SO MUCH TO TELL!

Ethan and Megan in Little Rock today

Where do I begin.....PK Retreat, homeschoolking, yes I said homeschooling, or surgery?

Let me start by saying that Ethan and I are leaving in the morning to go to PK retreat in Hot Springs.  He is really excited and it should be a lot of fun for him.  Shannon and Megan will be going to Viola Mitchell Sunday morning and we dont have a service Sunday night due to the holiday.  I guess is will be good for Meg to have some father/daughter time.  

Homeschooling!  Yes, HOMESCHOOLING!  I am scared to death!  We made the decision for a couple of reasons, one is our schedule and, two they just were not happy.  We are so busy and traveling almost every weekend that we decided it would be best for them.  Shannon and I did not make this decision, the kids did.  They were really lost at a new school and tired.  They are very excited!  I on the other hand am very nervous, I just hope they learn something.  I am really kidding you know.  I want them to keep up with what the kids are learning in school so they won't get behind.  It has been a really stressful week for me picking out homeschool curriculum.  I never knew how much stuff was out there, it's crazy.  I just hope that I picked the right stuff.  What's a little more stress to add to my plate?  Please pray for me!

Surgery - I will be having surgery on my neck/throat in a few days.  I have something called hyoid syndrome.  I know, I have never heard of it either.  Here is what it is in a nutshell, there is a bone in your throat called the hyoid bone.  The bone is shaped like a horseshoe, mine on the other hand  has a hooked on the end and it is pressing into my voicebox, tendons, and muscles in my neck.  They will go in and remove the piece of bone that is causing the problems. I pray that I will finally be back to normal and be ready to tackle homeschooling.  

Please remember us as we travel over the weekend.

Timothy Team Retreat

Here are some pictures from the retreat that we taught at.


This is our cute little dog that we cant take to Costa Rica with us.  sniff....sniff...

There's No Place Like Home

Yeah!  We are going to be home this weekend!  NO PACKING!  I am so excited, I didnt realize how long it has been since we have been home on the weekend.  I think it has been 4 or 5 weeks! Well, we arent really going to be home all weekend but, we dont have to go and stay in a hotel room.  We are heading to Hot Springs (AG campgrounds) bright and early in the morning. Shannon asked me if I wanted to go and spend the night so we wouldnt have to get up so early and I emeditly said NO!  I didnt care how early we had to get up, I did not want to go and spend the night anywhere.  We are going to the camp grounds to teach a class at the Timothy Retreat. Which is a retreat for students that feel called into the ministry.  Sunday morning we will be at Price Grove (10 minutes from the house ;) Then we will be going to Van Buren that night.  Things are going really well for us.  We know that is by the grace of God that we are doing as well as we are.  We are still on track to having our budget raised by next August.  Praise the Lord!  Please continue to keep us in your prayers.  

On another note, the kids started school this week and they love it.  Well, I wouldn't say Ethan loves it but, Megan does.  Ethan is playing basketball this year and he has been doing a lot of running and drills all week.  He has been sore all week and he loves it.  He comes home talking about basketball but not school.  I think he likes it but doesn't want me to know.  For those of you who know Megan, she would go to school year round if she could.  That girl loves school!  

She is really looking forward to the school year.  For all your Hector graduates her teacher is Mr. Hallum.  (that was Shannon's 5th grade teacher)  She also has Coach Felkins which was my 7th grade basketball coach.  That has got to make them feel old!  

Friends....We Love Em'

This is the Morales'.  We met them in Springfield this summer and we just love them.  They are missionaries to the country of Costa Rica.  We are really looking forward to spending a year with them during language school.  We wanted to ask everyone to say a prayer for them as they are itinerating, aka raising their budget.  They also live in Florida where Fay is doing her thing so, please pray for their safety too.  They are a really great family and we know that God has great things instore for them.  Thanks for your prayers!

First Day at a New School

Megan started 5th grade today
Ethan started 7th grade today.  We know he needs a haircut but, he does'nt want one.We had great services over the weekend but, we got in late last night.  I guess going to bed at 11:30 isnt the best way to start the first day of school.  Oh well, we survived!

The Best Part of The Morning!

We bring our own little coffee maker with us.  It is really GREAT!  Sometimes when you travel, you never know if your gonna get a good cup of coffee or not.  This way we are always sure.  My favorite is Hazelnut, Shannon likes the regular.  (he's kinda boring ;)  I know...I am crazy but, you gotta love me.

Here are some pictures from Saturday.  This is going over the bridge over into Memphis.


Me and Megan
Me and Shannon
Megan and Ethan 
None other than Apple
Shannon at his favorite store in the whole wide world...Apple


So, when the kids found out we were going toMemphis they said they just had to go to Elvis' house.  They were not kidding so, we took them by.

It was the anniversary of Elvis' death so, there were Elvis fanatics everywhere.  Here is one...
Ethan in a pair of Elvis glasses.
Going back into Arkansas.  We had a really fun day!

Flowers.....for me?

We have a busy weekend ahead. We will be in Marion Sunday morning and West Helena Sunday night. The kids also start school on Monday so, what a great way to start the first day of school. We probably will not get home until midnight Sunday. I am sure there will be many more nights like that. The kids are very excited about starting school. We are going to get all their stuff together before we leave so everything will be in place for Monday morning. Please keep us in your prayers and remember our kids and the upcoming school year. This year is going to be different for them so, please pray for them.


