Mom Mom and Pop Pop's new table

Here is Mom mom and Pop Pop's new table. We have decided that we feel like the Walton's whne the 10 of us sit here. But hey we can eat all in one shift now

For all you Pastors & Missionaries

As I get ready to preach Sunday after a week long of study, preparation and prayer on The Glory of the Cross, I wanted to ask you men of the Word, who have been in the ministry longer than I have, for some last minute input and insight on this glorious subject. So please send a sentence or two, or if you feel so led, an epistle or a good quote--who knows I might just quote you and you will sound like a great theologian of old. The body won't know the difference between R.C Sproul and Earl Thompson.

I am excited to preach on this subject since the Cross is what the Lord has been dealing wiht me about for over a year. More specificially, that everything in our Christian life eventually goes and should go back to the Cross or rather should point to the cross. This was the message of the apostle Paul's life---"but we preach Christ crucified." (I Cor 1:23) "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." (i Cor 2:2). May God's grace be upon each of you.

Send in your input.

Calixto

Catherine went to one of her favorite places today...the Doctor's office! She asks almost daily if she can go to the Doctors?! Today she went for her 3 year check-up. She is exactly "average" in height and weight!! Dr. Herbeck is always amazed at her growth and physical health considering her start in life, Praise the Lord!
She also received a vaccination and unlike her brother she did not flinch, squirm or utter a peep. When she was finished she simply said "Can I have my sticker now?" The nurse and I just broke out into laughter and she commented that Christopher and Catherine are like night and day. You see, the nurse and I worked up a sweat as we had to physically lay on top of Christopher as he kicked and screamed and thrashed about for her to give him his vaccinations when he was 4 yrs old. It was horrendous!! The nurse always gives me a little chuckle when she sees us coming. Catherine is a tough little girl though, unless of course I am combing her hair than it is a whole different matter!

What's for dinner?

Does anyone remember the sour cream apple pie that Mimi used to make for family gatherings? I loved it and had my mom send the recipe some time ago. I am making it now, it smells wonderful! (I hope it turns out wonderful too)
This is the first night that I have actually made a real dinner since we came home a month ago...we have been way too busy! I am making pot roast and I must share this delicious recipe with all of you. It is called "To die for crock-pot-roast" and is so easy to make.

Place a roast (3 or more lbs) in a crock-pot
Mix together a packet of Good Seasonings Italian dressing mix
a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing mix
a packet of brown gravy mix
Put this on top of the roast
Pour 1/2 Cup of water around the roast
Let cook on Low for 6-8 hours

It has become one of Calixto's favorites.
Hope everyone is having a great day out there. Autumn has finally come to East Texas...yeah! It has been around 75 degrees all day. Of course the sun was still pretty intense on the soccer field but, how refreshing today has been!!

Tracy's health update

I am going to post this for Tracy...I don't think she comes on here, at least she hasn't posted anything before.
Here is the information on her situation as I understand it. She has Ductal Carcinoma Insitu. This is 0 stage cancer, which means it is early stage. It appears on a mammogram as clusters of microcalcifications. The cancer is contained within the duct and does not spread to the fatty tissue of the breast. It is non-invasive meaning it won't spread, although she will have an MRI to determine if there is any other type of cancer which may be invasive. I'm not sure when that is scheduled. She will be going to University of Penn to consult with Physicians there. The treatment options are to have a partial mastectomy and then radiation or to have a full mastectomy and then reconstruction. As far as they know the cancer is only in one breast.
She has also been going to Penn to find a diagnosis for her continual stomach problems. It seems she will be doing a lot of traveling to Philly.
This is a good case for getting yearly mammograms! A woman we know in NJ was diagnosed with this same cancer this summer only hers was invasive and she just turned 40, in fact I think at the time of her diagnosis she was still 39.
Praise the Lord that this is not worse than it is but, of course it is hard to go through emotionally and physically.
Thanks for your continued prayers.

