Parker Family

After returning from camp Kyle's family came to hang out with us for a week. Mike, Valinda, Kevin, and Emily (Kevin's girlfriend) came up first & we went to Chicago for a few days. I LOVE Chicago...it is never enough time there! Then, on the 4th we came back to meet David, Misty, and Ryan (Kyle's uncle, aunt, and cousin) to celebrate & hang out a few days! They are all wonderful and we had such a great time!

It was hard for me to narrow the pictures down since we did so much! So, here's a glimpse at what we did:
The boys waiting for the train:

Chicago-style deep dish...the BEST pizza...

Cubs vs. Brewers....awesome, exciting game! (a little hard on a Cardinals fan!)

Eatin' at Eds! (very sarcastic place....)


The famous "Silver Bean"...super cool!

Our reflection in the bean:

One of the awesome views from the Hancock building:

Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier..sad day, it wasn't running when we were there!


Our hotel was close to the firework show they did on the 3rd & 4th so Valinda & I walked down...this is as far as we made it! The street was packed!


Once we got back we headed over to the arch in St Louis to watch fireworks on the 4th. Valinda is INSANE and bought us all this lovely gear! :)


Played some golf...even me...it was scary!


Em & I went to Union Station...very cool place! Google the "whispering arch"

St Louis has a great, free zoo...so we went there! This is my "appropriate" picture of the rhinos (the other one being them mating...that's a special experience to witness)

The monkey took that stick and tried to beat us through the glass.

Our last hoorah was the City Museum in St Louis. I've heard tons of great things but this was my first time to go. It was AWESOME!! Basically a huge warehouse and all this junk has been donated. You can climb through and explore...it is GREAT for kids and "big kids"! Definitely a must if you are ever in the area!!!


Part of the 7 story slide inside the cave area and the huge organ:

The rooftop. Yes, that bus is hanging over the edge!

Ryan driving the bus!

Some views of all the stuff you can climb through outside:



Kyle & Kevin having some brotherly fun!

Emily climbing through a tunnel

About to slide down one of the many slides

What day is it??

Oh. my. goodness. Is it seriously July 21st?!?! Where has summer gone?!?! It has been a total whirlwind and flown by! Vegas, almost Texas, Florida, Chicago, family time, Texas, weddings, more family time! It has been a lot of fun. I am definitely learning some good, tough lessons about being more of a "Mary" instead of a "Martha".

Tons of pictures to come!!

Youth camp was awesome. I think our kids were impacted tremendously and I'm excited to see what happens in Driven youth in the upcoming year. The theme was "TIME" and it had a huge impact on my life as well. (I'm sure I'll be blogging more about that later) Below are some pictures. And you can go to Driven Youth Blog to read more about stuff from camp and see many more pictures!!





The view from our room:

The stage was awesome!

BigStuf Camp 2009

Here is a highlight video from camp that I stole from bob's blog.

ESPY Awards

My friend, Jeremy Campbell, that I previously blogged about after he won the gold medal & set the world record in the Pentathlon at the Paralympics has been nominated for an ESPY award! Please help him out by going and voting for him!!

(For you Tulians, Jeremy is the son of Gregg Campbell - Kay Sturgess' brother & Nancy Hamilton's son)

Go to:
http://www.espys.tv

Click "Vote Now"
Click "Register". Create an account. (you have to do this to vote...it's free)
Once created, click "vote now" again.

Scroll down to "Best Male Athlete with a Disability" and click on his picture. (the first one) Then click "Vote"

You can vote for all the other categories too!

Youth Camp

We are in Panama City, Florida having an awesome time at youth camp! Check out the youth blog for updates and pictures.

http://lpyouth.blogspot.com


I've got lots of other stuff to talk about but I've been so impressed with BigStuf camps. I am sold on them! I feel like they are so much in line with the church planting mentality and everything that LifePoint is about. Their entire structure and programming fits us perfectly!

This is just one tiny thing that is in line with what LifePoint is about, but they emphasize global impact to the kids. Yesterday we heard from the Daraja Choir and I cannot even begin to tell you how the effected our students. Go check out the blog so you can see some of the student responses!!!

Vegas & Missouri

My first two rounds of traveling are complete. We are currently flying back from Vegas. (that's right...we got the plane trying out wifi!!) Vegas is always a lot of fun and we got to spend some great time with mine and Kyle's families! Unfortunately, we did not win millions but I got some great stuff shopping and we got to enjoy DRY heat for a few days!

Since I already have a ton of pictures of the strip & downtown I never made time to take more. (although I needed to with my new camera!)
Our awesome cabana to relax by the pool:

Inside the Mirage:




The weekend before Vegas I made a trip to Missouri to hang out with Brooke one last time before she moves. I should've found more time in our crazy busy lives to visit more often. We went on campus to take some pictures for her to have. It is such a beautiful campus!!





And of course...we had to end with this since it was sooooo stinkin humid!

Lifekidz

First of all, I'm soooooooooooooo excited that school is out for the summer! I learned more this year on classroom management than my first year, college classes, & any lesson on patience I've had combined!

Now on to LIFEKIDZ! Lifekidz is for K-5th grades on Sunday mornings in our very own theater. It's awesome-ness has made me go from plugging a hole to really, really, really enjoying my Sundays there and being exciting about helping prep it! The kids used to stay in the main service until after the music, but going into the theater we changed that to help with security reasons and to also give the Lifekidz their very own worship time. I'd say it's been a huge success giving us more time with them! Just ask Dawson James...he refuses to come to church without his tennis shoes because sandals interfere with his Lifekidz dancing!

I think our biggest success has been the addition of Lifegroups to our time. We have had such positive feedback. The kids LOVE splitting into their age-appropriate groups and getting to share stuff! They have REALLY opened up and we have been blown away by the things that are on their minds & their desire to discuss things! These kids have real "life stuff" going on and they want to talk about it!

We had one young girl that refused to come in without a parent for several weeks. The first week we did Lifegroups she was able to connect with another girl her age & it was the last week her mom came in!

So, if you are a volunteer at LifePoint or somewhere else...just remember...you're job is so important! You are making a bigger difference than you realize and you are needed fully on board! Keep up the good work!

Also, check out Bob's blog & find the perspective videos to see what goes on every Sunday!