Sat.-Sun., Sep. 8-9

Yesterday, Saturday, we drove to Sierra Vista (90 min. SW of Tucson) for a youth event. I asked Jeremy if he thought it was strange for our family to attend this function without even contributing any teenagers from the congregation. His reply was a firm, "No," because of the relationships he built with these same kids at camp. He wants them to fully know him, which means they have to know his family. He also wants to be as visible and supportive of them as possible. Plus, he wanted to see Cecil again, and I needed to meet him, and we both needed to meet his wife ... who was super-sweet; Nicki is her name. They're from TX originally, long-time Church of Christ members, 30 years into ministry, etc. Actually, it was fun to discover that Cecil did some singing recording with Len Reeves in Dallas back in the day! :) They are both Harding graduates, etc.

I have been desperate to share some scenery pictures with one person, in particular (TRAVIS!), who thinks Arizona is nothing but dry, brown desert flatness. These pictures, in order, were taken on our way to Sierra Vista. This first picture is only about 20 minutes east of Tucson.

The church in Sierra Vista is 180 strong! Wonderful! They are a well-established congregation, with elders, etc. In addition to their auditorium building they have another building behind it, the "Fellowship Hall" - a title I don't dig, of course (...like we don't fellowship anywhere else?!) - and between the two buildings, a fenced area called "The Play Yard". Surely I don't need to detail for you the fun N & J had in this area; the three large, great sings are to the right of where this picture cut off. I had to dig up details about the trees; they are sycamores!! With the picture so small you can't tell they're covered in green poky ping-pong balls! lol

I took the following two pictures, actually, mostly for reference, for when Mission Valley gets closer to time to be thinking about how to make more space for the growth we will, Lord willing, experience. Take special note of the little white fur ball Natasha is holding.

Before I move on from the Sierra Vista report (lol), here is one more thing about their church facility: behind this "Fellowship Hall" building, is a lovely patio (not 'covered') with a BBQ pit (!) and sound system, and then 25 yards farther back on their property, the congregation just finished building a sand-pit Volleyball Court! (Pictures tomorrow ... already too many today!) THEY HAVE AN OUTSTANDING FACILITY!!!!!!!!!!

Just quickly, Natasha lost her 11th tooth today. I asked, "Are you even OLD ENOUGH to be losing molars??" She said, "Well, it's just a 'pre-molar'." [HUH??] "Did you learn that in the anatomy book (that body/science-y book we got her a couple weeks ago)?" "Yes." For a kid who was so SQUEAMISH about the pain of pulling teeth during her 2nd - 6th tooth-loss experiences, she sure is tough and brave these days!! Her preferred method is the dental floss wrap method.

Meet Jabba. Jeremy and I cut his hair immediately upon getting him home. His fur is somewhat discolored, still, because his previous owners dyed him pink!! ??! This is our new pet. I'm sorry about his name; I have NO control over such things! lol He's a full-blood AKC Certified Maltese who will never experience as much hair as his show-dog counterparts. NO WAY; too much upkeep. He's only 4 months old, and was in a less-than-ideal situation in his former home. He's actually underweight, Nicki told me. :( Cecil is a dog breeder, so with Jeremy's absolute PASSION for getting dog/s into our home, now that my excuses to hold him off are down to none (I held out SIX YEARS, tho'!), Cecil gave us a good deal on this dog ("just what I've got into him"), who we expect will be a lovely addition to our family life; if you're interested enough I'll let you Google "Maltese" dogs yourself and read about their temperament, etc. ["The most courageous, affectionate, playful, non-yappy dogs of the Toy dogs....] They don't shed and are "hypo-alergenic"!! ha!

I thought this might give you the best idea of his TINY size. His face is barely visible under the blankets there!

This best picture we have of him so far was taken by Natasha!! Go girlie!
Okay, first experience posting videos.... Hope it goes okay! This is of Jabba going up, and then down the stairs. Last night when we got him home he thought he couldn't do it. It was really pitiful! (He can't get up on any furniture either, or back down once we get him up! TOO TINY!) So Jeremy and I worked on him some to help him become comfortable with the stairs! He is completely untrained (except doing okay with housetraning ... just, not as good as he should be by now. GR: Neglectful pet owners.), so until we have some actual training sessions these next few weeks, he doesn't respond as he should to even the simple "Come!" command.

This afternoon TWELVE ladies were in attendance for the C.A.R.E. Group Meeting! THAT was a record!

Connie told Jeremy (and Elaine and me, all separately), the same compliment, word-for-word, as Donna has told Jeremy and me on two earlier occasions: "Just when I've heard the best lesson I thought you could possibly give, you do another one even better!"

During the Lord's Supper today Justus looked so sad when he whispered to me, "Will you please tell me why they don't let the kids eat the food?"