Bethany's Doings

Bethany has learned how to color. Unfortunately, she hasn’t learned on what to color on. We give her a piece of paper and she thinks that walls and furniture are OK to draw on. (That is marker and it is not coming off the wall - it will have to be painted - one of 4 places.)She has also learned that she can take her clothes totally off and take her clothes out of her dresser when she gets mad. She will go to her bedroom by herself when she is mad, close the door and proceed to take out all of her clothes. She has done this at least three times now. She also wants to help Jody with her scrap booking. She also wants to help straighten out all the rubber bands in the drawer. She has no fear of heights as evidenced by climbing up the bars of the windows and climbing onto the air hockey table. She picked up a frog and brought it to Jody and she has pointed out and picked up bugs off of the wall. She is, however, afraid of the vacuum cleaner. She is a mess, but we would not trade her for the world. I guess all parents think that their children are the cutest, but I think Bethany is in the running!!!

Happy Father's Day

(This is a picture of my first fish and there in the other picture is Autotuner1 and Inca_runner6.)

A happy Father’s Day to the fathers. This blog has opened up a conversation that I have not been apart of for many years. If you have taken time to read the posted comments you will find that 2 of my brothers have dominated the comment section. Their initial comment may be about my blog, but then they get off on a ‘conversation’ of their own bringing up anything from our growing up to serve as ammunition. I am sure that I have thought about this before, but when thinking about my brothers and sister, I still think we are those 5 children and teenagers going on vacation, loading up in a station wagon, pulling a tent camper, driving through the night just waiting for dad to find the perfect camping spot. It always appeared that dad could find the ‘post card’ camping spots. I remember one place we pulled off the road, down an embankment, and camped right beside a picturesque running stream. I remember this place because this is where I caught my first fish – it was about a 9 inch Rainbow Trout. There was another place in Wyoming that we were camping and my brother Doug and I went hiking up the mountain. We got above the road and we started throwing good-sized rocks down on the road. Upon impact, they would ‘explode.’ I don’t know why, but the highway police frowned upon that activity. They ‘apprehended’ us and took us back to our parents – now having a record on file in the state of Wyoming. I wonder if there is a statue of limitations or we still have a record.

It has been about 3 years since my dad died. Even though the last years of our lives were not spent together, there was still a closeness and connection whenever we talked or saw each other. Spending the last couple years of his life in bed, he was either playing Nintendo or watching sports. I would call and get his take on the upcoming football season or what was happening in hockey. He always kept up with the Canadian Football League. I would have loved to have called him this morning and ask him about the hockey game last night. The Edmonton Oilers won game six of the Stanley Cup playoffs to force game 7. Not being able to watch it over here, I would have loved to hear what he would have said. Some of my best memories with dad was when I was growing up playing hockey. I always liked it when dad would lace up and tie my skates – he always got them so tight. After the hockey games, we’d get into his big oil company ‘testing’ truck. He would leave the engine idling with the heater on – it felt so good to get into the warm truck. It always smelled like petroleum.
I quickly learned that whenever we as a family would go to the store or the mall that it was best to stay around dad. Dad loved ice cream. If there was a place to buy ice cream, we’d end up there. As I start to think about it, we did a lot of things and went a lot of places. We traveled to both Disneyland and Disneyworld. I think we visited every theme park that we came into contact with. Dad liked rollercoasters. I remember riding my first roller coaster with Dad – it was in California. Several times we traveled from Canada down to Los Angeles to see family and friends. We were at Disneyland on July 4th, 1976. Those were some fireworks. On our way home, we would travel back home up through Oregon and Washington State stopping and picking fruit at the orchards.
I guess as time passes, the good memories get better and the bad ones fade. It seems the older I get, the better my childhood and life gets. God is good and He has blessed me incredibly. Thank you, God, for my father. Happy Father’s Day.

