Tayler is awarded the keys to the City!

Exchange City, that is! Tayler participated along with his sixth grade class in Exchange City in Indianapolis. Exchange City is a program where students run and operate a city for the day. Students prepare a few weeks before the program with activities such as check writing, interviewing for positions, etc. It is a really cool program and the students look forward to it all year. The City is like any other city in the U.S. It consists of restaurants, businesses, and even a mayor. The students run the entire city on their own throughout a school day with various job responsibilites. Tayler was an international accountant. I thought this was a perfect fit as he has always had a knack for business and loves to save his money.......and of course, I like the international part as well:) We assured him that if he pursued this career in real life, he would make more than his 40 cents an hour wage he made at Exchange City:) At the end of the day, students and teachers vote on who the hardest working students were during their participation of running the City. At the end of the day, Tayler was awarded the prize along with the keys to the City. He was so excited and Brian was glad he was there to see him get such an award. Congratulations to our little hard worker!

Blogger Prayers needed!

Please go to www.joshbuck.blogspot.com and read a story of suffering and joy but one that needs many prayers as the family is now enduring several trying situations. You can also check out their church plant at www.greenhouseministries.org I know they will appreciate your prayers! Thank you!

First Snow of '07 and GO COLTS!

Yes, that's right! We had two exciting happenings today! We received our first big snow of '07 (or for all of winter for that matter) and "the Colt's are going to the Super Bowl, baby!" (This last phrase is what Brian shouted with the last play of the game) Our poor Patriots fan, Tayler, was not so excited as his team lost by four. However, he was excited to go to the airport with Brian to watch the Patriots come in on Saturday.He saw Tom Brady along with all of the players and was interviewed for our NBC station and the newspaper.......you would think this makes up for the loss, but not for our competitive sport! On another note, we are so excited to have the former Tennessian going to the Super Bowl. GO COLTS!!

30 Hour Famine-Sr. High

Friday night was our 30 Hour Famine. It is an effort we work with to raise funds for children of war in Uganda. The theme this year was Starve Hunger. During the Famine, youth and adults get sponsorship for each hour of the 30 hours they go without food. Friday night, we all got together to participate in the Sr. High famine. (Karin stayed out for this one as she has been ill:( We played some cool games where you take on the identity of a true child of war. Some of the kids have AIDS, Malaria, some have lost limbs, etc. When you take on this identity, you participate all 30 Hours with this "disability" We also had prayer stations and jounaling along with watching some videos on the children of War and their amazing stories. We then broke the fast with communion. This is a powerful event that not only helps to put our lives here in America in perspective but also helps encourage compassion for all of humanity. Our Middle School Famine will be in March. So, if you would like to volunteer (as we have spaces and opportunities always:) let us know. This year we had Stuart Williams from our missions team and Amy May (a former youth now college student whom participated last year as well)

Progressive Dinner and Reveal Party

Yes, can you believe it? another party? This time it was not so Martha Stewarty more like good ol' Papa John catering:)Tonight was our fourth annual Progressive dinner and Reveal Party. When Brian became the youth pastor here, he started an Adopt a Youth program. In the program, adults in the church secretly adopt youth. They leave encouraging cards/gifts for them and pray for them throughout the year. Mid-year, the parents are revealed to their youth and the parents begin to get to know the youth by having them over for dinner, attending their sporting events, etc. It is a great program and has grown every year. We had around 120 people there tonight for the Reveal. Wow! It is so cool to see everyone come together in the church for such a positive outreach. We hosted the Middle school portion of the dinner at our house. I loved having all of the youth in our new home....of course, I was a little anal about middle schoolers eating near my carpet but ya know:) Again, the program is so cool and the kids are able to see that adults in the church love them and are committed to their spiritual well being. On a side note, this was Tayler's first year in youth group and his first to participatein the program. He was convinced it was an older couple in the church. It was so hard to keep the secret from him! His family had already been taking him to their kid's sporting events, but Tayler never caught on that they might be doing this b/c they were his adoptive family. There is a pic of Tayler with his family. (you can tell by the pic that he has already been influenced by their hair over the years:) They have done so much for him and it means the world to us to see Tayler's face light up as they leave him thoughtful, heartfelt, encouraging cards and gifts. I know the rest of the youth that participate feel the same way as he did each time they received an encouraging word or gift from their parent. What better way to model Christ's love for the youth? Yes, this program is one I will never forget.

Fun with Friends!

