Carousel Dreams...

Who doesn't like riding the carousel? Emma bought (with birthday money) a 12 ride pass to the carousel at the mall and graciously shared with her siblings! She loved it and told me not to hold on to her...she's a "big guy now"...like Owen!

Beautiful Hope- Just yesterday (3/29/06) she rode her bike with NO training wheels...ALL BY HERSELF! How exciting!

My wonderful boys!

-Rose

Canon City Part One...

As some of you know, a group from Canon City, CO came up for an inner-city missions trip to Denver. Larry led up their group of 14 including 9 teens. Larry and Bruce know each other, which is how this all got put together. Friday, March 24th, Desi and Bruce met the team at the light rail in 5 points and took them on a walking tour of the neighborhood. After lunch, the group rented a big red double decker bus and the APC staff got to join on a city tour which ended in Centennial Airport, where we all got free helicoptor rides over the city of Denver. Here are a few pictures of the day. Thanks to Larry and the team!

Canon City Part Two...

Curtis Park Outreach
Saturday, March 25th 12-4pm
The Canon City team prepared a TON of food and brought up a bunch of toys and games. We went through 120 plates really quickly and the food was sooooo good (which had been made ahead of time-we just heated it up). People had a great time and hung out to play with the toys and games. The little kids loved the bubbles, kites, flutes and playdoh give aways. The day was beautiful and warm-God is good! Here's a few pics...Thanks again Canon City peeps!

No Training Wheels!

We can't belive it! Hope got her training wheels off last week and after a couple lessons is doing pretty well. Desi is teaching, coaching and encouraging her just like his dad did for him and my dad did for me! She loves it!

DESI...

Well, our friend Scott, as seen below, has been a frequent visitor of our blog and has wondered why Desi isn't in the blog more. He wondered why he wasn't in the blog as well! We enjoy talking to Scott every Wednesday night using our internet camera...let us know if you have one and we can I-chat with you too!

Bedhead (the cat, not Desi) loves living with us...I mean who wouldn't! He has the life...food, shelter, and tons of love! He repays us with love and even lets the kids love on him!

~Rose

Thank you Uncle Neil!

The kids got a package in the mail yesterday from Desi's Uncle Neil and were sooooo excited to open it. We tore it open and were excited to see an inflatable puppet theatre! Luckily I have an electric pump and it was up in a jiffy!
Needless to say, the kids LOVE it and have played in it a ton....good for winterish weather! Thanks Uncle Neil!

Our New Brazilian Friend!

We were blessed to make a new friend a couple days ago! Janete is at the end of a 4 month trip to the USA through an exchange program. She's from Ponta Grossa in Parana, Brazil. She is taking the train from Los Angeles to New York for her flight back March 31st. She needed a place to stay for 2 nights and called churches in Denver. The 8th church she called actually answered and it happened to be Antioch Baptist (the church we rent on Sunday nights). Lee called Desi, knowing we were from CA to see if we were open to having her stay with us. Come to find out, she was living at Calvary Chapel Youth Camp (which we've been to many times with Jr. High kids). Her roomate is Kelly, who Desi and I knew from Bible College. What a wonderful God to put us together! All three kids loved Janete, but especially Hope, who was really sad to see Janete go when we dropped her off at the train station.

It snowed Monday, so we stayed home. My parents got to meet Janete. On Tuesday, we took Janete to the children's museum for a few hours and on a short driving tour of Denver. Thankfully the sun came out! Owen loves the snakes at the museum.

~Rose

Happy 2nd Birthday Emmaline!