Josiah’s Soccer

One of the benefits of Josiah’s school is all the activities that he is involved with. In the year and a half that he has attended, he has played field hockey, cricket, soccer, swimming, and is taking piano lessons. He did play tennis for a little while, but we would have to pay for lessons if you wanted to continue. He came home saying that golf lessons were being offered twice a week from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. We had to turn him down. He already stays after school for these activities 4 out of the 5 school day.
These pictures are from his soccer game today. They played another area school and lost the match 2-0. He did a great job and is becoming quite the athlete. He had an unofficial race with Andy (running home from church) and he won. He likes being faster than Andy. I knew it would just be a matter of time.
Josiah continues to enjoy school and to be with his friends. He’s had some friends over to the house the last 2 Friday’s after school. He is still a very low maintenance child. It’s hard to believe that he is in the third grade. I think my favorite quote about him – it relates to his loving personality – is when Caleb was just a baby and Jody said, “Josiah! Don’t lick the baby!”

To see more of his school, go to www.issa.co.za .

Thank You Southern Baptists

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--It’s a new record that’s reaffirming an old commitment. $137,939,677.59 -- that’s what Southern Baptists gave to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions in 2005, making it the single most successful year in the offering’s history. The $137.9 million marks a 3.03 percent increase over 2004’s $133.9 million Lottie Moon offering, not to mention a 1.28 percent gain over the old record set in 2003 -– $136.2 million. More than 5,100 International Mission Board missionaries depend on the annual offering, of which every penny is used to support their work sharing the Gospel around the world.
"This historic level of giving will enable us to send an increasing number of God-called missionary candidates moving toward appointment," IMB President Jerry Rankin said. "It will enable us to push forward in fulfilling the vision of bringing all peoples to saving faith in Jesus Christ. At a time of economic uncertainty, and a year in which massive amounts of funding have been directed toward hurricane relief and recovery, it is gratifying to see God prove His faithfulness through Southern Baptists."
Clyde Meador, IMB executive vice president, echoed Rankin’s sentiments and acknowledged the critical role of the Woman’s Missionary Union in the offering’s success. "The IMB wouldn’t be able to do any of this without the faithful support of our state and national Woman’s Missionary Union partners," Meador said. "Long ago, WMU laid the foundation for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering because they understood the eternal significance of sharing Christ with a lost world. "Today, they remain committed to international missions as they promote the Lottie Moon offering on a grassroots level to more than 42,000 Southern Baptist churches."
"We are grateful that Southern Baptists continue to give sacrificially to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering as evidenced in the record offering totals for 2005," said Wanda Lee, executive director/treasurer of national WMU. "In partnership with state WMU offices, WMU leaders in churches and the International Mission Board, it is a joy to see our churches embrace the Great Commission."
Johnson Ferry Baptist Church in Marietta, Ga., took the No. 1 spot on the list of 2005’s top 100 giving churches, adding $656,951.44 to the Lottie Moon offering. Among the top 100 churches, Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Boone, N.C., gave the most per capita. With 827 members, the church contributed an average of $243.74 per member, totaling more than $201,000 –- a record high of its own. Allan Blume, Mount Vernon senior pastor, said he isn’t surprised by his congregation’s missions-motivated giving. The church has sent more than a dozen missionaries overseas through the IMB during the past decade, in addition to taking part in numerous short-term, volunteer mission trips. "This is really not out of the ordinary," Blume said. "Without a doubt I would say there is more than a heart for missions among the people of Mount Vernon –- there is a passion for missions. And that passion is driven by the biblical values of the Great Commission and the urgency of sharing Christ with people of every tongue, tribe and nation."
Billy Hoffman, IMB director of development, said giving is a fundamental way for churches to encourage their congregations’ active involvement in missions. "We must never forget the vital role we all have in sending missionaries to unreached people," Hoffman said. "Every level of giving through Southern Baptist churches to send short-term and career personnel represents a ‘mutual fund’ investment in God’s kingdom enterprise that will surely yield eternal benefits."
CHANGED LIVES
While $137.9 million is an impressive figure, Rankin believes the numbers that matter most reflect changed lives. It’s important to remember that Lottie Moon isn’t about money, he said, but about the world’s 3.7 billion people with little or no access to the Gospel. "Southern Baptists are impacting the world in tremendous ways," Rankin said. "In 2005, your giving has resulted in 137 newly engaged people groups. You have directly supported thousands of missionaries as they and our overseas partners baptized more than 459,000 new believers and started some 17,000 new churches. "What a privilege it has been to serve you and your church as we take the good news of Jesus Christ to peoples who have never had access to the Gospel. God has truly blessed our joint efforts."
DONOR FATIGUE
The record-breaking offering put to rest reports in the secular press over so-called "donor fatigue," which many feared would limit Lottie Moon funding. In fact, the opposite has proven to be true for Southern Baptists, said David Steverson, the IMB’s vice president of finance. "Just six short months ago, almost every major newspaper was running articles about how Americans were experiencing a new phenomena they were referring to as ‘donor fatigue,’" Steverson said. "People had given to tsunami relief, Hurricane Katrina and Rita relief, and earthquake relief. Southern Baptists led the charge in supporting all of these causes in a tremendous way. "Now, unlike many other organizations, Southern Baptists have shown with this record Lottie Moon Christmas Offering where their hearts and their checkbooks really are –- in missions! They are being on mission with God to see that all the peoples of the world have an opportunity to hear about Jesus Christ. We are grateful to God for Southern Baptists and their generous spirit in supporting missions around the world." Donor fatigue wasn’t the only concern for the Lottie Moon offering in 2005. Rankin noted Southern Baptists also had to look past a series of distractions. "A great deal of attention has been focused on the IMB over the last year -– controversial policies and dissension within the board of trustees –- but Southern Baptists have looked beyond these issues to realize we are about sending and supporting missionaries to reach a lost world," Rankin said. "Nothing reflects the heart of Southern Baptist churches for our mission task as giving to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering."
HUMBLE PAST
The significance of the new Lottie Moon landmark gift is put into perspective when compared to the offering’s humble past. The first Lottie Moon Christmas Offering was taken in 1888 and collected $3,315.26 –- enough to send three Baptist missionaries to China. By today’s standards, however, that amount is only enough to support a missionary for one month. To date, $2.6 billion has been given over the offering’s 117-year history. As for its future, Rankin believes the record offering in 2005 is evidence of genuine progress toward completing the Great Commission, though much work remains to be done.
"Our goal last year was $150 million and it’s going to be again in 2006," Rankin said. "But that’s not some magic number –- it’s simply a measure of our momentum. Yes, meeting the $150 million mark will allow us to move more candidates through the appointment process and take the Gospel to new unreached people groups. But in reality, it’s going to take a lot more to reach every corner of this lost world for Christ. To do that, the Lord must teach us the true meaning of sacrifice.
"Thank you for your faithful giving. Truly it will touch many lives as we strive to accomplish the goal of all peoples knowing Him, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

