whew ...

What do S'Mores ... Floating Floors ... Hurricane Winds ... Pirates and Rolling Babies have in common? They were all a part of our very eventful weekend!

Friday:
We had fun with friends at the Kid's Connection S'More's party. We kept warm by the fire and roasted marshmallows ... Hayden ran around with Josiah, Aley, and Wilson ... Ellie and Lars snuggled with mommies, and we all went home smelling of smoke with thoughts of s'mores dancing in our heads. A delicious idea from our dear Christine ... try strawberry marshmallows ... it's like having chocolate covered strawberries over the campfire! Yum!

The Fire-Man

Hayden Proudly showing his S'More

Saturday: Saturday we were back at the church, only this time at the office for a work day. The flood in May that ruined the basement carpeting/office space right before we came was ready to be made new again, with beautiful wood flooring and furniture!

Basement Before (South Wall)

Basement After (Northwest Wall)

Sunday:
I have never been through a hurricane, but the winds in Rapid City today must be close. Our neighbors metal-frame canoe was in the pasture behind our houses with the cows this morning, and our rocking chairs were clinging to life hanging over our front porch.

The GREAT NEWS is that the sun is still shining in the midst of the chaos and 39-degree temps.

You know that you're supposed to be somewhere when your 5-year old is in tears on the way to the car after church because he thinks he'll fly away, but he gets into the car and says "Mommy, this place is super cool!" God is so good to remind us through our little guy that through every storm (even wind storm) and sunny day He is with us and is taking care of us. You know you love a place when despite it literally knocking you over, you're excited to call it home! David actually went golfing in the windy mess with his pal Dale ... it's a Sunday afternoon tradition, and apparently no wind can come in between a man and his golf game! :-)


Also ... there's tumbleweed here - lots of it ... it's not just in Kansas ... another fun treat for us.

Hayden went to the movies today with his buddy Kayla. They watched the Veggie Tales PIRATE movie at a theater downtown that has older movies for very cheap. It's great for them because they're both quite independent and seem to suit one another well. He has been talking about it for weeks and when I went to pick him up from their house, I had fun talking to her mommy and the kiddos had a hoot running all over playing - no screaming, no arguing, nothing but squeals of fun and the noise of the "bbq grill" where Hayden was making everyone bacon. Yummy! Haha!

In other exciting news ... our little girl has now been dubbed "rolley-polley!" She's going back and forth and clinging to teething toys like her mommy to coffee! :-) She'll be 18 weeks tomorrow and what a fast four and a half months it's been!

mmmm ...

Ellie LOVES to sit up and talk to her big brother!

That's about it. Whew! We need a nap!

Congratulations!

Our dear friends Jody and Steph just had their third little one ... a baby girl named Lily! We weren't there for most of the pregnancy, but have been praying earnestly.

We love you guys and will continue praying for health and rest for your family and cannot wait to see her!

Love,
David, Katy, Hayden, and Ellie

numbers

hayden was born on august 26, 2003.
082603

ellie was born on june 23, 2008.
062308

we realized that their bday's share the same "numbers."

another random, useless bit of info. we think it's kind of cool.

remedy drive

remedy drive came to fountain springs community church this saturday night for a concert after our COLLIDE service, and they led worship at all three services. they are best known right now for their song "daylight" but have so many incredible songs and a very exciting future for sure!

A very gifted friend, Jamie created this for the event ... wow!


find them on youtube ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTK0la4jyXg

so, in an unrelated story ... christine might have bought a mullet wig that todd might use for announcements from time to time, and hayden may have put it on to see what all the fuss was about. nashville, here we come!

Spearfish Canyon

This beautiful place is just a short drive from our house ... we took advantage of the GORGEOUS weather yesterday morning for a visit!

Wow.

We could not be more thankful for the beauty that surrounds us ... every time we look out onto our backyard we see this gorgeous hill and are reminded of how perfect our God is!

I always "assumed" that being in ministry would not be very easy in terms of location ... that truly serving involved being absolutely without comfort ... what an enormous blessing it is for Him to put us in a place with such incredible people and unmatched beauty!

hello ... i'm random ... what's your name?

one of my graduate classes this semester was only a month long ... and it was great because it was all about everything ... from technology to interpersonal communication. it's funny because since i'm taking classes online, there is no face-to-face interaction, so we must rely on initial "sharing" and online discussions throughout the class to get to know each other.

this semester there were a lot of "ice-breaker" type activities that made me reminisce to my college days in leadership studies, when we would have all types of pow-wows full of them. the "share things about you that no one else will know" seems quite popular.

i'm not always so good at this ... although i'm a talker, i'm not much of a writer or "thoughtful" with words. in manhattan, a very dear friend of mine, sarah, was and still is such an inspiration to me - her writing is always very genuine, seemingly effortless, and always touching. here in rapid city, i have been blessed to befriend another incredible writer, natalie ... her words are like the words to your favorite song - each line is oozing with meaning and depth ... so, i am happy to be insipired by them and leave the simple things like this to me!

i thought it'd be fun, and random to share some of my recent answers to the ice-breakers ...

SOME THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT ME ...

10. I asked for a cash register every year for Christmas. I don't know why, but I was a girl obsessed!

9. I always have chapped lips ... but I'm also obsessed with chapstick - do you think it could be the chapstick making my lips chapped? Maybe some crazy scheme by the chapstick makers to keep me coming back?

8. I had a pet cow ... his name was Mr. Cow ... I'm sure he eventually tasted great on someone's sandwich, but for me he was a great pet!

7. My ideal job would be working in a museum ... I'm that boring and that obsessed with history!

6. The first time I rode on a plane was for my honeymoon ... and we got moved to 1st class ... that's not happened again, though!

5. I have always wanted to be artistic in some way ... singing, painting, writing ... my niche' may be organizing, though ...

4. I was baptized twice in the same week ... once in the lake at church camp, and that following Sunday at church - I wanted my parents to be a part of the decision ... the lake was much more warmer!

3. I don't like feet ... mine look weird, yours look weird ... flip-flops are fine, but don't put them anywhere near me! :-)

2. I would be great at any of the "song lyrics" shows ... I grew up listening to all kinds of music and mixed with my ocd, i remember lyrics like a maniac.

1. As a driver, I have never hit a person on a bicycle, but I have been hit by a person on a bicycle while driving in a car - my friend Becky and I were stopped at a stop sign and a guy on a bicycle hit my car ... then started yelling ... then got back on his bike and continued going. It wasn't good for my little Corolla, and nearly gave me a heart attack! Becky was especially scared because he hit us on her side, and I rolled down her window to ask if he was ok - it was the strangest thing that has ever happened to me!

Amazing

Two little pairs of eyes ... both beautiful ... both full of life ... how thankful we are for them, and how excited we are about who they are and who they will be ...



Our little soccer guy had his party yesterday but no game - too much raining and snow!



I tried to copy a picture that we had of Hayden; Ellie wouldn't stop chewing on her little hand! Ha!

Love...

I have no words...just watch:

Mommy, I Don't Feel So Good ...

We have been anything but healthy this week ... there have been some very eventful days at the Kinnan home ... though we've been passing it back and forth we think we might be on the upswing (hopefully!).