Shannon had lunch with a pastor yesterday and when he came home, he brought me flowers.
Gerber Daises, my favorite!

Megan's New "Do"

Megan had a big day yesterday.  First, we went and got her haircut for school then, she had to go to the dentist and have 4 teeth pulled.   She is really cute though!  

Megan's new "do" for school

These are the teeth Megan got pulled yesterday.  Gross!

She was not a happy camper

Ethan and Molly.  He loves that dog!

Great Weekend Services

We had a really great weekend. Started off kinda bad with Shannon hurting his back, again. He is feeling better today but, he is still going to the Doctor. He cant be having back problems because, we have way too many services scheduled for me to preach. (ha!ha!) I loved staying at my mother-in-law's house over the weekend, it is so much better than a hotel room. It is really nice to spend time with our family every chance that we get. We had the opportunity to go to church with Shannon's sister Shonda Sunday morning, which we enjoyed. Then Sunday night we were at Gentry First. We were surprised with a visit from one of our former youth from Hector and his wife, Brandon and Bethany Cole. We hadn't seen Brandon in years, possibly six years, we cant remember. So, we were so excited! Brandon is a great young man and we are so proud of him. So, Brandon if your reading, you made our night. On Monday morning I went and visited my best friend from high school, who I haven't seen in a long time either. We had a really good visit and I am so glad that we got to spend some time together. So, I guess you could say our weekend was full of catching up with old friends. Everyone likes to do that every now and then. Now, it is back to the full work week. The joys of working for Jesus!

Sunday morning before church.

This is Sheila (Shannon's mom) We went to a dinner and silent auction @ her church Saturday night. She was all about winning her some gift cards! The picture was a little gift we won for her at the auction. We had a lot of fun!

On The Road Again....

We are on way to Northwest Arkansas today.  We will be preaching in West Fork and Gentry this weekend.  Shannon's mom lives in West Fork so, we will spending the weekend with her.   And, I have a very good friend that lives in Springdale that I would love to come and see on Monday.  So, Ang are you going to be home?  If so, I will give you a call.   Please pray for our safety while traveling and our services.  

Life and Death

Last Friday we had some friends from Star City experience the birth of their first child.  Justin and Meridith are the proud parents to a sweet baby girl named Macey Claire.  She was born around noon.  Around the same time we had another friend experience the death of her dear Granny.  Tonya's granny was very special to her. (granny was very special to everyone) She was a saint of God and an avid razorback fan.  I had the opportunity to go to a razorback game with Tonya and her family.  In honor of Granny I wanted to post a picture of all of us at that game.  We will never understand life and death but, we just have to trust God.  So, to the Fowlers I say congrats on your precious baby girl.  And, Tonya, your granny was a very special lady to me and Shannon and we will miss her dearly.  We know that she is walking the streets of gold!

In honor of Granny.  We will miss her greatly.

I love little toes!

Macey Claire Fowler

So much to say, not enough time

The guest quarters @ Monticello First Assembly




How in the world are you suppose to iron with this?

This last weekend was so long!  We drove over 565 miles over the weekend and I am still very tired today.  I don't know what we are going to do when school starts.  I feel like my second home is in our van.  (at least we have plenty of room)  We spent Saturday night in Camden and wanted everyone to see this iron.  The iron was attached to the ironing board to the point it would not reach the other end.  It was nearly impossible to iron a shirt.  I know the iron couldn't cost more than six bucks.  On Sunday night we stayed in the guest quarters at Monticello First Assembly.  It was so beautiful and such a blessing to us.  Thanks Monticello First and pastor Al.  I wanted to post some pictures of the guest quarters so everyone could see how nice it is.  

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Shannon  and I have been married 15 years today.  It has been an amazing 15 years and I look forward to 15 more.  I never thought that 15 years later we would be doing what we are doing.  I guess God did.  I am excited about what God has planned for our amazing journey. 

Guatemala

Guatemala
The church
The kids skateboarding.

Megan and Josiah
I finally have some time to post some pictures of Guatemala.  I have been wanting to for a while but really haven't had the time until now.  We will be working with another missionary family in Guatemala that have already started a intercity youth ministry.  The church is also used as a indoor skate park as an outreach to the kids of Guatemala City.  The couple that will be working with have four kids, two which are the same age as Ethan and Megan.  We also got to meet another missionary family from Guatemala when we were in Springfield.  They had a son the same age as Megan named Josiah.  They got to be really good friends and rode rides together at Silver Dollar City.  So, when we get there she will already know somebody.  We will be living close to the church and the kids school.  The kids will be going to a christian school, which will be english based.  We are very excited to get there but, it will be two more years.  We are also excited about moving to Costa Rica next August  We have heard that language school can be pretty intense and a lot of studying.  They said in two months the kids will have learned spanish and will be interpreting for us.  That just seems so unfair.  

Busy week/Busy weekend

We have had a very busy week this week.  Shannon has been gone to kids camp all week, we have been to two doctor's appt's, and our sweet little nieces spent the week with us.  We are tired but, have enjoyed the week.   We are off to Pine Bluff and Camden in the morning.  We are goin to Pine Bluff first to visit friends that just had a baby and then going to Camden for service on Sunday morning.  We will then be going to Monticello for service Sunday night.  Please keep us in your prayers for safety while we travel and for our services.  Hope you all have a great weekend.

More cousins....

Here is the gang: Ethan, Molly, Macen, Megan and Madison.


Shannon and Macen (she finally got to go swimming, she was so happy)