To learn more about the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions,
visit www.ime.imb.org

June Update

This picture was taken on Mother’s Day a couple of weeks ago. It is hard to believe that there will be another little girl in the photo next year. Jody had an appointment and the doctor did a scan and it looks like another little girl. It’s hard to imagine what the house will be like with some more little feet running around. The Lord has truly blessed our family. In the almost 2 ½ years here in Africa, none of us has been seriously sick with even a cold or flu. I did not ever imagine that I would be the father of 5 children. Jody and I realized that for 10 years we had house of full of boys. There will be a time after Caleb leaves the house, at 25, that I will be a minority with 3 girls in the house. The Lord is faithful.

It seems like a long time since we have talked. To be honest, there is not a whole lot to talk about. For the last 2 months, I have not been involved in a lot of activity. With Jody having morning sickness all day long, an Easter stay in the hospital, being involved with the volunteers with AMTM, and having a strained back, my activities have been very limited. For about 7 weeks, Jody could not step foot into the kitchen, however, she needed to eat every 2 hours. That meant that I could not leave for any extended amount of time, and I had to find something for her to eat. She really wasn’t hungry, didn’t really want to eat, and she could not tell me what she wanted. Try and figure that one out! I am still perplexed. It also meant that Bethany was under my supervision. Jody was able to do some things, but she was very limited in her activities. After AMTM, we enjoyed Jody’s parents at our house for a couple of days. I spent 4 nights on the couch. This did something to my back and I am just now getting comfortable with sitting on a chair.I have preached a couple of times in those weeks and am in the planning stages now of some conferences and seminars in the next couple of months. We are still working in Unit 15 (a subdivision of over 1000 homes) on trying to find a house to start a Bible study. Several meetings have been planned, but have been cancelled. I am working with Ben Poo of United Baptist in getting a building built. They asked me to be on the building committee. I reluctantly agreed saying that I really did not know anything much about building a building. I am preaching the next 2 Sundays at Mmabatho Baptist Church. I continue to meet with Calvary Baptist Church working through Purpose Driven material. They really want to find out who they are and what God wants them to do and be about.