(Tracy...I hope all this is correct info, if not you'll have to post the corrections or additions)

wallpaper

Ok what does eveyone think of this wallpaper. it is for my diningroom. It goes above the wainscoating. It has the cranberry color of my livingroom furniture and the green strip will match my cabinets. The livingroom is being painted a kacky color( I was tempted to take in a skirt i have if i couldn't find the right color). There will be a little bit of it in the kitchen too....which will now be all one room with my diningroom. I love country style stuff too. So I guess if you don't you might hate this......lol.
Roni

Three weeks left in the Fall soccer season...Go Tigers!
Catherine posing ever so nicely for the camera. She can be such a toot! She plays with her friends during the game and has a great time!
Christopher & a team mate taking a break from tournament play this past Saturday. It was a scorcher of a day! Christopher is a good player and enjoys the game a lot.

Like father like son

This just made me cry to watch cody doing what Bruce has done so many times. He did a great job and only got stung 3 times. And he didn't panic. Bruce would have been so very proud of him. Luckily i gave my brother the camera because I just broke down. Today was another of those really hard days. We have done Basto with Tim and Patty for so many years we couldn't figure out how many. It was really hard to not have Bruce there. We made it though and it was a good day.

I couldn't resist sending this. This was Cheyenne on her 1st Birthday. She loved her chocolate cake.

Christopher & Catherine

This picture is too cute, Catherine kept telling him "you're my best brother"! If only they always acted this way!
In the Spring we had a bbq with our small group from church, a few seeds got spit into some soft soil where Calixto had just planted a tree. This is what we found when we returned from NJ at the end of Sept. Christopher was very proud...it tasted good too!!

HAPPY 38TH BIRTHDAY CALIXTO!!!!
You are a wonderful husband and father, I appreciate all that you are and all that you do for us. I hope you are richly blessed by God this year...he has some great plans for us!!!
Love you,
B

Elizabeth, Cody,and Wade at the capital building

Hi everyone,
I am playing on my new laptop and thought I would try to post some pictures.

These are pictures of my torn apart house. We are putting in hardwood floors and redoing the cabinets and the whole kitchen
This of course is our little ham

now if i could just figure out how to put a family calendar and stuff. Is there a page that explains all you can do

Roni

Urgent prayer needed

Urgent prayer request for Tracy
She found out this morning that she has breast cancer.
In light of Bruce's death she is very shaken.
She will see the Dr. on Monday.
Thank you for your prayers!!

Thanks

Hi all,Thanks for all the birthday wishes. We are all doing pretty good. My birthday was rough but I guess it is the first of many firsts that will be hard. We went to washington DC on Monday and that was fun. I will post some pictures later.

www.desiringgod.org

Check out Desiring God's website. The Pastor's conference is in February and sounds wonderful for all of you Calvinist Pastors out there!! The title is "How must a Pastor die? The cost of caring like Jesus" Calixto plans on going again (the Lord willing) even though he is not a Calvinist...oops, maybe I shouldn't have divulged that info!!

Fun at the Jersey shore

Catherine's 3rd birthday party in NJ...does anyone know of a good dentist? Everyone loved the "Bubba" teeth.

She was so excited about her birthday!

Christopher was the ring bearer for a friend's wedding in August. He loved the tux so much he didn't want to take it off!!

Happy Birthday Roni!!!!!!!

Hi everyone,
We just got back from Minneapolis yesterday. We went to Desiring God's (John Piper's) annual conference, this year the title was "Suffering and the Sovereignty of God"! It was so good! And so timely!
We heard from 7 speakers including Nate Saint's son Steve. Listening to him just fans the flames for missions in both of our hearts. (Robbie if your reading this, maybe we should talk!!) Anyway, we so enjoyed our time of just being poured into. Oh how we need constant reminders of who we are in Christ and what our purpose is on this side of heaven. Suffering plays such a big role in our lives and our spiritual maturity. John Piper said "We can not look at Jesus on the cross and think we will be spared suffering." God is good and he uses our sufferings for our good and for his glory.
If you think of us please pray for us as we feel we are at a definite crossroads in our ministry here at Crossroads (the name of our church). We desire to be obedient to Christ's calling whether it is to stay here or go elsewhere. If we were to leave we don't know where that elsewhere would be at this point.
The kids are both great and happy that we are home. I don't know exactly they did this weekend with the families they stayed with but they sure slept late this morning!

"Savor the riches of Christ, spend yourself whatever the cost and spread those riches to a dying world."

Brenda