These are some pics of our dear friends, the Williams, on Saturday for a Colt's game and pizza. Christy and I had some girl time at a little Italian "hole in the wall" on Friday night as well while the boys did what else but play Star Wars and game cube games. Their son, Aidan is so cute in this pic of he and Brian. Of course, I couldn't resist:) We had a lot of fun with them just chillin' out and watching the game....it is so nice to hang out with good friends and although it wasn't planned to attain a goal, I am well on my way to #1 on the resolution list:)

New Year's Resolutions

Lately I have been reflecting on a few areas that I need to work on. I usually don't have New Year's resolutions, but since I am wanting to work on these areas in the near future, I decided to deem them my resolutions for 07. The three areas are as follows: 1) I want to start taking the time to invite people over or just hanging out with people in general. It is easy to isolate yourself in the midst of work, school, Tayler's sports leagues, ministry, etc. But, I am learning that we are not built to be lone rangers in this world. And although, sometimes, I may be tired and not want to stretch myself, it will only enrich our lives to take the time to fellowship with other believers. 2) I want to be more purposeful in allowing God to mold me into who He is making me to be. Sure, I read the Word, pray, and praise pretty consistently but over the last 18 months or so, I haven't been purposeful in God's purposes for my life. I am guilty of fear of stepping out and just human laziness. But, I have been reflecting on this for quite a while and need to take action. 3) I want to read more. I have been known to have stacks of books I am reading at one time, but over the last year I have to admit that I have only been reading text books. So, in an effort to not be so extreme, I want to get some good books and read consistently and not take years off:) I have been thinking about this lately as I watch hours of meaningless TV at night to veg out. I am sure there are better ways to spend my time. So, if you know of any good books, leave a comment and I will check them out. To end, I once heard a preacher say, "You don't need more revelation, you need motivation." So, I will take that with me during 2007 to attain these goals. Keep me accountable and if you live nearby, we will be calling you to come over for dinner:)and ladies.... a book club wouldn't be too bad either:)

Over the River and through the woods (and some mountains too:)

Yes, we traveled a great distance to GA (Atlanta that is) to visit my dad, step mother, my sisters, my wonderful brother in law and nephew (and baby Julia inutero) The visit was nice. We stayed two days and as usual my step mother made a delicious dinner. (and many other meals) My dad made breakfast as usual....which is one of my favorite memories of my dad's house growing up. We played after opening gifts on Wednesday (with Karin even doing back flips on the trampoline-much to my little sisters dismay) Katie and Tayler were big helpers putting together all of Jackson's gifts for him. One of the things I look forward to while visitng in GA is my dad building a fire. He did build several this year, but we also got to enjoy one of my step mother's gifts-which was an outdoor fire pit. We really enjoyed being outdoors with the fire for many hours...with my dad picking Brian's spiritual brain as usual and Melody and Tayler playing Sudoku. The following day, Thursday, we just chilled.....Melody, (did I mention she was such a trooper due to her calf injury she incurred while kick boxing?)Brian, and my dad watched some of Brian's new Lost DVD's while Rachel, Tayler, Katie, and I painted block letters Rachel purchased for the kiddos of their initials. That was fun and they turned out great. Rachel always thinks of fun, practical things to do! We also played softball with an unfair advantage from my little sis and my step mom. They are really good! Melody couldn't run, so she hit the ball for me and I ran...the only way to victory for my team! Oh and the pic under the heading is of Jackson in Mrs. Hollywood's glasses (as my sister, Katie, deemed me this past week although, I would still argue she is a girly girl as well:) The trip was wonderful. We were blessed with many gifts but the best was being with our family.....and the warm weather wasn't too bad either:)

A very merry Christmas!

These pics are of Christmas Eve and Christmas day at the Hume's new house. On Christmas Eve, we went to church and came home to open pajamas to wear on Christmas day (a new tradition we started this year)I also have some pics of the scrambled egg favorite (spoken of in past posts) the recipe that I got from Brian's mom. He had it growing up every year. With that, I made Monkey bread (as mid-westerners call it) or if you are my mother in law, coffee cake. Either way, it was delicious! Brian said that this was his favorite gift(what-it beat out Star Wars?) and even used it in his sermon on Sunday. (okay, a little embarrassing for me as he said his favorite gift was his wife getting up and cooking for him-hmmm,should this have happened way before now?:) Anyway, Tayler woke up very joyous even though he thought he would not be receiving gifts b/c he received a big gift for his birthday. But, b/c his attitude was so good with that, his parents couldn't resist blessing him more! We had a lovely Christmas in our new home. What a tremendous blessing it is to have this home and my boys. I truly couldn't ask for more!
PS My favorite gift was the ability to give this Holiday season. We were able to bless others in ways that we haven't in previous years. That was the best present of all!