Well, hello! I want to say first of all that I am so thankful for all the prayers that have been offered up on my behalf by all of you. I definitely felt them! I’m feeling much better these days, and am actually excited about having another girl. I can’t believe I’m going to have two daughters. After having three boys (who I love dearly), I begged God for the one I have! I never dreamed He would give me another!
The work in the village is still going strong. We meet on Friday mornings to do our Bible stories. They have to sing some too. It’s just not a “church” meeting without a few songs! Lorato and I were asked last week to visit a sick family member of one of our ladies. We found out later that the family had been trying to find us for three weeks! The woman who is sick has just had a baby a couple of months ago. When we walked into the house, I felt like I was looking at Ricki all over again. It was very sad. This woman wanted us to pray for her. Lorato told her we could not just pray for her, but that we also had to share with her what we have. We shared the gospel with her, and she said she received. I pray that her decision was genuine. Only God and she can know that. Please pray for her and her family. We went back last Sunday, and shared the gospel with the woman’s mother, sister, aunt, and cousin. They all prayed the sinner’s prayer before we left. Discipleship is such a key issue. These people honestly don’t know what the Bible says about so many things. The Bible stories that we tell are such a basic discipleship, but we have to start somewhere! Please continue to pray for us as we go, and pray for the Moshawane (mo-shah-wah-nay) village. We love you!

-- Blessings --

Mini May Update

(Bethany will show you her bellybutton; Andy's birthday was May 11th and Duane and Tammy gave him a skateboard; and she likes to laugh; she has bed head; Andy bought a scooter with some birthday money and Josiah's friend Tegan came over with 2 scooters.)

I certainly don’t where the time has gone, but the middle of May has come and gone. April is all but a blur. I think we spent more days out of the house than we did in the house. We were in Jo-burg for several days with the volunteer team, Jody’s parents, and a couple of doctors appointments before and after the team was here.

Jody is definitely doing better – having not cooked anything in the last 7 weeks. She cooked chicken and dumplings and biscuits on Sunday. Cooking of Mother’s Day – can you believe it? Actually, we had some people over and that is what she wanted. I could have done it, but I am not too sure of the biscuits. Mine are not as good as hers. I just haven’t had the practice it.

Jody did take her parents out to the village where she has been storying. After they were finished, they gave away some of the clothes that Oakland Heights Baptist Church sent along with the volunteers who helped in our annual training meeting.

I am now getting back into my regular scheduled activities having been sidelined with Jody’s condition (morning sickness all day long), AMTM, and my back difficulty. While Jody’s parents were here, I slept on the couch. As a result, my back went out. So much so that when we took them to the airport, I could not get out of the car. I hardly made it to the car. Who said I didn’t love my mother-in-law? I really have not been on the computer for the last month because of all of our activities and my back. I could hardly sit down.

The kids are doing well. School is back in session. That makes our life a little easier!!! Bethany is growing, changing, and talking more every day. She does not like to keep her clothes on. After her bath, we’ll get her pajamas on and within 10 minutes she will have everything off – sometimes even her diaper. It is becoming winter here, without central heat – so it gets rather cool in the house. I would say that the inside of the house has not been over 70 degrees for the last 3 weeks. We do have space heaters, so we will survive!!!

Thanks again for your remembrance of us. Your prayers enable us to continue to do our work over here.

AMTM 2006

This last week we went to Tshipise, South Africa, for our Annual Missionary Training Meeting. As part of the meeting, a volunteer group from Oakland Heights Baptist Church in Longview, Texas, came to provide ministry and activities for our children and youth. This is Jody’s dad’s church. While we were in meetings all day, the volunteers did VBS material with the children and youth. We are so thankful for this team that gave of their time to invest in the lives of our children. The missionaries that grew up on the field are so thankful for groups like this because they remember when they were children the incredible times the volunteers provided for them. Part of our meeting time was worship and Bible study in the morning and some in the evening. Matt Roberson did an incredible joy leading worship with all age groups. Tom Roberson did an equally incredible job sharing with the Word and applying it through very transparent, personal application.

