~Happy 52nd Anniversary Daddy and Moma!!!~

~Wow! How WONDERFUL it is when a couple is faithful to God and to each other for 52 years! (SADLY that's nearly unheard-of in these days!) Daddy and Moma have been/are an inspiration to us their children...on how to be happily married until death due us part!! 

Congratulations, Daddy and Moma, on 52 wonderful years.  I know that y'all probably would not say that you've had a "perfect marriage" (Whatever that is =) but you have both been selfless, willing to say you are sorry, and making the daily decision to stay in LOVE!! 
Thank you for still being VERY MUCH IN LOVE after all of these years. 
Thank you, Daddy for loving Moma and treating her like a queen!  I love it that you still want "your girlfriend" to sit on your lap! =) Thank you for being a worker, and even helping Moma around the house, especially now. 
I always knew (and still do) that I can talk to you about ANYTHING and you'll take the time to listen, pray with me, even cry with me.  I LOVE IT that we can still call home when we need prayer and you pray and cry with us over the phone!!!
All of us are SADDER THAN SAD....BLUER THAN BLUE about Moma's light stroke, but you have gone up in our estimation (and you were already at the TOP =) on how you have been so graciously helping Moma during this difficult time for both of you!! 
As a kid I never went around saying to my friends, "My Daddy can beat up your Daddy....but I might could have said, "My Daddy can "out-pray" your Daddy." =D 
THANK YOU, DADDY, for being a caring man of God....you are the BEST Daddy...and I'd "choose you" all over again.  =)

Thank you, Moma, for always believing in Daddy.  Thank you for never being a grouch around our home, and for always respecting and honoring Daddy with your words and actions.  I love it that you still flirt with Daddy.  (I'm sure that Laura's Daryl, and my Phillip want to THANK YOU for teaching Laura and I how to keep our marriage alive and HAPPY! =)
Thank you for always keeping our home such a pleasant place...filled with Victorian decor and yummy smells coming from your kitchen. 
We never knew that we had MARTHA STEWART for a Mommy, we just knew that our Moma could do ANYTHING!!!  Sew beautifully, make delicious breads, pies, cakes, etc.  Thank you for being patient and teaching Laura and I to do those things.  I still haven't arrived...I want to be JUST LIKE YOU when I "grow up!" =)
You never complained...even though y'all have had to live on a MEAGER salary.  You always made every parsonage ADORABLE, even though they might not have been that way before you arrived.  =)
If there ever were a modern day PROVERBS 31 woman....YOU ARE HER!
Right now, you are going through a very hard time, and change is NEVER easy to experience.  But, you are being a trooper and we value you more today than we ever have...and we've ALWAYS thought you were the BEST Moma in the WORLD!

Daddy and Moma, WE LOVE YOU BOTH TONS!!!!  We wish you a VERY HAPPY DAY!!!  Wish we could be with you.  We are praying for y'all and can't wait to see you as soon as we can!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Our family would appreciate prayer. 
Today will be a BUSY Lord's day as Phillip preaches twice and we sing, and we help with a pot-luck dinner as well. 
Then tomorrow morning at 4:00 A.M., Lord willing, we plan to leave Dad and Mom ;-( and the AZ that we LOVE,  and drive home as FAST as we can (while pulling a trailer) so that we can go camping with Daryl and Laura and their family for the 4th! 
So, have a WONDERFUL Fourth of July, Y'all!!  =)
 

~Our long lost camera...and LOVIN' being in AZ!~

~When we got to AZ we got a package containing our long-lost camera that our friend Anthony found and mailed to us.
The picture below was the last picture on our camera.  Goofy Anthony took this picture of his "surprised happy face" after finding our camera and learning that after it had skidded across the pavement, and had sat in the rain....it still worked!!!  =) =) =)
THANKS TONS Anthony for getting our beloved camera back to us.~

~I just got this sign at a consignment shop.  It's so true....
~Too Blessed to be Stressed!~
We are so Blessed, that we shouldn't ever be stressed.  I wish I could say that I'm never stressed, but that wouldn't be telling the whole truth.  =)
I do want Jesus to help me focus on and count my blessings more.

