Mel and Josh in Missouri

These are just a few of the great pictures taken recently in Missouri. A friend at the New Tribes Mission campus did a little photo shoot for them. There are more pictures on Melody's facebook page.

Christmas time

This is how the house looks this year. Since several of you will be here after Christmas I thought you would like this bit of a snapshot until you can come. I promise to makes Speculase and home made bread and any other thing you request. We'll probably just have a nice big New Year's dinner and of course Morgan's birthday party.

Deck refurbishing

Papa's been hard at work on the decking. The side deck was pretty rotten since we used not treated decking when it was first built. So he replaced all the decking with pressure treated wood and rebuilt the step down little deck area. Then he pressure washed the old decking. Next he will put a nice sealing stain on it. (more pictures to come)














All finished with the sealant. Looks so nice and fresh!

Prayer for Josh's extended family!

Josh's mother's sister, Sharon, went home to heaven after battling cancer for a very long time. She leaves young twin girls behind. Pray for her husband to have wisdom and to be comforted. We are glad that she is relieved of her suffering and is rejoicing with Jesus! Also Pray for Karen, Josh's mom, and her family as I'm sure they will miss Sharon very much.

Another blessing coming in April!

Corrie and Curtis are expecting a little blessing in April! Corrie is just getting over the "ickies" and is starting to enter the glowing stage. Fun, fun fun!
We are all excited for them!

New Sanctuary and Coffee Cove

Here are a few pictures of the new sanctuary and the new "Starbucks" decor in the Coffee Cove. We aren't finished with the Coffee Cove decor but it was good enough for the first day in the new sanctuary. It will not be a room that is taken apart each week as before since now we can have Wednesday supper and Sunday dinner in the old auditorium. That works very well. We had Sandwich supper in there tonight as well and could sit at tables. Seemed like there weren't quite enough chairs but kinks are still being worked out. It was sweet to hear Pastor announce that no one needed to take the building apart tonight!




Coming in from the hall entrance
Coming in from the Coffee Cove
New communion table
There are two of these arrangements, one on either side of the auditorium

Looking toward the back with view of the balcony

Sound box (the sound system is awesome!)



Coffee area (note the new pictures and the shelves above which will have items on them to do with coffee, etc)
I love this mirror! Also notice that the pedestals are all painted black and there are no more table cloths.

Other end of the room has a seating area.




The sign over the door to the sanctuary says "Welcome". (too much glare from the flash)

Mel and Josh are off on a great adventure

Sunday, July 12th, Melody and Josh dedicated Hannah to the Lord. What a perfect way to reveal their heart! That evening Josh had the opportunity to tell what our Avalon church family meant and means to him and to say good bye to everyone. Monday morning Melody and the three little girls and I flew to Saint Louis and then drove to Shelbina, MO where Josh's parents and extended family live. Then Josh, Papa, Sam, Johnathan, Mike and Curtis packed up everything that had been stored in the storage unit plus all that was in our house and garage in a rental truck. What a blessing they were! It only took about three hours. Jerry, Josh's dad, arrived that evening, flying in from Missouri and stayed the night. Then on Tuesday morning Josh, Jerry and Papa began the drive to MO. with Josh and Jerry in the moving truck and Papa driving Josh's van. They plan to stop in Kentucky overnight and finish up the trip to Roach, MO. where the New Tribes training facility is located. They'll store the contents of the truck in a unit locally and then drive in the van to Shelbina for a three week visit with family. Papa and I will fly home on the 23rd. Then around August 10th Mel,Josh and the girls will drive to Roach and move all their things into the apartment on the complex there. They will be in classes every morning together. Sarah will be in a pre-school there on the complex and Morgan in a nursery. Hannah will most likely be with Mel in class or in a linked room to the class with Mel. Then in the afternoons Mel will be with the girls and Josh will work in some capacity on the complex. Evenings will be with family and require study time. So it's back to school but this time with three little girls to ad to the equation. I know they will appreciate prayer on many levels; health, family dynamics, education, relationships.

I hope to get some pictures up soon. Right now I'm in MO. with the Simmons.

Cuddles got a hair cut!

Cuddles BEFORE

......and AFTER

Big Dave

God's been using Dave in his church as a youth worker. Recently he told me that the knickname some of them have for him is "BIG DAVE". I think that works! Kids just gravitate to him, can you blame them.


He's not too bad a big brother too!

Anybody want to buy a truck?

Josh is selling his truck. He's had several nibbles but no bites. He's put in a lot of work to get it working well and would like to sell it before they go to Missouri. So if anyone knows anyone...... :-)

Up date on Aunt Chris

Sweet Aunt Chris has been through a great deal in the past few weeks. She was able to have a pace maker put in and that made a lot of difference. But she was so weak from everything that her body's been through, not to mention just being in bed for so long, that she had no strength whatever. So now she is in physical therapy and really working out several times a day. Last I heard she was finally able to walk a few steps at a time without the walker. That is amazing! So everyone keep praying for her.