Emma's 2nd Birthday party was wonderful! We celebrated St. Patrick's Day along with Emma's big day (3/19/04). The house was all green and we had chili and corn bread for dinner with a very sour key lime pie, green rice krispy treats and lime jello jigglers! Emma loved opening her gifts. The tricycle from the Gillis is a big hit, along with the activity table from the Starr Grandparents and her favorite is the baby and doll stroller that Abby picked out. Thanks to all who came and all who we wish were here. We love you! -the Starrs

March 2006 APC update

Ancient Paths Church Happenings...
We have decided to begin a new phase at APC. We have been doing great outreach projects and will continue to, but we feel God calling us as a church family to focus on friendship evangelism. We will be planning ongoing events; such as parties that will give us the opportunity to build relationships with those we live and work around. We want to know non-believers better and want our friends who don’t know Jesus to get to know other Christians. Please pray that we could build redemptive relationships and see people won to Jesus.
Sunday, March 5th we had two people from C.C. Vail Valley (who know the Dokes) come down to help us with a trash pick up/Prayer walk. The weather was great and we got into 3 groups and picked up trash around the church we meet in Sunday nights.
Pray for our March outreach…a group of 15 students and adults from Canyon City E.F.C. (3 hr drive south) will come up for a 2-day outreach in the hood on March 24-25th. We will do a prayer walk on Fri. and have a BBQ with games and fun at Curtis Park on Sat.
We have started a new curriculum for the kids of APC, which is wonderful. The kids will end up going through the Bible in 3 yrs and all ages will be learning the same verses and stories. We have 3 classes with 9-12 kids weekly.
~Desi Starr

Family Happenings...
What a warm month it has been! Spring is in the air and we love being outside! The kids are doing well, and enjoying the new member of our family, Bedhead. We adopted him March 1st and he is just the most gentle & sweet 2 yr old kitty ever!
We got some sad news last week: Our favorite neighbors (Steve & Ed- 2 doors down) are moving out to the suburbs in April. They have a dog --Cheyenne that we play with almost every day. They are great guys and will be missed. So, that brings me to a prayer request. Please pray that God puts the right people in that house! We’d love a family with kids since there are no other kids on our block. Also, pray that our family would find a way to regularly meet with and get to know our neighbors. …. Friendship evangelism if you know what I mean! ~Rose Starr

Prayer Requests
*Raul-Desi is his mentor- Over the 4th & 5th, Raul downed $400 worth of crack cocaine. Desi got him into detox and
he ended up in jail for a week after getting in a fight. Pray that God frees him of his addiction, and that he comes to
faith in Jesus.
*The right new neighbors in April.
*Friendship Evangelism to Grow among APC’s members.
*Unity in Vision, maturity, and faithfulness for the leaders of APC.
*March outreach Fri 24th –Sat 25th
*Health for our family
~Thank You!~

A few pics of my darlings...

We love the playground (2 blocks away) at Whittier Elementry School!

Emma and Owen have so much fun together! One possible reason: Owen doesn't mind Emma's copying everything he does!

Our new and long awaited sand box for the backyard! Only $20 bucks to fill with great playsand that keeps these kids occupied for extended periods of time! I've even played in it...I forgot how fun it is to make sandcastles!


I need to remind myself sometimes how good I have it! I need to laugh more and not let the little things upset me so easily. Truly, God has given us all unique personalities and has put us in our own particular families for His good purposes. Well, this pregnancy has really given me a run for my money in dealing with the rest of my family. At times I wish I lived ALONE...ALL ALONE! But, who would God use to mold me and break me into His image? Maybe difficult co-workers or neighbors? Anyhow, I am blessed indeed and these pictures remind me what a blessing Hope, Owen and Emma are!
~Rose

Playing in the Dirt...it must be a kid thing!

I probably did it too, but yuck! The dirt patch in front of our house is too much of a temptation for Owen and Emma! We need a sandbox! Come spring and I'll be planting ice plant to cover up that dirt....or maybe cactus!
~Rose

A New Addition to the Family!

We'd like to introduce you to Bedhead, our new kitty! We rescued Bedhead (already had that name) from the Dumb Friends League March 1st. Bedhead is a 2yr old boy. He's big and furry as you can see and loves to get his tummy rubbed. He's litter box trained, doesn't scratch or bite and seems to be adjusting ok. He just had surgery, if you know what I mean, and is a little shy still. When the kids go to bed, he comes out for loving! I think he'll be a good addition for our family!
~Rose