Finally...a current church website!

Thanks to Micah, we found Rapid Weaver and in a few hours were able to create a new APC website. We'll be fine tuning it as time goes by, but for now it's up and current. Horray!
CHECK IT OUT:
www.denverchurch.net
~Rose

Almost Too Cold To Picnic!

Last Sunday would have been perfect for a picnic, but we went today instead! Frisbee golf, hot coco and blankets kept us warm...but it wasn't really that cold! We enjoyed getting together outside...church in the park is great!







~Rose

The Biggest Scare of My Life

Last night I had the living daylights scared out of me. We had been home all day, and since the weather has been so nice, we had the back door open pretty much all day. For those of you who aren't familiar with our pad, our backyard is fenced in with an over 6ft tall locked wooden fence. My brother came over for dinner around 5:30 and by 8pm we had put the kids to bed. Desi and Jason left around 8:30ish to go downtown to some free art galleries. I got up to close the back door right after they left...called the cat in, and locked the door. I fed Levi and Hope began yelling at me from her bedroom, "can I get a kleenex?" We proceeded to yell back and forth...untill I just went up to see what she needed (we couldn't really hear each other). I left Levi on the living room floor. After about 5 minutes of getting the girls back to bed, I came down, brought Levi to the kitchen, placed him in the bouncy seat on the counter with the intention of doing dishes. I heard a noise coming from the basement and stepped into our back room. The back room is this little room with a small bathroom, a door to the backyard and the stairs down to the basement. As I stepped into the back room (the lights were off) I saw a head rising from the basement stairs. I FREAKED out and had the split-second thought, "I can't believe this is actually happening!" I yelled at him (he was moving very slowly) "what are you doing in my house? GET OUT, GET OUT!" I quickly grabbed the kitchen door (the original back door to the house) and locked it tight. I ran to get my phone, dialed 911 (for the first time ever) and went back for Levi. I looked out the windows in the kitchen door and saw him standing there in the doorway to the backyard. He was trying to communicate with me, but I was talking to the operator and while giving her a description of him, he came back in the house and went down to the basement again. I think he may have gone down to get his shirt or something (he was shirtless). I didn't want to wait in the kitchen, so I grabbed Levi, went to the front door to get my pepper spray and waited for the police. They arrived within 5 minutes (the nice thing about living in the city) and were in to check and clear the whole house and surrounding property. They couldn't find him, but told me it was safe and to call them if I saw or heard anything and they'd be there in a minute. Desi and Jason were home right after the police left and I just sobbed and sobbed (Hope heard me from her room and thought I was laughing...God is good-she has no clue what happened!). Jason took a flashlight and checked the basement again. It looked like the guy had been sleeping in the bed and there was urine in our trash can (thanks for peeing there instead of the carpet or bed!) and an old sock on the ground. Nothing was touched or moved. I truly believe he had no criminal intent and that somehow (under the influence of drugs or alcohol) he had climbed our fence and wandered into our basement undetected by all of us! We were home all day...never heard him, but he must have come in sometime between 11:30am (the last time we were in the basement) to before 8:30pm. Even when I think back to it, I wasn't scared of his face...he was so passive and slow moving...almost like he was asking permission to go back down to get his shirt! I praise God that He kept us safe, untouched, nothing taken, no violence, he didn't even come into the main part of our house! Things could have gone different-he could have woken up in the middle of the night and who knows what...ect... All to say, God had His protective hand on us that night and I am so thankful. If this is something that I needed to go through, to be a little more careful and observant, ect... than so be it. I have learned from this and am Praising God for His protective faithfulness. I didn't sleep last night much at all...the terrifying image of him coming up the stairs playing over and over again in my mind.

Please pray for me that I wouldn't succumb to fear, but trust in God's protection. I am afraid of the dark again, and I don't like going in the back room or basement right now! It has helped to talk about it and pray with two the gals in my small group (I even prayed for the intruder!). I am not overly worried, just don't want to keep thinking about it, you know? Anyhow, I love our house and neighborhood and feel called to be here. Pray for me, as I am getting closer to a few of our neighbors: Tanko & Nafisa with daughter Jayla, Rich & Barb with daughter Isabel, Bobby & Sarah, Pepper and brother John, Bob and large black poodle Otis, and Jean. I want to share the love of God with them in a real way and refuse to let fear cripple me. Greater is He who is in me than he who is in the world!
~Thanks, Rose

Can I get an AMEN?!

Well, God is good indeed! We got our van (LaWanda) back today. Our mechanic had her only a day and a half and she's running great. While they were fixing the rear differential or something, they saw we needed new rear breaks, so they put those in at no labor charge. All said and done, with towing we spent less than $700! Thankfully we have the money and are so glad to have our girl back home! Isn't it nice to have a mechanic you trust?
~Rose

BUMMER!

On the way home from the maze (see post below) we broke down! BUMMER! I was driving, Desi was reading, going down HWY 85 South and all of a sudden the van slowed way down really fast (like I put my foot on the break). I quickly made my way to the right side of the road (all the while the van is making HORRIBLE noises). We pull over, Desi looked under the hood and noticed smoke and a bad smell coming from under the back of the van. After a few minutes, I called AAA and then my dad. We waited and waited, ate a package of graham crackers (I try to keep one in the car) changed diapers, fed Levi, sang songs and laughed. What can you do? Thankfully Martin the tow truck driver agreed to drop the van off at our mechanic (so we could just go home) and waited with us till dad arrived (by that time it was dark).

Our rescuer, my dad, took us to McDonald's for a 7:45pm dinner. That was the kid's favorite part of our night!

Hopefully the van is not too messed up, but God knows and He'll provide...He already has.
~Rose

Corn, Corn, and more Corn!

Today is Wednesday-Exploration Day! We decided that we wanted to do a corn maze this year (it's been 3 years since our last) and found the Fritzler Maze on-line. Pretty cheap, lots of activities. We drove up this afternoon...this is the first week for it to be open mid-week instead of just weekends. We did phase 1 of the maze first. They had these "passports" which were papers with 10 questions on them. Depending on how you answer the questions, you go left or right when you come to the post with the number on it. We got the kid guide, and Hope read the questions and Owen and Emma answered. It took awhile, but we made it through. After that we rested in the big corn-box. Fun to feel all those corn kernels in your hands! We then got on the barrel train ride. About 20 barrels towed behind a big 4-wheeler. The driver went fast and took us over about 8 little hills. It felt like a roller coaster-you should have seen Owen's face...so cute! The kids held their hands up over the hills. We decided to get going and come back another day to do phase 2 and ride the barrel train again (our tickets are a pass which includes the corn maze, an inflatable maze and 4 rides). We'll be planning another day to go...who wants to come with?
Check it out...www.fritzlermaze.com
~Rose

Hockey!

Well, I just figured it out (see post below). The files are named differently now, but it sleuthed it out. So, here are some pics from the game! ~Rose

Top row!

The girls all love Levi :)

Pretty good view from the top...

Our first, but not last, hockey game.

Church family...

Micah and Hope

The End...time for bed :)

Oh Brother...

Well, I recently updated my Photo program and can't seem to find the file to upload new pics to this blog. Weird. Maybe I am just too tired, but I hope I can figure it out soon. I have some shots from last Sat. night. We went to an Avalanche game at the Pepsi center. I have never been to a hocky game and even though we were sitting in the highest row, we could see quite well and follow the game easily. It went into over-time and a shoot out...pretty fun to watch. Out for now, Rose