Pray for Aunt Chris

Papa has been down in NC for over a week now supporting his brother, Tommy, who's wife, Chris has been seriously ill with heart problems. She's in Willmington hospital and has had a pace maker put in. This seems to help but she is not out of the woods yet. I know they both would appreciate prayer.

Back on the Market AGAIN!

Well, the folks who put a contract panicked when the inspector used the "asbestos" word. Many old homes have asbestos in them and this one does but it is totally wrapped and in the attic. But with all the hype about it a first time buyer seems to be a bit nervous. The inspector was super picky even suggesting that all the windows be replaced (27 of them). That just isn't happening. The price they are asking is such a steal that any improvements should be up to the buyer. It is in super nice condition. SOOOO, please pray that the right buyer will come along soon. We have been packing up the house and have left just the downstairs decorated. Just the stuff they are using is out and most of the kitchen is still needing packing. The attic is empty and all the "stuff" is neatly in plastic bins in the garage ready to go to the storage facility. We have a good deal of stuff for a nice garage sale in a month or so. That's all in my shed since they will have it here.

Josh, Mel and the girls are in Ohio for the weekend speaking at the church of our former youth pastor, Steve. Pray that there will be some folks there who may get on their team as they prepare to leave for the New Tribes training center in August.

Mel and Josh's home sold!

Well, I'm putting this link to Mel and Josh's listing and pictures, but it already sold....today....and for what they were asking. We are all so excited to see how God answered prayer! They have a week before they go to Ohio to speak at a church and then 10 more days before closing. So we will be packing up next week and the week after they get back. The plan is to store most of their belonging and then move in with us, Mama and Papa until they leave. What an adventure!

They're planning on selling the truck, keeping the van and renting a moving truck instead of the other plan to buy a trailer. They found a nice storage place about 3 miles from us to put their things until the move. We'll keep you posted on new developements.

By the way, the Missions conference went very well last week. Our Avalon Hills family is the greatest!

Prayer list for Mel and Josh

Here is a little practical prayer list for Mel and Josh.

* fixing truck to sell
* fixing van to sell
* yard, plastering, flooring and painting touch-up PROJECTS to be done so house can go on market at the end of February
* need to find a Suburban or Yukon XL (pref. 2500 series due to extra horsepower for pulling enclosed storage trailer around the states with us during the next 3 years)
* preparations for our Missions presentations at our church, Avalon Hills Bible Church, on Feb. 22 & 23rd, and then at Evergreen Baptist Church in OH, Feb. 28 - March 5th.
* continued safety for Josh at his job...we are blessed that he has this job with great health insurance.
* for baby Hannah's continued health (18 more weeks to "cook") and Mama Mel's too...and for wisdom on when to rest during all the projects :)
* for Josh as he tries to fit in instrument flying practice & also find an opportunity to get experience on small aircraft maintenance

Thanks for praying!

While you're in your closet, remember TJ too... check his blog (right hand column, Taiwan Mission Opportunity)

Stites and Company

The following is a little catch up for Beth and TJ's family. Jason was born Nov 1st and Grandpa and Nana were able to visit then. All the Stites family was there for Thanksgiving. After that Sophie had her big 5th birthday, the family said good bye to Sage and then the flu set in. Many nights on the living room floor with towels and buckets. NO FUN!

And then Christmas came. Wonderful time!

But cabin fever can produce very creative parents... thus the crazy hair day!
The next big event will be the refinishing of the bathroom. A very fine man from their church donates his time to help out people in the church. So for a week he and TJ will be working in the bathroom to bring it up to par. Beth and the kids will be farming themselves out to several wonderful friends for the day time and then "winging it" for the night time hours. (They're supposed to have working plumbing every night but just in case there may have to be a potty chair)

Then in late February Beth and the kids are planning a trip to Sneads Ferry to visit with the extended family there. Cousin Maggie and her family will be there that weekend too. They are just returning, stateside, from Israel. What a wonderful reunion to look forward to. So there! You're caught up on the Stites family.... a little.

Welcome Jason
Nana and Grandpa got to spend a little time with everyone when Jason was born in Nov.



Five kids

Sophie's fifth birthday










Sage and his buddy










The four men













Sick boy













Jason's presents













Justin's special towel













Doctor Mya













Mommy Mya

























Love my nails!










Ryan the Construction worker













Christmas Family 2008













Christmas 2008










Brothers













Crazy Family









Crazy Kids