him and the U.S.A. politics! Can we blame them? What a sorry situation and what a disgrace for America! Yesterday, as we were driving out here to San Luis to try to get away from the political mess that Obama has helped to create, we passed the large military base that the U.S. has in this country. It made me sick to think that Col. Oliver North used to work out of this base to try to help fight communism, but now our President Obama is thinking of using it to help reinstate communism in this country that doesn’t want it! Do you see why I am upset? Can you understand why I, as an American, loyal to our country, feels betrayed? Yes, I know that there are some riots in this country caused by those who want the ex-president back in power, but guess what? The leaders of these street riots are being captured and do you know where they are from? You will not find this out in the US news, but the truth of the matter is that the leaders that are being caught are from Cuba and Nicaragua! This is what Obama and Hillary are backing up! Honduras does not want this! As a committed American I do not want this! May God have mercy on America and wake her up is my prayer! Americans, on this Fourth of July, please stand up for our country, for our democracy, and for the freedom that we want and for which so many of our good men and women have died!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY FROM A TRUE AMERICAN THAT FEELS HE HAS BEEN BETRAYED BY OUR OWN COUNTRY! - Anonymous from Honduras July 4, 2009"

(Post by Rowen)