After the meeting, we and the volunteers drove to Pilanesburg National Park and spent the night. We all took part in a night game drive and some followed that up with a drive in the early morning as the sun was rising. At night, we saw the last half of a leopard walking into high grass. We were able to see his head look up a couple times. We also experienced a dominant bull elephant stare us down, take a charge at us, and then leave. The morning group got to see a male and female lion at about 25 feet in the grass. The pictures are incredible – unfortunately I was not a part of that morning drive. Matt, Josiah, Andy, and I spent the night in a safari tent. The temperature outside the tent was about 45 degrees and the temperature inside the tent was about 46 degrees – but that is a part of camping, I guess.

Jody’s parents came home with us for a couple of days while the rest of the team returned to Johannesburg to fly to Capetown for a couple of day. Matt flew back home.

(The pictures are Caleb in a Baobob Tree, a picture of the team at Pilanesburg, the boys and Matt in front of our tent, the children's program at AMTM and the elephant that wasn't to happy.)

What a Day!!

(The Journey-girls that had my camera took these pictures. They thought they would be funny and give me a self portrait

- I think it's pretty funny - Their picture is on the World Wide Web.)

Saturday, April 15, 2006, did not start out as any regular Saturday. This was the day that I was to preach three times at the Baptist Union of South Africa’s annual Easter Conference in Tweelaagte, South Africa. I woke up at 5:00 am to get ready to leave at 5:45 am. I had two Journeyman (actually 2 college-graduate girls) that would be riding with me. We also had to pick up 2 other girls (daughters of a man that was already at the conference) on the way. We traveled about 2 and a half hours to get to the conference. What I haven’t told you is that the afternoon and all evening before Jody had been ‘tossing her cookies.’ So I was concerned about leaving her all day. To help her prepare for the day, I peeled and grated a potato for Andy to make hash browns for her. Andy has been making his own hash browns for the last couple of weeks. I also prepared the eggs to be scrambled in the morning. I showed Andy what to do to help his mother out. My usual routine is to make Jody and scrambled egg and a piece of toast before she gets out of bed. Then, in about an hour, I make her some hash browns – somewhere in between she will eat a bowl of Rice Krispies.
As we are traveling, I get a text message and then a phone call from Jody telling me that the electricity has gone out and she hasn’t eaten. I tell her to call the Beighle’s – other IMB missionaries 3 doors down – and ask them if their electricity is off. It was. So, Dale Beighle climbs into their attic to retrieve a propane stove and they come over and cook Jody’s breakfast. Jody takes about 3 bites and then quickly deposits that into the toilet. She had not been able to keep anything down. Jody then calls our mission’s medical department for advice. The short of it – go to the hospital.
As all this is happening, I am preaching my first of three scheduled sermons for the day. With about 7 minutes left in my first sermon, Jody tries to call me 4 times. I have my phone in my pocket on vibrate – so I knew something was up, and I knew I was almost finished, so I waited until I was able to sit down. By that time, Jody had text messaged me saying that she was on the way to the hospital. I let the people know of the situation and told them that I must leave. I make in back to Mmabatho by 1:00 p.m. I go to the hospital and she really isn’t any better. She was still nauseated and very uncomfortable. They were able to give her an injection for the nausea and she finally was able to sleep. When I came back at 6:00 p.m. she had already finished her supper and asked me to go get her a burger and fries. I did, she ate half of it and then went back to sleep. She felt good and told me to go home. A couple of hours previous, she said I was staying at the hospital all night with her. Through this time, the Beighles watched the boys and Bethany for us. They have become like grandparents to the b and B. I think that they enjoy it since they miss their grandchildren in the States. It will be a sad day when they retire next year after 32 years in Africa.
So, tomorrow is Easter and I will be going to the hospital in the morning to see when I can bring her home. Jody has saved an Easter dress for Bethany for about a year – it doesn’t look promising?! On Monday, we will leave for Johannesburg to pick up Jody’s dad, my mother-in-law, and the missions volunteer team. On Tuesday, we will travel 6 hours north to Tshipise to have our annual mission meeting. I would ask that you pray for Jody – that God would simply take her morning sickness away. We certainly don’t see the big picture, don’t know why this is happening. That would be our desire – if not, then wisdom to understand what God is trying to teach us.