~Between visiting with Dad and Mom and our AZ friends, we also have been doing things to try to help Dad and Mom around the house, and other items of business while here in AZ.
Last week we renewed 4 of our kid's passports, and got our trailer to haul our things back to Ohio. 
Our little Mary eating breakfast at Grandpa and Grandma's house.~

~Grandpa and Mary.  It took a little time for Mary to warm up to Grandpa and Grandma since she was a TINY baby last time she saw them, and obviously didn't remember them.  But, she's huggin' and loving them now. =) ~

~There's this cactus outside their house that only gets blooms once a year and then that blossom only opens ONE NIGHT and then falls off.~

~Here's the blossom.~

~Kimberly asked Grandpa if he could PLEASE take her driving in his van.  She was thrilled that he said, "YES!"  (Of course, Kimberly is Grandpa's FIRST Grandchild...so she pretty much has him wrapped around her finger. =) ~

~"Our men" sitting in the swing in the back yard.  Grandpa has made their back yard look like a fun resort.  It's a green little haven in the midst of the desert.  It's so relaxing and fun to be back there.~

~Mary on the fun horsey that Grandpa put in for his grandkids.
Mary got new flip flops and she LOVES THEM.  She calls them her "Flops!"~

~Then we ran to the mall to see my friend Julianna and her family.
Mary got to play with a new friend!  She normally is shy when meeting people, but this time, she shocked me by throwing her arm around her new friend's shoulder.  =) ~

~Kimberly holding Bryan and Julianna's cute little Elliot.~

~Mary and Grayson~

~I was HAPPY that it worked out for me to get with my dear friend Julianna, and her family!~

~We have enjoyed making fun cups of coffee and using Grandma's fancy cups.~

~Mary even asked for her own cup of coffee. =) ~

~Silly Elijah and Mary.~

~Phillip and the kids helped Grandpa pull down a tree using Grandpa's truck.~

~And the kids (E and M are in their swim clothes...Mary cracked me up with her boots on too =) helped clean up from the tree mess by picking up sticks and sweeping...which Mary calls "weeping."~

~And our kids have been "suffering" in this AZ heat....by SWIMMING non-stop in Grandpa and Grandma's pool!!  =) ~

~Grandpa LOVES his Mary and Mary LOVES her Grandpa.~

~We went to Yummy Sweet Tomatoes restaurant together last Friday night.~

~Elijah waiting to eat his tall ice cream/baby cone.~

~Sarah and I coordinated so we had to take a picture before we left Sweet Tomatoes.~

~Here we are having family devotions.~

~Kimberly helping Grandpa make Saturday morning breakfast.~

~Grandpa is sending the rocky horse back to Ohio, so here the guys are trying to get the concrete off the bottom of the horse so we can pack it in our trailer.
Both Noah and Elijah wanted to take a turn using the sledge hammer.~

~Then we went through all our boxes and things we left with Dad and Mom back in 2004 when Jesus called us to be missionaries.  It was fun seeing our things again.~

~Noah helping Phillip load our trailer with our things.  Phillip teasingly said that we "bought the cart before the horse"...since we now own a trailer, but no vehicle. =)  Thankfully our DEAR church let us borrow their van so we could pull a trailer back from AZ to OH with our things.~

~Mary and Sarah on Sunday.~

~Fixin' to eat Skyline chili for Sunday dinner!~

~Dad and Mom are HAPPY that one of the grocery stores here in AZ has started selling cans of Skyline chili. (That grocery store is connected to Kroger.) ~

~Dear Pastor and Mrs. Goodwin, pastor of our Gospel Center Church.~

~On Sunday Phillip went to David Spivey's church to fill in for him while he was gone to camp.
On Sunday morning 4 of our children and I went with Phillip to David Spivey's church.  But Kimberly went to our Gospel Center with Grandpa to play the piano for their service.
Then Sunday night our kids and I went back to Gospel Center with Dad, and Phillip went and preached alone.   I hated to send him alone, but I didn't want to miss anymore services at our own church, and Phillip understood.
Here are some of our children sitting with Grandpa during church Sunday night.~

~Camelback mountain in Phoenix.  We love all the rugged mountains surrounding this fun city where we spent 5 wonderful years.~

  We have one more week to be in AZ and with Dad and Mom.   We have LOTS to get done during this week.  We're are also trying to E.N.J.O.Y. all of these special moments we are having with Dad and Mom!
 

