Friend Serving in Iraq

We have a very special friend of ours that is serving our country in Iraq. Justin DeGarmo and his wife Cyndi (the couple on the end, on the left.) were saved, met in highschool and got married in our church. Justin serves in the Airforce and has been to Los Vegas, Texas and now at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane. He has been to Iraq one other time. Justin and Cyndi have three boys, Caleb, Colin, and Carter. Please pray for Justin and his family as he will be gone for six months.

MO Vacation Trip

I am sorry that the posts have not come as quickly as I would like. I thought that life would settle down after school got out. Although things have settled down we have had a lot to do to catch up on things while we were gone. We left on Thursday, June 15th to fly to MO to visit the Burkholder side of the family. We landed in Kansas City and met Eli then headed to a KC Royals baseball game. It was a lot of fun and a good time with Eli.

We then headed north to Jake's Brother John's house. We stayed with John, Pollie, and the kids. We had a great time. Later in the week, we went to Jake's parents house and the boys all talked in the living room and the girls did hair and toe make-overs. Again, we had a great time.

On our way back to Kansas City to fly home to Washington. We went to a Museum of the Steamboat Arabia. (See the website: www.1856.com) It was very interesting and a fun thing to do. We then headed to the airport to return the rental car and check in to our flight.


This is a picture that Jake took of Mt. Rainer. (from the airplane) This was the first time that Jake had seen the Mountain. When we went up in the Space Needle, the weather was not clear and we could not see the Mountain. This is Washington's pride and joy.
Well, I hope that these pictures give you a overview of what we did. We had a great time seeing the family and visiting with old friends. Have a great day!!!

Happy Fathers Day!!!!!!

I am a little slow on a few updates as we have been out of town for the last few days!!! We just wanted to wish our Dads a Happy Father's Day!!! Just as we said of our Moms, we are very thankful for the influence that our dads have had on our lives. We are thankful for Christian homes and the training the we received as young people. We are also thankful for the prayer and support that they offer us today!!!! My God bless these wonderful men.

Cowgirl Round Up Mother/Daughter Banquet

Friday, June 1st was our Mother/Daughter banquet. The theme was a cowgirl round up. We had a great time singing, eating, taking pictures and hearing my Mom speak to the ladies. It was a fun night and we made a lot of memories. Enjoy the pictures!!!!

FBA Kindergarten Graduation

June 8, 2007 was a big day for the Kindergarten class of Faith Baptist Academy. Not only was it our last day of school for the 2006-2007 school year but also it was the night of Kindergarten Graduation. With a smaller school we combine Kindergarten Graduation and Highschool Graduation. The day actually started the night before. As the clock was approching 9:30 pm and I had only ironed 9 of the 14 gowns for the next evening, I was starting to realize that it was either going to be a long night or an early morning. I decided to make it an early morning and went to bed. As I laid my head on the pillow, I remembered that I forgot that I had promised the children that I would make them cupcakes for a special treat at our party. I then realized that it was going to be a very early morning. I got up when Jake went to work at 3:45 am and proceded to iron the rest of the gowns, make cupcakes and sign diplomas. I managed to get ready and make it to our morning teachers meeting on time. We practiced our program one last time and then had an end of the year party. It was great fun. We dismissed school at 12:00 noon and all went home to rest for the big night. We met at the church at 5:30 pm and got our caps and gowns on. They were all so cute and very excited. Promptly at 6:00 pm the first Kindergartener walked down the isle and the rest is history. They did a great job. In practice they were having such a hard time standing still and paying attention. I asked the Lord to give them just enough stage fright that they would stand still but not enough that they would forget their parts. I was amazed at how well they did. Even my little girl who had a hard time speaking louder then a whisper did a great job. After a reception and dinner out with Mom and Dad, Pastor and Mrs. Donley and the guest speaker, we finally laid our heads down at 11:45 pm. I told Jake that if we would just stay up a few more hours that we could be up for a whole day. =)

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!!

Today was a great day at church. We did find out that one of our families that rides the bus to church is moving on Tuesday to Tacoma, WA. I am sad about this because we were just beginning to have a Bible study on Fridays. I am going to try to help her over the e-mail with the lessons. The real reason for the post is to wish my Dad a Happy Birthday. I am very thankful for my dad and am glad that Jake and I can be here is Spokane to help him in the ministy.

FBA Kindergarten Visits the Fire Station

On Tuesday, May 29, 2007 the kindergarten class of Faith Baptist Academy went on a fieldtrip to Spokane Fire Department Station #2. We took a tour of the Ladder truck and then the part of the station where the firemen lived. Fireman Mike gave us the tour and Fireman Scott put on all his gear so that we could see what a fireman lookes like all ready to fight the fire. After our trip to the fire station we headed to Chief Gary Park and had a picnic lunch and played on the play ground. The kids loved the break in the routine and the teacher was glad to watch them play and have a great time. Pray for kindergarten, as we only have 5 more days until our kindergarten graduation. They are all very excited and are looking forward to our program.

Memorial Day Weekend!!!!!!!!

We had a great weekend with friends and family and a day off of school. It really all started on Thursday night when our good friends the Samples Family arrived from Sandpoint, ID. Asa Samples and his family have started the North Idaho Baptist Church in Sandpoint, ID. The church is just over a year old and they have begun to see people reached for the Lord. They came down to Spokane for a few days of vacation. With school on Friday, they spent the day relaxing and then headed to a BBQ at our other friend's house that night. Saturday morning we headed out to visit our bus riders and then met up with the Samples at about 2:00 pm. The Samples have four children Avery, Anderson, Avanleigh, and Avanah. They wanted to go to a park that we have here in Spokane called Manito Park and feed the ducks. By the time that we got there the ducks seemed to be full and uninterested in the bread, but the seagulls were more than happy to eat our bread. This park also has beautiful gardens and we took the time to see them. Sunday we had a great day at church. Monday the guys went golfing and the girls went shopping. The Samples headed home and then Jake and I went to a BBQ with our Sunday School class. We had a great time and learned to play a new game called Montana Golf. Later that night my parents and Jake and I went the local cemetary to put a flag and flowers at the grave of a lady, Judy Marks, who had been in our church and had served our country in the Army. It was a great weekend and we had a great time.