April Update

From Dennis - Greetings in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Lord is so incredibly good to us – certainly beyond what we deserve. The love of God for us is never-changing and ever-constant. We have just completed our 2nd year of service as your International Mission Board missionaries. It has been a long and quick journey these last 24 months. We have lived in three different houses, two different countries and we look to move again in a year and a half. We had a baby girl in Gaborone, Botswana, tried to learn a new language, and have had three different dogs. We were told that, as missionaries, we needed to be flexible. I think we are doing pretty well.
This last month has kind of been routine in the things that I have been doing. I continue to teach at Mmabatho Baptist Church on Wednesday nights. This will continue for another two weeks. They have received that teaching extremely well. Unfortunately, the numbers are not what I would like, but I don’t think preachers are ever content with numbers. We always want more.
I have been meeting with Ben Poo. He is another pastor that I have been working with. This last month, he and his wife had another child. I did not know about it until someone else told me. In fact, I talked with him after the fact, and he still did not tell me. In this culture, pregnancy and birth are not talked about. One pastor’s wife was dropped off at the hospital by her husband and he went back home and went to sleep. I asked him when he was going to pick her up and he said when she called. Culture is a little bit different here.
It has been a month of hellos and good-byes. We said good-bye to a ‘Masters’ couple on our team. K.F. and Wanda Plemmons went home to Oklahoma at the beginning of the month. They were both at least 73 and were working with the children and youth teaching them about HIV/AIDS. They put together a team of nationals that continues their work. We also said hello to Hayley Crews and Lyndee Jo. They are with the Journeyman Program. They will be working with Andrew Murray in Taung (place of the Lion). They will be doing HIV (He is Victorious) teaching in the schools – life skills about sex and HIV/AIDS. This Andrew Murray is the great-grand nephew of the author Andrew Murray. It has been neat to get to know him and his wife, Ronel. They have a daughter and a son – Andrew Murray VI.
I would ask that you would pray for me on the next two Saturdays. I am teaching all day for Calvary Baptist Church. I will be leading them through Purpose Driven material. I started last March with them through this process. The following Saturday, I am preaching 3 times at the ‘Associational Rally’ in Tweelaagte – don’t even try to say it!!! I am preaching on the topic: “Restoring the Integrity of the Church.”


From Jody - Hello everyone! Well, I guess I want to tell you that the work in the village is continuing, and we continue to have more and more come to our meetings on Fridays. Last week, there were 10 adults, 12 youth and 20 children! I was trying to bake cookies every week to take for a treat, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to continue if the numbers keep growing like they are! God is so awesome!
AND NOW FOR THE BIG SHOCKER… WE ARE GOING TO HAVE ANOTHER BABY!
I’m about 8 weeks along. The baby will be due around the 10th of November. This is obviously completely unexpected. I didn’t think I would have any more, but here we are again! Please pray for me. The “morning” sickness has come with a vengeance, and I am so tired of it already! I’ve also had to deal with some depression because I really wasn’t expecting to be pregnant. I’ve been to see some doctors already, and have been taking medicine for the nausea, but it doesn’t make it go away. It’s always there, just below the surface, and then hits with a crash at various times of the day. So, that’s my life, how’s yours? I just really want to be able to take care of my family, and my house, and I also want to keep going to the village to teach. I really need your prayers during this time. I’m so glad that my parents, my brother, and the people from OHBC will be here in a couple of weeks. I know it will be a great time, and I’m hoping to feel better when they arrive.
We love all of you very much, and thank you so much for your prayers over these last two years. We couldn’t have done it without you!

Caleb's Birthday

Caleb turned 6 on Friday, March 24th. It was his 3rd birthday here in Africa. He seemed to enjoy the day and the day following – that was his party. The day started early as he opened his presents from us right after he woke up. We also told him that he had 250 Rand (about $40) from various grandparents, SS classes, and other churches. He was excited about that as he knew that we would be going to ToysRus in Johannesburg in a couple of days. Jody took cup cakes to his school for his classmates and teachers.
On Saturday, 2 missionary families from Gaborone, Botswana, came for his party. Also, a friend of the family came with one of their sons. As you can see in the pictures, we were able to rent a jumping-castle. It was supposed to be at the house by 9:00 am, but when we awoke it was cloudy and it had rained. The castle was here by 10:00 am and they didn’t get off until late in the afternoon. Needless to say, they all had a good time. It was also a good time for the adults to visit and catch up on the last three months.