~Phillip's Father's Day~

I'm so sad that I didn't get a Father's Day post on here for Phillip, Daddy, and Phillip's Dad.
I got so busy being with Dad and Mom and enjoying our time here in AZ, plus we had our missionary service on Sunday...so that I COMPLETELY forgot to do a Father's Day post.
I don't have space here to brag on Phillip, Daddy, and Dad D....but I'll tell y'all that they are the BEST in the world!! =) I'll love these 3 very SPECIAL MEN...forevah!!! =)
So, here's LOTS of pics from our time so far here in Phoenix and from our Father's Day Sunday.
~We got to Dad and Mom's house on Wednesday night, June 12th.  We are SO HAPPY to be with them!!  Here are Mom, Kimberly, Sarah, and I that first night.~

~Phillip is so happy to be with His DEAR Dad.~

~Dad in his shop.~

~Sunday morning in church at our Beloved Gospel Center church.  This is the church where my Phillip grew up in, and where Phillip pastored for 5 years before we went to the mission field.~

~The men sang a special that morning.~

 ~The Pastor and wife gave out nice Father's day gifts...a nice tie for all of the men.~

 

 ~Our Good friend Bro. Frank Holladay and Phillip.~

 

 ~Then we went home.  Here is Elijah with Dad and Phillip's Father's Day gifts.~

 ~Elijah brought in these pretty flowers from Grandma's yard.  So, I threw them in this little bottle for our "centerpiece."~

 

~Getting ready for our YUMMY Sunday dinner!!~

 

~Eating Sunday dinner.~

 ~Phillip opening his Father's Day gifts.~

 

 ~We gave Phillip a nice little marble cheese holder with a glass lid ('cause he loves to eat cheese room-temp), a King-sized Hershey Bar, and this neat handmade pen made by our friend Levi in Rapid City.  You can go here to see more. ~

 ~Noah and Elijah are driving their "RACE CARS" made out of boxes from Dad D's gifts.~

 

 ~Our kids are very happy to be with our Doggy, Bridget, who Grandpa and Grandma have kept for us all these years.  

When God called us to be missionaries our Kimberly was only 6.  One day she told me, "Mommy, God didn't call me to be a missionary, I'm going stay here with Bridget and Grandma."  =D

~Dad and Phillip and our children.~

~DEAR Dad and Mom and Phillip and I.~

~Mom, the kids and I.~

~Mom and the girls and I.  (If you look closely you can see Dad and Phillip's reflection taking our picture in the window. =) ~

~Dad opening his Father's day gifts.~

~Our mission service was that night.~

~My sweet friend Angie gave me a fun gift... and LOTS of her Coke things that I can't wait to use in our house!!!
(THANK YOU BUNCHES, ANGIE!  Love ya!)
[Please pray for Angie, she has had some very serious physical issues recently.]

~My good friend Janet took this picture of our family and Dad and Mom.  (We MISS YOU Michael, Beth, and family!!!!)~

~My sweet friend Sharron and I.  She used to attend our church when Phillip pastored here and did all kinds of sweet things for us.~

~My sweet friends...L to R: Angie, Heather, Roseanna, and Janet.~

~Janet and I.~

~Angie's girls and my girls.~

~And here they are visiting outside of the church.~

~Phillip visiting with his good friend David Spivey.~

~Janet let Mary sit on her lap and drive her car...just like she did Kimberly and Sarah YEARS ago. =)~

~And Elijah got a turn too.~

~We are really enjoying being "Home" and seeing DEAR family and Friends here in AZ!!~